I still can't get over SJP at the Met Ball last night. Thank God for her. The girl knows how to bring it and I don't know why I was even a little bit surprised. Of course she did. (Hellllls LO to those thigh high plaid Louis Vuitton boots. And the bedazzled feathered mohawk crown thingamajig? AND THE FISHTAIL BUN BRAID!!!! Just staaaaaap it.) PS - before you go saying the girl is off her rocker, the collection this year is PUNK : Chaos to Couture. She's not off her rocker. She's just R-O-C-K (ing) in the USA. Yep.
A year later and I still can't help but break into dance whenever Call Me Maybe comes on. Like today in Ralphs. For reals. Dancing. And pushing a grocery cart. Full on making the phone with my thumb and pinky fist up to my ear/mouth and everything. (No banana...but that woulda been good. Next time.) This is what the rest of you are thinking, right?
ANNNNNND.....Wyatt wants a pet snake. That's all I gots to say about that.
Except if this even goes down, we're totally naming it Kristen Miley Burns.
Does anyone watch 'Ready For Love' - new match making show produced by Eva Longoria. I watched all 4 Tivo'd episodes this weekend and now I'm obsessed. I need to digest this roller coaster with someone. Please humor me...cause it's like the best, cheesiest, most cringe worthy embarrassing best thing ever. Like everrrrrr. I need to share this. I'm looking at you Aubs.
We are currently navigating the CRAMAZINGPSYCHAOTICNESS that is Summer kids camp signups. Art, Surf, Sport, Gym....I mean, please. What happened to the days of Sandlot?? You're Killing Me Smalls.
("You play ball like a GIRL!!!!" ahhhh....best movie.)
Researched Cabanas at Mandalay Bay today. Wait...nevermind. I'm going to make a down payment on a house instead.
Back to The Met...did you see Madonna wore a black wig and let her butt cheeks show? And her and Beyonce took a picture together. And then everyone stopped breathing and The Met's ceiling collapsed. From the fierceness.
Molly started speech therapy this week. Forever she's replaced her 'Rs' with 'AHs"...we don't know why. Am I a bad Mom if I'm kinda sad to see her lose her Boston accent?
I bought a box of Uncrustables today. For the same amount of $$ I could have bought a loaf of bread, (crusts and ALL!) a jar of peanut butter, AND a jar of jam. My GG is rolling over in her grave.
I already couldn't understand the need for Squinkies. AND THEN I LEARNED THERE IS SUCH A THING AS ZINKIES....Tiny Squinkies!!! As if that's even a possible THING? They come with tweezers. BTDubs. Just in case your 5 year old's fingers are too huge and clumsy to pick them up. People spend money on this ish. People like me.
I had a credit for Rent The Runway so I spent it today. On dresses for the Gala. Yes. dressES. As in TWO. I'm thinking I'll change for the late night dancing portion of the evening. Because, why not? Actually one is a dress. One is a romper. Cause, WWKD?
So...that's me. On a Tuesday.
(really that's about 10%...but you get the idea)
There is rarely a morning that this house wakes without my iTunes playlist blaring in the kitchen. And me dancing. While scrambling eggs or flipping pancakes.
When I find a song that says what's in my heart better than I can....
AHHHHHHH.
It's so fun. And satisfying. And empowering. And sweet. And cathartic.
Remember how Ally McBeal had a theme song?
(which was accompanied by a transparent dancing baby, but I try to forget about that freak show)
For the last how ever many years since Ally McBeal first introduced the idea of a theme song to me....
(and please don't tell me how long ago that was. Cause it will only make me sad. And dream about Botox. And realize that when I watched the show I thought Ally was so old. But now I'm waaaay older than Ally. So just don't.)
But anyhow, since then...
My theme song has been THIS.
(and please don't tell me how long ago this song was popular. Cause it will only make me sad. And dream about Kelly & Brandon and The Macarena. And realize that now I am more familiar with Free Radicals than New Radicals. So just don't.)
But anyhow, theme songs are good.
And if I could hand pick a theme song for my kids.
It would be Sara Bareilles' new single BRAVE.
(this ish is like, RIDICULOUSLY good. You need to go buy.)
Are you allowed to pick other people's theme songs?
Probably not.
But if it's your kids, and you obviously know way more and way better than they do...
Then of course.
You totally are.
Allowed to pick.
