Musings

Okay, so I’m sitting on my sofa (rare these days) and gazing at the hole in my ceiling when the chandelier catches my eye.  See anything strange?  Yeah.  There is not just one but a whole pair of skeleton stocks stuck up in there.  I have no clue how long said socks have been dangling from the ceiling.  To steal a line from an old friend, where are my doll babies and tea parties people?!?!  I have skeleton socks stuck up in my crystal chandeliers.  Not how I envisioned life.  (although y’all know I wouldn’t trade it for anything)



Those types of scenarios make me covet things like glitter and monograms even more.  HKL Designs to the rescue (again)!!  Oh, and it’s shatterproof.  Perfect for the wild maniacs tossing their socks all over creation.



See these gals?  They are some of my oldest friends and I love that when none of us had plans on a Friday night we just made some.  Wine, s’mores, littles dancing on the porch…





I finally caught up on some of my Christmas rags.  Many beautiful things on these glossy pages.



Have y’all been watching Reign?  It’s so so so so so so good!  And if you know me, it should come as no surprise that it airs on the CW.  It’s so good, in fact, that I’ve been reading up on Mary of Scots.  What a fascinating life.  I absolutely abhorred history in school so I really had no idea who she was until this little teen drama hit the air.  (cue Honey’s snickering)



While I’m at it, the new Ravenswood on ABC Family has been a nail biter as well.  Every show I watch is on a mid season break so it’s a great time to catch up!



I usually whet my whistle with plain old Publix brand club soda, so when there’s a bottle of S. Pell in the house I literally get giddy.



We babysat this sweet thing so her mommy and daddy could attend a little holiday fete.  I die at her fur trimmed leggings. 



The boys were all clamoring to sit by her so we had to move her high chair half way through supper.  I love how much they love her.



Oh, and I also love how much she loves Big Joe.  She has a first birthday coming up…



Mother dolled up these $6 Old Navy fleeces with an old Lilly sheet.  So very Scarlet O’hara of her.  Or maybe Maria Von Trapp.



Speaking of which… after being completely distraught over missing the original airing of The Sound of Music Live, I caught it last Saturday night.  Oh my.  I have nothing good to say about that train wreck.  On the bright side, and much to Honey’s dismay, I sang along to the entire production.  And I didn’t even feel like I was missing anything.



There’s not much I love more than a date night. Daddy-O to the rescue!








I swear that I buy this kid shirts.  He has a whole closet full of darling ones passed down from big brother and a dresser chocked full of “awesome” ones.  Yet he goes shirtless.  Note: this was a “mommy, I am a ninja statue.  You don’t see me standing here.” kind of moment.



A far cry from his ninja look is his rockstar look.  Many thanks to his girlfriend Nutty for the gorgey “glasses with sprinkles” (that would be glitter, son) and fine beaded necklace.  For reference, this is one of the “closet shirts” that he must be bribed to wear.



And this would be an “awesome shirt”.  I turned around to snap this picture after he exclaimed “Mooooooooommy!!!!!  I’m brushing my teeth with chocolate!!!!!!!!!”  No wonder dentists make the big bucks.


Ah, the Old Try did it again.  Their Christmas 2013 print is pure perfection.  I’ve yet to figure out a place to hang this one and figure at this rate I’ll pack it up for next year.  If you haven’t already peeked in on their site, go right now and do so.  I’ve got an Old Try beaut in the baby’s room, John’s room, the kid’s bathroom and the basement!  (What are you still doing here??  Go!)



One of the little things I love most about Daddy-O is that he is the only person I know that still reads and belly laughs at the funny papers.  (Come to think of it, he’s the only person I know that still reads an actual newspaper.)  He often cuts them out of the paper or off his calendar to send to us.  This one came four years ago.  I pack it up each year with my Christmas and it never fails to make me smile when I’m snowed under piles of greenery, ribbons and ornaments.



Last but not least, our mudroom chalkboard got cleaned up and cleaned off  last week. 

 
With that, I'm dragging the males in this house out on a surprise Christmas gift holiday outing from me to them.  They still don't know where we're going, but they sure have had fun trying to guess!!!  If only it wasn't going to rain cats and dogs today...
xoxo

Musings

Things around here have been busy busy as of late.  Since last Wednesday…

I had the extreme pleasure of attending a little Ina Garten “q&a” with some of my favorite gals of My First Word Was Eat and calliespondence!  You can read all about the “all things Ina” pre-soiree (I made her Salted Caramel Brownies) and our time with the Barefoot Contessa, who was really just as much of a delight in person as on the tele, in Callie’s thorough recap. 



 
We “glamped” out at the annual Family Fairway Campout at the club.  It was cold and it rained but there was a dinner buffet, full bar, movie, s’mores, and a hot breakfast in the morning.  For my once a year camping outing, it wasn’t too rough.  It also wasn’t great enough to consider doing it any more than once a year.





