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I flew home from Nashville Sunday morning and boy are my arms tired.

What just happened?

Let that serve as a warning as to my current mental state. I’ve had a lot of fun but I may also be a little tired and punchy.

This is when it would be great to show you a bunch of pictures from my trip and the Dot Mom Conference. Except that I didn’t take a single one. You might think maybe I would have thought to pull out my phone at some point to capture some sort of photographic evidence of my travels, but you would be wrong.

The truth is I am now very familiar with the interior of Long Hollow Baptist Church in Hendersonville, Tennessee since that’s where I spent the bulk of my time. And I will tell you that they have some very comfortable couches located in various rooms of the church.

The conference was a lot of fun and I loved getting to see some old friends and making some new ones. When I got in on Wednesday night I went with several friends to a restaurant in East Nashville that had really good food although I regret to tell you we suffered from some hipster service. Our waitress was darling, but we were clearly the most uncool table in the whole place because no one in our group was wearing a hat and so no one was in a hurry to take our order or let us choose some fresh baked goods from the bread basket. This restaurant will also be forever ingrained in my mind because it is the place where I discovered I could benefit from some reading glasses.

In the last six months or so I’ve noticed I have a harder time reading certain things than I used to, specifically menus in restaurants. But decided it was just some sort of restaurant conspiracy to print menus smaller and use dimmer lighting. So when I squinted and tried to read what type of farm-to-table item I wanted to order for dinner, I was struggling. Sophie noticed and passed me her readers to try. I felt certain that wasn’t the problem because readers are something my grandmother wore and I am much too young. So you can imagine my surprise when I propped them on the end of my nose and immediately read “LEMON BLACK PEPPER AIOLI” with ease.

And so this is my new reality. On the plus side, it opens up a whole new accessory category for me and the possibilities are endless. On the downside, my eyes. They are old. Now I’m just a bathrobe and three rollers in my hair away from yelling at neighborhood kids to stay off my lawn.

While I was away, P took Caroline dove hunting on Friday evening. This was her first time to really go and shoot birds on her own and she turned out to be a natural. P texted me this picture and proudly announced she shot a limit of birds.

I texted him back and said she obviously got her shooting skills from me since I have managed to shoot one and a half birds total in all my dove hunting expeditions. I find it problematic that they fly at a high rate of speed. But a bird’s gonna bird. What are you gonna do?

Mabel and Piper were also very excited about the whole thing.

They want you to know they were exhibiting an enormous amount of self-restraint in this picture and weren’t even awarded a raw bird for their efforts.

On Saturday night after the conference was over, Sophie and I drove over to our friend MK’s house to watch football. I have to explain that MK has this enormous, high-ceilinged screened in porch on the back of her house with a couch and a large T.V. For years we’ve listened to our Nashville friends talk about the joy of watching football on the “magical porch” and, honestly, I’ve felt deprived that I’d never experienced it. But all that has changed.

She picked up some amazing barbecue for us and we all piled on that couch and ate homemade corn cakes while we yelled and cheered and lost our minds over the Mississippi State vs. LSU game. Sophie’s a State girl so she was thrilled and MK and I were thrilled for her until we realized our teams both have to play the Bulldogs later this season. That tempered a little of our enthusiasm at their greatness, but we were still excited for Sophie and totally understood when she had to leave to watch the game in the other room when it looked like LSU might pull out their LSU voodoo in the last ten seconds of the game. I’m telling you. Lord Voldemort in a purple windbreaker.

And then I got home Sunday around 12:30. I walked into a house that was clean and had a candle burning. P had laundry going and Caroline had even vacuumed. I can’t even express my joy about this. It’s like everything in my life had led to that moment. It might have been the high point of the weekend.

We spent the afternoon catching up on all that had been going on. I made a list for the grocery store that makes me know it’s going to be one of those store trips where you almost need two carts and then picked up Mexican food for dinner because I’m back in Texas and my taste buds needed the reassurance.

Hope you had a great weekend, too.

Well.

I’m in Tennessee. And I’m writing this straight from a hotel bed that includes a fitted bottom sheet and a multitude of feather pillows. All I’m lacking is an overhead ceiling fan or it would be sleep perfection.

And you’ll be glad to know that, per usual, Sophie and I have already eaten at an extremely sketchy Mexican restaurant. We should no better, but we can’t help ourselves.

