Shout out to our latest follower

I love that we have 26 friends on this blog. I'm pretty sure in real life you would not follow me around but hey, online, I'll take it!

Today I was looking at our list of friends and I found one of our friends has an amazing jewelry/handbag line. This is the piece I like the best from shopbop.com, the Bronson Hammered Necklace:
I also thought our favorite Saints fan might need this for the game:
Thanks, Gorjana for following us!

HoneyBun

I want, I want, I want!!

Since somebody thinks this is the theme of our blog, I thought I'd use it as a topic for a post. There are lots of things I want right now---I'm human, and who doesn't want things? Here's a list of my top 5 "wants":

1. To lose the 10 pounds I put on after I lost my pregnancy weight and then some. This is purely my fault--I lost the pregnancy weight plus a few extra pounds fairly quickly after having my sweet boy six months ago, but then I decided I could continue to eat whatever I wanted like I did when I was pregnant....um, bad idea. Slowly but surely, the pounds crept back and here I am not fitting properly into my clothes and wanting to live in my stretchy black exercise pants. I joined My Food Diary and have lost 3 pounds so far....now I just want to keep it up so I can feel comfy in my body again!

2. To sleep all night in my own bed with only my husband. This doesn't sound like much to want, but when you have a 4 year old, a 2 year old, and a 6 month old, one of whom just recently started sleeping through the night and two of whom would rather get up in the middle of the night and either scream at the top of the stairs for their mommy or sneak into bed with their parents than sleep all night, it's a big deal. 2010 has yet to give us an entire night where both my hubby and I get to sleep in the same bed together for an entire night. I really, really, really want this to happen.

3. For two of my best friends not to move away. It's going to happen whether I want it to or not, but I'm not happy about it. :(

4. This dress from Lilly Pulitzer for my 2 year old. I want it so badly I can't even stand it, but I do not want to spend that much money on it, so I'm just going to keep drooling over it until it goes on sale or I figure out a way to come up with the money by selling old clothes on Ebay! :)

5. Finally, I want this amazing steam mop. I even went so far as to put it in my cart at Target and drive it around the store having an internal debate with myself about why I should/shouldn't buy it, but I ended up putting it back. We have a tile floor in our kitchen that gets so dirty every day, and I spend more time on my hands and knees scrubbing crap off the floor than I do anything else in that kitchen, and I know this would make my life SO much easier. However, I got the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser mop only a few months ago and thought the same thing about it. It is wonderful and it works great, I just think this steam mop would be even better. I'm sure something even better will come out in a few months....a self-cleaning kitchen floor would be nice! In the meantime, I want this mop. I really, really want it. Maybe an idea for my birthday gift, girlies? :)

Love,

Muffie :)

Couldn't put it down!

If you are looking for some new reading material, I highly recommend Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah. I started reading it Saturday, and 500+ pages and less than 48 hours later I'm finished and wishing it wasn't over. It's a story that follows two best friends through more than three decades of their lives, and is definitely one of the best books I've read in awhile. Now go read it and let me know what you think! :)

Love, Muffie

Letter to God

I don't usually read forwards and I especially don't forward forwards, but I thought this story was just the sweetest and most wonderful thing I had read in a long time. I hope you find that it gets your week off on the right foot...

Here it begins...

Our 14 year old dog, Abbey, died last month. The day after she died, my 4 year old daughter Meredith was crying and talking about how much she missed Abbey.. She asked if we could write a letter to God so that when Abbey got to heaven, God would recognize her. I told her that I thought we could so she dictated these words:

Dear God,
Will you please take care of my dog? She died yesterday and is with you in heaven. I miss her very much. I am happy that you let me have her as my dog even though she got sick.
I hope you will play with her.. She likes to play with balls and to swim. I am sending a picture of her so when you see her You will know that she is my dog. I really miss her.
Love, Meredith

We put the letter in an envelope with a picture of Abbey and Meredith and addressed it to God/Heaven. We put our return address on it.. Then Meredith pasted several stamps on the front of the envelope because she said it would take lots of stamps to get the letter all the way to heaven. That afternoon she dropped it into the letter box at the post office. A few days later, she asked if God had gotten the letter yet. I told her that I thought He had.

