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You know how sometimes on T.V. shows or in movies they start with a scene that’s happening right now and then show you through flashbacks all the events that led up to that moment?

That’s what I’m doing when I tell you it’s 9:45 p.m. and I just got home about thirty minutes ago and I’m sitting on my couch drinking a glass of wine trying to decompress.

My day started off in a delightful way. Specifically, I didn’t have to pack a lunch for Caroline. Mimi and Bops were going to have lunch with her and any morning that doesn’t begin with me trying to figure out what to put in a lunch box feels like a victory.

And can I just briefly say that it’s not even May and I’m so over school? She had a form in her school folder yesterday about a Science Fair Project that’s due at the end of May and I have never been so tempted to say, “You know what? You’ve had an A in Science all year long and fifth grade doesn’t count for anything. Let’s ditch the project.” But that would be wrong.

Not to mention that she has a whole plan for the Science Fair that involves testing bacteria levels on various surfaces. Which means I may never be able to use a public restroom ever again. Assuming I figure out how we’re supposed to test bacteria levels. I’ve never been strong in the science arena.

Anyway, I had time for a cup of coffee and then I needed to get dressed and put on makeup because I was scheduled to speak to a group of moms at 9:30. It was a great group of moms with preschool kids and I loved our discussion. As I left the building and walked toward the parking lot, I went to turn the ringer back on my phone and that’s when I noticed I had seven missed calls from the school.

I immediately panicked and worried that maybe Caroline was sick and in the nurse’s office or had broken her arm on the playground or other worst case scenarios, but then realized there was a voicemail message. It was Caroline and this is what she said:

“Hi Mom. It’s me. Caroline. We need some clear beach balls for our talent show tryouts this afternoon. They have them at Michael’s. Please go get them for us. Love you. Bye.”

First, I’m glad she clarified who it was that was calling me Mom otherwise I never would have guessed it was her. Second, how does she know they have clear beach balls at Michael’s? Third, seven phone calls feels excessive for beach balls.

But I drove to Michael’s to get beach balls and only found regular beach balls, not clear ones. I’d gathered them in my basket and was headed to checkout when I heard someone say, “Melanie?” And I turned around to see another mom from Caroline’s group in the talent show who had also been sent on a beach ball mission. Because I guess our children think all we have to do during the day is look for clear beach balls. And we really did nothing to dispel that assumption today since there we both were in the aisles of Michael’s.

I met Gulley for lunch and we had a serious strategy session that required us to break out our calendars and plan for the summer. We hadn’t gotten the road trip on the books yet and needed to do so immediately before we made any other commitments because the road trip is non-negotiable. You’ll be glad to know we’ve decided on the last week of July/

After lunch I went to Central Market to buy snacks for Caroline and her talent show group because the moms were meeting the girls on the playground right after school for a quick snack before it was time for them to tryout. This was about the time I began to regret that I’d chosen to wear high wedge heels.

The girls were so nervous, but did great during the tryout as far as we could tell. Parents technically weren’t allowed to watch but we may have peered through some tiny glass windows to see what was going on. And I have no idea when we find out if their group made it, but I’m sure you’ll be on the edge of your seat wondering about it.

We left the school and I dropped a couple of other girls off at their houses and then we headed home. P was home a little earlier than usual and so I left Caroline at home while I went to go early vote in our local elections because I am a firm believer in exercising my right to vote. And then I left City Hall and drove to the Barbecue Station to pick up dinner for our neighbors who just had a baby.

And then.

And then. I took Caroline and her friend Sadie to the junior high because tonight was the night for incoming sixth graders to try out all the various instruments and decide what they’d like to play next year. Have you ever been in a room with an assortment of untrained wannabe musicians trying out the tuba and the bassoon and the french horn?

If the answer is no, then you have led a rich, good life.

If the answer is yes, then you and I have a new understanding of what the other has endured.

I really thought the whole thing would take maybe, MAYBE, an hour. But Caroline had her heart set on the flute and the flute is a hot ticket for almost sixth grade girls and the line indicated its enormous popularity. The precious flute teacher declared Caroline to be “a natural” and I don’t know if that’s true or not, but I felt vindicated because I was told in sixth grade that my mouth is shaped wrong for the flute. Not that I’m still bitter about it. Or the fact that I had to play the clarinet instead.

Ultimately, after you tried all the instruments and listed them in the order you’d like to play, you had to wait in a LOOOOONG line to talk to the band director. And then after you got his approval for an instrument, you had to wait in another line for the privilege of arranging to rent or buy the instrument.

