Hybrid Cars & Cottages

Help me decide!

2010-11-29T21:35:00.001-06:00

I've been on a pretty good reading streak lately devouring everything from Julie and Julia to The Facebook Effect to The Help (loved!). But now, I'm at a loss for where to start next. My "to read at some point" book list currently has 67 books on it. Sometimes I like young adult fiction, sometimes historical biographies, other times I try to tackle the classics I just haven't finished yet. Like Pride and Prejudice which I've started at least four times and never finished. But I digress.

I randomly chose the five titles to the right from my list for an informal poll here on Hybrid Cars. Take a sec to vote and the winner will be my next assignment. Thanks!

Is this where everyday moms and fashion finally meet?

2010-11-17T21:03:00.000-06:00

I've always loved clothes, even before I worked in retail at J.Crew. I was an early fan of the Gap sale rack and always found things to buy at The Limited because my mom approved of their "more mature looking" style.

Lately, I've found it harder to shop because a) I'm never without 2 or 3 boys in tow and b) because I just can't justify spending money on clothes at this moment. Well last week, this article caught my eye. I follow Fast Company on twitter for all the latest business news and this article boasted that Crocs were making a comeback.

I've never owned a pair of Crocs and I always heard it wasn't a good idea to put kids in them too early because of their lack of support. But this article may help me change my tune.

Check these new styles out!

The updated, current jelly shoe.

The autumn-flavored, suede pump.

What do you think? Are these appealing to other on-the-go, fast-paced moms?

This and That (October)

2010-10-22T11:20:00.000-05:00

My house has been ill this month. Everyone's been some form of sick or not feeling well. Lately, it's growing teeth that has us all down. Pain and soreness for the boys with tiredness and increased worrying for me. Hopefully, we're coming out of it.

For this long overdue blog post, I am borrowing an idea from a blog I follow called Tierd. This mom writes her post in the form of short anecdotes about her children she calls "Bits and Pieces." Here's my list of the little things we've been experiencing lately.

The boys are talking much more lately and their newest words include Hi, bye bye, baby, quack quack, ball, and dog. My favorites are baby because Weston says it like this "Baaayy - be" and does the baby sign at the same time. And I also like to ask "what do lions say?" and hear both Charlie and Weston say "Arrr!!"

Much to Aaron's chagrin, the boys new favorite pasttime is turning off the cable box while he's watching sports. They actually know what the button does when they push it because they will push it once, then pop up and see what happens to the picture on the TV, then squat back down under the TV to push the button on the cable box again.

Both of my guys are pretty good eaters but have lately been rejecting the oddest things. Weston turns his nose up at pasta salad with carrots, cheese, and pepperoni so Charlie will just eat his. Both boys also don't like cut up apple but they will eat applesauce.

Bath time has become short and sweet because they've figured out how to work the drain to let the water out. Sometimes it happens when the soap isn't even out of their hair yet!

Weston was sick and didn't go to school on Tuesday so when we picked up Charlie at the end of the day, Weston kept reaching out to grab his face because he was so excited to see his Charlie again. I am glad to see this brotherly love so early

Differences Between Moms and Dads

2010-09-01T10:08:00.000-05:00

This morning, Weston's teacher informed us that yesterday he chased, caught, and proceeded to taste a frog by putting it in his mouth.

My reaction: Gag. Ugh! Yuck! Eww! That's disgusting! I'm so glad we brushed his teeth last night! And I proceeded to eye my cute little boy with a look of apprehension.

My husband's reaction: That's what little boys do.

I am completely out numbered.

The Adventures of Captain Destructo and The Annihilator: #12

2010-08-17T21:30:00.000-05:00

My twin boys turned one year-old about two weeks ago and are two very active little characters! This weekend gave us reason to give them new nicknames: Captain Destructo and The Annihilator.

My husband and I first thought of theses names after surveying our living room on Saturday night. Wooden ark animals, blocks, and balls were strewn from one end of the house to the other. My coffee table bore the scars of being rammed with a fire engine. Even their father and I could count a new scratch or two thanks to their amazingly fast growing finger nails. Thus, Captain Destructo (Charlie) and The Annihilator (Weston) came to live at my house.

The specific adventure I want to discuss today took place at the lovely neighborhood grocery market. Riding along in their side-by-side stroller, Captain Destructo and The Annihilator began taking turns putting their index fingers into each others mouth. Hehehe, hahaha, so funny.

Until The Annihilator used his four baby-sized chompers to bite down, and hold on, to Captain Destructo's finger.

Then came the tears...and the whining...and the shrinking away into the corner of the stroller to try and get away. We couldn't get through the "speedy" 20 items only checkout fast enough.

Despite all this, I love my boys. Before I was ever pregnant, I always thought it would be fun to have two boys who would be brothers as well as great friends. I can already see that happening, despite occasional appearances of Captain Destructo and The Annihilator.

I look forward to all of their future adventures.

Blog to Browse: Steph Cooks

2010-08-15T20:21:00.000-05:00

Hi ya'll. Happy Sunday. If you're at all interested in home grown, home cooked food, check out this blog by my colleague Stephanie:

http://stephcooksfood.com/

It's all about Stephanie and her family as she documents recipes she creates. At the same time, she writes a blog for Greenling, a local organic food delivery service in the Austin/San Antonio area. In exchange, Greenling gives Stephanie a free Local Box each week, containing a collection of fresh, seasonal, local produce.

Pretty cool, huh? My fave recipe so far is for chicken-orzo soup. Doesn't this photo just make you want to grab a spoon?

Book Review: Girl Sleuth - Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her

2010-08-08T21:42:00.001-05:00

I read this book several years ago but last week, I was hunting Etsy for some curious find or another and I came across a host of clothing designed to pay homage to the beloved girl detective, Nancy Drew.

As a kid, I read many vintage book series' such as The Hardy Boys and The Bobbsey Twins, but Nancy was always my favorite. In her book all about the history of Nancy, Melanie Rehak describes the publishing process by which many of these young adult series' came to be written. Her account also includes details about how one woman named Carolyn Keene could have possibly written all those harrowing tales about Nancy and her troupe of mystery-solving friends. (Hint: this would be a HUGE spoiler-alert if I continued further.)

What I always loved about Nancy's stories were the tight spots she managed to find herself in and how, seemingly inevitably, she could escape unharmed within the last 10 pages. She was spunky, drove a blue roadster, had true friends, and only wanted to help people. My favorite of the series was The Quest of the Missing Map partly because my American Girl doll Molly also had a teeny, tiny cop of the missing map tome AND also because Nancy's boyfriend had a larger than normal supporting role. The image of Nancy's beau, Ned Nickerson, in polo shirt and penny loafers gave me hope to find a chivalrous gentleman all my own. Luckily, I found one. ;-)

So, if you're looking for a good mystery, Rehak's well-researched book will send you in search of your old Nancy Drews. But, thanks to Rehak's account of how Nancy Drew's world was actually created, you'll never read them the same way again.

PS: I created an Etsy treasury all about Nancy. Check it out here.

Here's what I'll be doing next week, what will you be doing?

2010-07-30T14:39:00.000-05:00

I work as a writer for a technology company in Austin, Texas. I write letters, news releases, reports, articles, and other various marketing materials. Next week marks our annual user conference and man, am I busy! But it's all good, great, and grand: the amount of stuff I have the opportunity to learn is tremendous.

Specifically, I'm working on one summit at the conference that is all about green energy technology.

The NIWeek Energy Technology Summit - Transition to Sustainability is a technical conference of developers from both conventional and renewable energy sectors creating embedded hardware and software solutions to solve global energy problems.

I'll be joining Siemens Wind Power, IBM, CenterPoint Energy, Austin Energy, Pacific Gas & Electric, the National Renewable Energy Lab, venture capitalist and internet pioneer Robert Metcalfe and energy system designers from around the world in a technical event for and by engineers and scientists focused on making energy cleaner, cheaper and more abundant.

Pretty cool, huh? I'll be sure to share any new knowledge with you after the event.

Looks I Love Right Now

2010-07-15T22:01:00.001-05:00

I've been meaning to blog about Madewell for a while. I first heard about Madewell when the brand originally launched because I worked at its sister store, J.Crew.

If you haven't stepped foot in a Madewell store yet or perused their website, you should. I like Madewell for it's easy, casual style with a few girly patterns, textures, and frills thrown in. I also appreciate that they sell jeans in European sizes and multiple lengths. (How lovely it is to be 5'9" and not have to order Tall lengths because the regular length is just half an inch too short.)

I own jeans from Madewell, pocket tees, button-front shirts, and a very sweet wool vest that zips up and has multiple pockets.

Here's the site: http://www.madewell.com/

And here's a few looks I love right now:

Enjoy. And let me know what you like.

Up

2010-07-06T09:17:00.000-05:00

I love Pixar's movie Up. The love story is genuine and the adventure is priceless. I made an Etsy treasury full of items that get to the heart of that story.

My Treasury

Check it out.

Scents of Summer

2010-06-29T21:00:00.001-05:00

During the one summer in which I took summer courses in college, my roommate and I spent an afternoon shopping JCrew.com. The purpose was to fill our shopping carts with every item we would purchase if we had the money for real and then calculate the total. I think my total was a meager $275, pennies by today's J.Crew prices. (this was before J.Crew got its recent, style overhaul and the average price on every tag became $118. Trust me, just shop there for a few minutes and look at a few tags. They will either read $108 or $118.)

It was innocent fun and allowed us a moment of complete indulgence, at least in our imaginations.

Today, I've done something similar on Etsy by creating a treasury chock full of my favorite things about summer. When I think of summer, I think of lawn chairs, lightning bugs, lemonade, and sun dresses. What do you think of?

Owls, Little Girls, and New Rooms

2010-06-17T20:36:00.001-05:00

When my friend Kelly said she let her 2 year-old daughter Abby pick out the paint color for her new room, I eagerly asked what other plans she had for the room. Kelly said her daughter also requested pink sheets and that's about it. I sighed dramatically as I propped my chin in my hand and expressed how fun I thought it would be to design a little gal's bedroom.

So I did.

Whether my friend liked it or not. ;-)

Note: my boys next bedroom is already planned and designed. They get no choice. ;-)

These are two concepts I created for Abby. I based both designs on her favorite colors, animals, toys, and books. I then came up with two general styles for a child's bedroom.

Concept 1

Concept 2

I presented both concepts to the parents and currently, they are discussing everything with Abby. I had so much fun and I can't wait to find pricing information and a budget for the final design.

Currently, I am researching how much a gal can make per hour for something like this. ;-)

Since When Do the Products We Wipe Our Bums with Need to Be Segregated by Gender?

2010-05-23T20:46:00.000-05:00

Being the budget-conscious parents of twins that we are, we decided to try Target brand baby wipes for a change. We have tried the cheaper Walmart brand (papery-feeling and the wipes don't connect and pull the next wipe through the wipe box's slot like they should) but decided to also give the Target brand a try.