Yesterday, there was a package wrapped in gold paper on our front porch addressed, 'To Meredith' in an unfamiliar hand. Meredith opened it. Inside was a book by Mr. Rogers called, 'When a Pet Dies..' Taped to the inside front cover was the letter we had written to God in its opened envelope. On the opposite page was the picture of Abbey &Meredith and this note:

Dear Meredith,
Abbey arrived safely in heaven.
Having the picture was a big help. I recognized Abbey right away.
Abbey isn't sick anymore. Her spirit is here with me just like it stays in your heart. Abbey loved being your dog. Since we don't need our bodies in heaven, I don't have any pockets to keep your picture in, so I am sending it back to you in this little book for you to keep and have something to remember Abbey by..
Thank you for the beautiful letter and thank your mother for helping you write it and sending it to me. What a wonderful mother you have. I picked her especially for you.
I send my blessings every day and remember that I love you very much.
By the way, I'm easy to find, I am wherever there is love.

Love,
God

Is that not the sweetest and most thoughtful thing? What an amazing act of kindness! It inspires me to see these kinds of opportunities in my life.

LOLA

The race(s)

I'm kayaking tomorrow. Six miles. And before my kayaking excursion I'm running in a "fun run." How are "fun" and "run" ever in the same sentence? I used to know the answer to that question but now I am perplexed. Trixie is dieting, Lola has a personal trainer, Muffie was blessed with great genes and I know I should be doing something too...so biathalons are my choice. I got the short end of this stick I'm afraid.

Wish me luck!

HoneyBun

Happy Anniversary to Me!

I've posted it on every other blog I have and Facebook, so why not here, too, right?!?!

Today The Farmer and I are celebrating 8 years of marriage! Well, actually, he is sleeping and I am blogging so we aren't doing much celebrating, but today is our anniversary. We are going to celebrate this weekend with a lovely dinner date. The Farmer did bring me home some beautiful flowers tonight, though.

Here are some pictures from our day (they are scanned, so they aren't of the highest quality...my apologies for not getting married when everything was digital...):

Oh to be young, cute, and skinny again...

Trixie

When it's cold, I like...

To cuddle up on the couch with a cozy blanket. Doesn't this cable knit throw from Pottery Barn look perfect for a cold day?

To drink hot cocoa out of a big mug. May I suggest the best hot cocoa I have ever tasted from Mariebelle in NYC. The choices of cocoas include chocolate and bananas, spicy chocolate, and milk chocolate, and each is so rich that a regular size cocoa is about the size of a shot glass.

To watch NFL playoff football. We are currently watching the Arizona Cardinals battle it out with the Green Bay Packers. We (the Saints) will play the winner of this game next Saturday at 3:30 in the Superdome. I will be in that number and cannot wait until the game. I hope it warms up so that I don't freeze my bottom off tailgating.

To cook a warm and hearty meal. Tonight we're having chicken curry which I am adapting from a cooking light recipe for turkey curry. I thought the nice spicy curry would warm us up tonight. Mmmm...

To daydream about a beach vacation (we're hoping to be taki

ng one in a few weeks to Miami to see the Saints play in the Superbowl). Fingers crossed!!!!

LOLA

Style Inquiry: Duck boots

Are duck boots cool? My cousin who is in college wanted some for Christmas and she is adorable. I started thinking to myself that unlike skinny jeans I may be able to pull off this trend.

Duck boots really aren't a trend. They are more of a classic as they have been around forever. However, I don't have a pair so I started doing some research.

In my queries I found mostly ugly ducklings.


But then I found that Tory BURCH has a pair of duck boots out right now. Amazing!



The pair I like the best is this pair by Sperry's.


What do you think? Tory, Sperry, or none?

Honey Bun

Bring it 2010

This is Honey Bun. Can I start out by saying that I am THRILLED it is 2010 for so many reasons.

1) I'm turning 30! Age is just a number...an AWESOME number. For those of you who don't know me...my voice sounds like I am an eight year old. I convinced myself at 25 (my last benchmark age) that 30 is when my voice would change for good. 30 is when people start taking you seriously. 30 is when you have enough life experience to have an opinion or be an expert on something. Sure, it comes with a few challenges (aka wrinkles and pounds), but overall it is arguably the perfect age.

2) 2010: 20+10=30. Get it?

3) This year I have not one but TWO trips planned. One international (the Holy Land) and a lazy domestic beach vaca.

4) 2008 was terrible. 2009 was a mixture of great things and terrible things. Great things of 2009 are Lily and my job. Terrible things of 2009 are my grandmother dying and being 29. Oh age 29, you carry all the responsibilities of a "real" adult but none of the respect.

