I’m gonna have a lot of words on Monday. A LOT of words. Words about some STUFF and some THINGS, mind you. Just you wait.

But in the meantime: pictures. Or pintures. Or pinterestures.

1) These return address stamps are fab.

2) I’m obsessed with this skirt. I can’t explain why. All I know is that I went in Anthropologie a couple of days ago to buy a candle, and when I saw this skirt hanging in the window, I ran over to it and gazed at it longingly. They had a navy and white striped shirt with it in the store – which was an interesting choice (that’s my code for I DO NOT UNDERSTAND THE ANTHRO MATCHING TECHNIQUES) – but on the website it’s paired with a denim shirt. And it looks super cute.

3) All my favorite foods. All in one place.

4) It’s called Fail-Proof Pizza Dough. AND THAT IS THE TRUTH. The ingredients in this dough are the same as another recipe that I’ve used for the last year and half-ish, but the ingredients are combined in a different order. As Robert Frost once wrote, “that has made all the difference.”

5) Comeback Sauce is a staple in the South. Or at least it’s a staple in Mississippi. I don’t hear people mention it as much in Alabama, but maybe that’s because people can’t stop saying “ROLL TIDE” or “WAR EAGLE” long enough to talk about deeply meaningful things like Comeback Sauce.

Comeback Sauce is great on chicken (prepared any which way), hamburgers, and I’m sort of partial to using as a dip. The only trick is that if you use it as a dip, the dipping agent needs to be saltine crackers. Not chips. Not Triscuits or Wheat Thins. Saltine crackers. Just trust me on this one.

6) I think about this purse more than I feel it is normal to think about, well, a purse.

7) This pillow makes my heart go pitter-patter. This pillow is also beyond my budget, so unfortunately it will not be making my heart go pitter-patter in the comfort of my own home. But still. Love it.

Have a great weekend, y’all!

A few weeks ago my friend Amanda gave me a heads up that there were some new varieties of Fig Newtons that merited my attention. I finally remembered to buy some when I was at the grocery store earlier this week, and while I think Amanda may have been talking about another new kind of Fig Newtons, I would just like to say that these?

ARE DELICIOUS.

They’re also pretty low in sugar – only 7 grams in a 3 cookie serving – and you can pretend like they’re totally healthy because, hello, 8 GRAMS OF WHOLE GRAIN.

They’d also be killer with a little cream cheese or peanut butter on them, but I’m trying to be a good girl.

Given the fact that a new skin care regimen that I was trying took me on a bit of a rollercoaster ride in December and January, I spent more than a few minutes wondering if I was going to walk through the rest of my earthly days with my skin looking like my 20-something self’s worst nightmare.

I don’t know. Call me crazy, but I feel like break-outs should be a thing of the past during this season of life. IT SEEMS ONLY FAIR.

Anyway, when I was in Houston a few weeks ago, I saw Melanie’s skin for the first time since September, and it looked FANTASTIC. I knew that she’d been using a Clairisonic Mia, and I’d been thinking for a few months about buying one for myself. When I saw what a difference it made (not that her skin looked bad before, mind you, but it just looks more vibrant now), I made up my mind once and for all and ordered a Clairisonic Mia for my own dadgum self. It was a splurge, but it’s still much less expensive than buying four or five products from an expensive skin care line. Plus, it doesn’t have to be replaced every 2-3 months like a pricey jar of moisturizer.

No kidding – my little turquoise Mia is my favorite skin care product I have ever used. It exfoliates (gently), and I can’t get over how clean my face feels – even when I’m wearing make-up. Best of all, I’m back to using my regular moisturizer (Eucerin with Q10), and it works better than ever now that my skin is finally back in proper working order.

The Mia was one of those purchases that I thought long and hard about before I ordered it, but if you have some extra gift cards sitting around – or maybe some extra birthday money – the splurge is a lot less painful. I LOVE IT.

(Those aren’t affiliate links.)

(Those are just want-to-share-the-goodness links.)

This post by Emily is encouraging and touching and wonderful and good.

Last night I watched Smash. I hadn’t really planned to watch it, mainly because I couldn’t figure out how a drama with musical numbers wouldn’t wind up being a little awkward (Cop Rock, anyone?). As it turned out, the show is really well done, and there were a couple of things that stood out. First of all, the music is beautiful – great arrangements, pheonomenal vocals – and second of all, Katharine McPhee is excellent. I’ll definitely watch next week’s episode, and in the meantime, I’ll be annoying the people in my house by singing this song A LOT.

(The two characters in the video are auditioning to play Marilyn Monroe.)

(That bit of context might prove helpful.)

So. Anybody else have a new cookie / skin care tip / blog post / TV moment / generally fun something-or-other you’d like to share?

Fire away.

I’m not gonna lie. Things have been just been a little hectic around our house lately. In fact, last Wednesday I decided I was going to drop all pretense of being able to handle everything that’s going on right now, and after the little man was asleep my poor husband listened patiently why I rattled off all the reasons why I can’t juggle everything that I’m currently juggling because, well, I AM NOT A VERY STRONG JUGGLER.

