Shopping, Chefing, and All The Emojis

It's not been all closet clean-outs and margaritas with friends over here the past few weeks. I have also cooked things and bought things and contemplated buying more.

But first, something I forgot to add in my last post - thanks to a friend with season passes who knows my love of plays and musicals, I'm now the proud owner of a ticket to the Dallas tour of Hamilton!!! A fellow musical-loving friend is going to be my date and I am SUPER excited about this. After an intense internal debate that was settled by a facebook poll, I have decided to start listening to the soundtrack so I can have it all memorized before the show. The show that will be April 27, 2019. So I have some time. The countdown is already on my phone. (372 days! SQUEE!)

Other things I've bought in the last two weeks that I love:

This dress. It's for my parents' house re-opening thank you party they're hosting for everyone who helped them during Harvey. I LOVE it. I love it more than anything else in my closet. I want to wear it around my house all the time every day and swish my skirt at every opportunity. I got it on clearance for $50 at Nordstrom Rack and that makes me love it EVEN MORE.

Now I'm just searching for the right necklace and earring. Something fun and casual to keep it all from being too dressy. The top part of the dress is a simple navy jersey material so I'm thinking a chunky pink necklace or gold necklace with fun tassel/beaded pink earrings. I don't know. I'd probably decide better if I was wearing the dress right now.

This dress! Also Nordstrom Rack. I'm trying to revitalize my work wardrobe a bit. $40, fits perfectly, and I'm obsessed with the color.

I sort of forgot Nordstrom Rack existed until 10 days ago (we don't have one here) and it's been an exciting rediscovery. I got my swim school date night dress there:

and this other one for work:

I love it all and I'm done now. Party dress, two work dresses, and a new date night dress - my whole closet feels revitalized and it finally allowed me to get rid of a few work dresses I bought in 2009 that I adored but were sad and worn (but oh so trusted and familiar!) New dresses, you have big shoes to fill.

Moving on. Has anyone tried these Heliocare pills? My dermatologist recommended them for daily sun protection. Since I'll do anything to keep my skin from doing its usual "burn in 10 seconds" modus operandi, I'm giving them a whirl. I like the idea of a layer of protection I don't even have to remember to put on, but we'll see. I haven't been in the sun enough yet to know if it's working.

Next, do we like these shoes? They're more than I would usually spend, but I don't own any neutral/light colored heeled sandals anymore and I've had a surprisingly hard time finding some I like at my usual discount haunts. They're super comfy and not too high for long outings.

Who am I kidding? I'm totally keeping them.

And lastly, do you use packing cubes? I bought a set at TJ Maxx 5 years ago and LOVE THEM. Living in Yellow, a blog I need to stop following on facebook, recommended these and they are so perfect. I'm donating my old grey ones to the kids because I love color and polka dots and my suitcase is a boring silver and these help spice it up. This set has 5 pieces and are way higher quality than my old ones. I used them on my work trip earlier this week and can't wait to pack to go somewhere to use them again!

Now for food! First, a PSA: Have you been using your KitchenAid to shred chicken? I only discovered this a few months ago and keep meaning to share the genius. Unless all of you already knew and never told me, in which case, this is a very random picture of shredded chicken and I'm mad at you, but if not - use your KitchenAid to shred your chicken!!

Just stick your cooked chicken breasts in the mixing bowl, turn it on low with the paddle attachment, and 15 seconds later, they look like this! It's the best. No more shredding with forks that always makes my fingers feel tired!

(This was from my bbq chicken two weeks ago; 4 large frozen chicken breasts in the crockpot, half a bottle of bbq sauce and a generous squirt of Italian dressing, cooked on low for 8 hours. Use for sandwiches, Claire's beloved quinoa salad, enchiladas, anything!)

And a few good recipes from last week and the plan for the week ahead:

Wednesday: Greek Farro Salad (my recipe here)

Thursday: Amped up TJ's Chicken Chow Mein (2 bags of the TJ frozen chow mein, plus a big bag of fresh broccoli chopped up, handfuls of shredded carrots, sliced baby bok choy - stir fry it all for about 10 minutes = delicious!)

