Kate Spade Giveaway

I'm not sure why I'm sharing this, as it decreases MY chances to win but hey, I just want to share a little Kate Spade love with everyone. Click here to enter, and good luck!

My Holiday Wish List begins...

Think your netbook is hot? Check out HP's Mini-Note all dolled up in Vivienne Tam. The HP Digital Clutch was spotted on the runway during New York's Fashion Week earlier this week, and since we missed the event, here's a link to a few more photos of the red hot netbook courtesy of Laptop Magazine.
The design was inspired by Vivienne Tam's "China Chic" style, and features peony flowers over a bright red paint job that covers the Mini-Note inside and out. Why peonies? Hollywood Scoop says Tam's spring collection paid homage to Yves Saint Laurent with tailored suits and peonies, which according to Ms. Tam, are loved by every woman.
To show how stylish the netbooks really are, some of Vivienne's models traded in their evening bag for the fashionable digital clutch, which probably drew a lot of oohs and aaahs as they walked the runway.

*Side note- Pricing is not available for this product as of yet. But seriously, how cute is this???

Origins- Free shipping and samples today only!

Go to Origins today to claim your free shipping and samples!

And the mother of the year award goes to...

Someone other than me. If we're going to have true confessions here goes. For some reason whenever there is a "sign up" sheet I never want to sign up for the easy stuff. Like paper plates. Oh no. Why? When I have a perfectly good chance to make something cute and awesome and prove to myself that I can do it all? Sure. And then comes the LAST MINUTE. Where I ask myself "Why?" WHY didn't I be the smart mom who signed up for paper plates or carrot sticks? WHY did I do this most likely knowing it would come down to game time and I would scramble? Honestly, I think I like the adrenaline rush of doing things last minute even though it hacks Brian off to no end. So, in a matter of hours I am supposed to have non-iced cupcakes (again, my choice to sign up for this) at Caroline's school and I have to fess up to calling Kroger to see if they would just sell me some non-iced cupcakes from the bakery. But they won't. And part of me thinks that the reason they won't is to teach lazy moms like me a lesson. As in DON'T OVER-ACHIEVE. It is OKAY to bring the freaking paper plates. And guess what? That mom most likely got to watch the Office without timing things for commercial breaks. Man, I don't know who that mom is but right now she is so much smarter than I am.

Aquafresh White Trays

Save $7 on yours! I really was pleased with this product and at an extra $7 off I would buy them again no questions asked.

Me, Becks and Sarah Palin

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Free shipping from The Limited

Today Only! Hurry up and get your shop on!

Use code 547 to get your free shipping.

Fingers crossed...

So I've signed up (much to the mortification of Tessa and possibly Brian who after being married for long enough just doesn't offer much of an opinion any more) for hip hop dance classes starting tonight. I've thought about doing this for a while now but am finally going to do it. Keep your fingers crossed that I am not the oldest person there (they assured me that I won't be amazingly enough) and that no one gets hurt. Including me. Seriously, if anyone knows of a dance studio offering adult hip hop classes in C-bus let me know. I've found others but for some reason most of them seem to cut off at age 18. This just seems like SO MUCH MORE FUN than a treadmill or elliptical for me...

Divine Intervention...

Well, there are several titles that would be appropriate for this post:
1) Caught in the Act
2) Are you there God? It's me, Katie
3) Damn
I'm sure I could come up with more, but it went a little like this. Brian (Big Money) has been a touch upset (understatement) with my spending habits. In an "I told you so" kind of mood I told him I was going to go 30 days without spending money. (Food being an exception obviously) So last night Jordan, Traci and I took the kids to McDonald's for dinner (because that's the kind of mom I am) and then to a designer consignment store that had been written about in the paper and had glowing reviews. Well, that store was not all it was cracked up to be (as in I am pretty sure crack heads were shopping there) so we decided to hit another store where I have made some pretty good scores. (Not of the crack variety) So we are in there, it is close to closing time and in walk two guys from Jordan's church that I know. I just completely stopped. (As I am holding a Tahari skirt in my grubby little paws) And I asked them how they knew I was there. They had just been at my house to say Hi and I wasn't there. I was so nervous getting caught at the store! I asked if Brian knew I was there and they said that no, they were stopping in looking at ties and saw Caroline in the window. Phew! So I am not sure if the moral of the story is that God (and I hope no one if offended at me for discussing the Big Guy) was checking up on me to let me know that he was watching to make sure I kept my promise to Brian or if he was sending me a message that "It's OK Katie, you're at a consignment store looking for a good deal. Enjoy."

Twilight the Movie- Tickets are on sale now!

I know that a few of you are fans/followers of the Twilight series. And if you aren't, you should be! The movie tickets are on sale now and are already selling out in some theatres! If you don't have yours (and we do, thanks to Jordan!) get online and GET THEM! I would hate to be able to brag that I saw the movie and you didn't!

