Author: Big Mama

I’m not really sure how it’s already December. In some ways I feel like Caroline just started school about two weeks ago. But now it’s December and I’m sitting here typing this in the glow of the lights from the Christmas tree and it’s a crisp, cool 78 degrees outside with 120% humidity.

However, I’m really excited because this weekend is my annual Christmas shopping weekend with Gulley. It’s one of my favorite weekends of the whole year because what is better than an entire weekend dedicated to shopping and eating out with your best friend?

Nothing.

That’s the answer. Nothing.

Here are some cute things I found this week that might make great Christmas gifts for someone you love. Or for yourself. Personally, I have my eye on the Boden raincoat. I can only hope that P is paying attention.

1. east bay tunic sweater

When I was picking up Caroline from school the other day I saw this darling girl wearing leggings, a long sweater and cowboy boots. Yes, I realize she’s probably a seventh grader, but I thought it was so cute. And so now I’m on a quest for a long sweater.

This also comes in burgundy if you prefer a real color.

2. boden rainy day mac

I have wanted one of these Boden raincoats for a long time and they are currently on sale at various price points in different patterns. This is at the top of my Christmas list, especially because it’s been rainier than usual so far this year and every time it rains I’m reminded I don’t have a rain coat.

That’s what happens when you live in an area that’s been suffering from a drought for five years.

3. free people complex cable knit pullover

I love this sweater too. It also comes in deep red and light blue and is on sale at Nordstrom.

4. beaded chevron dress

Anthropologie is offering an extra 30% off sale items with the code EXTRAMERRY at checkout. This dress wouldn’t look good on me, but I love it anyway and have faith that it’s perfect for somebody out there.

5. ouillins jacquard vest

This is another Anthro sale item so it’s an additional 30% off. I absolutely love it and it also comes in a gray color if that’s more your style.

6. vergennes chevron cardigan

Yep. Another Anthro sale item for $79.95 plus an extra 30% off. Love the color.

7. drape haven cardigan

This looks like the perfect thing to throw on with jeans or leggings and a pair of boots. Comfortable, cozy and so cute.

8. j.crew lovebirds baseball tee

I love a good baseball tee and I’m a little bit in love with these birds.

9. michael kors bracelet watch

I have loved this watch for a long time and it’s on sale right now at Nordstrom along with a bunch of other Michael Kors watches. Perfect Christmas gifts for someone who may need to know what time it is.

10. j.crew flannel pj pants

These flannel pj pants come in a ton of different colors and patterns and are on sale for $24.50. I’m a big fan of new jammies for Christmas Eve. Actually, I’m a fan of new jammies anytime.

11. verses flowing top

I know I usually only feature ten things, but I saw this top at Modcloth and think it’s so pretty that I couldn’t resist showing it. Love the gray and the lace.

12. past and pleasantries top

Same with this. Such a cute top and perfect to dress up or down for the holidays.

That’s it for today.

Have a great Friday.

On Thursday morning Sophie and I recorded a new podcast. She always edits them for us because, well, she knows how and I don’t. And she texted me tonight to tell me she had it ready to go but had to edit out some parts where the connection was bad, but we still had over fifty minutes of discussion anyway.

I texted back, “That’s a whole lot of nothing.”

And she responded, “SERIOUSLY.”

So with that warning I present to you our latest podcast.

You can click here to listen. Or here. You can even listen right here.

Or, as always, you can subscribe on iTunes.

I am proud to announce that we are the owners of a real live Christmas tree that is going to spend the rest of its short-lived days bedecked in lights in the comfort of our living room. We went to pick it out Tuesday afternoon about 5:00 p.m. and I believe it’s the fastest we’ve ever all agreed on a tree. I mentioned this to P as we climbed in his truck with the tree in the back and he said, “If we don’t have this whole process figured out after seventeen years of marriage then there’s no hope.” It’s a valid point.

He carried it into the house and we began the process of getting it secured in the stand. But we had an issue. It was too tall for our living room and the top of it scraped across our ceiling. P looked at me and asked, “Don’t we have nine foot ceilings?”

“Yes! And the tree should fit! It was in the 8-9 foot category!”

He looked at me blankly and replied, “Well either they measured wrong or our ceiling aren’t nine feet.”

And then he may have mumbled something along the lines of “you and your obsession with a tall tree” as he walked out to the backyard to get his hedge clippers to lop off the excess height. He climbed on a stepladder, chopped off about eight inches and announced, “Well, there’s the extra $49.99 we paid for lying on the living room floor.”

