For Your Little Owl

This Pottery Barn Kids owl costume is the cutest thing I've ever seen.

Too bad WC wants to be a (male) superhero for Halloween......

I Am Ready For Fall!

We had some beautiful weather this weekend- nice, crisp, mornings..... although it did warm up quite a bit in the afternoons. But those mornings have me ready for fall!

I've put up my Febreze Winds & Springtime candles, and lit the new Cinnamon Sugar & Home candles. I found them at Wal-mart on Saturday morning and had them burning all weekend- they are divine!

There was a $2 coupon for them in the P&G insert yesterday, so I've got quiet a few cut out for my next WM trip, because they are well worth the purchase at a net price of about $3-4.

Disclosure: I have absolutely nothing to disclose- Febreze doesn't know me from Adam. I just love their candles.

What Am I Into This Month - August 2010

My beautiful in-real-life friend Megan at Sorta Crunchy has a fabulous post today and I feel compelled to join in.

On My Nightstand: the newest Sephora catalog (so much purple this fall- LOVE!), coupon inserts to sort through, and Beth Moore's Praying God's Word Day by Day

Want To Read: Beth Moore's Looking Up When Life is Looking Down- should be here any day, and I am hoping it will be a shovel to dig me out of this deep deep hole of anxiety I've been experiencing

T.V. Show Worth Watching: Big Brother, obv. My office pool pick, Ragan, is still alive! And there is much excitement at the Sasha's about the premier of Camp Rock 2 next week. (I'll admit I am sharing in P's excitement.....)

Movie I've Seen (in our out of the theater): Recently? Marmaduke at the dollar movie with the kids. Not bad for a buck. I'm hoping to take them to see Beezus and Ramona soon. Also, my coworker just told me my newest assignment is to see The Other Guys. (We do this a lot- assign each other entertainment tasks.)

In My Kitchen: A big ole messy mess. Too many dishes in the sink. A dusty copy of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking that I simply must get back into.

In My Ears: My local library system doesn't have Confessions of a Shopaholic (Shopaholic, No 1)on CD, so I broke down and purchased it and am loving listening to it while I run. It was my first adventure into British chick lit and I list it as my favorite book to this day. (BTW, the movie is NOTHING like the book- don't judge it by that.)

Three Newest Blog Reads:

• lollipop26- British and darling, love to watch her makeup videos
• mckmamawithoutpity- oh Lord- check the right sidebar for "Links You Might Want to Read"
• Reality Steve- I will not hide in shame, I will just go ahead and admit that I am watching The Bachelor Pad and am always a fan of the spoiler
  

What I'm Looking Forward to Next Month: Cooler weather! I am ready for fall, which I will tell you today is my favorite season, but fully admit that if you ask me in December, I'll tell you it's spring......

I love what Megan said at the end of her post, and I'll ditto it: NOW then. Your turn! What are YOU into this month? Fill up the comment space or borrow this for inspiration on your own blog.

Disclosure: This post contains Amazon referral links.

My Favorite Movie

Almost Famous

My love of classic rock led me to become obsessed with rock biographies while in high school. I devoured Hammer of the Gods: The Led Zeppelin Saga and I'm with the Band: Confessions of a Groupie by Pamela Des Barres and imagined myself living the tales. Although shy and ever-conscious of authority, I longed to be a bit more daring and have that exciting life that revolved around rock and roll.

So when the movie Almost Famous starring Kate Hudson came out 2001, I was so excited! Another chance to have a glimpse of that life that sounded so very intoxicating and thrilling to me. I wasn't disappointed at all- I found it to be enthralling and I couldn't take my eyes away. Genius, pure genius.

I'd love to hear in the comments- what's your favorite movie?

Disclosure: This post contains Amazon referral links.

My Favorite Song

"Wonderful Tonight" by Eric Clapton

I was lucky enough to grow up in a home with parents who LOVED music and exposed me to so much classic rock. My mom and I would go to the store on days when a new *tape* would come out (Doobie Brothers anyone? remember this was the mid-to-late 70s) and I always loved singing along in the car.

Some of my faves are Cream, Led Zeppelin (duh!), The Eagles, Jimi Hendrix, Bad Company, Janis Joplin, KISS, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Velvet Underground, and of course Eric Clapton. (and this list could go on and on....)