Friday: Pesto Chicken Gnocchi (broil TJ's pesto chicken, mix with gnocchi, kalamatas, sliced cherry tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, pesto). Cora's absolute FAVORITE meal.

Saturday: Cheesy Vegetarian Chili Mac. Love this one; haven't made it in a while and seemed perfect for a forecasted rainy day.

Sunday: Pea Soup (I wrote out my recipe here); cornbread (love the TJ's box mix).

Monday: Chicken Rollatini with Prosciutto, with Broccoli Fettucini Alfredo

Tuesday: Vegetarian Tacos, toppings, refried black beans.

Wednesday: Shakshuka! The exclamation point is because I like saying the word and I've been wanting to make this forever and have finally decided this is the week. Served with naan bread.

Thursday: Crock Pot Creamy Chicken Enchilada Chili. Family favorite. (Totally use the KitchenAid to shred the chicken for this now - I just put the frozen breasts in with everything else, cook all day, fish out with tongs before serving, shred in the mixing bowl, and dump back in. Ta da!)

My lunches for the week: Asian Quinoa Salad (generally based on this recipe except I skip the cabbage and add avocado when I have it, also sometimes mandarin oranges). For the 3 days I do yoga at lunch and eat at my desk after. I like having something to look forward to and this is a fave.

Lunch last week: TJ's cruciferous crunch bag salad (shredded kale, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, green and red cabbage), sweet potato ribbons, farro, fresh Green Goddess dressing. Delish!

And finally, I'll leave you with a recent message from Landon. We recently ("FINALLY," he would tell you) powered up an old iPhone of mine, got him an icloud account under mine, and gave him access to iMessage to text friends (the 4 who also have icloud accounts on old non-phone-phones) and my family. He also has the camera, calculator, and weather apps, all of which are adored, and nothing else. Oh and the calendar, which he hilariously updates daily with his comings and goings- I get copied on all of them since his username is under mine and I giggle every time a new one pops up ("this is when I go swimming" was yesterday's 5:00 entry). The "phone" has no data plan, doesn't leave the house, and charges in our room at night. He loves it. And I must admit, I have loved being able to get glimpses into his heart and day when he messages me every day when they get home from school with our nanny.

On Monday night while I was away for work, he sent this just before bed:

It just warmed all of the cockles of my heart. I love his exuberant use of emojis. It was like getting a hug through the phone and made me laugh out loud and want to hug him back. Between the phone and his recent discovery of the delights of boxer briefs ("Mom, they can go UNDER my real shorts. Like during the day. UNDER them."), growing older has been a lot more fun lately.

Not TOO MANY Bows (or Shoes) (or Cookies)

Every since Cora's hair grew a half-inch long and she could stick a bow in it, we've been negotiated bow numbers. Her hair is still baby fine, fairly short, and very curly, so we're working with limited real estate. To her credit, she has never lost a bow- she keeps very careful track of each of them any time she's out and about, but still, the physical limitations are real. "There's no more room, Mom." she tells me seriously, mid-negotiation, as if I haven't been the one using that exact line over and over for months. We've settled on four. One in front of and behind each pony ("two ponies" was agreed on long ago) and one headband. Ever the paragon of reasonableness, when Cora brings me her selected pile of hair festoonery, she is always quick to assure me that that it's not "TOO MANY bows, Mom. Just one and two and three and four. Not TOO MANY."

Just one and two and three and four. Said with a nodding head and as earnest a toddler voice as you can imagine. She is such a joy.

preview of today

On Friday, Landon got to attend his first-ever sleepover party. His packing took a while. Initially consisting of what must have been nothing but a handful of Pokemon cards, he kept presenting himself at the door with his bag like we could go and I'd say things like, "do you have pj's?" "a toothbrush?" "clothes for tomorrow?" and each time he'd run back to his room to grab the forgotten item. Finally, once he was properly packed for the whole 15 hours he'd be away, I was calling for Cora and wondering what was taking her so long to get her shoes.

