hollywood housewife

flying solo

Welcome to Mommy Mondays, the one day of the week when I talk about this whole parenting thing.

Last week I flew solo for the first time with both kids.  I flew 23 times with Pigtail during her first year of life.  I've flown three times with both kids (and another adult) since Pirate was born last October, and I've flown alone with Pirate only once, when we went to Nashville in February.  So, even though it was my first trip with the kids flying alone, I felt pretty confident.  I had this.  I am momma, hear me roar.

True to my Flying With Baby tips, I wore cargo pants and only carried one bag.  But, this airplane only had four seats across, two on each side of the aisle, so I couldn't get everyone their own.  The six-month-old would ride on my lap, the two year old would sit beside us.  I thought that would be the hardest part of the journey.  It was not.

My parents, because they are lovely, kind, sweet, generous people who sometimes know me better than I know myself, drove an hour and a half from my hometown just to help me at the airport.  I didn't suggest it - I didn't even think of it - and truthfully I didn't think I needed it.  But my dad helped me return the rental car and my mom met us at check-in with food, and I was so relieved that they had come up with this plan. 

We made it through security okay.  I have a ritual about what goes in what bin, where Pigtail stands while I'm loading and unloading.  The suited businessman in line behind me was impressed with my organization, but really really wanted to help me.  So I handed him the baby while I folded the stroller to be x-rayed.  I worked quickly, knowing that any second Pirate was going to spit up all over this finely dressed man.

friday links - engagements edition

Among my photo outtakes from the last couple of weeks was this one of Carrie's engagement ring.  This is the kind of ring that you don't mind flaunting and bragging out because it's a family heirloom, passed down from another generation.  I have loved this ring for years and years.  Timeless.

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We saw a screening of The Five Year Engagement on our date night this week and it was so funny.  I will warn you that there were several graphic sex scenes, and it's really long.  But I thought the characters and the plot were great.  To me, it blew Bridesmaids out of the water.

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If you aren't part of the HH facebook page, you missed out on some great recommendations for food blogs, and a link to some of my favorite bloggers spilling their beauty secrets.  I also revealed one of TWO new websites that I'm excited to be contributing to, and I can't wait to tell you more about both of them.

You can like the HH facebook page here.

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My favorite pins on Pinterest this week were this peacock rug from Horchow and these hand painted walls from Design Sponge.

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For your weekend reading pleasure:

I just love, love, love this post from Rachel Held Evans: In Praise of my unspectacular, pre-Pinterest wedding.

Furthering the subject, this week there was a Clean Up Your Boards Day.  Good idea.  (Wendy Will Blog)

My daughter is potty trained, but have you seen these top mattress protectors?  I can see these in our future.

For those of you who care about such things, AP's approval of 'hopefully' symbolizes larger debate over language (The Washington Post)

I've seen Maya Brenner's home in real life, and it is beautiful.  Here's a peek inside. (A Bloomsbury Life)

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I hope you have fabulous weekend planned.  We're going to take it easy, I hope.  My head still isn't on straight after our trip to Oklahoma.  It seems to take me longer and longer to adjust these days. 

Happy weekend, HH readers!

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carrie and brendan's stylish space

Carrie and Brendan are college friends of mine.  Carrie was in my sorority and they have the sweetest relationship and sweetest love story.  After college, we all moved to California and I ended up seeing them more when we lived on the west coast than when we were at OU.

A few years ago, this fun and hilarious couple moved back to our home state and started a family.  As long as I have known them both, they have been full of style and ideas.  Carrie started a synthetic grass company, Always Greener, and it has taken off.  You won't believe the awesome ways people are using this product!  Brendan has always been an incredible songwriter and he's found so much success as Spaghetti Eddie.  Your little ones (and you!) will love his CDs and DVDs.

So, with that amount of talent between them, you can imagine that they have a great place to live.

clarisonic mia 2 {giveaway}!

**This giveaway is closed. Winner announced at the end of the post.**

Recently I told you about my latest beauty obsessions, the biggest among them the Clarisonic Mia 2.  I purchased a Mia 2 after my facialist used it on my face and neck and highly recommended regular use. 

I have a ton of skin cell turnover, which means my skin looks haggard and rough if I don't exfoliate several times a week.  But I'm lazy.  So I would never exfoliate as much as I should.  Until I discovered the Mia 2!  I keep it in the shower and use it every day and I am totally hooked.  I am convinced it makes my skin look better, makes my makeup look better, and gives me a glow.

And now one lucky HH reader gets to try it!  This week I'm giving away a Clarisonic Mia 2 in Peony.  It's a great hot pink color and it comes with a sensitive brush head, a trial size cleanser, and a protective travel case.  I swear by this thing.