Run for the Border- Free Taco Bell

Check this out for the deets

Who is right, who is wrong?

Let me tell you this stuff just isn't going to unpack all on it's own. Brian was out of town last week and returned on Thursday. Let me remind you that in his absence I worked a full time job, raised kids, kept a house clean and looked after a dog. So upon returning home Thursday (at lunchtime) Brian placed his suitcase on the bedroom floor. And it still remains there. On Monday night, and Brian is in bed. My guess is that he is not taking a cat nap with the intent of putting this stuff away later tonight. I give this suitcase until Thursday before it moves. I feel pretty confident about that. So my question to you is
1) At what point do you give up and do the unpacking
2) Do you just ignore it as he does?
3) At what point do you have a meltdown about being taken for granted and hurl the suitcase at his head?
I'm only curious because I am intrigued by the way other people handle their own home lives. So speak up and be heard!

*As an add on to this, I have to tell you my way to handle this problem, and I know Brian would agree- I will leave it there. And I will hope it stays there as long as possible. So that when I need to, I can bust out with "Remember when your suitcase sat there for "X" number of days?" This type of scenario comes in handy when I do something that irritates Brian, or just feel grumpy and want something to gripe about.

One last Happy Birthday Shout Out to my girl Tessa!

Happy Birthday Tessa! This one's for you!

I got my money's worth

I had a hair appointment this weekend and as always I am amazed by what they can do with my fine, thin hair. Their knowledge and technique with these tools just impresses me to no end. So after Dana was done using the worlds biggest hairbrush on my head, and I looked like I had a head full of thick gorgeous hair I decided that I too needed that mega-brush she had used. Granted, I was a bit intimidated by the size but figured what the hell, I can buy it and never use it again right? As if that has never happened. Well, I got my brand new Olivia Garden 2 1/2 inch ceramic + ion thermal hairbrush home and let me tell you it is loooove. Love. Plain and simple. How did I ever live without this brush? I have fine hair, but a lot of it and my hair takes a bit to dry. And at the end it needs straightened due to the texture and frizz factor. I am no Vidal Sassoon but after using this brush my hair took about 3 minutes to dry (a record) felt thick and did not need straightened. This brush is a joy. It is expensive, yes but I can tell you I will use this brush for a long time to come.

Sixteen Candles

Anyone tired of reading about Tessa's birthday? We're almost done, I promise. Today is the actual day. Honestly, you would think after 16 years of doing this I would have figured out who thought it was a good idea to give me a 16 year old to be in charge of. I haven't. If you do, please let me know. Anyway Tessa, HAPPY 16th Birthday! Please tell Lauren, Jennifer, Anne and Olivia how much I appreciate their help in getting your special day together. And if you are curious about the white car Tessa is driving, it belongs to the boyfriend of a girl who works for me. If you zoom in on the rims you will be able to see that they say "Player" on them. I could not EVEN pass up this photo op!

Time to eat a little crow...

So, I got a bit lippy on someone else's blog about the OSU/Penn State game. Which we lost. So I figured the least I could do was give a little shout out with my healthy dose of crow. So here's to you Mrs. Newlywed. I hope you enjoy your Pottery Barn purchases.

Lucky Magazine Event in NYC Nov 7-8

Well, if I didn't already have three trips planned this month I would try to squeeze in a trip to NCY for this event. Lucky Magazine is hosting Lucky Shops November 7-8 at the Metropolitan Pavilion in New York. I checked out the previews of the deals and steals and I have to say I'm bummed I can't go to this one. Maybe you can! (I used the old cover with Amanda Peet on it because I love her. She and Eva Mendes are on my celebrity dinner guest list.)

Sweet Sixteen!

As always, I LOVE to celebrate and make a big deal out of things. Tessa got VERY lucky because I really wanted a sign for the yard that lit up, but here is what I got. HAPPY 16th BIRTHDAY TESSA!

It's going to be one week....

Till I road trip with the girls to see Chelsea Handler in West Virginia. Ye-haw here we come! One week...

Mother/Daughter mani...

In honor of Tessa's upcoming 16th birthday Monday I wanted to take her to do something fun today, just us girls. So we went and got a little mother/daughter manicure. Fun! (The peacock blue color I picked was from the China Glaze collection and is called DV8, just in case anyone else wants to unleash their inner teenage girl!)

Honest to Goodness...