She finally presented herself (because Cora always presents herself- shoulders back, grin forward, usually a little hop once you make eye contact) also packed for the sleepover because OF COURSE she was invited too.

When I gently explained that no, it was just Landon, she cocked her head and said in a chiding tone, "I just going to stay here. Okay, Mom??" like once again, she's the reasonable one and she's not sure why I was trying to make her go to the sleepover in the first place.

After dropping off a Landon who didn't even wave goodbye once he saw the four-square court, we girls piled on the couch to download Tangled and introduce Cora to a new princess. For the record, 'Punzel is now her favorite. Our dinner plans got messed up because James was running 45 minutes late and forgot he has a phone to tell me things like that, but luckily for him, friends texted asking if the girls wanted to go get cookies at our favorite bakery. OBVIOUSLY they did, and Cora was SO EXCITED about her first ever big girl non-parental outing. Though she did look a little overwhelmed in the pic my friend sent of her with 5 other girls in the backseat of their car. But soon she was describing the purple zebra on her shirt and singing along with the crew.

James and I drove our own car because we also needed cookies but didn't want to deny the girls the ride with their posse. Cora is clearly over her fear of cake as she politely devoured her whole cupcake and then stood to clear away her mess. Montessori speaks to her soul.

~ ~ ~

Earlier this week I realized that my policy of not buying anything I already own (I know, so novel, but when applied to shoes, it kind of was) had finally hit a wall. I have not bought a single pair of work shoes since I moved here in 2012. I have bought plenty of booties (they weren't really a thing before), casual shoes, and introduced flats to my work life, but I have kept my stable of work heels constant, forcing myself to look away at every new patent black pump or patterned heel that's come my way. Until this week when the inner lining of THREE pairs of my work heels completely disintegrated, one right after the other. They were all bought circa 2009 and they are all DONE. So on the downside, this was going to involve some dollars. But on the upside, SHOES!!!

Full of shoe shopping vigor, I skipped lunchtime yoga on Thursday to run to Ross and Marshall's, just to survey the landscape. And, even without my mom present, the Ross gods chose to smile on me - nearly every pair of shoes I needed was right there, just waiting for me to find them, sitting in matched sets under the right size section of the shoe aisle (never guaranteed at Ross). All my favorite brands (Bandolino, Franco Sarto), all under $30. So I bought 5 pairs. Plus gold lace up flats for Claire and a single pair of non-athletic shoes for Landon because we have family pictures coming up and neon green and orange aren't what I'm going for.

I got black patent heels, nude patent heels, black non-patent leather heels, and these gorgeous burgundy heels because not everything can be practical and boring.

Also trendy chunky heeled cognac leather sandals for the same reason AND a floral shirt James thinks maybe looks too old-fashioned but I think is maybe the point with fall florals? It was SUCH a successful outing.

.
Towards the end, I kept glancing at my watch, pleasantly surprised that I always had "20 more minutes" to shop, and never stopping to wonder at how that was possible. Four bags of shoes later, I finally got in the car and the radio clock told me it was FORTY-FIVE minutes later than I thought. My watch had stopped mid-Ross visit and I now had 15 minutes to get to my office that was 13 minutes away to jump onto a conference call I was leading with two other staff attorneys (none of whom had the dial-in) and three partners from two law firms in two different cities. And I hadn't eaten and I'd ALMOST stopped in a sandwich shop next door to Ross and omg I could be eating a terrible sandwich and obsessively perusing fivethirtyeight.com while my call was supposed to begin.

I drove like the wind, ran up to my office where my two colleagues were sitting in my guest chairs wondering where on earth I was, and dialed-in to the call PRECISELY on time. I didn't get to prepare like I'd wanted, but it's a case I have spent a lot of time on and it went great. I'd also managed to use the red stop lights to switch out the old shoes I'd been wearing to a new pair, so everything worked out, but man, that was the one time it bites me in the ass to be the rare person who still exclusively checks time on a watch instead of a cell phone. (And my watch is fine, I just accidentally pulled out the stopper thing while trying on clothes; the Ross gods are wily bitches).

