Gift Guide for the Men

Men are hard to shop for.  Some of these are on Will's list.  Others I came up with myself, which means Will would think they are total crap.  Am I way off? 

1.  DoDo IPad case

2.  Avett Brother's Limited Edition Box Set

3.  Wood Grain iphone case

4.  Grantland Subscription

5.  Stitchout TOMS

6.  Personalized Beer glasses

7.  Paper-Mache Animals

8.  JCrew Wallace & Barnes sweater

The Grantland Subscription is on Will's list and is a pretty cool idea.  It's 4 books that are being published over the next year of the online sports magazine that he reads, Grantland.  You receive the 1st book right away, and then then next 3 over the next 12 months. 

G and I both have TOMS.  Will likes the idea of them, but the style is bad....men wearing women's shoes.  That's what he says.  But these stitchouts are good...a bit more manly.  If that's the look he's going for.

And, the logo on the pint glass is my neighborhood's logo.  Yes, thanks to M. Brady Clark, we are cool enough to have our own logo!  And dorky at the same time.  Whichever way you want to look at it. 



Dear Santa: Holiday Gift Guide

Does anyone else dig gift guides as much as me?  I don't know why, but I love this time of year when everyone puts together ideas to help us all out.  I know I gave my spill last week about living in the moment this holiday season, but we've all got a little shopping to do, right?

The best are gift guides from every day people, so I've decided to get in on the action.  Hopefully I'll help someone out.  Today's is for the ladies.  Later this week I'll post for men and kids. 

1.  Hootch Owl corkscrew
2.  Smart Wool frilly socks
3.  Franco Sarto Boots
4.  TOMS sunglasses
5.  Black and White (and a bit in between):  Celerie Kemble
6.  Decoded:  Jay Z
7.  Farmer's Market Basket
8.  2012 Desktop Calendar
9.  Zig Zag tray

Great Read

As I sat perusing a few of my favorite blogs this week, I came across this.  It's too good not to share.

From His Perspective:  Holiday Spirit

This was written by Erin's husband, who occasionally "guest blogs" on her site.  I always enjoy what he has to say, and this one really hit home.  I feel like we always get so hung up on the material things and spending money during the holidays.  This year,  I'm going to try to experience the "moment"....what the holidays really mean.  Grafton is at the age where he's finally going to get it...Santa, Christmas, etc.  And somehow I have to make sure that Christmas doesnt equal Presents.  Good luck with that one, right?

And speaking of, my sweet boy turns 3 tomorrow!  It's gone by so fast, and then again, I can't believe he's only 3.  I feel like we've been having conversations with this kid for years now.  He is so fun to be around and makes us laugh every day.  I'm just sad that 3 is one year closer to the day he won't snuggle with me or let me kiss him in public.  Because I highly doubt that when he is 14, he'll watch movies with us on the couch, lean over and give us each a kiss, and say "I really like you mom and dad." 

Pass the Bottle

For the first time in my life, I feel like I need anxiety medication.  Ok, that's a lie.  For the first time in a few months...and this is why.

Yes, that is a for sale sign.  We will see what happens.  There's another house in old town that we have our eye on, hence the sign in my yard.  The sign that causes me major stress, keeps me awake at night and makes me drink mass quantities of wine.  But what else is new. 

For the last week or so, we've been doing a few things around here to get it ready.  It was built in 1930, so it's not perfect, but I am trying my damnest to make it that way.  Living in plastic gets old fast.  Real fast.

The hot plate of tamales on the back porch is always comic relief though.  Gotta love a worker that's not afraid to bring his own hot plate to the job site. 

Wish me luck.  Or just wish me serenity to stay sane during this process.  Change like this is scary.  And yes, I'll be doing some major pimping of my bungalow around here, in hopes that I can soon change the name of the blog to Pimp My Big Ass Bungalow.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

A few things on the brain today.  Most of it TV related.

1.  First up, congrats to Brittany on winning the Rodan Field's eye cream!  Maybe I can convince her to take some before and after shots...We can see how awesome this stuff is! 

