Pretty Porches

I've always loved big front porches!  Perhaps because when I was a little girl we'd travel each year to San Antonio to see my grandmother and all my cousins for a late Christmas!  My Uncle would sit out on the front porch and smoke his pipe while all the kids played in the yard.  I always loved the way his pipes would make the air smell sweet!  I have vivid memories of my grandmother holding my youngest daughter on that front porch while reading to her from a book of prayers for children.  We called her Meemaw and she's no longer with us but I cherish those sweet childhood memories at her sweet little home.  Meemaw had a white iron glider on her porch~~I loved sitting on it as it would slide back and forth as my feet barely reached the ground.  It was old and peeling but I loved it nonetheless.  Now that we're blessed with a big front porch on our new home I want to find some furniture to make it cozy so someday I can sit out there and make memories with my grandchildren!  I really like grey wicker chairs in particular but I'm just starting to look.  Here are a few photos I've found online of pretty porches! 



Image Source~blog.hgtv.com

Image Source~musingsofanightowl.blogspot.com

thisarchitecture.com

countryliving.com

interiordec.about.com

House Beautiful

Tightwad Totes!!

Everyone loves a reallly frugal find these days, especially in these crazy economic times!!  So here's to a few of you who've written to me saying that you'd like to find awesome totes on a really tight budget!!  I hope these give you some ideas!

Look up this adorable  *AEO Printed Tote* on American Eagle on Clearance right now!

                                                          Was $24.50   Now $14.95

           Click here: Clearance - AEO Printed Tote - American Eagle Outfitters

                                           New York & Co. has a fabu Faux Snakeskin Tote

Orig.price: $26.99
NOW on Sale for $9.99

Click here: New York & Company - Clearance - Faux Snakeskin Tote

Target has a great bag called the Angie & Lola Canvas Tote - Black

Was $17.99  On Sale Now for $8.98  You save Save: $9.01 (50%!!)

Click here: Angie & Lola Canvas Tote - Black : Target

And here's one more for you guys!
This looks very substantial!  It's from AE Printed Canvas Tote


Was $24.50 Now $19.95!

Click here: Clearance - AE Printed Canvas Tote - American Eagle Outfitters

Let me know if any of these work for you!!
I hope they do!
Best~
XOXO

Totally Totes

After I posted my favorite tote yesterday, I thought I might want to do a follow up on a few totes in different price ranges for all the l adies wanting a bit more of an economical option to the MZ Wallace bag!

Here I've found 4 totes that all look equally fabulous at a wide range of prices~~Some are on sale, so if you like it, strike while the iron's hot! 

 This gorgeous bag is on the higher end, but I wanted to add it because

it looks so similar to a few more I've added below~~

Vanessa Bruno Sequin-embellished linen tote $250

from

http://www.net-a-porter.com/

 This is the Kate Landry "Euro Chic" Tote
 Only at http://www.dillards.com/
Orig. $49.00 on sale now for now $34.30

                        

Here's the Sequin strap straw tote $49.95

from

http://www.gap.com/

  And for something *PINK* and fun~I've added the

Juicy Couture Gen Y Sugar Kiss Canvas Tote

Retails for $98.00 On Sale Now for $67.99

From http://www.saksfifthavenue.com/

                                                                              Enjoy!



My Summer Dream Tote

http://mzwallace.com/

Summer is right around the corner and I'm pulling my summer gear out and assessing my wants and needs for the oncoming season.  From what I can tell, it's time for a new fabulous tote!!  Since I'm a gal with a love of all things with bling, I'm really considering purchasing this new gorgeous tote from MZ Wallace!  I have several MZ Wallace purses and always get loads of compliments when I wear them.  I think this tote will be perfect for a day at the beach, our next vacation with the fam to Colorado, or, well, just about any time!  I often choose open totes for my day bag as I like the ease of being able to look down into a wide space and see all the contents in order! (laughing)  But seriously, totes do make for great dump out and reorganize moments where you can easily toss everything out onto the counter, toss out the trash, and rearrange your "can't live withouts"!  As Martha would say, "It's a good thing!"

In Praise Of The Pony

Can I get an Amen in praise of the ponytail?!  This is my go-to hairstyle of many years now.  It's the easiest way to look pulled together with minimum effort.  I switch my ponytail from a high poof up-pony to a low classic nape neck-pony, or chignon if you want to get all fancy pants on me, depending on the day. 
Hey, it's hot here people...the ponytail is cool and chic.  It's in my "no-brainer file"~~which is a pretty awesome file, if I do say so myself!
Another option is the "not pulled all the way through pony"...ala, what I call the "Ponybun!"  If you leave a few of the wispy hairs out, it looks casually cool as if to say, "Hey I just roll out of bed this way!" 
Do you have a favorite go to hairstyle?  I'd love to expand my repertoire! 

