Other

The only bad part about a three day weekend is when it’s over. I could basically write a sad ballad about the whole thing. Especially because I’ve lost all my want to when it comes to getting us geared up for another week of school.

On Friday we managed to stay in our pajamas until almost noon and then Caroline and I went to meet some friends for lunch and then she went to her friend Emily’s house for a while and then came back here with another friend for the rest of the evening. P was tired after a long work week and so we ate leftovers and I made chocolate chip cookies and homemade mac and cheese for the girls because I believe it’s important to serve a well-balanced meal with all the essential food groups represented. And by essential food groups I mean pasta, cheese and chocolate.

Big thunderstorms came through late Friday night into early Saturday morning which is my absolute favorite type of weather for optimal sleep conditions and when I woke up to the smell of P cooking bacon on Saturday morning I assumed Caroline’s soccer game had been cancelled due to the weather. And I was initially right. P said we’d received an email informing us the fields were too wet and so we ate bacon and biscuits before he and Caroline left to go on a bike ride and watch the Pooch Parade that was going on in our neighborhood as part of Fiesta.

But about five minutes after they left, I checked email and saw that the soccer game was actually back on which meant we needed to regroup and leave for Austin in the next forty-five minutes. So I called my people and told them to head back home where I was getting the gatorade and water and snacks together.

We made the drive to Austin on what turned out to be a gorgeous, hot Saturday afternoon. This was the first game of the season where I had to break out both my baseball cap and my umbrella in an attempt to protect my face from further sun damage. I said this on Instagram on Saturday but one of the things I love about watching Caroline play soccer is the way she isn’t afraid to call for the ball. I was always the kid praying the ball wouldn’t come to me and I love that she goes for it.

(I realize this picture is terrible but when the sun is blazing and you have on a hat, sunglasses and an umbrella, it’s a little hard to even tell if you’re taking a picture.)

Our team lost but the girls played hard considering that it was about as hot as the surface of the sun. The best part was about halfway through the game, Gulley texted me to see if we wanted to come to their house for dinner later that night because Jon was grilling ribs.

Um. YES.

This is what I love about these late spring, almost summer weekends. Getting to hang out and cook outside and just that feeling that life is about to slow down a little bit. (Five weeks of school left! Not that I’m counting down or anything.)

We came home from Austin and all showered then headed over to Gulley’s where the kids played ball out in the yard and the grownups (that’s us) caught up on life and things. It was the perfect way to spend a Saturday night.

Then we went to church Sunday morning before I dropped Caroline off at a friend’s house for a birthday party. The bottom line is her social calendar is much busier than ours. And then I decided to spend my Sunday afternoon being productive and began to clean out the bathroom cabinets in the master bath because I was tired of knocking six things to the floor every time I reached for my hairspray. So I grabbed a large trash bag and threw out self-tanner that expired two years ago along with various vitamins I bought with good intentions but apparently not enough motivation because they were also expired. There was cough syrup that had seen better days, prescriptions that were so faded I couldn’t tell what they were and so many beauty product samples that I made myself accept I clearly wasn’t that interested since they’d never been used.

And then there was this discovery.

If you need a Band-Aid of any variety, we have you covered.

I’m not sure when I became a Band-Aid hoarder but I suspect it’s been a while based on my extensive collection. We take our wound care seriously around here. The irony is that there was a time when Caroline was a toddler when I couldn’t find a Band-Aid if my life depended on it because she had a tendency to use them all as body art.

So I did my best to consolidate our Band-Aid collection into a few manageable categories, threw out some nail polish that had seen better days, and then tried to arrange everything by function. Body products, face products, healthcare products, medications, makeup and curling irons. Oh and I also threw out my set of hot rollers. I feel this particular act needs a moment of silence.

It just seemed like the right thing to do since I never use them anymore and, should I ever want to go back to hot rollers, I’ll have to put serious thought and consideration into this decision because I’ll have to actually drive to the store and purchase a new set.

Once the bathroom was cleaned out, I moved on to my jewelry and threw out necklaces that hadn’t seen the light of day since the late 1990’s. Honestly, I can’t believe I hadn’t done this sooner because I’m so serious about my closet organization yet I’d totally neglected my jewelry and there were some pieces that needed to go. I made a big pile to take to Goodwill and then re-organized according to color, style, and what makes sense in my head.

