TRM - Totally Random Monday

Alright, y'all.  I am back from my non-intentional blogcation.  I have been super slammed at work and have missed my bloggy and tweety friends!  It's been awhile, so this being my first post back, is going to be completely random.  Here we go!

Soccer

Our little Pink Ponies are doing SUCH a great job!  They are getting better every week.  Practices are still a bit of a challenge - getting eight 4 year olds to focus AND listen at the same time is still proving to be difficult, but they'll get it eventually.  One of my sweet girls who has been so game shy has finally come out of her shell!  The first few games she was really sad and scared, but last week we had a breakthrough and she is loving soccer practice and games now.  Success!

In similar news,

Ava doesn't take crap from anyone.

The shot that was missed during the picture sequence above was #3 on the blue team grabbed Ava's jersey and pulled her away from the ball.  Ava was completely.hacked.off.  Like, told her all about it.  I do not condone trash talking the other team (especially when they are 4, hello!), but I do appreciate that Ava is not going to let someone sling her around, then stand there and cry about it.  I did talk to her about asking nicely for people to not grab her, so we'll see if it takes.

In other soccer news,

FC Dallas games are really fun!

No picture for this one, sorry!  We've been to two games this season and have yet to take a picture.  If you live in the Dallas area and have any kind of interest in soccer, I definitely recommend going.  There are usually good deals on tickets, parking is free, and I don't think there is a bad seat in the house.

In related FC Dallas news (hey, maybe this post isn't so random),

What the h-e-double-hockey-sticks do the FC Dallas cheerleaders do?

So far all I have seen them do is hand out programs, walk around with their pom-poms in little groups and do one or two sideline cheers down in corner of the stadium.  Random!  I was expecting a glorious some fashion of halftime dance, but I was sorely disappointed.  Maybe they are fair-weather dancers, which brings me to my next point:

What happened to summer?!?

We have been completely spoiled lately with temps in the 80's.  It was supposed to be 86 on Saturday, but we never got there.  Major sadface.  I still shouldn't complain because our cold is nothing like the cold some of you gals are experiencing.  My sis sent me a picture of her lawn covered in snow.  No bueno, Mother Nature.  No bueno.  But, hey...

In 31 days I will be at the beach!

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Woo hoo!  Yes, I am on an official vacation countdown (as if you couldn't already tell).  You would think that I would have been on a major vacation diet/exercise routine at this point, but no.  I cant.stop.eating.carbs.  For reals.  The sad thing is, it's not even like I'm eating a ton of chocolate or desserts, because I gave those up for lent.  (Don't start hating if you don't like people posting about what they gave up for lent, because it is relevant to this random thought.)  Anywho, I'm getting back on the wagon this week I hope.  I'm headed back to the gym tomorrow for my daily weekly sporadic runs and incidentally enough, I just got an email from New Balance with...

These adorbs running shoes...

I'm going to need new running kicks soon, and I'm seriously thinking about these.  They are super cute and light, both of which are very important in a running shoe.  ;)  I'm thinking about going to Luke's Locker for a shoe fitting.  Has anyone ever done this at Luke's or any other running store?  Going back to my travel thought...

April 13 - May 25 In-Air Mileage will be 14,788

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Holy schnikies, I'm going to be seeing a lot of the view above.  I can't complain, at least my destinations are a little nicer than my sweet husbie (whose territory leaves much to be desired travel-wise).  I have trips planned to Puerto Rico (most important!), San Francisco, Long Beach, Boca Raton and Washington D.C., where I may or may not have already made a date with Ana.  ;)

Part of the reason for all of this travel is that...

I got a promotion at work!

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I'm not going to lie, my title makes me feel like a pit of a poser.  It's a big title and a big job, but I am definitely excited for the challenge.  Our company is in a big-time period of growth as the economy continues to rebound, so this move couldn't come at a better time.

I think that catches us up from the last couple of weeks.  Whew!  I'm looking forward to catching up on everyone's blogs tonight.

Have a great Monday, lovelies!

Rent the Runway Review

After perusing Rent the Runway for the last year or so, I finally decided to give it a whirl for a wedding that we were attending this past weekend.  If you read this post, you saw that from their collection I had tons of super cute options.  Deciding was much harder than I thought - thanks to everyone that gave me their input!  The dress I chose was:

A couple of great things about Rent the Runway are that there are tons of reviews from previous renters listed with each dress.  They cite if it runs true to size, what type of occassion they rented it for, any problems with the dress, etc:

With each rental, you get to pick one primary size, then an alternate size.  This was SUCH a reassurance!  With designer dresses, I always assume I need to go up a size, so I liked having the option to not get stuck with a dress that is too big or too small.  

My dresses arrived on Friday (important note: UPS does not require you to sign for them, so you don't have to hang around and wait for them to arrive) and were in a garment bag in a box.  There was not much wrinkling, though some.  sidenote: This is where I realized that I should get a steamer.  The dress is gorgeous, really really gorgeous, and fit perfectly!  This one ran true to size, so I was glad that I was able to order multiple sizes, since I might have assumed I should just order a size up. 

