It's Dazzling...

So, this comes as no surprise to those who know me, but I am something of a shoe wh0re.  It is a something of a joke between Prince Charming and me - and I will say that he is a pretty good sport about it.  He indulges me when my shoes encroach upon his shoe storage space [in our micro closet, a whole other story...] and doesn't laugh [much] when I am trying to decide between the black boots with the block heels, the black boots with the skinny heels or the black boots with the pointy toe.

There is a point to this, I promise.  Having 2 little girls tends to cut into my shoe shopping time.  Just sayin... So, it was very interesting to me when, while volunteering at an event for St. Jude recently, I happened to overhear some of the field representatives [okay, I was eavesdropping] talking about one of the girls shoes [which I had noticed] and she was telling them about this shoe "club" that she had joined.

Okay - shoe club - now I am really listening.  So, I butt into the conversation and get the scoop about ShoeDazzle!  Now, you might ask, just what exactly is ShoeDazzle!?  It is a shoe "society" with a membership fee of $39.95 a month.  Each month, you are sent an email containing a link to 4-5 different shoesm which are selected for you based on criteria that you provided when you joined the site.  If you want a pair, you select them and voila!  You are the owner of a new pair of shoes for $39.95.  If you don't want any shoes, you just make sure to respond by the 5th of each month and decline.  And you can cancel at any time.  Sounded reasonable to me, so I joined.

The first month, I got the cutest pair of brown ballet flats - something I had been looking for and just never had the time to shop for (thank you, Savannah and Tara...those girls just do not understand that it is important to try on ALL the shoes in your size when going to a shoe department...). 

But, it is the second month where I truly fell in love.  Just look what showed up in my inbox on Feburary 1:

I adore these shoes!!!!  They are the most gorgeous, shiny, leather, RED heels and I am in love! Again, something I have been wanting and just haven't had time to shop for recently.

So, I am a huge fan of ShoeDazzle!!!  And it is rubbing off on my co-workers because several of them have joined recently, too!

And, no, ShoeDazzle! is not paying me for this...lol...although I certainly wouldn't mind if they wanted to comp me some shoes...

Holiday Rock!

I dare you to watch and not smile!  Yeah, you, ya grinch!!! ;-)

Once a Princess...

Following is the St. Jude spot on The Today Show this morning.  This one really touched me - she is 3 and so is Tara.  And they both have that princess thing going that I talked about here.  So, it is one of those stories that expecially affects me.

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I got to take Tara to ballet tonight - she loves being a ballerina. I hope that someday, this little girl's mother gets to do the same thing.

Tonight I give thanks for Tara and her larger than life personality and the joy with which she just "is."

I love you, Tara!!!

Brick Wall

Yep - been staring at the sceen a good 10 minutes. Just not that motivated tonight for some reason.  I have no clue.  I am letting you down, my loyal public.  I have failed you. 

So, for a few minutes at least, I will grace you with some general ramblings for the sole and specific purpose of having a blog post today.  Cop out.  For sure.  Ask me if I care...

My mom and step-dad are coming to town tomorrow for Grandparents Day at St. Marys.  Savannah's Senior K class has a program and Savannah is so excited.  After that, they are coming to campus for lunch with me.  I am hoping that there will be time for them to take a tour of the hospital while they are here.  I really want them to see it. 

Speaking of the hospital.  Today was the kickoff of Thanks & Giving on The Today Show.  You can see the spot here:

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I dare you to watch it and not cry. (If you are reading this on FaceBook, you will have to hop on over to my actual blog to see the spot.)  Boy, it really makes you think - I cannot imagine watching one of my girls go through something like that.  Everytime I see a patient, it always goes through my mind that he or she is someone's son or daughter.  And they were just going about thier life when BAM - they walk into a nightmare. 

Hmmmm....I really did not intend this to turn into a public service announcement.  But, I am grateful with all my being that there is a place like St. Jude for families dealing with that nightmare.  This is the time of year to be grateful and to give thanks for all the blessings in your life.  I know I am. 

What do you know?  I had something to say after all...

In under the wire...

I was getting ready for bed when I realized that I had not done a post for today.  Ha!  But here I am with 59 minutes to spare!!!

Not for lack of good intentions - it has been a really long day!  Up at 5:30 - get dressed, get the princesses dressed and off we go to school and work.  I spent my lunch hour with Savannah reading to her class.  Then meetings at work in the afternoon. 

After work, I headed over to The Red Fish Gallery where I have some of my hair clippies for sale.  They were having an open house Friday evening and I needed to drop off some cards.  Then, I went to the pet store to pick up dog food for the canine royalty that so graciously lets us share space with them  Amazing what I can find to buy in a pet store when all I really needed was dog good!  I have no idea when I seem to think our dogs needed two MORE types of doggy treats, but I assure you, they do.