Finally, (I’m so sorry that this is never-ending, but you know how I love a good clean out. I wouldn’t write this much if I’d finished a triathlon or War and Peace this weekend.) I moved into Caroline’s closet which I believe I just cleaned out not that long ago but she keeps growing and none of her shoes fit anymore and there were several things I kept leaving in her closet hoping she’d wear and I have finally given up. That darling peasant top with the embroidery? She’s never going to put it on.

Then I put things into piles to be thrown out or donated and now feel like I’ve accomplished enough to carry me through at least the next month. Even though I do feel like the pantry and the kitchen cabinets are mocking me which means their day might be coming soon if I get another burst of productivity.

And so that was our weekend. Hope yours was good.

Today is actually a holiday in San Antonio called Battle Of Flowers which is all part of the annual Fiesta celebration here. There’s a big parade and everything but what the holiday means for me is that there’s a good chance I’m still in my pajamas while you’re reading this. And maybe you’re thinking that’s not possible because you’re reading this on Friday night. Which probably just means that I changed out of my original pajamas into new pajamas.

I can’t even tell you how excited I am to have a weekend of not much except Caroline’s soccer game on Saturday. Maybe we’ll even go to Bed, Bath and Beyond if there’s time.

Before we get to the fashion portion of today, I do have plans to work on a Mother’s Day Gift Guide to send out as part of my email newsletter next week. If you haven’t subscribed already, just fill in your email at the top of this post where it says you can subscribe. I promise all you’ll get is an occasional newsletter from me that I plan to fill with all kinds of special offers and freebies and other content that’s separate from what I write here on the blog.

And now for the real reason you’re here.

1. open stitch fringe pullover top

This is at Piperlime. And here’s something you may not know, Piperlime is closing shop at the end of April so they are having a crazy sale right now.

2. dancette knit dress

Every time I’ve walked in Anthropologie in the last month, this dress has caught my eye. I love a good knit dress that’s easy to throw on and requires little to no maintenance. Plus, all sale items and dresses are currently 20% off.

3. coral garden maxi dress

Speaking of Anthropologie dresses, THIS. It is not cheap. In fact, it is the opposite of cheap. But it is so incredibly stunning that I gasped audibly when I saw it in person. And it’s included in the 20% off sale.

I have nowhere to wear a dress of this magnitude, but maybe you do.

4. tie front tee

This is another Piperlime item which means it’s $29.97.

Here’s something you may not know about me. I love to tie a shirt at my waist. There was about a five year period in the 90’s where I tied every shirt I could but then that look went out of style and I was adrift at sea.

The truth is I probably continued to tie shirts much longer than I should have because I couldn’t bear to let it go. It was just such a simple solution to the tuck-in problem, by which I mean that I hate to tuck shirts in.

5. sam edelman reid wedge sandal

I saw these at Nordstrom yesterday and thought they were cute. Not to high and a good solution to add a little height with out the discomfort of a higher heel.

6. zella work it pants

I bought some pants like this earlier this spring and every time I wear them (which is often) P likes to ask me if I’m about to show him my sweet breakdance moves. HE WISHES.

And he can mock me all he wants but they are supremely lightweight and comfortable and I adore them. If that makes me a breakdancer wannabe then so be it. The heart wants what it wants.

7. skates one to know one tee

I am a sucker for a baseball tee and this one is even better for summer because it has those cute short sleeves. I can totally see this with denim shorts and a pair of converse.

8. echo swimsuit coverup

I discovered last summer that Zappos is a great place to look for a swimsuit coverup. This is just one example of what they have but there is a huge selection of colors and styles and various prices.

9. barrington st. anne tote with monogram stripe

How cute are these Barrington totes with a monogram stripe? I’d order one if I could quit playing around on their website and decide on which pattern and color combos I like the best. It’s become a hobby.

Best of all, they have a Mother’s Day promotion going on right now where you can get 10% off any purchase with the code MAMA10 at checkout.

10. j.crew pocket tank dress

These pocket tank dresses are so cute and would be great worn alone or thrown over a swimsuit. Plus, you can get an extra 30% off everything with the code ADDITUP at checkout.

That’s it for today.