My only nit-pick with the dress is that the boning was starting to come through on the inside.  This could not be seen from the outside.

I got sooooo many compliments on the dress, I will definitely rent again!  The retail on this particular dress is $365, which I could never imagine spending on a dress that I was only going to wear one time.  With shipping, insurance, and a discount code, I paid a little over $50.  Money well spent!

Today I popped my dresses back in the mail on my way into work.  Completely easy - the return packaging came with the dress and is already pre-paid by RTR and ready to go.

Now, for the real life pictures:

Ignore the wrinkling on the skirt - that came from sitting in the car for over an hour to get to the wedding location.

Would I rent from Rent the Runway again?  Definitely!  Would I recommended it to my friends?  Already have!  I give RTR:

If you haven't checked out Rent the Runway, follow this link. 

Hope everyone had a great weekend!



I was not asked or compensated by Rent the Runway to do this review.  If you would like to help a sister out to get some rental credit love, use the links I have provided as they are 'invite friends, get credit' links.  Even if I didn't get the credits, I would still absolutely recommend renting.

The Good News & The Not So Good News

So, the good news first:  

In 50 days, I will be heading here:

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Laying out here...

Sipping one of these...

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Doing a little of this...

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And seeing some of this...

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With my favorite sisters...

Now for the bad news - for my DFW girls - if you've done the math you realize that is the same weekend as the Dallas Blogger Meetup.  Massive sadface.  

BUT, while I am so sad to miss the meetup, I am so happy to be heading to Puerto Rico with my sisters!  We've been wanting to plan a sister trip for the longest time and everything finally fell into place.  Yay, BEACH!

If anyone has any Puerto Rico tips, let me know!  We're staying in Dorado but will be renting a car for a day or two of our trip.

Mean Girls: Bloggy Edition

I'm going to hop up on my soapbox here, so I thought I would launch this post with one of my favorite scenes from Mean Girls:

A Lot of Feelings
Mean Girls at MOVIECLIPS.com

Why do girls think it is okay to tear each other down?  I'm not saying that it is right for high school girls to do this to each other, but it's understandable.  But in blogland?  We're all adults here, or at least I was under the impression that we were.

I haven't been a victim (yet), but some of the sweetest bloggy girls I know and follow have been.  Girls that have done nothing except share a part of their lives with the world and received upsetting, horrible comments on their blogs, in their email and via Twitter.  It is not okay to tear someone down in any form, least of all the internet where bullies hide behind a veil of anonymity.  It is not okay to make someone feel worse about their life so you can feel better about yours.   

If you're reading this and you're someone that has felt the need (and maybe personal satisfaction?) in tearing someone else down via the internet, step back and think about it for a moment.  Does it make you feel better to act like such a bully?  All it does is hurt the person you are attacking.  Think about taking all of that negative energy and turn it into something good.  Or just sit there for a moment, take a deep breath, and close your browser.  If you don't like what you are reading, don't read it.  If you don't have something nice to say, don't say it at all.  Treat others as you would like to be treated.

To anyone who has fallen victim to such attacks, I know you have probably heard this from lots of people, but try let it roll of your back and remind yourself that their words have not so much to do with you, but with themselves and their own unhappiness.  We all have so much positive to bring to this world of blogging - unique insights, views, life experiences and opinions.  I'd hate for the negative of a few to ruin the positive of many.

Wee Bit of Me Wednesday!

{one} do you wear holey jeans? if so, do you buy them that way?Nope.  I've never been one with the holey trend.  I think they can be super cute on other people, I've just never felt like I could pull it off!
{two} do you get a full 8 hours of sleep per night?I try really hard at this!  I usually get up 6-6:30 AM and am always in bed by 9, it seems.  We get hooked catching up on our DVR or movies a lot of nights, so I usually end up falling asleep around 10:30 - 11.
{three} what’s your favorite way to eat an oreo?Ooh, I haven't had an Oreo in forever!  I love them with milk.  I don't dunk them, I just bite and sip. 
{four} do you wear shoes in your house?Yes!  We get really good at not after we have our carpets cleaned, but we end up slipping up and wearing them around the house. 
{five} who would you call first if you won the lottery?Austin, if he wasn't with me.  If he was, my sis!
{six} have you ever been in a food fight?Not that I can recall.
{seven} do you snore?I snored when I was preggo, and sometimes I snore now if I have had a few drinks before bed.  Other than that, I'm snore free!
{eight} do you know how fast you type?I don't know, but it's fast!  I can thank ICQ in high school for that - I had to learn how to type fast to keep up with all of the conversations.  (sidebar: does anyone remember ICQ?  It was amazeballs.)
{nine} can you do a headstand (without using a wall)?I used to be able to.  I would try now, but someone would walk by my office and think I was a lunatic.
{ten} how do you like your popcorn?I love popcorn!  I really love it from the movie theater (I know, so bad for you), I also like it cooked at home in a pot with Accent and salt.  Yumm-o!  Apparently there is a Salt & Lime popcorn?  Kelly wrote about it on her WBoM Wednesday.  I MUST find this!

If you want to join in with Wee Bit of Me Wednesday, head on over here!