When the hubby and I decided to get married, I knew that I wanted "Wonderful Tonight" to be the song we danced to. There's just something I have always loved about that song and now it holds an even sweeter memory for me.

Plus "Beth" by KISS wouldn't have fit the situation very well....

I'd love to hear what your favorite song is and what memory is attached- just leave a comment to join in.

Getting To Know Your Bloggy Friends

Let's get to know each other better! Here is my plan for posting for the next 30 days (stolen from the blogosphere and Sasha-ified). I'd love to have you leave your answers to the questions in the comments each day.

Check back later today for Post 1! I just know you are dying to know my favorite song! *sarcasm*

Day 1 - your favorite song
Day 2 - your favorite movie
Day 3 - your favorite television program
Day 4 - your favorite book
Day 5 - your favorite quote
Day 6 - your favorite food
Day 7 - your favorite beauty item
Day 8 -a photo that makes you happy
Day 9 - a photo you took
Day 10 - a photo taken over 10 years ago of you
Day 11 - a photo of you recently
Day 12 - something you are OCD about
Day 13 - your favorite fiction book
Day 14 - your favorite non-fiction book
Day 15 - your dream house
Day 16 - a song that makes you cry (or nearly)
Day 17 - an art piece (drawing, sculpture, painting, etc) you love
Day 18 - your wedding/future wedding/past wedding
Day 19 - a talent of yours
Day 20 - a hobby of yours
Day 21 - a recipe you love
Day 22 - a website you love
Day 23 - a youtube video you love
Day 24 - when/why you started blogging
Day 25 - your day, in great detail
Day 26 - your week, in great detail
Day 27 - your worst habit
Day 28 - contents of your handbag/purse
Day 29 - your hopes, dreams and plans for the next 365 days
Day 30 - a dream for the future

A New Week! Thank Goodness!

I am SO glad it's a new week! Last week was just too much stress for me... with both kids entering new classes (P in 1st grade and WC in PreK), and work issues due to a computer software conversion we have been going through, I just had to curl up and spend some time in bed.

But it's a new week and I'm ready for it!

This pic was shot in front of some random house by where we parked to take P in to school on the first day. He's in a brand new school building this year, and drop off was CRAZY since drop off here was new for everyone. Plus they were watering the newly laid sod as everyone was walking in, so it was like giant misters were on and needless to say my hair ended up in a pony tail that day. Blech.

I purchased these Smirnoff Mixed Drinks on Saturday with plans to try them out, but didn't get around to it since I curled up in the fetal position for a bit. Anybody try them yet? I can no longer find my beloved Mike's Light Hard Cranberry Lemonade, so I am looking for a replacement. Should I dare try to find the calorie count, or just pretend like it's only 90 calories?????

Running Find: Sweaty Bands

My bloggy friend Katy at KatyShops had a post about Sweaty Bands last week and I just had to order some. (That's the shopaholic in me!)

It looked like just what I have been looking for - I have always had a hard time keeping my fine hair pulled back when I run, and since I have bangs, it's all the more complicated. I tried several of those trendy thin bands I see the college girls wearing, but they kept sliding up toward the top of my head and didn't work at all. Bobby pins and old plastic headbands work, but don't look or feel good.

I am happy to report that Sweaty Bands stay put and don't slip up at all! And they don't squeeze my head at all and are very comfortable!

I'm already planning my next order, so if you are local and want to include one with my order to save shipping, let me know.

I ordered the brown polka dot one for me, and the pink "Absolutely Dangerous" one for The Wild Child", because, well, she is!

Should I submit this to Cake Wrecks?

Should I?

I'm not crazy, right? This totally reads "Happy Will Birthday", doesn't it?

Oh, and come by my office for a slice today. No way our fam could polish off 1/2 a sheet cake....

This Cheered Me Up a Bit

The poor Politician is in bed.... not feeling well at all. His birthday party has been cancelled.... poor guy.

And our anniversary is today and we had plans for a night out, which also won't be happening.

So here I sit feeling sorry for the Sashas. What terrible timing this stomach virus is. Big picture is "This too shall pass" so I am sure we will find another day to celebrate.

And I did just get an email from ebates that my Big Fat Check is on the way. And it's $57.13 this quarter! Fab!

