Author: Big Mama

When you were in high school did you ever get a plain white Fruit of the Loom t-shirt, splatter paint all over it, and then write all kinds of random things on it with puffy paint pens?

This post is pretty much going to be like that. A big mess and all over the place because I guess the hallmark of the last week of summer is that my brain is all over the place.

(Sidenote: I realize that unless you went to high school in the late 80’s you probably never made a shirt like this. My friend Jodi and I made many of them, including special ones that we wore the last day of our senior year. I don’t even know.)

(Also, we thought it was hilarious that we drove her dad’s truck, complete with a camper, that same day.)

(All I can offer by way of explanation was that this was during the same decade people regularly posed for portraits with a large wicker throne-like chair.)

Anyway, last night was one of those nights where I just couldn’t sleep. I had a million thoughts running through my brain, none of which were actually productive. And when I finally dozed off I dreamed that I decided to try Bikram Yoga for the first time. In case you don’t know, Bikram Yoga is that hot yoga where they keep the room at 100 degrees while you stretch and kick and do downward dog or whatever.

In my dream I walked in the room and began doing the stretches to the best of my ability and then a siren went off and the instructor announced it was to let us know that the world was ending. Which, given my distaste for extreme heat, seems about right. Now I feel completely justified in never trying hot yoga because what if that dream was a warning? I feel like it’s become my duty to avoid hot yoga to protect the world.

I can’t apologize enough for reaching the point where I’m telling you about my dreams. Because you know what no one ever says? “Please tell me what you dreamed last night. It will be so fascinating.”

In non-dream events, I spent most of the day cleaning out Caroline’s clothes in an attempt to create some sort of organization before school starts and we have to come up with a daily wardrobe. It’s a rare day that she doesn’t just throw on running shorts and a t-shirt, but I felt like it was time to weed out our t-shirt inventory because some of them were starting to veer into dust rag territory.

Later on I dropped Caroline off at soccer practice and went to meet Gulley and Leslie to do a little shopping for new jeans. We spent the better part of three hours shopping. Gulley bought a cute jacket, I bought a pair of booties, and Leslie didn’t find anything. None of us bought jeans. Which was the original reason we ventured out. But sometimes you have to kiss a lot of denim frogs to find your prince.

Then I came home and turned on Friends. And it was the lobster episode. “He’s her lobster!” I don’t know that I could pick just one episode as my favorite, but that one is close to the top.

Oh and one last thing before I (thankfully) wrap this up.

Caroline’s sweet friend Sadie came over Tuesday night to hang out and eat dinner. They’ve been friends pretty much since birth. In fact, I found this precious picture of the two of them the other day. They were about four.

And this was them on Tuesday night.

It makes my heart happy because there’s nothing like a forever friend. They’re each other’s lobster.

Most of yesterday was spent anxiously awaiting our letter from the school informing us who Caroline’s teacher will be this year. And I’m happy to report it was good news. She’s thrilled with her teacher and even happier that several of her friends are in the same class. Now I can breathe a sigh of relief that our biggest worry on the first day of school will be which pair of running shorts she’ll want to wear.

I also feel like I should admit I spent a chunk of yesterday watching Scandal episodes with Gulley.

Why, yes, I did just watch every episode earlier this summer, but Gulley is now watching them for the first time and apparently I am codependent when it comes to television. It’s so much more fun now that we can analyze each episode.

But it wasn’t all fun and games and Olivia Pope because I did manage to make an impressive trip to HEB where I stocked up on all manner of dinner items and things that I’m hoping Caroline might actually like to see in her lunchbox next week.

Which explains why I’m so tired. Between President Grant and all his shenanigans and trying to crack the fifth grade lunch code, I used a lot of brain power. So here are just a few things I’ve been wanting to tell you about:

1. Sacred Secrets

This is a new Bible study by Beth Moore. It’s not as intensive as some of her other studies, but I’ve heard that it is great. Perfect for a small group or even for you to do by yourself.

And speaking of Beth Moore, there’s a Living Proof Live Simulcast coming up on September 14th. You can find out more information and host locations by clicking here. And there’s even an option to watch it by yourself in the privacy of your own home.

If you happen to be in San Antonio, my home church is one of the host sites. You can click here for more info or to register.

