Legally Blonde's Proceedings

All I want, is to get this pretty chandelier that I purchased a month ago hung in my bathroom. That's all I want. Doesn't seem too complicated, does it? Well here's the story... I called an electrical company, All American Electrical, to be precise.  Don't mind giving them "a plug" for their fabulous work ( read sarcastically).  Originally, I was calling to find out how much it would cost to have electricity run to the ceiling and get this installed.  You see, I don't currently have a fixture in the ceiling where this needs to go.  I called them because they had been sent to me on another issue by my Home Warranty company.  Before they came out for that job, they called me and talked me through fixing the problem myself, which saved me money.  It was a simple fix and they knew it, so they helped me out rather than taking my money.  I operate my business like that too, so that's why I called them for this job.  Their price was good, so I sche...

A couple of things have caught my eye recently in the Fashion World, so I wanted to share them with you.  Did you know there is a Banana Republic Mad Men Collection  ?  I love most all of the collection, but here were some of my favorites... On another and cheaper note, Tarjay is coming out with another designer series by Missoni.  It will premier September 13th and is slated to stay in the stores until October 22nd, or until they sell out.  Prices will be from $2.99 to $599.99, but Target promises most pieces will be under $40.  Here are some of the pieces I love... I really like this sweater... LOVE both of these pairs of shoes! I bet these shoes sell like hotcakes, so I plan to be there pretty early on the 13th to try and nab a pair! I've honestly toyed with not posting this until after the opening on September 13th, but then I told myself not to be stupid or stingy.  I mean, its not like we would all be shopping at the same Target!...

So as you know, school started back last week.  While Irene was churning itself in the water to become a hurricane for the east coast, my calender was a hurricane all on its own, reeking havoc on my life here in Texas.  First week of school + busiest lawyering week of the year + law partner on maternity leave = not good. By Friday night, I was tired and in pain.  It seems standing on your feet almost all day every day and walking miles in heels, can cause some pain for your body.  On Friday night, my left ankle and foot hurt so bad that I thought I was going to have to get the crutches out the garage just to get around my house.  Thankfully, I feel better, but the heels are going to be a rarity this week. Anyway, in all that hub-bub, there was one thing about school that just cracked me up last week.  On Wednesday, a guy, who had seemed perfectly normal on Monday, busted out some knitting before class.  I just looked at him and thoug...

I've entitled this post Never Pay Full Price (NPFP) because, well, that's usually my motto.  I love nice things and I love getting them on a deal! Let me show you some of my recent finds... FIND # 1: I was going to a fancy grocery store a few weeks back and I missed my exit off the highway (I swear the exit sign was missing!).  Anyway, I was forced to exit on a different road, and while exiting, I thought to myself  You know Nordstrom Rack is just up the street...   Of course, I made the detour.  I hadn't been to Nordstrom Rack in ages, and had never purchased a thing there.  In fact, I don't really know if I would have even characterized myself as a "Nordstrom Shopper" the last time I was there.  I found Nordstrom Rack to be a completely different world when I was there.  I think it helps to be a "Nordstrom Shopper".  If you are familiar with the store, then you can zero in on brands (a lot of the store is organized by bran...

Today has just been a craptastic kind of day.  Honestly at this point, all that's getting me through is the thought that Kate Spade is delivering something to my door in the next day or two via UPS.  Hey- don't judge.  Sometimes you've just got to grab onto the little things to get by. Today is my marathon school day.  On the upside, once I make it past Tuesday, I'm on the downhill slide.  But today is Tuesday, so I had a 7 a.m. class and I have a 7 p.m. class.  Here's my craptastic day run-down: I was already having that, trouble going to sleep because you know your alarm is going to go off at 5:40 a.m. kind of night.  Then at 4:10, the dang electricity flashed off.  Long enough for everything in the house to beep and my answering machine to talk to me just to make sure I was awake, alert and scared half to death.  Class went fine.  It was my dual credit class (aka: all high school kids).  I've never seen so many confused k...