I’ve been so excited for the return of good TV!!!  (You are going to laugh at my definition of “good”…)  Vampire Diaries is back, Pretty Little Liars has it’s annual Halloween episode next week, and the brand spanking new show Reign is deliciously fabulous!!!



Speaking of TV, I’ve been recording shows from ABC Family’s 13 Nights of Halloween for the littles to watch as treats from the “Halloween Witch”.  You’ve GOT to see Toy Story of TERROR if you haven’t already.  Mine were rapt.



I picked up the Old Navy Rockstar Coated Skinny Jeans in In The Navy this weekend and love them!  They were $21 in the store and I might have to go back for the black.  I go up two sizes in this cut of jeans.  They don’t call them super skinny for nothing. 




The What Kate Wore blog (I have raved about this before…I get so excited when I see a new post in my feed!) recently broke down the deets behind the Conjugal Coat of Arms – Will and Kate’s new coat of arms.  I found it fascinating!  Oh, and I positively cannot wait to see the family photo that is expected to be released after Prince George’s Christening this Wednesday.



I love these e-cards.  This one was a recent favorite that keeps me in stitches every time I think about it.  A candy tax… bwahahahahaha.



One of my oldest friends in the book recently shared this throw back photo on Facebook.  I’m the chick in the velvet dress and pinafore – was one of my favorite getups back in the day. 


Daddy-O has done it again.  In the event that any of you are in need of a giant purple monkey a la Big Joe, his twin (lets call him Big Jim) can be yours for just $80 on ebay!  (Now, I don’t know if one of you has already snapped him up in the last 24 hours… or maybe Daddy-O has procured him, God forbid… but I can’t seem to find the listing myself.)



As for the rest of our weekend, we cheered on the littles at not one, not two, but THREE tournament baseball games (wins all around!), went to our first laser tag birthday party, attended a First Reconciliation Workshop at church aaaaaand squeezed in dinner with my college besties E, N and C at Capital Grille.  Sadly, the only thing we missed was the Tech game.
xoxo

Musings

Run, don’t walk, to Trader Joe’s and buy yourself these marshmallows.  Then hide them in a high, unused cabinet that nobody in your house will venture into.  …  What are you still doing here?!?!  RUN!



The baby has now had his second hair cut since the incident with the gum.  Slowly but surely it’s growing out.  Surely. 
 

The PCP has made 25 / 25 on all of his spelling tests this school year!!!  And he brought home a 98/100 on his first math facts test!!  Couldn’t be prouder.


Does anybody else think late summer t.v. is the pits?  Outside of Under the Dome, I’ve got nothin’.  So, I’ve been reading at night… churning through books like a mad woman.  This is the one that has had me up this week.  I do love me some Kay Scarpetta.



I visited the Chicken & Waffles “roach coach” last week.  And I can’t say that I recommend it.  I mean, it wasn’t awful.  And it wasn’t delish.  I just can’t help but think that my arteries will never, ever be the same.
 

Speaking of roaches, I witnessed a gigantic cockroach give birth, which is apparently extremely rare (this is the lottery I win.)  It's worth mentioning that this was at the baseball field NOT at my house. Not that it's much better seeing as I practically live there.  Is your skin crawling?  Mine too.

I can’t tell you how much I’m missing those pool days where the big kids were all back and school and the baby and I had the place to ourselves.  We’d share a lunch and lounge in a chair and just do nothing but enjoy ourselves.  Have I mentioned just how much I’m going to miss this kid when he starts for real school next year?  I treasure this time.



I volunteered for a student alumni association event down at Tech earlier this month.  It sure felt good to be back on campus.  Good and old. 




Get a load of “she she belle” in her lil Lilly swimsuit.  Yes, her Aunchie loves her to pieces.  No doubt about that!


Tricia at HKL Designs treated me to this darling monogrammed pot and mum.  So thoughtful!!



I made Life in Grace’s Tortellini Soup and it’s SOOO delish!  If you don’t already follow Edie, it’s a beautiful lady, beautiful house and pretty much just beautiful all around.



I also made this Lasagna Soup.  (And by “I” I mean “Mother” but I did procure all of the ingredients.) It serves a crew and tastes just like lasagna.  So yummy!! 



The Elf on the Shelf Birthday is coming in October and I’m too excited about it!!  Our elf is here for both of the littles’ birthdays and I can’t wait to dress him up on their special days.



We did our Sunday Supper at Joe’s Crab Shack while Mother and Daddy-O were in town last weekend.  The boys adored the shark sipper complete with a vial of “shark blood” to pour on top of their drinks.  And I got to sip a strawberry lemonade and visit with CeeCee while they ran off energy on the playground.  A pretty nice night all around!


 

We had so much fun at the GT vs UNC game yesterday.  It was raining cats and dogs and I didn’t see a wink of the actual game but I did get to catch up with a few people, including one of my sorority little sisters, that I haven’t seen in ages.  Oh… and I made a new friend too… HI HEATHER :-)
 



Last but not least, today is the last day to enter my House Proud book giveaway!!


xoxo