In The Bag

(Source: simplyher)

It's a rainy day outside and on rainy days I like to make HUGE trough sized mugs of macchiatto & organize something.  Today I was diligently cleaning out the contents of my handbag and decided to make a post dedicated to the innards of my bag...much like I've seen in countless magazines & always enjoy!  Why, I'm not sure, other than it's always fun to see what items other gals tote around in case there's an emergency so I can keep tally of what I've thought of already and what needs to be added to my arsenal.  I must say, my items aren't very exciting today...nothing life changing or out of the ordinary but nonetheless~~Here you have it:

1. My Kate Spade bag~~gift from Hubby
2. Boars head Bristle brush
3. Wisps~because one of my children is always forgetting to brush her teeth  before we make the mad dash to get to school on time.
4. Tylenol~~because, well, you know, it's just necessary.
5. Altoids~because my Dad taught me the importance of always having fresh breath and I hate Binaca!
6. A wonderful pen
7. My beloved Max Factor long last lipstick that is now only available in Europe~thus another reason to plan my next trip back to Paris!
8. Sunscreen and a ticket stub to the zoo~they go hand in hand.
9. A fortune cookie~I always steal a couple for my purse when we eat Chinese.
10. A ziplock bag full of fabric swatches for the drapes I keep  putting off having done~~I swear, it's a full blown phobia at this point!
11. Xylosweet packets for tea or coffee when I'm eating out.
12. Some really fabulous hand lotion my friend, Stephanie, gave me! Thanks, Steph!
13. A small Pantene hairspray for my blonde rabbit fur hair.
14. Sunglasses, wallet, phone

There you have it!  :)

A Walk Down Fashion Lane

As I've started to really get settled into our new home, I've come across a few big boxes with all my old modeling photos & portfolios.  I need to organize them in some manner.  That'll be a fun project for a few rainy days.  It's really fun to have a visual catalog of my life pretty much from age 14-20 something.  I was the 2nd child in our family, so before that there aren't many photos of me.  My mom took tons of my older sister but not much of me...she laughs and tells me that I made up for it later in life by modeling. 

These photos were taken by a photographer named Joseph Berard.  I really liked the soft quality of these photos.  Gosh I was such a baby. I think I was about 17 in these photos.  And I hated my short hair but now, I'm thinking it looked pretty good!  :)

A MUST Read

A few years ago, I took this book with me on a family vacation to Hawaii.  I have to admit that I'm pretty hard to please when it comes to books because if they take too long to get the storyline going, I won't keep picking them up.  Life's short!  I'll find something better to do with my time!  But THIS BOOK WAS FABULOUS!  I'm serious.  I couldn't put it down the whole vacation.  I've recommended it to a ton of my friends and now that the movie has been made with Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson, then I really have to give a shout out to all my new blog friends as well! Here's a synopsis of the plot:
Veterinary school student Jacob meets and falls in love with Marlena, a star performer in a circus of a bygone era. They discover beauty amidst the world of the Big Top, and come together through their compassion for a special elephant. Against all odds -- including the wrath of Marlena's charismatic but dangerous husband, August-- Jacob and Marlena find lifelong love.


So go get it and read it before the movie comes out!  Then we'll all convene here to discuss how the movie didn't compare to how fabulous the book was, like we always do! :)

A Reason To Buy New Shoes

I just spent the afternoon at DSW looking for just the right new pair of black strappy heels to wear to a function I have tomorrow.  I didn't find just what I was looking for, but left with a cute pair of Coach cork shoes anyway.  Purchasing a new pair of heels for no special reason is a non-issue for most Americans.  But,  unbelievably, for hundreds of millions of children, shoes are something that they simply can't afford. In many developing countries, even right here in the United States, children walk barefoot everyday.  In countries such as Africa, children have to walk for miles to get to school or to gather water for their families, risking injury, infections, and exposure to soil-transmitted diseases. In some of these countries not having shoes poses another problem because many schools require shoes for attendance, giving children without them absolutely no opportunity to learn and become educated, which, of course, continues the cycle of poverty. And as TOMS states, "some soil-based diseases not only cause physical symptoms, but create cognitive impairment too, crippling a child’s long-term potential."

What is TOMS?  TOMS is a company that is doing something to get shoes to the children in need!  I love this company, started by the very handsome, if I may say so, Blake Mycoskie.  Wait...let me show you~~

See what I mean?  Yeah, I  know.  Anyway, I got off track, Blake is the Founder & "Chief Shoe Giver" of TOMS Shoes. He's the man behind what they call the One for One movement. "The One for One" movement means that for every pair of shoes you purchase, a pair is given to a child who has never had a pair of shoes!!  That very slogan is actually written on every shoe.  Yeah, it's kinda amazing!  They say that "as of April 2010, TOMS has given over 1,000,000 pairs of new shoes to children in need through giving partners around the world."  They also have shoe drops that you can sign up to go on.  These are the trips they take to deliver the shoes to the children.  It's sort of on my bucket list to go on a shoe drop but even though I've entered my name on their website many times, I've yet to get a call to go on a shoe drop.  :(  Maybe someday. 
So I really encourage everyone to go buy a pair of TOMS.  They are super cute and comfy~~awesome for travel since they slip on and off really easy.  And BEST OF ALL, every time you buy a pair, you know a child will get a pair!  How cool is that?  You can find them at Wholefoods, Whole Earth Provisions, Nordstroms, Bergdorfs, Amazon.com, online at TOMS.com or I think even Neiman Marcus has them now.  We've purchased at least 10 pair so far. They're a little pricey at around $50.00 for most pairs but when you know you're buying 2 pair of shoes~it makes sense.  Our last pair was the new pink glitter TOMS...my daughter gets compliments on them every time she wears them!  So YAY!!  There's a great excuse to go shoe shopping!  Let me know what pair you get!

