Other

Yesterday I wore boots and jeans even though it was about 85 degrees outside. And I didn’t even regret it until about 4:00 p.m. when Caroline and I were standing in the local pumpkin patch while she agonized over which pumpkin was “just right”. You know which one is just right? The one you can find before your mother has a heat stroke.

And so I immediately came home and changed into shorts and flip-flops. Because as much as I want to dress like it’s the end of October, the heat ultimately forces me to dress like it’s the middle of July.

However, that didn’t stop me from picking a lot of cardigans for this week’s Fashion Friday.

1. hug me hoodie

This hoodie comes in a bunch of cute colors and has great reviews claiming it to be super soft. Sign me up.

2. bobeau long open front cardigan

I love a long open front cardigan. This one looks great and is reasonably priced.

3. gray leopard print scarf

I like the twist of this leopard print in shades of gray. Would look great with black or gray jeans.

4. the good tuft cardigan

I really like this color. I could wear it with my gray jeans and the scarf up above.

5. draped crusader cardigan

Just loved the colors in this. And it’s a cardigan.

6. eclipsed stripe cardigan

And yet another cardigan. But look at the stripes! Plus everything on sale at Anthropologie is an extra 25% off with code EXTRAEXTRA at checkout.

7. del mar tunic

This is another sale item at Anthropologie. It comes in several different colors and would be great by itself or layered under sweaters or jackets. It’s on sale for $29.95 plus 25% off. I’d do the math for you but I spent the evening trying to help Caroline figure out mass, density and volume and I have no brain left because it leaked out of my ears sometime around 7:15 p.m.

8. blank NYC faux leather jacket

I’ve been searching for a great black leather jacket because WWFD? (What would Fonzie do?) This one has great reviews and I love the look. It’s $98.

9. old navy crew neck cardigans

Old Navy is having a huge sale right now to celebrate their 20th anniversary. I can’t believe Old Navy has been around twenty years. Anyway, these cardigans come in a ton of colors and range in price from $24 to $11.99 depending on the color you want.

10. gap fit breathe long-sleeve stripe hoodie

I’m such a fan of these Gap hoodies and I love this stripe one. It comes in gray or black and is on sale for $33.71 which is the most random price in the world.

That’s it for today.

It also happens to be my dad’s birthday and it feels appropriate that I should mention that on Fashion Friday since he supported my fashion habit for many years. Happy Birthday, Bops!

Have a good Friday.

You know what happens when you go to bed at midnight and wake up at 5:00?

It looks a lot like dark circles under your eyes and maybe putting your cell phone in the refrigerator by accident.

I actually jumped out of bed as soon as the alarm went off and managed to pretend like I was well-rested until I was on my flight from Dallas to San Antonio and began to do the embarrassing head bob as I tried to stay awake.

My dad picked me up from the airport and I came home long enough to unpack before I met Gulley for lunch. I realize I could have used that time to nap but Gulley and I hadn’t been able to go to lunch or spend any real time together in over a week and it felt important that we catch up. Then I ran with her to a costume store to look for a Halloween costume.

This is where I have to admit something. I hate costume stores. Especially at Halloween. I am what some people in the industry like to call a big ‘ol fraidy cat and I do not care for the bloody masks and unattached limbs and creepy dolls and OH THE CLOWNS. The clowns are the worst.

Caroline hasn’t inherited my dislike of creepy things as evidenced by the fact she wanted to wrap one of her baby dolls in the fake spider web on our front porch last year. I blame her father.

Anyway, we didn’t find what Gulley was looking for and so I suggested we make our way to Target to see what they had there. I honestly did to go for the sole purpose of helping Gulley find a costume, but once we were there I realized I had a shopping list in my purse of all the things I forgot to buy when I went to the grocery store on Monday. And so I grabbed a basket and Gulley asked, “Did you just trick me into going grocery shopping with you?”

Yes. Maybe I did. I prefer to call it multi-tasking.

