Keepin’ It Real March 2014

My brain seems to have turned to mush in the month of March. Is that how the saying for March goes? “March Madness” or March Mushiness”? I keep making foolish mistakes in my posts. I have been catching them before they actually go up (hopefully). But, for example, in two posts, I found these two sentences:

“The hotel also sent up a sweet gift of chocolate covered strawberries for are anniversary.”

” I thought this was the picture that best depicted the link of the skirt.”

I brought a $10 bill to dinner when I thought I had grabbed a $100. I have been making silly blunders. Everywhere in life. It is odd and I hope it ends in April!

In my Keepin’ It Real posts, I like to share things that went on in the month that I never got around to posting about. Or photo snafus. It is my monthly random (or at least, more random than usual) post:

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I love the nail color I painted my nails this month. It is a gel nail finish. I will have to get them redone this Friday.

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Photo outtakes.

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A Murphy photo outtake.

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Okay. Here is another one. He deserves it. He is quite ornery.

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I have been reading this romantic fantasy book series as a wonderful escape.

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I thought this was a funny item waiting in our hotel room bathroom at The Wynn hotel.

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If I were to describe March in a sentence, I would say it was the month I became obsessed with Nutella.

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Trader Joe’s has super cheap daffodils right now.

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I was at a club with my friends and had to take a picture of the tile around the toilet. It was so unexpected and pretty. I want to do this in my master bathroom as the toilet is in a separate stall.

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Have you tried a hamburger from The Habit? Oh. My. Gosh. Yum! : )

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Found a new italian restaurant in town that makes their pasta from scratch. Mmmm. So good!

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We have an authentic wood burning Italian pizza place right around the corner from us. The pizza is amazing. My son and husband have started adding french fries to half of their pizza and declared it the best thing ever. I tried it and it is surprisingly good. Have you tried french fries on your pizza?

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My son is a gentle soul. We have long since learned that rough sports are not for him. He also did not like the yelling involved in martial arts. So, we found his thing in golf.

I love to go with him to his lessons. It is so peaceful. I thought this tree branch looked like an evil hand trying to pluck the hawk from the sky.

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Have you ever read Jenny from The Bloggess’ recount of the time she purchased a five foot tall rusty rooster? If not, here it is. She does curse. This does not bother me. But I thought I should add that before you click over. However, she is the funniest person. Ever.

Anyway, in honor of her, I had to snap a picture of this huge rusty rooster I found whilst driving around. Again, there are so many people in this world I must meet!

What was something cool you saw or tried this month? Please share!

Anthropologie Spring Reviews Part I

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I was on my own in Las Vegas and decided to go shopping and try on some of Anthropologie’s newest offerings. This is what I wore to Anthropologie and on my trip out by myself. It is an H&M lace top, Free People Lydia Maxi Skirt, Simply Livly Turquoise Necklace, and a more recent sale belt from Anthropologie.

Oddly, this outfit made me feel braver.

I think it was all the darn ruffles.

Don’t ask why.

I’m weird.

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The first dress I tried on was one of the two items I added to my wishlist (the other being a pair of jeans). I really, really like this Ijada Stitched Shift dress.

I really, really disliked the price tag. At $248, I will have to wait for a good sale. I have a size six on in the picture. It zips on the side bust and I could not zip it all of the way. Since, I was all ready there. In a dressing room. At the store. With a size eight. Just a few steps away. I…

Decided not to try it on.

Yep.

It is more fun guessing.

Or more lazy.

So, now I imagine I am a size eight in this dress, but I have no idea if it is true.

Aren’t my reviews helpful?

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I also tried on this Cissie Embroidered Dress. I thought it was okay. I really like the pattern and everything. But there was just somethin’ that did not call to me. This was a size six. I thought it fit fine.

I have so many similar items to this dress in my closet all ready. And the hi-lo thing is just not doing it for me. An unfortunate no for me. I am sad about this one, because it is cute.

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I also tried on the Grafton Marled Jacket with the dress. Because I liked the pattern in the store. I would not really wear these two items together in real life.

Well, unless I was in a closed room. And the other cardigan I wanted was ten feet away. Then we all know what my choice would be.