Surely you are an ebates member... surely! If not, head on over there and sign up, get your $5 bonus, and then refer all *your* friends to build your check even more- you get $5 for each friend who refer. I am so appreciative to all those who have signed up under me over the last few years.

Happy Birthday to The Politician!

Hard to believe, but my Politician turns 7 today! Poor guy is home feeling a bit punky today, but we are hoping he feels better for his party tomorrow.

Since he's lying around concentrating on getting better, I went ahead and pulled out one of his birthday presents this morning to keep him occupied.

Surely some of you are children of the 70s and remember the Laff-A-Lympics! I was so jazzed to find this at Target the other day, and when I popped in the DVD player this morning, it was just like I remembered!

Captain Cavemannnnnnn!!!!!!!

Disclosure: This post contains an Amazon referral link.

Better Late Than Never: Stila Palette Winner

Goodness. My Stila giveaway ended on August 4, and I'm just now getting around to selecting a winner! I am SO sorry! Life's a bit crazy....

Commenter 37 is the winner!

Kids, Canines, and Chaos said...
Oooh! I love anything makeup related!

Congrats! Please email me at barelytogether at yahoo dot com with your mailing info by Tuesday, August 17th at 10 pm CST. If I don't hear from you by then, I'll select a new winner.

Coach Poppy Fun

You know I'm a Coach girl.... and they have the coolest thing going on right now - The Poppy Project.

If you tweet this message...

Grow, Poppy! Grow! Spread #CoachPoppy love around the web and win prizes with #SashaSaysBlog www.coach.com/poppyproject

...the Poppy pattern on the side of this blog will grow, and so will your chances of spotting and winning prizes. You can even add other hashtags like #stars and #pink (of course!) to see what makes the pattern grow and change.

If you happen to spot a Coach Poppy bag in the pattern, click it! That'll win you a prize from Coach- a $100 Coach gift card.

Note: This is not an advertisement, and Coach has no clue who Sasha is, it's just a fun little Coach project that might just win us some prizes!

New Kicks

For the past few weeks, I have been running pretty much every morning at o'dark:thirty and have been having trouble with my left foot/ankle/shin/leg. That's the same leg that I had the foot injury on while training for the half in Spring 2009.

So I decided new shoes were in order, and a trip to the local running speciality store confirmed my suspicions- my shoes were shot and I definitely needed a new pair. I had no idea how many miles I had on them since my running was sporadic over the last year due to my illness last fall, but they could tell by the way I was standing in them that they weren't giving me enough support. (I'll be using Daily Mile to track the mileage on my shoes this time- just out of curiosity- and they say I should get around 400 miles out of them.)

They put me in the Adidas Supernova Adapt (LOVE the pink! I am *so* Elle Woods and pink is my signature color.) for pronation control and extra arch support. I wore them this morning and they felt great. New shoes always give me a spring in my step. And make me avoid puddles for a bit....

Another fabulous weekend at the lake

We had such a great weekend at the lake... sometimes I really hate being "city folk" and miss growing up in a smaller town and spending the weekends out in the country and at the lake. Maybe someday......

The Wild Child was dying to try skiing- is she my child???- and was very patient, listened, and tried so hard and actually got up for a bit. She loved it and wanted to try again!

And this totally blew me out of the water (pun!) but even The bashful Politician gave it a try!

The Wild Child said "P, keep your knees bent and your bottom down- those are your instructions" and we all died laughing. She tried three times and she's already an expert!

I am sad for the end of summer to be here, but we've had some great family adventures this summer.

Right Now I Am Listening To

Miranda Lambert - "Only Prettier"

"I'll keep drinkin' and you'll keep gettin' skinnier. I'm just like you, only prettier."

Love!

She's definitely my daughter

because she wanted to have her nails painted the same color as mine (Avon Mambo Melon), which totally made my heart melt.

Nevermind that she wore football jerseys to school on Tuesday and Wednesday......

Do you TWoP???

If you don't TWoP, you might have missed their Most Memorable Moments feature on The Bachelorette 6. Get over there and see it, it'll improve your mood and snap you out of an anxiety attack, promise!

Lake Report: The Sangria Was Good!

Somehow, 3 of us made sangria!

And yes, we drank it all!

Mine is the one in the middle, and the recipe is here.