Comfy Pants

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I needed yall to be aware of these pants immediately because 1) they might be the most comfortable lounge pants I own and 2) they are on sale for $6 right now.  SIX DOLLARS.  There aren’t too many colors right now, but damnation just get the black ones. You will thank me later. I promise.

New Years Survey: Sarah

I seriously cannot believe it’s been almost a year of NO POSTING!!!! As the other girls mentioned, so, so, so much has happened in the past year, which, in turn made 2012 gone in the blink of an eye. When I last posted, I had an almost one year old, and now that sweet little baby is about to turn TWO and is in full-on independent toddler mode!

Here’s 2009, 2010, and 2011, and here’s a glimpse of what’s been going on in 2012:

  1. What did you do in 2012 that you’d never done before? We MOVED!!! Not very far, but into a new zip code, fabulous school district, and a gorgeous home that we have extra room to grow into.
  2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? Yes and no on keeping my resolutions from 2012. I totally kicked booty in the workout department. I did start to slack off the last month of the year, but I will still call it a success! My other resolution was to blog more and I would say that was an OBVIOUS fail. I will/did make more resolutions this year, and as per year’s past, I’ll post them soon! 🙂
  3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Der gave birth to a beautiful baby girl! (I’m also expecting my very first niece or nephew in the next couple of weeks, but that’s 2013 isn’t it!?!?!?! Still, sooooo excited!)
  4. Did anyone close to you die? No, thank goodness.
  5. What countries did you visit? None, zippo, nada! We had a couple of mini vaca’s this year though, which was nice.
  6. What would you like to have in 2013 that you lacked in 2012? I probably need a new ride; although, I’m struggling with this. I mean, my car is paid for and my husband’s will be paid for this month. Do I REALLY want another car payment?
  7. What dates from 2012 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? January 31, 2012: We closed on our house after only being on the market for 6 days! February 29, 2012: We closed on our new home!!!!
  8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Selling and buying homes was the biggest learning curve. I will also call my son’s transition to his mother’s day out/pre-school program a huge achievement too because it was HARD on this Momma…
  9. What was your biggest failure? I don’t think we had a failure, whew, lets hope it’s the same for 2013!
  10. Did you suffer illness or injury? No, thank goodness.
  11. What was the best thing you bought? Not to sound like a broken record, but our new house! 2nd best thing was the plantation shutters FOR said house! 🙂
  12. Whose behavior merited celebration? My son. He has become such a fun little boy. Hard headed for sure and he definitely gets in a LOT of trouble sometimes, but the rate at which he’s constantly learning new things makes me want to celebrate him every.single.day.
  13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? This probably doesn’t need to be elaborated on…
  14. Where did most of your money go? (Broken record) Our house! We drained the bank for this bad boy, but it was so, so, so worth every cent.
  15. What did you get really excited about? The house, duh, but also hearing the news in May that my baby sister was going to have her own BABY!
  16. What song will always remind you of 2012? “I Remember When” by Kristen Kelly. Was introduced to her music by a high school friend, who just so happens to be KK’s best friend! KK released her first Nashville album this year and she’s great…should deff check her out!
  17. Compared to this time last year, are you: a)happier or sadder?happier b)thinner or fatter? thinner c)richer or poorer? poorer
  18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Stayed at home. We are on the road at least 2 out of the 4 weekends a month and I am SOOOOOO OVER IT!
  19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Work, but who likes to work!?!?!
  20. How did you spend Christmas? Like 2011, we travled all over the state of TX again…
  21. Did you fall in love in 2012? Keep falling more and more in love with my little family!
  22. What was your favorite TV program? Parenthood, the Good Wife, Nashville, Scandle, and ALL stupid/ridic reality TV programming. (teen mom, real housewives, etc.)
  23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?No.
  24. What was the best book you read? 50 Shades of Grey. I avoided this book for a LONG time because I thought it would be too much for me, but it’s seriously an amazing series and I am officially obsessed with Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele!
  25. What was your greatest musical discovery? Kristen Kelly
  26. What did you want and get? A new home!
  27. What did you want and not get? To have my house completely organized. I have some HIGHLY questionable closets.
  28. What was your favorite film of this year? I’m agreeing w/ AK. Breaking Dawn part 2. I’m pretty sure this was one of the only movies I watched this year and it was GREAT! Lawless was also pretty great.
  29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned the big 2-9 and  spent a fab day w/ the girls shopping and drinking at the Round Top antique/craft fair!
  30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Less stressing about the little things. Everything really does work itself out…
  31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2012? Comfort and easy! I’ve been trying to stay out of sweatpants/work out shorts, but working from home makes it REALLY hard to get dressed. However, I’m hoping to do a better job in 2013…hmmmm, resolution maybe?
  32. What kept you sane? My husband and my Mom. I had several meltdowns with C going to school and she was always there to reassure me that I made the right decision.
  33. Who was the best new person you met? Probably our new neighbors! They have been great and really made our new neighborhood feel like home.
  34. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2012. Don’t sweat the small stuff.
  35. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year“On the pontoon Makin’ waves and catchin’ rays up on the roof Jumpin’ out the back, don’t act like you don’t want to Party in slow motion Out here in the open Mmmmmmm…motorboatin’ “ ~ Little Big Town (I heard this song umpteenmillion times this summer…)