I am wearing a small here. If I purchased this, I would buy a medium. But this cardigan did not make it into my wishlist, so I will not be purchasing it. It was too bulky for me. Now I am seeing that they call this cardigan a jacket. I could examine the whys of that further, but I won’t.

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I love the Savant Swing Dress. It has been on my wishlist for what seems like forever. I had not seen the grey version of it in real life before this picture (I own the black and white striped version). Can you feel the love?

I am wearing a small here. The sleeves were impossibly tight. The store did not have a medium. I definitely need a medium. If they would have had it to try on…

Wait for it.

This will be shocking.

I would have.

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I had loved this Patula Maxi Skirt on Morgan from See Mo Go a few weeks ago. I could not wait to try it on myself.

Morgan rocked this skirt. It is so pretty on her. I was not in love with it on me. I am wearing a small. It fit fine. This was the only shirt I had in the dressing room that I thought might work with it.

Which means it did not go with it at all.

It never occurred to me to use the shirt I wore into the dressing room.

Again, not examining the whys of that further.

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Let me distract you from my pasty legs (and insanely messy contents of my purse) by telling you that this white shirt is the same Anthropologie Flounced Tee I tried on with the skirt above. And that is why the skirt styling will make even less sense to you.

Kind of like myself.

I really hate shorts. Like hate them. With a fierce passion. I think very few women can pull them off. Without cutting their legs into frumpy stumps. But these Finchley Pleated Shorts had elephants on them. In a gorgeous olive pattern. I am wearing a size eight here. The shirt is a small.

And I wanted to forget my shorts-naysayer in my head.

These were not good on me. They did not make it into my wishlist. But they are adorable.

I think. Gosh, I cannot believe I am going to say this.

But, I think many women could wear these shorts. And it would be cute. And I would like it.

Groan! That last admittance did me in.

Have you tried on anything you love lately? Added anything to your wishlist? Please tell!

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P.S. Two nights ago I went to San Diego and while I was there I tried on even more pieces at Anthropologie. I ended up purchasing this Songbird Skirt in my usual size six. The review for this baby is behind two more review sets, so it will probably be two more weeks before I get to it.

But I knew some ladies wanted to see it. And when I want to see something, I love when someone shares. So, here is one of my pictures of the skirt. The waistband is super stretchy. But the sides are not. I do not think I would size down in this. However, if you are inbetween sizes, I would probably take the smaller one.

Sorry about the lack of smile. I thought this was the picture that best depicted the length of the skirt. Hope this helps! : )

P.S. I also did Anthropologie Spring Reviews Part II and Free People Spring Reviews.

Dear Children: Being A Stick-In-The-Mud,

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Call it a fuddy duddy. Stick-in-the-mud (which by the way sounds better than being mud, doesn’t it?). A party pooper.

These are all society’s acceptable names that seem to be okay to call someone who does not give into peer pressure.

Guess what?

Your mommy is proud to have been called all of them.

Because sometimes, well sometimes, it’s important to stand up for something you believe in.

And people are going to feel threatened that you might not agree with their actions.

By you refusing to do an action with them, it calls into question their own morality.

People don’t like that.

But you should “stick to your guns anyway.”

This will probably lead them to result to name calling. Those words will hurt. Don’t think they won’t. But not as much as your soul will hurt if you go against it. The names they will call you may cut deeper than a “stick in the mud.” And as hard as this will be, you must ignore them.

When I was a child there was a nonsense little saying that went like this:

“Sticks and stones may break my bones,
But words will never hurt me.”

That saying is ridiculous. Words are the most powerful thing in the world.

You might also notice that in Mommy’s time people were kind of obsessed with sticks.

I can’t explain this.

There must have been more trees back then.

This probably explains the many leaf idioms, as well.

But even back then, people fought the word, “no.”

Maybe they never learned differently. Maybe they just want to make their own choices. And that is okay. As long as you get to, too.

Because you should respect the use of someone else using that word, too.

Otherwise, we might as well all be made of sticks and leaves. And even stones.

Being human is more than that.

At least, it should be.