2. The Walking In Between

I listen to music while I write. I know some people may find that weird, but it helps my mind work better. And when I was writing Sparkly Green Earrings I listened almost exclusively to a mix of Andrew Peterson and Ben Rector. I cannot express how much I love their music.

So I’m super excited that Ben Rector has a brand new album out. I may not have a chair at Starbucks, but I’ll have some great music to listen to once I find a new writing home and figure out what my next book is going to be about.

3. Speak Love: Making Your Words Matter

My friend Annie Downs has a new book out. And what could be better for your teenage girl than a book about the importance of our words and speaking love to those around us. It would be a great gift for your daughter or granddaughter or any special girl in your life.

4. Pop Classic Boy and Girl Professional Glitter Tattoo Kit

Speaking of girls, Caroline got this Glimmer Art kit for her birthday and it’s been a huge hit. What’s better than a glittery tattoo?

NOTHING.

5. Food

So I mentioned I went to the grocery store. I’m trying to come up with all manner of great breakfast and lunch ideas and would love if you’d share some of yours in the comments. Please don’t include anything with quinoa because it probably isn’t going to happen around here. But I’d love to know if you have any family favorites that are crowd pleasers.

Also, if you make your kids sandwiches that look like the Minions from Despicable Me? You might want to keep that to yourself. I don’t need that hit today.

Here are two things I’ve found that actually get eaten. For breakfast, these bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches wrapped in crescent rolls are delicious.

For lunch, I packed this Prairie Sushi (aka tortilla rollups) until Caroline begged me for just a normal sandwich. Whatever. Some people have no appreciation for a lovely presentation.

And that’s it for me today. Hope you have a great Wednesday.

This is it. The last Monday of summer. By next week I’ll be up at the crack of dawn cooking a Back to School breakfast that no one will actually eat and packing a lunch that will be the best lunch I’ll pack all year because I will be enthusiastic! And organized! And will have made a trip to the grocery store to stock up on lunchtime essentials!

In fact, I’ve spent the last forty-five minutes perusing Pinterest and pinning all manner of delicious CrockPot recipes that I plan to cook in the CrockPot that I bought last fall. Although in the interest of full disclosure I feel that you should know I have yet to actually take the CrockPot out of the box it came in, but this year is going to be different. I have the CrockPot Recipe Board full of pinned recipes on Pinterest to prove it. It’s just a matter of time before I stick a roast in that bad boy.

Because that’s what the first few weeks of school are all about. It’s the mom version of a new year. I’m going to start working out again. I’m going to eat better. I’m going to take better care of my skin. I’m going to send Caroline to school in clean clothes that actually match with her hair neatly combed, maybe even curled if she’ll let me. I’ll put notes in her lunch box and make tortilla roll ups that look like pieces of sushi. And in the evening we’ll do homework before we sit around the dinner table as a family discussing our day.

I’ll talk about how it’s good to be back on a schedule. It’s better for us. When you reach the point in the summer where you have to set an alarm to be somewhere by noon, it’s probably time to get back in a routine. And I will rock the heck out of our new productive schedule for at least two weeks before I begin to count down the days until Thanksgiving vacation.

Because just like Cinderella sang in their 80’s power ballad, you don’t what you got until it’s gone.

Anyway, Friday was our wedding anniversary and now the celebration portion of our summer is officially over. P and I celebrated in the traditional manner. By which I mean that he kept Caroline while I left for a girls’ weekend at the beach with some friends. When you look at the list of traditional anniversary gifts, sixteen years isn’t even assigned anything. Fifteen years is crystal and then it just skips to twenty years which is china. In my mind that equates to giving your wife the gift of a responsibility-free weekend at the beach is the logical conclusion. Frankly, that’s better than china or crystal.

My friends and I left San Antonio around noon on Friday, made a quick stop for a fried shrimp basket once we hit Port Aransas and then made our way to the beach where we sat in chairs with our toes in the sand and experienced the bliss that comes when you don’t have to count heads in the surf or dig an enormous hole with a plastic shovel you bought for twenty-five cents at Big Lots.

