Pretty Good. Pretty Tired.

Tomorrow is March 1st. I consider that the first day of spring, no matter what the dudes who organize calenders say. I always get rejuvenated in the springtime. This consists of me, running around in flip flops at the local nursery, jumping up and down to catch a glimpse of Matt over tops of baby trees while yelling, "HEY MATT! DO YOU THINK WE COULD PLANT FOUR OR FIVE LEMON TREES IN THE BACKYARD? NO? HOW COME? WHY ARE YOU HIDING YOUR FACE LIKE THAT?"

I'll be honest, I'm dragging lately. Physically, mentally, creatively. But before anyone thinks I'm throwing my blessings on the ground and hocking a big metaphorical loogie on them, I'm not being ungrateful. Every morning I wake up and my world isn't spinning and I'm able to be a wife and mother, it's automatically a good day.

But being a mother, a working gal, and a writer is really, really hard. My brain feels like the flat end of an eraser. I'm not sleeping a lot. The house is pretty piggy. I need a clone of myself to pick up the loose edges. You know how it goes. So please forgive the lackluster posts. I'll get back to sprightly, heel kicking, springy blogging soon. I pinkie swear.

*found here

In other more important news, my friends Cat and Laura recently experienced a big loss in their family. When I saw this I knew they would like it. I love you both and hope you know I'm thinking and praying for you everyday!

Sugar Jane

Sugar.

Jane.

I can't tell the difference.

And yes, grumpy emailer, there will be posts about my child all the time.

If that makes this a mommy blog, so be it.

Instagram Party

Jane's favorite toy.

Watering day.

Remnants of pink eye. Some of my eyelashes fell out too.

Fun trophy I should have bought.

Jane likes to pinch the skin on my neck. Ow.

Favorite plate in the world.

Walking With Fuzz Head

We've had beautiful weather. I'm almost afraid of it, such beautiful spring-like temps in February. I do loathe tornadoes. But Jane and I have been making the most of it, strolling around the hood.

She grips the sides of her stroller and bugs her eyes, pointing and making excited hoot owl sounds, "Oooh oooh oooh oooh." And then everyone we pass by says, "Aw, she's so cute!" And I respond with, "I know."

It's so fun, walking around with Jane and her fuzzy head.

Jealousy

Whenever we take pictures of Jane, Mabel is always lurking in the background. Jealousy is a bitter pill. In other news, my pink eyes are much less angry. Happy weekend!

Swamp Girl, Swamp Eye

Jane is wrestling with her toy alligator, and I'm battling swamp eyes ( drippy gross pink eye). We'll be back Monday!

Some Things (8 To Be Exact)

*Photo taken at my favorite store, in honor of Jenny. I'm pretty sure she would jumped at the chance to purchase a stuffed fox and then she would have named him something cool like Mortimer or Val Kilmer.

1. Anybody else watch Dance Moms? I never throw stones at the overweight, but does anyone else find that situation terribly ironic? Then again, it is reality TV, which, as my wise uncle once stated, is "nothing but a bunch of people who have nothing better to do than sit around and pick lint out of their belly buttons." That's going in my second book.


2. I discovered what C-strings are (which I pondered the meaning of here). DO NOT GOOGLE IMAGE SEARCH THOSE WORDS. Curiosity may not kill the cat, but it certainly confused and grossed the heck out of me.

3. When Matt goes shopping with me he follows me everywhere, like a giant shadow stepping on the back of my heels. I'm pretty sure he's just trying to heard me like a sheep dog until I leave the store without spending money.

4. Jane discovered an important lesson this week: gravity. "Hey, when I hold this sippy cup full of water in the air over my face and drop it, it really hurts."

5. When I was ten I begged my parents for New Kids on the Block tapes. Instead they bought me two Simon and Garfunkel tapes and one Mamas and the Papas. I was not the cool kid in elementary school.

6. Cream Soda is like Root Beer's less attractive sister. I just don't like it.

7. There's an old house for sale in our neighborhood that has a functioning toilet in the middle of its basement for no apparent reason. Then I read The Help and understood what it was down there for. It made me sad.