So at 9:02 I finally walked in my back door with Caroline. And a signed rental agreement for a flute. I hate to be a skeptic, but if our family’s past band history is any indication, I don’t believe actually purchasing a flute is in our best financial interest. We’d be better off putting our money in a banana stand.

Because there’s always money in the banana stand.

Bonus points if you can name that T.V. show.

You don’t even want to know how long I sat here to come up with that title. It’s really embarrassing considering that I ultimately used a word that isn’t even a word.

But there are three great things you have to know about that are releasing today that you don’t want to miss. Hence, the terrific-ness.

1. The Nesting Place: It Doesn’t Have to Be Perfect to Be Beautiful by Myquillyn Smith

Some of you may know Myquillyn as Nester. Her blog was the first home blog I ever followed because I fell in love with her motto, “It doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful”. As much as I can walk into a clothing store and put together an outfit, I often find myself frozen when it comes to making changes around the house because I get overwhelmed and freak out and worry it’s too much or not enough.

But Myquillyn set me free. Walls can be repainted. Furniture can be slipcovered. Window treatments can be made out of fabric that’s hot-glued at the bottom.

That is the heart of her gorgeous first book. Yes, it’s a book that will inspire you to look around your house and see it with fresh eyes, but more importantly it’s about embracing the beauty of real life and chaos and imperfection.

You will love it. And I happen to know firsthand that it looks great displayed on your coffee table. This is a book I’ll pick up time and time again. You can find it here on Amazon or here at B&N or in your local bookstore.

2. Something Other Than God: How I Passionately Sought Happiness and Accidentally Found It by Jennifer Fulwiler

I mentioned this book by my friend Jen Fulwiler last week, but it officially releases today and I know you’ll love it. Here’s a little description:

“Raised in a happy, atheist home, Jennifer had the freedom to think for herself and play by her own rules. Yet a creeping darkness followed her all of her life. Finally, one winter night, it drove her to the edge of her balcony, making her ask once and for all why anything mattered. At that moment everything she knew and believed was shattered.”

This book follows Jen’s journey from atheism to her conversion to Christianity. As I read it I was reminded of all the reasons she’s one of my favorite people to meet for lunch; she’s funny, smart, and has absolutely experienced how God pursues us often in spite of ourselves.

And she’s having an awesome release party complete with all manner of prizes and giveaways. You can find out more on her blog here.

You can find her book here on Amazon, here on B&N, or in your neighborhood book store.

3. Passion: Take It All

I wait every year for the latest Passion CD to be released. And then I will listen to it over and over again until I wear it out.

I received an early copy of this one last week and already love it. You can download it on iTunes here or find an actual CD on Amazon here.

And so there you have it. Tuesday Triple Terrific-ness.

I hoped I would be happier with that title by the end of this post.

I’m not.

Oh, I wrote a post about my thoughts on this season of Mad Men over on Pioneer Woman today in case you want to read it. You can find it here.

At the risk of making you all terribly envious (except for those of you who also live in San Antonio) I will tell you that today is a holiday here. That’s right. No school. No packing a lunch. No scrambling to make sure everything is in the backpack.

But if it makes you feel any better, we have to be at a soccer game by 7:45 a.m. on Saturday morning. I’m sure I will look fresh as a daisy.

Speaking of fresh as a daisy, can we talk about Duchess Kate for just a moment? She never sweats. She’s been on the Royal Tour of Australia for like nineteen days now and she gets off a plane with her baby looking better than I did on my wedding day.

I don’t even understand.

If I had flown with Caroline when she was nine months old, I would have gotten off the plane looking like a prisoner of war.

I also need to know about her hair. I don’t say this lightly, but it may be the best head of hair I’ve ever seen on a person and that’s including Jennifer Aniston during the Friends years.

All that to say, I’ll be sad when this Royal Tour ends. It’s become part of my daily routine to read all manner of information about what Kate is wearing and, true confession, I’ve even watched some Australian news videos for even more coverage.

And, because I have studied the entire thing extensively, I will share my favorite outfit of the tour thus far.

I’m in absolute love with that dress. And those shoes. I even looked at those shoes on Zappos for a minute before I was plummeted back to the reality that I am not in fact royalty and P would disown me for spending $400 on shoes. But in case you’re interested, they’re still available in a size 10 1/2 or an 11 at Zappos here. Which tells me that a lot of women with smaller feet lost their ever-loving minds and bought those shoes.

Anyway, now for some lovely things for those of us who live in the real world where we have to think about things like utility bills and food:

1. old navy eyelet shift dress

I realize this is a far cry from Kate’s dress, but it is eyelet and does come in several colors including white. I tried it on this week and it’s really cute and runs true to size.

