Other

This is a quick one today, but here are a few things I’ve found.

1. cascata tunic

I’ve had my eye on this for a while and now it’s on sale for $49.95. The reviews say the colors are more vibrant in person which is a plus in my opinion. I think this is really cute and a great deal.

2. phara necklace

Gulley and I were at Nordstrom the other day and saw this necklace in person. It is so gorgeous. And also comes in silver. But I’m partial to the gold. It would be the kind of thing you could wear with anything and everything.

3. switchneck tank

This has a really cute layering thing going on in the back and also comes in a pretty yellow color.

4. roberta roller rabbit kurt a with border

I’m not sure why this is called a kurta considering that my spellcheck doesn’t seem to think that’s a real word. In my opinion, this is a swimsuit coverup. Or a really cute tunic to throw on with white skinny jeans. Plus, they’re on sale for $39.97 or $49.97 depending which color you like best.

Why the .97? I have no idea.

5. quimera layered necklace

Love the colors in this for summer.

6. clare vivier foldover leopard clutch

I kept seeing this clutch all over Pinterest paired with different outfits and fell in love and became determined to track it down. Now I have. But my find is wrapped in sorrow because it is pricey.

I was really hoping there would be a $15 version of this available somewhere but, alas, it is not to be. However, I still love it and thought I would share in case you’ve also seen it all over Pinterest.

7. old navy striped tunic

I was in Old Navy earlier this week and this caught my eye. It’s technically a swimsuit coverup, but I think it works better as a top with shorts or jeans. It also comes in pink.

8. katherine convertible maxi

I love the way this has tiered sections. Really cute. And I personally would never wear it as a dress, but I really like it as a skirt.

9. fringed double chevron necklace

This is currently backordered and I can see why. It’s super cute and only $18. I’m going to go ahead and order one because I’ll wear it all the time.

10. san juan aviators

As I continue to obsess about sunglasses, I saw these at Nordstrom for a mere $12. I’m a fan. I enjoy a pair of sunglasses that you can sit on and not be filled with long and lasting regret.

That’s it for today. Have a great Friday.

I need to talk about the puppies.

Oh sure. They look innocent enough. That’s part of their master plan.

I love them. I love their puppy breath and Piper’s pretty eyes and the way Mabel puts her front paws in the water dish while she drinks. I love the way their ears constantly flop backwards like little superhero capes and how they run across the yard to meet us at the gate when we pull up in the driveway. They are precious.

And those things are good for me to remember.

Because there are moments that I think we were out of our mind to bring home two creatures with an energy level that would remind me of my Kitchenaid mixer turned on high if my mixer also occasionally liked to pee on the rug and chew up flip-flops.

We had finally reached a point in life where we had a child who can make her own sandwiches and appreciates the fine art of sleeping late and now we have added two poop machines who like to wake up barking at the crack of dawn. What are they barking at, you ask? Each other, Scout, a dog walking by, a leaf falling from a tree, an ant crawling on the sidewalk, and the air.

And so my summer has been reduced to this. I wake up to the dogs barking as soon as P leaves for work. They’re barking because he has left, they’re barking because it’s morning, they’re barking because they are alive. I lie in bed for a few minutes to see if the barking will stop. When it inevitably doesn’t, I stumble outside and greet the puppies, who are jumping up and down like they’re on a bungee cord hovering over a canyon, with a warm, loving question along the lines of “Why are y’all so dumb?”

But then they have me where they want me and I’m helpless to resist their little puppy charms and so I let them inside to sit with me while I drink my coffee at a much earlier hour than I really prefer in the summertime. Or ever. They’ll curl up by me and take a little morning nap while I do my Bible study and check Twitter or whatever and I get lulled into thinking they’re precious. It reminds me of that episode of Friends where Phoebe’s brother looks at his sleeping triplets and says, “I really treasure these moments. Because pretty soon they’re going to wake up again.”

This is usually about the time one of them will jump down and attack the fireplace tools because the fireplace tools exist and are very menacing sitting there lifelessly on the hearth. And then they’ll begin to race around the house, sliding and skidding on the wood floors like kids at a roller rink for the first time, until I open the back door, call their names and they go flying outside to annoy Scout. It makes me feel like we might as well have brought home two tasmanian devils.