Here is what we found in the baby wipe aisle today. A blue box of wipes, a pink box of wipes, and a purple box of wipes. The blue box of course featured a baby boy and the pink box featured a baby girl. Blatant gender stereotyping. Upon further inspection, it appears that the wipes are virtually the SAME wipes, just packaged differently based on gender.

I have included for you a table that catalogs the details of the wipes by gender-marketed box:

	Blue Box of Baby Wipes	Pink Box of Baby Wipes
704 wipes	X	X
Hypoallergenic	X	X
real-cloth wipes	X	X
alcohol free	X	X
natural aloe and Vitamin E	X	X
cushiony texture for superior cleaning	X	X
Scented		X
"cushy tushy"	X
"dainty wipes"		X
boy baby on the box	X
girl baby on the box holding a flower		X

So, essentially, the two boxes of wipes are exactly the same except for the scent. However, Target has chosen to enhance this difference by including gender stereotypes like color, phrasing (apparently boys cannot be dainty) and object placement (the "girly" flower). And how about that lack of scent for the boys? I guess boys don't need to smell nice.

Perhaps I harbor a mild bias because my children are boys. What most concerns me is what all children will take away from this. Boys are rough and tumble; girls are dainty. Boys like blue and not pink; girls like pink and would never wear blue. Girls like flowers; boys do not. Beyond what kids will see, what characteristics will the adults in their lives put upon them simply because their world is stereotyped from day one?

I hope you take note of gender stereotypes in your world and do what you can to challenge them.

P.S. - If you are curious about the purple box of wipes, it's the same as the unscented boy box only labelled "sensitive," "majorly mild," and "ideal for newborns." And I would argue that purple is not a known gender neutral color. I would guess that most people associate purple with girls and thus, thanks again to Target, might now associate sensitivity and mild tempers only with girls.

Prayer for 30 More Minutes of Sleep

2010-05-19T22:04:00.000-05:00

My friend Hilary lent a book to me today called Mommy Prayers. Included in it are all the concerns new mommies find themselves talking to God about. There is a prayer for "my unwashed hair" and a prayer for "pumping at the office" (I can totally relate after 4 months of awkwardness spent in utility closets, aka, "lactation rooms") and a prayer for "the lost binkie."

Tonight, I offer you my prayer for 30 more minutes of sleep.

Dear God, I know this seems trivial, but you are my last hope. Charlie and Weston really are good little boys. Beyond the occasional bump and bruise acquired by new crawlers, they are happy, healthy, and good sleepers. To a point. Why has Charlie started waking up at 5:47 a.m. for the last two weeks? What happened to the sweet little boy who slept until almost 7:00? Why has he been replaced by a mischevious pre-6:00 a.m. riser who coerces his brother into waking too? Please God, take me back to the time before two weeks ago when this mysterious "growth spurt" or "phase" took over my child and prevented him from sleeping past 5:47 each morning. Please let my boys sleep until 7:00 a.m. tomorrow...ok, 6:45 at least (though you have been known to work miracles) so we can all wake up on the right side of the bed again. Thank you.

My Secret Desire to Learn to Play the Banjo

2010-05-13T20:57:00.000-05:00

In terms of musical talent, I wouldn't rank myself up there with Pavarotti or The Edge or even Beyonce. I would say I'm more on the level of the first American Idol castoff of the season or your neighborhood kid forced to take piano lessons. (a 3-year graduate myself and all I have to show for it is Yankee Doodle.)

Despite these obvious setbacks, something in me has always wanted to learn to play the Banjo. Why? Well...do I really need a valid reason? I mean, my friend Crystal has joined a curling league and curls every Sunday morning so does one really need to explain their quirky extracurricular activities? I think not.

The banjo is round, country, a string instrument. I just think it would be fun. Here are two examples to help you understand:

And if funnyman Steve Martin can do it, I'm on the bandwagon.

Red Poppy Fest Recap

2010-05-02T19:41:00.001-05:00

As small town festivals go, the annual Georgetown Red Poppy Fest was quite entertaining. Up early thanks to the twins, we hit the downtown square about 10:00 and enjoyed the beautiful weather as we walked 6 blocks of crafty booths and vintage cars at the car show.

Around lunch time, we stopped at the "food court," (the parking lot where all the fried food trialers were parked) and treated ourselves to sausage dogs, homemade potato chips, and lemonade from Alex's Lemonade Stand. We parked the stroller in the shade and watched the people go by while we ate and then headed straight to Galaxy Cupcakes for dessert. This is one of my favorite new additions to our town. I had chocolate raspberry and Aaron had vanilla.

Having traversed all there was to see downtown, we then took a Saturday drive past some of my favorite cottages who were celebrating the fest with yards festooned with poppies.

Green house on the corner

Grey two-story

Yellow house with blue door

Until the next poppy fest...I am going to work on convincing my Hubs to let me scatter poppy seeds all over our front yard. We'll see what he says. ;-)

The Next Generation of Bookworms

2010-04-18T19:51:00.001-05:00

As a kid, I wiled away hours in my room with my nose in a book. I read lots of things and went through significant, more focused periods. Like the years I spent reading anything related to girls and horses. Or the summer I read books related to space flight like October Sky, Apollo 13, and Flying to the Moon. Then there were the memorable tomes related to the search for Amelia Earhart, the history of Nancy Drew, and the Forrest Gump duo (did YOU know there was a sequel?).

In college and graduate school, I turned my focus to war novels, specifically from the Vietnam War era. Books like The Things They Carried, Dispatches, and A Rumor of War are both chilling and unbelievably moving.

As an adult, I have added to my growing list of favorites with books such as Ella Minnow Pea, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau Banks, The Flying Troutmans, and of course the wizarding world of Harry Potter. If you ask me what my favorite book ever has been, I will choose The Girls Guide to Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Bank. I highly recommend it.

Now, to the point of this post. As you know, Apple recently released the iPad and with it, they released the capabilty for book-related Apps that I think will excite young readers endlessly.Have you seen this video of Alice in Wonderland for the iPad?

Were the App-makers purposely trying to launch the next great tool for parents and teachers who struggle to get their kids reading? Probably not, at least, that wasn't priority numero uno. But I hope they add more books to the Apple library because I think it can only get better from here.

The Lone Girl in a House of Boys

2010-04-14T22:07:00.000-05:00

I have long been known as a penny-pincher. "Thrifty" you might say. I can feel an immense guilt-trip upon making a needless purchase on clothes or accessories (thanks again mom and dad for being the best guilt-trippers, ever.) :-)

Now, as a mom of 9-month old twins, I think about budget more than ever. I rarely spend money on clothes for myself anymore as things like diapers, formula, baby food, and more formula have taken their place on my sales receipts. When I first learned I was having boys, I thought it would be difficult to find boy clothes as cute as what they make for little girls.

Not true, it turns out. Girl's clothes do tend to be brighter and more sparkly, thus catching your eye more quickly in the store. But boys clothes are often more rugged, more flexible, and more in the "earth tone" family than girls' clothes. I have embraced the outdoor-sy, bug and truck-themed wear and think my boys look cute even when drool and spit-up have soaked the necks of their shirts.

To give you an idea of the upcoming outfits I have planned for my twins, I've included a few examples below. I hope C & W let me shop for and outfit them for a long time to come.

love the shoes, love the jacket. Note that this young chap has a plant in his backpack. So sweet! (crewcuts)

I like the mismash of the yellow tee and orange kicks (crewcuts)

This reminds me of their dad. (crewcuts)

Here's what they look like now in their striped polos and cargo shorts. (Target)

Awesome image courtesy of our good friend Heather at Eclectic Images Photography. Check out her web site to see more of C & W!

With my good sense of fashion, I bet they'll let me dress them through high school, don't ya think? ;-)

One More Festival You Just Can't Miss!

2010-04-09T21:04:00.000-05:00

Earlier today, my friend Kendall alerted me to the alarming fact that I forgot to list a very important, prestigious festival in my previous blog post. She has been preparing to attend this festival for days and is taking her entire family with her. Her husband, and two very sweet weiner dogs.

Apparently, I've lived all this time in Central Texas and never realized that just south of her was the "Weiner Dog Capital of Texas." Who knew? And each year, they hold a very popular event: the annual weiner dog races. Each year has a theme and this year's is "The Weiner of Oz." Let's not pause long enough to contemplate the, um, silliness of that name. Moving on!

The event includes not only the races but a costume parade, chili and bbq cook-off, a bake-off, crafts, AND a dance!

To give you a real idea of what's in store, check out this video "The Lord of the Weins: a Dachumentary."

Have fun at the races Kendall!

Find a Festival

2010-04-05T21:45:00.001-05:00

If you're hankering for some good ol', family friendly, cheap entertainment, I've got a solution for you. Go local and find a small-town Texas festival near you. I've been looking forward to a festival later this month in Georgetown since I missed last year's fest.

Coming up this Saturday and Sunday is the Poteet Strawberry Festival. There is an official judge of Poteet's best strawberries, a parade, carnival, and Taste of Texas Foodshow.

Also this weekend is the Bluebonnet Festival in Burnet. I attended this fest several years ago when a last minute cold snap rendered my cute spring shorts and sandals completely pointless. The shops around the Burnet courthouse were still fun to check out though. And bonus, if you live in the Austin area, you can ride the Austin steam train from Cedar Park to the festival in Burnet for an extra treat.

Personally, I am looking forward to Georgetown's annual Red Poppy Fest on April 24. Events include a classic car show, Market Days on the Georgetown square, a home brew fest, the Red Poppy 5k race and more.

To find more festivals near you, check out this website: texasfairsandfestivals.com.

New Mom Moment #347

2010-03-24T13:58:00.000-05:00

Last night my hubs and I were watching one of my new favorite shows, Parenthood. One of the scenes involved a mom helping her brother's son remove his stuck thumb from the mouth of a soda can.

The mom says something like "I happen to have some slippery slime in my purse so we'll put that on it and it should come right off. Let's say the magic words as I pull your thumb out, 'slippery, slimy, slippy!'"

Then voila! The kid's thumb is free.

I then turn to Aaron and say "I'm going to have to Google that slippery slime stuff and make sure I have some in the diaper bag." He looks at me and says, "All that was was lotion."

Maybe I should Google cool mom ways to help your kids out of stuck situations.

My two little monsters. Let's hope for their sake they never stick their thumbs into any soda cans.

Happy Friday

2010-03-19T10:45:00.001-05:00

This makes me long for summer...

Happy Birthday to Me!

2010-03-16T09:40:00.000-05:00

Today I am celebrating the 28th anniversary of the day I was born. Thanks mom and dad for having me and having me first (cuz Rusty's a pretty fun little brother).

Thanks also to my mom for another wonderful variety of gifts such as my very own copy of one of my favorite books, Ella Minnow Pea, a pint-sized Italian creme cake, a sweet $5 pair of jeans, a $100 bill, and several fun food items. And thanks for letting me talk you into giving them to me a day early. I knew you'd be easy to win over.