                                                           http://www.toms.com/

*Much of the information for this post was found on the fabulous TOMS website!

Feeling Campy

Good Golly folks, what have I just done!!  I just clicked the "Verify" button to register my youngest at a 2 week summer camp that's she's been asking to go to with her friends!  I know it's a wonderful place and a lifetime experience, but I've never been away from either of my girls for 2 WEEKS!!  OK...I'm taking deep breaths.  She's going to have a ball but what about me!?  I'm going to be a mess for 2 long weeks!  This is true love people.  I don't do well with shipping my younguns off to camps with no phone call rules.  What's with that??  Why can't she call home?  Maybe I should plan a trip to Paris or something while she's gone to preoccupy myself.  I know I sound like a kook but seriously, 1 week, I could handle, but 2 weeks is a looooong dad blasted time.  It's a wonderful Christian camp that has horses and her friends and all kinds of cool things to do all day...truly, it's kid heaven!  Oh, I can't wait for her to get home from school to tell her...she's going to be SO EXCITED!!  :)

Gustavian Design

As I've been looking online for ideas for my living room, I've come across the most gorgeous rooms to use as inspiration.  These room as soft, monochromatic, weathered yet elegant.  I love the ease and comfy feeling these rooms have.  I would want to lay on that couch and get lost in a wonderful novel & never leave!

Notice the beautiful woodwork above the door frame!!  What a lovely touch!  Everything is whitewashed for a clean feeling!  And I love the chandelier!!

Here is another view of the same room above.  The reclaimed wooden doors are gorgeous.  There a simplicity about this room.  It's so elegant yet easy and unpretentious.  I'm ready to move in!!

Photography by Gilles Trillard

Drape Dread!!

We've been in our home now for almost a year & I have to say, that while decorating has been fun, there's one area that I really have not enjoyed doing...drapes!  I find drapes to be so tricky.  I'm not a professional decorator, so the measurements, choosing a fabric & having them installed...it's all a little intimidating to me.  And for good reason ~  I had custom drapes made for our front dining room & the creamy color fabric, when turned into drapes & hung up, showed way more yellow than I expected.  They don't work in the room.  Let me tell you friends, that's an expensive mistake.  So now I need to figure out what to do with these beautiful, yet too yellow for my paint color (Linen Weave) drapes and have new ones made. 
I tend to be drawn to serene rooms.  The drapes I'm seeing lately that I like are pretty simple, so I really have no idea why I'm torturing my self over this aspect of decorating my home, other than the big mistake of the last drapes turning yellow on me! I'm such a silly goose!  I know what I love.  I like monochromatic, quirky, elegance.  Comfort is Queen!!  I lean very far towards Swedish/Gustavian decor.  Let me show you:
This is what I'm aiming for~~
This house was from the Fabulous movie, "Something's Gotta Give"  I love the color palette of this house.

                       Photos from the fabulous http://hookedonhouses.net/                      

Pedicures, Pastels, and Pilgrimmages

This post was one of my 1st posts I wrote when I started this blog last year.

I thought it would be fun to reprint since I've found new readers since it was posted a year ago!

Enjoy!

I really usually enjoy this time of year...the week the majority of my friends head North to conquer the great antique hunt in the big city of Roundtop, Texas/Population: 77. It's a time to get out of Houston and weed through piles of junk & jewels to find just the thing you never knew you couldn't live without! To meet up with all the gals you see all the time in Houston, but still want to stop to chat with in the tents of Marburger. And for all of us natural born bargain hunters...well, it's just plain fun! Alas, this year I have other things in the stars for this week and none of them include traipsing through fields looking for diamonds in the ruff. I'm in the midst of wading the perils of interior paint! So while the majority of everyone I know was perusing Ironstone and vintage linens amidst the tents, there I was the other day, standing at Benjamin Moore waiting patiently to get my glaze, when an adorable young preggo walked up beside me with 2 little toddlers in tow. She was dressed in a pastel Lilly Pulitzer-esque shift dress with the fabric stretched waaaay out over her baby bump and looked ever so fresh and adorable...very ready for Spring! As her 2 crayola toting tots sat on the floor coloring away as mom made her order, I made note of the fact that I was still dressed in my NYC head to toe black. Now make no mistake, I make no apologies for my love of black. I'll wear black anywhere, anytime, in any degree of heat. I LOVE it. It's comfortable & I'm a big believer in uniforms. "No brainers" I call them. Good ol stand by's that require little brain power and can be grabbed, thrown on and get you out the door in a flash. Einstein also was a devotee to the uniform. It's even been rumored that Einstein wore the same thing everyday to save precious cerebral energy for more important things. So you see I'm a lot like Einstein! Einstein and East Coasters... and each year there comes a time when I have to weigh comfort against conformity and I think the time is upon us. Usually for me, comfort wins! So as the steady flow of Houstonives cram their SUV's full of newly found treasures from Round Top and dash homeward through the bluebonnets this week, I can't help but take stock that Spring has Sprung...it's time to dehusk my hooves with a serious pedicure, get out my sandals and make plans to put at least some of my black away. It won't be easy though. Maybe there's a 12 step program somewhere? Oh well ~ parting is such sweet sorrow. I'll miss you my dark friend....if only for a few days before I pull you back out!

