Oscar Fashion!

Although the oscar fashion is my favorite of the year, I was a little underwhelmed this year.  Nothing made me completely cringe, but nothing really put me in awe either.  And the show itself was pretty much a snoozer.  So to the fashion...

I really didn't feel like there was anything horrible this year, but here are my least favorites:

Amy Adams.  I really adore her and usually like her sweet style, but no matter how many times I look at this I don't like it.  I really think it was the styling though.  It looked dated and although the jewelry was worth 1.5 million it made it worse.  And with that much dress on a little girl I really wanted her big hair out of the way.  So I will not say WORST, I will just say, could have been SO much better.  

Next Nicole Kidman could wear anything and be stunning and again, I WANTED to like this, but it was just odd.  It kinda looked like it had been draped out of really dramatic hotel ball room curtains.  And when you saw her walk in it it got even weirder.  

This Givenchy worn by Cate Blanchett was interesting I'll give it that and the detailing was gorgeous, but something about the ill-fitting shape in front was just awkward. 

Now the better...

 This Dior dress worn by Sharon Stone is already getting some bad reviews, but I thought it was HOT!  Love it.  Yes, it's serious and has feathers, but it's the Oscars and it's Dior, come on.  

I am usually not a fan of Hillary Swank, however this Gucci dress was stun-ning!  By this point I was beginning to wonder if my TV was black & white (and sparkly) because that's all I was seeing.  But still, this is a gorgeous gown.

We'll call these next ladies the good & the bad.  The good about Gwyneth is she looked ROCKIN on the red carpet in Calvin Klein (left).  The bad news.... she still can't sing.  Thank you for not auto-tuning her.  The truth is she's still a fabulous actress, not a singer.  Why couldn't hubby Chris & the band tell her so?  

 Anne Hathaway was co-host with {the most boring} James Franco.  They were not very entertaining overall, but they did have a lot to live up to.  I mean really- Billy Crystal, Ellen, Whoopi?  They weren't close.  However, the good news is once she got to changing clothes it got a little more enjoyable.  My faves - the blue Armani and the burgundy Versace.

 The best!  

This precious 14 yr old star of True Grit, Hailee Steinfeld.  She helped design this Marchesa gown and said it was exactly what she dreamed of.  Perfection.

And finally.  I am always a fan of her hair and her style.  Mandy Moore.  She was performing a song I'd never heard, but either way, she looked amazing.  First on the red carpet in this Monique Lhuillier dress then performed in this AH-MAZING blue dress, same designer.  LOVE it.  That's something worth watching the Oscars for. 

The letter W is for Weekend.

 Friday I took the kids to Sesame Street Live!  We went with some MOMS clubs friends as we did last year.  It's kinda funny to look at those pictures and see how much has changed in the year.  Ryder is not AS Elmo crazy as he was last year, but still loves Sesame Street and was super excited about it all.   

Taking it all in...

Paisley & I hanging out.  Fortunately she still fits in the Baby Bjorn, so I just strapped her on and went!

Intermission with my little Elmo crazies!

Show's over and they had a blast.

As we were heading out past all the souvineers Ryder spotted something he WANTED.  I looked at the case assuming it would be a silly $20 stuffed elmo or spinning light up thing.  And Ryder says, "I WANT THE BINOCULARS!"  I laughed and said, "What?!?  Why do you need binoculars?"  And he says in an almost sarcastic tone, "So I can SEE things better!"  Lucky for me they were the cheapest thing in the case and I found it too funny to ignore, so I bought them.  He was SO HAPPY...

 Leading Sissy out.  How cute is this?

 After the show we went to eat lunch at Central Market.  It was so busy that after looking for parking for 20 minutes I told Ryder we were going to have to try somewhere else at which point he started crying and then suddenly screamed, "No!  Wait!  I will FIND us a place with my binoculars!"  ;)  And we found one.  After lunch I drove to Waco to meet Poppy to drop them off for a fun-filled weekend for all!  They spent a night at each grandparents and Daniel and I got some much needed rest and time together.  We got 2 date nights in and slept until 11am on Saturday.  Daniel said he couldn't remember the last time he woke up feeling so groggy & wonderful!  Big thanks to them for giving us a break.  The kids had a blast!

What a Lovely Day

 We had a really sweet Valentines.  

Last Thursday Ryder had his Valentines party at school.  I went for the party at the end of the day.  He was pretty excited and Paisley got in on the action too...

Trying some of mommy's cookies...

Love my crazy little Valentines!

