Author: Big Mama

  • Fashion Friday: Edition complete with cuteness and a giveaway

    You know what’s so weird? Jennifer Aniston and I both got our hair cut this week. However, she made the national news for getting a blonde bob while no one in my life even noticed I had my bangs trimmed. It’s like no one even cares that my hair is two inches shorter than it was two days ago. This is probably because no one even cares that my hair is two inches shorter than it was two days ago.

    Anyway, guess what? The folks at Big Mama, Inc. have gotten together with the nice folks at Ruche again. And I’m so excited because the item potentially up for grabs is the adorable winter cabin sweater leggings I have coveted ever since I first saw them.

    Aren’t they darling? The only thing I’d like to make clear is that I do not EVER advocate wearing leggings without a top that covers the entirety of your booty region. In fact, I think you need something that hits at a minimum of mid-thigh.

    If you want a chance to win a pair of these leggings, click on over to my giveaway page for my information.

    In the meantime, here are a few cute things I’ve seen this week. Or at least found while I furiously scoured the internet over the last ten minutes.

    1. pintucked blouson tunics

    While I do think this floral pattern is adorable and would look great paired with white jeans this spring, the Old Navy store also had these in solid colors. I don’t know why they aren’t online. But they’re not. I know this because I spent three seconds looking for them.

    2. denim blazer

    You may be thinking to yourself WHAT? A DENIM BLAZER? That’s madness. Pure madness.

    And, honestly, the picture of this one (yes, the picture that I didn’t post because I forgot to upload it and was entirely to lazy to rectify my mistake once I noticed it) does not do it justice. I saw this denim blazer in my local Gap store and fell in love with it.

    But everyone else must have loved it too because they only had one left in an XL.

    3. big beach bag

    If I had this beach bag I would go to the beach every day. Or maybe I would just carry a beach bag every day. Because that would be easier. And cheaper.

    4. shirred ruffle henley

    I love cute cotton shirts that you can just throw on in the spring and summer. This one fits the bill.

    5. beyond vintage embroidered blouse

    Okay, so the lace top that I told y’all about earlier in the week is now completely sold out. And I can’t really find another one exactly like it. But I do really like this top from Beyond Vintage. It’s a similar look and, best of all, it’s on sale.

    6. smocked surplice dress

    I saw this in Old Navy this week and thought it might make a cute swimsuit coverup. Or maybe just the perfect summer dress to throw on and head to the HEB.

    7. camo surplus jacket

    I realize a camo jacket might not be everyone’s cup of tea. But there was a day last fall when I looked out in our backyard and saw Shorty, who worked for P’s landscape business at the time, wearing a camo jacket and I thought to myself MAN, I WISH I HAD SHORTY’S JACKET.

    I then said it out loud to P and after he quit laughing at me he told me I could probably find one just like it in any Army Surplus store in town. Which is true. But I bet none of those have “SHORTY” written in calligraphy across the back.

    Neither does this one, but I like it anyway. I tried it on in the store last week and it even fits cute. Now I just need to work on my calligraphy.

    8. paraiso dress

    What’s not to like about this?

    9. rainyday duffle

    I’m always a sucker for a raincoat from Boden.

    10. turquoise and pearl ring

    Several of you mentioned your love of turquoise this week and how you’d like to add more of it to your wardrobe. I think this ring would be a good place to start.

    That’s it for today.

    Don’t forget to enter the giveaway for the winter cabin sweater leggings.

    And don’t forget to have a lovely Friday.

  • The next book in the informal, very casual book club

    So, I felt like the first meeting of our informal internet book club went pretty well. And I totally meant to announce the next book earlier this week but then I saw something shiny and forgot.

    Actually, I have to tell y’all that my blog friend, Chelsea, sent me a copy of The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls and I read it in less than forty-eight hours. It was fascinating. Absolutely a must read if you haven’t read it already, although I’m so glad I read Half Broke Horses first because I knew the family history.

    On Tuesday morning I headed over to Borders to peruse the shelves, even though I already had a pretty good idea of the book I was going to choose. But I have to allow myself some time to obsess over these things.

    And so, after much deliberation, I’ve decided our next book should be Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay.

