Memphis mom, parenting & life blogger | a belle, a bean & a chicago dog

The world would be a happier place if we all had a set

2012-01-29T19:56:52Z

If you want to do your part, check out Car Lashes for eyelashes and crystal eyeliner.

This post is part of #iPPP (iPhone Photo Phun), where we link up photos taken from our smart phones. Any smart phone.

Dear Twitter, I foolishly thought our love was eternal

2012-01-28T17:52:51Z

Dear Twitter,

Our story began many moons ago. It didn’t take long for you to woo me with your charm and charisma. Our blossoming romance was fast, furious and intense. I fell head over heels in love with you and could not get enough.

You brought joy to my life and fulfilled me in ways nothing else could. I smiled at you. I giggled at you. I laughed so hard I cried with you. Our love was magical and pure.

It was the best of times.

But then something changed.

You became too much for me to handle. It was like I couldn’t breathe, being smothered by your tether. My world began spinning out of control.

I tried so many ways to manage you and loosen your grip on my heart.

We needed some space in order to have a healthy relationship. But you insisted I be “all in” in order for our romance to continue.

I informed you that I needed some time to think before letting you know my final decision.

So many blissful memories kept creeping their way into my mind, reminding me of happier times.

But I had come so far in putting a stop to your vicious cycle of time suckage and lack of productivity.

I knew I had to be strong. I needed to stick with what I knew in my gut was right.

It was then that I broke the chains and begin dating Facebook.

I’m happy to report that my relationship with Facebook is progressing. Much slower than our past love, Twitter. But I feel like this relationship has a much more solid foundation. We’re slowly getting to know each other and building trust.

It isn’t the whirlwind romance, full of rushes of excitement and emotion like ours was, but I have confidence that Facebook and I will be together until death do us part.

I hope that we can still be friends, Twitter. Because I still do like a wild Friday night every now and then.

Signed,

Liz

How you name a dog

2012-02-05T13:44:11Z

While I haven’t previously formally announced it, we adopted a rescue pup the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

You might be wondering why we chose to do that. Yes, Jack is fine and still kickin’ it at 10.5 yrs old. But when you ask your husband a question like this:

“Are you SURE we are done having kids?”

You get an answer like this:

“Hell yes we’re done! If you want another baby, go get a dog instead.”

So then when you start searching local rescue groups and meet a few pups, you end up bringing one home.

And then you have to name said pup.

And you want to use a girl name you loved but could never use on a human child since it would be obnoxiously-rhymey when paired with your last name and cause collective eye rolls everywhere.

And then your husband goes and gets a truly girly idea and is surprised at the reaction.

- – - – - -

Craig: OK, so we need to come up with a different story about how we named Tessa Belle.

Me: We do?

Craig: Yes.

Me: Why? How could we need to change the story of how we named the dog?

Craig: Because every time I’ve told someone our new pup is named ‘Tessa Belle’, they say, “Awww! The girls chose a really cute name for her!”

Me: And that surprises you? No man would say we needed to change a dog’s name from “Tess” to “Tessa BELLE”.

Craig: But I figured this way you could fit her into your blog without changing its name. Cuz now you have 2 Belles, a Bean and a Chicago Dog.

Me: You seriously were thinking about my blog when you chose that name?

Craig: Yes.

Me: Wow. I just…wow.

{pause}

Me: That’s pretty cute of you.

Our Mini Kitchen Remodel

2012-01-26T13:19:36Z

We somewhat-remodeled our kitchen recently.

Nothing major in the sense that the layout remains unchanged, the appliances are still the same and the cabinets stayed put. But the changes were big enough to “pack a punch”.

Because we actually live in this house, I wasn’t going to pretend like our counters are always cleaned off and never have piles of coloring pages, markers or other kid paraphernalia strewn across them. So you’ll get the full effect with these pictures.

Our main goal was to take down the 2nd tier of our counters, which were bar stool height. It closed off the kitchen and wasn’t usable. So when we swapped out the formica counters for granite, we took down that higher counter level, and now have one continuous and much-more-functional counter area.

Old view, with 2 counter heights

New granite counters at a consistent counter height & 2 pendants.

Old view of the kitchen from the back door.

New, more open view into the kitchen

Old, obstructed view from the kitchen looking into the casual dining room.

New, much more open view from the kitchen.

The tile backsplash that once was.

New, pressed tin backsplash AND under-cabinet lighting.

This post is part of #iPPP (iPhone Photo Phun), where we link up photos taken from our smart phones. Any smart phone.

*I’ve been getting a lot of questions about the pressed tin backsplash. We ordered it from American Tin Ceilings and were very pleased. They give you the choice of dozens of colors and several pattern style, and were very affordably priced.

SOS, RSS, GFC and other Bloggy Acronyms

2012-01-24T12:28:38Z

Question: What do all these acronyms have in common?

Answer: A bunch of WordPress bloggers who are sending out an SOS because we want nothing more than to have our #ALLCAPSAWESOME GFC subscribers to instead follow our post feeds via RSS.

As part of Google’s continuing attempts to take over the world, it is discontinuing “service” of its Google FriendConnect widget to non-Blogger blogs as of March 1, 2012. A bunch of us WP bloggers are trying to rally the troops in a joint effort to encourage our bloggy friends to resubscribe to their favorite reads – like us! – by either adding those URLs to a Reader…

OR by subscribing to their fave reads’ email subscriptions.

