Summer Gold

While I was out shopping this afternoon, I can across some really great pieces of gold costume jewelry that I wanted to add to my collection. I have a slight addiction to gold during the summer time. It just works so well with my (faux) tan and all the bright clothes that summer has to offer! Plus, the great thing about buying costume pieces is that you can find some really great things that don't cost a lot of money! Today my luck was found in Francesca's and Express. The both had really great sales on their accessories as well. WIN!

Here's the new pieces I picked up today! A couple new bracelets and two pair of earrings!

(ps: Um, I have no idea why some of these descriptions are underlined. A computer savvy girl, I am not... Oh well!)

Three great bangles which can be worn alone, or stacked. The orange one is clearly a take on the Hermes bracelet for a fraction of the cost. I can easily wear these with both my gold or white Michael Kors watches.

I've been keeping my eye out for a big pair of gold earrings and I think these fit the ticket. They're really lightweight and just the right size. Obsessed.

Gold Hoops that are really sparkly when you wear them. Too bad my camera isn't doing too good of a job showing that!

...And, here's the things that I've had for a while:

Christmas gift from my parents. It's a Delicate Raymond pendant necklace with an "M" monogrammed on the front for my name. I wear this ALL THE TIME!

I bought this necklace from JCrew maybe a year or so ago and I can't even tell you how many compliments I get when I wear it. It's called the "Fireball" necklace and for good reason. It shimmers like crazy in all kinds of light! So pretty!

Michael Kors Runway Watch. It's huge. It's perfection.

I bought this from Ann Taylor around Christmas and it's one of my favorite necklaces. It makes a statement all on it's own. Big. Flashy. Pearls. Gold. Man - so many good things going on here. I love them all!

Here's the team! All my favorite pieces for summer! I can't wear to pair it all with the great dresses I bought for my sister in law's wedding in a few weeks.

Black Belt: In Shopping

You see, friends. This is why I need to STOP napping with Ava during the day! Who do I think I am, a toddler? Yikes. So here I sit at 1:30 in the morning and I'm all motivated to write a little something on my blog before I attempt some sleep.

Let me just start by giving one of my best friends, Deena Madsen, credit for the title of this post. Here's the background. This past Sunday, I ventured out into downtown Raleigh to try and find a one-of-a-kind dress, or two, for my sister in law's upcoming wedding. I'm so over prom-like, cocktail dresses, I could scream. I searched online and in the stores for weeks trying to find something that I couldn't live without. Nada. Zilch. Nothin'.

Then, low and behold, in the beautiful boutiques of Raleigh, I finally found some really amazing things. Here's the best part about shopping the little stores: The buyers for these little shops only purchase maybe 5 of one item, in a variety of sizes and then let the crazies, like myself, fight tooth and nail to bring one home. It's cool, I own my crazy. Heck, I write about it all the time! So as I'm walking through the store, "Scout and Molly's", I spy THE ONE. Yup, almost like seeing your wedding dress. Almost. I take it off the rack and to my complete disappointment, it's a "large". Now, I'll fully admit this last year hasn't been the best to my waistline, but a "large", I am not. I could have probably taken the leftover material and made a dress for Ava. (Wait, that's brilliant! Darn...).

Anyway. Here comes the "Black Belt Shopper" in me.

I spend the next 72 hours scouring the internet, calling other stores, and even emailing the PR representative AND customer service rep for the company, Alice and Trixie, asking for help. I'm actually being serious.

Finally, the CS rep hunts down my dress somewhere in the lovely state of Georgia where they, FOR FREE, shipped it to another store in North Carolina, who then shipped it, FOR FREE, to my house. My latest stalk on UPS.com tells me that my dress will be at my house by the end of the day tomorrow.

I think I should do this as a side job, yes? You can't find it? I bet I can...

The icing on the cake for this little experience is that not only was the dress found, it was on sale.

Holla!

And, for your viewing please: THE DRESS! It's so unlike any thing I've ever worn to a wedding and while I don't plan on wearing this to the church, it's FOR SURE going to be out and proud for the reception. It's so perfect and summery!

(A quick shot of the one being sent to me. The lovely girls at Luna, www.shopluna.com , were just the best.)

Tim McGraw Concert!

Hey y'all!

We hit up a country concert last night and made sure we were dressed for the occasion! What? You don't think Louis Vuitton is country? Psssshhhh. I finally got to break in my Frye cowboy boots last night, or rather, they broke me. I have the blisters on my heels to prove it! Oh well, fashion can be painful and I'm willing to make that sacrifice.