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New Year’s Survey: Der

Well hello there strangers! I’m so glad to be back, so so so glad. Let me get right down to it and review 2012 since I fell off the blogosphere for the entire year.

1. What did you do in 2012 that you’d never done before? Become the mother of a GIRL, a beautiful bouncing baby girl!!!

2. Did anyone close to you give birth?me, Id say thats close:)

3. Did anyone close to you die? No, thankfully.

4. What countries did you visit? None, but we did squeeze in a trip to Florida where we took AJ (my now 2 yr old boy) to see the ocean for his very first time. That was such an amazing thing.

5. What would you like to have in 2013 that you lacked in 2012? More time with my husband.. he works a lot and I miss him. So do our kiddos. Sappy, but true.

6. What dates from 2012 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? November 7th. My little girl made her surprising debut a few weeks early. I went in for a regular OB appointment and came out a few days later with a sweet little girl.

7. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Learning how to juggle two kiddos. I’m still learning, but I think I’m doing pretty well. Not one single meltdown so far. Im talking about me. My 2 year old has a lot of meltdowns:)

8. What was your biggest failure? I would say losing my temper with my crazed two year old. I love him more than words can express, but I swear he already knows exactly what buttons to push to push me to the brink of my sanity.

9.Did you suffer illness or injury? my daughter came down with a rather scary bout with RSV at 5 weeks old, but thankfully that’s the extent of our major illnesses this year.

10. What was the best thing you bought? My new car. The kids and I were rolling like a clown car for a few months post baby #2 but now we have room for days thanks to our new SUV.

11.Whose behavior merited celebration? I would have to say…now bare with me … my son’s. I fully expected him to have a very hard time with the new baby in the house, but he is so protective of her and loves to just look at her and talk to her. Just melts my heart to the core. He really is a great big brother.

12. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? You know I think this person shall remain nameless.

13. What did you get really excited about? Yall, I had a GIRL. Ruffles and bows and rompers and dresses… a GIRL!!
What song will always remind you of 2012? I think the theme song from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. My son sings and dances to it and my lord is it the cutest thing ever.

14. Compared to this time last year, are you: a)happier or sadder? happier b)thinner or fatter? fatter c)richer or poorer? richer

15. What do you wish you’d done more of? exercise while I was preggers…Im paying for it now.

16. What do you wish you’d done less of? Worry…everything always works out how its supposed to, right?

17. How did you spend Christmas? With the whole fam. My husband often has to work holidays at the fire station, but this year he was all ours for several days!

18. Did you fall in love in 2012? Oh my did I. With my gorgeous daughter, with my son seeing him be such a great brother and growing into such a smart little boy, and with my husband…something about seeing him hold our babies just does me in.

19. What was your favorite TV program? Modern Family, How I Met Your Mother… and don’t judge me, Teen Mom.

20. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? No. Hate is such a strong word.

21. What was the best book you read? Um, does Go Dog Go count??

22. What was your greatest musical discovery?Nashville… dude I know that’s a show, but it has to do with music and Im HOOKED.

