I KNOW.
I woke up this morning and just discovered that the blog is finally back up.
It’s a long story that I’ll tell you later (lucky you!), but the short version is that I have been beaten like a rented circus monkey by the internet for the last five days.
It is so cold here right now. And I say that with the full realization that many of you laugh in the face of a nine degree wind chill. A nine degree wind chill is a little thing you refer to as balmy picnic weather. For me it means that I want to spend the day in flannel pajama bottoms, an A&M sweatshirt circa 1993, and a Snuggie.
Except I don’t own a Snuggie.
And I certainly wouldn’t go buy a Snuggie. But I secretly hoped that someone might give me one as a gag gift for Christmas. Then I could have all the comfort a Snuggie offers without the shame of knowing I paid $14.99 for some type of gimmicky blanket when I could get the same results by wearing my robe backwards.
Anyway, I decided to share a couple of things (or thirteen) that I’ve seen on sale. You know, just in case you have any Christmas money burning a hole in your pocket.
I love big rings. I’d love them even more if I had long, slender fingers and they actually looked good on my hand. But you can’t always get what you want.
Just ask Texas fans.
Oh I kid because I love.
And because I’m a little bitter that the Aggies haven’t been good since last century.
If you’re like me and are long, slender finger impaired, then you might want to opt for a new statement necklace like the Soho Sparkle Necklace.
I have nowhere to wear this dress but I think it’s so cute.
3. Short-sleeve Cable Knit Pullover
I’ve had my eye on this for a while. It’s the perfect thing to wear with jeans and boots on normal Texas winter days when the temps plummet to the low 60’s.
This sweater is just gorgeous. I love the cowlneck, the color, the length. All it needs is a cami or tank to wear under it because otherwise it makes a whole different kind of statement.
You know I’m always on the lookout for a darling coat. And a darling coat on sale is even better.
6. Zella Reversible Favorite Pants
I figured I better throw in some yoga pants since I believe they are a wardrobe staple and, if you wear yours as much as I wear mine, there’s always a need for new pair sans bleach spills. Hypothetically speaking.
7. Calvin Klein Diamond Quilt Satin Coat
Because this is the winter that is proving global warming to be a big fat lie, I’ve discovered that I really don’t have a good winter coat. I have several mid-weight jackets and trench coats because I can’t resist their appeal. But when it comes to any kind of coat that offers real warmth, I am out of luck.
Well, except for this white puffy down jacket that I bought from J. Crew about a million years ago. It kept me warm as I slid on my bottom down ski slopes during the early years of my marriage when P and I routinely chaperoned ski trips full of high school students. Now it just makes me look like the Michelin Man.
Yet I have been desperate enough to wear it on more than one occasion.
8. Timberland Lexiss Tall Boots
I bought these boots for myself way back in the fall before they were ever on sale. And they have been worth every penny. I ADORE THEM.
They are comfortable, warm and even waterproof.
But these brown suede boots by Wanted are another great boot option.
These are actually on sale for about $8.00 in the store. I bought myself a pair and then went back the next day and bought another pair. I don’t know what kind of cotton they are made from but I think they are what heaven will feel like. Assuming heaven is like a pair of super comfortable pajama pants that you would wear in public if you weren’t in your late thirties.
(See how I’ve come to terms with the fact that I’m no long approaching my late thirties?)
I was originally looking to see if this Sigrid Embroidered Dress was on sale because I fell in love with it this fall but resisted due to a price tag that hurt my wallet’s feelings.
And yes it’s on sale.
But no they do not have my size.
However, I discovered the embroidered wrap and think it’s just beautiful.
There again, I really have nowhere to wear this. But SHINY! SPARKLY!
It would be the perfect thing to wear if you have any field trips planned with someone special.
12. Trunk Show Scarf
Scarves are my new best friend. And this year I’ve discovered that they aren’t just for fashion, but for function. Who knew?
I believe a velvet blazer is a good staple item for any closet. It can be dressed up or down, but it’s hard to find a good one at a great price. Get ’em while they’re hot.
(I don’t know why I just said that. It’s late. I’ve taken my prescription cough medicine. I apologize.)
There is no way to convey the sadness I feel over ending with the number thirteen, but I hate to delete anything and I don’t have the energy to look for anything else. So, thirteen it is!
Y’all have a great Friday.
Look what showed up on my front porch via UPS yesterday afternoon.
Guess which member of my household discovered that Williams-Sonoma has their peppermint bark on sale?