One of my closest friends from high school, Nicole, and her hubs Brian went with us and we had such a great time! Did a little tailgating before we went in to save some money from the 12 dollar beers and 8 dollar pretzels. We originally had lawn seats, but as always, you could trade in your tickets for seats if you got there early enough. We were hoping to avoid any rain so we did a swap only to realize we were still uncovered. Awesome! Thankfully there was no rain by the end of the night and we had a great time!

The Band Perry and Luke Bryan opened for Tim and they were really entertaining! Curt is a big Band Perry fan and Luke Bryan has a couple great songs out there as well (and pretty easy on the eyes, if you ask me!). Tim McGraw doesn't age and still looks amaze in a pair of jeans, a tshirt, and his trusty hat. Yum.

Here's some pics from our night out!

Curt, myself, Brian, and Nicole

Nicole and I with our 24 oz CANS of beer. Have mercy!

Tailgating in style. Like the big truck behind me? There's a whole lot of those in the south.

Curt's boots he bought over 10 years ago! No blisters for him!

The Frye boots Curt bought me for Mother's Day. Wearing for the first time meant I did get the blisters on my heels. Totally worth it.

LUSTING...

...these few items:

(Feel free to let my awesome husband know! Oh wait, he already does...)

This beautiful bag is a Louis Vuitton Damier Azur Galleria PM. It's stunning. I need it. (Read: Want).

These shoes are Tory Burch Revas in Silver. And while I'm at it, I think a pair of these in every color of the rainbow would work out just great in my closet.

Don't laugh. I am completely obsessed with these gold sandals made by the one and only, Ivanka Trump. In my defense, this line is sold in Nordstrom. That has to make up for the ridiculousness that is the "designer". Any way, I love these something real bad.

Finally, I have a gorgeous Michele watch (with the black strap) that was given to me by Curt for our 2nd anniversary. I have a couple straps (white and red as well...) but I think green would look wonderful on my arm, yes? Yes.

July!!!

Before I start, I know I promised a picture post and I swear, I will try and get that up tonight. Posting pics on blogger, as you all know, is a major pain in the rear. Takes for-ev-er. But, what I'm really trying to say is, I'm procrastinating. Moving on...

Curt and I have so much going on in the month of July, it's going to be crazy. With so much in the works for the next couple weeks, it gets me thinking about the big "D" coming our way and even though I've tried, we can't stop time.

I seriously need the next two months to be the slowest months of all time. We haven't had a deployment out of Curt since 2009 but trust me, he's been gone quite a lot since then. Remember Weapons School? That was 6 months. It was a LONG six months. I'm trying not to focus on the upcoming 6 months that Curt will be gone and instead, I'll be focusing on the time that he's here and when he'll be back. And there you have it.

Okay, so coming up in July, here's fun stuff!

Who's that handsome man in that F15? Oh right, my hubs.

-4th of July weekend! Curt and I are taking Ava down to Wilmington for the day to check out the beach and just get the heck out of G'boro for a mere moment. Man, this place doesn't have much going on, that's for sure.

-Tim McGraw!!! What, what??!!??!! Curt and I are going to see my old friend, Tim, in Raleigh next weekend and I'm so pumped. Notice the title of my little bloggy here? "Set this Circus Down"? Oh yes, that's a Tim favorite of mine and we both have many, many more that we love and know by heart. It will surely be a blast as we're going down with my friend from high school, Nicole, and her hubs, Brian. What else is so perfection about this concert? Just that I am going to wear my new cowboy boots. Finally! *happy dance*

The Blushing bride and her husband-to-be! "Warrrrrrrrren!"

-Angela and Warren are getting married!!!!!!!!!! I honestly love weddings and when it just so happens to be a loved family member, well, it just becomes all the more awesome. Ava is going to do her thang as she struts down the aisle as a flower girl. What can we say. She's a natural. Girl loves the limelight....and her future uncle Warren. Should be an amazing weekend!

-It doesn't STOP there. The morning after the wedding Curt and I are headed down to Atlantic City for a kid-free, 2 days with my most favorite friend, Katie and her hubs, Joey. Hopefully Drew and Sharon make the trip as well. We plan on gambling, eating at restaurants that don't have ketchup on the table, and wearing nice clothes that are virtually in hiding so our little love bugs don't put their precious little hands all over them. We shall stay up late and sleep in for the entire time we're there. Glorious.

