movie star moment

Melissa 6 Comments

Last night we went to the world premiere of Smurfs in New York City. We had a blast picking out the perfect outfits and getting red carpet ready with Suave Kids!

It was incredible.

Lets just say I found myself waiting in like at the bathroom behind Sofia Vergara and as we were chatting… Brooke Shields walked by. We saw so many celebs – I was having a blast! I kept saying things like “Look! Its Neil Patrick Harris!” and the girls would say “Who?” But there was one name they recognized.  “Look! Its Katy Perry!” And the girls SHOT out of their seats “WHERE? WHERE IS SHE?? AHHH!! KATY PERRY!!” And after the show, the girls got to meet the singer of their favorite song (who was sweetness itself, by the way). Which we have an extremely blurry cell phone picture of:

I can’t share it all the red carpet footage just yet… but here’s a preview snapshot of the girls getting interviewed about their favorite Smurfs!

More to come 🙂 I can’t wait to share it all with you!!!

fall fashion alert: flares are back

Melissa 5 Comments

One of fall’s hottest denim look is the flare jean.

I am very excited about this.

If jeggings and skinny jeans are not your thing, rejoice! Flares are so flattering on just about anyone and make your legs look slimmer while balancing out curves. But you don’t have to worry about looking like one of Charlie’s Angels. (Not that looking like one of Charlie’s Angels would be bad… They’re hot!) There are some more subtle flares that you can feel comfortable pulling off even if you don’t have a boho look.

The Rachel Bellbottom by 7 for all Mankind is DIVINE. Perfect. Gorgeous. And they’re only on Piperlime. Guess what is on my wishlist for fall now?

Although Joe’s Jeans Visionaire Flare Jeans are fabulous. Perfect for casual everyday wear.

I love the look of the Skinny Mini Flare Jean from Old Navy. Although I’m not sure they’ll look good on someone over 25… they’re pretty low cut.

This Trouser Jean from Gap is amazing! LOVE that cut!

What do you think? Will you wear the flare?

Did you do a fashion post today? Link up!

every child must have at least one epic potty fail

Melissa 15 Comments

I should have seen it coming.

Colin has been doing so well potty training. SO WELL. He’s had virtually no accidents. I haven’t even had to remind him to go – he’s been doing it totally on his own. Our only hurdle we have left is that he isn’t a fan of the big potty. But he’s been a potty superstar all week!

But this morning. OH, THIS MORNING. Hang on. I need to gather my courage to tell you this story.

We were at Vacation Bible School doing a craft. Colin suddenly announced, “I have to go potty. I go myself.” Well, I was smart enough to know that wasn’t a good idea. I am a mom, after all.  I followed him to the bathroom, but he ran ahead of me and locked himself in the stall. I was left outside trying to break into the stall and help him on the potty.

Then I heard crying.

Then he opened the door.

Oh. My. Word.

Poop. Not just a bit of poop. A freaking huge pile of poop on the floor. I honestly have no idea how all of that was contained in his tiny body. And Colin was staying right in the middle of it. With his shoes on. With his shorts and underpants in it. (Did I mention it was during VBS? So it wasn’t our floor that was covered in poop, but a totally innocent floor that had done nothing wrong?)

My mouth just fell open. This was one of the few times in my life I have been truly speechless.

About 200 Anti-Bacterial Wet Ones later, Colin was back in VBS wearing no shoes and no pants, since I had forgotten to bring extra shorts and I certainly didn’t anticipate an extra pair of shoes. And he stayed that way for the rest of the morning.  (A few people asked me, “Why isn’t Colin wearing shoes?” And I was like, “DON’T ASK!)

Now, after a load of laundry and having to use a freaking HOSE to clean his shoes off, we are recovering. Slowly.

 

 

the sweetest email

Melissa 2 Comments

This week I am feeling especially grateful for email.  I was anxiously waiting a phone call all of Thursday morning. I must have been checking my phone every 5 minutes, making sure that I turned it on (since I forget that often).  I was at an event that morning at Neimen Marcus with Jo-Lynne and it was so obvious I was glued to my phone that she was like, “What is going on?” Well, my sister-in-law was going in for a c-section that morning at 7:30am. So I was waiting and waiting for news of our newest family member!

I finally got the phone call later that morning. And its a boy! A big boy! (as in 9 pounds, 14 ounces big! WOW!)  When I was chatting with my sister-in-law on the phone, I could hear those little newborn coos and whimpers on the phone. (Insert my heart melting here.)  And look at what was soon waiting for me in my inbox…

Isn’t that amazing??? I love email. I can see a picture of my minutes old nephew… all while a thousand miles away.  Those are the best emails – when friends who we haven’t seen in years send us those virtual birth announcements and we get to share a bit in their joy.

Babies are powerful.

Babies are what got my grandparents are online! After we had our first baby in 2003, they decided they were tired of having to go to other people’s houses to look at the pictures we were emailing everyone practically daily. (It was our first baby! There were zillions of pictures!)  So they ended up getting  a computer, learning how to use the internet and now they are total experts! I love it!

Now my whole family, who is living far apart, gets to see my kids growing up, experience their lives and be a larger part of our daily lives. Its truly a gift!
Thank you to Yahoo! Mail for sponsoring this post about staying connected. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.

brew over ice k-cups: iced coffee perfection

Melissa 1 Comment

If you see me out and about during the summer, its pretty normal to see me with a cup of iced coffee in my hand. I LOVE coffee, and adding ice in the summer is one of my favorite treats.

