Daddies, Lock Up Your Daughters....

This guy's a keeper!!!

We're Back!

The Farmer and I got back at 1 am Sunday morning from Tortola, British Virgin Islands. We were there for a wonderful week with my family, and I have to admit that I was sad to see our vacation come to an end even though it was wonderful to get home to the kids. I have a ton to share and will do it over a couple of posts, but I wanted to just check in and let y'all know that I'm alive and give you a few pictures for now...

The whole crazy crew:

I hope y'all all had a very happy Thanksgiving!

NOLA Girls Trip

I mentioned that I went to New Orleans a couple of weeks back to visit my friend, Jen, for her 30th birthday. Jen and her husband, Mark, used to be stationed at the Naval hospital in our former town, and all of us moved at about the same time -- Jen and Mark to New Orleans, where Jen is from, and my crew to the country. We miss Jen and Mark terribly, so I jumped at the chance to visit Jen -- especially because I had never been to New Orleans before and because Jen is such a wonderful hostess.

When I turned 30, my friend Meg, who was also turning 30, and I celebrated by going with some girlfriends to New York City. It was my first time to that city (I don't get out much!), and Jen planned the entire trip, and it was fabulous, so I knew this trip to her city would be equally fabulous.

I traveled with my friend, LP, and our long weekend got off to a little bit of a rough start. Our first flight was pretty delayed, so we almost missed our connecting flight; we were literally running through Dulles -- and of course we landed in Concourse D and were supposed to fly out of Concourse A. The worst part is that LP is pregnant and was having trouble keeping up a sprint (heck, I was having trouble keeping up a sprint -- I. do. not. run), so I ran on to try to get the plane to wait on us. Luckily we caught our flight by the skin of our teeth and got to New Orleans as planned. The lady checking our boarding passes was really not the friendliest, though. As I was huffing and puffing and trying to explain to her that LP was on her way and to please not give her seat away to the guys waiting in the standby line, she just looked at me and told me that we should have gotten there in time...

We were joined on our trip by Jen's sister-in-law, Alissa. I had met Alissa in New York and again over this past summer, but I really got to know her over this NOLA trip, and she is a lot of fun. Mark flew her in as a birthday surprise for Jen, and it was great to have her along for Jen's 30th birthday weekend.

Back to the weekend...

We started off our trip with beignets and cafe au lait at Cafe Du Monde:

Mmmm, I can taste that fried dough and powdered sugar now. It was all so good! And so good for you, too! Oh, but it was worth it!!

Then we went on a carriage ride through the Quarter and took in some sights:

After our carriage ride we did some shopping, grabbed some lunch, then went back to Jen's house to rest a little before heading out to Jen's birthday dinner that night. We got some masks that we had all intentions of wearing at the dinner, but we only wore them inside Jen's house:

Cute Jen and Mark, host and hostess extraordinaire:

Blowing out candles (the first of many times during the weekend!)!!:

The next morning we sat around and chatted for a while (and ate the best blue cheese bread...yum!...I am not kidding when I tell you that all we did was eat!) and then got ready slowly before our brunch at Commanders Palace. There, I stuffed myself yet again. I had the best Bloody Mary and Pecan Crusted Gulf Fish among other things. Mmmmm...wish I could have that right now, too. Makes the tacos I had for dinner tonight seem pretty blech.

Of course, we had to sing Happy Birthday to Jen there, too!

After brunch we went to do some shopping on Magazine Street and to walk off some of the brunch we just ate. Later we went back to Jen's before going out for drinks and dinner (stuffed again!). Sunday morning we woke up and packed, went to brunch, and headed to the airport.

I was sad to leave Jen and Mark behind, but I was happy to head home to see my little family -- and I was also happy to take a little break from all the eating!

Jen did a great job planning our stay as usual -- and she was even feeling under the weather! I can't wait to go back and take The Farmer (who also leads a sheltered life and has never been to New Orleans); now I just have to figure out the perfect time!

And, finally, my favorite picture from the weekend:

...just keepin' it real! ;-)

Some Things I'm Diggin'

Here are a couple of things that I have recently bought and am currently loving:

1. I think this is going to be my new shade for my nails. I have been going with OPI's You Don't Know Jacques, but I ordered this shade, Essie's Smokin' Hot, on a whim, and I love it. My dad asked me today if there was something wrong with my hands, but I think it is really cool!

2. I have been using Bare Minerals for a couple of years now, and have been really happy with it, but lately I felt like my skin was just too dry for it or something -- it seemed to just sit on top of my skin. So, I was playing around on Sephora the other day, and I found the Flawless Face kit by Laura Mercier. I have heard great things about her products, so I decided to give it a try, and I am so glad that I did. It is a combination of some great, great products, and I love the way my face looks. My only complaint is that it takes longer than the two seconds it took me to put on the Bare Minerals, but most of the time I can handle that!

3. Finally, I needed some new jeans as all of my jeans from last year are too big (yeah!!!), so I headed into GAP to try their line that I have heard people raving about. I got a couple pairs of their jeggings, and I love them. I live in them. I seriously wear them all the time. In fact, I need to go back and get a couple more pairs so that I'm not doing the laundry quite so much.

I also got a pair of GAP's Always Skinny jeans, and I am not quite as enamored with those. I am not sure if I didn't get the right size, or if I just am too in love with the jeggings to love the Always Skinnies as much, but my feelings for them are just so-so.

So, anyway, that's what I'm diggin' these days!

Upcoming

The Farmer and I are getting ready to go on a tropical vacation with my entire family. Scratch that. We are going on a tropical vacation with my entire family sans kids under the age of ten -- so my kids, my sister's kids, and my brother's daughter are not going.