So I guess what we’ve actually figured out after seventeen years of marriage is that my eyes are always bigger than my living room when it comes to Christmas trees and P has just learned to humor me and wield his hedge clippers as necessary.

Here’s our tree in its current undecorated state except for the star on top.

See how the top point of the star touches the ceiling just like sweet Baby Jesus intended?

That’s all I’m saying.

(Also, those are P’s feet in the bottom corner of the picture because I am an excellent photographer.)

Anyway, tomorrow I will begin the arduous process of covering it in lights because there is nothing that really brings out the perfectionist in me like making sure the tree is evenly covered with sufficient wattage and then when Caroline gets home from school we’ll hang all our ornaments and drape some garland. In the meantime, I’m going to make myself quit looking at all the various Christmas home tours on the internet because they’ll make me believe it might be feasible to create beautiful handmade ornaments using nothing but deer antlers, white paint, gold glitter and a Jedi mind trick.

Piper and Mabel are leery of the few decorations I’ve put out thus far. Mabel feels like the stockings hung by the chimney with care are basically a front for a ring of thieves and likes to give them the side eye every time she walks by.

This past Sunday I had Caroline and her friend Sadie cut out a bunch of paper snowflakes for me because I wanted to hang them from the kitchen windows. And when Piper came in the house, she laid in her bed and growled at them like they were a menace to our home. Which I guess explains why she took the first opportunity to grab one of the ones I left on the countertop and tear it to shreds.

It was evil and must be destroyed.

(Side note: I saw the snowflake idea on Pinterest and it had me at hello. And, yes, I basically ran a snowflake sweat shop in my kitchen on Sunday afternoon with free child labor but in my defense I told them they could quit cutting snowflakes as soon as they mentioned the scissors were beginning to give them blisters.)

(I promise I’ll post a picture of it at some point but it’s not finished yet. Also, it would require me to get up and walk in the kitchen to take a photo.)

With any luck all our inside decorations will be finished by tomorrow night. Which will be a nice contrast to the rotting pumpkins and dead mums on our front porch.

They say the first day back to reality after vacation is the hardest. I’m not sure who “they” are, but I hope they’re right because it was a tough re-entry. And it didn’t help that I’d fully reverted to my full night owl self over Thanksgiving and didn’t fall asleep until sometime after 1 a.m. For those of you skilled in sleep math, you might deduce that means I got somewhere in the neighborhood of five hours of sleep. However, you’re not factoring in the eighteen times I woke up throughout the night with my brain swimming with the list of things I needed to accomplish in the light of day. It was just as restful as it sounds and what do those sleep experts know about the importance of REM sleep anyway?

So when P popped his head in the room to wake me up, I greeted him with a cheerful “NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!” But I quickly put on my best morning face, which is basically a smidge more coherent than a drunken monkey, and poured Caroline’s cereal as I attempted to generate some excitement about the school day ahead. It must have worked to some extent because she smiled all the way to school and didn’t even attempt to tell me her throat hurt. Of course this might be because I basically told her that the only reason she could miss school between now and Christmas break is Ebola and to not even talk to me about any kind of cough due to cold.

Anyway, the day was full of getting caught up on a million things I’d neglected with more still waiting for me, grocery shopping because I threw out the last of the Thanksgiving leftovers and our fridge was beyond sad, and then driving soccer carpool. Now Caroline is finally in bed, the kitchen is clean and I’m settling into relax on the still somewhat white couch (as of this writing) at 9:42 p.m. I think I have about eight mediocre minutes left in me before I crash. Which is really a shame because when I was on my preferred night owl schedule during Thanksgiving, I was rehanging my drapes at 9:42 p.m. and full of energy and creativity. Sadly, the rest of the world – particularly public school – doesn’t work on my schedule.

So here are a few quick things I wanted to tell you about.

1. My couch and the pillows

Several of you asked about the white couch. May God have mercy on your soul. It’s actually a great couch that I ordered from a local store that’s now out of business back before I was pregnant with Caroline. It’s made by Lee Industries and I’ve always loved it because it has a little bit of a curve to it. Originally it was slipcovered in darker fabric colors (I looked for a picture and couldn’t find one. Of course I only looked for about three minutes and gave up, but still.) but those were worn out and I switched to white when Holly Mathis helped me decorate a couple of years ago.