FOR THEM.
And I pick Brave.
If for nothing else than the VERY FIRST LINE.
You can be amazing
Yep.
You totally can.
We all can...but especially our kids.
I want them to always know...
You can turn a phrase into a weapon or a drug
Words can tear down and build up.
Words can hurt or heal.
Words are powerful.
This is something we are taught early on...
"Choose your words wisely."
"Bite your tongue."
"Think before you speak."
"If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all."
You can be the outcast
Or be the backlash of somebody’s lack of love
We all have a past.
We all have reasons to break down.
Be silent.
Be still.
Give up or in or bow out.
Or you can start speaking up
But I want my kids to know
Their voice is valued.
Strong.
Vibrant.
It might be different than mine.
Or yours.
But it matters.
And I want to hear it.
Nothing is gonna hurt you the way that words do
And they settle 'neath your skin
It is going to happen.
Someone is going to say something that bites them.
And those words will sting.
Kept on the inside and no sunlight
Sometimes a shadow wins
And there will be times that Mom can't make it all better.
Times when it seems like the world is against them...
But I wonder what would happen if you
Times when they will need to discover their own...
Strength
Faith
Heart
FIRE
And be able to...
Say what you wanna say
And let the words fall out
Honestly
Cause really all I ever want, is for them to live THEIR lives.
Grow. BE. Love.
Continually walk in (and look for) Beauty and Grace.
Value humility.
Win their fears.
Help others do the same.
I just wanna see you be brave
Is that too much to ask as a Mom?
Maybe...
Probably.
But I also want my kids to know
Everybody's been there, everybody's been stared down By the enemy
No one said this life was going to be easy.
And as much as I want to preserve their innocence and protect their spirits
I also want to empower them. And teach them. And show them....
That even the best of us have
Fallen for the fear and done some disappearing
Bow down to the mighty
That the hard days are just as much a part of life as the easy ones.
The pain of our mistakes teaches us just as much as
The joy of our triumphs.
Don’t run, stop holding your tongue
But NEVER.
EVER.
Even in the darkest of days, does NOT BEING TRUE TO YOU
make anything easier.
or make anything better.
Maybe there’s a way out of the cage where you live
Maybe one of these days you can let the light in
If there is only one line in this song that I could repeat over and over and over...
It's this:
Show me how big your brave is
Be you.
Love you.
All of you.
Your crazy. Your smart.
Your loud. Your quiet.
Your silly. Your weird.
Your too big. Your too small.
All of YOU.
Show me. Make your Momma proud!!
Show me how big your brave is.
Innocence, your history of silence
Won’t do you any good
Did you think it would?
I think at some point
We all think silence will do us good.
Right?
It's not a lesson that can be taught.
It is one that has to be lived.
Let your words be anything but empty
Why don’t you tell them the truth?
Silence may pacify.
May put off the awkward.
But it doesn't feel good.
Silence eats at your insides. It weakens your Brave.
Your words...when they eventually come out...
will be empty, if you've been silent too long.
No one will listen. Maybe not even yourself.
Say what you wanna say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be brave
That's what I want.
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you I wanna see you be brave.
And because I'll always be an English major at heart and I'd like to pretend that I write with more authority and conviction than just a bottle of wine, my head in the curtains, and a heart like the Fourth of July...I have to wrap up this post by circling back to Ally McBeal.
“The real truth is, I probably don’t want to be too happy or content. Because, then what? I actually like the quest, the search. That’s the fun. The more lost you are, the more you have to look forward to. What do you know, I’m having a great time and I don’t even know it!” - Ally McBeal
The more lost you are...
the more you have to look for the happy and content...
the more you have to be BRAVE.
That is what makes you proud and strong and beautiful
and okay with being okay with being stupidly perfect in your own skin.
That's what makes life worth living.
THAT is what I want for my kids.
That is my (our, your, I hope, the World's)...THEME SONG.
Megan recently had to pick someone to write a biography about. I REALLLLLLLLY tried to let her pick her own person. But I have to admit...I mighta pushed her in the direction of some of my favorite women. Every time I suggested someone, she would ask me:
"But Mom, did she do something AMAZING? Like...did she change her life? Or someone else's life? Cause that is what I want to report about. Girls who change lives."
Oh! My sweet Babydoll.
YES.
These girls were amazing. Just like you.