Okay, I have to keep this brief because I am pretty sure that I’m coming down with some sort of cold. Which, if you’re playing along at home, is the second cold I’ve had in less than a month. I told P that I was getting sick because I woke up with a scratchy throat (always a sure sign of impending illness for me) and he said it’s just all the cedar in the air. Apparently the cedar count is THROUGH THE ROOF.
But in my experience seasonal allergies don’t garner nearly the same amount of sympathy as a cold so I’m sticking with my cold theory. However, I may or may not take a Zyrtec later on just in case it’s the cedar. And really, it’s not like any sort of malady gets me much sympathy around here. It’s like I think if I’m sick that Caroline will tell me to put my feet up while she fetches me a warm blanket and some chicken noodle soup.
As a matter of fact, last night I told her I wasn’t feeling well and was going to take a hot shower. She told me she was STARVING (starving in her vocabulary means that she could eat half a chicken nugget) and could I please fix her dinner first. She wanted fish sticks and macaroni and cheese. I said, “It will take a while for the oven to preheat. Let me shower and get in my pajamas while the oven heats up and then I’ll fix your dinner.”
She replied, “Go ahead and microwave that mac and cheese before you get in the shower. I’ll have it now for an appetizer and you can get the fish sticks to me later for my main course.”
What a fount of sympathy and concern. And also a child who has eaten at her fair share of restaurants. I didn’t know what an appetizer was until I discovered fried cheese at Bennigans when I was a freshman in college.
But enough about me having what is probably the flu. Let’s talk about the biggest excitement in my life right now. Seriously, I am so excited.
For several years now there has been a sweet girl named Holly who reads my blog. She and I have emailed back and forth over the years and she even ordered some sugar cookies from one of my very best friends for her son’s birthday party. I don’t really know what that has to do with anything, but I just felt you should know. Oh, and she’s a fellow Texan.
Anyway, at some point, Holly mentioned that she is an interior designer and I didn’t really think much of it because Caroline was just three years old at the time and I was kind of out of the home decorating mindset since my living room was basically decorated in a style that can only be called Early American Fisher Price with a hint of Naked Baby Doll thrown in for good measure.
Then one day I was looking around Holly’s blog and noticed a link to where she’d been featured in Better Homes and Gardens in 2005. And, you won’t believe this, I totally remembered that entire article because I had LOVED her style so much. I don’t even subscribe to Better Homes and Gardens but just happened to buy that issue way back in 2005 while on a business trip. I even tore out pages from the magazine to keep for future ideas because I used to keep a big file folder full of future home decorating ideas before I started this blog and abandoned all other hobbies.
So, Holly and I were emailing back and forth one day about a month ago and I casually mentioned that I wished we lived in the same town because I would totally hire her to come help me make some changes to my living room because it’s grown a little tired and stale. (Did you see the pictures of those ducks swimming under my pew yesterday? I need some help.)
And Holly emailed me back with the best news I’ve ever heard.
We don’t need to live in the same town because she totally does consultations and design work over the internet. She said I could just send her some pictures and she’d help me put together a plan and give me some ideas on how to freshen things up based on my budget. It can all be done through the email. My living room will be forever indebted to Al Gore for inventing the internet. TECHNOLOGY IS A WONDER.
I emailed her back and said SIGN ME UP. We decided to wait until after Christmas because of the tree in the living room and all that, but now I’ve spent the last two days snapping pictures of my living room from every possible angle and sending them to Holly with helpful descriptions like “It’s not a goldy-gold, but more a of brownish-gold” and “It’s a little bit of leopard print but kind of cheetah-ish” and “I don’t know what I like but I’ll know it when I see it”.
Bless her heart.
But the amazing thing is that after just two of my incredibly helpful, insightful emails, Holly began to email me back with ideas and suggestions that I adored. She is totally getting my taste and what I want. Which is amazing considering that I didn’t even know what I wanted.
As we go through the whole thing, I thought it would be fun to do occasional posts on the progress with before and after pictures. It’s not going to be anything extensive (especially since I promised P when we bought this couch that we’d keep it until Caroline hauled it off to college while complaining that she can’t believe I’m making her take our beat up old couch) but I think it will show how some small changes can make a big difference. And, also, how the internet is AMAZING because how else can you explain that the person that I saw featured in Better Homes and Gardens FIVE YEARS AGO BEFORE I EVEN HAD A BLOG is helping me decorate my house.
(Well, not my whole house. Just my living room. At least until I can sweet talk P into getting off his wallet so I can make some changes in the kitchen.)
