Life

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NOW CLOSED: 22nd Blog Giveaway: $25 Sephora e-Gift Card

This giveaway is now closed. Thank you to all who entered!

Wow! This month is flying by! I didn’t even realize we were coming up on the tenth! It feels like it was just Christmas. In fact, I still have a pile of Christmas stuff in my living room that needs to be packed away. You know, you think you picked up everything and then there is a wreath here or an ornament there and suddenly you have fifteen items cluttering up your house that you don’t want to deal with.

This week has been hard. My kids started school again and in the overheard words of a child I know, “I’m not ready to start the grind again.”

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This month I decided to give away a $25 e-Gift Card to Sephora. I have really been loving experimenting with makeup lately. I recently did a post about my favorite new lipstick set. I wore the orange color to get my hair done this week and after three hours, my sweet hairdresser said, “I can’t believe your lipstick has stayed on this whole time!” I also finally have made a decision on what mascara I think wins the top spot after trying about twenty different ones over the last year. That post will run in the next two weeks. Needless to say that makeup has been on my mind.

To enter for a chance to win this month’s gift card please leave a comment on this post stating a person whose inner beauty you admire. I have two right now: My dear friend Bridgette recently won a television on The Ellen Show and then selflessly donated it to a veteran. My amazing friend Kerri, who I admire so greatly, recently started a new career and she is soaring. Both women are physically beautiful but their inner beauty is what myself and others are most attracted to. I am so inspired by my friends. I am inspired by all of you. If that is too personal, any old comment is fine as long as it is pleasant. You may enter a second time by being a subscribed reader of this blog. There are many ways to do so on the right hand side of this page (which I really need to update all ready). Please leave a second comment if you are a subscribed reader. I count the comments at the end and then I enter everyone’s name into random.org to pick a winner. So, to be fair, it has to be a separate comment.

Limit two entries per person in the forms specified. Must be eighteen years old to enter.

The giveaway runs from January 10, 2015 12:00 a.m. PST to January 16, 2015 9:00 p.m. PST. I will be choosing one winner from the comments entered on this post for the gift card using random.org. I will contact the winner on January 17, 2015 and display the winner’s name on this blog on January 18, 2015.

Thank you so much for entering! And for reading! I know I have been behind on comments and blogs. This year came so much faster than I was expecting. I am a bit overwhelmed with my house right now. I have a giant carnival wheel from the flea market that I do not know what to do with and so much to rearrange. Thank you for sticking with me. I know there have been more outfit posts than usual and that is simply because those are the easiest. When I have to choose between posting nothing or posting an outfit post, I have been choosing the outfits. I hope to write some different posts this weekend! However, I have fourteen outfit posts backed up. So please bear with me.

Now for the not so fun details —Wait! What! You weren’t having fun reading my whining?:

By commenting on this post, you are entering this giveaway for a chance to win one $25 e-gift card to Sephora and agreeing to the rules outlined in this giveaway.

I will attempt to contact the winner three times with the email address provided. If I have not heard from the winner within fourteen days from the first attempt at contact, the prize will be forfeit and a new winner will be drawn.

Past winners are welcome to enter.

* Negative comments (chosen at the discretion of the owner of this blog) will be deleted and that entry will be forfeit.

*this giveaway and post is not sponsored by or affiliated with Sephora.

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A Happy List

I found this note yesterday. It was tucked inside of a publicly shared magazine. I hope nobody wants it back. It was just sitting there, its yellow skin flashing me a mischievous grin as it poked out of a page.

I couldn’t help myself.

I took it.

I don’t know if this makes me a thief or an official hoarder.

Probably both.

I believe it was written by a bored child waiting for a parent to finish an appointment. I also imagine it was written around Christmas time. It is a list. A list of presents for children. For boys and for “grils.” It was as if the child decided to ponder for one day what it must be like to be Santa Claus.

Right now my mind is full of lists. The bills I need to pay. The chores I need to do. The groceries I need to buy. The packages I have to send. The returns I need to make. The posts I need to edit. It can be overwhelming.

For all of those things… for all of those lists… this list that I found made me happy. It reminded me to breathe. All lists are not bad. Or naughty, as it were. The hope or imagination of a child is irresistible to me. An innocent handwritten list of toys made me smile. And I hope the simplicity of it makes you smile today, too. Because maybe our lists aren’t so simple. And maybe we can’t be Santa. But we can imagine what that must feel like. Or put ourselves in someone else’s shoes for one day, whether those shoes meet up with a red suit or not is up to you:

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Keepin’ It Real: December 2014

Happy New Year! I hope you are all safe and well! 2015?! Ready or not, here it is.