5) Alabama is winning the national championship game. My grandfather is very sick with Leukemia. I've never seen anyone as passionate about a sports team as my grandfather is about the Crimson Tide. Lola might argue that she is the most passionate fan...I will grant Lola the most competitive and well versed sports (specifically SAINTS) fan in the nation but my grandfather has been a fan for many more years...a passion that can only come with time. This is clearly an early call with 1 minute left in the third quarter and a Texas TD, but Alabama is well positioned for the win.

6) Surprises. I typically hate surprises but there is something so exciting about the wonder of a new year. What will happen? What does the future hold? I hope for all great things for you and your families.

Global Warming

I don't know about y'all, but I am really enjoying this global warming.

I mean, here we are on January 7th, and there are record high temperatures. I mean, I have spent a lot of my time lately laying out and getting a suntan! It is just beautiful and so warm!

Oh, wait...that's not quite right...

No, instead there are record low temperatures everywhere. I saw a weather map this morning, and it was showing temperatures in the low 50s in Miami. The poor farmers in Florida have ice on their strawberries, oranges, and tomatoes. We are supposed to have that dreaded "wintry mix" of rain, sleet, and snow tonight and into the morning. Our high tomorrow is 40 degrees.

40 degrees!

My poor children aren't going to know what hit them!

I know that there are plenty of places where that is just another winter day, but not here in the South. I, for one, hate cold weather. In fact, as soon as Christmas is over I am ready for the temperatures to spring back up to at least 70. I keep thinking that I would love to be in the Keys to escape this mess, but even that isn't far enough south!

I don't know about you, but I sure could use some global warming right about now...

Trixie

Tex Mex burgers--YUM!!

I read about these in Real Simple and adapted the recipe a bit more to my liking. Made them tonight and they were fabulous (and super-easy to make)!

Tex Mex Hamburgers

Ingredients:

ground beef

sour cream

bread crumbs

sliced avocado

salsa

shredded Monterrey Jack or 4 cheese Mexican blend (I used the 4 cheese Mexican)

Mix ground beef, some sour cream, and some bread crumbs together and form patties. I don't like to use measurements when I cook, so just use enough that your hamburgers don't crumble when you grill them. Grill burgers (I grilled them inside on the stove but I also like to use the grill outside). Broil/grill buns to your liking. Put hamburger on bottom bun and immediately top with cheese so it melts. Top with two or three spoonfuls of salsa, and then top with sliced avocado. Put top bun on, take a huge bite and enjoy! Delish!!!

Love, Muffie :)

It's the most wonderful time of the year

No, silly, not Christmas - Mardi Gras! For most people, the end of December brings a sadness that comes with the close of another holiday season. But for those of us from New Orleans, the grandest season of them all is set to begin this Wednesday, January 6th on the Feast of the Epiphany. It is the official start to the 2010 carnival season, and it means that the parade I ride in is only five weeks away!!! This will be my fifth ride in the Krewe of Muses, and it will be the tenth anniversary of our amazing Krewe of more than 1,500 dedicated women, with more than 750 of them riding in this year's parade. The theme of our parade, which changes annually, will remain a secret until the day of our ride. It is kept closely guarded by all of us in the krewe because mystery is a part of what makes Mardi Gras so special. Each float will bare a politically and socially relevant and satirical title that will relate to the theme of the parade, and each rider on the float will wear a headdress that represents her float's title. The headdress (which is designed and put together by the members of each float) is of utmost importance because the winner of the headdress contest gets to ride in the "Title Float" (the first float of the parade) in the next year's parade - a HUGE honor. Fingers crossed it will be the women of Float 18 taking home this prize!! We have come so close in the past, and I just have a feeling this is OUR YEAR! I am so excited that the season is almost here, that I just had to share this little look into the life of a Muse. Here's some pictures from the parade last year...

Here is a picture of our headdress from last year. You can't see it here, but the whole thing lit up! It was beautiful.

This is my riding buddy, Sarah, and me at our float's luncheon at Galatoire's Restaurant on Bourbon St. Lunch at Galatoire's is a true Mardi Gras tradition.

This is Sarah and me at our parade's pre-party right before we heard the sirens of the motorcycle unit of NOPD announcing that it was time to board the floats and head down Tchoupitoulas St. for our big ride!

This is a picture of Float 13 and all of the wonderful women I ride with.

LOLA