And then they engage in one of their favorite activities that I like to call “Your Bone Looks Better Than Mine”. They each have their own bone. They are exactly the same. And they are happy with their respective bones for 1.3 seconds before they feel their bone must be inadequate compared to their sister’s bone. If you ever doubt that all living creatures have something innate that makes us feel like someone else might have something better than us, the puppies are living proof it’s true. They growl and chase to get the other’s bone and then are completely dissatisfied with it and want their original bone back two seconds later.

It’s as fun for me as you’re imagining. And I hear myself saying things like “Don’t be mean to your sister!” and “Why would you do that to your sister?” and “Sisters don’t fight! Sisters love!”.

What I’m saying is I don’t even know who I am anymore.

Then, to add insult to injury, Scout peed on the rug yesterday. Scout. Our sixteen year old dog who has been house trained for fifteen and a half years. He just stood there and let it go. Just like Elsa in Frozen except he didn’t freeze anything rather than just urinated. On my rug.

So I used my dog psychology skills and asked him “WHY DID YOU DO THAT? WHY? WHAT IS HAPPENING?” as I escorted him out of the house. Because here’s the thing. It’s one thing when a baby pees on your rug, but it’s an entirely different kettle of fish when grandpa does it. We can just start with sheer volume and go on from there.

Truth be told, I’ve been telling P for months that I think Scout has dementia and I feel this incident confirmed it. He is losing his mind.

Which, on the bright side, means that I’m not alone.

I feel that this post should come with a warning that I almost didn’t write anything because the last several days around here have been so uneventful. That should be an indicator that the content contained herein might cause drowsiness and the feeling that you were smarter before you started reading it.

In fact, the only reason I’m writing anything is because I am multi-tasking while we watch the Spurs. P is flipping back and forth between the game and a show we’ve watched all afternoon on the National Geographic Channel called Inside Combat Rescue about parajumpers in Afghanistan that has led me to believe that I now have a working knowledge of how to conduct complicated medical procedures in a helicopter. The Spurs are up by 20 at this point so I have every reason to believe they’re going to win the championship tonight and am debating if I want to head downtown to flip over a car or just drive around and honk my horn to celebrate. In truth, I will do neither of these things because I’d have to get out of my pajamas and that would require more energy than I can muster at this point.

I think we’ve fully embraced all the down time this weekend because last week ended up being busier than we planned. Caroline was in a soccer camp every day which required us to get up in the morning and also things like face paint and making the world’s tiniest American flag because the campers received extra points for these types of things and Caroline is nothing if not competitive which meant there was no halfway for any of it. In the end it paid off because her team won first place in the World Cup competition and that child has always been a sucker for a medal.

We celebrated Father’s Day with Bops on Thursday because he and Mimi were leaving on a little trip and were going to be out of town and then we went to Old Navy because we are on a never-ending quest this summer to find the perfect swimsuit. You would think it wouldn’t be that hard to find a swimsuit for a skinny ten-year-old girl but you would be wrong. It can’t be pink, it can’t be “scratchy”, it can’t fit too tight or too loose. The list is really endless. And while we were in the dressing room at Old Navy I kind of started dancing to the music playing in the store and Caroline froze in the middle of trying on a swimsuit and said, “Please stop.”

“What? No one can see me!”, I said as I kept dancing.

“I can see you.”

Well.

I learned two things. 1) Never underestimate the power of threatening to pull out some dance moves to rein in any misbehavior and 2) As much as moms listen to the lyrics of LeAnn Womack’s song “I Hope You Dance” and wish that for their child, there are an equal amount of kids who would like to write a song called “I Hope You Don’t Dance”.

And I should state for the record I was by no means an overzealous dancer. It was just barely more than moving my head.

The good news is we found a swimsuit.