Lastly, you have got to go check out Holly Mathis Interiors. Her creativity astounds me. Plus she might be able to help you since, THANKS TO THE INTERNET AND DIGITAL CAMERAS, she isn’t limited by proximity.
Hooray for technology.
And hooray for finally getting rid of the fake plant that resides behind my couch for the sole purpose of catching dust.
There was a point last week after all the Christmas festivities were over that I began to think how sad it was going to be when Caroline had to go back to school. But then P left town for four days to go hunting with some friends. Caroline and I spent those days playing vast amounts of Monopoly Junior and putting the same Scooby Doo puzzle together over and OVER again while watching G-Force which, if you don’t know (and if you don’t have kids then why would you?), is all about some guinea pigs in the special forces.
Then I let her sleep with me in my bed and she pulled off her socks in the middle of the night, flung them on my face and said, “Here. I’m tired of wearing these now.” Never mind that I was sound asleep and didn’t really need to know about her sock issues. It was a combination that caused my sadness over the impending end of Christmas vacation to wane just a bit.
So yesterday marked our re-entry into the real world. Actually it marked her re-entry. P took her to school so I spent most of the morning in my pajamas immersed in important internet research. Namely, trying to see if anyone has this Lucky Brand leopard print coat on sale yet. It appears the answer is no.
But I felt like I’d earned a little bit of down time, especially since we spent the last day of vacation going to a birthday party that involved ice-skating. As in, I had to put on shoes of death and attempt to glide across an icy surface with my thirty-eight year center of gravity.
However, P picked up some delicious sandwiches for lunch which caused me to rally. We got the rest of our Christmas decorations safely tucked away in the attic and achieved something that hasn’t happened in this house since FOREVER.
Oh sure. It may just look like a piece of furniture to you, but it is a piece of furniture (with ducks swimming under it apparently) that we move into our bedroom every year to make room for our Christmas tree. And it usually remains there until mid-April. I spend countless hours staring at the blank wall across from our couch and think about how we really ought to move the church pew but then I see something shiny on T.V. and forget about it.
But this year it’s already back in its rightful position in the living room. HOORAY FOR 2010, you have already exceeded my expectations.
Also, hooray for Martha Stewart who taught me a little trick about moving heavy furniture by placing towels under it and sliding it across the floor. She also taught me how to make beautiful ponchos but that’s a story for another time because it would be complete fiction and I’d have to make it up first.
Anyway, thanks to Martha, I moved that pew before and after Christmas ALL BY MYSELF. In fact, while I was in the midst of sliding it back to our bedroom before Christmas, P walked in the back door, saw me pushing that pew across the kitchen floor with it jacked up on two beach towels and said, “I’ll be outside if you need anything”.
Because why would I need help moving a 200 pound piece of furniture. I mean, I had beach towels to help me.
Although yesterday he did help me PIVOT it into the living room which probably saved a large chunk of our wall from being sacrificed at the hands of the Martha Stewart moving method. Honestly, I’m not even sure I learned it from Martha. It might have just been on HGTV or an episode of Friends. I can’t remember.
I realize this post passed the random mark about four hundred words ago (Who cares about my pew? Who needs to know about the beach towels? Is it important that my child threw socks in my face?) and if you don’t care about football then please feel free to quit reading at this point.
Is it just me or has this bowl season been the most random one in the history of bowl season? I don’t want to offend anyone but if someone had listed these bowl games match-ups back in August, I would have thought they were making it up. Frankly, I’m bored.
And I realize there’s still a big game to come on Thursday, but I don’t really want to talk about it.
I’d rather bask in the glory of my furniture-moving success.
I realize we’re only four days in but so far 2010 is turning out to be a pretty good year. Of course how could I complain about a year that’s already involved two mornings of staying in our pajamas until noon and watching Loony Tunes in bed? And by our pajamas, I mean Caroline and me. P would never stay in his pajamas until noon watching Loony Tunes.
I think he has something against Elmer Fudd. Maybe it’s the goofy hat he wears while hunting wabbits.
Not that P has much room to talk.
Two things make me happy about this picture:
1. Caroline and her friend S. took it after he took them hunting on New Year’s Eve. They assured him that they got the entire deer in the picture.
They lied.
2. Right after the picture was taken, P told me that S asked him, “Mr. P, why do you wear that sailor’s hat when you go hunting?”
She makes an excellent point. P explained to her that it isn’t actually a camo sailor’s hat, but rather a hat that he’s just cinched up to the point that it looks like a sailor’s hat.