Don’t get me wrong: I love to be productive, and I’m so grateful for my work / writing / other commitments, but every once in awhile I start to dream of days upon days upon days of sitting on the couch in my pajamas, not to mention that there’s a whole new season of The Real Housewives of Orange County starting in a few days and I would really like to be free to dedicate more time to that because I understand that Gretchen and Tamra are friends now. And yes, even though that runaway train is no doubt going to jump the tracks before the season is over, I would sort of like to climb on board and pretend for just a few weeks that watching reality television is my job and at the very least maybe take a nice nap or two along the way.

So.

You know.

There’s that.

I have to admit, though, that there’s been a whole lot of happy weaving in and through all the busy. Last Thursday I discovered that The Fray’s new CD was streaming on iTunes (the album comes out tomorrow, at which point the streaming, it will cease), and I’m completely obsessed with it. It’s so great, in fact, that I looked into getting tickets for their show that’s coming up in Atlanta, but when I saw that the only tickets available were general admission, I backed off that idea, mainly because Mamaw here needs a reserved seat. If I had to stand in the middle of a teeming mass of 20-somethings jostling for the best view of the stage, odds are that I’d probably pop my hip out of its socket, not to mention that I’d run the risk of spilling my Ensure all over my fellow concert-goers. So I’m thinking that it’s probably better to just stay at home.

I’ve also had a whole bunch of fun with my people – they are so great about rolling with everything and making me laugh when work stuff and writing stuff start to err on the side of crazy. There’s an eight year-old in this house who’s so over the moon crazy about his daddy right now that I occasionally feel the need to put a twist on the Star Wars tradition and wake him up by saying, “Good morning, my son. I don’t know if you remember or not, but I AM YOUR MOTHER.” On one hand seeing the little guy with his daddy completely melts my heart and tickles me to absolute pieces, but on the other hand I kind of want to gather him up in my arms and stick my nose in his hair and sway him from side to side like I used to do when he was a baby.

But that wouldn’t really work because 1) I would throw my back out and 2) have you smelled an eight year-old little boy’s hair lately? It is not always so pleasant. Regardless, I love my boy. And I love how he loves his daddy.

Now. Let us talk of carefree things and have some show and tell. I think you’ll find that these pictures will make you feel really good about your organizational and housekeeping skills. At least compared to mine.

This is my suitcase from the trip to Houston. I unpacked it last week. Approximately 10 days after I returned from said trip to Houston. Sometimes I tend to move at a leisurely pace where pesky bits of follow-through are concerned.

This is a pile of clean towels on the bed in our guest room. I did fold them eventually. But now there’s another big pile of clean towels on the bed in our guest room. If you know of a laundry fairy, I would very much appreciate it if you would pass along her number. She could really fulfill her calling here.

This is a map that my Sister spotted in HomeGoods over Thanksgiving. She pointed it out to me because she thought I’d like it, and I liked it so much that I bought it. Isn’t it whimsical and kicky and fun? The problem, however, is that I can’t decide where to put it, and that is why it has been propped up next to the wall in our hallway for the last two and a half months.

TWO AND A HALF MONTHS.

If you know of a map hanging fairy, I would very much appreciate it if you would pass along her number.

This picture represents what I feel is the dominant organizational structure in our home right now: set out a bowl, then put some stuff in it.

As you might imagine, our current organizational structure is somewhat lacking. However, it is nice to know that there’s a purple marker, a tube of ChapStick, and two different varieties of gum in the same bowl. IT ALL MAKES SO MUCH SENSE.

A sweet friend sent me these flowers about two and a half weeks ago. They are still so beautiful. And as you will notice, they are flanked on the right by A Bowl With Some Stuff In It. We are consistent with our preferred methods of inefficiency.

So that’s what’s going on around here. It’s not the strongest housekeeping season of my life. It’s one of the busiest work seasons of my life. But thanks to the people who are in my life – and thanks to the very good God who put them there – it’s one of the richest and sweetest seasons I can remember.

Funny how that works.

Happy Tuesday, y’all.

It’s no big secret that I’m a huge college sports fan. Basketball and football are my favorites, and a lifelong love for Mississippi State teams of both varieties has left me well-acquainted with all sorts of game-related stresses. In fact, if you asked me how, as an adult, I’m able to remain relatively calm in the midst of a stressful situation, I would refer you to a dozen different clips on YouTube that chronicle a shocking, come-from-behind win by the Bulldogs – or a devastating, last-minute loss.

The Bulldogs have taught me some ridiculously strong coping skills, y’all.

I can’t remember the exact date, but I think it was sometime back in the mid-90s when I realized that the perfect way to get through a tense basketball game was to turn down the volume of the game, plug in my vacuum cleaner and GO TO TOWN cleaning whatever rugs or carpets were in the reach of the vacuum’s power cord. Over the years it’s become my all-time favorite stress reducer when I’m just BESIDE MYSELF with game time nerves. And as an added bonus, the living room / kitchen / playroom / wherever I happen to be watching is oh-so-clean by the time the game is over. Win or lose.