~ ~ ~

This morning we woke up without a Landon, which was weird. He usually runs the house for us and James and I have gotten very spoiled with the sleeping in/playing parcheesi on weekend mornings. I told Claire she could wake us up at 8 to turn on Tangled, but fully expected to hear from her before since I didn't think she could get Cora out of her crib and Cora waits for no time stamp. But at 8:01 Claire marched in our room with a fully dressed Cora ("I helped her take off her pull-up and go pee pee and then gave her panties and pick out her outfit") and politely requested Tangled. The student has become the master.

Later, after fetching a sweaty happy Landon who played 1 million hours of four-square between drop-off and pick-up at the party, we finally decided to do something about the fact that Landon hasn't had brakes on his bike for the last month ("just use your feet," James helpfully suggested on our family walk last weekend; FOTY). So James took all the kids to Academy while I stayed home to plan my barre class and our weekly menu. I had a great class (576 calories burned in an hour! If you're local, my studio is doing a 5 barre classes for $50 special and you should come barre with me!!) and came home to Landon on a giant new bike because he is a giant proto-adult and now he can even STOP! Very exciting.

I pulled off my sweaty clothes and pulled on new non-sweaty ones so we could walk over to a tailgate hosted by friends a few streets over. Landon rode his new bike, frequently flaunting his stopping skills, as did Claire, and Cora rode in the stroller with her helmet on for safety. Nothing could convince her she didn't need it, so off we went.

helmet also on for hotdog safety

Our friends have a Pogo Swing, which I didn't know existed until today, but now understand that we need one in our yard immediately. All the kids loved it - you swing while standing and you can make it bounce up and down on the rope, but Cora LOVED it allcaps.

Girl is a daredevil in a tutu, and while we've found she's extremely physically capable (we predict she will be our most athletic child) and try to roll with it, James is generally better at indulging that side of her than I.

We ended our beautiful Saturday with a walk along my very favorite street in Fort Worth- Magnolia Avenue. Giant nachos and delicious margaritas for dinner at Yucatan, strolling along the sidewalks with the kiddos. Stopping at a micro park/art installation.

Stopping again at Melt for the MOST delicious salted caramel ice cream in a fresh cinnamon waffle cone. It was even better than it sounds. Cora was totally annoyed I made her pause stealing bites to look at the camera.

We've lived here more than 4 1/2 years- the longest we've lived anywhere- and every day I am truly so thankful we got to discover that Fort Worth is a real city and not just part of the name of an airport. I love this big town/small city and I love the life we've built here. And not just because we topped off ice cream with another stop at our favorite bakery (Stir Crazy!) for cookies.

Hope you're all having wonderful weekends as well! And if not, I hope you have cookies.

In Which the Word Oozing is Used More Than It Should Ever Be

So, spoiler alert for anyone who was waiting for their own star turn, but skin cancer fucking sucks. Or at least, the treatment for it does. I'm finishing out Week 2 of the anal wart chemo cream and burning out cancer cells from the inside with fire is terrible.  It hurts and burns and itches like holy hell and any time I let go of my hands long enough to let them make contact with my skin it burns and itches a thousand times more until it bleeds and oozes and I have to sit on my hands again. I'm going to be Phoebe with oven mitts duct taped to my hands soon. So if you needed more motivation to reduce sun exposure besides aging well and not getting burned, let me give it to you - I'm only halfway through the treatment and every day is worse. It sucks. Other than a lame Friends reference I can't even joke about it. Don't get skin cancer. I'm holding frozen peas to my chest right now and James has orders to yell at me if my nails go anywhere near my skin. Wear sunscreen. Stay out of the sun. This hurts.

[not pictured, because I love you]

On that note, Cabana Life contacted me after I wrote this post and they said they had so many people jumping to their site from mine, they wanted to offer my readers a discount code! That post was in no way sponsored (and neither is this one; I didn't get anything from the company except the future ability to use the code which I really wish I'd had the first time around), but I really really like their products. I ordered from Coolibar and Cabana Life and highly recommend both sites and products, but must admit, I liked the fashion, style, and fabric of the Cabana Life gear much more. I like cute swim gear- inappropriately small bikinis and bold bright patterns are my favorite and wearing swim burkas for the rest of my life is super depressing. (Though not more depressing than a flesh eating skin cream; I'm pro-swim-burka.) But my Cabana Life ensemble makes me feel cute, if covered, and is 100% less likely to make me put a skin eating paste on my chest in the future.  The discount code is LLSPF and gets you 20% off your whole purchase until Nov. 31, 2016. Their kid stuff is cute too.