And here’s the thing. I love the white. It’s gorgeous. But we are not a white couch family. I am not a person who is equipped to fret and worry about a couch and wrestle slipcovers back on cushions on a regular basis. If you are, then more power to you. I just need a couch that I don’t have to think about or worry about washing before company comes.

As for the pillows, here’s the Peace Love Santa Christmas Pillow if you’re interested.

The elephant pillow and the pillow with words are both Sugarboo pillows from Carol & Company. You can find them (and so many other cute ones) here. The rest of them are either pillow covers I bought on Etsy or had made.

2. New Christmas music

My friend Shaun Groves has a great new Christmas album that just released yesterday. You can listen to some of it here and, even better, it’s only $4.95 right now on iTunes. Click here to buy it.

My personal favorite is his cover of Better Days. The line “tonight’s the night the world begins again” gets to me every time.

3. Advent books

Last year I loved Ann Voskamp’s advent book, The Greatest Gift, and so I was excited to get the kid-friendly version of it that just came out this year, Unwrapping the Greatest Gift: A Family Celebration of Christmas.

If you’re looking for a new tradition for your family, I can’t recommend it enough.

4. Hummingbird Farms

Don’t forget that you have until Friday to get 10% off any purchase from Hummingbird Farms. And you also get free shipping if you spend over $75. You can click here to see all their great products.

And now it’s about fifteen minutes past the original eight minutes I had left in me. So I’m headed to bed because rumor has it we’re getting our Christmas tree tomorrow. And by rumor I mean I told P that we were going to get our Christmas tree tomorrow. Otherwise known as the day of the year that trying to determine what constitutes a straight tree might lead to some marital strife.

I think it’s a sign of a good holiday when it’s time to go back to reality and you aren’t ready. That’s where I am right now. Although I can’t let Caroline know because she will smell weakness and all her lamenting about going back to school will increase a hundredfold, along with what I’m pretty sure is a faux sore throat complaint.

But it was such a nice break from everything and we had some much needed downtime to just relax and eat too many carbs and watch a whole lot of football and movies. I realize this can’t be our permanent reality because LOSERS, but it was nice while it lasted.

We spent Thanksgiving at Bops and Mimi’s house with my sister and her family and P’s mom. It was a nice way to spend the day and the weather was gorgeous so the kids were able to play outside while we all visited after lunch and let ourselves recuperate after all the various food groups we consumed. My sister and her family had just gotten back from a week long trip to Disney World and so we got to hear about that and the stomach bug she had while she was there. You know when Disney isn’t magical? When the stomach bug hits. But fortunately no one else got it and she was able to rejoin her crew after a day off in the hotel room. Better known to moms everywhere as the REAL VACATION.

Later that evening we went over to Gulley’s house to watch the A&M game and while the game outcome was less than desirable, the company was fun and the Thanksgiving leftovers at her house were superb. (Yes, I ate again Thanksgiving night. I regret nothing.)

P left for the ranch on Friday morning and I had to go record an audio thing for the trailer for the new book. Caroline didn’t care to go with me because she has discovered these things are very boring and she has to hear me talk all the time and so I dropped her off at Gulley’s house to hang out with the boys while I ran across town to my appointment. When I got back they were all happily playing outside with the puppies and Gulley was sitting at her computer doing some Christmas shopping and answering emails. I happened to have my computer with me and so I sat down next to her and we had what is best described as an unofficial office day. We answered emails, did some Black Friday shopping that didn’t involve being out in the masses, watched football, and discussed various important topics all at the same time. Later we took the kids to EZ’s for a dinner that wasn’t turkey and dressing and then Caroline and I came home and watched a movie together on the couch.

On Saturday Caroline and I debated driving to College Station to watch the Aggie soccer team in the NCAA tournament (They won! And are going to the College Cup for the first time ever!) but decided to stay in town instead. I took her to get the pedicure I’d been promising after soccer season ended and then we went to go see a movie at the actual theater before we came home and spent the rest of the night watching football.

Then Sunday I decided to show some ambition. I cleaned the house and began the process of getting rid of my pumpkins and replacing them with Santa and nativity scenes. It seemed a little odd to be doing it while wearing shorts and flip-flops but welcome to Christmas time in Texas. It is what it is.

