A little bit of cheesecake and baby

Yesterday was a good day. Sometimes it's nice to break up the day-to-day with a little family outing, and when you throw food and shopping in there, can it get much better?

I owed this little baby toddler (!) a birthday present. Did you know that we share the same birthday? It makes us kindred spirits. And being kindred spirits, I thought she might like a pair of Toms. We found some cute black glitter ones and they were perfect.

Have you ever seen a baby in tiny toms? Well, today is your lucky day...

I know, right? Brooklyn Jayde is the most outgoing little gal this side of the Missisippi and managed to make some friends while we were on our shoe excursion. See that poodle skirt? Friend #1.

She also canoodled her way into the heart of the shoe girl and got a balloon. But, can you blame her? Look at that face!

We finished off the night at Cheesecake Factory. We took advantage of national cheesecake day and stuffed our faces. Unfortunately, there are no pictures of cheesecake. I did manage 2 photos, the rest of the time I was too busy stuffing my face, maybe grunting a little. It was loud in the restaurant. I did want to point out the portion sizes thought. This is HALF, and I was stuffed!

And we'll finish off with one more picture of that infamous Brookie Jayde. Look at that concentration, and that sweet mama.

Friday I'm off the Vegas for a girls trip, a much needed girls trip I might add. There will be much pool dwelling, a little bit of shopping, and Le Reve, my first Vegas show! Where have I been living? Under a rock? I know.

Just A Little Break

...from all of those California pictures. Mostly because I forgot to get some more off of Jeremy's phone. It's hard work I tell you, emailing every individual picture. I cannot wait to get a new camera. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the next month or so.

Speaking of cameras, I  do ridiculous amounts of review reading and spec research before purchasing, but I also love suggestions from YOU. So, this is the camera that I'm kind of considering. Does anyone have it? Or do you have any other suggestions? I'm looking for a more advanced point and shoot, but not a dSLR - I don't think I'm smart enough for those at this time in my life. Looking for something is the middle. Catch my drift?

Thanks for your help!

Lastly, I saw these shoes in person while walking around the many shopping areas that we visited. Aren't they beauties?

/source/

Then I got a little sad after I looked at the price tag. J.rue always teases me and says that I have an innate gift to choose the most expensive thing in the store. It's a curse. These probably won't be happening anytime so, but I can admire from afar.

The Twins

See those adorable shoes up there {affectionately named Carlene and Carlita}? They're lethal, and not just for walking, but for driving. Apparently they pack a little more punch than my regular flat footed attire. Carlene is a speed demon and Carlita is a slow breaker, bad combo. Needless to say, I made it to work quite frazzled. Never again.

I don't know if I've ever talked about it on here {probably not, because I don't like to talk about things that stress me out, ask j.rue}, but I am the Girls Camp Director for my ward. For those of you who don't know exactly what that is, the girls in our church, ages 12-18, go on a summer type camp for a few days every summer.I loved it growing up, it was always a blast mixed with a little bit of drama. Think spider eggs hatching at the bottom of a sleeping bag while the unsuspecting victim was in it. Ya, good memories.

Anyway, it's been a good 5 years since I've been apart of Young Womens at all. I'm nervous, but excited to spend time with our girls and hopefully getting to know they better. I've heard they're the bees knees. Tonight we're doing our camp kick-off. I feel like I'm going into a job interview or starting my first day at a new school. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed they'll like me.

This is our theme {does it look familiar?}:

I kind of love it because how easy is it to think of things that have to do with light, sunshine, and sparkles? It's right up my alley. I feel kind of guilty because I'm out of the house, gone, for 11 hours a day. Thank goodness I've been granted with the most proactive go gettering camp assistant ever. She basically should be the director and I should be the assistant. 

So, wish both of us luck tonight. Hopefully I'm not already too oldy moldy and out of touch.

..but I do go to bed at 9:30 p.m.