Have a great Friday.

Well I had no idea that one of the keys to your collective hearts is a discussion involving a 1970’s sitcom. The comments on yesterday’s post about One Day At A Time were priceless. One of you even remembered the message Ann, Barbara and Julie left on their answering machine to which I can only say YOU ARE MY PEOPLE. Stay tuned for next week when we talk about What’s Happenin? or, even better, Too Close For Comfort.

Here are just a few quick things for today:

1. Nobody’s Cuter Than You

Maybe you’ve heard I have a new book out. Can’t remember if I’ve mentioned it.

Just a reminder that you still have until Friday to enter the bookstore photo contest. You can read all the details here to find out how you can enter and about the fabulous array of prizes.

Also, it appears that after a couple of glorious days of being in stock on Amazon, it’s out again. But you can find it online here at Barnes & Noble.

Thank you so much for how much love and support you’ve shown already. It means so much to me and I am so grateful that it’s made us all hug our girl friends a little tighter.

2. Why Women Need Each Other

Speaking of, there was an excerpt from the book on Ann Voskamp’s blog yesterday. You can read it here.

3. Shut up and Dance

Gulley’s mom posted this on Facebook yesterday and I’ve watched it about thirty-five times. I dare you to watch it and not be in a better mood.

That’s it for today.

See you tomorrow for Fashion Friday.

I made Caroline her eggs yesterday before the STAAR test so if she doesn’t get great scores it won’t be due to a lack of a nutritional breakfast. And then I did a bunch of stuff around the house before I met Gulley for lunch. We have a standing Tuesday lunch date and yesterday we chose to meet at Cappy’s. I ordered a cup of gumbo and this kale salad with a lemon vinaigrette and dried cherries that was absolutely delicious and it confirmed something for me that I’ve suspected for a long time.

I could really benefit from a personal chef.

No. Don’t argue with me. It’s true.

Because if I had a personal chef I’d eat more kale. And I realize I could try to imitate this kale salad at home but it wouldn’t be the same. Especially because most of the recipes I see for kale salad involve massaging the kale to soften it up and, frankly, that sounds more involved than I want to be.

The bottom line is I’d eat a lot healthier if I had someone to cut up some fruits and vegetables for me and arrange them in an attractive manner on a platter. This might help me choose a better snack alternative than a square of raw Nestle Ultimate Chocolate Chip cookie dough.

And I’m guessing it would also make my family happy because you can only declare that it’s TACO NIGHT so many times before everyone starts to suspect that maybe you’re just phoning it in.

Speaking of tacos, I was driving Caroline to soccer practice earlier this evening down a street called Nacogdoches here in town. For those of you who are unfamiliar, Nacogdoches is pronounced Naco-doches. The “g” is silent. And so I was delighted to see that right on Nacogdoches is a new Mexican restaurant called Taco Doches. I’m going to make plans to eat there just because I am a fan of a clever name.

Anyway, I got home from taking Caroline to practice and was catching up with P when he all of a sudden picked up my set of car keys and asked, “What on earth are all these keys for?”

“Um. I don’t know. Like Gulley’s house and my dad’s house and our house.”

He looked at it again and said, “Well that’s three keys. You have over twenty on this keychain.”

Why do people want to judge other’s choices?

So I replied, “Well, I’m not sure what they all go to but I don’t want to throw them out because what if it turns out to be a key I need?”

P shook his head, “I just don’t understand why you’d carry around all these keys that don’t have a purpose.”

“Maybe it’s because I want to be like Schneider.”

“Who’s Schneider?”

I looked at him incredulously, “What do you mean ‘who’s Schneider?’ SCHNEIDER. FROM ONE DAY AT A TIME.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

So I explained that Schneider was the building superintendent for Ann Romano and her two daughters, Barbara and Julie, while P just looked at me. I exclaimed, “How can you not remember that show? Valerie Bertinelli was on it. Remember? She married Eddie Van Halen? And Mackenzie Phillips? She had a drug problem? And Schneider wore a denim vest and carried a big ring of keys on his belt!”

Nothing.

Clearly he was busy watching some subpar 1970’s television while I was engrossed in the weekly dynamics of whether Ann Romano and her daughters would make it in the big city.

