4:11pm on Wednesday

I get an email from Jonathan titled "Mmm, butt" with this picture of Lola & Peyton:

Totally made my afternoon!  Thanks honey!

"I love the smell of commerce in the morning!"

I'm not much of a fashionista or trendsetter.  I mean I love clothing, design, even shopping, but I wouldn't say I'm particularly skilled at it.  

I saw Wishcake's post the other day and commented on how I never think to go to Old Navy to check out some affordable clothes.  So, I stopped by the local mall on my lunch break today and cruised on over to Old Navy.  

There is something about that store that inhibits my ability to think outside the box.  In stores that big, I feel more comfortable if the mannequins show me what to wear.  You know, give me some ideas.  I've been shopping in mostly smaller boutiques for the past year or two, with the exception of Anthropologie...I LOVE that store more than any other store I've been to.  Seriously...Anthropologie is AWESOME. So you know at boutiques you can cruise through the store and there are lots of unique items.  You have to be careful when you're looking so that you don't miss some hidden gem.  

At chain stores...even though the store is bigger, there are fewer things to choose from.  There will be one dress, but it's in 5 different colors and two of every size.  I used to work in retail...at the evil Abercrombie & Fitch...so I know these chain retailers put the best of the best of what they've got on the mannequins.  

Everything the mannequins had on was not cute or too obviously Old Navy (no offense Old Navy, I'd just rather give the illusion that I spent a lot of money on my clothes).  I probably didn't stay long enough, but when I couldn't find the pants Wishcake was wearing, I bolted.

Since my search for affordable pants at ON was over, I thought I'd go ahead and look around for a dress to wear to a wedding I'm going to to this weekend.  So, next stop was Banana Republic.  Ugh, frustrating.  The a/c wasn't working in the store & they were setting up for a sale, so the staff was moving stuff around while I was browsing making the whole experience unpleasant.

I headed over to White House | Black Market to browse.  Lots of cute stuff.  Not cute enough to spend $200 though.  

I left the mall frustrated.  

Does shopping in the mall frustrate you?  How do you handle the blah-ness & find cute stuff?

On the bright side...Back at the office I had an email from a friend that had a link to join this cute website, called gotidbits.  It's specific to Austin and Houston (Austinites check it!).  Cute website & good info so I signed up.

Look what I found!

This laptop bag is adorable...and it comes in other colors & patterns.  This one is out of stock until mid-August...I may go ahead an splurge for a different one...maybe the green or red one?  Oh and what am I saying, it's not splurge, these adorable bags are only $69.99 on the Kailo Chic website.  There are retailers around the country too...so you may be able to find a shop that carries Kailo Chic near you!  

After my experience today, I think I'm going to stick to my boutiques & Anthropologie.  The mall has left me feeling jaded  But at least I found an über cute new website to follow!

Lola vs. The Sprinkler pt. 2

A few of my family members sent me a check for my birthday. So, I decided to use part of my birthday cash to buy The Flip!

Here's my first video, Lola vs. The Sprinkler pt. 2 . Certainly nothing too impressive, but it makes me smile. You can check out the original Lola vs. The Sprinkler here.



Lola vs. The Sprinkler pt 2 from Raychelle G on Vimeo.

Sister, Seester!

My little sister, Rylee, is coming to visit this weekend.  Jonathan & I will drive up to Waco this evening to meet my mom.  I'm elated that she's coming to stay with me.  

Rylee is special.  I mean, all my sisters are special, but I feel a unique connection with her.  When I was a teen, my mom & stepdad, Shawn, were foster parents.  They were hoping this would be a great way for them to adopt the little boy they never had.  Almost two weeks after my 16th birthday a new baby girl came to stay with my mom & Shawn.  She was an itty bitty premie, a mere 2 days old.  They named her Rylee.

I was pumped to have a new little one to play with.  But, I had just received my drivers license...so I was a little more excited about driving around with my friends.  Sadly, I don't remember much from Rylee's first years.  Things just didn't work out with her birth family. So mom & Shawn, who had always wanted a boy, ended up being happier than they ever thought they could be to have this precious little girl, be theirs forever.  She was legally my little sister by the time she was two.  

One of the few things I remember from the early days is I felt like I knew her.  I knew where she was coming from.  Maybe it's similar to the rapport I feel with anyone who lives with one or more parents that aren't their birth parents.  Those of you who are adopted or have remarried parents may know what I mean...maybe not.  Anyway, my feelings on adoptive parents & step-parents is not the point.

Rylee's awesome!  That's the point!  She may be sixteen years my junior, but I dig her.  She's got the sweetest heart of any 10 yr old you'll meet. If you're having a bad day, she'll be the first one by your side trying to cheer you up.  

She has ADHD which has led to some challenges in school, but she's a real hard worker and is doing so much better.  The plus side of ADHD is she always has a ton of energy and is super fun to be around.  She's the first one to volunteer to play a game & the last one to want to quit.  

She came to visit me with my mom, sisters, & Mema a few weeks ago, and let me say, she is a total rock star at Guitar Hero III!

Saturday is Rylee's birthday.  She's turning 10!  I can't believe it!  I hope Jonathan & I can make her birthday a good one.  We're planning on making a trip to Schlitterbahn.  I have never been there, but apparently I've been missing out on the best water park in TX.  I'm so excited that she's going to be here.

The Lola Monster

Yesterday was a very important day in our home. It was Lola's second birthday. Lola Monster, our precious Boxer was brought into this world on July 6, 2008. Eight weeks later, she came to live in our nice, large third floor apartment. That day when we brought her home we weren't concerned with the late night potty breaks; the hundreds of up & down three flights of stairs we would do in hopes that someday she would stop pooping on our carpet; no, we were just thrilled to have a new member of the family.

Lola's first picture. Sitting in my lap on the way to her new home!

Though she's a little blurry, it's already clear what a darling little addition she would be to our family. How could you not love that face!? She was pretty timid which we attributed to the newness of the whole situation. We would soon find out that is just Lola's way. She's probably the gentlest dog I've ever met.


This is us sharing a little TV time on her first night in the apartment. She was sooo tiny!

Look how tiny she was compared to Peyton! That little purple collar...it's a cat collar! A gift from the future in-laws :)


One more picture from the early days before I move on:

Isn't this precious! Jonathan & Lola bonded right from the start

Happy birthday Lola! We're so happy to have you as member of our family!

Jonathan thinks it's a little odd that I can remember Lola's birthday. But, she was my first dog that I had all on my own...well, with Jonathan. She was OUR first pet together...this meant we were stuck! This was before we were engaged...so though we were living together, there were no technical commitments between us...Lola would be the first. Plus her birthday is just four days after mine...if that isn't meant to be I don't know what is!




I'm off to go hug my Lola Monster :) If you have a furry kid like we do...go give your little monster a hug too!

Exposaroonie | Vintage

It's Exposaroonie time again :) This week the Challenge was to take a photo with a Vintage feel. I decided to use one of the actions the Exposaroonie gals suggested: Autumn Love Actions....check it out. It's a super cool action and best of all it's free.

Jonathan gave me several bouquets of flowers along with my super special birthday present (more on that later). I had put to of the cute frilly flowers in vases on our dresser...which has a sort of vintage look to it. So, the setting plus the awesome Autumn Love Action and voila!! My submission:



You can vote for your favorite here.

Happy Independence Day!!