(Try it! That is a fully-functioning subscription form for BBCD!)

If you already use a Reader, simply click the RSS button on the right side of my header. Also, I always share new posts on Twitter, Facebook and Google+.

If you are a WordPress blogger who wants to learn how to send a newsletter to your GFC subscribers, I wrote a post about how to do so at Eli Rose.

Speaking of Eli Rose, if you subscribe to our feed via GFC, please consider re-subscribing to our RSS or email feed, too. Subcription box below.

Thanks so much! We WordPress bloggers are very grateful of your time!

To find more WordPress bloggers taking part in Savings Our Subscriptions, follow the #SOSubscribers hashtag.

Without

2012-01-21T21:56:50Z

Without Twitter I…

…wouldn’t have purchased a Mac

…wouldn’t know how to hard refresh my iPhone

…wouldn’t know half of the #ALLCAPSAWESOME bacon products on the market

…wouldn’t know what “Boom” means

Without Facebook I…

…wouldn’t be connected to friends from high school and college

…wouldn’t keep up with friends and family back home

…wouldn’t be able to harass some of my favorite cousins

…wouldn’t be able to share Craig’s latest salon story or shoe shopping adventure with those who appreciate them most

Without Google+ I…

…wouldn’t be sick of seeing “infographics”

…wouldn’t have a clue about the incredible number of creepers out there

…wouldn’t feel so strongly that Google was trying to take over the world

Without Blogging I…

…would still be lying on the sofa watching DVRed HGTV and Millionaire Matchmaker

…would nap when I was tired

…would feel like my brain had turned to mush

Although this list is brief, it can be pretty shocking to stop and think about how different our lives would be if we weren’t sharing our every thought on social media.

Damn You Autocorrect, BBCD-style

2012-01-18T12:33:36Z

How apropos that an #iPPP post includes an image from an iPhone autocorrect “incident”?

This happened a few weeks ago, and every time I read Craig’s line – “Honks I found it” – I still totally crack up.

On a different note, I wrote a letter to an over-the-top braggy mom which is part of Tonya’s Letters For You series today.

This post is part of #iPPP (iPhone Photo Phun), where we link up photos taken from our smart phones. Any smart phone.

My Word of the Year: Discomfort

2012-01-11T03:06:56Z

As far as Words of the Year go, my selection probably doesn’t strike you as a particularly positive nor hopeful one. However, as I reflect back on my blogging and social media journey, and also look to the future, I find “discomfort” to be my perfectly joyful bliss.

To me, discomfort means pushing yourself beyond your comfort zone.

Discomfort means instantly saying “Yes” so as not to allow yourself the chance to contemplate “No”.

Discomfort means taking the road less traveled.

Discomfort means putting yourself in a position with a high likelihood of rejection…and incredible triumph if accepted.

Discomfort means making your own opportunities.

Discomfort means trusting in yourself and those closest to you.

Discomfort means not sticking with the status quo.

Discomfort means pride, fulfillment and happiness.

* * * * * * * * * *

Discomfort is my word of the year.

How would you describe your perfectly joyful bliss?

5 Things Worse than Losing your Wallet

2012-01-13T14:14:19Z

On Tuesday morning as I was walking out the door with both girls to take Kate to school, I made the horrific discovery that my wallet was not in my purse.

Nor in my coat pocket.

Nor in the car.

Since then, I have been thankfully reunited with my wallet, cash, license and credit cards due to a few kind, honest souls that I’ll forever be indebted to.

Losing my wallet – even temporarily – was pretty stressful, though there are 5 things that made it even worse.

Losing your wallet when you have two kids who need to be driven all over creation for school, preschool, gymnastics and other related kid activities.
Losing your wallet that holds cards for your business account on top of your personal accounts.
Losing your wallet when it’s your oldest child’s Mom-brings-lunch-to-school-because-it’s-Tuesday-of-said-child’s-”Star Student”-week day and you have no way to bring anything outside of a boring ham sandwich from the your fridge.
Knowing that the last time you can remember having your wallet was in a restaurant the night before. A restaurant that is only open for lunch and dinner, so there is no one around to answer your desperate phone calls at 7 am. Nor in 15 minute increments thereafter for the next 4 hours. (On a different note, I happen to think Mexican restaurants should explore the breakfast burrito market. Just saying…).
Losing your wallet when your husband is out of the state for another 2 days, leaving you and your two children without any form of payment until his return.

Again, I’m so incredibly grateful for the person who found my wallet in the parking lot and for the restaurant employees who held onto it for me. But – damn – I would have been in quite the pickle if there wasn’t a happy ending to this tale.

Have you lost your wallet before? Were you happily reunited?

Pink Ear Plugs: All The Cool Kids are Doing It

2012-01-11T02:03:37Z

Last Friday, we traded in adenoids and a whole lotta inner ear fluid for some ET tubes and a set of these puppies!

It’s a bit of a fashion statement, no?

Thank you, THANK YOU for all your thoughts, prayers and well wishes. Maddie’s follow-up appointment is January 19th.

This post is part of #iPPP (iPhone Photo Phun), where we link up photos taken from our smart phones. Any smart phone.