Dear who ever makes (and abides to) the rule to take away my UNOPENED water bottle at the airport fully knowing that I’ll now have to go and repurchase the same damn thing at the pitiful excuse of a “restaurant” for more than 3 times the initial cost:
I am not fond of you!
I’ve been allowed to bring in unopened bottles of water before, hell, at LAX I got made fun of because I thought I had to toss my newly opened Coke bottle – apparently I could have taken that with me through security with no issue.
I understand there are rules, I do – that’s why I take painstakingly arduous efforts to make sure all my mini items of product are well labeled and fit EXACTLY in my specially purchased clear plastic zipper bag – I just can’t bring myself to use a Ziploc back each time – they rip and then I just have to throw them away. Therefore, I got a lovely heavy-duty bag at Sephora – aka the store that sucks you in worse than Walmart or Target.
Sincerely,
$3 poorer with less water

I’m off to NYC for the 3rd time in about 5 months – I do love NYC! This time I’m going up to help out with another media tour for one of the product lines. Robyn Flipse will be promoting some healthier recipes using some of the products that not too many people know about and we are hoping to create more of a buzz around. So if you live in any of these TV markets, look for her Tuesday morning on your local news: Lubbock, Savannah, Huntsville, Lincoln, Topeka, Cheyenne, Flint, Atlanta, Roanoke, Baltimore, Wichita, Alexandria, Phoenix, Albuquerque – or if you ever catch the nationally broadcasted Daily Buzz… you’ll find us there.

P.S. – Dear small toddler on the plane 3 rows in front of me: Thank you for not screaming the ENTIRE flight, 1/3 of it is just the right amount of blood curdling screaming.

We’ve been debating this topic at the office and among other social settings.
Will there be a strain on the business of Valentines Flower Deliveries since V-Day falls on a Saturday this year?
It makes sense that there might be – OR will there be a mad rush of last minute calls and rush orders to get the flowers in on Friday during the workday?
Just a topic to think about – so make sure you plan accordingly if you plan to order flowers.
If you live in the Central Arkansas Area, make sure to call Ari at Little Black Dress Brigade (see link at right) – Mandy and she will be creating spectacular arrangements and they are providing free local delivery with a $50 order. They do flowers for everything, not just Valentines Day so keep their info handy!

Saturday night, a bunch of girls met at Noodles for a surprise baby shower for our friend Leslee. She thought she was just coming out to dinner since most of the girls husbands are in Vegas on their revenge trip they planned while we were living it up in NYC back in December.
She was so surprised – it was too cute. We all went together and got her a super cute diaper bag and the a few other items as well. I got her a pair of Heelarious Baby’s First Stiletto’s. I know, they are completely useless – babies can’t go to the bar… but they are freakin’ cute! They are basically like little infant shoes but have about a ½ inch heel on them. The ones I picked out were Zebra print since I heard that Leslee and Marty are doing an animal print theme for baby Shayne’s room. I can’t wait to meet her! As I’ve mentioned many times before – I love other people’s babies, for a few hours at least.
After dinner, a few of us girls went to the Wine Cellar for a drink or 5. Then we further split up and went our separate ways to meet up with other groups.
It was a fun evening and great to be able to share in Leslee’s glee of her baby shower. She is truly the sweetest, most gracious person I know and her little daughter will be just like her, I’m sure of it!

I went shopping at the Promenade in Rogers on Saturday. It was gorgeous weather so the open-air mall was really nice –and not toooooo crowded. Lauren went with and we did some serious economy supporting. I’ve found it useful to keep lists of things I want to buy (thanks iPhone feature). So, I have a list for Sephora, the shoe store and other trendy items I may be looking for at a bargain steal, etc. This way I hope to avoid too much impulse buying. So on my Sephora list I had Makeup Forever Smoky mascara, which I came to love a few months ago when they had the trial package of about 10 mini mascaras. This is great item for a couple of reasons: you get to try out all types of mascara AND then you have travel appropriate sizes of your faves.
We headed to Sephora with the hopes of not being sucked in by a sales person with their pretty and shiny trickery of testers and samples! Well shit – I came out with way too much stuff – all of which I HAD TO HAVE AND WOULD OF COURSE CHANGE MY LIFE FOREVER! Or at least until I ran out and I went back to get my fix and they have discontinued the line but have something even better and more expensive so it must be good– I swear, Sephora is like what I imagine crack cocaine or heroin is like! Glad Sephora doesn’t leave track marks – although I’m sure they’d be happy to sell me some type of concealer for it!
I also scored some other fab finds at Francesca’s and Forever XXI. We also picked up baby shower presents for the upcoming evening. I also got some super cute clothes for baby Milo and not-baby Stella. I got Milo a rocker shirt and some overalls which are too cute and a good way to relate to Milo’s grandpa’s (MZ’s dad) caretaker Jack – he always wears overalls!!! Although I heard he wore shorts and t-shirt the other day. For Stella, I got a super cute and very preppy pink and green plaid skirt and sweater set. She will, of course, be adorable in it! Hey, that’s what pseudo-aunts are for!
After shopping and lunching at PF Chang’s – and knowing that I’d eat a big dinner I HAD to go for a run on Saturday afternoon. So Presley and I set out for our normal path – we’ve added an extra loop around the lake and have now taken to attempting to sprint what I claim to be the last quarter mile straight and flat stretch. Presley is NOT a sprinter. I literally have to drag my 60-pound dog down the street. She tries so hard, and then looks at me with disgust as if to say: I hate you mother – I prefer to remain fat.
We almost caused a woman to run off the road she was laughing at us so hard. I did determine it might be partially to blame on the nerd harness I make her wear (the dog, not the woman driving the car). Sunday, I hooked the leash to the front of the harness rather than the top so that it doesn’t make her legs drag… we are a hoot to watch run – I know… I can only hope that it either gives all onlooker s a good laugh or makes them realize that anyone can “run” or at least attempt it.

It’s been a stressful few weeks, especially for MZ. His parents still do not have power, they have been staying at his house, and no one can accurately tell them when they might get their power turned back on. Also, MZ was in Kansas City most of last week for the Sam’s Club year beginning meeting, so he has definitely had his hands full – and his house.
Friday night he called to ask me out on a date, it was so very sweet of him! We went to dinner and movie and had a great time! He was very proud of himself, as he should have been! It really is the little things in life that make people truly happy!
It was great to just get to sit and talk about the week since we hadn’t seen each other in what seemed like forever! We decided that date night was a fun thing and we should do it more often and that sitting in the house realizing that we don’t have any food and then going to dinner out of necessity did not a real date make. Another thing we established was that we are both way too old to go to the movie on a Friday night. WOW, I guess I was too sheltered as a teenager, as I SURE wasn’t allowed to go to the movies that late at night, not even when I could drive myself. There were some kids there that could not have been more than 12 years old…. And that made me feel super old!
Those darn, pesky kids….

But I was very happy to be out of the house by ourselves, it was a great treat. He’s been so patient with his parents being at his house and abiding to their routine, I’m so impressed. I know I’m a brat and can admit that I don’t always make things easy and sometimes I just give up. I realize it’s way too easy to take things for granted and just get mad and take my aggressions out on him, and for some reason he still puts up with me! =)