Too Much Cuteness

Daisy and Kitty on a recent chilly day.

Kinda a Weird Christmas

Dear Starbucks, You are always there for us, even on Christmas until 4:00.

There wasn't much going on this year in the way of Christmas celebrations. Due to school and just life in general we've been a little disconnected from everyone and were unable to travel to see relatives. So after opening presents we went out to lunch. Trust me, even Golden Corral massively outshines any dinner I could have made.

A Christmas Eve Baby

I used to act like I hated having my birthday the day before Christmas. Whenever people would find out they would say how awful it must be because people couldn't afford to buy you presents or would forget about your birthday all together in the excitement of Christmas. When I was a kid I went along with this line of reasoning because it seemed to be the thing to do.

The truth is, if you're trying to conceive, I would highly recommend late March or early April. If you are lucky you will have a child who the whole WORLD will celebrate on their birthday. They will hang lights on their houses and give gifts and have fancy meals and invent crazy stories about old men comin' down chimneys.

I've heard that someone else, someone bigger, shares a birthday around the same time too. I know in reality this is all probably for Him, but leave me my self important fantasies ok?

Happy Birthday to Me!

Thanks Mom for the box of Christmas cheer.

I'm convinced this is what happens in the Tennessee woods when nobody is looking, and I'd love to join in. Christmas in Tennessee is everything Christmas should be.

There may not be much snow, but there's something about being tucked into the hills that makes

winter the coziest time of the year.

art from etsy

buy print here

Daisy's Lazy Sunday Morning

Not sure I could date a guy who didn't love Daisy. Fortunately that's not an issue right now.

Christmas Pretties

Target has some of the cutest, home-made looking ornaments this year. I bought a few and am trying to mix glitter and sparkles in with them.

Tonight was Lydia's winter choral concert at school and I was excited to take some pics since I got my better camera working again. This is what happens when you have a teenager...and they are moody....and you didn't let them do something they wanted to do. You get pictures like these:

So I took a picture of my cup instead. Don't you love pellet ice?

Lydia and her friends decked out for a church Christmas banquet. Aren't they pretty? Of course it wouldn't be complete without a father embarrasing them.

Revisiting a Martina Song Today

Sometimes I wish I had someone singing this song in my ear 24/7.

Dear Anthropologie

Dear Anthropologie - Just an FYI, Ruche is kicking your tail. When I grab your catalog from my mailbox my heart still skips a beat or two, but in the end I'm always a little less wowed than I used to be. Ruche however has some serious game.

Homemade Detergent

We do a TON of laundry in our house and I despise buying laundry soap which is why I made this homemade laundry soap I saw on Pinterest. I HIGHLY recommend it. I only use about 2 tbs for each load. It smells great and doesn't clump up on my clothes and best of all it'll last for months. If you try it yourself, consider using a blender or food processer to grind up the bar of soap once you break it into a few pieces. The cheese grater is a pain. I also added the Purex Crystals like she suggested and left out the Oxyclean.

Prettiness

We went to a tree farm this year to get our Christmas Tree. You know what's weird about tree farms is that the trees don't look all that big....until you get 'em home. This picture doesn't capture the size. When I was little I used to play hide and seek with my grandma in the tall pines behind their home. Walking through the forest of pines to get this tree was so much fun for me.

Probably should clarify that my last post was one written after my divorce. I was planning on following it up with a post about how time and other good relationships can change your perspective, but haven't had the chance.

Of course I'm sick. Finals are next week. I have a big Anatomy test today. It just wouldn't be challenging enough if I was feeling well.

The Wiiiiiindy City

Lydia and I had the chance to take the train into Chicago while we were visiting family in Illinois. We didn't do a whole lot once we got there since we were with my parents and it was kind of late in the day...and we had no money...kind of a problem.

must.....have.....pizza

We got to do a little bit of shopping downtown on State street...I mean very little...as in Lydia bought some 5 for $5 makeup at Ulta. By the way, did you know that boys wear tights? Not little boys...I'm talking teenage boys who worked in American Apparel. My dad said they looked like elves with their tights and little Justin Beiber haircuts. In case you're curious they wore long sweaters with them.

Owl Calendar

Love owls? If so you'll love this free, printable 2012 owl calendar. You can even pick and choose the pictures that go on each month. To get yours, just go to this link.

Hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving. We're in Illinois visiting family for the rest of the week. My plan to sit around and do nothing but read hasn't worked out too well, but it's still been a nice visit.

