The other night I went over to Casa de Mustachio for dinner & visiting. We ate FABULOUS Thai food for dinner from a local place (Em’s a champ at eating Thai- that’s awesome for a 3 year old!) then Em did some modeling for me. She showed me her Princess Tiana Halloween costume. 
Check out these super fly shoes! 
The heels light up! I wish they came in my size. She looks so beautiful in her Tiana gown! Shannon is going to be my assistant at a school festival soon where I’m face painting so we thought we’d practice a little on Emily before Shannon’s professional face painting debut. Emily LOVED being our little guinea pig. It didn’t hurt that I brought her a new set of Silly Bandz to bribe her a little. 
Em was a great guinea pig- a 3 year old is way more squirmy than the grade school kids will be at the festival. So if you can paint anything on a wiggly 3 year old and it comes out half recognizable then you’ll be all set!
Bless Your Heart
Living out loud in the Carolinas
recent posts
Vacation Consultant 🛳️ Color Street Stylist 💅
Mom to 3 pups 🐾
Lover of all things sparkly🪩 Ally 🌈
| S | M | T | W | T | F | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |||
| 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
| 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | ||
-
-
I’m curious as to what makes for an exciting, fun read for you. When you are reading a novel specifically, what point of view creates more of a sense of involvement for you as the reader?
If you have any other opinions or comments about what qualities in a fun novel make you love that book and want to read another, please leave a comment!
-
FINALLY! Sara has a diagnosis! If you haven’t heard, my sister Sara has been dealing with some medical issues for 5 years now, ever since she gave birth to Joey. She’s been exhausted, swollen, jaundiced, in pain, the works. She’s had a million tests and procedures, been to see a million doctors and specialists. Last year I took her to Wake Forest for tests. That didn’t go well. Finally this summer she went to Duke and they figured it out! Sara has Hereditary spherocytosis. Now that they know what’s wrong with her they can fix her! And unfortunately that means surgery. She will have to have her spleen removed in October, a week or so before Halloween. Because of the disease her spleen isn’t functioning as it should and that is making her sick. Removing it is her only real option. The surgery is Laparoscopic and her recovery time will be pretty short, thank goodness. The surgeon taking care of her does all of the Charlotte area splenectomies so she’s in good hands. I’m so excited for her to be able to get back to a normal life finally! No more steroids! Less blood draws! (she’s been having her blood tested every 2 weeks for years now). She’ll be feeling good in just a few weeks! Hurray! So please say a little prayer or send some good healing vibes on October 25th! -
Image via Wikipedia Even though I’ve never met these people I absolutely love and adore them. Please, if they are all really jackholes, don’t spoil it for me. One day I’ll have a big margarita drinking party and all these people will come over for the weekend. We’ll play tons of games and have the best time and get matching tattoos.
- Ross Matthews. He is nothing but fun and brings me joy every time I see him. I never miss an episode of Chelsea Lately when he’s on the round table.
- Kathy Griffin. Not only is she hilarious, but she is an active advocate for gay rights and an animal lover. It takes cahones to publicly stand up for something controversial, especially if you aren’t gay yourself. Bravo, Kathy!
- Kathy Griffin’s mom Maggie. Just adorable. I’d love to tip it with her and share some box wine!
- Bethenny Frankel. Cracks me up. Whip smart. Managed to walk in sky high heels while hugely pregnant and made it look good.
- Ricky Gervais. Hilarious. Love his laugh. I could listen to him talk about anything for hours. Kills me.
- Jason Bateman. Love his wit and sense of humor.
- Lauren Graham. She’s absolutely beautiful but not in that I’m a celebrity bitchy kind of way. She’s not afraid to be goofy. Love that.
- Jimmy Fallon. Adorable. Hilarious. I love that he can’t keep a straight face and cracks up all the time. Seems like a genuinely nice guy.
- Drew Barrymore. Extremely talented and beautiful but not intimidating. You just know she’s down for having a beer and that makes her very cool.
-
Molly loves her Daddy. LOVES.
She likes to perch on his shoulder very territorially and gives me to stink eye. Back off woman, this is my man. I know if she could talk she would tell me this. 
Note CSP’s new specs. -
Don’t let me fool you, Kiki runs this show. She hasn’t been thrilled with the lack of pug posts around here lately and has demanded that I show y’all how much she loves her stuffed Peep.
I don’t want to be on her bad side so here she is! 
-
Cover of The Hunger Games I haven’t updated this list since June and this summer I did a lot of reading. I’m including short reviews for each book. Here we go:
- Night by Elie Weisel. EVERYONE should read this book. Around 100 pages, but the hardest 100 pages to get through. So worth it though.
- Exposure by Brandilyn Collins. via Kindle for iPhone. With the exception of the main character’s lame first name (Kaycee, ugh)…it was good! Esp for a free Kindle book!
- 206 Bones by Kathy Reichs. Love her.
- Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson. Very cute book. Also a Kindle free read. There’s a sequel I can’t wait to read.
- The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson. Currently working on this one.
- Size 12 is Not Fat by Meg Cabot. Very cute book. Funny.
- Big Boned by Meg Cabot. See above.