It's that time again.  The time when school starts back up.  I'm a complete crank about it this year.  I'm thinking that I'm not over the moon for a couple of reasons that are really not related to school at all:  (1) It's been 108' this weekend, and (2) I'm still doing the job of 2 people at our firm, so adding on an extra job, doesn't seem all that appealing right now.  So that means, that I'm feeling like Tommy on this first day of school... My teaching schedule is crazy this semester.  I'm teaching 3 classes again, but I'm at two different campuses and the times could be a challenge.  On the bright side, I'm only teaching 1 night class this semester, so this means that I won't have to spend my entire weekend consumed by cleaning out my DVR from the prior week.  But for the luxury of not teaching so many nights, I have to pay the piper, which means.... A return of the 7 a.m. classes!  The good part of that is that it's ...

Finally it's Friday!  Is everyone as excited as I am?  I'm weary because it's been so busy, but I'm also in a state of panic because next week is uber busy!  Oh well, first I have a couple of days off with no plans, so resting  up is the forecast! Last night I had plans for the 4th night in a row.  I normally have zero plans, but everything fell to this week.  Isn't it always that way?  Last night was more in line with Monday night in that I got to do something fun instead of attend meetings.  My friend Daryl was in town from San Francisco this week and it has been several years since I have seen him.  He has been enjoying all the "local" eating establishments that they don't have out in San Fran.  He mentioned Wataburger and some BBQ as some cravings that he's fulfilled, but last night he wanted Chuy's and I was happy to oblige! My standard Chuy's dish... Chica chic boom boom enchiladas These guys are super spicy, but ...

This has been such a busy week.  I cannot believe it is only Wednesday night!  I know everyone is probably feeling the same way with school just/or about to be starting.  The highlight of my week so far has been Monday night.  I participated in Dallas Restaurant Week and made a trip to III Forks.  I went with my friend Billy, and we were so busy talking and eating that I didn't take a single photo (failed blogger of the year nominee right here folks).  We had a tuna appetizer, III Forks Salad (for me) and Tomato Crab Bisque (for Billy), Filets, and for dessert, lemon cake & hot tea (for me) and strawberry shortcake & coffee (for Billy).  Here are some photos I borrowed from III Forks ... My meal looked very much like this... and a little something for y'all... Their III Forks Salad is so great.  It is similar to this one , that I've posted a recipe to in the past, but here is a recipe I found online that claims to be very close to ...

I made a trip to the Hobby Lobby last week.  I was looking for some sconces, which I didn't locate, but I did enjoy taking in all the Fall and Christmas stuff that they have out.  Now I know some people like to complain and say "They have CHRISTMAS out already!", but y'all, sometimes it is seeing this Christmas display in August that keeps me from jumping off the roof because I am so sick and stinking tired of the 110 degree days!  It gives me hope that cooler weather is around the corner. Look what Hobby Lobby has this year... Ceramic Collegiate Pumpkins! Of course they had to jack up the price on these guys, but at least they were 50% off.  I could not resist and am now the proud owner of a double T pumpkin.

Yesterday was a bear of a day for me. I mean when you are eating a peanut butter & jelly sandwich in your car on the way to the jail, you know you are having a day! Part of the rushing around was because I was going to the 3:40 showing of The Help. As I've mentioned to everyone I know, I LOVED the book The Help , which to be honest, meant that going to see the movie scared the daylights out of me.  I have never LOVED a book and also LOVED the movie.  It just doesn't really happen.  Well, maybe To Kill A Mockingbird & Gone With The Wind , but that's about it.  But Nate Berkus, who is one of the Executive Producers of The Help , had promised several months ago (via twitter) that this movie wouldn't disappoint the book lovers. So I went to the movie, and y'all, I wasn't disappointed.  I loved it as much as I loved the book.  They did change a few small things, but it didn't really alter the substance.  The cast was phenomenal.  Jus...

