"Cheese"

Updated my profile pic. Hope that's okay...I know some people hate change.

I liked the "Jimmy Choo" background of my old photo, but it was taken too far away and I was wearing an enormous, puffy ski coat. Let's face it, that only lent to my Michelin Man appearance.

I figured I won't be losing any weight any time soon to be posting a glamour shot (remember those from the 90s???!!), so ya get whatcha get.

I always like to see the face behind the words I read. Guess that's why novels have a book jacket...so I can see how much prettier Emily Giffin has gotten since her last release.

Hope you're still reading and the update didn't crack your computer screen or anything.

*wink*

Evidence

In case you thought I was making up the whole toast story, here is my evidence, as emailed me by the Maid of Honor. She received it from an enterprising bridesmaid, who snapped this shot right after Natalie snatched the speech from my hand and disappeared under the table. I believe she is looking up at my furious face in this photo.

And a sweet one, just because....

How can someone who looks so sweet do such horrid things?

You've Got Mail

I love watching the mailman walk up the street to our house. I love the anticipation of what surprises might be arriving in our ugly black metal mailbox. A new Pottery Barn catalog, the latest issue of one of my favorite magazines, a party invitation...not so much the bills though.

I especially love it when one of these

arrives with my name on the packing label.

I've recently been the lucky recipient of two blog giveaway prizes, and I wanted to take a minute to thank both of my bloggy friends.

Rhiannon over at Pink Sugar Desserts sent me something special not too long ago.

I was so excited to see this neat cupcake stand arrive all the way from Canada (eh)!

Now I need a good excuse to make some fabulous cupcakes!!

image: Google

I know mine won't hold a candle to Little Miss Baker. Her site is full of gorgeous, sugary, delicious photos, great tutorials, and fabulous recipes. Don't click over if you are hungry!

Courtney at Women Living Well had a Monogrammed Towel giveaway and guess who won? Moi.

Of course I chose pink!

Courtney is such a sweetheart and I love stopping by her blog to find encouragement. I also love the banner on her blog...so cute!

What about you?

{Do you love opening the mailbox?}

Retail Therapy

After the "performances" my children displayed at my sister's wedding last weekend and the humiliation I endured during the toast, I knew I'd need some major therapy.

Dr. Phil won't return my calls, so I went for something even better....
{Retail therapy!}
Mimi (my mom) and I decided to brave the local DSW shoe store yesterday morning with the girls in tow.
It was her brilliant idea to give them a nice sugar high before we went shoe shopping. I could have warned her, but I decided instead to keep my mouth shut so that she could experience what's it like to shop with my kids. Then maybe she'd feel my pain instead of snarking, "Well, you kids never behaved like that!" all the time.

So after inhaling one of these

we made our way across the parking lot to DSW shoes.


I love shoes and handbags because no matter how much I begin to resemble the Pillsbury Dough Boy, I can always wear my favorite shoes and carry a fabulous bag. I feel a little bit better about myself if I am wearing a sexy pair of shoes.


I know what I like, and I am a fairly quick shopper. I can't say the same for Mimi. She meanders down the aisles the way one would take a stroll through a flowery meadow. I survey the area quickly, my eyes scanning the terrain for the finest footwear, before I decide on a pair or two to try on. I also like the meandering version of shopping, but not with two children who have decided that they too would like to try on shoes and/or dance barefoot in the boot section to the overhead elevator music.


I spotted a pair of these delicious grape colored Madden Girl booties as soon as we walked in the door.
Hello, lover.

Have you ever felt that a pair of shoes was blogworthy?

They were priced on sale at $49.99.

Bummer....except that I had a coupon for $20 off a purchase of $50 or more AND a $30.00 gift card in my purse!

With a $4.00 water proofing spray, those lovelies came home with me for only $5.00. If you time your gift card purchases with store specials, you can really get a deal! Now I need to be brave and find some skinny jeans and a long sweater or top to go with them, or at least a pair of really straight leg jeans.

Our last stop was Wal-Mart, because it was closer than Target, it was close to lunchtime, and the girls were getting whiny because my mom took 45 minutes to choose a pair of flats that resemble about 10 other pairs of flats she has at home.

It's better that I don't write much about the Wal-Mart experience because it's best left forgotten. I will say that at one point I lost track of Mimi and the girls and was able to track them across the store by listening for high pitched wails.