- The Shack by William P. Young. Thought provoking
- Look Again by Lisa Scottoline. Tense. Good.
- The Help by Kathryn Stockett. Should be required reading. Fantastic.
- Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris… Love! It’s book 1 of the Sookie Stackhouse books.
- Living dead in Dallas. by Charlaine Harris. Hooked on this series
- Precious /Push by Sapphire. Surprisingly short. Full of foul language and behavior. Glad I read it but wouldn’t read again.
- Club Dead by Charlaine Harris. Still loving this series
- Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella. Fun read! Very girlie.
- Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris. This book is where you really notice the split from the tv series. I kinda wish the tv show would stay more true to the books.
- Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris
- Definitely Dead by Charlaine Harris. This one got REALLY corny! But I’m invested and I want to see what happens!
- The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak. SO good. Haunting. Had no idea it was a Young Adult book until after I read it.
- Hunger games by Suzanne Collins. Amazing. Seriously. Devoured this and Catching Fire in one weekend.
- Catching fire by Suzanne Collins. Could not put down. Great characters, storyline. Can totally see as a movie. Can’t wait for book 3!
- Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang by Chelsea Handler. Ok, but not nearly as funny as Are You There God, It’s Me, Chelsea. I only laughed out loud like once. She even said on her show that she was rushing to finish this book and you could totally tell.
- Maneater by Gigi Levangie Grazer. Listened to this one on the way out to the Outer Banks on CD. It was pretty good. Light stuff for a road trip.
- Anyone But You by Jennifer Cruisie. Listened to this on the way home from the Outer Banks on CD. Wish we had picked this one first to listen to instead of Maneater. Super cute and we were both disappointed when we arrived home before the story was over. Immediately checked the book out of the library and finished the story. Would be a really cute Rom Com movie.
- Altogether Dead by Charlaine Harris. I think this is the one that deals with Hurricane Katrina. I really liked how she dealt with it.
- Guernsey Literary & Potato Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. Delightful! Just a lovely book. I’m so glad I read this. Loved the letters format, loved the depiction of WW2. Not as romanticized as other books I’ve read. Wished there was more book to read. As soon as I finished it I instantly missed the characters.
Image via Wikipedia - The Cinderella Deal by Jennifer Crusie Very cute. Could definitely be a movie.
- Wild Ride Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer. Liked this a lot more than I thought I would. After the first chapter I almost stopped reading it but I’m sure glad I didn’t.
- Nature Girl by Carl Hiaasen. Funny & clever.
- Undone by Karin Slaughter. Very good. Creepy. Sticks with you. Unfortunately once I was finished reading this I found out it’s the book that brings together 2 of Slaughter’s series. So now I’m going to go back and read all the books I skipped. Doh!
- Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris. Liked this one a lot. A little more somber. She didn’t do as much “Previously on Sookie’s life” as she’s done before and that made it much more enjoyable.
I have been using a fun app on my iPhone called Get Glue. Every time you read a book or watch a movie or a show or listen to music you check in. This has been a fun way to keep tabs on my reading list. You earn badges that they actually mail you in sticker form! Fun! Unfortunately I couldn’t find all my check ins from when I was reading these books. That would have helped with this post. I suppose I’ll use Goodreads more often so my mini reviews will be saved.Since my last post in June I’ve read all the books starting at #11. Keep in mind I had pneumonia and was sick for pretty much all of June so reading was about all I could do!Next on my list is Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. I’m on the wait list at the library for that one. I’m also reading Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. So far it is very intriguing! -
Maybe it’s all men, maybe it’s just mine, but I’m noticing some nuttiness lately that can’t be explained. Example, the following picture:
This is CSP giving me the finger because I’m trying to capture for posterity how cute he looks in his new glasses. He was convinced the picture would end up on the internet. Well, why deny the inevitable? Here he is, on the internet, looking smart as a whip in his new specs. I fear he’s only a few vulgar hand gestures away from being the crazy old man on our street! A few days after this picture was taken we were in the car. Together. In a vehicle. When CSP says to me “So, what are you doing for dinner?” WHA?? Oh, well I was hoping you’d drop me off at Olive Garden and I’ll meet you back at home. What goes through his head? Please tell me I’m not the only one with a crazy husband out there! -
Nine years ago when I started blogging:
- I had recently started reading these things called blogs. The first one I really liked was LJC. Jenny’s blog inspired me to start my own.
- CSP & I were newlyweds of 5 months. We were researching where to buy our first house.
- We were also already trying to start our family.
- The economy was booming.
- We were weeks away from 9/11.
- I was working for one of the biggest mutual fund companies in the world.
Nine years later:
- CSP & I are living in our 3rd house with our 3 pugs.
- We’re still trying to start, no, add to our family. But we’re getting closer.
- The economy is in the toilet.
- I’m a homemaker now. A not so desperate housewife. I also do some artist type stuff.
- CSP & I are closing in on a decade of marriage. It’s been an awesome 9+ years.
-
Today my blog turns nine years old! I can’t believe I’ve been blogging for almost a decade!
| S | M | T | W | T | F | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |||
| 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
| 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | ||
Bless Your Heart 