2.  BIG SHOCKER HERE:  Kim Kardashian has filed for divorce.  Surely you can make it work longer than 72 days girl.  But then again, it might have only lasted this long because you can't get divorced before your wedding airs on tv.

3.  Did you guys watch Project Runway?  One of my all time favorite shows.  What did you think about Anja winning?  I'm torn.  I LOVED Victor the entire season.  I would want every single item of his in my closet.  On the other hand, I was kind of routing for the underdog too.  Although...do we believe that she really only started sewing 4 months before the show?  A little shady if you ask me. 

4.  This cracks me up.  Someone has too much time on their hands.  Happy Halloween! 



 5.  Will and I are headed to Palm Beach on Sunday - woot woot!  Have you ever been?  Me...never.  But, I need to get busy packing my Lily Pulitzer so I'll fit right in!  But first, we have family coming in Thursday and the celebration for Chip and Noel is Saturday night.  Our flight at 5:45am on Sunday morning is going to slap me in the face.

2 years, 10 months, 16 days, 10 hours, 3 minutes

That's how long I made it until I encountered my first public meltdown with my kid.  I was THIS close to making it to the three year mark.  THIS. CLOSE. 

I took G to the outlet mall last week.  It's an outdoor mall with decent shops.  We hit JCrew first and the kid racked up on Crewcuts.  That should make him happy, right?  But no, he wanted new shoes.  He inherited this from his father, who inherited it from his mother, whose family had a shoe store growing up.

On the way to the shoe store, he asked if he could ride the rides.  You know, the cheesy little horse or rocketship that you put a quarter in and it shakes for a minute and your kid gets so excited and it's the best thing they've ever done in their life.  Sure.  You can ride 2 rides.  I have enough quarters for 2 rides.

Two rides later and he wanted more.  Nope, I said 2 rides.  And then it happened.  His eyes turned red, his head started spinning, he started screaming bloody murder and throwing himself on the ground.  I didn't know if he was having a fit or a seizure.  I didn't know whether to dial 911 or start screaming at him.

I didn't do either.  I just stood there for a minute while everyone walked past me and gave me "the look."  And then I did what I always do with Grafton.  I tried to reason with him.  It fails every time, but I keep trying.  5 minutes later and the screams and flailing body only got worse, so we went to the car.

I couldn't even get him in his car seat.  It was that bad.  So we sat in the front seat to talk about what happened.  I don't know why I do this to myself.

As we sat there, I thought....there is no way that Will is going to believe me when I tell him how bad it was.  So I grabbed my phone and started filming.

I debated on whether or not to show this video.  Will people think I'm a bad mother?  Will CPS knock on my door tomorrow?  Should I subject people to 2.5 minutes of this?  But this is reality, right? 

And I'll go ahead and apologize if this "breaks your heart."  Sorry.

Giveaway: Calling all Crows Feet!

Hi peeps.  I'm doing my first giveaway on PMB.  Makes me feel so blog-special.  And seeing as my fan base is next to nothing, your chances of actually winning are pretty damn good!

My good friend, Jennifer, is a consultant for a line of skincare products by Rodan & Fields.  These are the same makers of ProActiv.  And Justin Beiber uses ProActiv, so you know the Burlesons are fans!

Jennifer is giving away the anti-age multi-function eye cream worth $59, along with a microdermabrasion paste packet to one lucky PMB reader.  Who doesn't want a little anti-aging in their life??  Mine has already been ordered and is on the way! 

This skincare line is pretty amazing and has been featured in a few magazines lately.  Be sure to check out the before and after shots below. 

HOW TO ENTER:  You have a few ways to get your name in the hat.  (Don't be scared boys, you get crows feet too!)

1.  For ONE entry, leave a comment on my blog.
2.  For TWO additional entries, fill out the Solutions Tool on Jennifer's site. 

So, you can get your name in 3 times total.  The winner will be randomly be selected on Sunday evening.  Good Luck!  (*Leave your email in the comment if I don't know you.  We will ship to anyone in the United States!)