Lash Dash!!



Ladies, who among us doesn't want long, gorgeous, real lashes?  It seems to be THE hot beauty trend of the moment~~LASHES!  There are loads of super expensive lash serums out there and I've tried a few of them.  Most didn't work for me, but now, there's something on the market, that practically every woman can afford to at least try.  It's the new Physician's Formula Eye Booster 2-in-1 Lash Boosting Eyeliner + Serum.  Run, don't walk ladies, this is the coolest stuff!!  It's eyeliner with the lash growing serum built right in!  I love it!!  All the other serums are to applied at night, and I don't know about you, but I'm tired at night and barely get my makeup off, let alone have the wearwithall to remember to apply serums to my lashes!  So this is perfect~you just apply in the morning  as if it's your eyeliner for the day...which it is, but more!! And if you've always had a the bit of a problem applying a nice straight line to your upper lashes, this applicator is fool proof.  It's a beautiful little brush that just gliiides over you lid, oh so loverly!  And as an added bonus, they have a free rebate offer going on!  I'll add the link for you!  Check it out~~I promise, it's worth a drugstore run!! 

Click here: http://www.physiciansformula.com/rebates/2011/EyeBoosterRebateForm.pdf

Boy Serenades Girl For Prom Date

OK This brought tears to my eyes!!  Did you all see this, this morning on the Today Show with Hoda & Kathy Lee???  This is really sweet.  What a lucky girl!!!

                          http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/29054368/vp/42339306#42339306



Mac & Cheese Please!

I got a late start on dinner last night.  My little one was hungry from a Friday night sleep over & Sat afternoon swim party back to back!!  She was tired & hungry & I wanted to feed her something really super duper yummy & warm~~I wanted to fill her up with comfort food!  So I grabbed my Pioneer Woman Cooks cookbook & made her Ree's Macaroni & Cheese! OMGosh you guys...when it came out of the oven, we heaped big helpings into bowls & grabbed a seat on the couch for our shoulder to shoulder dindin.  It was SOOOOO good!  If you haven't tried this recipe yet~~DO!  There's actually a YouTube video of Ree making it. (Ree Drummond is the Pioneer Woman, creator of the most amazing blog that ever was & ever will be, can I get an AMEN?!  I'm sure you've all heard of her!! LOL)  Make it for dinner!!  Your family will love you even more~~if that's possible!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72YO3H8RbA8



This Is The Stuff That Drives Me Crazy

Photo by Torie Jayne

We have a Christian radio station here called KSBJ. It's what I listen to in my car & I absolutely rely on it to get me through my day with a positive message! There's a new song they keep playing that's stuck in my head. I thought I'd share it with you because it's just so uplifting & positive! Enjoy! This Is The Stuff by Francesca Battistelli

It’s Friday, Friday, Everybody Stop Hatin' on Friday

Being the mother a teen daughter, I pretty much get the low down on what's going on with pop culture in regards to music, movies & the general hot topic buzz of the moment.  And recently there's been a lot of buzz about a video a young girl, named Rebecca Black, posted on YouTube called "Friday."   And when I say a lot of "buzz," I mean she has at the moment 48,809,989 views for her video. That's crazy!

Now, young girls make up songs & dances & perform them for the family in the living room all the time~~those are the moments many fun family memories are made of!  But when Justin Beiber was catapulted to stardom after being discovered on Youtube, more & more kids are reaching for the stars by filming these performances & posting them online for the world to view & critique.  What's different about posting these videos online, is that it's exposing the kids to a world of open commentating & much of it is very harsh, to say the least.  The loving, non-judgemental safety net of the nuclear family isn't there, as it is when the performance stays within the home environment.  This is the problem, in my humble opinion, when parents, such as Rebecca Black’s, decide to pay thousands of $$$ for their daughters to make relatively professional looking videos & post them on YouTube.  Rebecca's song isn't awful, but it's clear Rebecca is not a fabulous singer & the lyrics are, truthfully, pretty dang bad.  But in all honesty, there are tons of songs with not so great lyrics that become really popular, so who's to judge?  The viewers on YouTube have had a field day leaving extremely hateful comments for Rebecca, one going so far as to say they hope she cuts herself & dies!  She's even reportedly received death threats! The song has spawned multitudes of spoofs & she's become famous for being disliked.  All this really makes me so sad. Since when has our society become so tolerant of being hateful to kids for having a dream?  I liken the anonymous people leaving these comments to aggressive drivers~~for some reason when people feel anonymous, they think it's OK to act like animals.  Isn't how we act in these moments just as much a barometer of our character as when we're out in the open?  Where's the conscience of these folks?  This is a young girl, for pete's sake!! Leave her alone! Talk to your kids about YouTube commenting.  Let them know that it's NEVER OK to stand by & let other people tear someone down.  OK...I'm glad I got that off my chest.  I'll get off my soapbox now.