-After the little rendevous in AC we'll take a short drive to the Jersey Shore where we'll vacation it up with the Dougherty crew. Heck to the yes. Lots of beach days and boardwalk nights, naps and good meals, and time with family before Curt goes off to save the world. Sounds like a great week to us!

Phew! I have a feeling that Curt, Ava, and I are going to schlep back to North Carolina after that whirlwind of events and just be happy we're home. Until then, we can't wait to get OUT OF HERE!!!

Happy Summer, Friends!

The Back Up Plan

An update on the job front:

Well, friends. Not that it matters, but I think I’m going to pull my application off the web for a teaching job this fall. This would be crazy if they were, in fact, offering jobs. I had a rough day this week with Ava and it was a real eye-opening experience for me. The past 3, almost 4 weeks I’ve spent alone with Ava while Curt is in Las Vegas and while she’s easy and basically trouble free, doing it alone is hard. There, I said it. I’m not Wonder Woman. And while I’m just letting it all out, the past 2.5 years of her life have been a roller coaster of ups and downs. Some days I can do it all and others, well, let’s just say showers and teeth brushing are considered personal triumphs in my list of things I accomplished each day. Between deployments, Weapons School, and the 14+ hour days Curt puts into work, I’m just exhausted in every sense of the word.

So, while I feel like a massive failure who has given up, I need to just put that part of my life behind me, and move on. I’m so envious of all the military spouses out there who manage a career and a young kid at home...all while their husband is away. YOU are Super Woman.

Honestly, I’ve been losing sleep over what is to come over the next year for our family. I don’t have a crystal ball but it looks like a big move and, god-willing, another baby for our family. With so many changes happening, I need to just back off the quest to find the perfect job and know that someday in the future, I’ll be back where to work. Some days, I regret not getting right back to work once we moved to North Carolina and at the same time, I know deep down inside if I did spend the past 1.5 years working, I’d regret not spending that time with Ava and our family here in Pennsylvania. Is the grass ever greener?

I have a few back up plans that might work well to satiate my need to be with Ava and work at the same time. I might see if I could be an aide in a preschool that she attends. I might also see if I could work as an aide in an elementary school. While my degree and experience says I can and have handled much more, it would be so nice to know that my work starts in the classroom and ENDS in the classroom. No grading, no planning, no meetings, no extra duties... You get the idea. Of course my inner control freak will be bouncing off the walls when things aren’t being done the way I would do them, but I’d be working. See friends, it’s all about compromise.

Does any of this make sense?

The good news is that my amazingly supportive husband is happy with whatever I choose. If I want to sit on my butt and send Ava to preschool each day while I eat bon-bons on the couch and watch Bravo, he’d say, “Do what makes you happy!”. (Note: that won’t make me happy, but you get the idea...) Might I add that it’s a wonderful thing that I have the choice to work or not to work. (Although, I do remember the days of living in England with dual incomes and COLA. AKA: The Glory Days.) Our financial security is thanks to the hard work Curt puts into his job each and every day. The Air Force has been so great to our family and for that, I’m very thankful. We have a (brand new) roof over our heads, food on the table, clothes on our backs, and a Chanel bag in my closet. Amen.

So, the job hunt, I think?, continues. I will keep you posted on what lies ahead.

Military friends: Do you ever find yourself in situations like these? I feel like some days I’m in a war with myself over what I need to do!

Life

Okay, readers. Let’s see how much I can update you all on throughout the day. I think this goes without saying, but Ava takes up quite a bit of my free time and it’s getting harder and harder to sit down and write these days. Especially when Curt is gone for weeks at a time.

So, let’s start with Curt. He’s off in Vegas and has been for the past 3 weeks or so. He’s training and whatnot but will be home again this coming weekend. Can I get a “Amen”? Ava and I spent the last 2 weeks in PA and we too are headed south come Sunday. I love being near family and someday, we’ll be back permanently. However, I do miss my house, my bed, my stuff...you get the idea. I almost feel like a nomad when we trek back and forth as often as we do. Packing gets old and unpacking, even worse. I’ve been known to have staring contests with unpacked suitcases on my bedroom floor for up to two weeks. I know, I hang my head in shame. Life is good for Curt. He really and truly enjoys what he does and I guess that makes this crazy life we lead all worth it at the end of the day. I will be interesting to see what the future holds for the D family. He seems to think we’re off to Vegas next, maybe in as little as a year, and if that’s the case, I can be happy with that move. We have our closest friends already there, the Yule’s and the Madsen’s, and it will be a short time away from things like Deployments and crazy work schedules. With our FOURTH deployment approaching, this one being the longest, I can honestly say it will be nice to know that Curt will be staying put for a couple years. But, as the military as taught me in the past, it’s never a good idea to get your mind set on something, as it’s more than likely going to change in one way or another. In the meantime, we will get ourselves mentally, physically, and emotionally prepared for the big D coming up in the near future. Here were go, again.