To enter:

* Leave a comment on this post telling me your primary skin issue

* You have until midnight (EST) on Friday, April 27 to enter, I'll choose a winner at random over the weekend

* Giveaway is open to US and international readers

* Only one entry per person, please

Good luck!  If you're interested in my other favorite beauty products, click here to see.

Clarisonic provided the Mia 2 ($150 value) to give to an HH reader, but I purchased my own before I ever wrote a thing about it.  As always, I keep my giveaways and recommendations to the highest standard.

And the winner is...

Lisa!  Congratulations!!  Watch your inbox for an email from me to confirm shipping, etc. 

Thanks everyone for playing!

commerce

For many years when I came back to Oklahoma, I would torture myself by driving around to sentimental spots and letting waves of emotion wash over me.  I would let the car idle in front of places I’ve lived.  I would purposefully play songs that brought back a certain summer.  I would lose myself in my thoughts and cry big, wet, tears.  I would, over and over, wring out the soft places of my heart.

And after a few days of this exhaustive behavior, both self-inflicted and habitual, I would become smug with the life that I had built elsewhere.  I would write in my journal that I felt I was suffocating in my home state, that I just don’t belong there anymore.  I would board the plane back to California with relief.

Over time, slowly, these trips got less grievous and I looked forward to revisiting the tender memories, some scarred over.  There were certain streets I would still avoid, certain songs that never made it from the mixed tape to my iPod.  But on the whole, I matured enough to appreciate my roots on a deeper level. 

Last week, nearly eleven years after I fled, was the first time that I can ever remember where there was none of this private melodrama.  I spent short days in my hometown, surprised and thrilled by the new places to shop and eat that have sprouted up.  I drove through my college town four different times, and when it crossed my mind to drive quickly by something that was meaningful to me, I decided I would rather get back to my babies.  

I didn’t itch to pack every minute of the visit with old friends, although as it happened I did get some quality time with people I haven’t seen in way too long.  I did make a point to visit my old church, now housed in a beautiful new building, and I didn’t for one moment wish myself back in time. 

I think there’s residual post-birth fog, and I think that sad events of the past couple of years have made me more realistic, and I think that I am more content than I have ever been.  But more than any of these things, I think Time Marches On. 

I think people my age are running for office and running households.  I think people I know are platinum level donors and authors and land owners.  I am, strangely, no longer a child.  But the place where I was a child is thriving.

And so am I.

friday links - oklahoma spring edition

My trips back to Oklahoma are always full, but this one has seemed especially so.  I've had a great time with family and friends and feel like I've eaten my way through the heartland.

I've barely been online at all, but I've gathered lots of great things to show you next week.  This place makes me happy on so many levels.

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Are you part of the HH facebook page?  It's been pretty quiet over there this week due to my travel, but if I'm not here, then I'm there.  Or on Pinterest.  The internet is a time suck, isn't it?

Some of my favorite pins this week were these Gucci wedges (Saks) and these S'mores Pops (Tip Junkie)

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For your weekend reading pleasure:

This is such a pretty house.

How Movies and Television Have Left You Completely Unprepared for Pregnancy. (Pajiba)

Just a few days away from the computer and I am drowning in email.  I always like to read how other people do things, so this is a good read for minimizing email: 3-Touch Rule. (Boston Mamas)

My daughter heavily imitates my words and intonations.  The last few months I've become really aware of what comes out of my mouth.  Words Spoken.  I can't remember how I found it, but this is a new blog to me.  I've linked to a serious post, but if you poke around a bit, you'll see that this woman in totally funny.  (...a long way from the Theta house)

My friend Amber Haines from The Runamuck released the sweetest, most heart pulling e-book this week.  Check out Mother Letters. 

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I'll be spending more time with people I love this weekend, including throwing the Spirit-Led Parenting book release party in Oklahoma City.  It's open to everyone, and if you're in the area, I'd love to see you.

Happy weekend, HH readers!

Enter your email address in the box in the right sidebar to receive my posts as emails, or subscribe using your favorite reader.  If you're more the facebook type, you can "like" HH here and receive all my posts + original content in your news stream.

hometown happy

We spent the weekend in my small town hometown, six adults and nine grandkids, with food and margaritas, and skinned knees and tornado shelters.  There's been laughter and vomit and a book finished and church attended. 

It's barely been 48 hours. 

I tend to get nostalgic and reflective when my plane touches down in the heartland.  I hope to spend the week with more family and friends, do a little thrifting, remembering who I was and who I am and how they come together.

I'm here to throw Megan's Spirit-Led Parenting book release party in Oklahoma City next weekend.  Come!  RSVP!

On a side note, this is why I love facebook: On Friday, a childhood friend posted that she was headed to OKC via airplane.  I was also about to board an Oklahoma-bound flight, so I joked under her status that I would see her there.  Sweet girl found me at the airport!  I hadn't seen her in 15 years. 