                          Click here: YouTube - Rebecca Black - Friday (OFFICIAL VIDEO)

                                                                    ~Today's Quote~

Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the grey twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.

~ Theodore Roosevelt

Idol Joy



Have you ever been on fire?  I don't mean literally, of course~~I'm talking about standing in the sun or the spotlight of life & feeling 110% like everything is perfect in your universe?  I don't know if many people can say they've had that moment, so what's always so thrilling for me, is when I get a front row seat to watch it slowly unfold & happen in someone else's life!!  That's why I love American Idol so much this year.  I've always loved Randy Jackson, but now with Simon gone, it's a kinder, gentler Idol with Jennifer Lopez & Steven Tyler as the new judges.  I've never been a fan of tough, brutally honest-to-the-point-of-damagingly-mean Idol.  Jennifer Lopez is so kind and compassionate towards the kids & by the way, while we're on the subject of the new judges, who knew Steven Tyler is such an amazing person?!  Now, I love "Walk This Way" & "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing"  just as much as the next gal but I never really truly appreciated "Steven Tyler~the real person" until I've gotten to know the sweet person he is through American Idol!  When he got down next to the girl who had suffered extensive brain damage in a car accident as she was in her wheelchair and whispered in her ear, "He sang so beautifully because he was singing to you" well, I was a goner...that kind of human compassion is just such a gift to witness.
So when I was watching Jacob Lusk sing last night, and when he was finished & Steven ran up onto stage and gave him a hug and called him, "Baby Luther!!"  Those are the moments a life is lived for!!  I get chills because it's such a blessing to be able to share in the moment of a perfect stranger & totally & completely feel their life being transformed in front of our eyes.  These kids were all born to sing. Why it's taken a few of them this long to be discovered is beyond me~they're SO phenomenal it's hard to understand how they've gone unnoticed until now!  Jacob Lusk is, of course, a front runner to win it all. Also among my favorites are sweet baby Lauren Alaina,  sophisticated  Ballad~Belter, Pia Toscano, and soulful rocker, James Durbin.  All deserving of the title because they're ALL THAT GOOD!  And what a blessing to watch their dreams come true before our eyes!
If you haven't been watching yet, it's not too late to pull up a couch cushion and enjoy!  Tonight is elimination night and while I have a few guesses on who might be going home, it doesn't matter.  They're all stars in my eyes!

http://www.americanidol.com/ 

Blog Of The Day

Décor de Provence

Desireé Ashworth has an amazing decor blog! It's actually one of the first blogs I found a year ago when I was awake most nights roaming around the blog world in search of ideas for our new homes renovations.  I actually didn't even know that my favorite style of decor is Gustavian until I found Desiree's blog!  She's says on ther blog that she's a "stay at home mom who loves beautiful functional settings inspired by French, Gustavian and Belgian decor."  Check out her blog!!  You'll love it as much as I do!

http://www.decordeprovence.com/



Driving Miss Spacey

Maturity: Coming Soon to a Mind Near You ~
If anyone else out there has a teen that's about to turn 16 or has already turned 16, then this post will resonate with you guys!  I have a daughter who turned 16 in October.  16 is the legal driving age here in Texas & as any other  mom out there will attest, it's sometimes really hard to believe that at this young age, it's time to hand over the car keys & allow your child to just take off & head for the highway!  The frontal lobe in the human brain isn't even fully formed until our 20's!  I looked "frontal lobe" maturity up on Wikipedia and here's what it says:
"The executive functions of the frontal lobes involve the ability to recognize future consequences resulting from current actions, to choose between good and bad actions (or better and best), override and suppress unacceptable social responses, and determine similarities and differences between things or events. Therefore, it is involved in higher mental functions."
So there you have it!! We are giving keys to large mechanical devices to our children who are not fully formed mentally yet!  Someone said that when you ask your teen, "What were you thinking?!"...they weren't! And it's no their fault...it's just the nature of the beast.  So it's our responsibility to protect them until they're ready to make safe decisions.  But how do you gauge just when that time has arrived when dealing with matters of life & death? 

So as I mentioned, my precious angel of a daughter, in the form of a teen, turned 16 a few months ago and really wants her license and a car.  And as much as I would love to have less running around on my plate, I'm super hesitant to turn her lose on the streets!  And I've not even touched on the dangers of texting while driving, driving at night, driving with multiple people in the car, drinking & driving, etc.  There are some pretty scary stats that I won't post here but I'll add a link for you in case you're interested:
http://www.car-accidents.com/teen-car-accidents.html
So am I alone in thinking 16 is too young to have a license?  Or at least should we rethink giving them cars on their 16th birthdays?  Maybe let them drive with us for just a bit to make sure they're as safe as possible?  I don't know.  What do you guys think?



Awesome Possum

Holy smokes!  I was just sitting at my kitchen table this morning, iChatting with my friend in India, when the BIGGEST white possum I've ever seen, started running across the top of my fence right outside my window!  That sucker was HUGE!  I've seen possums at night around here before, but never in the day~~wait, aren't they nocturnal??  What's he doing up?  OMgosh, I wish my little one was home from school so she could see him...she would freak out!  (Have I mentioned my daughter is the world's biggest animal lover~~seriously...she's our version of Bindi Irwin...she'd have one of each animal in the world if she could.)
So next time I'll try to get a photo of him for you, but that fella was running FAST!! So cute! (and a little scary!)

