Mustard Inspo

A few springs ago (that sounds really weird, doesn't it?) I discovered that after years of thinking that the color yellow was not in my color wheel, I was wrong. I fell in. love. with yellow and bought several blouses and jackets (mostly for work) in my new favorite color. Fast forward to fall 2017. Is it just me or is mustard everywhere? And I'm not talking about the French's kind, either.

I personally have this thing about yellow and black. My high school friend had a sweater once that was black, white, and yellow, and I swore that thing reminded me of a taxi! It even had the black and white square taxi design at the bottom of it. I hated that sweater. So I have to be reeeeaaaalll careful when it comes to wearing yellow and black together. Just for the record, I usually pair it with gray slacks for work, but I don't think gray and mustard mesh that well together. Am I wrong? Of course, I'm loving the leopard scarf with this outfit!

I thought this was a fun twist to mix up the mustard with a striped cardi. Actually, when I saw this pin on Pinterest, I thought of a friend that works on my floor at the Mother Ship. She wears long cardigans a lot and I could totally see her pulling this look off!

Now this? THIS color scheme idea was a little different for me because I would have NEVER thought about pairing mustard and burgundy together. For real? Would you? I'm not wild about the dress and cardigan combo, but this pin totally gave me inspiration to try these two fall colors together. 

Like I shared in my Olive Inspo post a few weeks ago, I just don't think I should wear mustard around my face. And just like olive, the reason I think so is because they're both warm color tones and I'm a cool girl. Ha! Having said that, I guess the only way I could probably pull this color off is by wearing pants. Ha! Love the navy and the dots! Not sure about mustard on my butt tho.

And THIS pin - or one similar to it - is what started all my mustard inspiration for this post. A friend of mine sent me a text letting me know that Zulily was having a great sale and I needed to check it out. Nearly all the sale items, were mustard and I fell in love with this spin on the traditional military vest. It's probably the only way I would wear this hue around my face. 

What do you think about mustard? Yay or nay? I would love to read your comments about this popular fall color.

Friday Favorites

How was your week, Friends? Ours flew by and for that, I'm grateful because we have plans for the weekend and I'm ready to get the heck out of town! I don't know how in the world I got Mr. Horton to agree to miss an Alabama football game, but I did it! Welcome to the short and sweet version of Friday Favorites with Andrea and the girls!

one.

I decided to give up on Mother Nature as far as sending us cooler temps here in Louisiana any time soon. i wore boots for the first time this season on Monday. I paired them with a dress to work and I was so happy to be back in my favorite go to fall outfit.  

Sam Edelman Penny Boot

These boots are by far my favorite boots evah! I love them so much that I have another pair in black. They are so comfortable and versatile for jeans or dresses, a football game, or the office. The temps finally dropped about ten degrees on Wednesday, so I was very happy about that!

two.

Last weekend, I finally got around to making my Mama's Pecan Pie. By Tuesday, it was gone!

three.

Meet Oscar! He's Stephanie's newest friend in France and such a cutie! I don't even want to think about how we're going to get him home when she returns to the states (ahem!), but little sister has enjoyed getting puppy videos from her Big Sis this week! I posted a little more about her story on Wednesday. Steph had a much better week and that makes this Mama happy! I hinted that there maybe even more changes for her on the horizon, but right now, we're just praying for God's continued guidance. 

four.

This summer we began having issues with our wi-fi. Super fast wi-fi wasn't so super at our house anymore and after phone calls to our carrier and buying new modems and all that other hoopla stuff that goes with making the wi-fi work in your house, we didn't get anywhere. We finally convinced our carrier to come look at our outside line and guess what! There was water in our line and that was causing the hit and miss service. Who knew? Our wi-fi is so darn fast now and so of course, that makes me happy. And cuss a lot less.  

five.

Last night, the girls and I got together for GNO and we had the best time! We went to a local Mexican restaurant for margaritas and queso. Lots of laughter and catching up! Jessica picked up these cute kitchen towels for each of us. Love it!

Speaking of Halloween, I just realized that today is Friday the 13th! I'm not a superstitious person, but doesn't that look like a ghost to the right of the picture? Alise took the picture and when she saw it, she started wigging out. OMG, the child is scared of her own shadow! I promise my oven is not that dirty!

