Colorful Things that Give My Heart Wings but are Otherwise Unconnected

Bottles: Dollar Tree

Vase: Michaels

A necklace I made (and photographed) a million years ago.

I posted these happy, high-voltage pics on Instagram and then thought, why not post them here too?

You're welcome. 😏

Chapter Eleven Heaven

Every time I get to chapter eleven in a book, I laugh.  Because, bankruptcy.  But today is about an eleventh chapter that's no laughing matter.  That's right, it's the husband's and my anniversary.

Eleven years ago today, we said "I do."  I was thirty-one and felt like I knew it all, but now I know that I didn't know anything.  Because we've had our share of adventures since then, the biggest being having Charlotte.  I love that even after a decade-plus in, life can still surprise you.

So here's to more surprises in the next ten-plus years.

But not to bankruptcy. 😏

Mama Makes a Necklace

Patriotic Pop Necklace

The Fourth of July may now be a firework ember, but that didn't stop me from making this Patriotic Pop Necklace.  Charlotte was asleep, the laundry was (mostly) done, and the bottles were (more or less) washed.  So I celebrated my independence by having a grand old time crafting this tribute to our grand old flag.  And, of course, lollipops.  

Still, I'm not reopening my Etsy shop just yet.  No nightly midnight crafting for me until Charlotte sleeps through the night. 😏

World Renowned? Get Out of Town! No Woman is an Island.

Now that Charlotte's arrived, the mother-daughter book club is back in session.  It was my turn to pick, and I went with Abbi Waxman's latest, Christa Comes Out of Her Shell.  As you know, I'm a fan of Waxman's wry humor and quirky heroines, so I wanted to share them with my mom and sister.

Waxman gives us another offbeat shero in Christa Barnet-slash-Liddle, a rainbow-haired biologist who studies sea snails on an off-the-grid island.  An outspoken introvert who prefers wildlife to people, Christa likes living below the radar.  So when her famous father comes back from the dead, she's less than pleased.  Especially because Jasper Liddle was an icon in science-meets-celebrity Hollywood.  Now Christa's back in LA dealing with her deadbeat dad as well as her mom and sisters.  It's family drama with a capital F with some blast-from-the-past romance thrown in.  Charming and sensitive family friend Nate complements Christa's fire as they muddle through Jasper's reappearance.  Nevertheless, it isn't easy for Christa to let someone in, and she must decide if she wants to stay an island.

Waxman's unmatched wit and kooky characters make Christa Comes Out of Her Shell a delight.  If anything, I wanted to know more about Christa and less about Jasper.  Still, Christa's emotional growth is a triumph and outshines his -- and others' -- shortcomings.

So in tribute to that and the "sheltered" life, here's a snail sweater I bought from ModCloth but never wore.

Perhaps it's time to break free from my shell and give it an outing.

Rays the Roof for Sunshine: Say Yes to the Dress

Bag: Zulily

Necklaces and bangle: Simply Vera, Kohl's

Sunglasses: LC Lauren Conrad, Kohl's

Dress: LC Lauren Conrad, Kohl's

After having a baby, it's not easy to get back into the outfit blogging game.  Partly because free time activities must now be scrupulously scheduled, partly because when I'm not tending to Charlotte the husband is, and he's the photographer.  But last weekend, when we were at my parents' house, I asked my mom to take my picture.  I'd bought this dress when I was still pregnant, ignoring the voice in my head that said, lady, what are you doing?  Because I wasn't sure when or if I'd be able to wear it.  Still, dressing up is a big part of who I am, and buying it felt like self preservation.

Luckily, it fit perfectly, so I was glad I went for it!

I guess you can take the baby out of the lady but not the lady out of the babydoll dress.

Not that this dress is a babydoll.  But these days, my standards for wordplay are lower. 😏

Rebecca Serle's Mother of Pearl Pearls of Wisdom

I picked up Rebecca Serle's One Italian Summer during a Target run last September, but it remained on my bookshelf for months.  Although it was much-buzzed-about, I just wasn't ready for a mother-daughter tearjerker.  But after I read Lee Hollis's (highly entertaining and enjoyable) Death of a Lobster Lover, I was ripe for something serious.

And losing your mother is as serious as it gets.