    Here’s an excerpt from the review in Publishers Weekly:

    “De Rosnay’s U.S. debut fictionalizes the 1942 Paris roundups and deportations, in which thousands of Jewish families were arrested, held at the Vélodrome d’Hiver outside the city, then transported to Auschwitz. Forty-five-year-old Julia Jarmond, American by birth, moved to Paris when she was 20 and is married to the arrogant, unfaithful Bertrand Tézac, with whom she has an 11-year-old daughter. Julia writes for an American magazine and her editor assigns her to cover the 60th anniversary of the Vél’ d’Hiv’ roundups. Julia soon learns that the apartment she and Bertrand plan to move into was acquired by Bertrand’s family when its Jewish occupants were dispossessed and deported 60 years before. She resolves to find out what happened to the former occupants: Wladyslaw and Rywka Starzynski, parents of 10-year-old Sarah and four-year-old Michel. The more Julia discovers—especially about Sarah, the only member of the Starzynski family to survive—the more she uncovers about Bertrand’s family, about France and, finally, herself.”

    So if that sounds like something you want to read or at least something you might attempt to read, here’s what you need to do:

    1. Go get a copy of the book or download it on your Kindle or your iPad or straight into the microchip implanted in your brain. Amazon has it on sale for $6.36 right now.

    2. Read the book. If you just use it as a coaster it limits the impact.

    3. On Thursday, March 31st, I’ll write a post with my thoughts on the book. I’ll probably ditch the discussion questions this go round because no one really seemed to care about them. So we’ll just share our thoughts and insights.

    4. That’s it.

    5. Except feel free to suggest other future book suggestions in the comments. I’m always open to any input.

    See y’all tomorrow. It’s Fashion Friday and rumor around Big Mama, Inc. is that there might be a giveaway. See how book club brings out the giveaways? It’s just all part of my continuing quest to be the middle-class suburban mom version of Oprah.

  • Somewhere between a couple and several things

    Because I know the suspense is killing you, I’ll cut to the chase and let you know that I didn’t dream about Grover Cleveland, or any other Presidents, last night. In fact, I don’t know if I had any dreams at all because I didn’t sleep that great. Mainly because I made the foolish decision to stay up too late watching The Bachelor and was totally freaked out by the entire visit to Shawntel’s hometown. I learned more about funeral homes than I ever wanted to know.

    If you’re a single gal with hopes of getting married some day, here’s a tip. Don’t ever utter the phrase, “Do you want to be cremated?” while you’re on a date. It’s a mood killer.

    Or maybe it’s just me.

    Anyway, my goal is to get to bed early tonight because I never sat down one time today unless you count the time I spent driving from breakfast with AJ to coffee with my friend Jenn to lunch with Gulley to carpool to pick up Caroline to gymnastics to the library and, finally, back home. I’m flat worn out.

    So here’s a quick list of somewhere between a couple and several things.

    1. Some of you asked about the top I was wearing in the the picture yesterday. It’s a brand called Beyond Vintage and I found it online at Piperlime. But before I give you the link, I am compelled to give a lengthy explanation about it because I don’t want you to think I throw around money like I’m Sue Ellen Ewing.

    I saw it about a year ago and fell in love with it. IN LOVE. It was everything I’d ever wanted in a top. But, alas, it was way more than my $15.00 limit and so I’d just visit it from time to time on the computer. Then, one day last fall, it was suddenly on sale for 50% off, plus I had a coupon for 15% off. MY JOY KNEW NO BOUNDS. I ordered it so fast it would make your head spin.

    Then I went back to the Piperlime site about an hour later because I was going to link to it on Fashion Friday that week and, LO AND BEHOLD, it wasn’t on sale anymore. It all happened so fast that I could only assume they made a mistake and worried that they were going to email me and explain it was still full price. BUT THEY DIDN’T. Clearly, it was all a fashion blessing sent straight from heaven.

    Here’s the link to it on Piperlime. And, let me just say, it’s even better in person. Also, it runs small.

    **Edited to add: Apparently it has now sold out. I wish that meant Piperlime would be sending me a big fat commission check, but all they’re going to give me is free shipping. Which they give to everyone. ***

    2. Speaking of heaven, yesterday afternoon Caroline was sitting at the island in our kitchen doing her homework. She was looking out our back windows, daydreaming instead of practicing her spelling words, when I thought she said, “Mama! I see an angel in the neighbor’s trees and he’s tying ropes to the limbs to keep them safe!”

    And I was like “WHAT? YOU SEE WHAT?”, thinking to myself OH MY GOSH! Is God giving Caroline some kind of supernatural sightings of heavenly creatures?

    Then she repeated herself, “I see Angel in the neighbor’s trees and he’s tying ropes to the limbs to keep them safe!”

    I looked out the window and realized she was seeing Angel, the tree guy who does a lot of work for P’s company, trimming our neighbor’s trees and lowering the cut branches to the ground with rope.

    So, no supernatural sightings of heavenly beings. Just regular sightings of Hispanic tree-trimmers.

