Month: May 2016

It’s true. I’ve had this cold for going on a week now and I don’t know that I feel much better. But I’m planning to sleep and then sleep and then probably sleep some more this weekend and hopefully that will help.

Before we get to the clothes today, I want you to know about a great deal going on right now for my friend Sophie’s new book, Giddy Up, Eunice! that comes out June 7th. But if you pre-order a copy between now and May 17th, you get one free. It’s a BOGO like at Payless Shoes!

I’ve read it and I know you’ll love it and be so glad you have a copy to pass along to a friend. Here’s what you need to do to take advantage of this offer:

1. Pre-order a copy from your favorite retailer.
2. Go to Giddyupeunice.com and fill out the form on the page that says “Special Pre-Order Offer” by entering your email and uploading a copy of your receipt.
3. You’ll receive a follow-up email within 48 hours to collect your mailing address!
4. For questions, email [email protected]

Now for some cute things I’ve seen this week and just to warn you, this could have been entitled “Embroidered Dresses I Love”:

1. asos premium ladder and lace swing sundress

I am so far from being a bride-to-be but if I were then I would rejoice in the skin I had twenty years ago and I would also buy this dress to wear to some pre-wedding festivities. It’s so pretty.

2. star mela lina embroidered tunic dress

I saw this online and immediately fell in love. And, good news, Asos offers free shipping on orders over $40.

3. star mela allie embroidered tunic dress

This is apparently the sister dress to the one above. I love them both.

4. forever 21 embroidered peasant dress

Last weekend I was shopping with Caroline and we found ourselves in Forever 21. And I experienced sensory overload. Then I saw this dress and kind of loved it. I tried it on and it’s too short and a little too sheer at the bottom to be a dress for a forty-something women, but it will look really great with white jeans. Forever 21 offers free shipping on orders over $50.

5. j.crew linen cotton embroidered dress

Continuing in my theme of embroidered dresses, I saw this one at J.Crew yesterday. For my fellow San Antonio friends, there’s a new J.Crew Mercantile store in the Quarry. I ran in there yesterday and saw this. It also comes in white and is on sale for $59.50.

But if a dress isn’t your thing, it also comes in an embroidered tank top.

6. j.crew striped eyelet dress

I saw this dress, too. It’s $39.50 and is so much prettier in person than this picture shows. It also comes in lilac and vibrant flame.

7. lush woven tunic

I like these tunics because they are lightweight, wrinkle-free and easy to throw on with just about anything.

8. high low surplice blouse

This is on sale at Anthropologie and it also comes in an olive green. It’s made of Lyocell which is one of my favorite new fabrics because it’s so light and soft.

9. j.crew draped tank top with silky hem

Okay, last thing because I saw this yesterday and thought it was cute. It has a silky underlay which gives it a little something extra. It comes in blue, red, white and black.

That’s it for today.

Have a good Friday.

Before you read another word of this I need you to know that I have been up since 5 a.m. after a refreshing two hours night’s sleep. And I have a cold. And I’m on medication for said cold. So what I’m saying is take all of this with a grain or six of salt and forgive any typos or if I say something extraordinarily dumb as opposed to just my normal dumb.

We had a fairly busy weekend here. On Friday night we had Mimi and Bops and P’s mom over for dinner. P had gone fishing on Thursday and had what he called an “epic day” and so we did a little Mother’s Day fish fry. And then Saturday, Caroline and I spent most of the day at La Cantera shopping as part of one of her friend’s birthday celebration. I also spent a lot of time trying to convince myself that I did not have a cold until all the sneezing and sniffling and general woe is me feelings proved otherwise.

But on Sunday afternoon I flew to Grand Rapids because I had a meeting scheduled with my publisher to talk about my next book. Maybe you’ve heard me mention that I’m in the process of writing a new book once or fifty times over the last few months. These meetings were all about that new book, along with some other projects I’ll be working on, and all I can say right now is I am so excited about all of it. I fill you in as I know more details, but I can tell you that it looks like this next book will be out in the fall of 2017 at some point.

