Other

That’s right.

This weekend is the bi-annual torture known as messing with the clocks. It truly is one of the most pointless things in the world. And the saving grace for me is that it coincides with our Spring Break so I won’t feel the immediate loss of that hour. Even still, it makes me feel angry.

Thank you for listening.

Now for some fashion to make us feel better:

1. gifted at graphics bag

This is a really cute bag. I love the bold print.

2. edme hoops

I’ve been in the market for some hoop-type earrings that aren’t just basic hoops. I really like these and they’re on sale right now.

3. carrefour jacquard cardigan

I love sweaters like this to transition from winter to spring. You could wear this over a long-sleeve top or just a tank when it warms up.

4. verda maxi dress

I’ve featured this dress before and I absolutely adore it. And it comes in basic black if you prefer something simpler. Either way, Anthropologie is currently 20% off all their dresses which makes this one $134.40.

I didn’t do that math myself. It was already on the website.

5. josephine wedge

I tried these on the other day and they were so comfortable. In fact, I may be a little in love with them. And not just because the wooden heel is reminiscent of a Yo-Yo but without the hole.

6. sandra wedge espadrille

Mark my words, the espadrille is going to be big this year. It’s everywhere. All espadrille, all the time.

And if you don’t like a heel, there is always the flat version like these sabine espadrille flats that come in a bunch of colors but are super cute in the stripes.

All this talk of espadrille made me reminisce about the first time I fell in love with an espadrille, probably sometime around 1982. In fact, the only shoes I ever loved more might have been my jelly shoes or perhaps the huaraches.

And this train of thought led me down a rabbit trail where I searched for huaraches and, lo and behold, look what Gap has available right now. The huaraches.

Oh Gap. You kill me.

7. old navy mesh knit sweater

These mesh sweaters at Old Navy are cute and come in a bunch of colors. It’s another great transitional piece for this time of year. Unless of course you currently can’t leave your house for all the snow. In that case, it will be perfect for maybe June.

8. pam breeze-ly tunic in green

Just in case you need something for St. Patrick’s Day.

9. gap girlfriend jeans

I featured these a few weeks ago, but thought some of you may have missed them. Plus, I really struggled to find things this week. It’s a weird time of year.

10. j.crew pom pom tunic

I know. A swimsuit coverup. What on earth? One day I’m talking about snow and today I’m posting a swimsuit coverup. Listen, just consider yourself prepared.

This also comes in white with blue trim and I think you’ll be thrilled to have it when summer gets here.

Have a good Friday.

On Sunday night I received an email from Caroline’s science teacher informing us that they would be beginning a study of geology in her class and that a mini-model of the earth’s layers would be due by Friday. She specified it shouldn’t be bigger than a shoebox and that we couldn’t make it out of clay, styrofoam or food, otherwise known as all the ways you can find to make a mini-model of the earth when you search for it on Pinterest.

So I did what most mothers would do and poured myself a glass of wine.

I tried to feign enthusiasm over the whole thing and be like Esqueleto from Nacho Libre and say, “I don’t know why you always have to be judging me because I only believe in science.” Then I consulted Twitter to ask for ideas on how to build a model of the earth’s layers using nothing but duct tape and old fashioned ingenuity. People mentioned papier mache’ and origami and egg cartons and this is why I love the internet because the people of Twitter clearly believe I am a better person than what I actually am because papier mache’.

And so after school today, Caroline and I went to Target to look for various materials that might comprise a totally recyclable model of the earth’s layers and then we worked on it for an amount of time that caused me to put my head between my knees before I blacked out. Which is why I am currently rewarding myself with a few Oreos and watching Rocky III with P. Because I pity the other fools who are also helping their children make models of the earth’s layers. Also, because P is in charge of the remote control right now.

But he did watch the season finale of Downton Abbey with me earlier this week which, for him, ranks somewhere between gum surgery and the ballet. I personally adored the entire episode, but he mentioned the next day that he found the whole thing depressing and I told him I found that surprising because I thought it was a very upbeat episode. He said, “What part of that was upbeat? The servants who get to celebrate Christmas by getting to come upstairs and have a drink with the rich people? Maybe they want to be home with their families instead of listening to Lady What’s-Her-Face sing Christmas Carols.”

Yes. Maybe so.

In other news, it looks like our chances of snow and/or wintry mix are decreasing by the moment. Caroline did go to sleep with her pajamas inside out but I hated to tell her that the only way she was going to wake up to snow in the morning is if she catches a flight to Colorado. But Friday is our last day of school before Spring Break so I don’t feel too bad for her, especially considering how many days of school she’s already missed in the last six weeks due to various viruses and fevers.

