Year: 2010

  • Fashion Friday: Edition so much cute to be found

    I spent a few hours shopping yesterday. Technically, I said that I was on a shopping sabbatical, but that was before I realized I still haven’t found a pair of black booties. So I went on a search yesterday and I have absolutely nothing to show for it.

    Here’s the issue. The booties I like best in person are the open-toed booties. I just haven’t found a pair of closed toe booties that look like I want them to look when I picture them in my mind. But, yet, the reality of owning a pair of open-toed booties perplexes me for a few reasons.

    Reason #1: I assume I can’t wear them with any sort of tights. That would be wrong on several levels and might cause me to have flashbacks to third grade and an unfortunate fashion decision involving Yo-Yo sandals and pantyhose. There may have also been a red dress made out of terry cloth. But I’ve blocked out that part.

    Reason #2: The winter pedicure. I can’t deal.

    Reason #3: My feet are cold even in the dead of summer. I enjoy wearing socks when the temperatures drop.

    All of which have led to my dreadful inability to find the right bootie.

    (Clearly this is what is known as a first world problem.)

    Okay, so today’s Fashion Friday is filled with some really cute things and, BEST OF ALL, everything is under $100.

    1. Trickle down top

    There are so many great things on sale at Anthropologie right now. I think that Trickle Down top is adorable. But I also love this First light tank and think it would be great with a jacket thrown over it.

    But wait! There’s more! This Mottisfront top is so great and I’m also loving this Setting Sun tank.

    Dear Anthropologie,

    I have a love/hate relationship with you. I hate that you never acknowledge my existence or send me any sort of coupons. But I love the way your stores smell. I adore most of your clothing. I have long desired a few of your kitchen towels. And you do have some good sales. Call me!

    Love,
    Melanie

    2. Can’t Chain Me Down boots

    I don’t know what it is about these boots, but I saw them online yesterday and couldn’t quit thinking about them. I think it may be the chains.

    But if chains aren’t your thing, you might want to check out these Rocket Dog cozy knit clogs. They look like winter in a shoe.

    And I’m also a big fan of these Tall Whiskey fold rugged boots. They’re cute and versatile. It’s like a Transformer in a shoe. Or a boot. Or whatever.

    3. Wanigan coat

    And we’re back to Anthropologie. But this time it’s about coats.

    I think I featured this coat a while back. The difference is now it’s on sale for $99.99. And I’ve also realized that the fur collar is detachable which just makes me love it more.

    I also really like this Kirklees sweater coat and can vouch for the fact that it’s prettier in person.

    And then I saw this Dollhouse jacket and thought it would be great paired with jeans or pants or a skirt for holiday parties. It’s very festive.

    Oh, and I’m intrigued by this Pattern Maker’s coat. I’d have to see it in person to know for sure, but I think it has real potential.

    4. Mad for Plaid long tunic

    This is the kind of thing that draws me in like good reality television. It’s casual and comfortable and I could throw it on with leggings three times a week.

    On a totally different note, I also adore this Cute as a button ivory wool peacoat. It’s the buttons. They make me want to be a better person. A person who could wear an ivory wool peacoat.

    5. Felt Buckle coat

    I went in our new Forever 21 yesterday, which used to be a Mervyn’s, and was totally overwhelmed. It’s enormous. And I didn’t see this coat in person. But that could be because I couldn’t quit looking at the racks and racks of bargain-priced jewelry and flowered headbands and crocheted beanie-type hats that make me want to be a person who can wear crocheted beanie-type hats.

    6. Tinley Road Sergeant jacket

    Piperlime has a whole section of items right now that are all less than $75 and there are many, many cute things on featured. But I chose this jacket. Because I like it.

    7. The Soloist dress

    I don’t know where the picture of this dress is located. Somewhere in cyberspace.

    But I really like it.

    8. Royal Treatment tunic

    I’m never sure how I feel about purple, but I can just picture this tunic with some charcoal gray leggings and some gray boots or black tights and black booties. And maybe some big, chunky silver bracelets? Is anyone else seeing that or is it just me?

    9. Lettuce-edge v-neck sweater

    I tried this on in the store the other day and really liked it. But I didn’t buy it because I am in the midst of a spending hiatus. It comes in several colors and is on sale for $49.50. However, when I was in the store the other day it was an additional 30% off.

    Dang my spending hiatus. I should have bought this sweater.

    10. Flyaway Tiered cardigan

    It’s one of the best times of the year. Yes, it’s Fall and the leaves are turning and the weather is chilly and I had to put an extra blanket on the bed last night. But, more importantly, it’s time for Nordstrom’s half-yearly sale and there are so many good deals to be had. Like the flyaway cardigan. And several great coats.

    It would also be a good time to buy a new pair of jeans if you’re in the market for such a thing. There are some really good prices right now.