My final deal is one that I found over Labor Day weekend. I remembered that last year Lifeway Christian Stores offered a Buy 1, Get 1 Free deal on Christmas cards. I decided to stop in and see if they might have the same bargain again. They did! I got 36 beautiful Christmas cards for only $10.00.

This is a great way to save on Christmas cards, which can be pricey. I've been toying with the idea of possibly doing a photo card, but that can always be inserted inside the envelope before mailing. (Plus, it would require getting T in a good enough mood to go somewhere to be photographed, and the girls would have to hold still longer than 2.4 seconds.) I like to send out a personal message in my cards, rather than just printing "Love the 'T' family."

Isn't the glittery snow pretty?
Now I can store these in my downstairs closet, and hope to get them addressed and mailed early this year!
{Did you find any bargains this weekend?}


I'm editing and linking this oldie, but goodie up to Beth's "Show Me Your Shoes" party at The Stories of A to Z.

Decorating Dilemmas Giveaway Winner(S)!

What??! Did I just type an "S" at the end of "Winner"??

Yes, I did.

I wanted to reward my party guests, so I went out and bought another copy of:

I wanted to surprise everyone with two winners this time. Thanks to each and every friend who linked up for the party!

I mentioned before that a blog party isn't a party if you just link up and then sit around like a wallflower. I was really impressed with the way some of you "mingled" and offered genuine, thoughtful feedback to your fellow bloggers. I even noticed several bloggers visiting who weren't able to participate this time. Thanks to you too!

I was so impressed that I sat down late last night and went through each blog post again to find the person who mingled the most...Miss Congeniality, if you will.

The first copy of Better Homes & Gardens' 100 Decorating Ideas Under $100 goes to Alanna Rose from One Little House. Thank you, Alanna Rose, for being such an outgoing guest!

For the second copy, I went to Random.org and had them pick a number for me. I wasn't sure how to get it to show up, so I just copied and pasted from the site:

True Random Number Generator

Min:
Max:
Result:7
Powered by RANDOM.ORG

The second copy goes to Sarah from Chickie Momma Crafts!

Ladies, please email me so that I can get your copies of the magazine in the mail next week!

I've had some more requests to offer the party again, and I am totally willing to host again next month. I really think this is a fun party that can be helpful for all of us. Please start taking a look around your home for more dilemmas and solutions you can share. I hope we'll have a successful party with lots of visiting around to receive helpful ideas and tips! Here's my "button" (photo) for the next installment!

Until next time...have fun reworking your Dilemmas and finding more solutions!

Goin' to the Chapel

I think this should be my new profile pic. (Please don't stop following my blog.)

Okay, so that's what my hair looked like before the stylist finished with it for my sister's wedding last weekend. But I'll be honest and say that I still looked like Dolly Parton's poodle stuck her paw in a light socket when the stylist was finished.

If you could take a picture of my emotions on Alison and Sam's wedding day, that would be the photo. A wild, bizarre fright with a plastic smile coated on top.

Weddings should be joyful, happy occasions, but I spent the day praying that God would keep my children from causing me great embarrassment. I think He was super busy on account of it being a Sunday and all, because my request was a "no go."


We started the day with hair and make-up in a hotel suite in "Olde Towne." Alison had it open for all the bridesmaids to come and primp before the Burg's trolley (yes, trolley!) came to pick us up.
Alison wanted blue shoes as her "something blue."

The trolley is kind of the "in" thing around here for weddings. I dislike riding with the windows down, and my hair was a huge, kinky, mess. Think Monica Geller in the Bahamas on Friends. But Alison sure looked pretty here, so I had to take a picture.

Natalie gives her auntie a quick kiss before we went upstairs for the ceremony.

Natalie and Michaela Byrd were the flower girls, which is why I spent about 48 hours hyperventilating, wondering if they'd even walk down the aisle. Hinging your big moment on a 3 1/2 year old who is determined to sing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" at the altar and 1 1/2 year old who likes to yell "Toot!" is sort of risky, if you ask me.

This is what the church looks like. Alison and Sam rented a church in Olde Towne because they wanted a center aisle, and the church our family attends doesn't have one.

Of course, things would get dicey right before I was supposed to walk through the double doors and down the aisle with Michaela Byrd holding my hand. First, she got mad because I wouldn't give her one of my flowers from my bouquet. Then she decided she didn't want to walk, shrieked at the top of her lungs, yelled "No!" and fell to the floor. The entire congregation could hear, I'm sure.

I completely lost it, and glanced wildly around for help. The wedding coordinator gestured towards the door and said, "Just go ahead and go!"