Here's the three BRAVE WOMEN she submitted. Her teacher gets the final say on who her report will be about. We'll keep you posted!
Really everyone, everywhere, thought she was silly to try and do it. And maybe she was. But she was BRAVE beyond belief and way before her time. Lost herself at sea following her dreams and leaving her last words being anything but empty. Look at the JOY and energy in her eyes and her smile. That's her heart...on the outside. I can only hope. I want to wake up every morning and put that on as my skin.
Rosa Parks
A spunky but weary woman, who in 1955, refused to continue the History of Silence. A woman whose simple, perfectly rightful act, left a legacy of BRAVENESS. Do you see the honesty in her face? Do you see her worth? Do you see her self love? Ahhh!! It's radiating out of her. Gives me chills. That's her heart...on the outside. I can only hope. I want to wake up every morning and put that on as my skin.
Pochahontas
Born a Native American Indian. Died a converted Christian. One half of the first documented North American inter-racial marriage...saving her husband's life by laying her head upon his chest when he was to be executed by her father. That's her heart...on the outside. Is it bad I'm biased to the one woman who didn't have the ability to be captured by a photograph? There is so much more to US than what a picture can show...right? I can only hope. I want to wake up every morning and put that on as my skin. "I don't like standard beauty, there is no beauty without strangeness." - Karl Lagerfeld
OK. Now for serious.
Go watch this video.
But first turn your volume WAAAAAAAY Up.
And then try NOT to be moved.
Try NOT to grab every kid you see and hug them so tight they feel like a Super Hero.
Just try.
And go out today and Show Me.
Cause I want to see you.
Be Brave!
OK. So here's the thing. (I've done this before) I don't blog for forever and then I show up and throw something like Marriage Equality on the table.
Why can't I just post cute pictures of my kids beating the crap out of each other over candy filled plastic eggs? Why can't I just talk about how my Fangirl life was made when K wrote my name on a bookmark and acknowledged my birthday? It is Wednesday after all. Can't I just write a nonsensical post about What I Wore last any given random day and be done with it? Why can't I just show up out of the blue and blog about the silly stuff? I mean, I hardly ever blog anymore. Can't I just keep it light. Simple. Sweet...???
Again - here's the thing. I REALLY WISH I COULD. But I can't. It's just not me. I blog the things that move my heart. Sometimes that's tiny jockstraps. Other times it's serious ish.
So here I go...
Prior to this point, I haven't made it a secret that I am liberal. That I voted for Obama. Proudly. Twice. That I support mass health care and welfare and immigration. That I'm fine with giving The Man my paycheck so long as my needs are met and it promotes a greater common good. Frick. I'm pretty much a Socialist in a staunch Republican city and I love it. It's fine.
But prior to this point, I have refused to enter into any {online} conversations about the pros and cons of gay marriage because my own viewpoint (and the ensuing argument) are not likely to be productive in a cyber forum. Getting into this kind of debate on the blog would only serve to further the debate. Not bridge the gap. And I HATE THAT. It is relationships and love that change hearts. Not political rhetoric. Certainly not blog posts.
But this past week has done a number on my soul and I can no longer stay politely on the sidelines. My parents tell a funny story about disciplining my younger, strong willed, brother. They say that he has always been "standing up on the inside." That even when they sat him down to talk to him about how he had done wrong...they could look into his eyes and SEE that he was thinking in his head, "Sure, Mom and Dad...I hear what you are saying and I respect you, so on the outside, I'm sitting down. But on the inside....I'M STANDING UP!!!"
I love that story. I feel like I've been standing up on the inside for awhile. But I'm over it. It's time to stand up on the outside.
This past week social media has been over taken by a sea of red and pink. Profile pictures have showcased these colors as equal signs as well as crosses, both sides equivalently fervent in their beliefs. My personal profile picture was an equal sign. And here is why:
As a Christian, I have a hard time understanding why "we" spend more time speaking against things instead of speaking FOR people. I don't understand why MILLIONS OF DOLLARS are spent working against causes instead of being used to better humanity.
Is is really possible that "we" think we can BEST show HIS love by being discriminatory? By being judgmental? By being mean spirited? This is the opposite of how HE showed HIS love.