On the upside, we had a delightful lunch at Chef’s Market and enjoyed a sweet potato casserole that made me feel like it was Thanksgiving. So I’ll choose to remember that as opposed to the nachos we ate tonight that may or may not have not even had real cheese on them.

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

1. seva tunic

Isn’t this cute? It’s on sale at Anthro for $49.95 and I love it. Plus it has great reviews.

2. old navy rugby scoop neck tee

I’m a big fan of stripes right now and really like this t-shirt. It’s a great layering piece for fall or just by itself.

3. solvo tunic

This is another sale item from Anthropologie for $29.95. It comes in a few different color combos and is only left in limited sizes.

4. gap stripe hoodie

These are only available online apparently but I really like them. They come in a bunch of color combinations and would look great by themselves or under a puffer vest with jeans.

5. free people pattern cardi

I went into Free People this week to return a tunic that, sadly, did not work out for me because it had a big open back that I didn’t see when I ordered it online. And, frankly, no one needs to see that much of my back.

But while I was in the store, I noticed this sweater coat. Several of you have asked about the sweater coat I was wearing in those pictures I posted of P and me on our anniversary. Well, this one is almost identical. I will tell you that I found mine two years ago at the end of the season when it was on sale, so it may pay to wait.

6. gap stripe merino sweater tunic

I saw these in the store. I love the length and they’re super soft.

7. where it’s mat top in autumn plaid

I think we all know by now how I love a plaid shirt.

8. take me out to the ballgame hoodie

I have something just like this and I wore it out last winter. It’s like a sweatshirt but so much cuter and long enough to wear with leggings.

9. splendid v-neck poncho

I’m a fan of a poncho. This one comes in a few different colors and I love the simplicity of it. Would go great with so many things.

10. target keira tall boots

Target has a good selection of boots right now if you’re looking for a bargain. This is just one pair that caught my eye.

That’s it for today.

Have a good Friday.

I realize I didn’t post anything yesterday. There were several reasons for this:

1. We had a weekend that was totally uneventful. Even Caroline’s soccer game was cancelled on Saturday morning due to rain. Which meant we stayed in our pajamas until noon.

2. Sunday night ended up being a late night for us and I didn’t even sit down until after 9:30 p.m. To add insult to injury, Twitter was all abuzz about the Solo cup talent on Miss America and I didn’t even get to watch it for myself until first thing Monday morning because PRIORITIES.

Had I known being able to move a plastic cup to the beat of a song would allow you to become Miss America, my life could have been so different. I thought that life choice was ruled out for me when it became evident I couldn’t twirl a fiery baton or do any type of ventriloquism.

3. There are only so many things to say about a weekend where you did nothing.

The truth is I’m leaving for Nashville for the DotMom Conference on Wednesday, plus my new book is due on October 1 and I’m spending all my free time writing these days. That might sound glamorous but it looks a lot like me sitting at the computer until I convince myself I’d rather clean the toilets instead. Surprisingly, this actually sounds like a pleasant alternative some days.

And I’ve learned a couple of things about myself when I’m under an imminent book deadline:

1. I don’t sleep.

2. By the end of the day I feel like I’m completely out of words because all the words have been swimming around in my head all day long.

So I’m just letting you know that for the next few weeks, I’ll continue to post here some but not every day. Something has to give and this is going to be it. Unless of course something really exciting happens like we get an ant farm and the ants spell out “LIE” in the gel.

And I’ll keep doing Fashion Friday because that doesn’t require much brain power and gives me an excuse to look at clothes.

In the meantime, I’ll leave you with an update on Piper and Mabel. Otherwise known as the Dynamic Duo. Or the reason my white couch is a shell of what she once was.

The two of them never quit moving. They are a constant whirling dervish which is why most pictures I take of them end up looking like these.

But if you bribe them with a bone, you can get them to do this.

Or this.

Or this.

I realize it looks like they’re just lying in dirt in those pictures, but that is sadly what remains of our grass. They have transformed our lush, green backyard into a dirt pit with grass roots lying on top that they occasionally like to gnaw on for good measure.

To make it even more fun, they spend 23 1/2 hours a day soaking wet. This is because they both believe their water bucket has an optional wading pool feature. Therefore, this is what my back porch looks like all the time.

There is now mildew growing under our welcome mat and muddy paw prints all over our back door. This is also the reason my couch is now covered in a combination of twin sheets and beach towels all the time. It’s as attractive as what you’re imagining.