    And that is it for today.

    I wish I could say I was heading back out to continue my bootie search, but I’m not. I have to clean my house. Because I can’t stand it any longer.

    The dust. The dust is out of control.

    And the toothpaste on Caroline’s bathroom counter. There is perpetually toothpaste on the bathroom counter. Someone help me understand why it’s so hard to put the toothpaste directly on the toothbrush.

    Y’all have a great Friday.

    _______________________________________

    Don’t forget to check out the LG TextEd posts over at BlogHer. There are some great posts about monitoring your teen’s cell phone usage. I don’t really want to think about that yet.

  • You can’t handle the dance

    Because I think we’ve all been wondering, Caroline agreed to show us a few of her dangerous moves.

    Dangerous from Big Mama on Vimeo.

    Bless her heart, you can see that I had to twist her arm to get her to dance.

    For the record, I think she inherited her moves from her daddy.

    Although he usually doesn’t need a hat.

  • The big toe reveal

    If you ever meet Gulley, don’t let her try to tell you she doesn’t like to get her craft on. Because look what she did.

    I give you Exhibit A, BIG TOE.

    This wasn’t actually on Halloween. It was on Saturday and Will agreed to try it on for me. He said he plans to be very careful with it because he’d like to wear it all year long. And who can blame him?

    I’ll have you know that the top of that costume has part of a foam pool noodle velcroed into it to help hold its shape. And there is a lifejacket attached to the torso to keep the whole thing in place while Big Toe wandered the neighborhood in search of candy and the occasional plastic spider ring.

    To which I can only say, WELL DONE.

    It’s so much better than my suggestion of a blue sweatsuit and some face paint.

    _____________________________________

    There’s some great discussions going on over at BlogHer about kids and texting. You can check them out here.

  • Trick or treat

    I can’t promise that any of this is going to come together in any kind of coherent way today. I am suffering from the after effects of too much candy corn followed by a few fun size Snickers chasers.

    Our Halloween festivities started bright and early on Friday morning as we got Caroline dressed and her face painted for her school’s dress up day. She was a butterfly this year. A sparkly pink and purple butterfly.

    For the record, 7:00 a.m. is way too early to paint flowers and vines on someone’s face.

    I dropped her off at school and then picked up AJ so we could grab something from Starbucks to give us energy before our day of shopping. The good news is the second dress she tried on turned out to be the perfect dress. But the bad news is I made her spend five more hours at the mall just to make sure it was actually the best dress. No dress left behind is my personal motto.

    (That’s not really true. I don’t really have a personal motto. And if I did it would probably be something like “Never miss the chance to take a nap.” But that could just be because Caroline woke me up at 5:45 yesterday morning and I’m coming down off my candy corn high and feel like I’m about to drop.)

    AJ and I finished shopping just in time for me to pick up Caroline from school and experience the Friday afternoon that tried to kill me dead. I was one of the first cars in the carpool line but Caroline’s class was late coming out of the school for reasons I still don’t understand. Which means I was that annoying car holding up an entire line of cars and I try very hard to never be that annoying car in any situation. I immediately felt the need to explain the situation to all the cars behind me but of course I can’t do that because then I would be that mother walking around outside of her car and holding up the carpool line.

    Finally Caroline came out of the school loaded down with various pieces of her costume and her Black Beauty pumpkin which was much worse off after three days on display in the school library. She hopped in the car and began to melt down as she told me that some fifth grade boys made fun of her in her costume. Naturally, I was ready to put a hit out on some ten-year-old boys. Maybe they needed to wake up to find a Black Beauty pumpkin head on their front porch as a warning sign.

    As I pulled out the rest of the story it became apparent that the fifth grade boys were making fun of all the second grade girls and not just Caroline. That doesn’t necessarily mean that they aren’t all juvenile delinquents who need a good spanking, but it did make it a little bit better. I explained that’s what boys do and it’s a good reminder of how important it is to be kind to everyone and remember how it feels when someone hurts your feelings.

    We got home and I started to help her put all the pieces of her costume back on because we had plans to go to the Halloween Pixie Skate and the roller rink. And that’s when we realized her sparkly antennae were missing.

    Heaven help me.

    So we went back up to the school and searched all over for the sparkly antennae that were nowhere to be found. And then I had to start coming up with a back up antennae plan because OH BRITNEY, THIS IS NOT GOING TO END WELL.

    Ultimately, she ended up wearing one of her tiaras as a temporary replacement and I tried to sell her on the coolness that is a BUTTERFLY PRINCESS, but I could tell she doubted me. Then we walked into the roller rink only to see her friend’s mama wearing Caroline’s antennae. As it turns out, Caroline had handed her the antennae as she walked out of school because they were falling off her head and the mama had told her she’d bring them to her at the roller rink.