Even better, everything at Old Navy is currently 30% off with code ONSAVENOW at checkout.

2. max and mia crinkled maxi skirt

Several of you asked about the outfit I was wearing on Easter. It was this skirt from Nordstrom in the coral/red color. It is the best maxi skirt because it’s so flawy. And it’s on sale for $49.90.

As for the rest of my outfit, it was a $5.00 gray t-shirt from Old Navy and a denim jacket from Gap that’s approximately fifteen years old.

3. old navy sleeveless shift dress

I loved this shift dress from Old Navy last summer and am glad to see it back again. A super easy piece to throw on with sandals.

4. gap stripe foldover skirt

Gap just got some new skirts in and this is one of them. I love the red (just imagine how festive you could be for Memorial Day and 4th of July).

And Gap is offering an extra 30% with code SPRING at checkout.

5. old navy embroidered eyelet tank

This is another top I tried on at Old Navy this week. It’s much cuter on than it appears in this picture. It’s a great piece to wear with all manner of colored shorts and jeans this summer.

6. old navy eyelet tunic coverup

Gulley and I looked at swimsuits and coverups when we went shopping on Monday and we saw several that looked similar to this that were way more expensive. This also comes in black.

7. gap pintuck skirt

Here’s another one of the new skirts at Gap. It comes in white or navy and I think it’s really cute with those pin tucks. Plus it doesn’t feel too stiff. The fabric is really soft.

8. david & young infinity scarf

I saw this scarf at Nordstrom this week and really loved it. It’s a great summer weight if you don’t live in South Texas where it will be hotter than the surface of the sun.

And I also loved this floral print infinity scarf.

How pretty is that blue?

9. gemima drop waist dress

I love this. And it’s white which makes me nervous, but it’s fully lined. I think it would look so great with that blue scarf in #8 and some sandals. And a tan.

10. gap essential faded v-neck tee

I’m a fan of good t-shirts in the summer and this is a good t-shirt. I’m particularly in love with this green color, but any color will do, pig. And color will do.

That’s it for today.

Have a great Friday.

Well I didn’t post yesterday. Probably because I was very busy making all manner of things to use all our dyed hard-boiled eggs. Even though as I mentioned on Monday they were actually baked eggs.

So I made deviled eggs and egg salad and then cut up some eggs to put in the salads we were having for dinner that night and ate some of the leftover sausage and egg casserole from Easter brunch. In short, if someone had tested my cholesterol last night they would have immediately rang for a cardiologist.

In addition to seeing how many eggs is too many, I spent Monday shopping with Gulley. She had the day off and we’ve both been so busy that we haven’t even been able to have our normal Tuesday lunch for several weeks, so we thoroughly enjoyed a whole day to shop and catch up on life in person and not in snippets of texts and phone conversations that are always interrupted.

And then yesterday I took a huge step. I found a new Starbucks where I can write.

Some of you might remember that my former Starbucks/office has undergone a renovation and is no longer conducive to writing, mainly because they removed all the comfy chairs and only tables remain. And because being on a computer at a table causes me to have flashbacks to my days of a sales manager for a door company where I had to sit for hours in a cubicle and pretend like I knew how to use Excel, it just doesn’t work for me.

Thus, I have spent a lot of time agonizing over a new place to write. And have even tried, very unsuccessfully, to just write at home on my couch. This proved to be a disaster, unless you count the fact that my spices have never been more organized as a success. I kind of do, but my publisher probably doesn’t see it that way.

It’s just that I really loved my old Starbucks. I knew the crowd there. I knew the best time to get there in the morning (8:45 and not a minute before, but never as late as 9:15) and it held sentimental value because it’s where I wrote my first two books.

But, times, they are a changing.

And so I finally made myself go to a new place yesterday morning and it was a perfectly lovely experience. I daresay that it might even be better than my old Starbucks. The chair was more comfortable, the outlets are positioned in a convenient location and it wasn’t crowded at all which is good because I can get caught up in some people watching. And the next thing you know I won’t have written word one but have created an entire fictional scenario in my head regarding two people having coffee at the next table.

I’m sure you’ve hardly slept for wondering about all this.

After a morning of writing, I left for a hair appointment because it’s becoming increasingly difficult to stay on top of the gray hair that insists on sprouting everywhere and then I picked up Caroline and five of her friends from school.

I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned this but there is a fifth grade talent show at the end of the school year, but you have to tryout to make the show. Caroline has been talking and worrying about what she could do for the talent show since this time last year and I’ve had my concerns because I wasn’t sure that any of her talents lent themselves to a stage at school.