So, by then it is 6:00 and I am off to join my mom at a jewelry party she is presenting.  She sells Premiere Jewelry and it is gorgeous stuff.  Of course, I found a bracelet that I just HAD to have.

I finally got home about 9:30 and found the two princesses and thier exhausted daddy all asleep in our bed!  Poor Prince Charming - those girls keep him hopping when he is being Mr. Mom!!!

I got thegirls all tucked in and picked up some around the house, get the dogs and FINALLY got to go relax in the tub!!!

That is when I remembered that I had not done a post today.  Well, now I have. 

Tune in tomorrow for our new regular feature, Savannah Saturday, a double feature that will be combined with Tara Tuesday.

What is Savannah Saturday, you ask?  I will let you know when I figure it out...

Annual De-lurking Day

My friend over at SnarkyMommy has declared today Annual De-lurking Day.  Since I have never been shy to borrow from genius, I think it works fine for this blog too!  So, if you have been reading, please post a comment and let me know! 

I was thinking the other day about all the stuff that goes on in my life that I don't put on my blog.  I don't talk about work except in the most general of terms and I don't talk about things with my Prince Charming.  And like everyone else, I have work issues and married life issues. 

No work because, well, because it is work and I am an attorney and I know better than to talk about it behind its back.

No married stuff (except the good stuff) because there is something in me that feels wrong putting stuff like that here.  I really admire the bloggers out there that can let it all hang out and talk about the good, the bad and the ugly on thier blog.  Everyone's marriage is different - so, everyone has differnt boundries of what to air in the public forum.  For us, though - we keep that type of stuff for a smaller select crowd.  In my case, it is my sister - so if you want to know all my dirty laundry, go find her...

Is that just me?  Am I approaching this wrong to not talk about the thing that Prince Charming did the other day that made him oh-so-no-charming?  What about y'all?  Any boundries for you?  I'd love to know...

Little elves who steal shoes...

I have lost a pair of shoes. Gorgeous red suede ballet slippers. I bought them, had them shipped to my office, showed them off to a coworker when I received them and…


…that is the last I remember seeing them.

I remember thinking at the end of the day as I was gathering up my purse and briefcase that I needed to get the shoe box, but I cannot for the life of me remember if I actually got it then.

Then I went home and as usual, things are crazy – they always are in the evenings – they don’t call it the witching hour for nothing. It was later that night after I was in bed that I thought about my shoes. I remember thinking that I must have set them down with all my stuff. Then the next morning, I looked and they weren’t there. So, I thought I must have left them at work. Then, when they weren’t in my office, I thought I must have left them in my car.

I swear those things have completely disappeared!!! I honestly don’t believe anyone from work took them – that would just be too random! I have left lots of things in my office over the years and believe it to be completely safe. I wonder if they fell out of my car at some point (if you are a mama, you know how that can happen – between my stuff and the girls' stuff, my car is one big overflowing closet on wheels.)

The whole thing makes absolutely no sense to me.

It was the elves…there is no other explanation for it…

Catch up post - AKA - more shameless showing off of the kiddos...

What better way to catch you up on everything going on with me than to say it with pictures...

First up is my little cowgirl...yes, I realize that is a dog she is on and not a horse, but hey, we improvise around here...

YEEHAW!!!!

The 16th was my 37th birthday and the girls (and Dan) made cupcakes for me...heck, who am I kidding...for them...

ALL DONE - YUMMY!

Just silly girls...

Our first every Halloween Pumpkin - the girls picked a kitty cat design...

Last Saturday night, I took the girls to Zoo Boo - an annyal thing at the Memphis Zoo that Savannah has been begging to go since about this time last year.  So, we went.  Cost was $37 for me and the girls; we had to park way out in the middle of BFE, there were hardly any exhibits open - all the animals were asleep.  It was so crowded and cold...  But the girls had an absolute blast.  I guess that makes it all worthwhile.  My mom made thier costumes - they turned out so cute!

My pink cowgirl princess...

My Little Pony...  (Savannah was really not having the pictures for some reason...)

Her swishy pony tail...

Why is this little guy important?  Tara loves to play with Play Doh.  This little elephant is the first thing that Tara has ever made that actually looks like what it is supposed to be... 

Just cuz she is cute...

This last picture is special becuause it is Savannah showing off her pearl whites...including a very, very loose one that is about to fall out.  Seriously, any day now my first baby will be minus 1 baby tooth.  I don't know who is more excited - me or her!  I am a little sad too...from now on out, all her firsts will be about bras, periods and boys...  I don't think I will ever be ready for all that - thankfully, I have a few years to psych myself up!!!

All done!  Ha!  Suddenly the crazy day I had a work seems faded away...  I love my girls...but you knew that already...

Seriously?!!!

In what world is it ever appropriate to say to your co-worker, "You have a tail..."  Seriously?!?!  And have you never seen a dress that ties in the back?!?

Twice as nice...