(I realize at some point we’re going to have to stop them from jumping on the couch but they shoot through the back door like greased piglets at a County Fair and make a beeline for the couch. It’s like they know it’s my achilles heel.)

Last Friday P found two dogs running loose around the job site where he was working and could tell they belonged to someone. So he loaded them in his truck and took them to the vet to see if they were microchipped since they didn’t have collars or tags. He texted me a photo of these two dogs and said, “Look what’s coming home with me!” And I texted him back, “You need to know I am two dogs away from a complete nervous breakdown.”

He thought I was joking.

Fortunately, the two dogs were reunited with their owner. Although it’s kind of a shame because they were much better behaved than our two bad girls.

In fact, just this morning Mabel gave me the side eye for attempting to pick up her breakfast even though she was clearly finished eating.

“Whatchoo talkin’ ’bout Willis?”

She will flat cut you for taking her food. And she constantly feels insecure about her meals, certain that Piper is getting something much better.

Piper wants you to know this isn’t the case. In fact, she regrets to inform you she gets the exact same food as Mabel although she would prefer Scout’s food, which is why she stalks his food bowl constantly.

Meanwhile Scout can’t be bothered because he’s old, deaf and almost blind.

But he will still take their bones from them any day of the week because it’s his prerogative as their surrogate grandpa.

It’s true.

The high on Saturday is supposed to be 78 degrees. I may have to wear a parka to Caroline’s soccer game on Saturday morning. And I will be beside myself with excitement.

I’m going to make this brief this week because it’s been a long one. But here are a few cute things I found:

1. 7 for all mankind white bootcut jeans

Several of you asked about the white jeans I was wearing in the picture from yesterday’s post. They are 7 For All Mankind and I bought them probably four or five years ago. In that time I have bought a few other pairs of white jeans but these remain my favorite.

This pair is almost exactly the same and only $76.99 on this site, which is great considering they are still full price at Nordstrom for $168. And I know we’re heading into winter, but it’s actually a good time to get a good deal on white jeans if you’re interested.

2. target anorak jacket

I ran in Target the other day because we were out of mint M&M’s which is a near crisis situation in our house. You may remember that we used to be all about the York Peppermint Pattie, but we have switched our allegiance to the mint M&M.

Anyway, I saw these jackets and thought they were really cute. Plus I love that they’re a longer length if you want to wear them with leggings.

3. j.crew flannel button-down

I believe I’ve mentioned I’m on a quest for the perfect plaid shirt. This one may be the winner. I love the plaid and love that it’s flannel.

4. mimi chica tunic dress

I love this because it totally has the look of a Free People tunic but at a much better price. It’s only $48 and I think it would look precious with leggings and boots.

5. french class plaid coat

I am a sucker for a plaid coat and this one is especially cute. Love the belted trench look of it all.

6. center of the city dress/tunic

I thought I might buy this to wear to the grocery store or the next PTO meeting.

Oh I kid. But it did catch my eye as a really cute option for the holiday parties that will be here before we know it.

7. pin + larkin university plaid coat

I’ve had my eye on this coat ever since I first saw it. I love the grays and blacks mixed together with the little bit of leather trim.

8. free people crystal pullover poncho

I got the Free People catalog in the mail the other day and immediately took notice of this poncho. Then I saw that it was only $48 and thought it was for sure a typo because nothing at Free People is $48.

But this is. It’s $48. I realize it’s not for everyone, but I love a poncho on occasion.

9. slubstripe pullover

This is the kind of thing I’ll buy and wear until it becomes something my loved ones wish I’d occasionally change out of. It’s just super soft and easy to throw on. You could add a scarf, you could wear it with sweatpants, you could throw it on with jeans and boots. It’s perfect.

And it also comes in white, moss, rose. Otherwise known as white, green and pink.

10. suede slash hobo bag

I really, really like this bag. I love the suede, I love the style, I love that I could fit anything in it I could possibly want.

But I also love this suede fringe half-moon shoulder bag if you’re looking for something a little smaller.

That’s it for today.

Have a great Friday.

If you need me, hopefully I’ll be curled up under a blanket by Saturday warding off the chill.

Before I say anything else today, I have to thank you so much for all the sweet comments and emails about Nena. I always say that I have the best readers on the internet and you all never fail to prove me right. It was so appreciated and Gulley and her family appreciate your thoughts and prayers so much.