Then just a little while ago, I pulled up the opening credits to One Day At A Time on Youtube and started playing it. P asked, “What is that?”

“It’s the opening music to One Day At A Time.”

And he looked right at me and asked, “You mean that show with Eddie Van Halen?”

Y’all.

I can’t even.

So I just said, “Yes, the show that starred Eddie Van Halen. And Schneider.”

Please tell me that you remember this.

It will also make me feel better if maybe you know all the lyrics by heart because I totally do. Which is knowledge that has come in so handy over the last thirty-five years.

I woke up yesterday morning and my first thought was “How soon can I go back to bed?”. And so I got Caroline up, dressed and fed and then P took her to school. I sat on the couch with a cup of coffee and managed to stay awake until about 9:30 a.m. and then headed back to bed. I didn’t even feel bad about it.

Well. I didn’t feel bad about it until I laid in bed for an hour and never managed to go back to sleep. So I eventually got up and did my best to get some things done. I ran to the mail store to mail some packages, put some meat out to thaw for dinner, answered a bunch of email and then sat on the couch and read for a while until it was time to go get Caroline from school.

And I’m happy to report I feel about 58% better than I did on Sunday.

Oh. And I also made some homemade banana bread which makes me feel doubly productive because it combines making homemade baked goods with the frugality of not letting three bananas go to waste.

Anyway, the bottom line is that there isn’t anything much to tell around here unless you count that Caroline has the STAAR test over the next two days and has informed me that I need to cook her a healthy, nutritious breakfast. Experience has shown she won’t eat a bite of it, but she apparently believes just the smell of eggs cooking will enhance her test scores.

But I remembered that I’ve never given an update on redecorating Caroline’s room. In fact, it’s been so long since I’ve mentioned it that some of you may have no idea that there was ever such a thing in progress. So yes, Virginia, there is some new decor.

When Caroline was in first grade we painted her room the most shocking lime green you’ve ever seen, like it looked like The Hulk was about to come out due to the constant green glow, and she had my grandmother’s furniture and hot pink bedding. It was a sweet room but pink has really never been her thing and so she asked after Christmas if we could change it. And I agreed it was time to come up with something that better reflected her style.

So the first thing she decided was she wanted to change the walls from shocking lime green to the soft gray that’s in the rest of our house. SOLD. Just that change alone made such a huge difference. And then we bought a new bed, some new bedding, a desk and a chair and a couple of new things to hang on the wall. We still need a rug, a better lamp, and have some shelves to hang. Plus she wants her monogram painted above her bed again and so I guess that will happen eventually. But she loves her new room and I love that my hallway no longer has a lime green glow.

And just in case you want to know, the bed is the Sophie Tufted bed from Overstock.com, the bedding is from PB Teen, the green desk is from World Market, the walls are Revere Pewter by Benjamin Moore, the Have Faith pillow is from 25:40 Love, and the Be Strong & Courageous canvas is from Lindsay Letters.

Feel free to offer any rug suggestions. I’d thought about a gray and white chevron but I’m worried that’s too many patterns competing, yet I hate to just use a solid color because BORING.

Finally in book related news, I’m excited to announce that Nobody’s Cuter Than You is officially back in stock on Amazon and it’s only $10.86 which is the most random price ever. And, for those of you who’ve been asking, I’m officially doing a book signing in College Station on Saturday, May 9th at 11 a.m. at LifeWay.

See you tomorrow when I might have something more interesting to say since I might actually leave my house today.

You know what I just realized as I sat down on my couch and started thinking about what I was going to write about?

That I took NOT EVEN ONE picture this entire weekend.

So the question becomes “If a blogger goes into the woods and doesn’t post a photo on Instagram, did it really happen?” because I was in the woods on Friday night and Saturday morning. Specifically, I was at Crier Creek right outside of Columbus, TX because I was the speaker for the Kingsland Baptist Women’s Retreat.

I invited my sister, Amy, to go with me for the weekend to keep me company and we had the best time. We left San Antonio about 1:00 on Friday and made our way to Columbus with a stop at DQ for a blizzard. This is where I have to tell you that the mini Blizzard has kind of changed my life. I always felt the small Blizzard was just more than I could eat for a road trip snack, but the mini is just sheer perfection. It’s like the tapas version of an ice cream treat.