For myself, I bought these fun felt flower headbands from my friend Ann's Etsy shop.

pink flower headband (which I'm wearing today to tame my rainy day hair)
blue flower headband

You should spend some time window shopping in her shop today.

Tonight, my hubs is taking me out for dinner and a movie, Alice in Wonderland (he even told me he'd spring for the 3D tickets!) and my mom is watching the boys. All around, a wonderful day.

Frivolous Purchases

2010-02-24T21:31:00.000-06:00

If I could make one purchase right now that I wouldn't feel guilty about, that I wouldn't think twice about, that my husband wouldn't shake his head at, I would buy...ready? A bike with a basket.

Why? Because it would make me happy. I smile right now just thinking about it.

When I think about purchasing a bike with a basket, I think of all the great things I could do! I could pedal to the grocery store and CVS. I could wheel over to downtown Georgetown and peruse the gift and antique shops. I could head over to the Georgetown library to borrow a few books. If I were closer, I could even cruise to work on my bike like my friend Hilary. (Her bike is green with a leather seat and handles.)

I could even continue my stylish ways with a pin-striped basket like my friend Ann suggests here or like this sweet, green number.

Last spring I observed a cute couple riding matching bikes with baskets near Lake Georgetown. Hers was pink, his was blue. Too cute.

If this weren't just a post about frivoulous purchases and I really was capable of buying myself this little present, here's a few I like:

The last bike with the headlamp and saddlebag-style basket is my current favorite. Now, that's it, I'm done. Go daydream about your idea of a frivolous purchase for a while. (wink.)

My Morning

2010-01-08T08:33:00.001-06:00

One of my working mom colleagues had a particularly entertaining morning getting her toddler dressed and off to school by herself for the first time. I thought it was so hilarious that I just had to catalog my own morning routine.

Here it is for your reading pleasure:

1 alarm ringing at 6:00 a.m.
1 tired mama observing silence from the baby monitor sitting on her bedside table
1 mama hitting snooze
1 alarm ringing at 6:09 a.m.
1 still tired mama observing continued silence from baby monitor
1 mama hitting snooze
1 alarm ringing at 6:18 a.m.
1 mama finally getting out of bed to brush her teeth, do her makeup and hair

1 mama padding through darkness to kitchen to pull 2 baby bottles out of the fridge
1 mama turning on computer to check her work website for "ice day" message.
1 mama finds out office is still open for business
1 alarm ringing at 6:28 a.m. to wake up 1 still sleeping daddy
1 mama getting herself dressed while warming 2 baby bottles
1 mama refreshing her internet browser to double-check work website for "ice day" message
1 mama finding office is still open for business
1 mama deciding to send a baby photo update email to the Grandparents at 6:38 a.m. so they and their subscribers don't get grouchy
2 babies chattering from their cribs at 6:40 a.m.
1 mama packing her lunch and setting aside 2 clean, empty baby bottles for day care
1 mama and 1 daddy saying good morning to 2 baby boys at 6:45 a.m.

1 mama feeding 1 Weston while attached to a double breast pump at 6:50 a.m.
1 daddy feeding 1 Charlie while watching the news
2 parents depositing 2 babies back in crib to be changed at 7:10 a.m.
1 mama changing 2 diapers while 1 daddy showers
1 mama dressing 2 babies in warm, fleecy outfits to brave arctic blast on the way to day care
1 mama depositing 1 Weston in a swing to play
1 mama depositing 1 Charlie in a second swing to play

1 mama making 2 bottles out of formula and previously pumped milk
1 mama talking to 2 babies while packing pump supplies for the day
1 mama pouring milk into a thermos for the cereal she will eat at work
1 mama doing a final check of her work web site for "ice day" message. No dice.
1 daddy entering kitchen fully dressed
1 daddy helping 1 mama decide to make a pot of coffee at home so she doesn't buy any at work
1 mama loading car with her 4 bags while coffee is brewing: 1 mama lunch, 1 laptop bag, 1 breast pump, 1 bag of baby items to donate

1 mama and 1 daddy putting on coats while coffee finishes brewing
1 mama and 1 daddy loading 2 babies into car seats
1 mama and 1 daddy preparing 2 travel mugs of coffee (his inky black, hers almost white with copious amounts of hazelnut creamer added)
1 mama and 1 daddy loading 2 babies and 2 baby bottles into car
1 mama and 1 daddy drive 2 blocks to day care at 7:52 a.m.

1 mama and 1 daddy have to park in day care lot because drop-off lane is completely full
1 mama and 1 daddy deposit 2 babies in day care classroom
1 daddy hands 2 baby bottles to day care teacher
1 mama receives 1 bag of clean baby clothes from teacher due to baby blow out the previous day
1 mama and 1 daddy pat 2 babies on the back and wave bye
1 mama and 1 daddy drive to work at 7:58 a.m.
1 mama arrives at work at 8:20 a.m. still with warm coffee and cold milk for her breakfast

Book Review: The Flying Troutmans

2009-12-29T14:26:00.000-06:00

As of late I have been in a terrible book slump. I consider myself an avid reader and somewhere smack in the middle of my recent maternity leave (Aug-Oct), I hit a wall where I had no interest in reading anything other than my mail or the Sunday paper. (Prior to that, while my babies were in the NICU for 17 days, I mowed through all 1400 pages of the last two Harry Potter's. I needed another world to run to and Harry served that purpose beautifully.)

I tried to start Chuck Klosterman's Killing Yourself to Live but it didn't take. (Interestingly, Klosterman is my maiden name but I don't believe I am related to Chuck.) I also started The Boleyn Inheritance, An Irish Country Doctor, and Playful Parenting. None of which I got more than 35 pages into.

Then, thankfully, my friend Kelly suggested I read The Flying Troutmans. So I sent my sweet hubs to the A. Frank Smith, Jr. Library to procure it for me and into the Troutman's journey I went. (By the by, the A. Frank Smith library happens to be my favorite library. Not only is it located at my alma mater, but it also has the best nook and cranny style alcoves with soft leather chairs where one can get lost reading, writing, or whatever-ing for hours.)

Review: The journey of the Troutman trio (Aunt Hattie, nephew Logan, and neice Thebes) begins in Canada as they drive in search of the childrens' father. Their mother, Min, has once again gone off the deep end into depression, landed in a mental institution, and left the kids to fend for themselves. Aunt Hattie has come from Paris to save the day if only she knew what two teenage children actually needed from an adult figure. Author Toews' does a brilliant job of describing her characters, especially that of Thebes.

An Excerpt: "At the airport, Thebes came running over to me dressed entirely in royal blue terry cloth, short shorts and cropped top, and covered in some kind of candy necklace powder. The empty elastic was still around her throat. Or maybe she wore that thing all the time. She had fake tattoos all over her arms and her hair was intense purple, matted and wild, and she melted into me when I put my arms around her and tried to lift her off the ground."

What I enjoyed most was being tossed into the crazy road-trip with them, not sure where the story was going or how it would end. This book is also one of those that left me with questions at the end yet I enjoying trying to fill in the holes myself. The characters were honest, relatable, and real. A great book to quench my thirst for reading and bate my palate for more.

Rating: 4/5

Alter Ego Friday

2009-12-18T15:33:00.008-06:00

Today's Friday. On Friday at work, I can get a little silly, a little snarky, and more than a little opinionated. I was once accused of sending an alter ego to work for me. Said alter ego even has a name, invented by my former work group. Having a named alter ego is uber convenient because I can blame things on her. Her name rhymes with my name but is the antithesis of me in every way.

Ready to know her name yet? I'll tell you at the end of this blog after I share a couple random things that interest me today.

Did anyone else see the Queen of England riding public transportation?

Her Majesty, Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith, took the train to the English countryside Thursday, the same as a commoner.

It's certainly not everyday the Queen can be spotted on the 10:45am train. My theory is that someone told her "no, you most certainly cannot take public transport to your vast estate." And she said, "oh yes I will! Don't you realize who you are talking to? I'm the Queen of several countries and have a title too long to relate to you right now."

Ha. (psst, have I ever told you that I kind of have a thing for monarchies? So excited about the new "Young Victoria" movie.)

I got a new cookbook and I'm so excited to tell you about it.

The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl. Doesn't that sound right up my alley? My great co-worker Yvette saw this cookbook and thought it was perfect for me. Ree Drummond, the "accidental country girl," (love that phrase!) writes all about her city-turned-country life with great photographs and awesome recipes. Check out this blackberry cobbler. And can I say how much I love the photo for each step in the recipe? Brilliant!

The Sing-Off

Please tell me some of you dear readers got caught up in this show. It began with 6 or 8 acapella groups singing popular songs and wearing the cutest darned outfits. (Who does the wardrobe for that show? Aside from a couple groups looking right out of an Old Navy commercial, it was great eye candy.) If you like Glee, you'll like this show. Try to find some episodes online or something. It will suck you in! And bonus: it's a super short TV show commitment. Only 4 episodes total!

I'm rooting for the Beelzebubs. They appeal to my preppy, ex-high school-choir girl side. ;-)

And now for the big reveal:

My alter ego name is a name that rhymes with Lacy but starts with an "R" and a name that rhymes with Rohre but starts with a "W." It's too scandalous to type and you have to whisper it when you say it. Remember: this name is the antithesis of me but is funny b/c it rhymes with my real name. I encourage you to designate an alter ego name for yourself today. Happy Friday!

Puzzled by the Recent News Surrounding Mammograms?

2009-11-24T11:32:00.001-06:00

I just want to put on some pink gloves and dance!

Medline created this in Portland last week for their glove division as a fundraiser for breast cancer awareness. This was to help promote their new pink gloves.

When the video gets 1 million hits, Medline will be making a huge contribution to the hospital, as well as offering free mammograms for the community.

Time to Survey the Marriage

2009-11-05T08:05:00.001-06:00

My friend Hil posted this marriage survey and since I just celebrated my 4-year wedding anniversary, I thought it high time to survey my marriage.

I am also officially challenging my Hubs to complete and post the survey as well. Let's see who wins! (This is a competition, right?)

1.What are your middle names? Allen and Lynn (legally Klosterman but I should have kept Lynn too).

2. How long have you been together? Since the fall of 2001. Our first date was in October but neither of us remember if it was the 6th or 10th. Pretty sure it was the 6th.

3. How long did you know each other before you started dating? About a year, but I didn't like him. Thought he was close-minded and opinionated.

4. Who asked who out? Aaron asked me out to dinner with a "group of people." Turns out, he never invited any other people!

5. How old are each of you? What's really important here is that Aaron is one year older than Lacy.

6. Did you go to the same school? Same college, yes.

7. Are you from the same home town? No.

8. Who is the smartest? Constantly up for debate. Are we considering GPA in this? Because if so, Lacy had a 4.0 in grad school...

9. Who majored in what? Aaron: History, Spanish, and Philosophy, Lacy: Communication Studies and English

10. Who is the most sensitive? hmmm...Lacy knows how to properly show her emotions. Does that count?

11. Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple? London and Wales!