But it’s not like we haven’t grocery shopped together before, so we made our way to the costume aisle and researched costumes before I picked up sugar, dog bones, kashi bars and double stuff Oreos. It may seem like none of those items fall in the category of essential but the people and dogs who live in my house would beg to differ with you.

I picked up Caroline from school and she announced she had a lot of math homework. Fortunately it was multiplying and dividing decimals which is one of the few mathematical skills I can actually help with but she didn’t end up needing my help and I am forever grateful.

Especially since I am so tired that I forgot to buy trash bags even though they were on my list and kept my cell phone chilled in the freezer for the better part of thirty minutes before I realized it was missing.

Which is why I’m putting myself to bed right this minute.

Well I’m sitting in bed in a hotel room in Wichita, Kansas right now. And I’m flying home at 6:45 a.m. and will be back in San Antonio by 10:30 a.m. At which time I will get the opportunity to quote Dorothy Gale and declare “I have a feeling I’m not in Kansas anymore”.

Obviously I’m excited about this.

I meant to write something yesterday but it turned into a Monday and got busier than I’d planned and next thing I knew it was 9:45 at night and I was sitting down on the couch for the first time all day. I blame the Aggie football team.

Not really. Just a little joke because I blamed them for a lot of things most of the weekend.

The truth is I had a speaking thing that morning and then had to go to HEB because we were out of almost everything, particularly soup. Caroline is on a soup kick right now and so all she wants in her lunch box every day is soup and I was scraping the bottom of the soup barrel on Monday morning with that last bit of tomato soup I had left in the refrigerator. And so I stocked up on all manner of soups along with milk and coffee and other things that were written on the list I left sitting on the counter at home.

Sadly, I forgot to buy sugar. Mainly because I didn’t know we were almost out of sugar until I was making a cinnamon cake later that evening and used the last 1/2 cup of sugar we had left.

Is it just me or is this possibly the most boring post I’ve ever written? Why don’t I just post my grocery store list? It would be equally fascinating.

Anyway, I cooked dinner and then Caroline got home from soccer practice and I fed her dinner and then I fed the puppies dinner because they still have to have a mealtime chaperone or everyone gets a little testy. By the time everyone was fed, showered and in bed it was 9:45 and I had a slight headache and managed to stay up for fifteen minutes before I headed to bed.

I’m neglecting to tell you I cooked beef stroganoff for dinner because I didn’t want to bore you with meaningless details but I realize it’s too late for that so I’m going all in on the unnecessary information.

Tuesday morning I dropped Caroline off at school, came home and finished packing for my trip to Wichita, caught my flight to Houston and then got on a plane that was smaller than a bug I killed one time to get here. It was as relaxing as you might think, especially when you factor in that I was seated next to a man with very broad shoulders.

On the upside, I bought two different magazines with Taylor Swift on the cover and I am now fully caught up on her life in New York and all her gal pals and how she has spent the last couple of years choosing to love herself. It’s very much like that episode of 90210 when Kelly chooses herself over Brandon and Dylan. Although hopefully Taylor won’t find herself in love with a troubled artist who’s addicted to drugs the way Kelly Taylor did.

Then I landed in Wichita and spoke to a really sweet group of women and now I’m in my hotel room. I guess I should probably go to sleep since I have to be up in about six hours. And I need to be rested if I’m going to be able to stay awake to catch up on all my celebrity news on the flight home.

Remember back when the Aggies had a good football team?

Yes. Me neither.

Thankfully, I had Sophie to help me process my emotions and come to the conclusion that I will now focus all my cheering energy on the Aggie women’s soccer team. We also discuss our love of the SEC Wives show and other various topics.

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

Or, as always, you can subscribe on iTunes.

I seriously don’t know how we’re over halfway finished with October. It was like I looked at my calendar and all of a sudden realized all kinds of things that seemed forever away are now here. It didn’t help that I ran in Lowe’s the other day and found myself face to face with Christmas trees and a giant inflatable Santa.