Mystery Dog Ranch

My ex-husband's daughter Phoebe from his first marriage was in town visiting him this weekend and she invited Lydia to go horseback riding with them. I decided to drop Lydia off at the riding place so I could check things out before she went and to take some pictures.

Doesn't it look like I edited Lydia into this picture? Something seems weird about it.

To make it sound like my ex and I have some highly amicable relationship would be a lie, but it was super nice of him to invite and pay for Lydia. There's no other way she would have had this experience right now.

PSA - Money Saving Tip

Are you a coffee drinker? Do you live near a Bil-Lo grocery store? They have their bags of Starbucks coffee on sale for $6.99 per bag. When you're finished with the coffee you can take the bag to Starbucks for a free regular brewed coffee. This brings the price down to $5.00 and something cents if you really think about it. Plus if you add in the fuel perks you earn it's an even better deal, and man do I LOVE the fuel perks. I got gas for $2.90 the other day using my Bi-Lo card.

Would you let your child draw on your face with marker? I didn't think so. It's funny what people will allow when they become grandparents. This is my dad (and nephew) and I'm pretty sure I couldn't have gotten my Hello Kitty fruit scented markers anywhere near his face when I was my nephews age.

So, So True

Ok, ok. I'm getting of Pinterest, closing my computer, and opening my Chemistry book.

Being Different

A couple weeks ago at school the students had a day where they could dress up like the person they wanted to be when they grew up. Lydia wanted to be a rock star. When I dropped her off at school I noticed that nobody else was in costume which made me very nervous, but I didn't say much to her about it because I didn't want to freak her out. It turned out that most kids didn't dress up, and the ones who did mostly wore business suits. Lydia was unphased. You can see from this picture that she didn't exactly blend in that day, but her attitude about it was just that other kids are stuffy and no fun. Way to go Lyd!

A Little Dreaming

Someone asked me the other day if I would wear white again if I got re-married. I kind of scoffed, as if I'd never thought about a wedding dress or another wedding. That was a bit of a lie given the fact that I have a whole pinterest board dedicated to my favorite wedding stuff. I was saving pictures even when I was still married because I just love weddings. So If or when I get re-married, this is my dream dress. 

I will not wear THIS exact dress because it's a little pricey, but some version of it would be nice.

Thank you Once Wed

Show Your Hearts

I only have a few moments this morning, but wanted to share this sad story with you and see if you can help. Josh and Robin Berry were originally from Chattanooga and their story made it on the local news today. Both parents were killed in a car accident leaving three children with serious injuries behind. Show Your Hearts is a website where you can go to donate to a fund for these kids, who are now being cared for by family.

Red Clay State Park=Free Entertainment

Teens and Thrifting

It's sometimes difficult to get kids in a second-hand store once they reach a certain age, and shopping in thrift stores for a teenager is a different experience than shopping there for yourself. I was a teenager before thrifting was cool, but my Grandma was the Goodwill queen and used to get so excited when she would find me a Guess sweatshirt or Nike sneakers. I guess I caught the bug from her at some point.

Lydia has been forced to accept purchasing some of her clothes second-hand. It's still occassionally a struggle to get her to even look around a store, but in the end it pays off, and since she was voted best dressed in her middle school last year she's come around a lot more and realized that the uniqueness of her wardrobe is a good thing. There are some things you can do to increase the likelihood of your teen wearing used clothing.

Stay in Touch. Read Seventeen magazine, browse photos of teenage stars, pay attention to what other kids are wearing. Pay particular attention to what older teens are wearing. When you go thrifting you don't have to look for the same brands or exact same styles, but you'll recognize what's outdated and what's worth a second look.

Be Willing to Buy Certain Things New. For instance, Lydia is seriously picky about jeans. In my opinion it's difficult to find cute jeans that are "on trend" in a thrift store. About twice a year I will buy her a couple pairs of jeans from American Eagle or Abercrombie. I particularly love American Eagle because their jeans don't seem to fade as much as otherse and will last all year. Both of these stores have sales at the beginning of the school year and around Christmas time where the prices will go down quite a bit.

Check the Date.  Something can be a brand name, but if it's 10 years old your kid won't wanna wear it. Most clothes will have the year or season/year printed somewhere on a label. Try to stick to the past two years.

Check the Condition. Number one problem with clothes that goes unnoticed is shrinkage. You'll see a cute top but it's way shorter than it should be. This could be because the top is old, or just because someone washed it in hot water and threw it in the dryer. There's no way of fixing this, unlike a missing button on loose hem.

Shop Often. It takes longer to build a second hand wardrobe than it does to go to the mall and spend an obscene amount of money on new clothes. Be prepared to stop into your favorite thrift store often.