23. What did you want and get? a healthy daughter, a new car

24. What did you want and not get? Nothing really comes to mind that matters.

25. What was your favorite film of this year? I don’t get to see many movies. Im doing good just to keep up with TV.

26. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned a ripe old 28 and I went shopping with some of my tipsy gals and sister.

27. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? More down time with the family. I think we go go go all the time and look up and a month is gone. Sometimes we need to slow it on down.

28. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2012? I feel like most of my jeans of 2012 had holes in them. The on purpose kind. So Im going to say torn up jeans and flip flops. The yoga mat flip flops are my very very best friend.

29. What kept you sane? my mom. She helps me so much with the kids and USUALLY doesnt complain:)

30. Who was the best new person you met? Kenley Kathryn, my sweet little girl

31. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2012. Sometimes people aren’t meant to stay in your life forever. And it’s not a bad thing.

32. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year. I recently heard an older song by Brad Paisley and it reminds me so much of our little boy right now.

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He’ll probably climb a tree too tall and ride his bike too fast
End up every summer wearin’ something in a cast
He’s gonna throw a ball and break some glass
In a window down the street
He’s gonna get in trouble, oh, he’s gonna get in fights
I’m gonna lose my temper and some sleep
It’s safe to say that I’m gonna get my payback
If he’s anything like me

New Year’s Survey: AK

Sooooo, hi? Remember us? Anybody still out there? Yeah, so we unintentionally took like a little break.  A little break that lasted a year.  Sorry? We thought the New Year’s Survey would be a great way to sorta explain things and get us back on track with being on the interwebs again.  We don’t promise as many posts as we once had, but we promise more than we did in 2012. Deal?

Here’s 2009 , 2010 and 2011.