All the hype over the last few weeks about the flu and the swine flu...errrr, I mean, the seasonal flu and the H1N1 flu has everyone around here a little....ummmmm...freaked out.  I am talking handwashing instructions in the bathroom and a symtoms sign at the entrance gate to my job (I wonder if anyone has ever stopped and read that sign and went, you know what?  I do have fever - I better turn around right now and go home!).  And hand sanitizer EVERYWHERE -  work, the girls' school, stores...  And I am vigilant about flu vaccines.  Both girls had thier vaccines about 3 weeks ago and I got the flu mist yesterday (by the way, the flu mist ROCKS!!!  I am never getting a flu shot again...well, except for the H1N1 one.)

So, who would have thought I would get a call from Savannah's school Tuesday afternoon saying that Savannah did not feel well and had a slight temperature.  GREAT!!!!  I should have known it was coming - she had not been eating much and Sunday night and Monday night, she fell asleep on the couch way before bedtime.  Sure enough, I get her home and she has a mild temp, but I give her some Tylenol and leave her with her daddy and head off to ballet class with Tara.

Then, that nightm when I am sounds asleep in my bed, I hear her.  I go to her and she is BURNING UP!  Poor thing!  That starts us off on about 36 hours of doing all we can do to keep her fever down to a managable level.  I made several calls to the pediatrician's office, but, we opted not to take her in - treatment was going to be the same either way - rest, fluids and lots of ibuprophen and tylenol.

So, yesterday seemed to be the turning point - she was still having an occasional mild temp, but nothing major.  Thinking we have made it through this one...Yay!!!

So last night - I am thinking that Tara is acting kind of whiny and clingy. Dum, dum, dum, dum......

Sure, enough, the whininess and clinginess continue this morning - no sleeping in for mama...grrrrrr.....

And, lo and behold (what the heck, does "lo, and behold" mean anyway?), I am getting them rounded up for rest time and notice that both girls feel warm...

Oh, yes...

They BOTH have fever!!!

Shoot me now!!!

What the girls ate for lunch #5 w/e 9-18-09 and #6 w/e 9-25-09

Okay, this is a 2 week lunch post.  With the yard sale over the weekend and a work trip to NYC that I left for on Sunday (more about that in another post :-) ), both weeks were short on lunches and I am just now able to sit down and post them.  So, anyways, I have three lunches from last week and 2 lunchess from this week.  We got off of our Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday routine - I was busy with prepping for the yard sale last Thursday, so didn't do a Friday lunch and this week - with me being gone - Dan was on Mister Mom duty and so the girls ate from the cafeteria menu the first part of the week.  But I made lunches for today and tomorrow and the girls seemed excited to have thier lunch boxes with them when they left this morning.

Monday - grilled chicken brest strips, pretzel sticks, red bell pepper strips and sliced strawberries.

Tuesday - hot dog slices, cheese ravioli with pesto and fresh parmasan, red bell pepper strips and sliced strawberries.

Thursday - Pepperoni slices, pretzel chips, carrot spears, and grapes and sliced strawberries.

Thursday (the 24th) - wheat thins, sliced strawberries and peeled and sliced cucumbers for both; tomato and provoline sandwhich spirals for Tara and a sliced hot dog for Savannah.

Friday - sliced, roasted chicken, orange bell pepper slices, sliced strawberries and a chocolate chip granola bar.

If any of you are packing lunches for your kiddos - I would love to see and hear about them!  I am always looking for new ideas!!!

With odds like that, I oughta go play Vegas...

Today as I was leaving a meeting (a very successful one that I help organize and facilitate, thankyouverymuch...) I was in an elevator with a coworker. My hands were full with meeting stuff and as I am stepping off the elevator, I feel my carefully constructed pile of stuff start to slide. I hear a clatter on the floor and know that yes, I have once again dropped my phone or my blackberry (Yes, I have both - you have a problem with that? No, one of them is not an I-Phone and I have a problem with that...)... So as I am looking all around my feet, I hear my normally uber-mellow co-worker say, "Oh, S&*t!!!" I am all like What?!? He is trying not to laugh and motions to the floor. I am like all umm, yes, I know I dropped something - now where is it. He tells me, the elevator shaft...

Ummm...what?!?!?

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, somehow, I managed to drop my blackberry, have it disengage from its "protective" case, turn upright on its side at just the precise angle to slide in between that abyss of a crack between the elevator and the lobby floor.

Cue the sick feeling in my stomach....

So, I could explain how it all went from there, but I am sure the only part you are interested in is the facgt that I had to explain to about 20 people what happened. After they all stopped laughing, I find out that the very nice man from maintenance was able to go down the basement and retrieve it.

Can you believe it still works perfectly. Not even a scratch. I am feeling pretty smug right about now...

But something tells me that someday, sometime this little scenerio is all gonna come back and haunt me in some coy little company skit or something...

Coulda been worse, I guess...

I coulda dropped it in the toilet...