10 Steps To Crush Black Friday Shopping

November 23, 2017

There are two reasons in life I get up way before the sun rises with a smile on my face and a pep in my step. 1) Hosting a yard sale. 2) Black Friday Shopping.

My Black Friday days started back when I was in high school and got a job working for KB Toys. Who remembers them? Well, I do, because I lived for Black Friday. I even volunteered to work double shifts. They didn’t allow it but I tried and that is what matters.

The smell of new toys, the hysteria from strangers, the smirk on my face knowing exactly where in the store of the floor to ceiling toys the latest and greatest doorbusters where secretly hidden. It started then, my love for Black Friday, and before you judge me or call me out for being a materialistic fool please know that I really don’t care. For the tradition of Black Friday is something I love and yes, start counting down the day to somewhere after the 4th of July.

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Dear Little Sister

October 8, 2016

There was a time I was your age. While it feels like ages ago, please understand, when you look back at me, I was once in your shoes. You can sit there quietly. You can put on a brave face, but what I am not acknowledging when I sit there looking at you is that I know on some days you are fighting back tears. And, I won’t call you on it. I know when someone says, “Are you crying?” or “Honey, don’t cry.” You will, because I too had those very questions asked at your age and before I knew it the waterworks would turn on and I would be a blubbering mess into someone’s shoulder. It is like the question turns the faucet on.

Being a teenager is hard. Don’t let anyone tell you it is not. Friends from elementary and middle school that you proclaimed as your BFF, splitting heart necklaces and making pinkie promises suddenly disappear. Or worse, sometimes you actually feel like you are the one who has disappeared as you pass them during the school day without a wave or a smile. Your body is changing. Suddenly things are happening that you heard about in 5th grade health and you want to crawl under your bed sheets and stay awhile. You want to be a kid but you also want to grow up. You are learning who you are while navigating the halls of a school filled with judgment, pettiness, competition and jealousy.

But, here is the thing. This won’t last forever. These feelings you feel today as you scan Facebook to see what “he” is up to, or where all your “friends” are tonight, while you sit at your older sister’s home, they too shall pass. Because once you throw that cap in the air and earn your high school diploma, high school drama ends and real life begins. This I promise.

So, here are some things the real world doesn’t care about.

How popular you were.
You are going to graduate from high school and just like that, each and every one of you will scatter. Some will go into the workforce right away, some will take time to find themselves, some into the military, some into their hometown college and others will pack up and cross the country for school. But, you will scatter and you will start over, and I repeat, you will start over. So, popularity, in high school will soon in the snap of a finger mean nothing. College and / or the real world doesn’t gauge acceptance and hiring on how many people sat with you in the lunch room.

If you know how to contour your face or not.
Unless you are becoming a makeup artist, no one cares if you can contour your face or not. So, the need to be beautiful and cake your face in makeup is just plain silly. In fact, if you are not a makeup artist, don’t even try contouring. You are most beautiful without a drop of makeup on.

Who you dated.
Life goes round. Boys will come and go and your heart will break. If you are like most, it will break more than once and you will probably even break a heart or two, too. The thing is you are in that in between stage in life. Not quite a woman, and not quite a girl. It is the same for boys. Believe me. While it hurts today, in a few years you will look back and laugh. And, if you are anything like your sister, your brothers and uncles will one day pick on you for your young love crushes and choices.

Who Your Best Friends Are.
Friends will come and go. I promise you this. It will happen now and even when you become an adult. People change and adapt and because of this, so does friendship. Do not define yourself by quantity but by quality. One great best friend is worth the weight in gold than 10 sub-par “friends.”

But, here are the things the real world does care about.

Your Grades – Yes, this really is the main reason you are in high school. Take school seriously. Do well. Try hard and place your attention and efforts into learning and loving to learn. You never stop learning and high school is the stepping stone to what your future holds.

That You Can Multi-Task – Try out for the drama club. Play soccer. Join the Yearbook Team. Do all the things you want to do and possibly can! Use high school to your advantage. Show that you have initiative.

That You Respect Authority – A respectful teenager is a respectful adult and it goes both ways. Meaning, when you leave high school with the mentality that adults can be mentors and by exhibiting this trait, adults will look at you as a young adult with an equal amount of respect. Understand that you are not a know-it-all. Sometimes, adults know what they are talking about and their tough love is just that. They are guiding and shaping you.