    3. If you live in San Antonio I feel compelled to tell you that the West Elm store in the Quarry is closing and their entire inventory is 40% off. I went in there yesterday, felt completely overwhelmed at all the bargains and the pressure of ALL SALES FINAL and left with nothing. But they still have some really great stuff left.

    4. Yesterday Gulley and I went to lunch. We were talking about our night at the rodeo last week and I said, “I had to delete the picture Julie took of you and me. It was TERRIBLE of me.” Then I went on to say, “And I’ll be honest, it was a REALLY BAD picture of you, too.”

    And Gulley, bless her heart, didn’t even say anything about it. We just went on with our conversation until she brought it up about fifteen minutes later and, I’m not kidding, we laughed until we had tears running down our cheeks because WHO SAYS THAT TO ANOTHER PERSON?

    Me. I say that.

    I’m glad she loves me anyway because we called each other on and off the rest of the day and laughed about it all over again.

    5. I thought American Idol was on Tuesday nights and spent all day excited about it. So imagine my disappointment when it wasn’t on. Didn’t it used to be on Tuesday nights? Did I dream that? Did I dream I was watching American Idol with John Adams on a Tuesday night?

    Five seems like a good number to end on. Especially because I’m out of things to write.

    Good day to you.

  • I’ve always been partial to conservative federalists

    So it wasn’t all bike riding around here this past weekend, but before I recap the whole shebang in mind-numbing detail I have to share what I dreamed about last night. John Adams. That’s right, I said John Adams. And maybe you’re thinking that John Adams is a neighbor or a family friend, but you would be wrong. I mean John Adams as in the second President of the United States, John Adams.

    I don’t understand.

    P and I watched the HBO miniseries about John Adams last summer in a fit of 4th of July patriotism, but I haven’t given him much thought in recent months because, well, he was the second President of the United States and doesn’t really fit into my day to day life. Sadly, I don’t really remember much about the actual dream but only that I woke up around 3:00 a.m., remembered I was in the middle of a dream about John Adams, and wondered if being almost forty years old means your brain is so bored that your subconscious finally says, “What the heck, let’s dream about American history”.

    Or maybe it’s because John Adams was such a piece of eye candy.

    That must be it.

    Anyway, back to the weekend. Or the days prior to the weekend.

    I realized I never mentioned that last Wednesday night I went to the rodeo with a group of friends. My friend Julie invited our Birthday Club group to see Miranda Lambert at the rodeo and rented us a limo to get there. The best part was it ended up being a gigantic, white limo and felt a little bit like something from a Madonna video. Naturally, I took no photos of the limo because that would have made too much sense.

    Here’s a picture of us before we left though.

    The cute two year old grabbing his mama’s leg did not go with us. Although he really wanted to. And I can’t speak for the rest of the girls but I immediately regretted my decision to wear my hair down. The humidity wreaked major havoc on it by the end of the night. Not even my Freeze It hairspray could save it. Pitiful.

    We all loved Miranda (like we’re on a first name basis) and she put on a great show. After it was over we decided that the corn dogs and gorditas hadn’t filled us up and asked Norm the limo driver to take us to Taco Cabana. Sadly, they were just about to close but Norm came to the rescue and talked them into opening the doors for us. I’m sure they were totally disappointed to see that the limo only contained six middle-aged mothers and approximately zero celebrities, but they served us some tacos anyway.

    Saturday morning we woke up to drizzle and rain. Caroline wanted to go play with Jackson and Will so we headed over to their house. Will and I were visiting in the living room and somehow the subject of my age came up. Gulley asked Will how old he thought I was. He looked at me for a second and answered, “Fifty-nine”. I was already in the midst of some self-image issues so Gulley said, “Don’t pay any attention to him. He doesn’t know.” She even pulled out our old favorite, “REJECT IT”. Then, in an attempt to prove her point, she asked, “Will, how old do you think I am?” He looked at her and said, “Thirty”.

    It’s like he knew I was going to start having dreams about former Presidents.

    Caroline had a basketball game later that afternoon and she scored a career high THREE baskets. (I know, I know. It’s not called a goal. It’s a basket.) After that, the boys came over to spend the night because they’d spent the entire earlier part of the day informing us that we NEVER let them have sleep overs. NEVER. Caroline even told Gulley she was going to give her a THOUSAND BOOS for the lack of sleep overs.

    So the boys came over and they all climbed in my bed to watch a movie.

    The movie ended about 9:30. And that’s when Jackson decided he wanted me to call Gulley to pick him up, while Will announced that he was STAYING. He said, “MEL, I’M ONLY SIX YEARS OLD, BUT I’M STAYING!” Gulley showed up to get Jackson, asked Will if he was sure he wanted to stay, and he said, “YES!” By the time I walked back inside, Will was sitting on the couch crying and said he’d changed his mind so I called Gulley, she made the block and came back to pick up Will.