12. Who has the worst temper? Aaron, definitely. Good thing he doesn't get riled up often.

13. How many children do you want? I just gave birth to twins. Ask me this question in 3-4 years.

14. Who does the cooking? More me but Aaron makes a mean Shepherd's Pie.

15. Who is more social? Ooh, I have to say we are equally social...only because if I say me, I see an argument in my future. ;-)

16. Who is the neat freak? Me.

17. Who is the most stubborn? No comment.

18. Who wakes up earlier? Me, for sure.

19. Where was your first date? Red, Hot, & Blue (Memphis BBQ) and Barnes and Noble. He read "Oh the Places You'll Go" to me.

20. Who has the bigger family? They're both pretty big.

21. Do you get flowers often? Nope, we're on a jewelry kick lately. I got pearls for having the babies.

22. How do you spend the holidays? Thanksgiving with my family, Christmas with his and probably New Year's with mine. Each year is different.

23. Who is more jealous? Erm...no comment.

24. How long did it take to get serious? Not long, 6 months?

25. Who eats more? Aaron.

26. What do you do for a living? I coordinate communicating to employees and he specializes in the religious and residence life of college students.

27. Who’s better with the computer? Me because I have the patience to read the documentation.

28. Who drives when you are together? Aaron so I can nap.

29. What is your song? "All I Want is You" by U2

True Confessions: I am Seduced by Sexy Packaging

2009-10-30T09:38:00.001-05:00

I will readily admit to buying the more expensive item just because its prettier or cooler looking. I heart things like Method brand products, Papyrus cards and stationary, and I'll take a trip to Target over Walmart any day.

And that means I am attracted to pretty web sites too. These are just a few I frequent that I think you should know about.

Two Blue Peas - Owned by the friend of a co-worker, this site has all the elements of cute baby boutique without being overwhelming or stuffy looking. The founders describe themselves as "two peas in a pod but fun blue instead of plain ‘ole green." Two of my favorite items are the fortune cookie and sushi play sets. I also highly endorse the Trumpette socks. Those fit the best.
Moomah - I don't live in New York and I don't want to. And I certainly don't want the challenge of raising twin boys in the big city, that's not for me. But if I did, I think you would find me at Moomah. I was instantly drawn into this chill-with-your-children spot when I saw the photos in their gallery. I want my house to look like that. It's like a cool, not stuffy, museum, cafe, favorite library, and most awesome schoolroom ever, all rolled into one.

Paper Culture - This site makes me want to give up email in favor of letters, postcards, and parcels. Just so pretty! I want all of my mail to look like this. And even better, every one of their cards is environmentally responsible. They use 100% Post Consumer Recycled Paper and they use recycled paper for their envelopes and packaging.

Pingg - You can say you heard it here first, evite is out and Pingg is in! I've been using these free evites and ecards for months now. Their images make me want to throw an event for just about anything! These are some of my favorites.

Happy web browsing!

To give or not to give?

2009-10-28T09:47:00.005-05:00

For the last two and a half weeks, the company I work for has been sponsoring a giving campaign. It's nothing new, an annual thing, and is about finding something your passionate about and supporting it.

So what am I passionate about and why do I give?

Why not? I have very few needs and wants that are not met and that is a true blessing. I give so other people can have that experience. I don't give to any particular organization, I, somewhat selfishly, just give to those that interest me. For example, this year I gave to the Austin chapter of March of Dimes because I gave birth to premature twins in July. It took me several weeks to admit they were premature, NICU-stay and all, because I didn't want to be lumped into the "premature" group. But the fact of the matter is, my babies were 6 weeks premature and MoD is doing something to prevent that. I want to thank them for that.

My reasons for giving are fluid and often change and that's OK. Here's a list of organizations I gave to last year and why:

Girl Scouts because parents don't send their kids to camp anymore and I think all children should have the authentic summer camp experience
What Would Willie Want because Willie was my friend and he sought positive changes for the world
Georgetown Youth Baseball because a family I know has two little leaguers and are so happy just cheering, coaching, and playing
Annunciation Maternity Home because I wrote a paper about them in college.
Thirst No More because a friend of mine works there
Alzheimer's Association because two of my husband's grandparents have been diagnosed with Alzheimer's

The point is, you don't have to have a logical or obvious reason for wanting to give to an organization. For me, it's just a feeling or an association that makes me think, they are doing good things, I'll support them.

Now, what exactly do I give? Money? In-kind donations? Time? The truth is, people often want to give their time because they don't have enough dollars but the time it takes to give dollars is way less than the time it takes to paint a room or clean up a playground. I just spent less than 5 minutes pledging my 2010 gift AND requesting that my company match it. While I would like to say I spent personal time and sweat to help the organization, I didn't. And my gift was much smaller this year due to some recent family medical bills. But it was still a gift.

I choose to give, no matter how small the gift. Because like my premature babies who started out weighing 5 lbs. 0 oz., and 4 lbs. 11 oz., I know that small gifts grow. I hope you find something you can give a little to today.

Baby Gear I'm Going to Invent

2009-09-21T19:04:00.000-05:00

Since giving birth to a set of adorable twin boys 8 weeks ago, I have realized a certain lack of "absolutely necessary" baby gear products that aren't on your easy-to-find baby gear checklists.

1. Glow-in-the-Dark Pacifiers - Have you ever been the sleep deprived parent carrying their baby through the house at night who hears that horrible "thud thud" as the pacifier falls to floor and rolls out of sight? (if you aren't a parent, prepare yourself to hate that sound) Pacifiers should be made to glow-in-the-dark for easy retrieval after the midnight hour. Or at least be equipped with a homing device.

2. Pacifier Face Straps - to hold the special green hospital pacifiers in your infants mouth so they don't fall out and have to be replaced every 5 minutes. Think something akin to a Halloween mask elastic strap. This product probably won't be certified by the American Academy of Pediatrics anytime soon. But dang, I would kill for these right now.

3. Baby ID Bracelets - I would fashion these in the form of teeny, tiny sweat bands. Not only to tell twins apart, but to hold the name and address information of your child. So you can avoid the persnickety hospital nurse walking up to you asking if the infant you are holding in the waiting room (while celebrating the birth of a friend's baby) is indeed your infant and does not belong to that hospital. Yes, this just happened to me on Friday.

Those are my top three of the moment. I wish I could give you a list of my top ten, but alas, my baby boys don't let me blog all day long.

What baby gear would you invent if you had the chance?

If You Were Tasked With Contacting Me After I've Been MIA for Over a Month, Your Time's Up.

2009-08-08T21:15:00.017-05:00

Where've I been? Well, since I last posted I have completed two life-changing milestones. The hubs and I bought our first real-deal, "no kidding we now pay a mortgage" cottage AND I delivered two beautiful twin boys. These two milestones happened in quicker succession than we would have liked but both have been great experiences.

First, our cottage. The house itself isn't old enough to qualify as truly "cottage" but it does have cottage appeal.
With the swift scheduling of my task master husband, we painted the kitchen, 3 bedrooms, and 2 bathrooms in two days! (Thank you to all of our friends and family who helped, we couldn't have done it without you.)

The kitchen went from sage green to "warm brownie" brown and "red poppy" red.

The master bedroom went from what I will call desert orange to a beautiful "pebble stone" green/gray that my husband picked out.

The other rooms became a color called "parchment paper." We moved in our stuff over the weekend of July 4th, unpacked over the next 3 weeks and then welcomed our babies, a tad unexpectedly, on July 26th.

Charlie Evans Rohre (left image) and Weston Rieves Rohre (right image) arrived about 2 weeks early at 4 lbs., 11 oz. and 5 lbs. 2 oz., respectively.

Because the babies arrived a little early, both are staying in the NICU and working on maintaining their temperatures and eating well. Weston had his nasal cannula removed about 3 days ago but that picture of him passed out just cracks me up.

Here are some pics of their place in our cottage:

We can't wait to bring them home (hopefully this week!) and enjoy them even more. I will soon be posting about our adventures together.

Anthropologie 101

2009-06-05T07:37:00.002-05:00

Check it out, the June Anthropologie catalog was shot right here in Austin, Texas. I like the old school Austin flavor and the wonderful lack of high rise condos.

June 2009 Catalog

If you've never been to an Anthropologie store, you should pop in for a visit the next time you are near one. They appeal to all the feminine senses with lovely fabrics, textures, smells, and unique pieces you won't see many other places. They do tend to be out of my price range a bit but here's a secret: if you wind your way through all the fashions and past the home goods, there is an entire room devoted to Sale in the back of every store!

Some of my favorite Anthropologie goods of the moment:

Matryoshka Measuring Cups

Rock Garden Tote

So wish I could skive off work today and go shopping...

"Do Something You've Never Done" Day

2009-05-27T19:30:00.008-05:00

In the spirit of cleaning out the fridge tonight, we ate Chicken Caesar salad for dinner.

Key ingredients:

1 half bag of leftover "salad-in-a-bag" lettuce
1 half pouch of Caesar dressing from Caesar "salad-in-a-bag"
coupla sprinkles of grated Parmesan cheese that was "best used by" May 19
2 chicken breasts marinated in the last dredges of an open bottle of Italian dressing then grilled
2 hamburger buns from the back of the freezer

Now, those ingredients probably don't sound all that foreign to you but you may be wondering about the hamburger buns. I quasi-channeled my super friend Hilary tonight because she spends all afternoon on Sunday cooking for the week, in particular making homemade bread and croutons. (I say "quasi-channeled" because I don't think Super Hilary uses the same types of ingredients I do. I just tell myself she's not as resourceful as me.)

So I used my two leftover frost bitten hamburger buns to make homemade croutons. I pried them apart, spread butter and sprinkled garlic salt on them, then baked them in a 400 degree oven for 10 minutes. Just look at the golden brown goodness I created.

So after that, I created "Do Something You've Never Done" Day. Whether in the kitchen or not, I challenge you to do something you've never done tomorrow or the next day or sometime soon. It's pretty empowering. Even if it's just leftover hamburger bun croutons.

Wake Up Your Inner Craft-er!

2009-05-18T18:20:00.005-05:00

Here's a super easy craft project that will take up that ever popular empty wall space in your house.

Take digital pictures of letters (from signs around town or found objects) and frame them to spell different words.

I got the idea originally from a home decor shop that was selling photos of letters for $6.99 a piece! They spelled things like Family, Love, etc. My friend Morgan also makes these and she makes monograms by grouping black and white photos of objects that "look" like letters, not actual letters. She's a more creative gal than I am.

The first frame I made spelled my last name, Rohre, and was a gift to my sister-in-law. (I'll never live up to that gift again, I'm sure. The year after, I gave her a CD. :-/)

My next Name Frame projects are for my babies, Weston and Charlie. Here's the first:

Unfortunately, I can't for the life of me find a 7-opening frame for Charlie. Anyone have any ideas for me before I go custom?

Oh Broadway Musicals! How I Do Love Thee!