I realize that seems like forever away but when you remember that it was just Christmas yesterday and now school is almost out for the summer, it’ll be here before we know it and I really am working hard in between watching Kimmy Schmidt episodes to make sure this book is my best one yet.

So that’s what has been going on around here.

And now I’m going to bed. After I take another Benadryl/Sudafed combination.

You know what never gets much love? The sixth of May. So today’s Fashion Friday salutes May 6. Thank you, May 6, because without you there would be no May 7th.

Here are some things I found this week:

1. maggy london fit and flare dress

This also comes in a turquoise pattern. I think both are so cute and perfect for a summer wedding or such.

2. maxwell sandal

These sandals are now 40% off and sold out in a lot of sizes and colors, but I had to include them here because I think they are great. I have a similar pair and I love that I can wear a heel without actually wearing a heel. And I happen to love this coral color.

3. free people mixed print slip dress

I wouldn’t wear this as a dress but I would absolutely wear it as a tunic. I love it.

4. tiled drop waist dress

I already have too many dresses with this same cut but this is on sale and I think someone might need it in their life.

***Edited to add that Anthropologie is offering 20% off everything all weekend with the code XOXO at checkout.

5. centaury drops

I think these are such a pretty, neutral earring that would go with a lot of different outfits.

6. j.crew floral crochet tank

I love these crochet tanks because they’re great on their own or good for layering.

7. off the shoulder dress

Loft is offering 40% off almost everything now with no code needed and this is just one of several dresses that I think are really great. And, yes, off the shoulder is going to require a strapless bra but it might be worth it.

8. jungle drop earrings

I just saw these on the Nordstrom website and apparently so did a lot of people because they are backordered. I adore them.

9. monogram pendant necklace

I’ve been eyeing this for a while. I like that it’s a different take on a monogram necklace. A little quirky.

10. j.crew flip striped sweatshirt

J.Crew Factory has a lot of stuff on sale, including these cute striped sweatshirts. This also comes in blue and is on sale for $41.50.

That’s it for today.

Have a great Friday.

So I just had a couple of things today that I wanted to share. And I didn’t add the first thing to this list, but I’ll go ahead and tell you now. So many of you have asked about the Big Boo Bus Tour and I’m so sad to tell you that we’ve had to cancel it. As it turns out, June is just not a great time to try to put something like this together because logistics are just really difficult and so we are looking at the possibility of rescheduling during a more optimal time. In the meantime, I’ll keep you posted if Sophie and I will be together on the road somewhere. I’m sad that we’ll miss out on seeing you, but I have to admit I’m a little relieve to not be spending ten days of my summer on a bus.

As for other things:

1. All of Titus’s nicknames for Kimmy Schmidt

This was one of my favorite parts of watching Kimmy Schmidt. Titus calls her different names and it’s so quick that you can also miss them if you aren’t paying attention. So I was so excited when Sophie’s friend, Daphne, sent me this clip yesterday.

2. lace-up henley

I realize it’s not Fashion Friday, but this shirt is on sale at Anthropologie and I felt it’s too good to not share immediately. I have a chambray shirt by this same brand and it’s so soft and comfortable. And the lace up detail is super in right now.

It’s on sale for $49.95.

3. JW Marriott Resort in San Antonio

A lot of you email me about taking a vacation to San Antonio and I just had to share that you can’t beat the JW Marriott, especially for a family vacation. It’s not cheap, but they’ve added all these great new water slides and I feel you can never go wrong with a lazy river.

This isn’t a paid ad or anything, I just think it makes a great family vacation destination spot.

4. Kate Middleton’s Vogue photoshoot

Well, first we get birthday pics of Princess Charlotte and then Kate’s Vogue photoshoot. This article confirms a couple of things I already suspected namely that she uses rollers in her hair and that her stylist carries an entire rolling bag full of hair products. My kingdom (that doesn’t exist) for a list of those hair products.

5. terra exotic potato chips

I picked these up on a whim the other day because I felt like my life wasn’t complete without exotic potatoes. And they are indeed delicious. Plus they make me feel like I’m eating healthier because they are multicolored.

