my true nature...

i know that i have been very serious in my blogging as of late. so serious that perhaps i have fooled you all into thinking that i am some kind of serious philosophical selfless being.

well, i haven't fooled those friends that know me really well. and those of you who have been deceived... this blog post will clear all that up really quickly. because frankly i am a person who at her core wants things to be given to her... and by "things" i mean gifts. i am all about the gifts.

my love language is gifts (and words of affirmation) but mostly gifts.

the most important question you can be asking yourself right now isn't, " who am i going to vote for in the upcoming november election?" nope, the most important question that should haunt you by day and disturb your dreams by night is, "what am i going to procure for lea's upcoming october birthday?"

so here is a list of my favorite things that i don't own yet (all from my "items to procure" board on pinterest. and by "items to procure" i mean "items other people need to procure for me".) oprah had her list of her favorite things that she owned and loved that she gave out to everyone to share the wealth. mine is a slightly different list. things i would LOVE to own that i want other people to give to me. turns out my list is not quite as magnanimous as oprah's. then again, my bank account is not quite as magnificent as oprah's.

so let's get started. rev up your visa cards (and because i am a "giving" person, if you click on each item's photo it will take you to the actual website where you can procure said item. too good of me. too easy for you.)...

$12.00 with my favorite c.s. lewis quote!​

another c.s. lewis item. only $11.95!​

​beautiful. and you know how i feel about stars. and Bible verses. $36.00

sil pat mat. it rhymes. and doesn't stick to anything...

why yes, i do shoot like a girl...​ $69 ugh. why so pricey? i don't think any of you love me that much.

i want to be that mom shopping with these in publix. ​mega grocery cred. only $17.95 per bag. two in black please...

herb scissors. i love fresh herbs. ​only $12.95.

a grippy thing for my car. mostly because i want my phone to defy gravity like this one does...​ $7.00 whoo hoo!

i bet it is ​a bit pricey. but who wouldn't want a post it note coffee table? can't actually find the place to order this. so you are off the hook for giving this to me... this year.

library embosser. because i loan out a lot of books. i only get back some of those books. an embossed book seems like it would shout, "RETURN ME, I AM EMBOSSED!!!!"​

​you know how i LOVE greek and hebrew word studies!

so there you have it... plenty of items for you to shop from and you have less than a month so don't dilly dally. buy my birthday gift TODAY. or buy more than one for me. or just decide to get them all for me. because you are a giver like that and i am a taker like that.

the last big thing...

it is the LAST day of may AND the LAST day of school! i love the beginnings of things. and i love the ending of things. it is the murky middle that sometimes gets to me. so i do so love the last day of school...

so one more musical moment to leave you with this may...

and i saved THE BEST for last. i had this moment in mind from the beginning. my blog stalker/now a friend, eva, sent this to me when she heard of my love for the musical les mis. she is a musical lover (no wonder she was a blog stalker and now she is a friend.)

i saved it for last because i had to convince you all of my deep love of musicals. and introduce you (or reacquaint you with some old friends) so that you would be in the right frame of mind for this last clip. 

because one day in the near future i will be turning 50. in a scant 5 and 1/2 years. which sounds like a long time. but i think it is just enough time for some of you to begin putting together a broadway number flash mob in honor of my birthday. some of you may need those 5 years to take singing lessons and/or dancing lessons. but you can’t say that i didn’t give you ample heads up. 

and you also can’t say that i didn’t give you some suggestions...

one day more from les miserables (without nick jonas. maxx would be so much better.)

and i’m telling you from dreamgirls. because i am not going anywhere. and you can’t make me.

we bessech thee from gospell. perform this on mini trampolines. thanks.

any song at all from carrie the musical. just because that would be fun to watch you all perform. pyrotechnics please.

astonishing from little women the musical. i just need to make friends with sutton foster.

practically perfect from mary poppins. a song that they must have based on my life. because i do wear shoes of the sensible kind...

nobody does it like me from seesaw (start it at about 35 seconds into the song). which i always sing as “nobody does it like lea.” another song they must have written with me in mind.

for good from wicked. because let’s hope that someone’s life has been made a tiny bit better because they knew me. “so now whatever way our stories end, know you have rewritten mine by being my friend.”

i hope that you have enjoyed this month of EVERY day in may salute to musical theater. it has been fun for me. i have listened to a TON of great (and some not-so-great) broadway songs this month. it has kept me singing all the way through may and into summer...

when friends attack...

i love that picture of rosie’s friend attacking her with a hug. because i have friends like that. that attack me with their love. and the BEST part is that some of them are

coming to town this week! on thursday! which is oh, so

very close to tuesday. which is today.

i throw my own birthday party every year. at the beach.

and it is a whole lotta fun. we scrapbook. we sleep late.

we eat junk food. and we sleep late. we laugh.  and laugh.

and laugh some more. it is so wonderful that it keeps me fueled up until february when we gather and do it all again only in a different locale and some other friends join us also. 

i know that i am VERY LUCKY to get to go on a girls’ weekend (and adam doesn’t know WHY we call it a weekend when CLEARLY it is a bit longer than a weekend) twice a year. i wish everyone could carve out “weekends” to spend with their not so nearest in location but dearest friends. if you don’t do that, i highly recommend it! scheduling it for the same time every year helps. because if we didn’t have it on the schedule, it would never happen. because EVERY weekend is alway so packed, there will never be a “free” weekend to get away unless it is scheduled way ahead of time. and put on your husband’s calendar WAY ahead of time. and remind him of it EVERY weekend for the 22 preceding the “weekend” away. and then thank him profusely during the following 22 weekend.