In my heart, I understand the complexities and the nuances of this matter. I also appreciate that the "church" as a whole is made up of humans, and by biblical definition, humans are not perfect. But at the core of my being, I cling to the belief that while we may be irrevocably flawed...even more so, because we are irrevocably flawed...we must walk in Love. We must always error on the side of humility and mercy and grace. We must embrace everyone HE loves and work towards being remembered for what we fought FOR. Not for what we stood against. This is what I want for my children. This is what I believe HE wants for all of us. We must allow Love to get in the way. To override every other emotion, thought, decision.
Because, guess what? None of us need to alter our personal interpretation of scripture in order to support the basic civil rights of others. I'm dead serious. Think about it. At the very simplest, middle core, crux of the matter, our great nation was founded on the need for religious freedom. Our forefathers FLED their homeland because they were being persecuted. They yearned for a place everyone could openly revere and rejoice in their own God (or lack there of.) The basic necessity for a separation of church and state seems so simple in these terms from 200+ years ago. The right to worship, or NOT worship, is a basic HUMAN right afforded to every person - straight, gay, lesbian, transgender, Christian, Jew, Hindu - in this country. We champion it. Celebrate it. Immortalize it in bells and fireworks and declarations.It's what we are founded on.
So why today, 200+ years later, are "we" feeling threatened? Why are we are no longer championing these values? On what grounds? Are we afraid that committed same-sex couples can't raise children to be just as happy and healthy and secure as committed heterosexual couples? Research has shown this to be empirically FALSE. Are we afraid that sanctioning same-sex couples leads to a "slippery slope" of pedophilia, bestiality and polygamy? I'm sorry, but this is just absurd. That's like saying eating bananas leads to having sex with monkeys. The correlation is based on ignorance and refusal to face facts. Research has shown that same-sex attraction is not a choice. Attempting to force someone to change their attraction can lead to low self-esteem, depression and even suicide. Furthermore, states that have legalized same-sex marriage have not fallen apart, nor has the institution of marriage been jeopardized. On the contrary, more people have simply been welcomed into this beautiful institution. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, their own beliefs, and their own feelings...but nobody is entitled to their own FACTS. And one person's right to their beliefs should not override another's right to equal protection under the law.
Your own personal interpretation of MARRIAGE can stand firm. No matter what it is. Because when it comes down to it...how you interpret marriage has NOTHING to do with individual sexuality and vice versa. Furthermore, your religious beliefs have NOTHING to do with thegovernmental definition of marriage. Ultimately, none of us can really attest to know how God truly feels. I'm straight. I'm married. And I am looking forward to the day I can ask Jesus these very questions myself. But in the meantime, can't we have the GRACE to acknowledge that all of us, men and women of all religions and sexual orientations, are doing our best to seek the truth, and we may disagree? Can we do our best to support the appreciation of differences and stop the ignorance of hate? I hope so. I have to hope so.
I have seen so many scriptures thrown around this past week on social media. Genesis. Leviticus. But for me...I want to throw around some Matthew.
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself."
It strikes me that if Christians actively FOUGHT all the injustice and sin in our world - the killing, the starvation, the poverty, the corruption, the greed, the gluttony - with the same passion that is applied to homosexuality and gay marriage, what a better place this would be for all of us.
Did you know nearly a BILLION people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or write their name?
Did you know that half the world's population - over 3 BILLION people - live on less than $2 a day?
Did you know that there are 640 million children without adequate shelter today?
Did you know that there are 400 million children that lack access to safe water?
Did you know that 10.6 BILLION children will DIE before they reach age 5?
2.2 million of them just due to lack of simple immunizations
This BLOWS MY MIND and breaks my heart. Into pieces.
This enrages me waaaaaayyyy more than the fact that a woman loves and wants to commit herself for life to another women. Or a man to a man.
Time and energy and money is spent FIGHTING LOVE.
When it could be spent on so much more.
On so much more that REALLY MATTERS.
Causes that really need us to care.
Causes that really need us to rise up and champion them.
Be remembered for what we fought FOR. Not for what we stood against.
Please.
"We need to stop giving people excuses to not believe in God. You probably heard the expression 'I believe in God, just not organized religion.' I don't think people would say that if the church truly lived like we are called to live."
-Francis Chan, Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God
Hence why the dance moves busted out here this morning.
OK - here's the dead honest truth. I am the worst runner on the planet. WORST. I have no discipline. On any given day, at any given moment, I can come up with at least 43,782 things to do OTHER than go for a run.