6. Ladies Worship Night

This is happening tonight if you find yourself in San Antonio with nothing to do. Everyone is welcome and we’d love to have you. It’ll just be a low-key, casual night.

Happy Thursday.

Well, it is officially May. And we get out of school exactly one month from today. Hallelujah and amen. I ran into a mom who’s a friend of mine at the store yesterday and we both agreed we are so tired of packing lunches every day. And then she commented that her daughter told her how gross the microwave is in the junior high cafeteria and now I can’t quit thinking about how disgusting a microwave used by junior high kids all year long must be. This image will be at the top of my list next time I have a stomach bug and need something to push me over the edge.

I was at the grocery store because we were essentially out of everything that is required to sustain human life. Or at least everything that allows us to live our best life now, like Oreos and Honey BBQ Fritos and Cocoa Puffs. I wish I were kidding. At one point I looked in my cart and felt like I was shopping for a frat house filled with drunk college boys who have no regard for their metabolism or cholesterol. So I threw in a bunch of bananas, a pack of strawberries and some skim organic skim milk to make myself feel better.

All I know is that sometimes when you have an imminent book deadline and it’s May and you helped your daughter with two different school projects over the weekend, that you need to turn to the two most important food groups to help you find the will to go on. And by two most important food groups, I mean Oreos and wine.

On Friday night we went out to dinner even though I think we were all tired and not feeling great. But we had to eat and I certainly wasn’t going to cook, so we went out. A big storm was rolling through right as we got back home and so we sat on the back porch and watched the lightning and then eventually the rain before we all called it a night and went to bed.

The next day we had soccer at noon, but it was an hour away and we have to be there an hour before game time which equals leaving the house earlier than I would prefer for a Saturday morning. We drove to the game, Caroline’s team lost but we stopped at a cute burger place with her team on the way home so the day wasn’t a total wash. After we got home I made her work on her Texas History project because I didn’t want to spend my Sunday listening to “I HAVE SO MUCH HOMEWORK!!” and felt that she needed to get at least half of it finished, especially since she had soccer again.

Sunday’s game was at 10:00 a.m. so P took soccer duty and I spoke at church. Caroline’s team won, which was fun since it was their last game of the season. And then we all met back at the house and I fell asleep for nearly two hours on the couch because of allergies or the fact that I ran out of Kimmy Schmidt episodes or because everyone in my house, including Piper and Mabel, snored all night the night before due to a combination of colds and seasonal allergies.

Later on that afternoon, I broke out the hot glue gun to help her finish a Science project and then we all ate a combination of whatever we could find in the fridge for dinner.

But speaking of dinner, last night I made these slow cooker ribs. My people all feel that a meal is not a meal unless there is a lot of meat involved and we are all big fans of ribs. I figured there was a way to cook them in the slow cooker and Pinterest confirmed that yes, there are approximately 683 different ways to cook ribs in the slow cooker. I opted for barbecue ribs and then went to the grocery store to get all the needed ingredients, mainly baby back ribs and side dishes since I had all the other seasonings in my pantry.

So I made the rub exactly like the recipe calls for, but I didn’t make the sauce. I used a jar of sauce from The Barbecue Station which is our favorite local barbecue place and, frankly, I knew I couldn’t make sauce better than theirs. And then I seared them at 400 degrees like the recipe says but ended up putting them in a dutch oven and cooking them at 250 degrees in the oven for the next three to four hours. I’m sure they would have been great in the Crockpot too, but I’m in this weird thing right now where I’ve decided everything cooked in the Crockpot comes out tasting the same. It’s like eating at Chilis. You can order a burger or the enchilada soup but it all has a similar taste and leaves you with a bitter aftertaste of chili powder and regret.

But potato, PO-TAH-TO, the ribs were delicious and the meat fell off the bone. It was hit with both P and Caroline and, best of all, allowed me to pretty much do nothing all afternoon except bask in the glory and satisfaction that can only come with knowing dinner is already cooking in your oven.

Most importantly, it allowed me to quote lines from the classic “I’m Gonna Git You Sucka”. And I don’t really know how much more you could ask for out of a Monday evening.