That's what happens to thirty-year-old Katy Silver in this novel.  Her mother was her best friend, so when she dies, Katy's world crashes.  Now she's questioning everything, including her marriage.  Heartbroken and lost, she embarks on the Italian vacation that she and her mother planned to take together.  Positano turns out to be postcard-perfect.  Katy is spellbound, getting to know her mother in a new way by exploring the city she loved.  Then the unthinkable happens when Katy sees her mother at her hotel, in the flesh and thirty years younger.  What follows is an unorthodox and haunting jaunt down memory lane.  I didn't love or even agree with all of it.  Yet although some parts were problematic, what I initially thought of as a clumsy conceit ultimately gave me chills.  

Thought-provoking and moving, One Italian Summer was sometimes difficult for this daughter and, now mother, to read.  

Still, it was well worth the detour.

Fourth of July Pie and Other Sweet Eats

The husband's root beer float pie.

Dress: B. Smart, Kohl's

Flip flops: Katy Perry Collection, Nordstrom Rack; Basket: Michaels

Dessert array buffet.

Sunglasses, Michaels

Since Charlotte was born, I've been working my way through my post-gestational-diabetes wish list.  Which means pizza, pasta, pancakes, cake, ice cream, and all kinds of other previously contraband carbs.  One item on the list was a root beer float, and although I haven't yet had the pleasure of guzzling one, the husband made a root beer float pie Fourth of July weekend.  It was as delicious as it was decorative, and I gobbled up my slice.  Not that that stopped me from inhaling my mom's blueberry crisp and chocolate cake.

So it was a very happy and hearty, if not-heart-healthy, Fourth of July.  

As they say, let food freedom ring!

Crustacean Vacation Incarceration

No, this isn't a post about law-breaking lobsters run amuck on spring break.  It's a review of Lee Hollis's Death of a Lobster Lover.  Which is, admittedly, almost as zany.

When Hayley and her besties Liddy and Mona head for a weekend at Mona's family cabin in idyllic Salmon Cove, their only agenda is food and fun.  But then the cabin turns out to be a ramshackle, marking the beginning of the trio's troubles.  Liddy catches the eye of a dashing reporter only to find him strangled on the beach.  Mona's old flame resurfaces, and the local sheriff won't rest until she puts the Three Musketeers behind bars.  But despite these obstacles, Hayley needs to find out who killed that reporter and why.  And that's no easy feat in Salmon Cove, where everyone has something to hide.

A cozy that's as suspenseful as it is quirky, Death of a Lobster Lover keeps you guessing until the bitter, butter-drenched end.  Colorful and cartoonish, it's the ideal escape, a little vacation unto itself.

Because sometimes the best way to kick off summer is with a story about kicking the bucket.

Peachy Keen and Key Lime Green: Fun With the Fruits of My Labor

Top: LC Lauren Conrad, Kohl's; Flip flops: Katy Perry Collection, Nordstrom Rack

Bag: Betsey Johnson, Amazon

Watermelon and lemon hairclips: LC Lauren Conrad, Kohl's; Cherry necklace: Candie's, Kohl's

The skinny on Minnie: She's awesome!

Top and sandals: LC Lauren Conrad, Kohl's

Bag: LC Lauren Conrad, Kohl's

Hairclip: Wild Fable, Target

Flamingo flowers from Daddy to Charlotte.

Hairclip: Marshalls; Bag: Luv Betsey by Betsey Johnson, Macy's Backstage

Perhaps it's bad form for me to refer to my baby and handbags in the same breath, not to mention with the irreverent phrase "fun with the fruits of my labor."  But then again, I'm an irreverent sort, so I might as well begin the way I mean to go on.

Life with a newborn means limited time for sleep, sanity, and personal hygiene.  So outfit shots are out of the question, at least in the traditional sense.  But when we take Charlotte to the doctor, or my parents visit, I seize the opportunity to shed my PJs and dress like a person.  And the same goes for Charlotte.  (Although her PJs are awfully cute with their flamingo, koala, and bumblebee feet.)  I even adorn her precious noggin with headbands.  Not that she tolerates them for long.  Just see Exhibit B, a.k.a, baby makes three, in which Char Bar is brazenly bareheaded.

So for now my fit pics include my mini me.  Which is, ahem, very fitting.  Because when I said I was losing my sanity, I was joking.  Since Charlotte came on the scene, I've never felt saner.

I did mean the part about hygiene, though.

Fingers crossed I floss for the Fourth of July.