Hillary gave me an Honest Weblog tag, which means I am supposed to post 10 honest things about myself. I'm usually a pretty open book, but here are 10 things I don't know if I've ever shared so here goes:
1) I'm intrigued by the Amazon Kindle, but prefer to hold a real book in my hands
2) If I had a stash of Pepsi and books in the house I could stay inside and not go anywhere for a good 3 days
3) I love hotels. Love them. (But not scary ones, I'm kind of snotty about hotels.)
4) I DO NOT like shopping with other people.
5) I believe I can do anything I want to. (Except for surgery) (If I don't attempt to do something it is because I don't really want to, or there is person/service able to do it for me) (Brian, this applies to reading a map. Kind of like how you don't want to know how to fix things around the house, I could care less about reading a map. It's not so much that I can't, it's more that I don't want to)
6) I like learning how to do new things.
7) I love rap. I think I totally missed my chance to be a gangsta. (But not the drive by kind, only the fun loving kind) (Sorry Tessa, I know you think I am a loser) (Snoop, if by any chance you ever read this you have an open invite to dinner at my place. Same goes for LL Cool J)
8) The insight of children always amazes me
9) Unlike Hillary, I love driving fast. It is a great source of pride for me (although not safe) to get somewhere faster than the last time I went there.
10) I wanted to name Caroline Winnie but was talked out of it
I know I am supposed to tag other people, but that will be for another post. Why? I need to carefully research who has/has not been tagged already so as not to double dip!

Soup's On!

So, I got invited to a recipe club (Thank you Ashley and LauraLee) and as noted AGAIN I am not going to win any kitchen awards anytime soon but I do have to say I was pretty pleased with the soup I made. (The theme was Soup and Salads) I made this Chicken & Orzo Soup from Williams Sonoma and it was EASY and GOOD! If you are having a craving for soup as the weather changes give this one a shot. Even Brian complimented it!

Downward Facing Dog

So I came home today at lunch time to find Brook on my yoga mat. I'm sure I won't have fun cleaning off the dog fur but it is kind of appropriate and funny. (At least to me)

A love poem for Brian...

Twas the night before Thursday

And all through my house

Everyone is here, except for my spouse

The clothes are done

Put away with care

All too aware that Brian's dirty laundry will soon be there

Toilets are cleaned

And the seats are down

See what happens when your spouse travels out of town?

Tomorrows a new day

And guess what I will see?

Brian coming home with dirty laundry for me!

Too much time on my hands

Yes, you might agree

But I couldn't pass up the chance to write this ditty

Miss him I do, but his laundry I don't

Maybe he'll bring flowers home but my guess is he won't!

(Welcome home Brian!)

Fashionistas come in all shapes, sizes and ages

And breeds! Today Caroline wanted to know if she could wear my "Obama pearls" to school today. I was duly impressed when I picked her up and they were still around her neck and not broken.

We're coming Undone

So if you pay attention (as if anyone could not find my life riveting) I play a game called Bunco with the girls twice a month. (Cause once isn't enough for me) I play with two different groups of girls and it really is fun. (Another shameless plug to get your own Bunco group together if you haven't already- I can walk you through the deets of getting this together if you want) Well, next month we are combining the two Bunco groups for the month and going on location! There is an upscale lingerie and shoe boutique in Grandview called Undone and they let you have private parties in the store at no cost to you! And you get 10% off of your purchases the evening of your party. How can this get better? A group of girls in a fun mood surrounded by pretty things and shoes? If you live in the Columbus area and need a fun girls night I totally suggest calling them. They could not have been more accommodating in helping me set this up, and the store is AWESOME. They carry one of my favorite lines, Mary Green and they will even special order things for you if they don't have them.

An age old dilemma has been solved...

So you know the old "If you were stranded on an island which you could take, mascara, blush or lipgloss?" Well, I found out my own personal answer. I pulled in to the parking lot at our local post office in order to mail some packages. I was running short on time and had not yet applied my lip gloss nor mascara. I debated for a second but I grabbed the lip gloss and ran. Guess that answers the question, at least for me.

More Blog Love...

Well, well well... I got another blog award. I have to say this amuses me and makes me excited for several reasons.

1) I started the blog as a joke after my friend Jordan made a blog and I was like "So, I can too."

2) I really enjoy reading other peoples blogs (OPB) and interacting with them. I never thought people (Other than my daughter who I admit to pushing her to comment at times) would read this, or even get my sense of humor.

So this is nice. Other than knowing anyone else reads this and gets anything out of it from shopping hints to recipes to just a laugh on an ordinary day is nice. But one of the nicest compliments came from my husband recently who told me he read my blog and he can see where people would like it. Thanks B! (From here on out Brian will be known as "Big Money" which is what Caroline has taken to calling him recently.)

Any-whoo... I am supposed to pass a little blog love on to seven other people. So here goes:

1) Jordan- Without you I would have no blog

2) Traci- Your blog may be private but I am thankful your recipes are not

3) Girl in the City- You come up with some of the cutest looks ever

4) My Wardrobe Today- I admire you for taking pictures throughout your pregnancy. I let my drivers license expire during my 1st pregnancy just so I could avoid having my pic taken.

5) Christina's Favorite Things- Without you I would not have known about Sopapilla Cheesecake. I may not know you but I am indebted to you.