2009-04-29T19:11:00.000-05:00

Last week my hubs and I had a night out on the town to see the 2003 Tony award-winning musical Avenue Q.Hilarity ensued at the "Sesame Street for adults" extravaganza that was singing puppets on stage. But not JUST singing folks, oh no. Those puppets were risque! I found it so fun to giggle at things I would never say and do while under the cover of dark theater lights. Aaron just about fell off his chair and into the aisle he thought it was so funny.

While Avenue Q made for a highly entertaining evening, Wicked wins my award for favoritest musical out there. We saw Wicked at the Oriental Theater in Chicago last year. Here are the details friends, and you must read to the end, because there's a special note for Austin-ites.

The gist - Long before Dorothy landed her ruby-clad feet in Oz, the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch were friends, even college roommates. Yes, sparkly blue Glinda the Good gets paired with the emerald green-toned Wicked Witch in the potluck roommate selection of the century.The boy - Of course! What could drive apart two girls better than a boy? Fiyero, all-around rebel and troublemaker who can't choose between the two witches.

The scandal - Animals vs. animals. The Ozian government passes new legislation that won't allow Animals to speak, teach, or work. The Wicked Witch (an early PETA member) rebels against the government by saving a lion cub from isolation in a cage. (This same lion appears later as a cowardly friend to Dorothy.) The Wicked Witch then sets off to visit the Emerald City and talk to the Wizard of Oz about this new legislation. The Emerald City reveals the Wicked Witch's magical prowess when she causes monkeys to sprout wings and fly, scaring the citizens and causing them to officially brand her "Wicked."

The music - From "Popular" to "Defying Gravity," every song is singable and adds a great element to the story. You will definitely be buying the soundtrack the moment you leave the theater.

So here's the scoop Austin-ites. Tickets for Wicked at the Bass Concert Hall go on sale in less than 17 days! Get your tickets beginning May 16th for the shows on August 12 through August 30.

Hands-down, this'll be the most entertaining night on the town.

Shared Birthdays

2009-04-21T09:19:00.003-05:00

My niece, Madison, and I recently shared a birthday cake. My birthday was March 16 and her birthday was April 14. I'm pretty sure she's the only one who is aging in this picture. ;-)

The cake was strawberry cake with strawberry icing and fresh strawberries on top. And shaped like a princess.

Something I've Been Meaning to Do

2009-04-06T21:11:00.007-05:00

I consider myself an avid reader and am usually reading at least one book for pleasure most of the time. I've been meaning to review several of these for you but just couldn't commit to the daunting task of a full-fledged book review. Consider these the "lite" version of Lacy's Book Reviews. I hope you try at least one of them.

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau Banks by E. Lockhart -- This story is for all those of you who ever sent away for brochures to East coast boarding schools in high school because you were bored and college just couldn't come fast enough. (Was I the only one who did that?)

Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn -- This is a fantastically silly story about a girl who lives on an island and writes letters back and forth to her friends on the mainland. Her letter-writing takes a challenging turn when the island government begins banning the use of certain letters in the alphabet!

The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling -- Old school style fables from the world of Harry Potter. My personal favorites are "Babbity Rabbity and her Cackling Stump" and "The Tale of the Three Brothers." Super quick read I highly recommend for your next weekend holiday.

Circle of Friends by Maeve Binchy -- If you loved the movie with Chris O'Donnell like I did, you'll love the book more. My good friend Maeve (I've read LOTS of her stuff) is a fabulous storyteller and weaves what seems like dozens of storylines into one cohesive narrative. The book looks gigantic but it's a page turner.

Atonement by Ian McEwan -- I enjoyed the movie a lot and wish I had read the book first. Good story with several great snippets of language. The book will be more suspenseful if you don't watch the movie first. (If you don't want to read the book at all, I recommend the movie simply for the eye candy that is James McAvoy.)

A Small Order of Business

2009-04-06T21:06:00.001-05:00

My babies have a blog!

S'More Rohres

Check it out and see what they are all about!

Wretched Excess: Tales from a Former Retail Manager

2009-03-19T19:41:00.006-05:00

Consider this a tip from me to all the clothing shoppers of the world: "Be Nice to Retail Store Employees; If You're Not, They Will Remember Your Name, What You Look Like, and What Method of Payment You Used to Make Your Purchase and/or Return."

I'm not an expert, but I do have 2.5 years of retail management under my belt at a well-known clothing store akin to Banana Republic, Ralph Lauren, Land's End and whose store name begins with an initial followed by a four-letter name (figured it out yet?). I worked at said store in an affluent neighborhood in Dallas. I have countless horror stories that make my blood boil every time I recall them. I thought at one point I might write a book but they make me so angry I thought a blog post would be better suited. (Once out on the Internet for you to enjoy, I plan to leave these stories behind and move on to bigger and better things, like birthing twins.)

Here is a quick conglomeration of my favorite tales:

The Expired Return - Lots of retail stores will be lenient with their return policies IF you are nice and not shady from the beginning. Example #1: Don't try to return a pair of two-year old shorts because you "just didn't like the way they washed." First of all, stores cannot return items if they have been washed because they cannot resell, send them back to the catalog, or even donate them. How wasteful does that sound? You might as well keep them to do your yard work in. Second of all, we know how old something is by the codes on the tags sewn into the seams. I use "code" loosely here because the store I worked at used codes like FA 07 or SP 06 to indicate the season and year. Third of all, learn how to wash things properly. It's highly unlikely that the store is responsible for how something looks after you have washed it for two years. Oh and blaming the severely shrunken cashmere sweater on your "cleaning lady" doesn't give you an automatic pass to no receipt return land. Especially the second sweater. (I kid you not, same woman tried to return two adult-sized cashmere sweaters shrunk enough to fit her toddler.) Always read the wash instructions on high-dollar items. Wool of any type doesn't enjoy being washed and dried. :-) And more importantly, don't try to return something you have washed!

The No-Receipt Return - Save your receipts! You will be far better off no matter how old the receipt is. Why? The store can tell when you bought the item, how much you paid for it, and what the equivalent item is now if you are that far delinquent on the return policy. No receipt tells the store nothing. Don't expect the total reimbursement onto the correct method of payment if the store can't verify what you paid or how you paid for it. Isn't that just logical? Some stores now have computer systems that allow you to swipe your credit/debit card and bring up your order history so perhaps they can find details for the item you want to return. This is not always the case so for the smoothest transaction and happiest store employee, bring your receipt with you.

The Price Adjustment - Definition of a price adjustment: You bought an item at full price. 14 days later or less, that item was marked down to a sale price. You can take your receipt into the store and ask for the difference in price returned to you. Definition of a SHADY price adjustment: You show the store your receipt, don't actually qualify for the price adjustment (b/c the item you bought was already on sale and then marked down again) so you kindly say "can't I just return it and buy it back?" Technically, the answer to this is yes but when you ask the store in this manner, it's grossly annoying to the salesperson because all they are trying to do is what they are told. And you are trying to work the system.

The Complaint About Store Hours - Probably not a good idea to complain that the mall is closing at 6:00 on a Sunday to the store employee. Even if you aren't a church-going person, it's not super fun to work both days of the weekend. Plus, 6:00 is the standard time for many malls across the states to close on Sundays. Not a new concept people. I applaud American businesses like Chick-Fil-A and Hobby Lobby who are closed on Sundays giving all employees one consistent day off each week. So do 'em a favor and scoot on out of the store before closing time, no questions asked.

The Request for the Jacket Off My Back - I once had a customer ask to buy the blazer off my back because she was so furious we no longer had her size in the store. She just HAD to have it. Um, no is all I can say.

The Return of Clothing You Wore Into the Store - Just because the store now has a newer version of the item you purchased over a year ago, say a leather jacket, doesn't mean you can return the jacket you are wearing for the brand new model hanging on the rack. So many things wrong with this one. The "no receipt" issue, the "it's already been washed or dry-cleaned" issue, the "it's weird and completely obvious" issue, and so on and so on.

Whew! I didn't realize I had so many highlights from my retail career. I will have to continue this list in Part 2 sometime soon. In the mean time, feel free to share any of your own retail stories and questions via the comments below this post.

If you remember nothing else from these stories, remember this: In the grand scheme of things, it's only clothing. Just clothing.

To be continued...

Do you aspire to be a thrift store shopper?

2009-02-27T09:54:00.007-06:00

You should probably check out this vintage clothing garage sale from an Austin gal named Sarah D.

My friend Tolly interviewed Sarah for Rare magazine a few months back and I've been watching her "Year of Living Thriftily" blog ever since. Enjoy!

Oh, and an example of Sarah's awesome style:

Review: Coraline (the movie)

2009-02-27T07:15:00.000-06:00

Title: Coraline
Genre: Movie
Rating: PG
Stars: 5/5

Summary: Based on the children's classic by Neil Gaiman, Coraline is a fairy-tale turned nightmare. Coraline Jones is bored with her current life, especially her garden catalog-writing parents, and seeks out a better version by traveling through a magic, wall-papered door in her new home. At first, her Other Mother and Other Father seem perfect, offering home cooked meals, new clothes, and a comfy bed to sleep in. Unfortunately, her Other Mother soon wants to keep Coraline all to herself and must do something tragic in order to make her stay.

Review: I am absolutely amazed by this movie in which all of the sets, props, and characters were made by hand out of fun objects like guitar strings and painted popcorn. The hubs and I went to see this on Valentine's Day for a matinee date. It's certainly a movie enhanced by the consumption of Sour Punch Straws but they're not essential.

Be sure and check out this Wired article for fun insight into how the movie was made: http://www.wired.com/entertainment/hollywood/multimedia/2009/01/pl_screen

Happy Spring (& an Apology)

2009-02-26T19:26:00.005-06:00

Dear blog-readin' friends,

I've been gone for almost two months and have lots to update you on. As for my absence, I have no good excuse. (Although I thought about blaming the Cottage Living cancellation postcard I received the very day AFTER I wrote the previous post but that's not really the reason). I've had a very busy January and February. I'll try to sum it up for you.

On January 1, I found out I was pregnant (Woohoo!). On January 22 I saw the first picture of my healthy baby (so cute!). On February 5, my doctor is looking at my baby's picture and says "Huh, it's kinda fuzzy and I think there are two." (Scuse me?) At this point, my brain went fuzzy and I started a 3-hour episode of uncontrollable, sporadic crying. I left the doctor, went straight to Sonic for cheese sticks and then sat on my couch for the rest of the night.

So in a nutshell, I'm having twins! I'm very excited about the idea now, I just had to get over the initial shock of double the cost, double the diapers, double the breastfeeding, and double the over-sized, colorful plastic baby gear one must own to entertain, nurture, and raise double the amount of baby.

Other than that, I've had an uneventful two months. Probably due to the fact that I'm making time to sleep and eat and not much else. I have read a book, Old School by Tobias Wolff, and I highly recommend it. I began watching the John Adams mini-series that just came out with Laura Linney and Paul Giamatti. Also highly recommended.

(I did have an interesting craving episode where I woke up at 3:30am craving Arby's so bad I could taste it! I waited all through the next day and then drove thru immediately upon leaving work and ordered a roast beef sandwich, curly fries, and lots of Arby's sauce. Best meal I've had in a long time.)

