Miss U(niversity)

Had such a fun, quick, mid-week trip to Oxford to see T compete in the Miss University pageant Wednesday night.  She didn't place but she did very, very well.  She totally nailed her dance routine and rocked the swimsuit portion of the competition!  I was very, very proud!  http://news.olemiss.edu/miss-university-pageant-set-for-wednesday/#.Uo94q4wo6tU

(photo from T's talent portion which appeared in the Thursday edition of the "Daily Mississippian")

My flight out of BWI was delayed for technical reasons so I was going to miss my connection in Cincinnati. It was an absolute disaster.  Delta got me on a flight to Memphis via Atlanta and it all worked out in the end.  T had rehearsals that evening so her sweet friend Tana picked me up in Memphis and we all grabbed a bite to eat when we arrived in Oxford.  I spent Tuesday and Wednesday night at the AOPi house and it was so nice to meet T's other sisters!  What a wonderful group of girls and they were all very supportive of T!  Oh, and I got to meet a fellow blogger in person!  Hi Summer!  http://summerswigley.wordpress.com/  I also got to meet the House Mom, Miss D.  T attended her 8 AM class Wednesday and then we had breakfast at BBB http://citygroceryonline.com/restaurant.php?bbb  We ran a couple of errands and took a quick nap in T's room before she got ready for her interview.  After her interview she had her hair and make-up appointments and then I went back to the house to get ready.  Wednesday night was AOPi's big fundraiser, the Pie Sale.  Tana had some extra tickets so I had a slice of apple with Josh and Tana before we headed over to the theater for the pageant. 

After the pageant we went to a cocktail reception at the University Club
http://www.oxforduniversityclub.net/ and the young man who escorted T on stage joined us for drinks.  After the reception we picked up T's friend Megan and headed to Flip Night where we ran into a couple of Cosmo's former BamaLax players.  T was the DD so I was able to enjoy my Tequila Sunrises. 

We had to get up super early Thursday morning for my flight out of Memphis and T was actually back in her room before my flight even boarded.  My flights were uneventful and I was home by 3:30 PM.  It was a quick trip but T will be here Sunday night for the week of Thanksgiving and then home again in two weeks for Christmas.  I luv, luv, luv having all my chicks in the nest! 

Thursday night T had the opportunity to meet the reigning Miss America, Nina Davuluri.  She was in Oxford hosting a discussion on diversity and T was covering it for her Journalism class. 

I say this every time I come back from Oxford, but I'm so glad T made the decision to go to Ole Miss.  She's right where she's supposed to be! 

Happies & Crappies

Don't forget to link-up with http://www.thevintagemodernwife.com/
and http://www.thevintagemodernwife.com/ each week!
 

It's been a quick week in the Cos household!  Can't believe it's Friday already!  Whoop!  Whoop!  No major plans for the weekend but KJ has a b-day party on Saturday and I think on Sunday we might go see "The Book Thief."  Cosmo has also talked about going to the Caps game Sunday night so who knows!

 

Happies

• KJ had half-days on Monday and Tuesday which was nice.  Monday I picked her up in the carpool line and got her some Starbucks as a treat.  I don't drink coffee so I ran thru the Dunkin' Donuts line and got a Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate.  Oh.  My.  God.  Heaven in my mouth.  I got a small but will be getting larges or extra-larges in the future.  Wow. 
• KJ made the travel volleyball team!  Whoop!  Whoop!  Let the Spring insanity begin!
• Just a couple more days until I fly to MS to see T!  Whoop!  Whoop!
• KJ brought home an incredible report card.  Best report card she's ever had!  Very, very proud of her!  I've said it before but I'll say it again . . . She LOVES her new school and is just flourishing!
• I got a haircut yesterday.  Kind of scary going to someone new after going to Jeffrey for almost 15 but I liked the new salon. 
• I'm making a dent in my Christmas shopping!  Thank you Etsy!  Whoop!  Whoop!

 

Crappies

• The weather has been so weird.  Tuesday and Wednesday were very cold, Thursday was gorgeous and I had my sun roof open while running my errands.
• I don't like when people start decorating for Christmas in mid-November and totally by-pass Thanksgiving (I know a couple people who had their houses completely decked out for Christmas by November 10).  And I don't like that stores are opening earlier and earlier to capitalize on Black Friday sales.  Black Friday is bad enough, then stores started opening at mid-night and now some stores are opening on Thanksgiving night.  We need to just slow down.   I like my house decorated as much as the next person.  I love the holidays and don't mean to come across as a Scrooge but we put too much pressure on ourselves to live a perfect, Instagrammed, Pinterest-worthy life.  Let it go.  You're not Martha Stewart who has dozens of minions doing her bidding.  Focus on your family and friends and the rest will fall into place.  Thank you.  I'll get off my soap-box now. 

 





 

 

 

 

Road Trippin'

I drove up to Pennsylvania this weekend to celebrate my cousin's upcoming wedding.  So fun to be able to participate and actually be a member of my family again!

I drove up to my brother's Friday afternoon and had a great trip.  I stopped at Bucknell University on my way up to get a volleyball t-shirt for KJ.  The last time we drove thru there was early morning and the book store wasn't open yet.  It was a gorgeous afternoon and downtown was poppin'.  There is just something about a college campus in the Fall! 

Saturday morning The Niece and I headed out to the shower hosted by one of our family friend's. It was wonderful for me to see my aunts and cousins!  After the surgery we visited with my Uncle who is recovering from surgery and then Little Miss C and I drove to her church for a fundraising dinner and spent some time with my aunt and uncle and two cousins. 