I’m not sure that makes it any better.
Speaking of New Year’s Eve, we had a big one. Our good friends invited us and Gulley and her family down to their ranch to ring in the New Year. And since we are never one to turn down a good time with friends in favor of sitting home and doing absolutely nothing, we jumped at the chance to go.
So on Thursday morning, we loaded up P’s truck with all manner of hunting paraphernalia and headed south. We made a few quick stops for Sonic drinks and tots, fireworks, and some type of gasoline cleaner. I’m not sure what that last item has to do with New Year’s Eve fun, but P felt it was essential because the Polaris was acting a little temperamental and the last time it acted funny it ended up slamming itself into a wall while being repaired. In other words, better safe than sorry.
We finally made it to the ranch and spent some time hanging out on the front porch until it was time for the evening hunt. P and Caroline planned to hunt deer and pigs. I planned to hunt for the Pioneer Woman’s olive cheese bread that Gulley brought to the ranch. Viva la difference.
The kids all milled around in the yard until Will and his friend A decided that they were going to go on a hunt by themselves and took off in their very own all-terrain vehicle.
Notice that A has his toy gun resting securely on his lap.
A few minutes later we noticed that not only had they gone out hunting, but they’d managed to get a deer and load it into the Polaris all by themselves. Quite an accomplishment for a couple of four year old boys.
Needless to say, it is quite the trophy. It’s not every day that you hunt down the elusive inflatable deer.
After that, the kids were all inspired to get in a little practice with their BB guns.
Mamas, lock up your turtles.
Then it was time for P to take his two buddies out for the evening hunt.
He wasn’t very optimistic about their prospects since there tends to be a lot of hair flipping and giggling that goes on in this particular little posse of hunters. P just can’t resist the urge to flip his hair and giggle. But they managed to have some success in the form of an eight point buck that wasn’t frightened away by all the giggling.
I’ve known for years that deer aren’t as easily frightened by smells and noise as hunting experts lead you to believe because I performed my own very scientific research one time when P put me in a hunting blind by myself. Those deer weren’t frightened away by the scent of the perfume samples falling out of my InStyle magazine or when I started yelling at them out the window to see if they’d run away. Maybe those hunting experts ought to try that method instead of covering themselves in all sorts of malodorous scents. Maybe those big bucks are more enticed by the scent of Lovely by Sarah Jessica Parker.
Something to think about, Cabelas.
After the mighty hunters returned, it was time for the big event. The olive cheese bread.
Oh, and an amateur firework show put on by men who subscribe to the theory that it’s not really a fire unless you’re scared.
The kids could not wait for the show to begin.
But then decided to climb up into the truck tower because who wouldn’t want to be closer to the explosions?
The men began to choose from their arsenal of fireworks. And I do mean arsenal.
I’ve always believed you can’t have enough Stampede Super Bombs.
P was a fan of the big W. He’s also a fan of any opportunity to wear his Cabela’s head lamp.
The kids decided to get in on the action with some sparklers.
And before we knew it, P turned his headlamp back on and prepared for the FINAL ATTACK.
Let’s take a closer look.
Oh my word.
The Chinese manufacturers weren’t playing around when they designed that packaging. What is more frightening than a depiction of a general in a tank on a box of explosives? I mean other than the Christmas tree needles that I’m still finding in my carpet a full week after we took our tree down?
But while the FINAL ATTACK was being readied for launch, our kids made up a fun, new game with their sparklers. A little game called LET’S LIGHT THE GRASS ON FIRE.
Oh, it was hilarious.
If you’re a pyromaniac.
It required that some bigger boots be called into action.
I sat there watching the little firestarters light their fires and laugh maniacally while they stomped them out with their boots and thought that none of this would be happening if they still aired those commercials of that Indian crying one single tear down his cheek.
And then I remembered that the Indian was crying because of all the litter. I had him mixed up with Smokey the Bear who always said, “Give a hoot! Don’t pollute!” But I realized that was Woodsy the Owl. Then I thought about Mr. Yuk who was green and warned kids not to eat poison. And then I decided that I watched a lot of television as a child.
The point is that Smokey always said, “Only you can prevent forest fires.”
Which is totally true.
Fortunately, we weren’t in a forest but rather on a small patch of grass surrounded by gravel roads. They were easily contained. It was completely safe, harmless New Year’s Eve fun for everyone.
Except for maybe that 8 point buck. He probably hadn’t planned on getting shot by a sailor on New Year’s Eve.
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