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If your friends or adversaries still will not understand your decision to not conform to their decision, well, I guess they “got the short end of the stick.”
Maybe you could, “Help them turn over a new leaf.”
If not, have more confidence than one can “shake a stick at.”

In today’s terms:

IOW, JTLYK, YOLO.

YKWYCD?

JSN!

ILY,

Mommy

Our Trip To Las Vegas

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My husband and I were married in Las Vegas fifteen years ago. This is a picture of us on that day. My husband does not know I am sharing it. He. He. It is hard to believe this was us fifteen years ago. My hair was so short. And my husband has a beard now with (cough) grey hairs poking through. It is nice to look back at where we were. It makes me excited about where we are going.

I thought it would be a good idea to head back there for our anniversary. My husband and I both do not like to gamble. We don’t smoke. And, honestly, I am not fond of malls. I’ve never been to a strip club. I was not interested in any of the Circus du Soleil shows. And we would never just hang around a pool without our children (unless it was our own pool). Because of this, Las Vegas is generally not on our list of destinations to go to on our yearly romantic getaways.

But I decided we had not been there in almost nine years and maybe we would try it again.

Spoiler: there were good times and there were bad.

‘Tis life:

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I got a fabulous deal on Hotwire for the Wynn Hotel. When we checked in, I mentioned we were there for our fifteenth wedding anniversary. They kindly upgraded us to a higher floor.

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The hotel is amazing. Gorgeous. Stunning. It boasts the prettiest lobby I have ever seen. The most amazing scenery. The clientele leans towards the classy side. I have never seen so many beautiful women in one place. And of course, I broke out with the biggest zit on my chin just before we arrived. Truly showing I did not belong there.

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The room was beautiful.

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The hotel also sent up a sweet gift of chocolate covered strawberries for our anniversary.

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And all would have been well.

Better than well.

It would have, should have, could have been amazing.

There was just a slight problem of the air conditioning not working in our room. And not working in the room we were subsequently moved to.

I am a baby when it comes to heat. I cannot sleep in a warm room. This led to me having a meltdown and many sleepless nights.

Hence, I have made the determination I could only stay here in the wintertime, if we came to Las Vegas again. I have to have a working air conditioning system in my hotel room.

In. The. Desert.

.

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The little cafe restaurant at this hotel is the best restaurant we ate at while in Las Vegas.

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Oh my gosh! I am a nut for a tuna sandwich. And on a croissant? The biggest croissant I have ever seen?! Made by the chef there?! So good! I ate this three times during our stay (and gained FIVE pounds in four days! Back to reality).

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They also had a seafood club that my husband said was excellent.

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And lava cake?!

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And unlimited mimosas for breakfast for $19!!!!!!!!

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And strawberry waffles?! I also saw the most beautiful buttermilk biscuits on a tray on our last day and was bummed I had not tried them (I seriously cannot figure out why I gained five pounds).

I highly recommend this little cafe. We would stay at The Wynn again just for this restaurant.

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We ate at Tom Culicchio’s Heritage Steakhouse, because my husband and I are huge fans of Top Chef. The meal here was the most I have ever spent on a dinner. We ordered the cheapest bottle of wine on the menu at $65. The filet mignon steaks were $59 each. Like most nice steakhouses, sides are not included. We did not have appetizers or soup or salad. The steaks were just okay.

However, our waiter was awesome. We loved him. He made the whole experience.

For the bottle of wine, two steaks, two sides, and two coffees our total was over $200 before tip.

Ouch.

But now we know.

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We also ate, quite by accident, at Raos in Little Caesar’s. It was fine.

It was pretty. It was romantic. The food was decent. Again, we are really spoiled with the Italian restaurants in our town, so I have high standards. This restaurant is about a seven out of ten for me.

We had the lasagna and prime rib noodle special.

The creme brûlée was not good. That makes me sad. And the reason it got a lower rating.

And so this is why we ate all of our remainder of our meals at Terrace Pointe Cafe at The Wynn. That restaurant is a ten out of ten for me. It is really good. We tried a lot of things and everything was amazing. It was also reasonably priced for Las Vegas.

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We went to three shows while we were there. I felt like Goldilocks. One was not good, the other leaning towards bad and one was just right.