On Saturday morning we were back out on the beach by 11:00 and stayed there until we finally checked the time when we saw the moon starting to come up over the surf and realized it was almost 8:00. We spent the majority of those hours solving all manner of problems, discussing all the ways we were going to be better this school year, and never once felt bad that we ate our weight in Salted Caramel Rice Krispie treats while wearing our bathing suits. It was a heck of a way to spend the last carefree weekend of summer.

And now one more week. We plan to spend tomorrow waiting by the mailbox to find out who Caroline’s fifth grade teacher will be. I’m sure there will be a few more trips to the pool, a couple of lazy mornings where we stay in our pajamas way passed what most people consider to be a decent time, and making a trip to HEB for a few last minute school supplies. It will be pretty low-key in the whole scheme of things because here’s what I know for sure, we have milked every ounce of fun from this summer. We have squeezed the marrow out of it.

It’s time to pack up our notebooks, write our names on new folders, sharpen our pencils and pray for the first cold front.

But I don’t plan to set the alarm clock until we absolutely have to. Somethings are better left until you absolutely have no other option.

Which may explain why my CrockPot is still in the box it came in.

So today is a big day. It’s the 36th anniversary of Elvis’s death.

It’s also the sixteenth anniversary of the day P and I got married.

Look at those two sweet kids.

The good news is I would do it all over again tomorrow, except maybe without the bangs.

Happy Anniversary, P! Not that you’re reading this considering it’s Friday and you don’t really care what’s cute at Nordstrom this week.

But as for the rest of you, here’s what I found this week.

1. freeset farmhouse bag sari print

This is a Freeset bag. Freeset is a fair trade business that offers employment to women trapped in human trafficking in Calcutta. Earlier this week they lost over $150,000 worth of bags in the tragic UPS plane crash in Birmingham. (You can read more details on their website.) Because of this financial loss, they are in danger of having to shut down operations which would greatly impact the 200 women they employee. Please consider joining Pure Charity to help support them. You can find out more here.

I have a Freeset tote bag like the one I’ve featured here and I can’t express how much I love it. It’s the perfect tote bag and has stood up to some serious tests of its strap strength.

You can also donate to the families of the two pilots who lost their lives by clicking here.

2. across the sea printed maxi dress

I can’t wear this because I have a firm policy of no strapless clothing because it stresses me out. But I really like this for those of you who can deal with wearing a strapless bra.

3. vigoss clean boyfriend crop jeans

These are the jeans I mentioned on the podcast earlier this week. I first heard about them from Sheaffer at Pinterest Told Me To. (By the way, she’s giving away a $365 gift card to Nordstrom this week. Go visit her and enter to win.)

The thing is that I’m kind of a jean snob. But these are great and just what I was looking for to supplement my skinny jean wardrobe. Stretchy, comfortable and inexpensive. And they come in plus sizes too.

4. camo skinny jeans

I realize not all of you are a fan of the printed pant. But camo is going to be big for fall this year and I think these would be really cute with some tall boots and a jacket.

5. issa collection coral printed kimono dress

When Princess Kate (or PK as I call her) and William got engaged she wore a lovely royal blue wrap dress by Issa. And now Banana Republic (the place where my favorite Starbucks chair is in a dumpster) has partnered with Issa for their fall collection.

This is just one of the dresses. They also have one that’s almost identical to the one Kate wore except on the website it looks turquoise. However, in person it is blue.

6. marpesia kimono top

Remember when I shared this top earlier in the summer? Now it’s on sale.

7. tassel necklace

My sister gave me a long necklace for my birthday and I was so happy because I feel like I need more long necklaces in my life. This one would be a perfect addition.

8. ruffle hem twill jacket

You know I can’t pass up a good jacket. I love the details on this one and the color would work with so many different outfits.

9. made for me cardi

I noticed this week that several of my friends in other parts of the country mentioned that they were wearing sweaters to fight off a slight chill in the air. And this caused me to weep and gnash my teeth. Because you know what it is here?

Hot.

You know what it will be here in a month?

Still hot.

But a girl can look at a comfy sweater and dream and only feel slightly bitter towards her friends who had the good sense to live in a more temperate climate.

10. corree booties

I think we all know by now that I am on the search for a bootie. These have potential.

That’s it for today.

Y’all have a great Friday.