8. I jokingly asked Matt when he was going to buy Jane a cell phone. He responded, "She can have a cell phone when she can pay for it." And all these years I thought I'd be the strict one.

A Little Moolah, A Little Wishing

We've been doing our best to pinch pennies around the Owen household.

We're doing ok.
Jane has put the kabosh on our eating out plans.
That's made a huge difference.
Who knew a few trips to the local burger joint could add up like that?

We're also saving because we're hoping for something big.

I can't talk about it right now.
It seems a little "pie in the sky."
But we're trying.
We're pinching our pennies.
By the way, does anyone else think King Cake is kind of gross?

It tastes like stale danish to me.

Another Excuse To Eat

*Ruby Red giveaway winners are: hilltopper (the boy onesie) and jessica (the girl onesie). Send me your addresses!

*Photo taken by the talented Eli Murray. Check out the other pics on his blog.

This is our friend Kelli. She owns the best bakery ever, Sweet Love. You know that phrase, "Never trust a skinny cook?" It doesn't apply to bakers.

See that logo up in the corner of the picture? My husband did that. I just love it.


I didn't really need another excuse to eat. I'm the queen of finding ways to fit more calories into my daily schedule. For example:

"No, I really don't need another pack of Welch's Fruit Snacks, but gosh. I need to finish that spreadsheet. That requires energy. Energy requires food. Preferably carbs or pasta. But I don't have those, so I'll eat these fruit snacks instead."

See?


Kelli's store is just adorable. There's a vintage chandelier in the front window and bright white wainscoting and pale pink walls. I want to live there.

I'd also like to get remarried just so she could bake us a cake.

If you live in the Little Rock area and haven't been there, go. Eat a cupcake. My favorite? Strawberries and Cream. I don't even miss chocolate when I eat those, which is a true baker's miracle. Thanks Kelli!

P.S. Check out Rhoda's giveaway for a free copy of my book! Then check out the rest of her blog, Southern Hospitality, if you haven't already discovered it. She's a fabulous lady!

They Tell Me Lipstick Is In

When it comes to lipstick, I tread lightly.

I hearken back to my awkward middle school days where I pancaked my face with the palest powder and coated my lips in a blah brick Mary Kay matte. I looked like middle aged a vampire. And not the hot kind.

But everywhere I turn I see that lipstick is in now. Bright, happy, 1980's colored lipstick. So this past week I broke down and bought a tube of bright red lipstick (found here). For some reason red lipstick always turns pink when I wear it.

But it's not so bad. What's next? Skinny jeans?

Ha. No. I'm just kidding.

Midweek Musings

*for more about this slide click here.

Nothing says "it's a great day" like getting out of my car, walking across the parking lot in the rain, noticing something is stuck to the bottom of my rain boot, and discovering it's a used prophylactic. I've decided to pretend it was an old birthday balloon. I've also decided to soak those boots in rubbing alcohol.

Sponsor Giveaway: Ruby Red Handmade

Today we have a great giveaway courtousy of sponsor Ruby Red Handmade. There will be two lucky winners, one for the girl outfit (which comes with a matching headband) and one for the boy (which does not come with a matching head band because your husband would probably throw a fit).

To win, head over to their facebook page, like it, and leave a comment here telling me which onesie you'd like to win. You can also get 15% off anything you buy when you use the code "mabel." I'll pick the winners on Friday. Good luck!

Matt's New Hobby: Superman Laser Eye Beams

When I first started getting emails with these pictures attached I asked Matt, "Why are you making our baby look evil?"

He was offended, "I'm not! They're cool Superman laser eye beams."

I wasn't convinced, "I still think we all look like super villains."

Matt exhaled loudly, clearly unimpressed with my Comic-Con-less attitude, "More like super heroes."

P.S. Want chance to win a copy of my book? Go here.

Valentine's Day 2012: Button Fight

Me: Hey, did you pay $5 and pick up Jane's Valentine button?