PS ~ How many hillbillies does it take eat a 'possum?

     Two. One to eat, and one to watch for cars!!  Buh-dum-dum-CHING!  :)

Is It Just Me?

Why is it that every time that a school break is over, I miss my kids? I know it sounds strange but I actually love the hustle & bustle of when they're home & the house is buzzing with energy!! Today they both went back after a week off & I miss them! The house is eerily quiet. I've got Kyla the Super Sheltie at my side, a little bowl of Kashi Go cereal here to comfort me & I'm deciding how best to plug along with my day. Lets' see~I've got an arms length list of things to do, errands to run, things to return, phone calls to make, tasks to complete, and plans to make but it's just too quiet here. It's weird~I know! I had SO MUCH FUN with my little one last week while my older daughter was off on a mission trip. We went to the Zoo, the MFA, a horseback riding stable we've been wanting to try...we had a girl's lunch out several times, we had a mani/pedi at Bora Bora Nail Spa...it was a blast! My little one is such an easy hang! She's always a go~with~the~flow kinda gal full of jokes & entertaining comments that throw us into fits of laughter!! I mean it...she's a HOOT!
I also know that with school back in session, comes the stress that will certainly rear it's nasty head within a day or 2 for my high schooler...and I'm not joking when I mean STRESS! GPA, Class Ranks, tests, mean teachers, girls drama~~who needs it? These are days I wish I was among the brave souls who opt to homeschool! But that's for another blog post~we'll go there later. :)
Oh well...this is where blogging & nice music or the television come in handy. Is Kathy Lee back from vacation yet?? The Today Show last week was a mess! But I digress~~I guess this is all part of the empty nest syndrome that begins to happen over the course of many years. OK...I'm putting my big girls pants back on. It's OK...I'm OK! Enjoy your day!!

Blog Of The Day~

I've been busily learning about blogging online & have started to find the most gorgeous blogs!!

This one is by a girl names Torie Jayne~~

the colors are pastel~y & cheerful & she blogs about baking & crafting,etcetera, etcerera! 

What's not to love? 

Check her out!

http://toriejayne.blogspot.com/

Mission Trippin'!

Can You Belize It??!

My daughter just returned from a mission trip in Orange Walk, Belize! She went with a local youth group & had an amazing time.  I love to expose her to new experiences as much as possible~especially experiences which will force her to step out of her little bubble of a world and learn how rewarding it can be to serve others. 

While she was there, her group laid tile in an entire church (that previously only had a dirt floor) during the mornings & spent the afternoons with children at a local school.  When I asked her if it was rewarding to see how grateful the parishioners of the church were, on the last night of their stay when they gathered in the church for a service, she said, "Well, Mom, the tile floor wasn't from us...it was a gift from God."  Wow.  Her statement blew me away.  She's right!  It was a gift from God~~He was merely using my daughter's youth group as the tool to get it done! How often do we do hard things for others & not expect gratitude in return?  Rather to just do something for someone less fortunate and view your work as a gift for them, from God.  That really was a beautiful statement. 
The place she staying at while she was there is called La Estima. 
http://www.laestima.com/  The photos look beautiful and it certainly exceeded the expectations of where they thought they'd be staying.  Although while she was there, the air conditioning broke in her room.  All the girls had to share 1 tiny fan to stay cool.  How perfect!  It reminds me of when I traveled to Poland years ago as Miss Texas & the airlines lost my luggage on the way!  I had one outfit the entire trip because it was still a time in Poland where there weren't stores to just go buy clothes if need be!  I had to wash my clothes in the bathroom sink and live just like all the people of Gdansk & Warsaw at the time~~with very little comforts & I thought it was a blessing. It was a blessing that helped me to understand a way of life other than the life I had always come to expect & certainly took for granted.  So how perfect that her air conditioning went out!!  When in Rome!!

Daily Crush~~Charades!

Since my older daughter has been out of town on a mission trip this week, I've had so much fun bonding with with my littlest angel!  Last night just as I was trying to get her to sleep, she jumped up out of bed with big, wide excited eyes, and said "Let's Play Charades!"  How could I say no?  She wanted to play charades before bed & you know what?  We had the MOST hilarious time trying to figure out each other's books/movies!  The craziest thing was realizing the generation gap...half of my ideas like "Gone With The Wind" (who knew our kids have never heard of Gone With The Wind?) were things she's never heard of!!  And her movies were mostly from the Disney Channel, which of course, I've never heard of!  But to try and figure out just what each other was miming out for the other, was down right, roll~on~the~floor hilarious!
I don't suggest playing right before bed though, as she had a tough time calming down to get to sleep after 15 minutes of charades!  So there you have my daily crush~~a knee slapping game of Charades with the kids!  Give it a try!  :)

Closet Envy!!