  1. What did you do in 2012 that you’d never done before? I went back and re-read last year’s survey and this is sorta laughable at this point. So much has happened. Please see #7.
  2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? HA!!!! OMG, so I just went back and re-read my resolutions from last year: Stay in shape, wear more red nail polish, read more books.  UTTER FAIL! I wouldn’t say I’m out of shape, I just didn’t get to exercise as much as I would have liked this year. Nail polish? On what nails? The nails I bit off?  Read more books…I can’t even count an issue of InStyle magazine here… Does twitter count?
  3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Der gave birth to a beautiful baby girl!
  4. Did anyone close to you die? No, thank goodness.
  5. What countries did you visit? None, and honestly we didn’t get any sort of vacation at all this year.  Even date nights were few and far between.
  6. What would you like to have in 2013 that you lacked in 2012? Less hospital stays. 5-6 hospital stays with the little guy this year, one of which was 8 days.  Less of those, definitely less of those.
  7. What dates from 2012 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? February 9, 2012. The day we found out our 9 month old had hemophilia. We have no history of hemophilia in our family at all, so this was an utter shock. For those of you not familiar with hemophilia, it’s a bleeding disorder. Our little guy developed some rather large bruises that we couldn’t for the life of us remember how he might have gotten which led to an ER visit which resulted in a joint bleed. The doctors initially thought he had severe nursemaid’s elbow for which they put a cast on his arm for two weeks but was really a joint bleed.  We found that out on February 9th when a hematologist we’d seen called me while I was picking up my oldest from preschool that we were dealing with hemophilia and to not pass go and collect $100 but to come immediately to the hospital so they could begin treating, not for a dislocated elbow, but in fact a joint bleed.  And so our life changed forever.
  8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Learning how to give my son the medicine he needs, along side my husband, without help from our home healthcare nurse. We are by no means medically inclined, I mean we come from software/web programming backgrounds.  If you had told us we’d be learning sterile procedure and sticking our son with a needle every single day I’d have been mortified. It’s very empowering to know you can take immediate action with a hemophilia kid if/when you need to.
  9. What was your biggest failure? I was almost going to say we’ve had no failures this year, only learning experiences, but I need to document the 10lbs I gained since finding out our son’s diagnosis so it pushes me to lose it.
  10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Not me personally, but in addition to my son being diagnosed we’ve also had a few family illnesses that have popped up this year. We’ve been sort of a mess this year.
  11. What was the best thing you bought? Our second iPad was a lifesaver on that 8 day hospital stay, as was the two seasons of Bubble Guppies purchased on said iPad. Those Bubble Guppies are the gift that keep on giving. What time is it? It’s time for lunch! Whoops, sorry I got sidetracked.
  12. Whose behavior merited celebration? My family. My mom would come to the hospital with me and the little one and my husband was alternating between working and keeping up with our 4 year old’s schedule. My dad would alternate between all of us, shuttling things here and there. My in-laws helping out where we needed. And our friends keeping us sane and bringing us dinners or taking our older kiddo when needed.
  13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? I’m going to go ahead and just say that one nurse that tried SEVEN times to find a vein on my child in the ER.  I will never forget.
  14. Where did most of your money go? Medical expenses, a new roof, and a new A/C.  You know those really fun things! All in one year! Winning!
  15. What did you get really excited about? Any and all nights that both children slept through the whole night–sleep is nice.
  16. What song will always remind you of 2012? We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together by Taylor Swift. Our 4 yr old LOVES Taylor Swift and learned every single word to that song and damn if I didn’t become a fan of hers after that.  I mean that’s the problem you know? When your kid is singing something word for word and says he wants to meet Taylor Swift and have her go eat sushi with us on Fridays or come to his birthday party or go look at Christmas lights with us….after the year we’ve had….I say buy the boy all the Taylor Swift albums he can listen to! Shhhh don’t tell him he is going to see her in concert in May of this year 🙂
  17. Compared to this time last year, are you: a)happier or sadder? sadder b)thinner or fatter? fatter c)richer or poorer? poorer
  18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Too many things to say here…exercise? date nights? gone to the movies? read books? There’s a ton of stuff that gladly took a backseat to learning a new normal. There’s always 2013 to do more right?
  19. What do you wish you’d done less of? STRESS: stress eat, stress bite my nails. Have to SEE DOCTORS. Cry.
  20. How did you spend Christmas? We had a surprisingly fantastic, free from medical intervention, surrounded by family Christmas. It was perfect and we are very blessed.
  21. Did you fall in love in 2012? I’m the type of person that watches a show while I work out on the treadmill..preferably a tv series of some sort. So with that said, I re-fell in love with the Alias series. And let me tell you when Jennifer Garner starts running in those chase scenes, I apparently think that I’m Sydney Bristow on my treadmill and start running VERY quickly. This can be good and bad.
  22. What was your favorite TV program? Parenthood and The Good Wife.  Those are the two shows that I watch live/real time, not tivo’d.
  23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? No.
  24. What was the best book you read? Book? What are books?
  25. What was your greatest musical discovery? “Long, Long Time Ago”-Bubble Guppies
  26. What did you want and get? A new iPhone, mine was dying a slow death….thank you upgrade!!! I also got a couple of kiddos that love the pool and love swim lessons which made the summer so much more fun.
  27. What did you want and not get? To keep my fantastic weight loss from last year off.
  28. What was your favorite film of this year? I can’t at this point say Breaking Dawn 2 can I, that would be embarassing? Ok, then I’ll go with Life of Pi, that was pretty cool.
  29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I think I did dinner with the girls? I turned 37. I’m officially old. Like old with wrinkles, old.
  30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? less stress, more smiles and less tears, and maybe more episodes of Parenthood and The Good Wife.
  31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2012? Plaid shirts and jeans.
  32. What kept you sane? My husband, my family, my friends, doctors and nurses.
  33. Who was the best new person you met? We’ve met a lot of good people this year that have taught us that everything is going to be ok with our little guy.
  34. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2012. God doesn’t give you more than you can handle.
  35. Quote a song lyric that sums up your yearSometimes I’m afraid and I don’t feel that tough, But I’ll stand back up ~ Sugarland

Photo by Momma's Gonna SNAP Photography

 

Photo by Momma’s Gonna SNAP Photography

I hope that helps everyone partially understand why we haven’t been around. We’re coming back, I promise.

Bracelets Galore!

If you are looking for some any occasion dainty little bracelets, have I got an etsy store for you! Zzaval has got some SUPER cute and SUPER affordable bracelets.  Best of all, most, if not all of the bracelets are made with an adjustable knot, so you can just slide it on and off easily.