Although it would be fun to build a snowman like Elsa and Anna, I’m really just ready for some sunshine. I can’t remember the last sunny day and our backyard has turned into a giant pit of mud. There is mud everywhere and I feel certain my floors will never be clean again, nor will the floorboards in my car. It’s just all mud, all the time.

Which I guess might have counted as a recyclable layer in our model of the earth’s layers, but it’s too late now.

First, let me just tell you that there is a (small) (minuscule) (probably almost infinitesimal) chance that we could get some snow late Wednesday night and early Thursday morning and I happened to see it because P and I are big weather nerds who regularly check the forecast like three times a day. And then I casually mentioned this chance of snow and Caroline happened to overhear and, bottom line, if it doesn’t snow then winter is DEAD TO HER. It’s all been for naught and one huge disappointment. Winter will become like the valedictorian of a senior class who opts to backpack across Europe instead of taking that scholarship from Harvard.

Never mind that we live in South Texas and it only snows here about once every twenty years. She isn’t interested in “facts” or “weather history”. She just wants the cold, white stuff on the ground. Preferably enough to cancel school.

And I hate to tell her the odds of that happening are about as good as Starbucks agreeing to deliver a fresh, hot latte to me every morning.

Anyway, I’m super excited because I have an awesome store to share with you AND a giveaway. I first discovered Milk and Honey Tees when Mandy emailed me to ask if she could send me a “God Bless Texas” tee.

Um. OF COURSE YOU CAN.

It has quickly become one of my favorite tees in my regular t-shirt rotation because it meets my two biggest criteria for t-shirt perfection.

1. It’s really cute.

2. It is softer than pajamas.

So I began to follow her on Instagram and that’s when I saw this camo tee.

Well. I knew that Caroline and I would both need one. And they are as cute as I imagined they would be.

Here’s the great thing about Milk and Honey Tees – 15% of their proceeds go to a different charity each month and for the month of March the chosen charity is PATH – Partners Against Trafficking Humans. So you can buy cute t-shirts and know you’re contributing to an important cause.

These are just a few of the shirts you can order.

And because they are so awesome, Milk and Honey Tees is giving away two t-shirts to one of you. One of the camo tees and one of the state tees in whatever state happens to be near and dear to your heart. All you have to do for a chance to enter is leave a comment on this post – maybe let me know what state you’d choose – and I will leave comments open until Sunday and choose a winner at random and then notify them by email.

Good luck and happy shopping.

I’m sitting here on the couch and P has on a fishing show called Wicked Tuna because he obviously doesn’t appreciate that it’s the season finale of Downton Abbey tonight. And what’ more important? Whether a group of men reel in a giant tuna or if the Dowager Countess runs off the Russian prince?

I think we know my answer to that question.

And this weekend has been such a blur that I just asked Caroline what we did this weekend. She said, “Remember? Gulley and the boys came over? And we ate dinner and then stayed in our pajamas all day yesterday?”

Yep. That about sums it up.

Thanks for reading.

On Friday I was just thankful that my cough was finally down to manageable levels and I was beginning to feel better and that Caroline had made it through an entire week of school without an illness. So we celebrated by having Gulley and the boys come over for dinner and to hang out. P was at the ranch because it was, HALLELUJAH, the last weekend of hunting season and Gulley’s husband was at the rodeo.

The weather was cold and rainy and so we opted to just hang out at my house. I made homemade mac and cheese for our dinner with brownies for dessert. Basically, the perfect meal if you completely disregard the food pyramid and all nutritional experts. Gulley and I also had wine but I read recently that a glass of red wine is the health equivalent of spending an hour at the gym and so we’re just doing our part to ensure our cardiovascular health.

Sadly, I was up with Piper and Mabel by 7:00 on Saturday morning because Mabel lives by the old adage of “early to bed, early to rise, makes a dog healthy, wealthy and wise”. But because it was cold and rainy, they had no interest in actually going outside for any amount of time and we spent most of the morning curled up together while I enjoyed my coffee and watching some old episodes of Friday Night Lights. True story: I cry every time the Panthers win state at the end of the first season and I’ve seen it approximately 463 times.