I headed home Sunday morning and was in my driveway by 12:30 PM.  The drive is about 3 hours and 15 minutes and with the help of some CD's and XM radio, the trip just flies by.  I love the Classic Rewind station, the Classic Vinyl station, Hair Nation, the 70s, the 80s and the 90's.  Sunday's weather was in the mid-60's and I had the sunroof open for most of the drive. 

At one of the traffic lights some students were asking for donations for Penn State's "Thon."  I remember my brother always participating in Thon so I rolled down my window and put a couple of bills in the bucket.  The girl must have seen my "Ole Miss" license plate in the front of my car because she asked me, "Are you really from Mississippi?"  And I said, "My daughter is a sophomore there but my brother is a Penn State grad."  And as the light turned green she said, "Thank you and Hotty Toddy!!" and then all the other students started waving and clapping and shouted "Hotty Toddy!!"  It was pretty cool!  http://thon.org/

#HappiesAndCrappies

So excited to be doing #HappiesAndCrappies! I was looking through some old blog posts and re-read a couple of #ItsOKThursday posts and wondered if Amber over at www.brunchwithamber.com had any new link-ups. She's got such a great blog and I was so happy to see #HappiesAndCrappies!  I can totally do this and I love linking-up with other bloggers! So here goes . . .
   Happies   - So excited to see some family this weekend!  I'm driving up to my brother's for the weekend and my niece and I are attending my cousin's bridal shower.  KJ has vball try-outs this weekend so she can't make the trip and my sister-in-law is in charge of an event at her church so it's just gonna be me and Little Miss C.  And we're gonna dance in the car.  She likes to sing along to KC + the Sunshine Gang.  She walks around the house singing this little ditty: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyUk5RrKfUs     - We booked T's flight home for Christmas!!!  Happy Happy Happy!!!   - Sophia Grace and Rosie were on #Ellen this week!    - I've started my Christmas shopping.        Crappies   - I don't know if I've got eczema or just extremely dry skin but holy cow!  My legs and back are horribly itchy and no amount of lotion is helping.  I can't even wear socks I'm so uncomfortable/miserable.    - I ran out of ginger ales this afternoon. 

I am on a Mission

I only want two things for Christmas:  a bar cart and a pair of boots. 

I have wanted a bar cart for a while now and even more so since we moved into this house.  The house in Birmingham had a marvelous man cave or Men Den as I liked to call it.  The wet bar was beautifully crafted and we were able to display and use our crystal decanters, bar ware and Cosmo's extensive sports memorabilia. 

This house has a finished basement, but not any place for our bar items.  Hence, my bar cart mission has intensified.  I've been looking on line for a while but really hate to pay shipping for anything.  And I was suffering from Goldilocks Syndrome (the bar carts I found on line were either too big, too expensive, too small, too formal or too casual).  I've also browsed a couple of local antique and consignment stores with the hopes of finding something that needed some TLC, something that I could sand down, paint or refinish.  It didn't have to be a true bar cart per se, but it did need to have a lip or a piece of moulding around it so that the items don't accidentally fall or slide off. 

Yesterday I was running errands and came across a bar cart that I luv, luv, luv!  The size was just right, the finish can go with any decor and the price was perfect.  So Santa, if you're reading this, I've been a good girl this year.  A very good girl.  And all I want for Christmas is a bar cart.  And a pair of boots.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Me & My Little Buddy

So I've been in Maryland since Labor Day weekend.  I guess that's what?  Like 9 weeks already?  We've assimilated well and have a nice little routine going.  KJ makes her lunch the night before (she hasn't bought school lunch once this year and doesn't even have a dime in her lunch account).  She gets up great every morning, hops on the bus, I do my thing during the day, she hops off the bus in the afternoon and we have a little snack together and relax for a bit before she does her homework.  She gets off the bus around 2:50 PM and the last couple of weeks we've been watching Ellen in the afternoon.  We absolutely love her show and have added "dance with Ellen" to our Bucket Lists.  Please enjoy the following photo galleries compliments of The Ellen Show: 

http://photos.ellen.warnerbros.com/galleries/bad_sports_photos 

http://photos.ellen.warnerbros.com/galleries/bad_wedding_photos

http://photos.ellen.warnerbros.com/galleries/bad_school_photos

A little Fall Fun

KJ had a great Halloween and trick or treated with a couple of girls from the neighborhood despite the light rain.  We had a ton of kids at the house which was pretty fun and I had just enough candy.  My favorite costume of the night was Troy Polamalu.  One of the boys KJ goes to school with wore a Steeler's jersey and had a huge wig on.  Too funny!  She didn't have school on Friday so we got to sleep in for a bit.  We met Cosmo for lunch and did a little shopping in the afternoon.  KJ picked out a Michael Kors bag and it will be put away for a Christmas present.  She also bought two cute dresses and a couple of shirts. 

Saturday KJ was invited to the movies and shopping with a girl from her Math class so Cosmo and I took advantage of the free time and had a date day.  The weather was absolutely gorgeous, mid-60's with plenty of sunshine.  We had a GREAT lunch at the DC Boathouse in Georgetown
http://dcboathouserestaurant.com/ and walked around the campus for a while.  We found the football stadium and caught a bit of the game vs. Lafayette.  Nice stadium, very small (nothing like Bryant-Denney!) but nice nonetheless.  Can't wait to see some lax games there!  I was so mad at myself . . . I lugged my camera around all day but it didn't have a memory card in it but did get a couple of good pics with my phone.  I luv, luv, luv Georgetown.  I've told Cosmo repeatedly that I'd give my right arm to live there.