Have you seen these? What fun!  I have been LOVING these videos by Bluefly.com!  Its not really about the fabulous things in the closet for me, but rather how they organize it....is that weird?  I love to see how people organize their stuff!!  I'm forever rearranging items in my closets to make more space & make them pretty.  (OK...yes, that's weird.) 
Here we get to peek into the closet world of Kyle Richards, Aunt to Paris Hilton & infamous Housewife of Beverly Hills (my favorite of the housewives series) closet & some of her favorite items.  (Oh, I hope they do a video of Lisa's closet~~I LOVED Lisa.  She's a cool lady!) I  love the chandelier and island in the middle...it's all so, well, girlie!
Yes, Kyle, we all have a thing for Chanel purses, too!  Sadly, most of us mere mortals don't actually have a stockpile of them, though!  Good for you, girl!!

Sew Psyched! My latest Nail Polish Haul~~

I had a little nail polish haul the other day at Ulta! It was so fun. I went in looking for one color and came home with 4!  The color I've been wearing for the past few days is Essie Sew Psyched.  It's a little shimmery khaki green. I actually wish it had a tad bit more sheen to it but it's still very pretty. 
Here's a peek at what it looks like indoors~It photographs a bit darker than it looks in person.

The other colors that got to come home with me are:  OPI The Color To Watch - it's an iridescent purplish brown.  (More purple than brown.)  And Borghese's Menta which is a pretty green.  I'm eager to see it on. And Borgehese's Mochaccino...which I LOVE!  I wore it the other day.  It looks a lot like a cross between Chanel's PARTICULIÈRE and Paradoxil or the famous Sephora by OPI's Metro Chic. I wanted a tad bit more shimmer to it, so I added a little bit of OPI The Color To Watch to it and now it's perfection!
The week before I had purchased Borghese's Stellar Notte (GORGEOUS~~very close to Chanel's Black Pearl~~the hot color of the moment) and Zoya's ELKE.  I took a few photos for you~~can't decide which photo gives a better representation of what they look like, so I'll add both!
XOXO

~Prayer Board~

I woke up this morning and turned on the computer to the devastating news of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.  News such as this always is so upsetting to me because I immediately think of all the sweet souls who perished in such a traumatic way.  I feel a special connection with the people of Japan because at 15 I spent several months modeling in Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, and Kobe. I was lucky to live among the kind hearted , soft spoken people of Japan~~I especially loved the children of Japan. They always looked like little porcelain dolls to me...SO angelic & pure.  So as I see the devastating hardship that's fallen on them, my heart aches for them.  It's days like this that I get out my chalk and write down the more prevalent prayers weighing on my heart.  It's something we started doing years ago when I thought up a new way to use a chalkboard that we had hanging by our back door.  I decided to put it to good use by jotting down the prayers that I wanted our family to focus on for the week or month.  So we now have a  prayer board in our kitchen where we write down the names of people we want to remember throughout the day as we go about our hectic lives.  We often need a reminder to stop and pray for a moment for our friends & family members fighting illness or going through a tough time. 

We've placed it in our kitchen as a visual reminder for our family to pray. We notice often that when guests come over they ask about the board and we explain it's purpose. We would love it if prayer boards caught on.  We all need prayers to help us along our paths in life.  They can come in any shape or form.  Ours is just a chalkboard I found in a store years ago, but I've seen them on corkboards & dry erase boards as well.  You could use photos, sticky notes, drawings, magazine cutouts of quotes, you can jot down a favorite scripture for the week~~whatever you feel inspires you to think of others and count your blessings!  If you ever need someone to pray for you, feel free to drop me a line and I'll add you to our board! And remember to take time each day to pray as a family!!  Today we are sending up prayers for all the people of Japan~~
Wareware wa Nippon o aishi, watashi-tachi wa anata no tame ni inotte iru! (WE LOVE YOU, JAPAN, AND WE ARE PRAYING FOR YOU!)

Housekeeper Hexed

http://toriejayne.blogspot.com/

Why, oh, why friends am I housekeeper hexed??!  I have friends who've had the same family housekeeper for years and years yet mine never seem to stay!  I've had them move, get sick and have to leave, have babies, or find that they want much more $$ than I'm willing to pay for a job that didn't require a MBA or Master's degree.  What's the secret?? What am I missing here?  Last time I was looking I had a few kooks try out for the job.  One called me the 1st day on the job and asked me to stop off somewhere and get her a burger on my way home...she had arrived at 1:00!!  REALLY???  Then the next gal that "auditioned" showed up with a personal little TV to carry around with her full blast as she watched her game shows...REALLY??  Needless to say, these gals got the boot pretty dang fast. 
So then I found a new gal about 8 months ago and while she's been AMAZING at cleaning and organizing, she's acting really strange and now says she has "back problems." She actually took time off for surgery recently and then when she came back and I asked her how she could come back to work just a week & a half out of back surgery, she explained to me that "God did the surgery!"  REALLY??  Do I look THAT gullible?  How was vacation, Dalila??!  So now I'm looking for a new dang housekeeper.  One that will please stay for awhile.