Then on Friday morning Caroline had her last day of soccer camp. While she was there I drove out to Dick’s Sporting Goods to get P another fishing shirt for Father’s Day because you can never have too many. And by you I mean P. I chose a blue one and I realized that P’s wardrobe is a lot like Prince William’s in that they both own a lot of blue shirts. That’s pretty much where the similarity ends unless Prince William has a bunch of fishing shirts from Academy that he wears in private.

And the only other thing of note from the weekend (and I’m using thing of note loosely) is that I managed to clean out several closets and cabinets and then even went so far to get rid of several frames I’ve had sitting on the dresser in our bedroom for far too long. Is it really necessary to have six framed pictures from your wedding displayed when you’re about to celebrate your 17th wedding anniversary? And then, emboldened and empowered by the removal of the frames, I decided to get rid of the lamps on our bedside tables that I have hated for the better part of six years now but have been too lazy to replace. I decided nothing will motivate me to find new lamps like not having any lamps.

So I ended up dropping off a huge load of stuff to Goodwill. There are really few things in life that make me feel more accomplished than that.

And, finally, Sunday we went to church, picked up tacos, celebrated Father’s Day and sat on the couch. But I feel like I’ve learned a lot of good medical terminology from the parajumper show so I can’t say it’s been totally unproductive.

Also, in the time it’s taken me to write this, the Spurs have won the championship. I am sticking to my guns and will not be heading downtown. However I will take this opportunity to say Go, Spurs, Go!

First of all, I can’t thank you enough for all the book recommendations yesterday. The comment section is a gold mine if you’re looking for a summer read. And now I feel super ambitious and plan to read every single book mentioned if I haven’t read it already. I’ll report back on this goal by the summer of 2016.

Secondly, I forgot to mention yesterday that I have been on a bit of a clean out spree. So far I’ve cleaned out Caroline’s room and closet and her bathroom. My plans for this weekend include the playroom, the kitchen and the laundry room. I realize my ambition my frighten some of you.

Here are a few things I’ve seen this week.

1. stripe nylon shopper

Several of you commented about the striped tote I was carrying in the picture from Caroline’s graduation. It’s a Kate Spade bag that I bought on sale last summer and I have loved it. Unfortunately it’s sold out everywhere, but I thought this Dooney & Burke was maybe even better. I love the leather handles and it also comes in red and navy.

I also found this sole society oversize millie tote that’s a little less expensive, but equally cute.

And I think this topshop tile print tote is a really fun mix of black & white prints.

2. bmocha fringe crossbody bag

I’ve been seeing fringe cross body bags everywhere right now and I really like them. This one also comes in black, cobalt and white if you’re feeling brave and daring.

3. teardrop earrings

I saw these earrings at Nordstrom and think they’re really pretty and a great price. They also come in emerald, black, fuchsia, orange and white and they’d be the perfect pop of color to a summer outfit.

4. bangle bracelets (set of 20)

Speaking of pop of color, love these bangles. Great way to accessorize simple summer outfits. These come in black, teal, turquoise and white.

5. old navy crinkle-gauze drop-waist dress

Caroline and I ran in Old Navy yesterday and I saw this dress. I tried it on and really, really liked it but they didn’t have my right size. However I may order it online because it’s a great lightweight summer dress to just throw on with sandals and look super cute.

6. free people keep me v-neck tee

I believe I’ve mentioned these tees approximately 453 times but that’s how much I love them. I wear mine at least three times a week and they are on sale right now. This coral is my favorite. It’s much brighter in person.

7. gap fold over skirt

Yes. It’s the Gap skirt again. I’ll quit talking about it now but I need you to know how much I love it. Listen to me now and believe me later, it’s the perfect skirt.

8. old navy vintage style v-neck tee

And this may be the perfect t-shirt to wear with the above skirt. They’re inexpensive and so soft, but I’d order a size larger than you normally wear.

9. radiant oasis embroidered tank

I thought this was really pretty.

10. natasha couture multistrand necklace

And yes I’ve shown this necklace before but now it’s 50% off and only $15.98. It appears to be sold out in the turquoise but I also really like this gold and silver. Would look great with a black top or really any other color.

That’s it for today.

Have a great Friday.