Both of my grandparents turned 80 this year -- my grandfather in July and my grandmother in October -- so this trip was planned as a big celebration for them. There are 20-something of us going. It should be a really fun trip. Or, at least, my trip will be fun because I plan to have a fruity drink and book in hand at all times (much to The Farmer's chagrin, I might add).

Since we will be in tropical paradise for a week, I will be spending the week in one of these:

which is all well and good except for the fact that I just got back from NOLA where I ate my weight in things like this every day:

And, since I have been back, my exercise routine has been slim-to-none -- not for lack of trying but for lack of time.

Now, before you get all "wow, tough life, Christie!" I will tell you that there are two sad parts to this trip:

1. I mentioned that this trip is a celebration for my grandparents 80th birthdays. Well, we planned it a long time ago (last winter or early spring), and then this summer my grandfather, who I have always thought of as a young, healthy (though larger than he should be) guy, started to feel not-right. Fast forward to today, and he relies solely on an oxygen tank to breathe. It is hard for him to walk from one end of his house to another and keep his breath.

So, my grandparents aren't going. On their birthday trip. The trip would have been canceled, but the houses were rented and we couldn't get our money back, so the rest of us are still going. But, there will be a damper on the trip because we know that Nana and Granddaddy aren't there; they will be at home sitting in their chairs watching FoxNews while they should be with us.

2. The Farmer and I are going to have to be away from the kids (for the first and last time!!!) on Thanksgiving. When we first booked the trip and all the plans were laid out and the dates were set, I thought "well, it is just one day, and Thanksgiving is one of the lesser holidays, not tied to the church, etc..." but now that we are getting closer, it is making me a little bit sad.

Of course, it isn't making me sad enough to stay home, but it is making me sad.

(That sounded really bad when I just typed it out...)

I am going to miss those little boogers!!

But, all in all, I think I can muscle through it...it should be a good time, and I am so looking forward to some grown-up time!

Could I Just BE Carrie Underwood, Please?

She may not have won any awards (at least I don't think she did -- unless I just missed one), but I still wouldn't have minded being Carrie Underwood at the CMAs last night -- or really any night, for that matter. After all, she gets to change her wardrobe 52 times, each time wearing some beautiful dress such as one of these:

And her hair and makeup always look flawless. Oh, and let's not forget her shoes. I mean, really, tough life, Carrie! And she and Brad Paisley were hilarious as hosts again this year (although my favorite song is still the one from last year "Mamas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Kanye).

Carrie's gorgeousness (is that even a word?) makes the effort that I put into myself on a daily basis -- roll out of bed, put on yoga pants, no makeup unless I'm really feeling on top of things, go with hair crazy from sleeping on it wet -- seem really, really lame.

Lame.

And then I think I could probably look pretty awesome, too (although probably not quite as awesome) if I had a team of stylists and hair and makeup gurus to get me ready. But then I'd probably have to get up earlier than the gosh-awful hour of 6 am when I wake up now -- and that just ain't happenin'.

Yoga pants it is.

One decision of Carrie's I would not have made? Her husband. Someone needs to tell that man to get a haircut.

Someone else who was looking pretty gorgeous last night? Gwyneth:

(image)

Honestly I have no idea what the heck her dress looked like, but if I had legs like hers, it wouldn't matter what my dress looked like, either! I thought her voice sounded pretty darn good, too.

And, I also have to add, what other music awards show would you hear someone else get up and thank their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ by name? Go CMAs!

*All Carrie Underwood images via people.com

Halloween and Checking In

Hello there! I am still recovering from a weekend trip to New Orleans where I was visiting my good friend, Jen, for her 30th birthday. I also got to meet a bloggie friend, LSUMelanie, while I was there! I want to do a whole NOLA recap, but that will have to wait for another day.

Today, I am finally posting Halloween pics! This is the third time that I have tried to upload them, but I am finally getting to it...so here they are!

Bubba went as Batman this year. He liked finding other superheroes while he was dressed up and saying "Hey, Hero!" and then they would commence chasing each other. Boys are just so different from girls -- I just can't get over it!

Miss Priss went as Sleeping Beauty. Lately Miss Priss has gotten tall, and she is looking really grown up. I need to try the old brick-on-the-head trick or something because she is growing up too fast.

Sassy went as a flapper girl -- not that she knows what that is, but we found a really cute costume at Wal-Mart. And she looked really cute and, well, sassy in it. She doesn't have them on in any of the pictures, but her costume had these cute gloves and headband, too.

I had the hardest time getting pictures of the kids on Halloween. I guess it was because they were all crazy on sugar, but they wouldn't stand still...so I did get some pretty crazy outtakes:

And then I tried to get one of all three...and that is always interesting!

But, at least they're cute (in my humble opinion!!!)!

Mmmmm....Candy!!!!

image

The thing is, I love candy. It just isn't good for my waistline or my head (boy, will it cause some migraines!), so I just don't buy it because I don't have enough restraint to not eat it if it's in my house. I love all sorts of candy -- candy corn, Snickers, M&Ms (pretty much any kind), Nerds, Skittles, Starbursts, Twizzlers --I could go on, but this is getting kind of embarrassing...

The great thing about Halloween (and pretty much the only great thing, in my opinion -- Halloween has never been my holiday of choice -- I have never liked dressing up, never liked anything spooky -- I would rather just skip over to Thanksgiving.) is that is gives us an excuse to have candy around the house for just a little while. While I don't like what it does to the kids (sugar rushes are not. fun. for. mommies!), I do like to be able to raid their trick-or-treat bags when I need a little sugar rush myself!

So, while I am now looking forward to Thanksgiving, I am going to enjoy my Halloween sugar rush a little bit longer...while my head can still stand it and while I can still stand my kids begging for just one more piece, please?!?!