    This happens almost every time we agree to let them have a sleep over. Which is why we are the meanest mothers around and almost NEVER let them have sleep overs.

    That was the weekend.

    And now I need to go to bed.

    Fingers crossed that tonight I dream about Grover Cleveland.

  • A girl and a her bike

    On Caroline’s second birthday, two momentous things happened. The first was that Mimi and Bops moved from Houston to San Antonio. You can’t appreciate this if you don’t know them, but the fact they left their beloved Houston with its many fine restaurants and other cultural offerings is akin to a miracle. Caroline will never understand how much she totally caused her grandparents to become people they didn’t even recognize. And I’ll try not to think about the fact I lived in San Antonio for ten years prior to having Caroline and they never once mentioned relocating.

    The second momentous thing was that Mimi and Bops gave her a little bicycle and a helmet for her birthday. I wish I had a picture of her trying out her new bike in her little zebra-print dress, but that would require me to get off the couch, locate the right photo album and scan the picture in. Then I’d see all the other pictures of her at two years old and get caught up in a wave of nostalgia and the passage of time and P would find me in the morning, passed out with a photo album clutched to my chest with dried tears on my cheeks.

    When she first got that little bike she could barely reach the pedals, but eventually grew into it and was completely happy to pedal around with training wheels. The thing is, we don’t really live on a bike-friendly street. There aren’t cul-de-sacs or endless sidewalks like we had when I was little. Not to mention that the world doesn’t seem as safe as it used to back in the days when I would hop on my bike and ride the eight blocks to the pool wearing just my swimsuit with a towel wrapped around my neck.

    (Was there really a time when I was so confident that I felt free to ride a bike wearing only a swimsuit? Because that sounds like a scenario that I might have nightmares about tonight.)

    When she started first grade last year we realized it was probably time for her to learn to ride a two-wheeled bike. We pulled the little bike out, took off the training wheels and discovered that KIDS GROW over the course of four years and the bike had become a wee bit small.

    Mimi and Bops bought her a new bike that Christmas and I began last year with a renewed determination to teach her to ride it. It lasted for about two minutes, which is how long it took me to realize that she viewed riding a two-wheeled bike as an activity comparable in danger to feeding live sharks while wearing a suit made of tuna.

    The bike issue didn’t come up again until about a month ago. I knew that most of her friends had left their training wheels behind and began to encourage her it was time to do the same, especially if she wanted to participate in the Bike Rodeo this year. I picked her up from school one day and told her I was going to teach her to ride her bike.

    The whole thing went very differently in my head. In short, the “lesson” lasted approximately four minutes before I decided I was not mentally or emotionally equipped to teach my daughter how to ride a bike. Largely because she said, “I DON’T WANT YOU TO TEACH ME HOW TO RIDE A BIKE” and I may have had to put my head between my knees and count backwards from ten.

    When P came home from work that day I handed him a Xanax and told him the good news. He was now solely in charge of Caroline’s bike riding lessons.

    And that’s when it got serious.

    He took the pedals off her bike and began to teach her how to keep her balance. But she had a total mental block. She was so afraid she might fall that she couldn’t make herself balance. I told P that I had NO IDEA where she gets her ability to get so worked up over something that hasn’t even happened yet. NO IDEA.

    She said she wanted to be in the Bike Rodeo but would just ride her scooter instead. We explained they don’t allow scooters because it’s not a Scooter Rodeo. She said she’d wait until she was eight to learn to ride her bike. She said it was too cold outside to practice. Or too hot outside to practice. The Bike Rodeo form came home in her folder and I threw it away. I did. I’m a betting girl by nature and my money was on the bike to win this round.

    (I’m not really a betting girl by nature. I don’t even know what that means.)

    Sunday afternoon P came in and announced it was time to practice on the bike. And she said she didn’t want to. But he said she had to learn sometime and today was as good a day as any.

    And so the bike-riding lesson began.

    I don’t think I can do this.

    Are you letting go? Don’t let go. Are you letting go?

    I’m scared.

    Wait. Am I doing it?

    I’m doing it! My streamers are whipping in the breeze just like God intended.

    She is so proud of herself. And we are so proud of her. It was a big day.

    And I might have cried a little.

    P was proud of himself too. He took a celebratory lap.

    Just like The Bandit. He did what they said couldn’t be done. The purple Schwinn Dee-Lite did not beat him.

    (If I ever write a book I want that picture to be on the cover.)