But I’m going to think about that tomorrow. Right now I just need to concentrate on buying some pumpkins to put on my front porch before I look up and Halloween is over.

Also, just a quick reminder that you have until October 31 to send me a picture of you and your best friend or friends. If you missed the details, you can click on this post to read all about it.

Here are some cute things I’ve found this week:

1. layered shift dress

I’ve been looking at dresses this week because it dawned on me that I really have no dresses in my closet and there may come a time than I need a dress. This one also comes in red or black and has great reviews.

2. steve madden ponderosa suede boots

Love the simple style of these boots. They come in taupe, gray or black.

3. olivia moon long cardigan

Super cute cardigan that’s perfect for throwing on over a t-shirt. It’s on sale for $29.40 and comes in a cream stripe, mushroom and wine.

4. risen sun sweater dress

I saw this in the new Anthropologie catalog and it drew me in. But I thought it was a poncho-type thing. Apparently it’s a dress. I don’t know how I feel about that, but I really want to try it on and see for myself because I think it has potential.

5. spacedye swing tunic

This is for sure a winner. Look how cute the back of it is! Depending on how you feel, you could wear it by itself or over leggings. It comes in moss, navy and wine.

6. old navy quilted vest

Old Navy has these quilted vests on sale for $20.

7. indian print bell sleeve dress

I think this would be really cute over skinny jeans and boots.

8. black-knit faux wrap dress

Banana Republic has a bunch of dresses on sale for $48. This is one of my favorites.

9. loft two in one top

I’ve always loved a shirt layered under a sweater and it’s even better when it comes as all one-piece. This is 40% off right now along with a bunch of other tops at Loft.

10. cable sweater dress

I don’t know if this is long enough to actually be a dress, but it does look really great with leggings and a scarf with boots. It also comes in other colors.

That’s it for today.

Have a great Friday.

Yesterday morning I took Caroline to school a little bit early because I had to help her carry in some things for a project that was due. It was necessary for us to arrive early because heaven forbid any more of her peers than necessary should find out she has a mother.

It also warmed my heart that she asked me over breakfast if I could “look better than your normal morning self”.

We managed to get everything dropped off in her Social Studies classroom and she even hugged me discreetly in the hallway before I walked back to the car. When I got home I fed the puppies which is an event unto itself because everyone thinks everybody else has something better in their bowl. It’s basically twenty minutes of shenanigans where I occasionally have to command “EAT! EAT YOUR FOOD!” and threaten to pick up their dish. It’s only when there is an imminent threat of no breakfast that they become interested in breakfast.

After I finished with all the nonsense of the morning, I made myself a perfect cup of coffee and sat down on the couch to catch up on email and daily news and maybe People.com because I feel that it is important to be well-rounded and you never know when J.Lo’s weekend visit to the pumpkin patch with her kids might be the topic of conversation. I’d hate to be uninformed.

All the while, the puppies are barking at people walking by our house like it’s their job. Mabel, in particular, runs laps around the back yard every morning, pausing only momentarily to get a quick drink of water lest she miss something like the same eighty-year-old man who walks by with his Bassett Hound every morning. Oh sure, he may look harmless but Mabel seems to sense he might be a threat.

My point is that I should have realized earlier that it got much too quiet. Puppies are much like toddlers in that silence is a pretty good indicator that there is some tomfoolery afoot. But, frankly, I was like Simon and Garfunkel and enjoying the sound of silence.

It finally dawned on me that it was way too peaceful and so I glanced out on the back porch to check on the dogs. Scout was sleeping under the bench like he always does, but the puppies were nowhere to be found. However, I did see a large piece of something white that looked like stuffing.

That’s weird. Stuffing? But there isn’t anything stuffed in our backyard. In fact, thanks to the puppies there is hardly anything in our backyard except for dead grass and mud.

Oh. And the target Caroline uses for archery practice.

That used to be filled with stuffing.

But it was clearly a menace and they killed it dead.