I'm whipping out some sage to do an aura cleanse because something here just ain't right.  I'm a pretty awesome boss!  I'm fair and my home is a happy place to be.  I give a nice Christmas bonus so they can have a nice Christmas as well.  I give holidays off.  I'm neat (although I can't say the same for my teenager but that's part of the job, right?)  SO WHAT'S THE DEALIO?  I've got a gal coming today at 2:00 for an interview.  Let's hope she's the right candidate for the job....cause I'm Really, REALLY, REALLYYY tired of looking for someone new every year or so!! Pray for me!  :)

Nailing It!

Anyone who has ever been cursed with cruddy nails knows the pain of having to deal with acrylics, solars, manicures, searching for just the right cure for the weak nail syndrome that causes your nails to break off as soon as they grow.  Well this has been my life long ordeal.  And it's really not funny...it's been a big deal my whole life having to deal with my weak brittle nails.  I have to confess to even having a few bad habits of picking and gnawing but not anymore, friends!!  Today is a new day and I have no idea how, but now, my nails are feeling stronger and growing on their own without any supernatural hocus pocus.  Now, they aren't as pretty as newly applied Solar tips or anything, but I'm just so happy that they are stronger and my own!  I've been painting them a new color almost every other day and am HAVING A BLAST!!  The other day my youngest daughter was in the basketball playoffs for our area and I painted our digits what I called, "Mystic Blue!" (It was actually Sally Hanson Hard As Nails Xtreme Wear "Blue Me Away.")  It was a fun mother/daughter mani moment!  :)  I've gathered all my nail polishes onto a pretty silver tray here by my computer so I can pamper my nails at a moments notice.  I've been researching what the "HOT" colors will be for the oncoming season and plan to shell out a few bucks for some fun new colors. (I'll keep you updated.) Right now I'm wearing Sally Hanson's Complete Salon manicure "Commander In Chic" and I love it!  It's a big grey/purple/brown-ish.  Sounds ugly~but looks good. 

Improvements on the way!

I've just contacted a talented webdesigner to help me spiff up my blog and add a user friendly email subscription link!  By next week I hope to have a new look and a place for friends to become more involved!  So check back in about a week, friends, and have a wonderful evening!

Tears of joy in my little girls eyes!

Last week we surprised Chloe with a piano! It's been a dream for many years to have a piano in our home.  I researched and shopped around and found a gorgeous Weber WG-60 6'1'" grand.  It's stunning and sounds so beautiful as she plays.  I'm looking forward to many years of music filling our home!
Here's video of her big surprise~~she's hobbling because she hurt her foot just a few days prior, but she's healed now, so it's all good~~

Keys to My Heart ~~ Piano Shopping

As you know, we moved last year. We renovated big time and moved into our dream home. We've been in for 8 months now, had our 1st Christmas here and it's feeling much like home.  I'm almost all done decorating~~at least to say each room has what it needs to begin looking like a complete room...all except for our front formal living room which I've just not been in the mood to tackle. (I think I was just burned out on decorating.)  Right as you enter our home, the room immediately to the right is barren except for a couch and an antique console which I intend to sell.  I've got quite a few pieces of furniture waiting to be recovered at our upholsterers and I need to tackle the drapes situation (there are none) but I've been dragging my feet.  What I want 1st for the room is a piano for my littlest love, Chloe.  She loves to play the piano and we now have room so I'm piano shopping! 
Now, I don't want to go crazy here. I want a large black polished grand for a super fair price. That's not easy.  Steinways are amazing but I don't quite need something so extravagant for my 11 year old.  But I've been looking all over and I may have found one...I've found a really pretty 6'1" Weber piano that I'm having checked out next week by a piano tech.  If it gets a good grade then I may have a pretty piano in my front room when Chloe comes home from school one day next week!! What a fun surprise that will be! I'll add photos for you!  Once I have the piano I'll move onto the drapes and recovering all the ottomans and chairs.  Then I'll be in good shape in that front room...whew.  I'll keep you posted!!

Eyelash Growth Products

I'm SURE you've noticed the new craze for long lashes that's sweeping the country! I have to admit, having long full lashes is something that I long for, especially after seeing the results on several of my friends and the ladies at my Dentists office! I could barely finish filling out the paper work due to the freakishly long spiderleg lashes all the gals had at this particular office! I asked them what was the dealio and they explained that they all use Latisse.  Now with Latisse you'll need a prescription and $120.00 and, upon further research, I learned that Latisse has a few serious drawbacks, especially for gals with blue eyes so I've decided to go another route.
The 1st product I tried was Revitalash.  Revitalash is a better price point at about $70 per tube. But sadly, it took FOREVER to see any results.  I'm an impatient person so I knew I'd need something a little bit more, well...rapid.  Thus my 2nd product tested was called Rapidlash.  Rapdilash costs a mere $25 on the Internet which is quite a deal compared to the prices of the other products.  I purchased this product with a friend who had AMAZING results, but as for me...not a single lash grew in 6 weeks with this stuff.  Nada.  It was a bust.  When I called the company that I purchased it from they blamed "body chemistry." Hmmm...so on to my newest trial with Neulash.  It cost $85 but I'm only 3 weeks in and already I'm seeing results.  I'll take a photo every few weeks to give you an update.  But for now, I'm kinda sorta liking this new stuff Neulash.  I'll keep you updated on my lash progress!  ;)