Ryder also painted Valentines to send to the grandparents and he made a special valentine for his girlfriend, Ellie, "Ewwie" as he says.  It was the cutest thing ever.  We were in Hobby Lobby picking out his school valentines and I asked if I was his Valentine?  He said, "No."  So I said, "I'm not your girlfriend?"  He said, "No... Ewwwie" :)  So I asked if he wanted to give her a Valentine and he assured me that he did, but NOT the toy story ones he was giving others.  "No, No," he said, "She needs a PINK one."  So we got her a pink one and he even painted in it with glitter.  Then I said, "What do you want me to write in it?"  And with the biggest grin he said shyly, "I LOOOOOVE you."  HAHAHA.  I laughed and said, ok.  So he gave Ellie her Valentine Friday night at community group at her house.  She opened it and said, "OH I love glitter." And hugged him.  :)  SOOOOO cute.   

Valentines morning I had a little surprise for each of them out on the table... 

She was still half asleep.

 I'm not sure if I've mentioned Ryder's complete obsession with George (Curious).  He talks about him all the time and relates everything to a story about George either from his books or the show.  So he got a stuffed George.  He said, "OHHHH.  I can take him in the bed with me, I can take him EVERYWHERE!"

 Valentines from Aunt Sarah

 Happy Paisley sitting in the middle of the valentine pile from Grammy & Grandpa.

 Later in the day there was more!  We got a box from Mimi & Poppy and they were so excited again!

I got a couple surprises too.  Daniel came home with roses, chocolate covered strawberries AND these...

AND we went on a date!  We went to the Roaring Fork which was delicious.  We sat on the patio with the sun setting on a long overdue beautiful Texas day.  Yes, I took pics of food... just for you all.   

My love (and hot date!)

Yummy appetizer - Lamb with fondue

I got a super delicious special- pan seared grouper with a mushroom risotto with black truffle goat cheese!   YUMMMMM.   And Daniel got the pork tenderloin with cheese grits.

Happy girl on Valentines.

We had a great date night!  I still LOVE Valentines day.  Why not take a day to celebrate the LOVELY people in your life?  Happy Valentines to all.

Grammy time!

You all know my affinity for award shows and of course next to Oscar fashion the Grammys are my favorite.  There's this perfect mix of crazy, spectacular and completely hopeless fashion.  So let's start off with the crazy...  I feel like not even mentioning it because that's why she does everything she does- so people will mention it.  Say what you will, but all press is good press and EVERYone was talking about Lady Gaga in the egg.  She's crazy.  That's all there is.  But I will give her this... she (or someone behind her) keeps thinking up more crazy.

Next on my crazy list is Cee Lo.  There really are no words.  All I will say is as a mother of a 2 yr old who is currently completely obsessed with Toy Story all I could think is this...

Now to the fashion disasters.  This chica from Paramore said she wore a friend's design.  I love my friends dearly, but there is not one of them that could persuade me to wear their design of this sort...

And then there was this... oh man.  I don't know what's worse, just the hair or the COMPLETELY leopard clad body

 This girl from NCIS was a presenter and apparently she took her job at the Grammys very literally....  not ok.

 I said it on facebook and I'll say it again.  Ricky Martin: Party Foul.  Metallic Jeggings, Oh No he Didn't.

 Now for my faves.  How she got put in the "Diva Tribute" in the opening number I have NO idea, but this dress that Florence wore was a brave and so fitting for her.  It was Givenchy and Grammy gorgeous!  

 

My other favorite BOLD choice of the night was New Artist winner, Esperanza Spalding.  She is an actually talented musician and wore an actually gorgeous gown!  No clue who it's by and I'm sure many would argue my opinion {yes it's an out there color choice} but it was beautifully crafted and perfect for her win.

Another of my bests of the night was the always classic {and equally talented} Norah Jones.  I couldn't find a better picture and don't know who made this LBD, but it was adorable.  Love it.

 And lastly, my favorite...

I care nothing about her, but this dress was amazing.  Julianne Hough wore this fabulous Catherine Malandrino (always leave it to the Parisians) and as soon as I saw her on the red carpet I knew it was my favorite by far. {Yes, I love a good printed dress!}

So there you have it folks.  Can't wait for the Oscar fashion! 

"What A Great Day!"

So we woke up this morning to snow...  not much, but snow- in Austin!  About an inch maybe, but that's all it took to excite a 1 & 2 year old.  The title of this post is due to the line that Ryder kept repeating while we were outside playing in the {miniscule amount of} snow, "Ohhh. What a Great Day!" 

Paisley was not so sure at first.  Or maybe that's just because she couldn't move!  

Happy boy!

 Little Snow Princess...

 Nice outfit, Babe!  hahaha!!!

 Yelling, "SNOW!!!"

What a great day...