Now I’m going to write about something I meant to mention a while back, but I am so behind on everything right now between school starting and trying to finish my new book. Here are just a few signs of how hectic life has been:

1. I haven’t bought or read the People magazine about Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s wedding.

2. I have all five episodes of Outlander recorded on my DVR just sitting there waiting for me.

3. I bought two new books three weeks ago and have yet to crack even one of them open.

4. I still haven’t found a pair of black boots that I want to commit to.

5. I haven’t gone to see my eyebrow girl in three months.

I know. I don’t even know who I am. However, I did find time to get my hair cut and colored two weeks ago because I am not a savage.

Anyway, way back at the beginning of August I had the pleasure of being asked to speak at an event to launch a new product, Dr. Smith’s Diaper Rash Spray.

(I didn’t plan for my clothes to match the backdrop. It just worked out that way.)

Just in case you’re unfamiliar with Dr. Smith’s ointment, here’s what you need to know: It may be the best thing ever invented for moms with kids in diapers.

When I was pregnant with Caroline I received several tubes of Dr. Smith’s ointment at every single baby shower I had and it was always from experienced moms. And after I had Caroline and began to change diapers on an hourly and sometimes minute by minute basis, I figured out why they all loved it so much. It’s simply the best there is. There was no diaper rash too bad for Dr. Smith’s. It worked every time and never failed to clear up even the worst rash.

It became one of those brands around our house that you refer to by name and not product, like Kleenex. “Where’s the Dr. Smith’s?” “She’s had a blowout! I need the Dr. Smith’s.”

And even though my baby days are clearly behind me, I was so excited to hear they’ve developed the Dr. Smith’s Diaper Rash Spray because I totally appreciate that moms with babies and toddlers in diapers need all the help they can get. And also sleep.

The best thing is the spray is as thick as the ointment but allows you to spray it on instead of worrying about further irritating an already cranky baby with a diaper rash. And it also gives dads the chance to just hose the whole thing down like their part of a Nascar pit crew. It’s a win/win for everyone involved.

You can find out more about Dr. Smith’s on their Facebook page, Twitter or their website.

And today, because they are fans of moms everywhere, the nice folks at Dr. Smith’s are giving away a Dr. Smith’s Diaper Rash Spray prize basket valued at over $200 to one of you. All you have to do is enter below for a chance to win.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Dr. Smith’s and I think you all know I rarely do sponsored posts. I did it because I truly believe in their product.

On Friday morning I’d just gotten home from dropping Caroline off at school and was feeding the puppies breakfast when I pulled my phone out of my purse and noticed I had a missed call from Gulley. She calls me every morning on her way to work, but it’s usually about 8:20 when she calls and it was just a little after 8:00.

So I called her back, figuring that she had left early to pick up donuts for work or something, but knew something was wrong as soon as she answered the phone. I don’t even think she said hello. There was just a sob and I asked, “What’s wrong?” She said, “We’ve lost Nena.”

I’m going to say what we’ve said a million times over the past three days. It shouldn’t feel like a shock to lose a ninety-year-old woman with a bad heart, but it did. She caught us all by surprise.

I don’t think I ever mentioned it, but when Grandaddy died two and a half years ago, Nena had a heart attack two weeks later. And the doctors warned the family then that her heart was in bad shape and said she probably had anywhere from two weeks to two months to live. But then she made it past those two months. And then a year. And then two years. I guess we just all began to believe those doctors had no idea what they were talking about.

Not to mention that she never stopped being fully Nena. She always wanted to hear all about what the kids were doing and what color lipstick Gulley was wearing and where I’d bought whatever purse I happened to be carrying. She’d tell us about the news in her assisted living home and wave her hands as she dismissed “the old people who do those puzzles all the time”. Honey asked her one afternoon if she wanted to go downstairs and hear a guest musician play the bagpipes and she replied, “Why on earth would I want to go listen to some old man play the bagpipes?”

Even the Sunday before she died, her youngest son had come to visit and she asked, “Where did you get your hair cut?” and when he told her she said, “Well, don’t ever go there again. It looks terrible.”

I loved her so much.

We all did.

Because the thing about Nena is she never failed to make you feel better after you’d spent time with her. She had an easy laugh, a quick smile and was the best listener. One of Honey’s friends called her on Sunday morning and made the comment that it’s hard to lose someone who was your biggest fan. And that’s what Nena did. Made us all feel like she was our biggest fan.