See ya next week, Peeps!

Vive La France

Disclaimer: I knew as soon as I had time to catch everyone up on Stephanie, her luck would change and it sure has! Fingers crossed, Peeps, but she may be moving on to another country very soon! In the meantime, this is what she's been up to in France!

 

Now that Stephanie has safely made it to France - Praise the Lord! - I feel like I can share a few more details about her opportunity to play professional basketball over seas. Not too many details, though, because after all, it is HER story, but a Mama can brag. 

Thanks to a huge circle of friends and other athletes in the biz, the chance to play in France more or less fell in her lap. Wayne and I encouraged her to get her agent involved and eventually there were contracts and negotiations and all the kinks to work out. All of this took place on Labor Day weekend when we were out of town visiting family, so it was a little chaotic, but eventually all the kinks DID get worked out, Stephanie's dad gave her his blessing, and she signed. Little did we know that within a week, she would receive her airline ticket to leave us the following week (We were thinking she would leave in mid-October). So the whole week of getting Stephanie ready for France was a whirlwind of excitement, stress, and anxiety. The child didn't even own luggage!

The language has been her biggest frustration, of course. In El Salvadore, she could piece words and phrases together to communicate, but she is clueless when it comes to the French language. The good news is that she has an opportunity to take French lessons, so I've encouraged her to do that. 

Stephanie is very quiet and reserved and she does not make friends easily. As her mom, I've tried to encourage Steph to get out of her comfort zone and meet new people. I'm constantly telling her, "You have to be a friend to have a friend." Well, that doesn't work so well in a foreign country when you don't know the language. Unlike this summer, she does not have another American on her team, so she is completely alone. Her teammates speak a little English, but not fluently and although they have reached out to her, she is still skeptical and leary of just "hanging out" and forming new friendships. Its difficult for her.

This past weekend, we were face timing and it was the first time I've heard her laugh in over three weeks. It felt strange to hear it. She has had a tremendous adjustment in her life and she is home sick. The town she lives in is located in the south of France (I'm so thankful she's not in Paris!), very small and quaint, but beautiful from the pictures she's sent.

Her sponsor is a vet in town and he has found her a six week old puppy to have and she is SO excited about that! Stephanie is SUCH the animal lover and I'm hoping that this new puppy will help her with the loneliness and homesickness.

She had a unique opportunity last week to attend an English speaking class at a local school. The students had to ask her questions about living in the United States in English instead of French. She said most of the questions were about Donald Trump and what it was like to live in the United States. She and the teacher hit it off and exchanged information, so I am grateful that God has answered my prayers for sending her someone that speaks English. She is also very close to her coach and his wife who speak English as well. 

As for playing time, we don't get to watch her games as much as we did when she was El Salvadore. Now we're at the mercy of someone filming the game and putting it on FB. She is still scoring in the twenties, but fouls are not her friend in France, so she's had to adjust to the refereeing. 

She was finally able to go to a McDonald's last week. She ordered a large fry and a ten piece nugget meal and it was $17!! Yes, you read right! She said the food doesn't taste the same. She's had pizza and said that it doesn't taste the same either. She's had duck; says it tasted like steak. She cooks most of her meals in her apartment.

So keep praying, Blog Friends! Pray for Stephanie's safety and that she will make new friends and get past her homesickness. This Mama misses her very much! Our life just isn't the same without her!

HBD SUYB!!!

Ha!  Did y'all think there was a typo in the title of today's post? 

Not at all, Loves!

Happy Birthday to Show Us Your Books (For some crazy reason, I had problems posting the button)!! Today we're celebrating three years of pages with Jana and Stephanie and sharing what we've read this past month. Unfortunately for me, I've been in another reading slump and struggling my way through America's First Daughter. I love history and I've really enjoyed this book, but it has definitely taken me the entire later part of the summer to finish it! I SOOO shoulda been a history teacher!

I know this book probably isn't for everyone, but I enjoyed it leisurely at night before bed. I had to renew it only once. I borrowed the large print edition, so the book was well over 850 pages. In essence, the book is about the life of Patsy Jefferson, the oldest born daughter of President Thomas Jefferson, who, of course, was the author of our beloved Declaration of Independence. The book was based on letters from that time period and it was a great read if you're into that kinda thing, like I said. Four Stars. 