The Anatomy of the Summer Shoe

When it comes to my summer wardrobe it can be summed up with one word: lazy. Everything has to  be easy, breezy, stretchy, and simple. No exceptions. I'll get into my actual summer wardrobe another time, but today I wanted to talk to you about shoes. When it comes to shoes period, I'm more of a cheap neutralist. I work my shoes hard and prefer to replace a little more often rather than drop huge money bombs. There are a few exceptions to every rule of course, but don't tell my j.rue that. Just kidding, he knows. Kind of. I  like my shoes to be along the lines of nude, black, navy or white. Boring, I know. Red is a good color essential as well. I have made a few exceptions to this rule. I'm already thinking I'll regret it. More on that in a second.

Of course the first summer shoe essential is the sandal, not to be confused with the flip flop. Here are a few of my top picks:

/1/2/3/

Okay now, can you picture one outfit that you will wear this summer that could not be paired with one of these options? That's what I thought. These all meet the criteria of lazy summer styles except they're not too stretchy, but I'm thinking that's a good thing. The only sandal that's on the pricier side is the one in the middle for $40. The only reason why I would ever dream of spending that much on a sandal is because I've heard that Salt waters really last {please imagine the Sandlot} FOR EV ER.

The second most important shoe is a slip on tennis-like shoe, you know, when sandals just won't cut it. Lately, I've been lusting over these adorable Bensimons:

/1/

But then I remember that lusting is a bad thing, and I found Bensimon's twin over at Old Navy for $15. I'm so righteous. Again these shoes meet all lazy summer criteria.

/2/

Have I mentioned lately how much I love Old Navy lately? They've stepped it up big time, and have come so far since their screen print t-shirts of dogs of surf boards. I know that I'm the only one who had one of those.

Lastly, the nude flat. Goes with anything and everything and makes you look just a little more polished. My fine friends, please don't spend a lot of $$ on these. It's so easy to find a handsome looking pair of nude ballets for under $20. Like this one for example {bonus: it's named after me -- I was delighted when they asked}:

/1/

So, that's it folks! The anatomy of a summer shoe. Easy, right? Oh and if you're wondering about my maybe mistakes:

/1/2/

Don't get me wrong they make my stomach flutter every time they look at me, but they are bright -- and were expensive. Almost to the point where I feel like I should be wearing them everyday for the next year 6 years. Oh well, you win some, you loose some.

iloveyouwearyourseatbeltrememberwhoyouarehavefun!

delectable, heavenly, lavish, LUSH, scrumptious

I've found it you guys. Ready for it....

The perfect shampoo/conditioner {S&C} combination. Here's the lineup:

I know, I know. I'm a bit obsessive about things, but I just can't help it. It's just such exciting news. BIG is a funny little shampoo that gives big boost to limp locks {like mine}. The best thing about it? It has pieces of sea salt that tickles the scalp and massages away all of your worries, at least hair related worries. Then we follow with the Veganese conditioner, super light, super delicious smelling.

While I was in the store making the life changing decision of which S&C to purchase, a cute sales girl kindly offered to help me {you know how I am with cute sales girls} and told me all of the amazing things this combo would do for my hair. Of course it took all of 3 seconds to convince me and I was out the door...with an additional hair treatment and an extra bath bomb too. You've heard me say it before, I'm a sales girl's dream. It drives j.rue nuts, he believes that if a sales girl tried to sell me a turd I would probably buy it. I say not unless it can do amazing things for me.

Lucky for me though, this sales girl did not lead me astray. I love cute sales girls who know their stuff. If you live near a LUSH {they're opening another one in Fashion Place Mall this month!}I would go in and get some samples. They looooove giving out samples. Really. They told me about 15 times. Tomorrow I'll have a link to the best hair treatment, so stay tuned.

On a totally unrelated note; Kohls has some dang cute shoes right now. I'm partial to these wedges. Now I just have to figure out what they would go with so I can justify them. 

Also, I wanted to relieve your worries and tell you that we didn't really park in Kohl's "superstar of the month" parking spot {pictured above}. That would just be plain rude.