At the graveside ceremony yesterday morning, the preacher mentioned a line that was in Nena’s obituary. “Her true ministry was in her home.” He talked about the legacy of kindness she and Granddaddy began that carries on in their children and grandchildren. And that’s when I felt myself transition from a nice, subtle tear down my cheek to a full on cry because I have benefited from that legacy. That family took me in almost twenty-five years ago because that’s what they do. That’s what they learned by watching Nena and Granddaddy. They welcome you with open arms and feed you and love you and become your biggest fan.

I lost my Nanny two years ago. And lost my Me-Ma many years before that. They were both great ladies in their own unique ways and I learned so much from both of them. They showed me how to love and how to laugh and what it looks like to invest in the people around you. I still think of them both so often and miss them so much. There is something about the women of that generation that really knew what it meant to raise your family and make your home your true ministry. There was never a time I visited my Me-Ma that she didn’t have a steady stream of friends and relatives parading in and out of her house as she greeted them with a hug and an offer to feed them whatever she had on the stove that day.

They are women who epitomize 2 Timothy 4:7, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” They lived lives of quiet faithfulness to their husbands, their families and their friends.

Nena helped fill some of the void Nanny and Me-Ma left. We weren’t related by blood, but we were big fans of each other. She will be so missed by all of us who were blessed by the time she spent here on earth.

Those of you who have read about her over the years will be happy to know that the night before she died, she spent an hour on the phone with her best friend, Jo, lamenting that the hairdresser she’d gone to that day had made her look like an old lady and she’d had to comb the whole thing out and put her own rollers in her hair to try to fix it. She passed away later that night, sleeping peacefully in her bed with velcro rollers in her hair.

And when Honey and Gulley found her Bible later that day, they opened it up to discover it was full of pictures of herself. Nena was a fan of the selfie before the selfie was a thing. She loved a picture that, in her words, “flattered her to no end.”

But, as for me, this is how I will always picture her:

The following is a story I wrote about six years ago that remains one of my favorite Nena memories.

We went to eat lunch at Luby’s the other day and as soon as we sat down, Mimi pulled something out of her purse and handed it to me. It was a page from the Neiman Marcus Christmas Book. And look what it featured:

Is it just me or does that look a whole lot like this?

That’s what I thought.

And this isn’t just any jacket being sold at Neimans. It is a Juicy Couture jacket designed exclusively for Neimans and is featured as one of their HOT 100 GIFTS in this year’s book.

It retails for $400.00.

SHUT UP.

The Neiman Marcus Christmas Book is like hallowed retail ground. It actually featured his and her jets one year. And between you and me, P and I weren’t that impressed with them after they were delivered.

So, of course I had to call Nena and let her know. I called her around 1:00 p.m. yesterday because if I called any earlier than that there’s a high probability that Granddaddy would have answered the phone saying “SEVENTY-SIX DEGREES!” and then hung up on me when he realized it wasn’t someone from the local news station calling as part of their daily contest to see who just watched the weather report.

When she picked up the phone we exchanged the normal pleasantries and then I said, “Nena, I got the Neiman’s Christmas Book in the mail today.”

“OOOH HONEY, YOU DID? GOOD FOR YOU!” (Do you see why a version of her jacket being in THE BOOK is going to blow her mind? She was just thrilled I got THE BOOK in the mail.)

“Yes, I got it and you won’t believe this but they have a silver sequined jacket that looks almost just like the one you showed me. It’s one of their HOT 100 items and it costs $400.00.”

“FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS? HONEY, LISTEN, I paid $5.00 for mine. I can’t believe it’s in the Neiman’s Book. I JUST CAN’T BELIEVE IT! OOOH you have MADE MY DAY!”

“I know. You could probably sell yours and make some money.

“OH HONEY, LISTEN, I am not going to sell my jacket. I’m going to wear it shopping! So most importantly, what is the model in the picture wearing with her jacket? I just need to know what to wear with it.”

“She has on black jeans.”

“BLACK JEANS? Well HONEY, LISTEN, I don’t know about BLACK JEANS.”

Which I actually think is a good call by Nena. BLACK JEANS are precarious fashion territory.

Neiman’s might want to listen to her because she is obviously ahead of the fashion curve.

Not to mention she saved $395.00 by finding that jacket in the back of her closet.”

Goodbye, Nena. You will be missed.