But about a month or so ago, she began to strategize and plan with a few other girls and they came up with an idea for a group dance which seems to be the talent go-to for all fifth grade girls. Caroline informed me they needed a place to practice and so I volunteered our house. The next thing I knew they were asking me to make them a great dance mix using Garage Band which I only figured out how to do thanks to the wonder that is Youtube. And then they asked me for song suggestions. And possible dance moves.

Have you ever reached a point in your life where you have to face the realization that you really want a bunch of ten year old girls to think you’re cool? I was mere moments away from channeling Amy Poeler’s character in Mean Girls. “I’m not a normal mom, I’m a cool mom”.

They’ve spent the last few weeks practicing over here about once a week and I have truly been amazed at their hard work and dedication. But yesterday there was a little bit of drama going on and they all ended up gathered in the kitchen as I tried my best to help them come up with kind and loving solutions.

Thankfully they seemed good with my suggestion and all marched back in the playroom to resume honing their dance skills. Meanwhile, Sophie called and asked me what I was doing. I began to relay all the talent show details and she said, “It’s like you’re in charge of Group Night on American Idol or on the show Dance Moms“.

Yes, that’s exactly it. I can only hope I will resist the urge to make jazz hands out in the audience on the day of the talent show as I remind the girls to “sparkle and shine”.

And so that’s what’s been going on here.

Also, just a reminder that today is the first day of the book club for The Antelope in the Living Room on Kelly’s blog. You can find it here.

And I wrote a guest post over at Incourage and they’re giving away five copies of Antelope. You can find it here.

I decided to go ahead and do Fashion Friday on Thursday because tomorrow is Good Friday and I want to spend Easter Weekend focusing on what’s important.

Not that fashion isn’t important, it just pales in comparison to the celebration of Easter and that Jesus died for our sins and rose from the grave.

Anyway, here’s something cool. Carol & Company is offering 10% off anything in the entire store for one week when you use the code MEL10 at checkout. I cannot even express how many things they have in stock that I love. It would be a perfect time to find a gift for Mother’s Day or a graduate. Here are a few things I really like:

This John Wind sweet confections pendant.

And these Bourbon and Bowties bangles. They come in many colors.

I love a monogram. This Moon and Lola acrylic monogram ring can be ordered with a variety of background colors.

And how great are these monogrammed post earrings?

Finally, I’ve always been a fan of this John Wind petite initial necklace

Now for some other things:

1. michael kors asymmetric trench

A good trench coat is a great basic for any wardrobe. And this is a really nice one by Michael Kors that happens to be 40% off right now. It also comes in black.

2. leila tee

I saw this at Anthropologie when it was full price and loved it then. I love it even more now that it’s on sale.

3. galapa split tank

I really like this and it comes in a couple of other color combinations.

4. palm print denim dress

 

When I first saw this at Gap I wasn’t sure how I felt about it.  But I saw it the other day and I think it’s grown on me.  It’s a really cute dress with a feminine flair.  I think it would look great with gold accessories.

5. old navy fold over jersey skirt

 

I love these skirts from Old Navy because they’re inexpensive and can be worn all summer with a tank or a t-shirt or even thrown on over you swimsuit.

6. drop waist mexicali mini

 

I love this.  Now, I don’t think it’s a dress for those of us over a certain age.  But I have hopes that it could look really cute over a pair of white skinny jeans.

7. sleeveless tank

 

These cute tops come in a few different colors, but I think we all know by now how I feel about this blue.  It just looks so crisp paired with white.

8. free people el mirage top

I saw this top at Nordstrom and decided not to feature it because it’s a little pricey.  Even though I love it so much.  But then I noticed it’s 25% off at ShopBop with the code INTHEFAMILY at checkout and, well, you may need to have it in your life.

9. multistrand necklace

I have been waiting and waiting for Nordstrom to finally put this online.  I bought this for myself a few weeks ago and LOVE it.  It’s a steal at only $32 and adds a great pop to all manner of outfits.

Plus it comes in all silver and silver and gold if you don’t care for the turquoise.

10. old navy boyfriend cuffed denim shorts

These shorts have great reviews and are only $24.94 but now an extra 15% off.  Which, I’m not great at normal math but in fashion math that equals practically free.

 

And that’s it for today.

Hope you all have a wonderful Easter weekend.

Good news!

Sophie and I recorded a new podcast yesterday afternoon. I can’t even imagine your excitement.

You just need to prepare yourself that we actually shop for purses during this one.

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

Or, as always, you can subscribe on iTunes.