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My husband and I had never heard of Daniel Tosh before, but we love comedy shows. We like to see one comedy show on every trip we take together (our first date was to a comedy show). We went in to the show with open minds.

Daniel Tosh is? Not a nice guy. I did find a lot of his material offensive. However, some of it was funny. And I did find myself in hysterics at some points during the show. I would not see him again, but I honestly did not mind it. His bit is offending everyone and everything. He claims to get an absurd amount of death threats daily. I believe it. It is the shock factor. Honestly, after The Book of Mormon, this did not faze me.

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We saw La Reve at The Wynn, because we were staying there and it was convenient.

Hmmmm. How can I say this?

Nicely?

It wasn’t my favorite?

The theater is gorgeous. The entertainers are so talented. It has all of the components of a good show. A really good show. Except for a story and good music. I think that was what was so upsetting. This could be a fantastic show, but they need to scrap the “plot” and start over with a new script, new choreography and new music.

La Reve means “The Dream” and I felt like it was definitely going to put me to sleep.

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Finally, the “just right.” We went and saw Absinthe. This show was amazing. It is raunchy. I mean raunchy. I mean… Okay, you get it. But don’t say I didn’t warn you. Or taunt you? I guess it depends on what kind of a show you like. If you have a problem with nudity or cursing or profanity, then this show is not for you. I found it so funny. It was in the right context. The cast is wonderfully talented. It is a burlesque circus show in a very small tent. It is located at Caesar’s Palace. It was amazing. Ten out of ten from me.

There are acrobats, two women who do actual burlesque acts complete with a bubble splashing tank, a couple who perform the craziest act on roller skates, a comedian, and a tightrope.

Fun!

I love a show called, “Teatro ZinZanni” which is a circus-like dinner theater show hosted by a drag queen that performs in Seattle (and used to also perform in San Francisco) in an old beautiful 1920’s circus tent . We have seen that show (it changes seasonally) four times. I was happy to find something similar to our old favorite.

I was captivated from the moment we sat down.

I would come to Las Vegas just to see this show again!

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While my husband played in a poker tournament, I went and did some reviews at some of my favorite stores. Part one of my Anthropologie reviews is going up on Sunday. This is the outfit I wore when I went out by myself.

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I bought one thing in Las Vegas. It is this summery yellow floral slip that I allowed myself to buy by claiming it was Vegas “underwear.” Yes, I can absolutely justify anything. Yes, this makes my husband a saint.

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I wore it out one night with a different slip underneath it and a mustard cardigan over the top. This is because my feet were so swollen and blistered, I could not wear any of the cute dresses I had brought with me on the last night, because none of my high heels would fit on my feet. Thank you guys for telling me to bring comfy shoes. I would never have thought to bring flats otherwise. They were a lifesaver.

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Our hotel was at the end of the strip and there was a lot of construction surrounding it. This meant a lot of taxi rides. Which resulted in a lot of overheards. And was one of my favorite parts of the trip. The taxi drivers here were friendlier than any I have ridden with in any other city.

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One night when we were coming back to our hotel, a group of men were holding the door for people coming into the hotel. From watching “The Soup” on t.v., I knew immediately who one of the men was. It was the older gentlemen who is on that show “Gigilos.” I cross my heart that this was the same day I had put up my story about being mistaken as an escort and this time I had a male escort holding the door for me. The whole cast was there. I did not speak to them, but I noticed they were very polite to everyone as they made their way through the hotel.

And that was pretty much our trip. We will not be back for a long, long while. It will take my body some time to recuperate from that cigarette smoke. Broken down into ten descriptions:

Hot room

Expensive wine

Tuna croissants

Lots of shows

No sleep

Love

Stuffy nose

Taxi drivers

The house wins

Blisters

Have you been to Las Vegas? What was I missing? What is your favorite part?

P.S. In yesterday’s comments, Gwen had mused that it would be fun if other bloggers posted their wedding pictures today, too.

And Liana from Frock and Hound sweetly did. And it is gorgeous! Her wedding photo looks like a beautiful scene from a fairy tale. You can see it here, on her post A Look Back.

If you would like to share your wedding photo, please let me know and I will link it up here. Thank you! : )