Now for the car pick up line....My book of choice was The Hideaway by Lauren Denton. I stumbled along this book by just doing some browsing on Amazon. It was a cheap read and I really enjoyed it. The Hideaway was a sweet, easy to read novel based in New Orleans and south Alabama. Sarah realizes after her eccentric Grandmother dies that maybe she didn't know her like she thought she did after all. I would compare this book to Nicolas Sparks. Four Stars.

I decided to read When We Were Worthy at the recommendation of Big Mama aka Melanie. She posted about it on Instagram and said that she couldn't put it down. Although I liked the "Friday Night Lights" feel of the book, and I really wanted to know what happened, the book was Meh? to me. I gave it three stars.

               

Just saying: The Blended Blog has a virtual book club if you're interested. Each month has a theme which I think is alot of fun. Check it out!

Other book lists you may enjoy: Three Must Read Books For Fall, Another Summer 2017 Reading List Update, My Summer 2017 Reading List Update.

Happiest of Heavenly birthdays to my late Father-In-Law! We will see you again soon! Alise can't wait to meet you!

My Top Three Julia Roberts Movies

My curious mind would like to know what happened to Julia Roberts? As a teen in the late 80's, Julia was Queen of Hollywood and my favorite actress. Friends and I couldn't get to the theaters fast enough to see her latest blockbusters. Back then, Julia ranked right up there with the likes of Emma Stone (no.1) and Jennifer Lawrence (no.3) for being the highest paid actress in Hollywood. I remember when she became the first actress to make a cool $1mil for starring in a movie. I thought, Wow! That's a lot of money! She's made it to the big leagues!

But back in the early '90's Julia and Keifer Sutherland ruled the red carpet and were the favorite Hollywood couple. Remember their movie, Flatliners? However, Julia called off their engagement just days before the couple were about to say, I do (And just for the record, I never liked Julia with blonde hair).

Fast forward two years and THIS was the cover of People in the summer of 1993. I was twenty years old, working at State Farm for the summer, and I can still remember seeing this issue at the grocery store and buying it. What the what? And who was Lyle Lovett?? Hollywood was buzzing with the news, and even "normal" people like me were in a shocking tail spin. Everywhere I went that summer, people were talking about their marriage. Julia Roberts had married a no-namer! What was she thinking? It was the first time I had ever seen a bride barefoot and I remember thinking that it was so weird, and now it is so common. As for Lyle's hair...y'all just THOUGHT I had big hair!

Toward the end of the '90's my JR movie going and interest waned. I didn't keep up with her as much in the media or see every single one of her movies like I had in the early days. Besides, by this time, I was a newlywed and even Wayne had his JR/chic flick limits. So the whole point of this post was to share my top three favorite Julia Roberts movies. Here goes:

one.
Steel Magnolias will not only be my favorite JR movie, but will forever be in my top five favorite movies of all time. It's a classic and every girl south of the Mason-Dixon Line needs to have this movie in their collection. Can y'all believe Stephanie has never seen this movie? I nearly died when she told me! I saw it with my best friend, Carrie, at the movie theater when it came out in 1989, and the next weekend, we took our moms to see it because we loved it so much! 

two.
Another trip to the theater with Carrie to see Pretty Woman and every time we had a sleep over, we rented it then, too. I can't think of this movie without Roy Orbison's song playing in my head. One of my favorite parts of the movie is when she's singing to Prince in the huge tub. Notice that's a Walkman, peeps, and not Beats. 

three.
Sleeping With The Enemy was not one of Julia's more popular movies, but I loved it because it was a psychological thriller and not the sugary sweet role that Julia had been previously known for up to that point. Even the music was scary! But I loved the bravery and courage of Julia's character and the fact that the bad guy finally did get it in the end! 

Just last week, I learned that Julia was turning 50 at the end of this month. WOW! Total shock syndrome. She said in Bazaar's November issue that she use to be a "selfish little brat running around making films" when she was younger. Somehow, I find comfort in the fact that Julia was a brat, too! Her next role is in the movie, Wonder, which comes out on November 16th and I can't wait to see it!