    When I tucked Caroline into bed last night she was reliving the glory and said, “Mama? I know how to ride my bike now, don’t I?”

    “You sure do! I’m so proud of you!”

    “All I have to do now is learn not to be afraid of the dark and I’ll be finished with all my little kid stuff.”

    And then I might have cried a little again.

    And reminded myself to pick up a new form for the Bike Rodeo.

  • Fashion Friday: Edition it’s beginning to look a lot like springtime

    I know y’all probably think you have problems, but you have no idea what I’ve been through this week. The temperatures have been in the high 70’s every single afternoon. To make matters worse, the mornings start off in the high 50’s with precipitation that won’t commit to being full on rain, but is instead somewhere between a drizzle and a mist.

    I think it was Tuesday morning when I had the best of intentions to resume my Couch to 5K regimen (which has become the longest journey to a 5K of all time) when I looked out the window and remarked, “Oh, that is actually drizzle I can see. I can’t run in that.”

    Clearly I am very committed to my fitness goals.

    Anyway, the problem with the warm weather is it’s February. Which is technically still winter. And it’s hard to know how to dress in a seasonally appropriate fashion without wanting to die by noon when the sun comes out. Such is my plight as a Texan. I should be used to it by now considering I’ve lived here my entire life.

    I’ve been meaning to share the links to a few of my favorite fashion bloggers and today seems like a good day to do it.

    First up, is Kendi at Kendi Everyday. My friend, Amy, told me about Kendi a few months ago and I’ve been reading her blog ever since. She is a fellow Texan and posts daily photos of herself in various outfits. While I cannot totally replicate her cute, funky twenty-something style (mainly because I am not a cute, funky twenty-something but rather a late thirty-something) I love seeing the outfits she puts together and how she uses colors in ways I wouldn’t normally think about. She inspires me to think outside the box.

    Secondly, is Lindsey’s style column, She’s Still Got It. I’ve followed Lindsey from the beginning and she always finds great deals on things and helps me keep up with the latest trends.

    And, lastly, it was through She’s Still Got It that I discovered Rebel Attitude. I adore Edurne’s sense of style and her use of scarves and the way she layers things and puts the whole look together. She lives in Spain and is impossibly glamorous, but she puts clothes together in ways that I could totally imitate if I’ll take a shower and get out of my workout attire.

    In other news, here are a few things I like right now.

    1. Merona Striped Tote

    I walked in Target earlier this week and this tote stopped me in my tracks. It comes in a pink or black stripe and both are equally adorable. There’s no way to choose.

    It took everything in me not to buy one right then because it would make the best pool bag. I reminded myself it’s absurd to buy a pool bag in February. But now I’m worried they might sell like hotcakes and I probably need to make the long journey, with six extra stoplights, back to Target to get one.

    2. tall full needle cardigan

    There’s a girl in my Bible study who has a great sense of style and she had on an orange cardigan the other day. I don’t even remember what else she had on with it, but I saw that orange cardigan and felt like my life may not be complete if I don’t get one.

    Banana is calling this one autumn sunset. Whatever. It looks orange to me.

    3. linen-blend tunic

    Oh, now this, this is my springtime love language. I can just envision this tunic with a pair of cuffed jeans and my silver flip-flops.

    4. drifting sprigs tee

    Floral prints are big right now. HUGE. Floral, floral, floral.

    And I’ll be honest, I don’t know how I feel about floral. It can take a quick leap to Mamaw’s bedspread for me. But I love this shirt because it’s floral-y without being too precious.

    5. sunny safari blouse

    See how the springtime has just sucked me in? And I guarantee we still have at least one more freeze in front of us.

    I think this top would be darling with white jeans. Or blue jeans. Or a skirt. I don’t know how I feel about that elastic at the waist, but it could be covered with a cute skinny belt.

    6. teelicious roll sleeve hoodie

    I’m all about orange right now. This looks deliciously soft and comfortable. Or teeliciously soft and comfortable.

    7. working daze seersucker tunic

    This would be so great with leggings. I love the collar and the sleeves.

    8. milly antonia coat

    Umm, so this coat is WAY out of my budget. WAY.

    But if someone could find me the $50 version of it, I would be much obliged. Check out the buttons. ADORE.

    9. kissing birds ring

    So this is kind of funky and different, but it appeals to me.

    10. navy striped polo

    The other big trend for spring? Navy and white stripes. You know why I just wrote it that way with the question mark? Because I couldn’t decide if it should be “are navy and white stripes” or “is navy and white stripes”.

    This polo shirt is a perfect way to incorporate the trend into your closet and, best of all, it’s on sale for $11.99.

    That’s it for today.

    Y’all have a great Friday.