That You Are Kind. Don’t be a bully today or tomorrow. Life is about acceptance. Be humble, be kind and don’t stoop to the level of others. My favorite Maya Angelou quote is, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Remember this. I promise you in ten years you will pass an old classmate in public and they won’t remember who your best friends were or who you dated but they will remember how you made them feel right now. Be the shining person who strives to be that very person that in ten years from now is remembered for being accepting, friendly and kind. It is a better legacy than the mean girls.

Finally, dear sister, go to bed each night loving yourself today. You are special. Hold your head high with self-confidence not self-boasting. Love yourself for your own reflection each day, never the reflection you see through others. Unless of course it is through me, because what I see is something beautiful!

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Beaching In South Carolina

August 7, 2016

Things have been QUIET around here. Not like in the physical home form (oh, contrary) – I am talking about on the Blog Diggity.

We have been beaching it up for the past week in South Carolina. Shout out to the Palmetto State, you are beautiful.

Each year my husband’s side makes the pilgrimage for a week of fun, sun, laughter, crying, whining, food & drinks (oh, lots of drinks) and little to no relaxing. Yes, you read it right – little to no relaxing. What all vacations are made of!

Oh, and there were selfies. Lots and lots of selfies!

We take it in great stride. It has not always been this way and won’t always either. In fact, this is the 10th summer I have spent with his side ocean front and many, many years were spent staying out late, bar hopping, shopping for cute cover-ups and suits (for hours, not minutes), dining out often and staying on the beach from sun up to practically sundown.

8 Adults. 8 Children (Ages 7 and under) and 1 House. Yes, 1 house. What the hell are we thinking? I swear I question our sanity each year as we load up the SUV’s and truck, and place sleeping babies in their car seats and take bets on how long until – “Are we there yet?” begins or complete meltdowns and bribery take place. The trip is long, even for us adults. Although, the kids were champs, except for my nephew, Sam. I think he puked about 4 times along I-95. Just kidding. Not about the puke, but about the champ comment. In reality, he can take the crown for longest car ride ever for a car sick little boy.

My sister-in-law, Amie wins the most-creative-mom award for entertaining her kiddies with a small toy on the hour. Unlike Nathan and I who purchased a portable DVD player and three DVD’s and popped that sucker in the moment Lo made her first peep. Anyways, Amie shopped at the local Dollar General before we left and gift wrapped coloring books, stickers, small figures, etc and allowed the kids to select one as each hour passed – all 9 long hours. So, take note, fellow parents of little kids, as you plan a long roadtrip. Just calculate better. Amie missed an hour so we had to convenience them dinner was one of their gifts!

I made the point to someone that driving to South Carolina was sort of like having a baby. The trip is painful like delivery. The beach week is delightful like the baby and the whole experience is so worth it that you do it over and over again, forgetting the upfront pain (hence, why women have more than one child and why this growing family keeps going back for more and more).

The week flew by. But, it always does when you are on vacation. Time is never enough. You feel selfish for wanting more and yet deserving for not having enough. Or, at least we do! When you work so hard all year and await this one week yearly, you can feel selfish with your time and money. Vacation almost becomes a celebration of all your hard work.

And, while there were meltdowns, and there were fights over baby dolls and pacifiers and swim gear and sand toys, our 8 human beings are so lucky to have this experience and each other.

My daughter woke up screaming in pure joy each morning when she heard her cousins outside our bedroom door.

We also successfully went out for, wait for it – lunch. Which could have been like a tornado hitting a house but we managed to get through it with minimal wind damage. One child dive bombed off a chair sideways and most-creative-mom, Amie, turned into most-easily-persuaded-mom and then morphed into thank-the-heavens-you-think-of-this-crap-mom, purchasing cotton candy and rainbow popcorn PRE-lunch for us all to snack on at the table. I think for 2 minutes all of us were in our dining room seats eating, but as meltdowns began to occur an adult and child would pop-out. Hey, small victories, right? This was one.

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The only proof we have that this happened.

Somehow we also managed a birthday party for the family “triplets.” Really a set of identical twin boys and an ornery red head girl who all shared their third birthday just days a part.

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Someone get my daughter a slice of cake.

It helps that us adults enjoy our morning bloody marys and afternoon Corona’s with lime, because when the chaos hit a high and the majority of our children were whining like baby birds waiting for Momma Bird to drop a worm, we would look across the madness, open the refrigerator or uncork some wine and just laugh.

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When all else fails, just stick your kid in a water filled bucket! 15 minutes of fun.