Around 11:00 a.m. I began to feel concerned that Caroline wasn’t awake yet, but felt I should let her sleep because she’s been so sick and tired recently, when all of a sudden my phone rang and it was her calling me from the bedroom asking if I could bring her something to eat for breakfast. Apparently she’d been up for a while but quite content to stay under the covers and read. This is proof that she possesses at least 50% of my DNA. P would never stay under the covers and read all morning. By 11:00 a.m. most days he has already completed enough things to comprise the to-do lists of eighteen normal people.

But it was the perfect day for it because it remained gray, rainy and cold (Yes, I mean 40 degrees for those of you who think that’s bathing suit weather. My native Texan self salutes you and your fortitude.) We basically did nothing most of the day except read and watch T.V. and try to manage the amount of mud the puppies brought into the house every time they went out to go to the bathroom and give a couple of gratuitous barks at some squirrels trying to nest in the eaves of our roof.

At 5:45, Mimi and Bops came and picked us up to go eat Italian food and it was nice to get out of the house for a little bit. Our strategy was to get to the restaurant early enough to beat the crowd but we still had a twenty minute wait because I guess when it’s a cold, dreary day everyone decides the best thing to do is eat, preferably pizza and pasta.

Caroline and I got back home and immediately returned to our pajamas. And then P finally got home a little before midnight and unloaded all the food and clothes he’s kept at the ranch for the last four months. It was like Cabela’s and HEB threw up in my kitchen and he spent most of the day today washing and sorting through all manner of camo clothing and accessories and trying to get it all organized for next year.

Meanwhile, Caroline had some friends over and I made chocolate chip cookies and listened to screaming and singing and dancing at untold decibel and energy levels. I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. Except for maybe all the purple feathers that I found all over the house from a feather boa that tends to shed when worn by five or six energetic girls in constant motion.

And now P and I are sitting by the fire and I have discovered that a good tuna can bring in as much as $10,000. Which makes me think that might be a more productive way to spend your weekend than staying in your pajamas and eating mac and cheese.

But not nearly as relaxing.

Not much going on here except for my ongoing cough situation and I won’t bore you with all the details of my various cold medicines.

So let’s talk about cute things I’ve seen this week.

1. bright and twirly dress

I love the color and the cute style of this dress. Perfect for spring and summer events if you happen to have any of those on the horizon.

2. ladder stitch tunic

This would be good to wear under a jacket or sweater and then by itself in the warmer months. It also comes in a pale lavender color.

3. twiny slip-on sneakers

Part of me thinks we should just all go for the checkerboard Vans if we’re going back to the slip-on sneaker, but these have a little more polish. They also come in a cute gold color. Super easy to throw on with jeans or shorts.

4. ruffled ottoman dress

This is on sale at Anthro and I think it appears to have real potential to be a great little black dress. But it also comes in blue. Not to mention that everything on sale at Anthropologie is still 25% with code EXTRAEXTRA at checkout.

5. same bold strong dress

How fun is this for summer? Love the bright colors.

6. free people textured lace camisole

I think this is so pretty.

7. freeway espadrille

These come in several different colors and patterns and I think they’re super cute, especially if you’re not sure how you feel about the slip-on sneaker.

8. embroidered placket top

I know I showed this last week but I love it so much. Plus I thought you should know that everything is now an extra 30% off with code HURRYSPRING at checkout.

9. attylie textured blouse

Ok, let me tell you about this top. I would have never paid attention to it online, but I’ve seen it in person and it is so pretty. The detailing at the top is beautiful and I think it would look particularly great with gray jeans.

10. aqua medallian flowy top

I happen to know there are very few of these left in stock. But it’s so pretty and looks so good with white jeans that I had to show it to you. Just know if you want it then you better not think about it for too long.

That’s it for today.

Have a good Friday.

Sophie and I decided to record a podcast this afternoon because she was home all day due to possible snow and I was home because I sound like I need an iron lung and no one really wants that out in public.

If you follow me on Instagram, then you might already know this and we talk about it on the podcast. Several people emailed or tweeted me earlier to let me know The Antelope in the Living Room was a clue on the game show Let’s Make A Deal. I don’t know that being a clue on a game show was on my list of goals necessarily, but I think it’s hilarious.

Thanks to a sweet reader named Meaghan, I actually have a video clip you can watch if you’re interested. I told Sophie that I would have thought someone was playing a joke on me if I’d been watching it live.

IMG 4708 from Big Mama on Vimeo.

We also discuss cough medicine, musicals, wedge sandals, the return of bootcut jeans, Noonday jewelry and gelato.

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

Or, as always, you can subscribe on iTunes.