Once we arrived at Crier Creek, we made our way down the country roads until we arrived at the General Store for check in and to figure out where we were supposed to go. And that’s when the sweet women in charge informed us they’d had a couple of women drop out because they were worried about the tornadoes.

Well.

I’d never wished more that maybe I’d thought to check the weather forecast. Especially when we arrived at the little log cabin where we were staying for the night. It was so quaint and very Little House On the Prairie which you know I’m a sucker for…except in the event of possible tornadic activity. So I began to read the instructions in the Camp Booklet that serve to inform you what you should do in case of a tornado – because apparently this isn’t an uncommon occurrence – and it advised that we should get under a mattress, away from the windows and should under no circumstances stand under a lone tree.

But I still couldn’t help but believe there appeared to be a better than average chance that in the event of a tornado I was going to find myself in a real life reenactment from the Wizard of Oz when Dorothy Gayle finds herself in a flying house.

Fortunately we just had a couple of downpours, some lightning and a few claps of thunder that caused the whole log cabin to shake, but no tornadoes. I spoke at the evening session and then Amy and I went back to our cabin and stayed up way too late talking and hanging out. It had been forever since we’d had that much time together and I loved every minute of it.

I slept like a rock in the log cabin because it had a/c window units and I do love a window unit. It makes a room super cold and provides just the right amount of ambient noise. And I also brought a big oscillating fan from home because I am working on ways to become even more high maintenance about my sleep habits.

On Saturday I spoke a couple more times and loved my time with the women from Kingsland Baptist, then Amy and I headed to Houston because I had a book signing that night at Barnes & Noble. We were originally going to head straight to Bops and Mimi’s house but made a quick detour to Anthropologie because I’d ordered a shirt that I was planning to wear that night but it hadn’t arrived in time.  Plus Amy volunteered to drive around the crowded parking lot while I ran in the store to try it on to see if I wanted to buy it and then return the one that P informed me showed up at our house about fifteen minutes after I left on Friday.  But Amy managed to find a parking place right up front and so we spent a few minutes looking around.  Since you didn’t ask for the epic three-part novella version of this whole fascinating story about a blouse, I’ll tell you that I decided against the shirt on Saturday afternoon but continue to have conflicting feelings about it so I may still end up keeping the one I originally ordered.

Once we arrived at Bops and Mimi’s we visited with them until it was time to get to the book signing. We were about 30 minutes early because my dad always worries about traffic and he felt we needed to leave the house by 6:15 and Mimi believed we could wait until 6:30. And then they compromised on 6:22 because that’s normal, yet we ended up leaving as early as 6:10 because we are apparently all a little compulsive and then sat in the parking lot for about 15 minutes until it was closer to time.

And then I signed books and got to visit with so many fun people. I’d been so tired after the retreat, but totally got my second wind and loved meeting everyone that showed up and catching up with old friends and family that I hadn’t seen in a while.

Remember when I said earlier that I didn’t take one picture this weekend? That’s the truth. But you know what I just did? Stole this picture off my cousin’s Facebook page. Behold the power of technology.

This is Mimi, Bops, Amy and a bunch of our cousins.  It’s sad that I’m the only one who seemed to believe the camera was in a different location.  Well done.

Sometimes I’m not my sharpest after I sign books for a while, as evidenced by the fact that I started to spell my own name wrong before it was all over.

Afterwards we went to go eat a little Italian food before we all went home and crashed.  Then I was up and ready to head home by 9:00 a.m. on Sunday which isn’t normally my way, but I was ready to see my people and have a little bit of downtime before the week started.

As soon as I got home, I unpacked my suitcase because I can’t stand to leave it packed and then did some laundry, swept the floors and went through the mail before I finally sat down on the couch – mainly because I suspected I was so tired that once I sat down I may not be able to get up.  It turns out that my suspicions were correct.

On a totally unrelated note, I just texted Gulley to tell her “Absolutely!” to answer a question she asked and it autocorrected to “Avail Purely!”.  Best of all, she texted me back to tell me she thought I’d come up with a new saying and was going to start using it.

AVAIL PURELY!

And have a great Monday.

Just a quick reminder! Don’t forget about the Nobody’s Cuter Than You bookstore contest. You can find all the details here.