Thanks for all the birthday wishes. Twenty-four hours in and forty-two seems like it’s going to be okay even though I had to pull out three stray gray hairs. I realize you’re not supposed to yank them out, but I’m not getting my hair colored again until September 5th and no way was I going to let them just hang out there for that long.

Yesterday was just what I prefer in a birthday. In other words, it was a low-key affair. Mexican food, cupcakes, and some birthday cards. P had my present covered because I announced months ago that I was buying myself a ticket to the A&M/Alabama game for my birthday. I will tell you it was slightly more than $15 and I’m praying the NCAA doesn’t ban Johnny Manziel because that was kind of the whole point – to watch him play Alabama again after Nick Saban has had a year to prepare for him.

And Caroline spent most of Tuesday holed up in her playroom making something for my birthday. It turns out that she painted me a beautiful picture, but based on all the supplies and odds and ends I saw her carry into her playroom over the course of the day, I’m a little afraid to see the current state of that part of the house. No one will ever accuse her of being neat and tidy. But I bet Picasso’s mother used to say the same thing.

In non-birthday related news, I have made a sad discovery.

Please keep in mind that sad may be a relative term.

Last week when Caroline and I were driving home from Port Aransas, we made a quick stop at our neighborhood Starbucks because we were both in need of a frappuccino. Before you judge me, I’ll clarify that she gets one that is cream based, not coffee based. I find that too much caffeine makes it hard for her to focus when she’s driving the car.

Oh I kid.

Anyway, we pulled up in the parking lot in front of Starbucks and I immediately noticed that it was under construction. However, it was still open for business. So we walked into what was essentially a makeshift version of your average Starbucks. Totally bare bones. Just a counter and the little section where you can add your Splenda or whatever. No tables or chairs at all.

I asked the girl behind the counter how long it was going to be under construction and she said several more weeks and then directed my attention to some drawings on the wall that outlined the future layout of the new and improved Starbucks.

And that’s when it hit me.

This is not just any Starbucks. This is my Starbucks. The one with the plush, green velvet chairs tucked away in the corner where I have written not just one, but two books now. And now the chairs are gone. They’re not coming back. In my mind it kind of feels like they should have earned a space somewhere important, like maybe next to Fonzie’s jacket in the Smithsonian. But in reality they probably ended up in a dumpster behind Banana Republic.

The worst part (as if it can get worse) is that the new configuration doesn’t seem to include any type of plush chair. Just tables and chairs. I realize that most people probably prefer this, but I need a comfy chair. My creativity doesn’t flow the same if I feel like I’m sitting at a desk. I blame the year I spent working in a cubicle for a door sales company where my soul almost shriveled up and died.

My point is I’m in mourning. And I need a new place to write. The chairs were the draw for me. I even stuck by this Starbucks when my retired friend decided to start going to a Starbucks closer to his new house. Granted, it wasn’t the same not starting my day with a debate about Kate Middleton having a baby or learning something new from the articles he used to tear out of various newspapers to share with me, but I stayed because of the green chairs.

Now there’s nothing left there for me. I am a woman without a Starbucks.

Actually that’s not true because there are at least four of them within a veritable stone’s throw of my home, but please stick with me while I’m being overly dramatic.

I just need a comfy chair that is not located in my home. Preferably leather or velvet. At an establishment where they serve coffee.

And maybe the occasional pastry.

So today is my 42nd birthday.

Here’s what I think about turning 42. I remember many years ago that P and I were eating dinner with an older couple whose kids were in our Campus Life group when the mom mentioned that she was 42. And I felt sorry for her because, GAH, FORTY-TWO. It’s like her whole life was practically over.

And now, in a blink of an eye, here I am. I’ll be honest, while I’m not a fan of the new gray hair and the wrinkles that seem determined to form between my nose and my mouth, it’s not that bad. In fact, I thought about listing all the reasons why I’m grateful for my 42nd year of life, but decided that I shouldn’t have to think that much on my birthday.

So I’ll just tell you that turning 42 beats the alternative. And I am so grateful to have a husband I adore, a daughter that makes me smile every day, friends that love me in spite of all my quirks, and a family that always supports me.

Also, the advances that have been made in anti-wrinkle formulations and hair coloring techniques.

And that I happened to catch the series finale of Friends on T.V.

Because sometimes it’s the little things.