Matt: Yep.

Me: Where is it?

Matt: It's mine.

Me: Pardon?

Matt: It's mine. I'm keeping it.

Me: What are you going to do with it?

Matt: I don't know. But it's mine.

Me: I'm going to wear it!

Matt: It's mine.

Me: No! It's mine!

*this continued for half an hour*

Can't you feel the love around here? Happy Valentine's Day!

*Post Valentine Update: So who wore the button? Neither of us. I hid it from Matt a few days ago so he couldn't take it, and then I forgot where I hid it. So no one wore the button. But just wait. When I do find it, probably in April, I'm still gonna wear it.

Green on the Inside

We're finally getting some honest to goodness winter weather down here below the Mason Dixon Line. It's times like this I'm always my most grateful to have house plants. They seem to whisper, "Don't despair Liz, very soon you'll be wearing flip flops and skipping down the street while birds chirp." Actually I say this to myself, out loud, as I put my makeup on each morning. It worries Matt for two reasons.

1. It worries him that I'm talking to myself in the mirror, in third person.
2. It also worries him that I really will skip down the street in front of all the neighbors come springtime.

Anyway. It's blustery weather here at Mabel's House, but I've got my plants and the promise of spring and a concerned husband. I just keep reminding him of how boring his life would be without me. He doesn't look convinced.

Snow?

They're forecasting snow.

I'd love nothing more than to snuggle with Jane all day.

Please Mr. Sandman.

I know you're in charge of sleep.

But in this time of economic downturn, we're all going above and beyond.

But could you do me a solid and swing some snow too?

Conversation From the Man Room

Matt: I'm sorry you had a bad birthday.

Me: It's not your fault I was sick.

Matt: Let's do something fun today to make up for it.

Me: OK

Matt: What do you want to do?

Me: Get a cheese danish.

Matt: What else.

Me: Eat the cheese danish.

Matt: What else?

Me: Go buy a new sofa.

Matt: Hahahah.

Me *stare*

Matt: Oh, you're serious.

Me I had a bad birthday.

Matt: Yeah, but...

Me: *stare*

Matt: OK, well, then. I guess we'll go look at sofas.

Me: That sounds great.

Matt: Just out of curiosity, can we afford a new sofa?

Me: I don't know.

Matt: OK. I was just wondering.

Anthropologie Gift Card Winner

*more info on this slide here.

And the winner is: Stacy Walden. Thanks to everyone who left a review! Stacy, email me with your address (mabelsblog(at)yahoo(dot)com) and I'll get the card sent!

My Mom Was a Fox. NO WAIT. My Mom IS a Fox. And an Anthropologie Gift Card Giveaway.

Mom and me, Halloween 1982

When I was little I used to look at pictures of my mom when she was in college and say, "Mom, you were soooo pretty back then." And she'd tease, "What? I'm not pretty anymore?" So that's why I amended my title. My mom IS a fox. How great is this picture? It's one of my favorites. I was a clown that year. Jane will never get to be a clown because Matt's afraid of them. Clowns and spiders are his kryptonite. My kryptonite would have to be scrubbing toilets and lipstick breath. Moving on.

I'm giving away a $25 Anthropologie gift card to one lucky winner. The catch (because there's always a catch to these things)? It's a giveaway for all you lovely folks who have read my book. Head over to Amazon or Barnes and Noble and leave a review. I'll pick the winner from the new reviews posted. Thanks!

P.S. The deadline for the reviews is Thursday night. I'll announce the winner Friday just in case any of you speed readers want to enter. :)

Jane's Closet

Is there something wrong with the fact that Jane's wardrobe is way better than mine?

On second thought, nope.

There's nothing wrong with that at all.

A Most Excellent Weekend

This weekend was filled with a lot of playing.

Matt's ham and rosemary corn cakes.

And church.

It was a most excellent weekend.

*The winner for the purse giveaway is la la lovely lindsay! Email me at mabelsblog(at)yahoo(dot)com and I'll send your address to them!