In other shopping news, these Kate Spade heels are the new loves of my life. They're a terribly tempting additional 25% off, and the only size left is so close to my required size 10, but I know that every time I try to go just a little bigger (unless it's my giantess size 12 running shoes) they never work. My feet are super narrow and in heels they just slide right down to the end and the extra heel room = calluses that I normally never, but maybe I should get them anyway just to be sure? I could stare at them all day and be distracted from my oozing skin. (Does that phrase horrify you? It should.) They'd be so cute with all my work LBDs and jeans and blazer ensembles on Fridays. (And yes, that's glitter on the heel. Glitter!)

Palette cleanser: Cora got to try a free ballet class at her school this week and they sent her home with this picture stapled to the flyer.

Talk about high pressure sales tactics. Do they know I investigate financial fraud? Obviously, I gave them my money. When I asked Cora about it, she wedged her chubby feet into first position and told me very seriously, "I do ballet." And so she does.

This week she also decided to be our traveling bard. She carries this broken CD player with attached microphones around the house and sings songs extremely off-key and off-rhythm. Her favorite is "We Will Rock You" by Queen. It is so wonderful.

 This is the face she makes if you try to sing with her.

Don't do it.

We're continuing our new nightly yoga tradition. Landon likes it, Claire likes it, Cora LOVES it. She's been doing "doga" with me for months whenever she sees the extra yoga mats by my desk and she is ALL ABOUT this new routine. (And any routine, really; she's a stickler- elephants and Cora never forget.) Tonight we skipped yoga to go to Stir Crazy Baked Goods and eat all the cookies instead, but Cora and I still managed a few flows while the big kids were taking ten years to get ready for bed. She climbed on my back and sighed into my neck at the end and it really took child's pose to a new level.

Toddlers are the best.

Big kids are so fun and it's so awesome to get to know the person they are becoming, but I find it so. much. harder. to navigate the day to day "am I doing the right thing and shaping the into the best person they can be?" at all those tired, stubborn, crabby, sassy steps along the way. Cora's big problem today was whether or not she pooped in the potty. She did not. Sometimes I'll take the black and white and a pile of chlorox wipes over the constant shades of doubt and grey.

But other than the open wound on my chest, things are pretty good.  Cora did go pee in the potty with zero accidents for the last 3 days, so she's house trained and we're going to keep her.  I ordered the kids' Christmas pajamas because they were on sale and I like to live life four months ahead and I'm tired of summer.  We finished Stranger Things (so fun!) and just fired up Season 2 of Narcos.  This picture popped up in my facebook feed because I posted it 6 years ago today.  Tonight Claire swindled Landon out of $30 and then cried 3 times during dinner over the texture of the bread in her meatball sub, but this Claire's biggest problem was whether her thigh rolls could squeeze into her party dress.

11 years ago tonight James and I were at our rehearsal dinner where I got mildly drunk and dropped my phone and camera down a flight of stairs to shatter into a million pieces.  It made the next morning's errands and to do list extra exciting, but man that was a great weekend.  I particularly enjoy that my rehearsal dinner dress (purchased at Marshall's that morning) really showed off the non-ooziness of my chest.  .

Or it could be hiding under my "bride" name tag.  An idea for the next month for sure.

High and Tall, Shoes and Stripes

I had appointment with the eye doctor this afternoon, so I decided to take the whole day off and go to barre, run some errands, and sneak in a lunch date with JP. I wore the crayola dress Claire picked out for me last weekend and I have never, ever received so many compliments from so many strangers in one day.