6) Erin- Just read her blog. You'll totally understand the word adorable afterwards.

I know I'm supposed to do seven but this way everyone gets to mentally add their own favorite blog to the list. Now, I'm off to build a shelf for my budding group of awards. And thank you Denise for the kind award!

The road trip came to me!

So a few weeks ago I got a fun email telling me that Ally was going on a road trip with Al and would be passing through Columbus. Did I want to get together? Um, yes!!! So I got to meet Al and Ally (Cute, right?) Let me tell you, they are the cutest couple. I am so glad I got to meet them! You guys are welcome back in C-Bus anytime!

Too funny to pass up

Team Spirit!

I couldn't resist posting this cute picture of Caroline loving on Brutus Buckeye. Go Bucks!

Brrr... It's cold out there!

I swear, only in Ohio can we go from a nice 80 degree day to a 50 degree day in two days. Aargh! For all of my boo-hoo'ing about loving fall weather and fall clothes I AM COLD! And it hasn't even snowed yet. Anyway, I do have to admit that fall clothes are my favorites. Tights, scarves, boots, OH MY! So last night I was lucky enough to trade a few emails with Karen. She lives in California and is a bit envious of our cute mid-western layers. So Karen, this one's for you! And this is the last day of my big Kellis hair. Maybe...

Pimp My Ride, Mom-style

This is the broken headlight that has clear tape as a quick fix
This is how close I sit to the steering wheel due to the fact that the seat won't move back or forth anymore.

Tessa and I are longtime fans of the show Pimp My Ride. Our Volvo has given us lots of reasons to want to just turn our car over to Xzibit and let him have his way with it. I know I've blogged about the Volvo and it's many quirks before, but after seeing this video from my friend Sara I felt compelled to share more of the shame of the Volvo. And yes, I know I should get a new car but I am driving this car until the bottom or sides pop off at some point. And yes, (Brian) I know it is ridiculous that my car is in this condition but I am a mom. A mom who works full time, drives 2 kids around, has a life and could really care less about my car looking like this. Have you ever tried to drive kids around and keep them happy and occupied in the car? Anyway, again... check out the video, it's pretty amusing. Also, I wanted to share with you the perfect song to sum up my driving experience each day.

The very definition of impulsive...

So, with regards to my upcoming impromptu trip to Salt Lake City... I am not the only impulsive person out there willing to go to great lengths to spend time with a friend and see a movie. So my friend Trinette called me to let me know that guess what? She is also joining in the cross country trip to see the Twilight movie with our friend Jordan. That makes it official... GIRL TRIP! So if you want to see what impulsive looks like it is Trinette!

Columbus Marathon

This weekend is one of my favorite events of the year. The Columbus Marathon. It runs right through our neighborhood and is always so much fun to go see and cheer people on. FYI- If you plan on watching the marathon and haven't heard they have changed the race route this year. Follow this link to see the new route!

This one's for you, Tessa

So, my daughter Tessa (who is about to turn Sweet 16) likes this milkshake video better. I'll give her that it is pretty cute and amusing. See what you think...

What I'm enjoying tonight...

A good read, The Toss of a Lemon, smooth skin via Bliss Spas new Blood Orange and White Pepper line and nice taught skin on my face via Ole Henriksen Firm Action Mask.

More reasons to LOVE endless.com

For quite a while now I have done the majority of my shoe shopping at endless.com. My reasons for being a loyal customer are many:

1. Free overnight shipping, regardless of how much you spend


2. Free return shipping


3. Great selection, great prices, great selection


4. Amazing price guarantee


5. Easy website to maneuver


6. At Christmas I got Godiva chocolates with my order


7. This summer they sent me free samples from L'Occitane


8. Today I got an email thanking me for my most recent order and offering me a free one year subscription to Vogue. No strings attached.

I LOVE, LOVE these people. I have NEVER had a bad experience with them. EVER. Give them a shot, what's the worst that can happen? Shoes show up at your door the next day? Oh my!

Meet my twin, Kelis

I usually straighten my hair but there are days where I just don't want to. Unfortunately for me, my hair has never made up it's mind if it is naturally curly, wavy, big or fuzzy. But in a strange way I like it. It's a nice change up at least. So today was one of those days where I decided to let it go. And yes, it's big hair and it is curly in some areas and wavy in others. Like a tweed jacket, my hair has texture to it that is quite possibly a little nubby. Well, one of the girls who works for me walks in and says "You look so cute today, just like Kelis." If you don't know who Kelis is go here for her Milkshake video. In a million years I never thought Kelis would be my look-alike! And Kimberly, this pic is in your honor. I also didn't get to take my picture this morning so I resorted to the bathroom at work. I thought I was being discreet and sly until the self timing beeper went off and echoed all over the place off of the tiled walls!