So, I am not refreshed for Monday morning – sorry, world! I am not richer – much poorer and I am not relaxed, oh the opposite – I am pretty beat.

I am; however, content, grateful and fulfilled.

We have given our Lo girl and along with our family, our 7 nieces and nephews some amazing memories. We do it all for the kids right? And, us too! We laughed much, we ate well, raised our glasses, got some serious tans (y’all I looked like Casper pre-vacation) and were able to carve out time some much needed family time.

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P.S. – One twin boy and adult men missing. P.S.S. – I do not know why we packed clothes! Diaper and swimsuit week.

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Thirty Lessons I Have Learned In My 30 Years

July 24, 2016

So, here is the thing… in a few short days, I will be celebrating a milestone birthday. 30. THIRTY. thirty. 3-0. The Big 30.

I am sort of okay with it and then other days (maybe most) pretty scared. What do I really have to be scared of? I know, right? I think it comes down to the annoying time clock that just keeps ticking away. I don’t feel old. I do not feel like my age defines me. However, I do feel like my twenties were a time of exploration and excuses. You can get away with more crap in your twenties. Why? Because it is you 20’s! They are meant for finding yourself and all aspects of your life. Finding a companion, finding your passion, finding a career path, finding friends, finding a place in this world. You could make mistakes, get dirty, screw up royally and at the end of the day still save yourself under the good graces of exploring. My fear is that when the clock ticks midnight and I officially age one-year, I have lost all of that.

When I was pregnant, I felt like every other blogger around me was too. Sharing details of their pregnancy, week by week changes (you know – my baby is the size of an avocado today!), nursery sneak peeks and birth stories. And, now that I am turning thirty, I am finding that again, many of the bloggers I follow are too turning the same age.

Thirty things to do before I turn 30 is what nearly every single blogger has shared. They have amazing lists that ranged from learning a second or even third language to taking a girls trip to Napa Valley. They had strong goals and used the turn of a decade to check off some dream items.

I, on the other hand, failed miserably at such an approach a year ago.

So, then I thought, once I was 30 days out I would cleverly borrow the idea and create a smaller, scaled down, more manageable version for myself and the Blog. Yep, you guessed it… I failed at that too.

Now, I am staring thirty in the eyes and before I line drive its neck, I thought I would take a different more, gasp – positive approach.

THIRTY LESSONS I HAVE LEARNED IN MY 30 YEARS

That your parents are cool and can also be your best friends.
Oreos are amazing at 3 and at 30.
Money can actually be irrelevant!
Sending hand written thank you notes is incredibly meaningful and a lost art.
Family really is everything!
Sometimes all it takes is a change of perspective.
Not everyone has your best interest at heart. Learn that and learn to let them go.
Patience is a virtue. And, I have yet to accomplish.
Giving can provide the same great euphoria as receiving.
Sometimes all you need is ice cream, or a glass of wine, or both.
Yes, networking matters but sometimes life also comes down to luck!
Friendships after high school and college require diligent attention and effort.
There is 100% such a thing as “mom hair.” And, it was and is the messy bun I thought was cool in high school.
Sometimes a “boring life” is a blessed and good life!
Making homemade meatballs actually is not that hard.
Passing judgement truly just makes you an a-hole.
That my father was right when he told me on the first day of my first real job, “Contribute to a 401 K; one day you will thank me.” Thanks, Dad.
A title should never determine your self-worth.
A mother’s love is incredible, strong, ruthless and powerful.
Trust your gut!
Yes, backstabbers exist at 16, 21, 30, 40, 50 and so on.
Strive to not be happy but to be content.
Money can buy a lot of things but it cannot buy you class.
That drinking enough water, really is a legit thing.
That the dentist did not lie when he told you to floss daily. It too, is a legit thing.
Life is very much unfair but that doesn’t mean you should slack or make excuses.
You are in control of your destiny.
The sweetest words you will ever hear are your own child calling your name or saying “I love you.
The belief that you deserve everything you set your heart and mind to.
Loving yourself is a challenge but achievable.

As I quickly close in on the mile marker, I am reminded to refer to #10 above. Someone please pass me the pint of ice cream and a big ole’ glass of wine now. Like, right now! I promise myself I won’t eat and drink my way to 30 and through it. Instead, I will try to embrace the years, this life, the lessons and what is to come.

Here is to year 30, but more importantly to the thirty lessons I learned along this winding way.

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