As for me? Well, here’s the latest on the job front. NOTHIN’. That’s right! I’ve done all but stalk prospective schools in the county in the hopes of landing myself a job but due to the wonderful world of job cuts in education, things are looking grim. How did this happen? How did I go from being a well respected, in demand, employable person? HOW? Hmmm, I think my brief hiatus from the classroom is coming back to haunt me. I heard from a few schools that I really need to be a substitute and keep a high profile. To that I say, heck to the NO. I would never put Ava in daycare full time just because I may be working that day. My ability to up and go, like I did when we were living in England, is long since gone. The good news is this: if I don’t find full time work for the coming school year, my Masters degree will finally be completed. I guess all we can do now, is wait.

In less than exciting news I did manage to take a trip to Urgent Care this trip, as we always do when we’re here, and then for an emergency ultrasound. Long story short, I was experiencing some pain and spotting midway through my cycle even though it was physically impossible for me to be pregs. Don’t worry, the docs asked me about a thousand times for they initially thought I was miscarrying. Turns out I had a cyst on my ovary burst and hemorrhage. FUN! I’m relieved with the results, considering the fact that they sent me in looking for “growths or masses” in my baby making regions. Lord, that was a stressful couple of days. I’m very thankful it wasn’t anything too serious.

Moving on...

What’s new with Ava? Well, if you follow me on FaceBook, I do my best to keep the videos posted as often as possible. FB has seriously been a blessing for my family. No matter where we are, Curt and anyone else who hasn’t seen Ava in a while can watch a little clip of her and her madness and feel like they were right there with us. (Kinda.) She’s happy, healthy, energetic, SMART, and constantly on the go. She learned to ride the tricycle my mom and dad gave her while we were here the past couple weeks. She was really unimpressed with the helmut but once she realized that one doesn’t go without the other, she decided this big and clunky hat on her head wasn’t too bad after all. She misses Curt something awful and asks to go “back to Ava’s house” to see him on a daily basis. It’s really heartbreaking. I can’t even imagine what it’s going to be like when he leaves in the fall.

Ava’s also getting ready to be a flower girl for the second time in her Aunt Angela’s wedding to Waaaarrrreen next month. Yes, she still loves Warren, a lot. She’s so stinkin’ shy around him it’s ridiculous. Boy crazy at 2? God help me.

We’re taking the summer off from preschool and she’ll start again in the fall. I’ll keep here there part time even if I’m not working. That small amount of alone time is worth ever cent I spend to keep her there for the morning. She really enjoys it there so that makes me feel good when I drop her off. She still talks about the friends she made, especially the BOYS she likes. (Fo’real?!?).

Here are a few Ava-ism’s we’ve heard over the past couple weeks:

“Hey Poppy, you want to come over here and hang with me?”

“Maggie! You’re being a knucklehead!” (Maggie is our family golden retriever and the word knucklehead is a lovely word she got from my dad. Hey, it could be worse!)

“Where we goin’ today? The mall?” (Oops.)

Me: "Ava, come over to the table so you can eat your lunch."

Ava: "What? What are you sayin?"

"Hey Mommy, where’s my purse?”

Oh, Ava. How you keep me on my toes! She’s still singing and dancing non-stop. She loves way more country and hip-hop tunes than she does Barney or any other age appropriate music, for that matter. I sent Curt a picture of her the other day and his response was, “Does she start college next week?”, as he was blown away by how after not seeing her for 2 weeks she had grown so much. We’re approaching the big “3” and she seems more and more like a teenager with each passing day. I think it’s safe to say she’s growing up too fast and hopefully another Dougherty baby will make it’s way into our family so we can do it all over again from scratch. Ava would be an amazing big sister!!!!

Stay tuned, a pictures post is up next!