So thanks Hil for your "Ode to the Ever-Present Blog Post" comment. I'm glad you're such an avid reader, even though you have to remind me, multiple times, to update my blog. I think you need to blog about your bike because I haven't seen it in the lot lately...consider yourself challenged. ;-)

Ode to the Ever-Present Magazine Subscription

2009-01-03T16:46:00.005-06:00

Sometime this past fall I got on my high horse and vowed to forbid any new magazine subscriptions coming through my door. Too much paper wasted, I said. We're contributing to the production of new paper products, I said. Too much clutter on my coffee table, I said. I even let my multi-year subscription to Real Simple run out because 1) it was getting kind of boring and 2) I could tell my husband, see? I'm sacrificing one of my subscriptions, which one are YOU cancelling?

Now it's January and my high-horsing, soapbox talking has gotten the better of me. We now have seven, that's one more than six, subscriptions coming into the mailbox each month. I'm not even angry about it because some of them were gifts and will be down right fun to read each month. I also tell myself we are growing the combined intellect of our little apartment in leaps and bounds. I'll break them down for you:

Bon Appetit - Thanks to our friend ex-farmer Andrew, we'll be receiving this appetizing little gem each month. We haven't received our first issue yet and I am still slightly intimidated by the beautifully cooked food on the covers, but I'm sure I'll find several recipes to try. Honey, get the towel ready for the super sensitive smoke alarm in the guest room!

Cookie - This was a gift to myself, from myself. It's a posh, NYC mom kinda magazine (why am I receiving it in my tiny apartment in Georgetown, Texas you may ask?). Well, my future children will undoubtedly be fashionable and it's simply bursting with fun family ideas like driving old Route 66 for a summer vacation or putting paper and paint in a salad spinner for a fun craft project. All in the name of research for the little cottage kids of the future...

Cottage Living - This is a given if you know anything at all about me and my blog. My dad gave me a one year subscription last Christmas and I renewed it after being suckered by one of the many paper cards that fell out of the magazine. Of course this was back when I thought I would make Cottage Living the ONLY magazine arriving with my name on it. It has great ideas for decorating, gardening, and wonderful neighborhood recommendations.

Creating Keepsakes - I must admit something to you. I am a closet scrapbooker. Knowing this, my sister-in-law gave me a subscription for a gift and I spent most of Christmas day poring over the December edition. There's just something about pretty paper and all those wonderful stickers and embellishments that makes me happy. I realize this hobby goes completely against my desire to use only recycled paper products and bring less paper into my house but I'm not sure what to do about it. My pictures look much better when matted by pretty paper and stickers!

Relevant - My hubs gave this subscription to himself sometime last year. He describes it as a magazine that explores the intersections between faith and culture. I think he's trying to write it off as work-related. Bonus, the entire magazine is printed on recycled paper!

Runner's World - A marathon finisher, my hubs finds lots of good information in this one. Another gift from my sister-in-law, he would have bought it himself at some point so at least this one's FREE for the next two years. Thanks Monica! Runner's World often has good recipe recommendations, tips for short workouts if you're like me and can't dream of running longer than about 45 minutes, and recently had a super cute article all about running skirts!

Smithsonian - This subscription has come from my Grandmother for the past few years and each edition is a wealth of information about all kinds of subjects. Recently I have read articles about the night Lincoln won the election, a rare Giraffe herd, and a man who photographed Africa from a para glider. Above all, it makes me feel smarter once I've read it.

That's my story of 7 magazine subscriptions and why I appreciate each of them even though I thought I didn't want them. How many do you have coming to your house?

Waxing Nostalgic for Wales

2008-12-01T21:29:00.000-06:00

The recent downturn in temperature has made me pine for the lands of England and Wales. I visited the United Kingdom in March to visit my aunt who was living in Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire, Wales. Temperatures averaged in the high 40s, low 50s everyday and the air was damp, mostly in London, not so much in Wales. (lucky for us!)

The hubs and I spent a wonderful 10 days bouncing from London to Windsor to Milford Haven to Bath and to Stone Henge. These are a few of my favorite things...

1. Windsor Castle - The official home of His Royal Highness Prince Charles, Windsor is a resort town akin to Aspen, CO and built around the castle at its city center. Not only was the Queen at home the day we visited, but we also witnessed the changing of the Windsor Castle guard. My favorite part of Windsor was visiting St. George's chapel and standing upon the tomb of King Henry VIII. The sheer majesty of history struck me as I recalled how many monarchs were married, buried, or lived at Windsor.
2. Welsh Cawl - Imagine this, your driving down a very narrow rode in the middle of lush, green fields often stopping to let sheep or dairy cows cross your path. Then, lo and behold, a cute bed and breakfast pops up in the middle of nowhere! Not only is it cute, quaint, and a much-needed watering hole, but it's named "St. Govan's Inn" and has the best soup I've ever tasted! It's called a Welsh cawl and is a creamy, herb broth with vegetables and lamb (if you want). Drop in a cube of white cheddar cheese and you've got it made. On the side, St. Govan's served a Welsh roll called a "hufkin." Isn't that fun? And super tasty too. Wash the whole meal down with a half-pint of hard cider. My favorite meal of the whole trip.

3. King's Cross Station - also known as the setting for the mythical "Platform 9 3/4" which Harry Potter visits every September to catch the Hogwarts Express to school. We approached the platform behind a trio of young chaps that were so excited I think they really thought they might see something magical happen.
4. our "people carrier" - Nope, not just a minivan, it's called a people carrier. While this could also apply to buses, trains, planes, etc., our party used it in reference to a short, gray van made to carry 7 people. 7 small, short-legged people, with no luggage. On our trip, we happened to have two people carriers; one lost its clutch just outside of snowy Windsor. Oops!

5. Paddington Bear - He wears a blue peacoat, yellow hat, and a tag that says "Please look after this bear." He lives at Paddington station underneath a local coffee shop called Starbucks! What more is there to love?
6. the smallest city in the UK - The Royal City of St. David's is the smallest city in the UK, located in Wales, and home to St. David's Cathedral. We were lucky enough to have a beautiful sunny day in which to walk around the grounds of this beautiful cathedral and explore it's aged walls. I'm talking AGED here people. One tomb was from 1100 AD! After paying our two pounds (4 US dollars) to receive an official photographer's badge and be able to take all the pictures we wanted, we ate a fabulous pesto pizza at a local surf shop. (Washed down with Guinness and hard cider of course!) 7. jacket potatoes! - We are so boring in the U.S. to call them baked potatoes. I'm adopting this as my new moniker for the yummy flaky goodness of a potato within its' baking skin.

8. signage - I've included a couple of pictures below but I have to tell you about my favorite example. One afternoon we drove down the Welsh coast and through various fields exploring. I quickly noticed as we sped between two hedgerows a government-issued sign that containing a large black exclamation point and bearing the words "Random Gunfire." After suffering a quick case of whiplash, I pondered the regularity of this random gunfire and wondered if it was ever targeted at Welsh mini-cars on an afternoon country drive.

9. the lingo -
Cheerio ol' chap! (translation: Hello!)
Don't be such a wanker! (translation: chill out, loser)
Change that baby's nappie! (translation: baby needs a new diaper!)
How 'bout some bangers and mash for dinner? (translation: potatos and rutebegas)
Haggus tonight, dear? (translation: chopped beef and gravy cooked in a sheep's bladder) <--pretty good actually! I suggest pairing with lots of wine, cheese and crackers. Put that luggage in the boot! (translation: put your bags in the trunk)

Did You Know?

2008-11-19T08:45:00.003-06:00

Did you know that last year, 1 in 4 couples met online?

Did you know the top 10 in-demand jobs you will apply for in 2010 did not even exist in 2004?

Did you know that China will soon become the number one English speaking country in the world?

Take the next 4 minutes and 55 seconds to watch the following video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL9Wu2kWwSY

It was made by Sony and will make you stop and think about your place in the world. Feel free to share your thoughts...

My New Mantra

2008-11-10T21:07:00.006-06:00

I am fairly certain that given a cape and a nice tiara, I could save the world.I want to chant this phrase as I step foot out my door every morning. I picture myself in a red, felt cape and sparkly, gold tiara - head held high and a strut in my step. What can't I do? What obstacle can't I tackle.

None I say! ;-)

Where does this onslaught of goodness, optimism, and all 'round smiley-ness come from? I've just come from purchasing two children's coats for a Coats for Kids drive at work. I spent the small amount of $38.70 to secure two winter coats for a boy and a girl who may not otherwise have the opportunity to own that extra layer of warmth this season.

For a girl, I bought a shiny, red puffy jacket with a fleece lining and faux fur around the hood. For a boy, I bought a very stylish khaki jacket lined with blue plaid fleece and housing several good pockets for holding the loot little boys tend to carry.

As sad as it sometimes is to think about those less fortunate, I say this because I often have tears in my eyes as empathy rises in me and I almost can't bear the sadness of the situation, this holiday season in particular may be the onslaught of the "perfect storm." Donations to non-profit organizations will decrease with the current financial state of the world but the needs of those less fortunate and the demands on those same non-profit organizations is bound to increase.

Whether it be a child's coat, a can of green beans, a Thanksgiving dinner, or a multi-figure check, I encourage you to research what you can do for those less fortunate.

However small the amount of money or gesture of kindness, I hope you find your own way to wear a cape and a nice tiara this holiday season.

True Confessions: I have a girl-crush on Marie Antoinette

2008-11-09T20:49:00.005-06:00

Last summer was the summer of biographies. I read the biography of Truman Capote, the real authors of the Nancy Drew series and, my favorite, the biography of Marie Antoinette by Lady Antonia Fraser.I don't know what got me started. I just thought it might be interesting to find out what it was like to marry the crown-prince of France at the age of 14. Wouldn't you have been totally ready to marry someone you've never met and subsequently be judged daily by the French court?

What is most interesting to me is Fraser's examination of the monarchy. Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI were born into their roles as Queen and King and never really wanted to rule a country, let-alone the posh, hard-to-please France of the late 1700s. Louis wanted to hunt the great stag and Marie Antoinette wanted to, well she wanted to buy clothes and host fancy parties. And who can blame her? She was coming into the best years of her life (says the "very happy with her current age" 26 year-old author of this blog).

Long Story Short

Marie Antoinette of Austria and Louis-Auguste of France (her second cousin once removed) were married in 1770 at the ages of 15 and 17, respectively. The young couple took up residence at the palace of Versailles and were plagued with an unconsummated marriage for seven years. Why not consummate, you ask? Well, they were a real pair of clueless individuals. He apparently had no desire to sleep with his wife and she was consistently accused of the inability to inspire passion in her husband. It has also been said that the two young-uns simply didn't know how to complete the act.

Louis-Auguste's grandfather, Louis XV died of smallpox in 1775 and Louis XVI was crowned King of France. The marriage was finally consummated in 1777 and she would eventually birth 4 children, two sons and two daughters.

