5 Friday Favorites: May 3, 2019

Happy Friday, Friends. 

It's time for my Friday link up with A Little Bit of Everything, Grace and Love, and Momfessionals. 

On Fridays I share things that made me happy from the week - a photo, a song, a quote, a beauty product, a recipe, a pair of cute shoes, etc. If it's a product, sometimes it's something I actually own and sometimes something I just saw online that gave me a smile. Sometimes it's serious and sometimes it's silly. I suppose I believe that God is in the simple details of life and yes, I can even find Him in a tube of lipstick. 

1. Universal Thread at Target

I believe it was last week that I disparaged JCrew on this here blog and I am not one bit sorry because JCrew used to be a big bowl of joy and lately it's just a place where all my hopes and dreams for summer fashion go to die.

Also, if you must know, sometimes I tend toward overly dramatic.

However, in the interest of keeping things positive here, I want to give Target a shout out because they are killing it over there with a few new clothing lines. Last week, I noticed several great tops, dresses, and accessories from their Universal Thread line.

My friend Kody was wearing the cutest black and gold striped tee shirt the other day and since our high school team's colors, as well as my son's travel baseball team's colors are black and gold, I wanted to steal it right off of her body. But I'm guessing that might have a negative effect on the health of our friendship, so I just frantically looked for it at three different Targets over the past week or so. It seems that it's vanished both in stores and online which made me terribly sad.

Again, sometimes I tend toward overly dramatic.

I'm not sure what being sad in Target means for you, but for me it means that some other random stuff will find it's way into my cart.

I'm a sucker for a plaid button down and I thought this bright red would be great with white or blue jeans or denim shorts for spring. Also, it turns out it's perfect with pajama bottoms when you get home from a long day and don't feel like wearing real pants anymore.

I love how this top is longer in the back than in the front. It's light and loose-fitting and great for spring on its own or layered under a denim jacket.

My 50 year old self would like to go back and tell my 20 year old self that if she really insists on laying out in the sun on the black rooftop of her sorority house with Johnson and Johnson baby oil all over her, she's going to need to establish a special savings account for all the skincare products she'll need to purchase in 30 years. The good news for my 50 year old self is that this cute hat will protect me from the sun and it only costs $12.99 . . . an amount which my 20 year old self would have more likely spent on bean and cheese tacos from Taco Cabana than on sun protection of any kind.

2. OPI I Love You Just Be-Cusco

When it comes to red nail polish, I think finding the exact right shade of red can be really difficult. In the winter I like a deep wine color, but in the summer I like something brighter. The problem is that I don't like a red that's too pinky or too orangey or too purpley and certainly not too Bozo the Clown-y. This is why the other day I spent a good 15 minutes shuffling through all the various shades of red at my nail salon before I finally chose one. It was grueling, strenuous work.

I know you are just about ready to grab your prayer journal and add this struggle of mine to your prayer list, but rest assured, the Lord will not leave us alone in our suffering. Just when I thought all hope was lost I found OPI's I Love You Just Be-Cusco. It's perfect. Hallelujah and Amen.

3. Mean Girls

I heard a podcast recently where they discussed the movie, Mean Girls, and although I did see it years ago, I didn't remember much about it. Kyle and I watched it last weekend and it is perfection. I think Tina Fey is one of the most brilliant writers/comediennes of all time and some of the lines in this movie are so funny that I've been repeating them all week around the house like a weirdo. If you haven't seen it in awhile and you need a laugh, go watch it. Also, if you haven't read Tina Fey's Bossypants, get it now because it's one of the best memoirs I've ever read. 

4. Dermaplaning Tools

Listen, I don't like talking about the problem of facial hair. It makes me feel dizzy and like I need to put my head between my legs and breathe into a paper bag. I think it's unfair and wrong that this is happening to my friends and me because WE ARE GOOD PEOPLE. We just want to get out the door and get on with our lives. We don't want to spend an hour sitting in front of a window with a magnifying mirror plucking weird things off our chins. What did we do to deserve this calamity? Nothing, I tell you.

Anyway, this subject came up at my 50th birthday party because while my 21st birthday involved flawless skin, tequila and dancing to Bust A Move, my 50th involved discussing how to deal with the facial hair issue. And also dancing to Bust A Move because we're not dead yet, for the love. These razors came up and truthfully, I had heard about face shaving from a number of people already, but it made me really nervous. Also, the term face shaving makes me gag a little bit, so since I've also heard it referred to as dermaplaning, I promise you that going forward  the term "face shaving" will never cross my lips again. I ordered these dermaplane tools today. I'll report back. After I breathe into a paper bag for a few minutes.

5. Prom

It seems to me that out of all the high school traditions, it is Prom that brings up the craziest array of emotions for moms. There's the nostalgia of remembering our own proms whether they were magical or disastrous. There's the decisions about dresses and suits or tuxes and corsages and where are we eating and where are we taking pictures and will Dad be home in time to be sure the tie is correct and don't forget to shake her parents' hands and look them in the eye and open her door and be a gentleman. There's the anxiety about the kids' safety and the prayers that they'll make the right choices. There was the hole I bit into my tongue numerous times including when Kyle was still lying on the couch watching That 70s Show at 4:05 when he was supposed to pick up his date at 4:30. That sweet girl had probably been getting ready for six hours and her date was watching Fez and Kelso get high only 20 minutes before he had to leave.

Y'all. Boys. GAAAHHH.

But then he came down the stairs looking so grown up and so handsome that I had to bite another hole in my tongue and look away and squeeze my eyes shut so that I wouldn't cry.

Due to weather closing the venue where these kids had planned to have pictures I ended up with somewhere around 50 high schoolers in my yard, on my deck, on my front step, and even in the back of my car taking pictures before the prom. Then I had about 30 stay for dinner. And I did not have to bite my tongue one time while they were here. These particular "kids these days" were respectful and adorable and gracious and sweet. The girls' dresses were lovely and although I had a hard time recognizing the boys without baseball caps or basketball jerseys on, they cleaned up real well, too.

I hate the term "my heart is full". It's way over used. But there was no other way to describe my heart that day. Full to overflowing. It was just the most fun ever.

Happy Weekend, Friends!

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