I honestly cannot stand to watch the coverage from the Horn of Africa. The famine and starvation there is just unimaginable. I've been watching for a while. ABC was the first major news channel covering the crisis. Now everyone has caught up. Anderson Cooper is there right now, along with Sanjay Gupta. Their coverage will shake you to your core. The alert that Anderson sent out last night was that based on the current influx of donations and supplies, the World Food Program only has enough for the next month. $1 can feed 4 children. Who of us couldn't spare a dollar, or ten, or even more. I would suggest going to the USAWFP.org sight rather than the international site. If you try to donate at the regular WFP.org site, the that would cause a charge from the UK to show up on your card and then you might be hearing from your bank's fraud department. That's what happened to me last night That's the word on the street! You can also donate by texting  "AID...

I found this clip and was fascinated by it. Dogs in Court. I think that is a fabulous idea. Though it's only being used to aid victims having difficulty testifying, I'd like go on the record and say I'd like to have a dog in court also. I've dislike many of my clients enough that I've needed a calming presence in the courtroom as well. I yelled at Lola before I watched the whole thing and said, "Hey Lola, it's time for you to get a job! We can even carpool to the courthouse." Then I saw the part that the dogs need to be quiet. Lola's out. She's the most talkative dog you'll ever run across. Visit msnbc.com for breaking news , world news , and news about the economy

Crazy, Stupid... Weather. That's what I feel like writing about. That's all I've felt like writing complaining about for 37 dang days in a row that it has been over a hundred. It's Hot, hot, hot. It's miserable. We're melting. It hasn't rained in over a month of Sundays. But I'll spare you anymore of that. This weekend I went to do one of the few things that you can do right now in Texas. I saw a movie. I saw Crazy Stupid Love. I saw a preview several months ago and thought that it looked like a good movie. If you haven't see it, here's the trailer... I thought it was pretty good and it's got a great ensemble cast. I'd recommend it if you are like me, and need something to do to get out of the heat, and that and ice skating at the mall are the only two cool alternatives you can think of. Also a good choice if you live somewhere with a more pleasant climate and you just go see a movie to see a movie.

I know that I've mentioned my near fragrance phobia, but today I'm going to talk about a few that I've stopped and smelled recently that I kind of like... I've wanted to like this for a long time, for obvious reasons, but just couldn't... But now, Mr. Jacobs has come out with this, and I think I might actually like it... I'm pretty sure Marc Jacobs has bugged my house, because "Oh, Lola!" is uttered a whole heck of a lot around here! I also took a whiff of this last time I was at Neimans... It's hard to see, but it is Nectarine Blossom & Honey Cologne by Jo Malone. I kind of like to mix it up and change out fragrances, but I've been stuck in a rut for a while wearing my Sarah Jessica Parker's Lovely.  Though I'd like to point out not as big a rut as my mom, whose been wearing Calvin Klein's Eternity since 1958.  Ok, well, not 1958, but at least since 1990.  How about you guys?  Do you have a fav that you stick with year ...

I'm not at all a fan of summer on a normal year.  Then a summer rolls around like this one, where today is the 31st consecutive day of triple digit heat and every day in the 10 day forecast shows to continue this trend, and then, well, I hate summer's guts. Summer has a few redeeming qualities for me: I like that I normally have a little break from teaching; I like that snowcones are everywhere; and I like the fresh summer produce Last weekend, when I met my parents to do the post-vacation Lola exchange, I received some of summer's redeeming qualities... pickled stuff. My parents pickled all sorts of stuff, except the normal thing you'd pickle, cucumbers.  We're weird like that.  We have carrots (man these guys are SPICY, but oh so good) Okra, oh how I love thee... And the weirdest of all, green beans (also yu-mmy)  Oh how I long for Fall!  Or temps at 95'!