    All this falls under the category of things that would have been good to know before I desperately rummaged through all manner of forgotten lunch boxes and smelly sweaters in the school’s lost and found.

    But the important thing is that my butterfly was reunited with her sparkly antennae and the world continued to spin on its axis.

    Saturday morning, the Cheetah Girls played the best game of their soccer season. And, best of all, Jackson and Will were there to watch her play.

    The rest of Saturday is a blur but the important thing is the Aggies beat Texas Tech. And Baylor beat Texas which probably means the end times are upon us.

    On Sunday morning, Caroline woke up bright and early at 5:45. I don’t know why.

    All I know is that before the day was over, I’d carved pumpkins while she gave me orders like I was working in some sort of Halloween sweatshop.

    (What I lack in carving skill, I make up for in enthusiasm. Or at least Caroline makes up for in enthusiasm.)

    I made popcorn balls and got a blister on my thumb and pinky finger.

    I cooked a batch of chili to take to a Halloween party.

    I painted yet another face on my little butterfly but couldn’t get her to really smile for the camera as opposed to making the dramatic faces apparently favored by pink and purple sparkly butterflies.

    I channeled the version of myself who lived back in 1988 when my biggest concern was getting the proper height out of my bangs and the right amount of blue eyeshadow.

    (Yes. That’s a banana clip in my hair. No. My bangs did not turn out like I wanted. Apparently getting the right height out of your bangs is an acquired skill that I have forgotten. Or maybe your bangs have to be trained over time. Or maybe I just didn’t have enough Aussie Sprunch Spray to get the look I was going for. Or most likely my hair is no longer fried on a steady stream of perm solution and AquaNet.)

    I watched P let Caroline dress him up as a vampire.

    (A vampire in Birkenstocks and cargo shorts. I don’t know that anyone is going to leave Team Edward for Team P.)

    (I’ve only read one of the Twilight books and don’t really understand the hype. I’ll stick with Team P and his Birkenstocks. He’s like a laid-back vampire.)

    But most of all, I watched Caroline have the best time making memories I hope she’ll never forget.

    And that makes it all worth it.

    I think.

  • Fashion Friday: Edition these boots are made for walkin’

    Y’all.

    I was just sitting here with two Double Chocolate Milano cookies and all of a sudden one of them went missing. And then I came to the sad realization that it wasn’t actually missing, but I had just eaten both of them in a span of time that couldn’t have been any longer than two seconds.

    I think I have a problem.

    (Wait! As soon as I typed all that out, I looked up and saw the second Milano sitting on the coffee table. I am so relieved to know that I’m not eating cookies unaware. I feel relieved. And vindicated.)

    Earlier this week I mentioned that I’d gone boot shopping with my friend, Paige. What I didn’t mention was that Caroline managed to score herself a pair of boots while we were at Cavenders. We’d been talking about buying her some real cowboy boots for awhile because the little pink fake ones just weren’t cutting it anymore. And so she ended up with a pair of brown cowboy boots with a touch of pink and brown animal print. I’d be lying if I said I don’t covet them just a little bit.

    As fate would have it, this past week has been Red Ribbon Week at her school and every day has been a different type of dress up day. Tuesday was Wear Your Favorite Shoes day and, naturally, she wanted to wear her new boots. I suggested she wear them with her skinny jeans tucked in so you could see the pink and brown animal print on her boots.

    However, she was dubious of my suggestion and decided to try it all on to see how it looked. I’ll tell you how it looked, IT LOOKED DARLING. But she wanted to try them on with her bootcut jeans over them to see which look she liked best. I told her it looked cute either way, but I preferred the jeans tucked into the boots.

    She looked right at me and said, “I’m going to go ask my Daddy what he thinks”.

    So she ran outside to find P in the backyard and came back in and announced, “Daddy thinks the jeans look good over the boots. I’m wearing them like this.”

    Yes. Why not take fashion advice from a man whose wardrobe consists of six Columbia fishing shirts in two different colors? Why would you listen to your mother? Your mother who writes about fashion ON THE INTERNET?

    The Bible is so right. A prophet is not honored in his hometown.

    The bulk of today’s post is all about cowboy boots because several of you wanted to know more about buying boots. But I did happen to find a few other cute things because I always do.

    1. Cowboy boots

    Finding the right pair of boots takes time. That’s the first thing you need to know. Sometimes you have to kiss a few frogs to find your cowboy. I mean, to find your cowboy boots.

    Finding your cowboy is a whole different kind of post.

    Secondly, a good pair of boots should be viewed as an investment piece. Good boots are going to be a little pricey, but they will never go out of style and they just get better with age.

    Kind of like cowboys. But, again, that’s a whole different post.