I have the Keurig Elite Brewing System, which I love with a passion normally reserved for important things like religion and politics. When I come home from vacation, the first thing I do is make a cup of coffee with my Keurig because I missed it. (Seriously, ask my family if this is true because it totally is. No exaggeration.) Its not just me. I bought one. Then my sister came to stay with me, and she loved it so much that she bought one. Then my mom came to visit… and she went out and bought one for her office.  It makes coffee that is THAT good.

Anyway, back to iced coffee. I will make an iced coffee almost every afternoon with my regular coffee just brewed over a glass of ice.  But the problem with making iced coffee this way is that as the ice melts, it really dilutes the coffee and makes it taste watered down pretty quickly. But the new Brew Over Ice K-Cups are specially formulated to be stronger and not get diluted as the ice melts! Brilliant!

wow. time to clean the keurig.

So easy. So good. The French Vanilla Iced Coffee was a-maz-ing.

I tried several varieties – of tea and coffee – and they were all yummy. I was impressed that the two teas I tried – the sweetened raspberry tea and southern sweet black tea – weren’t too sweet. I rarely like pre-sweetened tea. But, I’m a coffee drinker. So I’m eagerly waiting more coffee flavors of Brew Over Ice K-cups. Right now the selection is mostly tea, with just two coffee options: French Vanilla Iced Coffee and Nantucket Blend Iced Coffee, both by Green Mountain Coffee. (I LOVE Green Mountain Coffee.) I’d love to see some flavored options and a decaf or two.

Overall, I say “YUM!!”

disclosure: i received samples of the new brew over ice k-cups to facilitate my review. as always, all opinions are my own.

 

potty training: 90% complete!

Melissa

Its been an EXHAUSTING week, to say the very least. I came so, so close to dragging the diapers back out.

Tuesday and Wednesday he was crying and screaming that he “hated that potty.” He claimed underpants and Pull-Ups were “hurty” and he begged for diapers back. I couldn’t turn my back on him for a second.
Colin does not adjust to change well.
But I did not cave. I was determined not to go back to diapers. When I was close to caving, my friends who were living the horror via Twitter and Skype were encouraging me to stick with it, not to give up, offering to deliver margaritas to my door.

And I am super happy to say that Colin has been virtually accident free since Thursday! He’s having trouble at night still but I am so so proud of my boy.

I’m a little worried about this week, because we have VBS and he’ll be so distracted. Hopefully it won’t mess things up too badly.

Speaking of VBS, if you don’t hear from me, it means the kids won and I’m probably glued to the wall of the church with glitter glue or in a prison made of popsicle sticks. Or I’m hiding under my bed, afraid to go back into the craft room….

fashion friday: loft sale!

Melissa 4 Comments

Well, I spent most of the week potty training Colin. Which was NOT pretty.

But I did manage to sneak out on Monday to hit LOFT’s big buy one get one free top sale! You know I couldn’t resist THAT!

I picked up this Double Cascade Tee. I wore this to a lunch a Neimen Marcus yesterday – its so cute with my Stella and Dot Riviera Coin Necklace and white jeans. (Well, I didn’t wear t with white jeans because I went to get dressed and discovered my white jeans had something pink on the bum. Annoying.)

I also picked up this cute Ombre Tank, since it was on sale for $16 plus an additional 40% off and I don’t have anything ombre and I thought it would go well with my brown maxi skirt. (I’m also wearing it here with white jeans and a scarf over on my fashion blog this week!)

Then this Extended Shoulder Ruffle Tank caught my eye. (Marked down to $30 plus additional 40% off.) Since it has, you know, ruffles and all. Very cute! And it will transition really well into fall under a cardigan!

And finally, I picked up this Split Neck Self Ruffle Tee. I loved the stripes – it will look so cute with white jeans! (which I’m wearing here!)

What were your fashion finds this week?
Did you do a fashion post today? Link up!

in the trenches of potty training

Melissa 7 Comments

On Tuesday, we declared “No More Diapers” for Colin.

We use the BabyBjorn Smart Potty - LOVE.

Tuesday was rough.

Wednesday was rougher.

I hate potty training. There are few things in life that I hate more than potty training. It is one of the few things that can bring me to tears. Not a single-tear-running-down-my-cheek tears. I mean sobbing-on-the-floor-of-the-hallway-in-frustration tears. (that was yesterday around 11am, by the way, after our fourth accident in a row.)

Today I’m feeling more confident that this might actually eventually work. Despite Colin now declaring he “hates the potty,” he now says he’s not going to have any more accidents because he doesn’t like accidents. So that’s good. He just isn’t understanding the sensation that he has to go. I can ask him, “Do you have to go potty?” And he’ll say “No” then have an accident one minute later. He’s not avoiding the potty, I really just think he doesn’t understand what ‘needing to go potty’ feels like.

I’m just exhausted. I’ve spent 3 days now asking every 2 seconds “Are you dry? Do you have to go potty?”  Colin has eaten his weight in Starburst (his reward of choice) and been chugging juice boxes (to encourage pottying). Mommy, on the other hand, has been drinking a little more wine than usual with dinner 🙂

There’s a light at the end of this tunnel, right?