I also decided it was time to wash all the slipcovers on the white couch again. I cannot even stress how much I hate doing it. And I will confess that it was long overdue. The good news is I have ordered a new couch, the bad news is it most likely won’t arrive until after the first of the year. But I want my house to look pretty for Christmas and that meant I needed to wash and bleach the slipcovers and strategically place a festive blanket over the places they have ripped after so much washing and bleaching. I will also tell you that I kept looking at Pinterest yesterday and noticed the common denominator in every picture I loved was that it contained a white couch. This is what some people refer to as a sickness. And, also, insanity.

However, as I wrestled the slipcovers back on my cushions Sunday afternoon, I went all Scarlett O’Hara and may have exclaimed “As God is my witness I will never wash these slipcovers again”. And I mean it. I’m done messing with them and I plan to throw them straight in the trash as soon as the new couch arrives. Actually, I may throw them out for Piper and Mabel and let them finish destroying them once and for all. I suspect that has been their goal all along.

But let it be noted that for one brief shining moment at 3:46 p.m. on Sunday, November 30, I experienced my own version of Camelot.

And let it also be noted that at 3:48 p.m. I noticed there was already dog hair on the couch even though the puppies weren’t even home. And at 7:01 p.m, Caroline ate Oreos on the couch and left several crumbs. And at 8:06 p.m., Piper lost her mind and jumped up on the couch even though she knows she’s not allowed to.

And that’s how dreams die.

I purposely waited to finish this until after the Aggies played LSU and now I regret that decision because my mood is not nearly as good as it was about four hours ago.

Here’s the thing about Les Miles. It’s all fun and games until your team actually has to play him and gets Les Miles’d.

Truthfully, the way the game ended with that very questionable non-call and the interception seems fitting given what has been one of my least favorite Aggie football seasons in recent memory. Here’s to 2015.

Also, I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving. I ate enough carbs to last me throughout the winter. I regret nothing.

Here’s the good news. Today is a day full of shopping glory to be had. And I’m going to get you off on the right foot by telling you about my absolute FAVORITE body product right now.

It’s Julia 1933 Body Butter by Hummingbird Farms.

I have raved for years about the Hummingbird Farms lavender lotion and I still adore it, but this Julia body butter is amazing. It smells divine, a little bit goes a long way and it has kept my skin from feeling dry in the driest of weather.

I’m also a huge fan of the lavender spa treatment and the Julia hand cream.

Basically, what I’m saying is I’m in love with all of Hummingbird Farms bath and body products and use them on a daily basis. They would make great gifts for someone on your Christmas list or just for yourself.

And, best of all, Hummingbird Farms is offering 10% off all their products for my blog readers for the next seven days when you use the code BIGMAMA14 at checkout. You can check out all of their fabulous products when you click here.

Here are some things I found this week:

1. chilly coastlines cardigan in sunset

Anthropologie has a sweater coat that looks almost just like this that’s a lot more expensive. I love the colors in this. It would be such a great thing to have all winter long.

2. free people mexicali pullover

So I think it’s well-documented that I’m a fan of an oversize top. I love this one and it would be great with leggings and boots. It’s on sale for $58.80.

3. nike gym vintage hoodie

These vintage hoodies are so cute and are perfect if you enjoy spending lots of time in your yoga pants.

4. ombre multi-stripe infinity scarf

I loved this scarf all last year and still love it now. Plus it’s on sale and comes in several different color combinations.

5. jacquard blanket cardigan

Well. I’m pretty much in love with this. And Anthropologie is offering 25% off with the code holiday at checkout. Which still doesn’t mean I’m going to buy it, but it’s making me think about it really hard.

6. tinley road woodbury tee

This would be such a cute tee to throw on with jeans. And Piperlime is offering 25% off everything with the code IHEARTNYC at checkout.

7. teresa may blouse

This comes in red or gray and is 30% off with code BLKFRDY at checkout along with everything else at Ruche.

8. half moon kimono cardigan

This is another Anthro find and I really like it. It’s also 25% off with code holiday at checkout.

9. jackie tassel necklace

Kendra Scott is offering 15% off and free shipping with code BFCM2014. I adore this new tassel necklace.

10. fair isle knit leggings

I’m wearing the black version of these right now because I wear them constantly unless they’re in the washing machine. And I’ve come so close to buying another pair, but wondered if that was silly. However, now they are offering them in this new color and so SOLD.

And it’s 50% off everything at Gap with code BLKFRIDAY at checkout. Happy shopping.

Hope you have a great Friday.