After I arrived in my hometown, the wife of another childhood friend saw that I was in town and messaged me.  We all got together and spent an evening laughing and catching up.  There may be some things about the digital age that are scary, but the path for reconnection is not one of them.

Expect possibly weepy and definitely random postings this week.  Being in Oklahoma always sends me into emotional territory.  When do you think I'll learn to curb this? 

friday links - aren't you....? edition

On Tuesday night The Gorilla and I attended the L.A. premiere for the Danny Way documentary Waiting for Lightning.  The film was really well made, and Danny's story is so interesting, so check it out if you get the chance.

After the movie, there was an after party at the Roosevelt hotel.  We chatted and mingled around the hotel pool way longer than we intended, but before we left The Gorilla wanted to speak to the director of the film.  This party was sponsored by DC, and many of the attendees at the party and featured in the movie are people that he has known for years.  Decades.  Long before he was a director himself, The Gorilla was an editor of a popular skateboard magazine.  Skateboarding is his world.  DC is his world. 

Because we had skipped the crazy Will Call line at the movie, and instead had been ushered in by a nice soul who recognized The Gorilla and saved us from the chaos, we hadn't received wrist bands or anything else identifying us as invitees to the party.  The huge men in black guarding the roped off VIP section were not sympathetic and were not budging.  They told us we had to find an official DC staffer if we wanted access.  

I huffed up to the nearest girl carrying a clipboard.  It was starting to sprinkle rain and my feet were getting sore.  The Gorilla beside me, I explained that we hadn't gotten wrist bands but that I was certain my husband was on this party list.  She looked through her papers and apologized, but we were not, in fact, on the official party list.  Then she said,

"Aren't you the Hollywood Housewife?"

My eyes widened and I looked at an utterly baffled Gorilla and then we burst out laughing.  She offered to escort us into the party, and The Gorilla got to speak to some of his friends.  I will never let him live it down that we got access to the DC Danny Way party because of my blog and not because of him.  

(Turns out the PR girl works for the same firm that I partnered with for the Blushington party, so it was just a coincidence.  But I wish I had a picture of my sweet husband's face during this exchange.  It's a weeks worth of giggles.)

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Don't mind that it's April, I finally got all the holiday cards I received put on a ring and ready for storage.  I've also been doing some spring styling around the house.  This is my favorite season.

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If you were on the HH facebook page, you would have had some input on a new feature I'm putting together for the blog, something that features YOU.  You also would have seen some of my favorite video links of the week. 

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If you followed me on Pinterest, you have seen some of my favorite pins which included these topiary place card holders, these industrial dining stools, and these Calvin Klein platforms.

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For your weekend reading pleasure:

This is totally fascinating information about your fellow man. (Hunch)

Have you changed over your closets from sweaters to tanks yet?  I haven't.  Here are some tips on How to Overhaul Your Closet. (Boston Mamas)

I met both Gussy and Hayley at Blissdom this year, and so it was fun to see one feature the other.  The Tiny Twig's segment of How Do You Live a Creative Life was good for me to read. (Gussy Sews)

Auntie Mame is one of my favorite movies of all time.  Living In Auntie Mame was on Design Sponge.

Check Back With Me In Five Years has had me thinking all week.  I want to write one for myself.  I'm almost scared of it. (Little Angeleno)

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We have a family-filled weekend.  I hope that yours is equally exciting.

Happy weekend, HH readers!

Enter your email address in the box in the right sidebar to receive my posts as emails, or subscribe using your favorite reader.  If you're more the facebook type, you can "like" HH here and receive all my posts + original content in your news stream.

kindness in marriage

My husband called me about a half hour before a major business meeting that he’d had on the books for weeks.  He was early to the meeting, and a little nervous, and he dialed me while sitting in the car.  That man is terrible at email and texting, so we’re old school in our communication.  It is normal for us to talk on the phone several times a day.  Many times those mid-day phone conversations are the best discussions of our marriage.

On this day, just before his meeting, I was not feeling heartfelt.  I was feeling annoyed.  He’d been working a lot recently, and I’d been extra tired and extra emotional and that day in particular I was in a funk.  I wasn’t very nice.  I wasn’t mean, but I griped about something dumb from the morning.  Even though the thought ran through my head that he was about to walk into this meeting, and that I should be lifting him up instead of putting a pea under his mattress, I still said something stupid. 

frugal finds

This is not a coupon blog, and I don't even consider myself that savvy of a shopper.  But I do love a good deal, and I think I have a decent eye when it comes to picking through the less-than-glamorous items to find a gem. 

Here are a few things I've found lately that I'm swooning over, both in quality and in price.

Let's start with the crown jewel, shall we?