Happy Halloween!

As usual, Tessa is the best big sister! Caroline wanted to be a vampire for Halloween, and Tessa gladly stepped into the role of being Caroline's victim.

You won't believe this one...

So, Caroline and her BFF from her daycare days had to part ways this year as they embarked on their respective Kindergarten careers. And as we all know, maintaining friendships takes some work when your lives go in completely opposite directions. Or in this case, opposite school districts. Well, we were able to squeeze in some much needed Gwyn time. As a part of this celebration of friendship we went to Graeters. When we dropped Gwyn off I realized I had neglected to bring ice cream for Gwyns brother, so I asked the girls to leave their used ice cream cups outside while we walked Gwyn into her house. And me being me, I forgot about the ice cream cups sitting on the back of my car and drove to Barnes and Noble. Where I noticed the ice cream cups sitting on the back of my car. Still. I was pretty amused by this. Amused enough that I decided to see if I could make it home without the cups falling off. (FYI- I am not a proponent for littering. I told myself if the cups fell off I would pick up trash around my neighborhood to make up for it.) By the time I got home, I forgot about the cups. But here is where the story gets good. In the morning, I got up, took Caroline to school and proceeded to drive to Beavercreek Ohio (A Dayton suburb) to my property there for the day. When I got to Beavercreek the CUPS WERE STILL ON THE BACK OF MY CAR! No joke! I drove over 70 miles at an average of 70 miles per hour and those freaking ice cream cups were still there! I made the manager of the property look out of her office window at my car in the parking lot with the ice cream cups still on there! Spoons and all! (And then I finally got rid of them. OK, truth, I tossed them in the backseat of my car. I suck.) Can you even believe that???

At what point do you become "That girl?"

Do you know the girl I am talking about? If you do, I'm interested to hear about her, because I've been thinking about her.

She came up in a conversation I was having with a friend the other day.

"That girl."

We were discussing spinning class at 5:45 a.m. and it was decided that neither of us was "that girl."

Until last year though, I was "that girl."

I never wanted to be a stay at home mom, until Caroline inched closer and closer to Kindergarten and I felt like time and opportunities were slipping away from me and then I realized I wished I had even a few months to be "that girl."

There was a time where I would never have been "that girl" and purchased a pair of Louboutins, but sure did appreciate the thought of them. (Although I sure did jump all over them when Gilt had them on their website for all of 15 minutes before they sold out!)

A matter of years ago, I would never judge anyone for having/wanting Botox, but wasn't sure I would ever be "that girl."

And as all of these scenarios play out, I can't quite put my finger on who "that girl" is.

Is she the person we want to be? The person we never thought we would be but are becoming?

The person who is easy to judge and is interesting to talk about? The girl down the street or in the office next to ours?

I'm not quite sure who "she" is, but I sure am spending a lot of time thinking about her lately.

Seventeen!

Well, the time has come once again. Birthday time. This time, my "baby" is 17. Seven-teen. That is a One followed by a Seven. And while this stumps me every year, it really, really hit home this year. This is is the last time Tessa will be spending her birthday living at home. And my heart breaks just a little. Sigh...

So, here goes a little play list I've put together for Tessa:

A little tune by the Beatles

Another by Metro Station

Stray Cats

Happy Birthday Tessa! Thanks for being a great big sister and a wonderful daughter! May your last year at home provide you with many great memories!

Love you!!!!!

Wish list- We'll start with Vera Bradley...

OK, as much as I try to avoid catalogs that get sent to me there are a few that I have a hard time not thumbing through.

And as we roll into the holiday season (sorry folks, sad but true, the signs are everywhere) the catalogs get harder to ignore. My mailbox is BOMBARDED.

Well, Vera Bradley caught my eye. Devil. You know how she got me? She got to me through my five year old. Dirty devil rat. Man. You know what Vera did?

I'll tell you, and it was a SMART MOVE. My intent was to quickly thumb through and then add the catalog to my recycling. But, as I thumbed through there were heavy card stock pages in the center of the catalog. Damn you Vera Bradley! The most STINKING CUTE paper dolls I have ever seen. Complete with little Vera Bradley handbags. Smack dab in the center of the catalog. And a little paper doll house for the two cute dolls to hang out in. With little holiday gifts wrapped in Vera paper. Yes, Vera Bradley, you got my attention. And now, well now I have decided I NEED the So Over It bag in Imperial Toile. And the microfiber clutch. (I'm pretty much banking on the fact that I will cave and order the clutch.)

And I'll tell you something else. This year I said I was going to the Vera Bradley outlet sale (held annually in my hometown of Fort Wayne Indiana) and I didn't. Well, next year, I'm in. Until then, I'll order online.

This weekends read- After You

I loved this book. Sometimes I devour certain books as fast as I can because I NEED to know what is going to happen next. (Twilight, Luxe, Rumors, Envy...) Then there are books that I savor. I draw them out because I know that the end is the end. Not like a series where I can get more, more, more. After You by Julie Buxbaum was one of my "drawn out" books. I was not ready to reach the end. After You is the story of what happens to a friendship, life and a family after your best friend is killed. How you can drop everything to come to the aid of a friend, but also to the aid of yourself as well. I have to admit that as the pages dwindled in this book I was not quite ready to be done with it. Good news is that I am picking up Julie's other book The Opposite of Love today.

If anyone wants to read After You let me know. You will absolutely enjoy it!

ktlangmeyer@yahoo.com

Real Simple...

I LOVE Real Simple. Love it. I get more recipes and useful information from there than just about any other magazine.

Today for lunch I made roast beef salad with goat cheese and balsamic vinaigrette. Just like the magazine says: Real Simple.

And so yummy!

Try it!