My Favorite Part

During the seven year lack of sex and child bearing, Marie Antoinette made herself famous for big hair, expensive dresses, and the growing national debt. During what I'll call her mid-life crisis (she only lived to 37 after all), Marie Antoinette did what any upstanding Queen would do and quit wearing silk and diamonds opting instead for muslin and flowers. She also ordered the construction of a real working farm on the grounds of the Petit Trianon. Excuse Moi? Yes, that's right gals, she said screw you France, traded in her gilded palace and chose milking cows and a small chateau for her pure enjoyment.

Let's explore this...

She was given her very own chateau to escape her royal responsibilities, host endless slumber parties, and hide away her various lovers. Aha! It's all clear now.

The queen began to institute changes in the archaic customs practiced at court. Most importantly was the abandonment of heavy make-up and the popular wide-hooped skirts for a more simple female look, typified first by the rustic and simple muslin dress she adopted. She also began to participate in amateur plays and musicals, starting in 1780, in a theatre built for her and other courtiers who wished to indulge in the scandalous delights of, gasp, acting and singing.

Her most well-known love affair involved a Swedish military man by the name of Count Axel von Fersen. It's possible that her second son was actually Fersen's child and that Louis XVI accepted this reality.

In 1789, the royally family was forced from the palace of Versailles by an angry mob complaining of a severe bread shortage. Marie Antoinette is famously quoted as saying "Let them eat cake" in response to the hunger of the French people. The origin of this quote is highly contested. Upon being alerted by a messenger that her people were starving due to having little bread to eat, she is said to have replied "Let them eat cake..." The storming of Versailles marked the beginning of the French Revolution.

Oh Marie, why must you have been shouldered with the responsibility to uphold the selfish values of a country in a debt you had nothing to do with? Her head would eventually fall due to her lack of devotion for a country that judged her before she ever stepped foot across its borders.

She was declared guilty of treason and executed by guillotine on October 16, 1793. She was dressed as a common French housewife, an insult probably lost on Marie Antoinette as she had so famously adopted the garb of a milkmaid years earlier.

Why Do I Love Her So?

To be frank, I think she was punked by circumstance. Plain and simple, she was an icon. Perfect to take the blame for the selfish history of the French monarchy.

I admire her for her gumption through the accusations of tabloids of that time and for promoting good fashion. My favorite film depiction of her is Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette starring Kirsten Dunst. Coppola does an excellent job of tapping into your imagination and depicting Marie Antoinette's Versailles in all its fabulousness. Marie Antoinette, her friends, and lovers are all portrayed in a fabulous rainbow of pastels and towering hairpieces.

Oh and I've forgotten to mention the sweets! It is widely reported that the King and Queen were gluttons for good food and drink and Coppola uses sugary sweet desserts as part of every scene.

If you need to take a mental break and experience complete frivolity of self and finances, I encourage you to watch Coppola's Marie Antoinette. For all the glorious details of her life and times, be sure to spend some time with Lady Antonia Fraser and her book about the journey of this iconic woman from Austrian child to guillotined Queen of France.

November is Upon Us

2008-11-01T21:15:00.007-05:00

Hello November! Where did you go October? I sit forlornly on the eve of Daylight Savings Sunday wondering just what happened to the months of September and October. Does anyone else feel as though time is spinning faster and faster?

Today I have for your reading pleasure a restaurant review. My husband and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary in October by treating ourselves to dinner at Moonshine in Austin.

First you are uniquely greeted with a bowl of popcorn on your table and water served in mason jars. This is my kinda restaurant. Great food yet I can wear my jeans and T-shirt to eat in. We started our meal with a beautiful baked brie topped with pear chutney. (Oh, actually, I started my meal with a hard lemonade. A girl's got her priorities.) For my entree I ordered the Texas Flat Iron Steak with bleu cheese butter and roasted garlic mashed potatoes. Aaron ordered pork chops with a side of baked macaroni and cheese but it wasn't your ordinary mac and cheese. It was mac and cheese made with pimento cheese and baked in a pint-size casserole dish.

Seeing as how we were celebrating our anniversary, after all of that food, we had to muster our strength to order dessert. We were greeted with this lovely concoction
Red Velvet Cake. When was the last time you were at a classy restaurant and had red velvet cake as an option? Moonshine was a wonderful choice for dinner and I highly recommend you try it out soon.

15 x 15

2008-10-19T16:38:00.002-05:00

One of the fondest memories I have of a friend is looking into the congregation during communion at my wedding and seeing this friend taking the bread and the wine. There's a lot to remember about a wedding but this image is sharp and clear in my mind. I just remember looking up and seeing Willie there.
Our friend Willie T. was passionate about music throughout his life. He was a talented singer and musician, often on stage with his band CloverStreet or at church. Willie worked with my husband and I never saw him without a smile on his face. Willie died of osteosarcoma in 2006 at the age of 19.

Before Willie died, his mom Lisa asked him to compose a list of his 15 favorite songs by 15 different artists. Think of it as a soundtrack for your life.

You can learn a lot about yourself through the music you listen to. Compiling this list is harder than you think. And I think the list is probably fluid and will be different at different points in your life. My list is included below, in no particular order.

01 U2 -- All I Want is You
02 Derek Webb -- Share in the Blame
03 Jack Johnson -- Good People
04 The Beatles -- Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
05 Barenaked Ladies -- If I Had a Million Dollars
06 Bob Dylan -- Like a Rolling Stone
07 Matt Costa -- Sunshine
08 Coldplay -- Clocks
09 David Gray -- Lately
10 Jimmy Buffet -- Cheeseburger in Paradise
11 Steppenwolf -- Magic Carpet Ride
12 Tom Petty -- Wildflowers
13 REM -- Nightswimming
14 Elton John -- Tiny Dancer
15 Nancy Wilson -- River Road

What's on your list of 15 x 15?

New Poll!

2008-10-16T19:57:00.004-05:00

My previous poll was about your favorite flavor of pie. After a long-standing tie between apple and pecan, I thought I was going to have to find a recipe for apple pecan pie, pecan edged out over apple which I am going to be testing for my mom-in-law's birthday. I will be sure to let you know how well it turns out. :-)

In honor of Halloween, sort of, I decided to ask a question I think could pose a challenge for some of you. And I'm preparing for an upcoming post/rant about my opinions of the future Harry Potter theme park...

True Confessions: I am a Dallas Cowboys Fan

2008-10-13T18:16:00.007-05:00

It all started when I married my husband and realized how much he really watched ESPN. If he were writing this blog he would argue about how much I watch the Food Network. But there's only one Food Network competing with at least 4 different ESPN channels on cable television! And then there is Fox Sports, NFL Network, Fox, NBC, CBS, ABC, and on and on.

In order to combat this necessary evil that invaded my house shortly after my wedding, I decided I had better get used to watching at least some sports with him. Little did I know that I would soon be yelling at the TV and urging players to score touchdowns.

There's just something about the sound of helmets clashing, the suspense of a 50+ yard field goal, and those darn football pants that got me hooked. Why the Cowboys? Well, I used to live in Dallas and the Texans just aren't that promising (sorry Houstonians). I'm also a pretty big fan of the Colts and the Giants because what's not to love about two brothers who are starting quarterbacks in the NFL AND back-to-back super Bowl winners? 2007 and 2008 were good years for the Manning family.

NFL football is a weekend event in my house and I'll admit that I look forward to watching the games throughout the week. I've even watched an entire Monday night football game when Aaron was out of town! Shh, don't tell.

Ladies, don't worry, I still ask questions like, "Do you think Jason Garrett is married? What about Jason Witten?" or "Why does that player wear his hair like that?" (I wikipedia all of this and more during halftime.)

I have learned a lot of the rules and lingo of NFL football but I still have to ask, "What does 'lining up shotgun' mean?" or "Offsides? What is that?"

Now that I have asserted my Cowboys fan status, can we talk about what happened during Sunday's game? Did they actually think they were going to win like that? They sucked it up. Royally. We pay previously mentioned Asst. Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator Jason Garrett waay too much. Hey Jerry [Jones, Cowboys team owner], why don't you just pay me that much to tell Marion Barber to run on EVERY first down? It's getting a little obvious and I'm pretty sure the opposing team is on to you Jason Garrett.

Or maybe quarerback Tony Romo (9) is just a wuss and doesn't feel like throwing the ball on first down. How 'bout we take some risks once in a while and play out of the box. What if we actually try to throw the ball downfield and not just dump it to Barber so he can shuffle for half a yard then fall down. Tell me why exactly we are paying Terrell Owens (81) if he isn't going to catch the ball and run like hell to the endzone?
And Jason Witten (82), what happened to you? A couple dropped passes and unable to get open? We can always count on you to come through! Get your head back in the game! Please!

And don't even get me started on Jessica Simpson. Every game she has come to and been on camera, Tony has managed to lose. I have yet to see her this season but I'm pretty sure she's getting into his head because he's still managing to LOSE. We had a golden opportunity in overtime (thank you Nick Folk (kicker) for making that 52-yard field goal to get us to OT even though you jacked that other field goal in the second quarter) but Romo squandered it away in a quick 55 second possession. Who exactly told him it was okay to get on the field and go 3 downs and out in SUDDEN DEATH OVERTIME? That would be Jason Garrett. Again.

And now, Tony has announced that he's broken his pinkie finger. Ok, I know that finger is probably essential to throwing a football but doesn't that sound like the wimpiest injury you've ever heard of?Sigh. As you can see, I'm getting worked up about this. But NFL football plays with your emotions! One minute it's a last ditch field goal attempt to get us into overtime (YAY!) the next minute, the opposition has blocked our punt attempt, broken our punter's foot, and scored a touchdown (CRUD, or another expletive that's bouncing around my head but I won't write here).

Cowboys, I'm still with ya for the duration of the season but our backup quarterback prospects are bleak. Brad Johnson (14), 40 years-old and coming off a 2 year stint on the bench, I'll be praying for you. I hope Tony's back soon.

Roger, over and out. Time to watch Eli Manning and the NY Giants defeat the Cleveland Browns. (Unless they play like the Cowboys, wink).

The Pumpkins are Here!

2008-10-08T20:30:00.008-05:00

One of my most favorite times of year in my town is the arrival of the pumpkin patch harvest. Every year I look forward to the seemingly bottomless piles of orange pumpkins gathered in front of the 150 year-old First Methodist Church.

The 18-wheeler truck that transports the bounty to Georgetown delivers your traditional carving pumpkins, mini-pumpkins, white pumpkins, blue pumpkins, and gourds of all shapes, colors, and sizes.And that's not all, a second 18-wheeler truck restocks the patch two weeks later!