This week has been busier than I planned but also more productive than I planned and so that’s a good thing. Caroline ended up wanting to go to a soccer camp from nine to noon every day and I’ve used that time to go to Starbucks and write.

Or at least try to write.

Unfortunately the Starbucks closest to the soccer camp location is the busiest Starbucks ever and full of people who feel the need to talk very loudly about all manner of things, including one conversation I overheard today about a french maid costume. I will tell you I could have lived forever without knowing some of the details I now know about this woman I never even saw because I didn’t dare turn around.

Normally I wouldn’t have heard anything, but I realized I’d left my earbuds at home and I might as well have tied my hands behind my back for all that I got done without listening to my writing music. The term writing music makes it sound much fancier and organized than it actually is. I usually just hit Shuffle on iTunes and let it go where it may. This is when it pays off that my collection of songs errs largely on the side of “easy listening”.

Eventually I gave up and went to Target to buy a few things we needed along with some things I didn’t know we needed until I saw them. This is where Target is sheer genius. Do I need another swimsuit coverup? No. But do I see one amongst all the Mossimo that looks appealing? Of course.

Later on we went to the pool and hung out with friends and it was just one of those nice summer evenings when you realize how nice it is to not have any real sort of schedule.

And since that’s basically my day, I thought I’d use this time to answer a few questions and/or share some things.

1. Several of you asked about the dress Caroline wore to graduation. We actually bought it last Easter and I was so happy it still fit because she had only worn it that one time. She is currently anti-dress and so I wasn’t wanting to buy something new only for it to languish in her closet. And someone asked if wearing a dress to graduation was a preference thing or a required thing. It wasn’t really either, but the majority of girls all wore dresses.

The brand is Sara Sara and I couldn’t find anything like it online. However, I did see this super cute maxi dress for girls at Nordstrom.

It’s a little pricey but I bet it will eventually go on sale if you hold out.

2. Which brings me to another question. Where do I shop for Caroline?

Honestly, we probably buy more of her clothes at Academy than anywhere because her favorite wardrobe items are running shorts and t-shirts. But the clothing thing is tricky for us right now because she’s average height, but pretty thin and this makes fit a huge issue.

We’ve had some success at Old Navy, Nordstrom, Gap and Nordstrom Rack. I’ve also found some cute things at TJ Maxx. It’s really hit or miss all the way around which is why I’m grateful for running shorts and t-shirts. Makes life easier.

3. Wherever the River Runs by Kelly Minter

My dear friend Kelly Minter has written the most beautiful book that has inspired me in so many ways. It doesn’t come out until August and I’ll be talking about it a lot because it’s just that good. In the meantime, here’s the gorgeous book trailer.

4. Junk Gypsies

I love the Junk Gypsies. And I’m so excited because season 2 of their show Junk Gypsies season 2 premieres tonight at 8:00 CST on GACTV. If you haven’t watched, you will love it.

5. On the podcast yesterday I mentioned I was looking for a couple of good books to read this summer and a few of you left some suggestions. But I’d love to hear from the rest of you if there’s a book you’ve loved recently. I think I’m looking for fiction but I’m open to a good memoir because they’re usually my favorite.

And that’s it for today. Be back tomorrow with Fashion Friday.

Sophie and I managed to take a break in our busy summer schedules to record a podcast yesterday. And by busy I mean serving as chauffeurs for our respective children.

We realized this week that we have been recording podcasts on and off (with a large emphasis on off) since 2007. I believe this pretty much makes us pioneers. Or even astronauts.

This time we discuss our new puppies, various sunscreens, the search for good books to read this summer and, of course, television.

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

Or, as always, you can subscribe on iTunes.

I also added these links at the end of my post:

And in case you’re interested:

– Sophie found the answer to Caroline’s question about British and American accents: Mental Floss article

– The underye brightener Sophie mentions: Mally Perfect Prep Undereye Brightener

– The sunscreen for faces I talk about: Coppertone Oil Free Sunscreen for Faces (this one doesn’t have zinc)

– The summer skirt that I love: Gap striped fold over skirt.