Refusing to leave her behind, I hauled her by one arm to the door and just started walking. I think the shock of having so many people staring at her caused her to forget her tantrum because she walked sedately down the aisle, holding my hand. At the end, I shoved her at T, who ran out the side door with her, but not until after she spotted my mom and happily shouted, "Mimiiiiiiii!"

Natalie walked down the aisle like a pro, but didn't crack a smile. I think she was too focused. It was during the ceremony that we had issues. Imagine this pose:

In this dress:

Yep, she lounged all over the altar stairs during the ceremony. I tried to nudge her with my foot, but she wouldn't budge.

Party time!

This is the reception site's dining room. Lovely decor, delicious food, great bar, horrible service. The owners have absolutely no people skills. I would not recommend the site just because of them.

Fireplace by the dance floor.

Open bar. This was a popular spot. I spent some time here after the world's most humiliating wedding toast.

Interesting...

Family in town. My aunt Linda (in black) and my mom are on the right.

Here's my cousin Blair and his fianceé, Lauren, who I like to call "Texas Barbie" because she is so pretty. It's really not fair. I'd hate her guts if she wasn't such a sweetheart. I convinced Blair to take me out on the dance floor. We were pretty amazing. I think we'll be trying out for So You Think You Can Dance on the next round.

Don't you love the chairs?

Captain and Mrs. Sam D. Aren't they cute?

Dinner was fab! (sorry for the bad pics) Twice baked potato, chicken wrapped in bacon, rice, mixed vegetables. Delish!

Cake table! They served carrot cake, pecan pie, and chocolate pie.

Pretty toasting glasses. Too bad my toast wasn't as pretty.

Here's my mom and her mom, who is my Nannie.

T and Natalie

Natalie and Michaela Byrd cut a rug on that dance floor! They were not pleased when T tore them away to go home to bed.

Final shot of the night. Me and my Nannie. She can party for a 98 year old!


Hope you enjoyed the wedding. That's what's making me smile (and cringe) this week. Visit Julia at Hooked on Houses to see what everyone else is smiling about this week.

{What are you Hooked on?}

*Check back in tomorrow to see who won the Decorating Dilemmas giveaway!*

DIY: Flip Flop Basket

It's Do It Yourself Day over at Kimba's A Soft Place to Land. If you enjoy reading about creative projects that YOU can do at home, this is the party for you!

One quick aside: My Decorating Dilemmas Party is still up! If you haven't had a chance to stop by to link up your own challenge or solution, please head over here now. This is a great spot for you to get some feedback on dilemmas you face in and around your home, and there is a giveaway for participants. (Partygoers, PLEASE make sure you are taking the time to visit some of the other links. It's not a party if you just link up and sit there...wink wink)

Regular readers know that my sister got married this past Sunday and I experienced some major humiliation.

I promised Alison weeks ago that I'd put together a box or basket for the wedding reception to hold flip flops. She wanted ladies to be able to take off their heels and enjoy the dance floor, as the reception site forbids bare feet.

I had a nice pile of plastic bagged Old Navy flip flops arrive at my house via UPS. Classy looking, huh?

I couldn't just leave them in the logo-marked bags, could I? I swiped this metal basket from Michaela Byrd's changing table. I normally use it to hold diapers, wipes, and baby lotion. She didn't miss it.

Then I sat and watched free HBO while I unwrapped and cut the tags off of each pair of flip flops.

It was 12:30 in the morning, and I was pretty tired. I get cranky when I'm tired, so I can't say that I put my heart and soul into this project, but it did turn out better than a cardboard box of plastic-wrapped shoes.

I grabbed my seldom-used Cricut machine and spent a half an hour trying to get the letters to cut out right. I had it on the wrong settings at first, which is why it took so long. Don't think I didn't say a few bad words under my breath.

Here's the sign I made for the basket:

It says "Kick Off Your Shoes and DANCE" with two swirly shapes on either side. Not my best work, but that's what I get for finishing a project at 1:30 in the morning.

I had some black and white striped ribbon that I used to hang the sign from the basket. I also used it to tie each pair of flip flops together. I could have sworn I had some dark red ribbon somewhere, but I could not find it. If I had extra time, I would have used the red ribbon mixed with the black. I also would have liked to do little round red tags with the size number in black for each pair.

I guess it turned out okay because every pair was gone when I went to retrieve my basket after the reception.

I'd call that a success!!