I was overwhelmed with joy last Saturday morning when I saw they had finally arrived. The patch is open from 9:00am 'til dark everyday and all proceeds from pumpkin sales benefit the youth mission trip fund.The pumpkin patch also heartily welcomes babies for that ever-popular pumpkin photo op. I'm trying to convince my husband to take our annual Christmas picture there but I don't think he's even going to humor me. ;-)

Fall Fashion Diagnosis: Investment Pieces vs. Trends

2008-10-04T21:34:00.037-05:00

What are my fashion credentials you might ask? Well, my fashion resume consists of a few years in retail management at J.Crew and a distinct interest in mirroring my personality through my choice in wardrobe. My style is decidedly preppy (it's undeniable really) and a lesson in high/low shopping. That's just code for a closet consisting of a few J.Crew, Anthropologie, and BCBG pieces but bursting with a miscellany of Target, Old Navy, JC Penney, and anything-Outlet snags.
The trick is to successfully marry those pieces into an outfit without looking like Joey in that episode of Friends where he tried on all of his clothes at once. Or looking like I buy everything in the Juniors department as I move into the eve of my 27th year.

Let's start with investment pieces. These are the quintessential go-with-anything, always-lookin'-good, wardrobe staples that you probably want to spend a little more coin on in the name of quality.

1. blazer (my all-time fave is a navy wool version with gold buttons I got for $90 after my employee discount. Think blazer with a tee/tank and jeans or blazer over a silk dress, etc.)
2. grey wool pants (I just grabbed a new pair from Martin & Osa because the waist fits wonderfully high over my love handles and the inseam is long enough for my 5'9" frame.)
3. knee-high boots (in black or brown, a good pair of tailored, leather boots look great with skirts, jeans, trousers, knee-high wool shorts, you name it.)
4. white button-front blouse (you can always look sharp with a starched white shirt. Cute new twist: InStyle recommends trying a men's button-front pajama top under a blazer. How fantastically silly!)
5. jeans (just find a great pair that fits no matter what the cost. need I say more? I'm a bit of Frugal Fanny so I don't even own a pair of jeans that always fit great. I did find a pretty good pair at Madewell though. They sell jeans using men's waist sizes AND they sell different lengths in the store.)
6. t-shirts (Pima cotton, short-sleeve, long-sleeve, crew neck, v-neck. Find your favorite and keep it on hand in a few colors for Saturdays around town or under a blazer at work. My favorite is a v-neck with a pocket for a little added character.)
7. black dress (this is a given but why must it still allude me?)

On to this season's trends. These are pieces that I just don't tend to spend much on because they may be a faux pas before the holiday season.

1. ruffle blouses (in any fabric, they add a flair of feminism to any outfit.)
2. long cardigan (These look great over a t-shirt or silk camisole and can be accessorized with skinny belts [see #3] or scarves. I've got an evergreen-colored one from my grandfather I'm about to try as soon as it gets cold.)
3. belted waists (most popular being a patent leather skinny belt but wider leather versions are popping up too)
4. colorful tights (these are so fun! If you tend to buy lots of blacks and grays like I do, this is an instant color boost to your outfit or can make a mini-skirt not seem so tiny. I bought a citron yellow pair last season on sale but I'm so glad to see them back again.)
5. big jewelry (where to find, I can't say I have any great recommendations. You'll just know that big, bauble necklace when you see it and you'll wanna snatch it.)
6. ankle boots (this I feel like I might not be able to pull off but I just saw a gray suede pair in a DSW ad and I'm thinking my bravery's up.)

When I mentioned to a friend that I might be writing a fall fashion-themed post, he requested that I not forget the men out there. Here you are guys, my diagnosis of the current men's fashions.

1. v-neck sweater vests (a solid or a subtle stripe is super cute over a casual [think un-ironed] button-front shirt with rolled sleeves)
2. skinny jeans (I'm not sure what this trend is about. Maybe the fit is better for some men, but for my hubs and his seriously muscular legs due to running, these just won't cut it. He was actually turned down recently in a store after the salesperson gave him a once over. She said "nope, our jeans just aren't gonna work for you.")
3. blazers or sportcoats (corduroy, canvas, tailored but casual. Think super smart math professor Charlie from Numb3rs.)
4. boy scout belts (I don't know why I refer to them as such but I'm talking about leather belts with small, silver buckles. These just make my heart smile.)
5. t-shirts (similar diagnosis as for women, just find one you like that doesn't have any holes in it and that you haven't owned since high school.)

Lastly, here are a few of the current looks I love that illustrate the principals outlined above:

Oops, forgot to mention anything about color palette. This fall berry, yellow, and grey/silver are BIG so supplement your everyday wardrobe with splashes of those colors.

I feel as though I have barely scratched the surface so perhaps this commentary will continue in a few days. Until then, let me know what you think!

A little bowl of goodness

2008-10-02T17:25:00.002-05:00

So I promise all of my posts are not going to be about food or pastries. But I just had to show you this picture.
Isn't that the best looking bowl of banana pudding you've ever seen? It's wearing a homemade meringue hat!

Thank you Monument Cafe (Georgetown, TX) for making my night.

Consider the oyster, if you please

2008-09-28T20:08:00.008-05:00

Let us all thank MFK Fisher for asking so politely that her readers "consider" the oyster. This slim (only 96 pages!) yet potent book, like its protagonist, is a must read merely for the pleasure of learning the evolution of your oyster before down the hatch it goes. Often considered a summer read, I challenge you to read it this fall cozied up in your house while it's chilly outside (if you're from Texas like I am, you may have to wait until at least December to experience this scene).

Fisher opens with a brief, witty history of the short life of an oyster (titled Love and Death Among the Mollusks) followed by numerous eloquent descriptions of oyster recipes. Raw, stewed, served with crusty brown bread, used in creamy soups, Fisher describes different uses for oysters from San Francisco to Boston. Never having eaten oysters, I closed the book halfway out the door on my way to the nearest oyster bar. Fisher describes in such lemony detail a meal of raw oysters and white wine that you are almost sure to have a Goliath-sized craving by the time you have finished reading.

We should all indulge the author and contribute to the well-being of the oyster community. She asked so nicely, after all.

An excerpt from Consider the Oyster:

"An oyster leads a dreadful but exciting life.

Indeed, his chance to live at all is slim, and if he should survive the arrows of his own outrageous fortune and in the two weeks of his carefree youth find a clean smooth place to fix on, the years afterwards are full of stress, passion and danger."

“Waitin’ on Toyota to Finish Changin’ My Oil” pie

2008-09-27T14:54:00.006-05:00

You might be wondering why my poll this month is about pie. I recently watched the movie Waitress with Keri Russell and got a real hankering for pie. (I know this movie is at least two years old but it just now made it to the top of my Netflix queue.)

Russell’s character works at Joe’s Pie Diner (owned by Andy Griffith playing Joe) and invents wonderful pie creations with fantastically descriptive names like “Bad Baby” pie or “Earl Murders Me Because I'm Having An Affair Pie” pie. The flick is well done and easy on the eyes if you like small-town stories with a little bit o’ drama and a happy ending. It’ll also make you crave pie.

I don’t want to just eat pie, I want to bake pie. I learned a lot about making homemade pies from my grandmother who makes me a lemon meringue pie every time I come to visit. She used to live in Pearland with a Meyer Lemon tree in the backyard. That’s a rare treat. Meyer lemons are sweeter than your average lemon and have a smooth skin.

The first pie I ever baked all on my own was a mincemeat pie. (Traditionally made with a mixture of chopped dried fruit, distilled spirits, spices, and sometimes beef or venison) Not everyone’s favorite pie, mind you, but when you are competing for the “Daughter-in-law” of the year award you bake what’s ordered. The crust was beautiful; made from scratch with a hand-sculpted, scalloped edge. I’ll be honest with you, the filling was from a jar (gasp!) but for a first-timer it turned out pretty and only one person was going to eat it anyway. I will hereby name this pie “Daughter-in-Law of the Year Trophy Winning” pie.

My next pie endeavor was a no-bake key lime pie but that’s kind of cheating. It tasted great but really only involved heavy cream, sweetened condensed milk, and frozen lime concentrate. I did expertly craft the crust by smashing a plastic bag full of graham crackers to smithereens. Let’s name this pie “I Got Lots of Help from the Grocery Store” pie.

My next pie creation will be the winner of my pie poll. (Wouldn’t it be more appropriate if it was a pie chart? haha) I vow to make every bit of it from scratch and even wear an apron if I have to. I’ll be sure to let you know how it turns out. I’m famous for trippin’ the smoke alarm when I’m in the kitchen (once when I was making mashed potatoes, of all things) so it could go either way…

Happy Friday

2008-09-26T12:19:00.002-05:00

This just made me smile! "I stand for goodness! and frozen vegetables!"

Back to Earth

2008-09-25T18:40:00.003-05:00

So yes, it's been almost a year since my last blog post. I have no excuse for this. Clearly I hopped on the blog bandwagon too soon and my interest petered out after two measly little posts.

Having reread my original posts, I feel they are still applicable even though the read-by date has long past. Hope you enjoy reading them as much as I did writing them.

I thank you, dear reader, for taking the time to read my thoughts today. I promise to include more soon. There are lots of future blog posts swirling in my head right this minute (favorite things, cool fashion finds, recipes for traditional Welsh soups, book reviews, green living advice, and so much more). But alas, it's off to a Grey's Anatomy premiere party for me.

Later gator!

the artful arrangement of words

2007-10-23T21:53:00.001-05:00

I just came from a reading by Amy Tan where she talked about what made her a writer. She never set out to write fiction but she had a life that she could see stories in. She says she read the Thesaurus and saw not synonyms and antonyms but pictures. I think this is interesting because I am somewhat of a wordsmith myself. I love words not for the definitions but for the feelings, emotions, pictures, and thoughts they evoke. Finding the right combination of words to create a story is the tricky part. Often, I also have to find the right combination of words to define a concept for the world. As a technical writer, I am a liaison to users I will never meet so my writing has to be somewhat universal. At the least, translatable. How do you translate the feelings, emotions, pictures, and thoughts words evoke in you?

As a writer, do you worry if your readers will interpret your stories incorrectly? Will Cliff's Notes at least get it partially right for that student who chooses not to read Margery Kempe? (I remember loathing this book with its bright yellow cover in a college Women's Studies class) I doubt Margery the medieval woman mystic ever thought women of the 21st century would interpret her writing. But we do. That's the charade of writing. It will forever be interpreted as long as someone is willing to put the words to print. I can't help but wonder, how far are my interpretations from the writer's true meaning?

bouquets of sharpened pencils

2007-10-22T23:20:00.001-05:00

I'm a sucker for office supplies. There's something about brightly-colored file folders, super sticky post-it notes, crayons, and #2 lead pencils that make me excited to work during the day. I'm a writer and sadly, the world has been overtaken by keyboards and online newspapers. I'm also a tree hugger so I don't mind so much that we are conserving paper by reading our favorite newspapers online. I traded in my favorite post-it pads today for a homemade pad of paper made of neon orange paper scraps and rubber cement.

What is it about Autumn that wakes the spirit? It's the blustery wind bringing nearby grill smells to your nose. It's falling leaves and finding acorns with their hats still attached. It's watching your favorite movie with a white porcelain mug of hot chocolate. Autumn signals the beginning of the winter holidays and summer's siesta.