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Can you believe it? It actually snowed at our house on New Year’s Eve! And I mean snowed! My husband woke us all up at six in the morning and we played in the snow while our neighbors slept. I am going to hope they were sleeping and were not peering out their windows at this getup. It was so peaceful and odd and thrilling. I managed to squeeze in five outfit pictures. I had worn these clothes throughout the week (minus the gnome hat, but now you know I have it. The secret is out), but my husband was gone until dark most nights so we could not get pictures. So this setup worked out perfectly. I got to quickly photograph what I wore and it was so fun! This sweater was one that I picked up at the flea market a few weeks ago. The snow was mostly gone by the time the sun set. Wouldn’t it have been crazy if it had done this last week? It was never something I ever hoped to dream of. A white Christmas. But now I ever shall do so in the future.

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Here is another peek of an outfit post coming up that I took that day. I went to Anthropologie on Monday and did some reviews that I will be posting soon. This is the one thing I bought besides the most amazing Christmas tree skirt for next year’s small Christmas tree. I just had to quickly talk about this ruffled sweatercoat while the 25% off sale promo is still going on. It is amazing. It is slimming. The color (plum) in person is a zillion times better than what is shown online. This might be my best buy of the season. I used some of a gift card on it. I sized down to a small. I am wearing a black tank underneath it so it is kind of hard to see the exact shape. I am so surprised that this hasn’t sold out yet at its sale price. It is reminiscent of vintage Anthropologie.

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Oh my goodness. My husband and I were driving through our town the day it snowed and when we drove by this park we saw it was filled with about thirty to forty snowmen that different children had built throughout the day. It made my heart surge with joy at the rare sight. At this point other kids had come along to destroy the creations. I wanted a picture of the snowmen while they still stood. Well, I was wearing my slippers so I could not get out of the car. As one is wont to always do after a snowstorm. My sweet husband got out of the car and as he was walking along taking pictures with his phone, the other parents (that actually had kids at the park, imagine that) stared at him leerily. I dissolved into giggles so hard that I was crying because the poor guy looked like a creeper at the park. Oh, I owe him big time.

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On Monday we also drove down to Los Angeles to go to The Pompei Exhibit. I had wanted to go all year and had been planning for months to get there during Christmas break. Well, it was poor planning. The exhibit was sold out. I tried not to cry and succeeded but it was a huge disappointment.

We went to The Natural History Museum. We had planned on going there after The Pompei Exhibit, because we make a trip there any way once a year. There used to be the coolest exhibits in the children’s wing for kids, but it was different this time. Their extensive live bug collection used to be worth the trip alone, but it has dwindled in size, which was a bummer. We did enjoy the dinosaurs. They have an amazing dinosaur exhibit.

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I think this mask at The Natural History Museum looks oddly like my husband. I wasn’t going to say anything, but the lady next to us looked at the mask, then looked at my husband and said, “Hey! It’s you!” So I had to get a picture of it.

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Christmas presents. I received the sweetest and most thoughtful presents for Christmas this year. My mom and stepdad actually found me this antique gnome book from Poland. My mom handmade me a sweet present I will post about in a few months. My dad and stepmom gifted me the sweetest bracelet and bird hooks. My sister and brother-in-law hunted down the vintage letters with my husband and my initials and I cannot wait to display them! And my mom and stepdad gave me three unique pieces of jewelry from Etsy. Every time I will wear them, I will think of them. My sweet friend gifted me the yummiest treats, most awesome peacock ornament and a beautiful trivet.

I found my mom a vintage mother of pearl brass jewelry box along with a few other things (including framed self portraits the kids painted) and the Tavia Peasant Blouse from Anthropologie. For my stepmom I purchased a Durango Vests in purple like the one I have. My sister and brother-in-law wanted Disney gift cards to buy passes this year so we contributed towards that and I picked up my sister this shirt in the khaki color from Anthropologie. And now I want it after seeing it on her. I hope to grab mine on sale one day.

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Now get thee to a Trader Joe’s stat. These Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Salted Caramel Truffles are the very best things ever. Ever. Must go hoard some more.

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It is hard to think of things that happened in December without Christmas looming ever present. We went and saw the final installment of “The Hobbit” a few nights ago. I really enjoyed it, but I have liked them all.

