Y’all. It’s March. MARCH. I’m pretty sure I’m going to blink here in a second and it’s going to be 2018 already. Is it just me or is time flying??

I hope everyone has had a great week! Ours has been a little busy. We headed up to Dallas Sunday to drop our oldest two fur-kids (the labs) at the trainer’s. We are NOT going to talk about how they are going to be gone for five months and that I cried all the way home telling Steven that I hoped they knew that we still loved them and that we’d be back for them. It has been so weird not having them at home, but this little face has certainly gotten quite a bit of attention…

 

He went to the vet for the last of his shots yesterday and gained 12 pounds in 3 weeks. 😐 We just thought Gump was going to be our big kid!

He has been adjusting to not having his big brothers around, and so far is being spoiled! Steven’s parents came to visit for the last few days so he has ended up with a lot of extra food and a lot of one-on-one walks with Steven’s dad. He is so calm that it’s easy to have him in the house, except when he gets extra busy and moves things around. When I was getting ready yesterday morning, I saw him trotting by from our bathroom out to the living room; I followed him and found a pile of things from my closet in his new bed. Baby B’s a hoarder, and poor thing comes by it honestly from his mom (me).

Well, long story short, we miss our big munchkins, which is not my fave, but here are a few other things I did love this week!

 

1. James Avery Hoops 

I usually keep it pretty simple with my jewelry game. On the every day, I wear my wedding/engagement rings, a silver three cord love knot ring (Ecclesiastes 4:12), a brown leather/ gold face watch, my silver Anita Goudeau necklace that Steven bought for me a million years ago, and usually plain stud earrings. For special occasions, or if it matches, I’ll add my James Avery charm bracelet that Steven bought and adds to for holidays (it’s a little noisy, so I usually don’t wear it daily because in my field of work, people can get a little grumpy about you being noisy). Occasionally, I’ll stack extra bracelets, or wear a pendant necklace (usually with higher necklines so it doesn’t look weird with my other necklace).

So, when my in-laws came this week, my sweet MIL brought me a gift for taking care of her after her surgery six weeks ago (which was totally unnecessary… Rae, when you read this, it really wasn’t necessary, you know I was glad to do it!). We love James Avery, and apparently she approached Steven about something to get me, and he suggested earrings. (And he is very proud of this. And I’ll admit, it was a great suggestion!)

I’ll be honest, I’ve always loved hoop earrings, but haven’t ever felt like they fit me well. For me, they’ve always seemed like one of those things that look great on other girls and kinda dumb on me. But! I LOVE these! They are small and simple, and I think they look classic and timeless. Great for newbies like me that want a hoop, but nothing too crazy. I think they look great with my new adult hair and adult lipstick. 😉

 

2. Raised Pet Bed

Steven and I looked at raised cot style pet beds for our labs FOREVER and could never find any. Of course, two days after they leave, we find exactly what we were looking for at Academy.

Steven is planning to use this to teach Boudreaux “place” (even though he prefers his cushy bed in the other corner next to the toy basket), and to reinforce “place” with the labs when they get home. It was a great price (about $30), and is really sturdy. This is one of many cases where Academy has exactly what we’re looking for when no one else did. 🙂

 

3. Ed Sheeran- Divide (it’s really a division sign, but I don’t think my computer does that…) 

I’ve been waiting for this one for so long!! I mentioned a few weeks ago that “Shape of You” is my jam, and I loved the other pre-releases so I couldn’t wait for the full album. His last album is one of my commute jams. You just turn it on and drive home, and you’re in a good mood by the time you pull in the driveway. I’ve been listening to this new one all day off and on and I love it so far!

 

4. Rent the Runway

So, I mentioned a few weeks ago that last Saturday was our Alliance Gala for the children’s hospital and how excited I was to go. For the first time, I used Rent the Runway to rent a dress for the event so I could get something amazing for a great price, and not have it sit in my closet for the rest of eternity.

Their process is super easy– first, pick your dress. I picked mine, and chose a four day rental, and for it to get here the Thursday before our event. If your four days are up during a weekend, you get until the following business day to return it without extra charges. I chose two sizes and then back up dresses in case those didn’t work.