Dainty Earrings

I alternate back and forth between wearing bold earrings and wearing tiny dainty earrings. These days I save the bold for going out sans kids and wear the dainty for daily wear.  These are a few that I have my eye on…

  1. Comfits Earrings, Anthropologie
  2. Crystal Drops, Crystal B
  3. Moon Crescent Indie Earrings, Ruche
  4. Biwa Blossom Earrings, Sundance Catalog

At West End

I’m a fan of At West End. Whenever their catalog comes in the mail it’s the one that I look at immediately. I love all the quirky fun stuff they have to offer. These are some of my current favs.

  1. set of three felt neck ties \ striped-These also come in solids and bow ties, very very cute!!
  2. terra cotta planter-I want the pig and I would take the plant that is in it as well.
  3. recycled round wine glasses \ set of six-I am a huge fan of chunky glassware and these would be perfect to add to my collection.
  4. giraffe paper towel holder-I would definitely put this in my guest bathroom, very cute.
  5. giant ceramic shell vase-SO FUN for a wine chiller at a party, this is right up my alley.

Tops I NEED

I saw all of these tops last week and I can’t stop thinking about them, that means I NEED them right?

  1. Women’s Bird-Print Charmeuse Blouses, Old Navy
  2. Marina Stripe Boatneck Top, LOFT
  3. Ruffle Trim Woven Henley Tunic, LOFT
  4. Women’s Striped Jersey Henleys, Old Navy

3-fer Drugstore Product Review

I am a diehard drugstore cosmetic girl.  It’s not that I don’t like department store lines, I do purchase certain things like foundation and powder there; however, when it comes to eye shadow, blush, lip gloss, mascara, eyeliner, lipstick, etc–I love me some Loreal, Revlon, and various other drugstore brands.  Plus I really dig the prices, considering they are at least half of what you can expect to pay at a department store.

So….during my recent trip to CVS, there were huge displays of all the brand’s new products and I picked up three to give them a try.  I LOVE THEM ALL, so need to tell you about them.

  1. Nuance Salma Hayek Lasting Wear Gel Eyeliner ($9.99)-  I can’t say enough good things about this eyeliner.  I was very surprised and pleased.  I’m ALWAYS on the hunt for a good one, because one of the most important things to me is the ease of application.  For me, the harder it is to apply, means the worse my eyeliner ends up looking.  I sometimes end up looking like a 3 year old who has drawn connect the dots with my eye lids.  So I was thrilled to see that this gel pencil glides on.  Great for a clean, subtle lining, but also works really well when smudged for a bolder look.  Another benefit is it’s lasting power.  Granted I wore this over the weekend (for whatever reason, make up doesn’t stay on as long or seems to wear faster at work), but it really seemed to stay on and not end up on my eye lids, corner of my eyes, or the always lovely black under eye look.
  2. Loreal Infallible Eyeshadow (7.99) – This was my favorite of the three.  This shadow comes packed tightly in a small little pot and even has a cap within a cap that keeps this half loose/half packed shadow compressed.  The coverage is great on this, as it totally exceeded my expectation of all day eye shadow.  I got the Hourglass beige, as I have been on a nude/neutral kick lately, but I plan on going back for more colors since I liked it so much.
  3. REVLON Photoready Color Correcting Primer  ($12.99) – this stuff is perfect for my combination (pizza face) skin that sometimes leaves my face looking blotchy, red and uneven.  I put this on after my moisturizer and before my foundation.  It evens out my skin tone and creates a smooth canvas to apply foundation on.  Its not greasy, but its not too dry either.  Perfect.  I’ll definitely continue to use this.

There you have it.  Another thing that wasn’t new that I picked up during my trip was ol’ faithful Loreal Telescopic Mascara.  I’ll try other mascara, but I always come running back to this.

Scattered

Let’s start the week off with this shall we?

And if you read nothing else this week you MUST MUST MUST read this…it’s the best thing I’ve read in a LONG time:
2011 Lesson #2 : Don’t Carpe Diem

If that sucked you in…go ahead and read these posts by Momastery as well (I’m a new fan of her and OMG she’s hysterical):
LUUUUUUCCCYYYYY!!!!!!!
Whatever, Honestly
We Call These Y,TRH Posts (Yes, This Really Happened)

And this one is super powerful:
Unwind

And now let’s talk about food, I want to try both of these:
In the Kitchen with: Bee Yinn Low’s Pan-Fried Dumplings
Shrimp with Couscous