Rainbow stripes! (and still navigating the new haircut)

$8.99 at Ross and picked out by my color-loving 3-year-old, and all the ladies of Fort Worth want one. I was considering letting Claire pick out more of my clothes. Until I remembered she emerge from her room this morning in a peach tutu and white t-shirt with teal sparkles and a giant orange goldfish and think maybe it was beginner's Ross luck.

After another round at Ross (I'm still trying to find the elusive rehearsal dinner dress; I have another contender and a new date night dress that made JP say "whoah" when I tried it on for him when I got home, so now I just need a sitter, a free Saturday night, and some extra entertainment dollars and more Ross dress magic will be coming to a sushi place near you!) and a badly needed pedicure, I headed to the eye doctor. He dilated my eyes because I was complaining of a floater in my right (crazy annoying black speck that will apparently never go away) and WHOAH. I haven't had my eyes dilated in a really long time. My pupils were huge. You couldn't even tell my eyes were blue and I was so farsighted I couldn't see anything up close at all. I'm normally nearsighted, so the whole concept of something getting blurrier the closer you got to it was very bizarre. I decided I shouldn't be driving and in the interest of public safety walked two stores over to DSW to look around while waiting for my irises to come back.

Then I found five pairs of shoes. One of them, pictured above, are 5" platform wedges that make me about 6'2". I thought they might be too tall, so I asked a saleswoman and she looked at me funny and later I realized that my eyes were still all saucer-like and I probably looked high. High and very tall. I could only see things far away, so the closer I got to a mirror the less detail I could make out, so after much walking up and back in front of a mirror with squinty eyes, I decided the best course of action was to buy everything and try it all on again later at home. Not surprisingly, they're all awesome and look great lined up in my closet.

Speaking of home. This is what was happening while I made dinner last night:

My favorite part is that because Cora learned to crawl before she learned to sit, that crawl-ready tabletop position she's in is her relaxed book listening pose. I've been trying to teach her to sit upright, but she looks at me like I'm crazy, and immediately flops onto her tummy, pops up on her legs, and is ready to rock and roll. I mean, why sit when you can crawl?

There was more reading after showers and then I snapped one more pic of the usual love cluster around Cora.

I head to Houston first thing in the morning for my sister's bridal shower. It will be fun, and wonderful to see lots of family and old friends, but I really miss these four when I'm away. Luckily I fly back again tomorrow night (still trying to use up the million frequent flyer miles I collected at the firm), so there will be time for lots more cuddles and reading and love clusters on Sunday. And maybe a trip to DSW to return a few pairs of shoes. I'll make Claire pick which ones.

Things I Actually Bought

I had things to talk about regarding the last week: I got a surprise job interview in Austin at a prestigious boutique firm. JP is at this very moment interviewing for a position as Aquatics Director for a local country club which might allow him to simultaneously launch his swim school here in Fort Worth. Yesterday I found myself arguing passionately for him starting said swim school instead of pursuing a corporate path (one of the bigger wtf moments of our entire relationship). I sat on the floor of the guest room on Wednesday and read my freshman year college scrapbook and reminisced over pictures of baby faced JP and me falling in love and looking awkward. We finished the Netflix House of Cards series and holy crap did it get good at the end (loved the beginning, had some doubts in the middle, blew me away in the last few). I took testimony a second time and I didn't make myself ill in the days leading up to it. My boss wrote an email to our higher-up bosses praising my performances in words so complimentary I told him I was going to redact all non-public info in the email, laminate it, and glue it on my fridge. On the way home from work that day I stopped to buy a margarita with the kids (JP had dropped them off at my office on the way to a meeting at another pool). I was driving, with every intention of going home and cooking some pasta like a good girl, but my head was killing me, I was running on adrenaline, and all- ALL- I could think about was stopping at Gloria's for a happy hour margarita. And so I did. The kids colored and ate queso and tortillas, I drank my margarita and replayed segments of testimony over and over in my head with a big smile on my face. An elderly woman walked by and put her hand on my shoulders and said, "You have lovely children." I laughed- not because I don't have lovely children, I do, and I enjoy the hell out of them, but because at that exact moment I was tilting my head back to get the last bit of frozen tequila goodness from the bottom of my glass while they ate melted cheese for dinner. A shining moment in my motherhood, to be sure.