The dresses arrived on our doorstep on Thursday in a garment bag. I pulled them out as soon as I got home and hung them up, but they weren’t wrinkled at all (probably more to do with the material, but they do dry clean them before they send them out). Later that night, I decided to try them on (and I was SO GLAD I did). NEITHER size fit. So, I called them that night (probably about 8-8:30 PM), and someone answered and talked to me. She sent me the same dress (instead of one of the back up dresses. I felt like I knew what size I needed at that point and really wanted that one instead of another one) in another size overnight, with a guaranteed delivery by Saturday 12:00 PM.

I sent the other two back on Friday (with a UPS pick up at our office), and received the new one on Saturday about 11 AM. It fit perfectly and we were all ready to go!

And, well, here’s the thing about being married to a physician… Sometimes things don’t go as planned. At the end of the day, Steven’s job is to take care of people in the hospital no matter how late they come during his shift. He ended up getting several admissions late in the day on Saturday, which meant he didn’t get off until really late (too late to go). And was exhausted when he got home. So we went and had a late dinner at Rosa’s instead. And it was fun (and delicious!).

But, Sunday night when we were driving home, he asked how long I had the dress for. Since it came Saturday, I had until Tuesday to send it back. So, he suggested we go eat a really nice dinner for our anniversary on Monday night (our anni isn’t until this Sunday, so we went a little early!), that way I could wear the dress.

Y’all. I could just about cry telling y’all how sweet he is!

 

We went to a really (really, really) nice steakhouse here in town that had fancy tablecloths and was so dim that the waiter literally used a flashlight to grind pepper on our salads (so beyond fancy, y’all!). We both had filet tenderloins topped with crab cakes with hollandaise sauce, and then split a slice of cheesecake for dessert. And then we went shopping for dog toys at Tractor Supply. We are the height of sophistication, y’all.

 

So, long (very long) story short, if you are needing a nice dress for a special occasion, definitely check out Rent The Runway! 5 stars from me!

And, shout out to my hubby for offering to dress up and let me be fancy. You work long, hard hours for not much credit, and I appreciate you taking every opportunity to make me feel special and loved and pretty. 🙂

 

5. #MandaStrong

One of my favorite things so far about blogging has been actually finding other blogs that I love reading and connecting with. I love that others share their lives so freely, and I love reading how others do things, what their days look like, and what they like. Blog reading is about as fun as blog writing!

Since I started, I stumbled across a group of bloggers sometimes nicknamed the “McKinney Moms”. This includes Shay (Mix and Match Mama), Andrea (Momfessionals), Erika (A Little Bit of Everything), Narci (Grace and Love Blog), and Sheaffer (Sheaffer Told Me To). They all live in McKinney, Texas, and all have great blogs to follow (and are all real life friends!). They host all the great link-ups that I’ve started participating in!

They have all posted in the past about a sweet friend of theirs, Manda, who has struggled multiple times with cancer. This past weekend, Manda lost her battle here on earth, but gained the ultimate reward of eternal life with our savior, Jesus Christ in heaven. Unfortunately, she left behind a husband, and two young children. In her honor, the McKinney Moms, and other friends and family have put together a GoFundMe account and a Booster t-shirt campaign. All funds contributed are going to her family to help with current medical bills, other expenses, starting a college fund for her sweet kiddos, and to start a MandaStrong foundation in the future.

Here are the t-shirts:

 

One thing that is resounding in any mention of Manda was her love for Jesus and her personal conviction that everyone should have a relationship with Him. If it is in your heart, consider purchasing a shirt, or donating something to her GoFundMe, one, to help her sweet family, and two, to help spread the name of Jesus. One of the best things about getting a shirt or other item from a campaign like this is that it also gives you the opportunity and platform to talk about more than just yourself and what you are wearing. I ordered two MandaStrong t-shirts (one for me and one for my BFF), and I hope someone asks me about it every time I wear it so I can share the meaning and story behind it. The campaign is open for 16 more days, and then they will print and ship the shirts out.

Her friends and family would also love and appreciate your prayers right now. Even though I don’t know them personally, I cannot imagine losing a close friend so young like this and I know this has left a terribly large hole in many lives. Let’s cover them with prayer during this time, sweet friends. 🙂

 

That’s it for this week! I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! Stay tuned for a very special post this weekend re: our FIRST anniversary! 🙂