A few weeks ago I got an email asking if I’d be interested in receiving a (free) new Oreck Magnesium vacuum cleaner to use and review, and it took me all of about 45 seconds to respond to the email with a hearty “YES, PLEASE.” My old vacuum was on the brink of collapse, and since my mama and my sister have always raved about their Orecks, I thought the new Magnesium model would make a lovely addition to our family.

And oh, was I ever right.

My husband assembled the Oreck Magnesium in all of two minutes, and I decided that the perfect time for its inaugural run in our house was during a Mississippi State basketball game the next afternoon. I was watching in the playroom since I could only get the game via ESPN3, which meant that the vacuum cleaner was going to be put to the test on hardwood floors as well as a lime green shag rug.

I don’t know why I felt it necessary to mention the color of the rug.

Apparently I like to overshare when it comes to the various flooring surfaces in our home.

By the middle of the first half I was vacuuming like there was no tomorrow, and there were several things about the Oreck that won me over right away and continue make me want to refer to it as “The Baby.”

1) I don’t have to stop and adjust the vacuum height when I move from a rug to the hardwood floors. The vacuum works equally well on both.

2) The Oreck is incredibly light, which means that I don’t have to wrestle with it when I’m trying to turn corners, vacuum couch cushions, etc. If I wanted to, I could lift it over my head with one hand. Which I don’t. BUT I TOTALLY COULD.

3) Much to my surprise, the Oreck is really powerful. I can pretty much control it with the tip of my finger, which is a whole new experience for me when vacuuming that shag rug.

4) Because it’s so small, the Oreck easily fits in between the bottom of my kitchen cabinets and the floor. I don’t have to sweep and then vacuum – I just vacuum. Love that.

And in addition to all that stuff, the Bulldogs beat Alabama on the Saturday when I first tried the vacuum. So I think it’s probably a given at this point that I AM A FAN OF THE ORECK.

Storage is a big plus with this vacuum cleaner, too. In the past I’ve stored our vacuum in the hall closet, but the Oreck Magnesium is so small that it fits in a little corner of our laundry room – without sticking out in the middle of the floor and without needing to be moved whenever I open our pantry cabinets.

See? Doesn’t that just make you sixteen kinds of happy?

In all seriousness, it’s so great to have the vacuum on the end of the house where we need and use it the most. It’s handy if I need to clean up crumbs at the breakfast room table or if I accidentally spill sugar all over the kitchen floor.

That last thing is an embarrassingly common occurrence, by the way.

The bottom line is that I’m absolutely thrilled to have the Oreck Magnesium, and I think you’ll love it, too. If you’ve ever lugged a vacuum up or down stairs, the Magnesium is going to be a dream come true for you. It’s lightweight, compact and powerful – which, in my opinion, is pretty much the best of all worlds as far as a vacuum is concerned.

If you’d like to enter for a chance to win an Oreck Magnesium of your very own, it’s oh-so-simple. Just visit Oreck.com, do a little reading, then come back here and leave a comment telling us one thing that you learned about the Magnesium.

If you’d like an additional entry, then just mention the giveaway on Twitter (making sure to tag @oreck) or Facebook, then come back here and leave a second comment with a link to your tweet or post.

I’ll leave this giveaway open until next Thursday, February 8th at noon central, at which point I’ll draw for a winner using random.org. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to my notification email. If the winner doesn’t respond to my email within 48 hours, I’ll draw for another winner.

Happy Oreck-ing, y’all!

The giveaway winner must be a resident of the U.S. 48 contiguous states.

Oreck Corporation provided the prize for the sweepstakes but is not the sponsor of the sweepstakes.

This giveaway is now closed.

I’m going to be a little out of pocket for the next week or so. Granted, I realize that people aren’t exactly sitting around and hitting “refresh” and waiting for me to write a blog post because, well, not even my own mama cares that much about what I have to say, but since the blogging schedule is going to be reliably unreliable for a few days, I thought I’d go ahead and get my “uncle” cry out of the way.

For the record: UNCLE.

And also: TÍO.

See? I said “uncle” in two languages. Because 1) I am very fancy like that and 2) I am still trying to redeem myself from the unfortunate “My name is fried chicken” incident in Ecuador.

Anyway, the good news is that I’m still planning to do a vacuum (Oreck!) (yee-haw!) (I think that’s maybe the third time I’ve used the phrase “yee-haw!” in my life) (when not watching The Dukes of Hazzard, of course) giveaway this Thursday, and next week will hopefully be a little more normal-y. Or normal-ish. Or at least not as HOLD ON TO THE REINS, GLADYS, ‘CAUSE IT IS ABOUT TO GET LIVELY as this week.

So. If I don’t see y’all before Thursday, I will definitely see you Thursday. Or at least I will see those of you who are interested in entering a giveaway for an Oreck vacuum cleaner. Or maybe I will see some of you who just want to say “hi” and then maybe we can sing a medley or something. It’ll be a bonding experience.

Have a great week, everybody!