    I would recommend that you go to a good western wear store in your area and try on several different kinds of boots to see what you like and what fits best. All boots are not created equal. But if you live in some horrid place that doesn’t sell any type of western wear, then you can always order online until you find the right pair. You just might want to find a site that offers free shipping and returns.

    All that being said, here are some boots that I happen to adore. Honestly, I could wear my cowboy boots every single day. Except in the summer because that would be ridiculous. But, other than that, I could wear them all the time because they really are the most comfortable shoes I own and I can wear them with just about everything.

    Let’s start with these Old Gringo Turquoise Diego boots.

    And these Old Gringo Volcano Brass Bonnie boots.

    While we’re focusing on Old Gringo boots, you should know that I also love these chocolate ones with embroidery and this pair with floral embroidery.

    But there are plenty of other good boots to be had. Like these Corral boots with turquoise inlay or these Prairie boots with hot pink stitching. If you’re really feeling sassy, how about these Calamity Jane boots in red?

    You can never go wrong with a pair of Lucchese boots.

    Or you could always go with something simple like these Frye Carson Pull On boots.

    And if you’re looking for a bargain-priced boot with some western flair, then you can’t go wrong with these Jessica Simpson Rosanna boots or these Roper Western boots or these Mia Western boots.

    All I know is that if I’m ever invited to sing at the Grand Ol Opry, I’m buying these.

    I probably don’t need to start saving up my money.

    2. Late Brunch dress

    I like this because it falls in the category of dresses that can be worn with leggings or over a pair of jeans. Plus, for you fellow Aggies out there, doesn’t it kind of look maroon? I think it could totally pass as game day apparel.

    3. Plaid flannel ruffle shirt

    It’s plaid. It’s flannel. It has a ruffle. What’s not to like?

    4. Eight sixty faux fur vest

    I have long been intrigued by the fur vest. I think I can trace it back to my childhood and all the happiness I felt when my Me-Ma and Pa-Pa bought me my very first patchwork rabbit fur jacket. Oh it was something special.

    There are many fur vests out there, but I thought this one was cute because it’s white and I could just picture it with jeans and cowboy boots.

    5. Military sweater coat

    I adore this coat. And it doesn’t hurt that everything at Ann Taylor Loft is 30% off right now. EVERYTHING.

    Which means you could use the money you save on that coat to buy this striped cowlneck sweater. That’s just basic economics.

    And now I’m off to spend the day helping my friend, AJ, shop for a dress. Only one of us actually likes shopping and it’s not the person who needs a new dress. The last time we went shopping together ended with me yelling, “YOU HAVE TO WANT IT” as she struggled to pull a Banana Republic dress over her head.

    Pray for me.

    Or maybe you should pray for her.

    Y’all have a good Friday and a Halloween filled with all the non-lame candy.

  • Alphabet soup

    Today is just going to be a mixed bag ‘o fun and information, leaning heavily on the information side, because it’s Thursday and I’ve already made a horse out of a pumpkin this week. Not to be confused with making a mountain out of a molehill.

    How much can one woman be expected to accomplish in a seven day period of time?

    Which is exactly the same question I asked P as we ate leftover meatloaf for the third time this week.

    So here are just a few things in a non-numerical format because that seems so cliche’. Instead, I will use alphabetical letters. Because it’s so fresh and different.

    A. I met Kate back in April when I was in New York. We shared some sushi at Nobu that forever changed my life. And then I came home and started reading her recipe blog because I am always looking for new recipes. (P would probably beg to differ right now since he’s eaten leftover meatloaf three times this week, but whatever.)

    The point is that I have discovered many great recipes on Kate’s Framed Cooks blog and felt like I should share it with y’all.

    B. I loved Jon’s post yesterday about Ignoring the Soundtrack.

    C. And I cried when I read Sophie’s tribute to her Uncle Joe.

    D. This week’s episode of Real Housewives of Atlanta is why I love television. If you happened to watch it, can we please discuss Phaedra?

    E. There’s a new Kellogg’s post up on my giveaway page. Click over there for a chance to win $100 gift card.

    F. It’s supposed to be 42 degrees here on Friday morning. Of course it’s supposed to warm up to 82 by the afternoon, but I’m ignoring that part. And I’m wearing a sweater all day long.

    G. I went in Gap yesterday and tried on some black skinny pants just like the ones I owned from 1991-1995, but I couldn’t make myself like them. I guess it’s true what they say, you can’t go home again.

    H. There isn’t an H. I just didn’t want to end with G. Oh wait! Halloween. Is anyone dressing up as anything for Halloween? I may wear my 80’s ensemble that I bought earlier this year since I never got to wear it and there aren’t many occasions that allow a grown woman to sport a Miley Cyrus brand dress from Walmart.

    And rightfully so.

    See y’all tomorrow for Fashion Friday. I’m going to discuss cowboy boots among other things.