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Coming up in January:

The Perfect Dress
Cheesy Salsa-Chicken Empanadas
The Talent Show
Making a Snowgnome
Reading: Throne of Glass (series)

I cannot believe it is January. Instead of making a giant goal for the year or resolution, I have decided to break it down and try to do small monthly goals instead. I need instant gratification or a realistic thing to shoot for. I am trying to lose the fifteen pounds I gained last year. So, in January, I made a monthly goal to not eat anything after dinner or 7:00. Back to iced water only for me at night for the next twenty eight days (and then I hope it becomes a regular good habit again) .

Yesterday was the second anniversary of my grandmother’s passing. Instead of the usual “Overheard In” post that would typically follow this one, I wrote about the last conversation I had with my grandma. It was hard.

What did you enjoy most about December? Are you excited it is a new year? Did you make resolutions? If you live in Southern California, did you make it to The Pompei Exhibit? You still have a few days to get there before it ends and moves on to Seattle. I don’t drive on the freeway so my opportunity to see it is unfortunately gone. Maybe one year I will make it to the real Pompei.

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Oh Grandma

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It has now been two years since my grandmother’s passing. I was not sure that I would be writing a post about her today, but then I pictured my mother on this day. Having woken up with a heart so still and so swollen with anguish, what else could I write about but her?

The very last time I saw my grandmother, I knew it would be the last time. There was something in her aura. Or the air. Or perhaps it was just a foreboding one feels when they are around an elderly relative. Either way, I tried to pepper her with questions I had been wanting to know all of these years. To get answers in the little time that we had together.

And I thought I would retain that conversation forever. I never ever forget a conversation. Where I put the checkbook, yes. A friend’s birthday, sigh. But a conversation is burned forever into my memory. Which makes it all the more tragic and suspicious to admit that my last conversation with my grandmother is becoming fuzzy. Blurring away with tears and time and perhaps grief is smothering its edges to make the pain less prominently sharp.

Whatever the reason, I wanted to recount some of those things we spoke about on that last day. Not all of her words, but I wanted to share the wisdom of some of her responses to me. The ones I have kept inside until now. Slumbering under a blanket of denial…

When I asked her about a particular person and whether she had spoken to that person in a while, she sighed but very strongly stated, “I don’t have time for people like that.” Honestly, this spoke to my heart. After her death that year I reevaluated my life and my own relationships.

My grandmother always ordered dessert at a restaurant. Always. Sometimes before the meal. Dessert was Grandma. Grandma was dessert. And on that last day when she turned it down after lunch, I knew something was wrong. The turned down dessert caused my eyes to widen and my pulse to beat faster. I ordered it anyway and insisted she have a bite. She ate it without her usual gumption. Grandma’s personality was the extras. She was over the top. Or the top. She was the cherry. The whipped cream. The hot fudge. Her turning down dessert felt like the universe had flipped upside down. And I knew in that moment of vanilla sorrow that the pain was just beginning.

But perhaps the hardest thing for me to recall is when she wearily and out of the blue said, “You know, you might feel sorry for me because I am old, but I feel sorry for you. For all of the things you are going to have to go through. For all of the things you will have to see and face and endure.”

I think about what she said in that moment a lot.

A lot.

For in her words was a truth that is rarely spoken.

By the time a person reaches old age, they have lost so much. She, herself, lost her husband while she was fairly young. She lost her oldest son a few years before she passed away. So much was taken away from her. The thought of having to suffer through what she did makes me swallow giant tears of dread and fear in the back of my throat.

Two months later I would experience the loss of her. Adding it to my small dam of loss that one builds around their life’s river trying to fabricate their lake of happiness in their soul. The pain was great, but I know there will be more to come. So very much more pain. Is it something to feel sorry for? That is the question. The dangerous and depressing quicksand of pondering too deeply. Of course it is, but I hope there is light to look forward to, too.

I think back on that last day with my grandmother. Of her words. The heavy sorrowful words of wisdom. And it makes my heart sink with the weight of hopelessness. But then, on the edge of that foggy memory, a ray of sunlight appears. And with it comes the trinkling sound of my grandmother’s quick laughter. It cuts through the clouds of gloom with the lightning crackle of humor.

And I begin to remember one more thing about that day.

The shadow of the memory is so faint that only the outline of it appears in my mind. My husband driving my grandmother and myself through our small town, the car hitting a piece of debris in the road. My husband turning to Grandma and apologetically stating, “Sorry for the bump.”

My grandma quickly chortled one of her witty followups, “Did you say hump or bump?”

To which I blushed and laughed.

Our laughter blurred together filling the car with the bells of joy. When it became quiet again, she mischievously continued, “Just making sure you weren’t making me an offer.”

And we laughed some more.

“Oh Grandma,” I gleefully murmured.

Oh… Grandma.