But I waited too long to write about any of that, so we're going to move on to what's on my mind today- shopping! Shopping and the pretty things I just bought that I must share with you because I shared them with JP- twice- and I still don't think he's exhibited the proper amount of enthusiasm. It started when I opened a birthday card on Thursday night from a family friend- Landon's godmother- and she included a Mastercard gift card with a note to "spend it on YOU- maybe something from your blog post?". And then I opened my grandparents' card with their birthday check and I decided to follow orders.

On Friday I took a lunch break away from my desk and found myself in Ann Taylor with 45 minutes and a 40% off clearance sale before me. I found, and fell deeply in love with, the following items:

First up, this dress. This dress is gorgeous. It was originally $168, on clearance for $50 because some crazy person returned one weeks after it was sold out in the store. Then it was 40% off and I had a $15 birthday coupon and a $20 separate coupon and at the end of the day, it was noted as $21 on my recipt. $21!!

 

There was a slight problem when I realized I couldn't raise my arms up over shoulder-level and, had I discovered this beautiful sartorial confection weeks earlier when more than one existed in the store, I would have liked to try a size up. But I interviewed all the sales associates and they all assured me it did not look too small, nor did I look too ridiculous when I simulated hugging someone while keeping my arms near my waist. (I've earmarked this dress for my 5-year law school reunion in May; there will be hugging.) It not only flatters my figure like you wouldn't believe (particularly with a peplum involved; I hate the entire concept of a peplum and its trendiness right now and yet on this dress it's magic), but it will perfectly showcase this necklace that JP bought me 4 years ago to belatedly commemorate my graduations from UT and UChicago (topaz for Texas, garnets for Chicago; it's a cheesy school color thing but it works and I love it).

 

It is however too fancy to wear very often, so my new burgundy wide necked dress and my fancy '08 class dinner will be the perfect opportunity to bring it out from its case. And even though I won't be able to raise my arms very high, I practiced and found I was perfectly capable of lifting them to a level at which I can sip from a champagne glass.

Next up, this faux wrap dress. Real wrap dresses look terrible on me, on account of my waist being wider than my hips, but this cheater one is beautiful. Also, $13.

 

I fell in like with this top when it first popped up in a "Say hello to Spring" promotional email many weeks ago. It's a yellow that doesn't completely wash me out and you know I love a good stripe. It will look excellent with my white denim capris and tan wedges and it was $7.

 

And finally, this top, which is a combo of silk and cotton, made my eyes all sparkly and is going to look excellent with my black blazer and many other things. It was $12 and I love it at least 4x that much.

 

All in all, these 4 items cost me $57 after tax. I was practically glowing as I burst back in my office that afternoon and forced multiple co-workers to listen to my raptures about the peplum dress. Then, this morning, Claire and I headed out to do our usual round of grocery shopping and instead made our first trip to DSW since moving to Fort Worth 11.5 months ago. I had $93 left of my birthday money and mommy was buying herself some new shoes.

We went to the clearance section first, of course, where I came face to face with The Boots- the boots from my "Things I Haven't Bought" post! They were marked down to $50 and 40% off, so $30! $30 cognac boots that will look excellent with dresses and even better over skinny jeans. It was a sign of favor from the shoe gods that they've missed me.

 

Bear, carrying her purse and baby and wearing her sunglasses indoors, as a diva does on weekend errands, found this lovely pair of stripper heels to try on:

 

Sadly, they did not make the final cut. We tried on many more, largely in my quest to find a pair of black patent pumps I like as much as the too-expensive Ann Taylor version, but also because I got distracted by all the Spring wedges.

 

Forty minutes later I was settled on this Tahari pair for a full DSW price of $59.95 and I love them very much.

 

I have spent the last year learning how much I don't need to buy stuff to make me happy, but that in no way diminishes the happiness I still get when I'm able to buy stuff. I fell asleep last night planning my next week of outfits to incorporate my new items. It's been a fun few days.