an update on “natural” hair care. “poo free” is going well (it has been one whole day). i missed the sudsyness of the shampoo BUT my hair really felt clean afterwards and soft. and didn’t smell easter eggy at all. it really feels great today and we will see how it holds up until washing time again in thee days. though i don’t mind washing it a bit more often with just the natural ingredients. and i may have a convert. rosalea wants to try the “poo free” life. 

i will keep you updated on this VERY important issue of my hair... because frankly i never made any chicken broth last week. but i am planning to do that in an upcoming week. last week didn’t give me any days at home and i needed some time actually in the house to make that broth. so that is going on the back burner for now. ha. “back burner”. get it?

that also means that next week’s challenge will come a bit late. perhaps on next tuesday when i return from the birthday weekend...

and if you have NO idea what to get my for my birthday... don’t buy me shampoo.

wardrobe function...

it is spring-ish outside. and that calls for something new to wear. i am not a shopper. millie took every shopping gene that i had and encompassed it into her dna. draining me of all my love of shopping. all the shopping that i do is with her and is out of love for her and a desire that she not buy out the mall. and every time we go out shopping by the time the shop-athon is over i NEVER want to enter another store again in my life. until the next week when she wants to go shopping again... thus ensuring that i never go shopping unless it is with millie.

but momma needed one or two items to face the spring temperatures. so that i stopped sweating profusely by noon in my winter wardrobe. a winter wardrobe which was nicely procured WITHOUT ANY ACTUAL SHOPPING from lands’ end online. regardless of the debate about whether they need that apostrophe at the end of the word, i still respect them for their return policy and the fact that i am the same size in ANYTHING i order from them. thus ensuring that i don’t have to use that wonderful return policy too often. 

you may also recall my love for lands’ end bathing suits. tugless suits. because a gal doesn’t want to spend her summer tugging. no’mam. i have much better things to do than tug. i am also a HUGE fan of their beach living bathing suit collection. because i do like to live at the beach. and i like coverage of my essential parts while i am living at the beach. and i have a lot to cover. if you get my drift. and lands’ end gets my drift. they have my back. and my front. and my rear. thank you lands’ end. everyone at st. teresa beach thanks you.

so to educate you on my wardrobe needs... my winter wardrobe consisted of two pairs of their performance sport pants (one black and one brown). thank goodness they are antimicrobial because i never had to deal with a single microbial ALL WINTER. really, i never even felt one land on the pants. amazing. add a various and sundry turtleneck and one of my three lands end half zip fleece tops (green, orange, or gray) which were all from previous years. one new fleece half zip a year... that’s my motto.  yes, that was my winter wardrobe. throw in a pair of jeans and one nice church outfit and you have the extent of my closet. really, i kid you not that is the extent of my wardrobe (and about all that will fit into my closet). did you see me this winter? what was i wearing? i rest my case.

so now it is time to put those turtlenecks and fleece away until next winter (hmmm, what new color will i purchase next year... stay tuned. how excited!). or as it will actually happen, move those item to the top shelf to make room on the middle shelf for my spring/summer/fall wardrobe (really, all those season require almost the same clothing here in tallahassee). so frugal of me to lump three seasons into one wardrobe line.

so i turn once again to my trusty apostrophed lands’ end friends. and they did not disappoint me. no siree. i ordered two pairs of their knit cropped pants. black and charcoal gray (and if they put the navy pair on sale later, i may get those also... i know WILD!). and i also went all shopping spree and ordered three brand spankin’ new tops (bright blue, black, and a pale mint) to wear with these pants. if i could do the math, i could tell you how many outfit variations i will have with three tops and two pants but millie isn’t home to do that math problem for me. i let her do all the shopping and all the math. just know that you will see me in those pants and tops until the turtlenecks and fleece reappear with the frosty mornings next october. i like a look that you can count on. that way you can recognize me in the grocery store. 

so the lands end box arrived. everything fit perfectly. and i love the knit capri pants. they make me look almost like i tried to get dressed but didn’t try too hard. just the look i was going for. and i am sure like all things lands’ end they will wash and wear without any fading or shrinkage. how do i know this? because i have had the same two tugless bathing suits from lands’ end for over 5 years. no fading. no over-stretching. and i do a lot of beach living in them. they round out my summer wardrobe. 

here is a little hint from me to you... before you order anything from lands’ end, google “lands’ end free shipping” and most of the time you will find a free shipping code. and this time i found a code where i received free shipping AND 20% off my order if it was over $100. which my order was... because i splurged on three shirts. but that is the extent of my clothing needs for spring/summer/winter. well, that and a new church/wear to several weddings dress. i always need a summer weddings dress. because we always have a plethora of summer weddings. you may recall that my little black/tan patterned dress from last summer was worn to 5 weddings. and almost every sunday (except the sundays right after the weddings. i wore gray dress pants and a blacks lands’ end top those sundays. they became casual sundays for me). so it might be time to splurge on a new dress. hmmmm, wonder what lands’ end has in that category?

please keep in mind that in no way is this an advertisement for lands’ end. they have not asked me to endorse their clothing. they most likely have no idea who i am or really notice that i seem to order twice a year and always with a free shipping code. and much to my disappointment they have not asked me to be their spokesmodel for “wearing performance sport pants even when you are not performing or sporting anything”. yet...

i have never seen a lands end gift card. perhaps i need to see several of them. in my hand...​