Like organize my nail polish into rainbow order.
Or clean the burnt crumbs out of the bottom of the toaster.
Maybe fold the Mount Everest of socks that has sat on top of my dryer for 6 months.
Get a pap smear. Go to the dentist. Pay bills.
All those things become REALLY IMPORTANT when I have a free minute to workout.
But since I'm being dead honest, I have to admit that what usually happens with those free minutes has nothing to do with polish, crumbs, mountains, bills or appointments. What usually happens is I make a bed or two and load and unload a few appliances (so as not to feel too guilty) and then plop down with a book. Face it. I'm a nerd with a flabby ass.
But you see, since I'm being dead honest, I also have to admit that I actually really LOVE it when I make the decision to run. It's just really hard for me to stay motivated. My sister in law sent me an article last week titled "9 Reasons Running Doesn't SUCK As Much As You Think." It cracked me up and I have to share. I've decided to try and focus each week on a new reason why I love running. If I focus on all these fun, good, awesome things more...then running will not seem like a chore, right? The choice to go run will be easy. Joyful! I'll crave it like I do picking up a book, right? Well, that's the plan anyway.
This list is an awesome start (and exactly my sense of humor) but feel free to speak up and help add to it! You know I need all the help I can get when I have 43,782 other books errrr...I mean, things nagging at me to put them first.
9 Reasons Running Doesn't Suck as Much as You Think...
with my own two cents added in red. of course. i can't not add my own two cents.
1. You can lose weight by drinking nothing but hot water with lemon. Or you can run for an hour, treat yourself to a cookie and still fit into your skinny jeans. One of these options makes you bitchy; the other makes you rad.
Tessa. Since I'm not a sweets person, I use this reasoning for gin and cheese too.
2. Take your iPod with you, and your runs suddenly become a safe place to indulge your love of boy-band music. With enough practice, you can even blend in a couple dance moves from ‘Bye Bye Bye’. Don’t lie: You’ve still got that routine memorized.
And you don't have to censor your R-rated lyric listening. When Nicki Minaj sings about being "higher than a motherf#$%&er" you totally sympathize thanks to your lack of oxygen inhalation combined with your steep hill ascension.
3. When your boss, your melodramatic friend and your nagging to-do list won’t leave you alone, calmly put on your running shoes and head out the door. They won’t follow you. It’s a safer alternative to storming out with both middle fingers in the air (though you can -and should- still do this in your head, just for spectacular effect).
This is also where the R-rated lyric listening comes in handy, no? And probably where the term "Pounding the Pavement" comes from. As in "I better go pound some pavement before I pound your face."
4. You’ll discover Lululemon pants are good for more than just buying tampons and Cheez-its at Target (I know, ladies. My world was rocked with that discovery, too).
Let's just take a moment to let that sink in. Actually working out in your workout clothes. People do that.
5. Running is the last place you have to “be a lady.” Sweat, snot and sneaking behind a bush to pee is not only liberating it’s fun, in that giggly-childish-naughty kind of way.
And we all know I worry all day long about "being a lady."
6. Getting a run in before happy hour means you get tipsy on half a glass of wine instead of your usual two. That’s not being a lush, that’s just sound economic planning.
This might be the single most best reason I should run ever. Cause I'm broke. And I'm not a lightweight.
7. Studies have shown that runners have better sex. Sex counts as a cross-training workout, which in turn makes you a better runner, which – hello! – leads to even better sex. Really, the whole thing is full of win-wins.
This is probably as close as I'll ever get to trying Cross Fit so I think I should at least give it a whirl.
8. Girls are lucky; there’s an entire industry committed to making us look awesome while getting our sweat on. Workout clothes come in all sorts of cool colors and designs. Jockstraps, on the other hand, will always be ugly with questionable stains.
I'm sorry. I can't help it. I just keep imagining a whole wall of neon Jockstraps at Target. The Bike brand is dropping the ball.
9. Non-runners will sit on the couch and call you crazy. Those folks, sadly, will never learn what their bodies are capable of. You, on the other hand, will die knowing you completely, totally, unabashedly used up the body that was loaned to you. That’s not crazy. That’s freakin’ awesome.
It's true. I've done it. I'm a firm believer you can push/train your body to do anything. You just have to DO IT.
.JPG)
.JPG)
