I was just talking about free mags the other day and looky loo...here's another one!  Click the above image to request a subscription to Rachael Ray.  Use code: JR44YNSE at check-out.  Yay for FREE!

*I thought this posted as scheduled, more than a week ago.  So so sorry to Melissa that it took me this long to realize it never went up!


I've not signed up for a swap in a long time.  I've just had some mixed experiences and stopped for a while.  Reading the posts is almost as much fun anyway- I love to see what others put together.  When Hopsy posted that she was hosting a pink swap though, it just sounded like a fun time to jump back into the mix of things.

It actually took me a while to figure out what to make/buy for sweet Melissa.  I can't even believe this but I was somehow, mysteriously, not a regular reader of her blog.  That sort of embarrasses me because she is adorable and completely awesome.  How could I have over-looked such a fantastic blogger?!  Have no fear, I have seen the pink and green light and am now a very regular blog and Twitter reader!  My point is that it took me a while to figure out what might be a nice gift box to send.  Melissa on the other hand, was on top of things!  She got her goodies in the mail to me completely on time.

However...

They never came.  I really didn't think much of it at first.  I was a few days late mailing her package so I was not at all sweating hers.  I knew it was coming. 

But finally a few weeks after she sent it via FedEx, I asked if she had the tracking number.  Again, I was not worried that she didn't send it.  But at this point I was worried it was lost in a truck somewhere.  She jumped on top of that and found out that, according to FedEx, it had already been delivered.  It had been left at the door. 

Um, so not true.  I live in a city.  And I work from home so I am getting boxes all the time.  No one ever ever ever just leaves a package at the door.  Never!  Even my Sunday newspapers get swiped if I don't run down to bring them in right away. 

So Melissa posted a claim with FedEx and the next day a delivery man showed up asking me about it.  I explained the story and he kept saying he had no memory of this as it was weeks earlier.  Which seems true.  Why would he remember one package in the thousands he must deliver in a given week?  But then as I said a few more times that the package never came, he "suddenly remembered" that he did in fact leave it at the door weeks earlier.  Uh huh. 

I honestly think this is a fairly innocent mistake on FedEx's end that has now spiralled into a big ole mess.  But the fact is that Melissa took the time to package up a box and send it express and it is now lost in space.

I have felt HORRIBLE about all of this.  I know it's not actually my fault but I still feel so to blame for this mess.  But then came Feb/March.  My personal spiral out of control months.  When I was a mad woman between all of the things I was doing.  So when Melissa sent me a Twitter note saying she was re-sending this package, I thought that I would email her later that night to explain how unnecessary that was.  I knew none of this was her fault.  I wasn't at all mad.  She did nothing wrong!  But I forgot.  I forgot to send that email.  And then sort of forgot about it altogether.

In my defense, my life had a little fall apart moment.  I forgot about a lot of things (birthdays of good friends included) for a while.  I am spending a great deal of time making the rounds in apology-ville these days.  I was just not a great friend the last few weeks/months.  I owe nearly every one of my friends a phone call.  Or three.  Indy girls...this weekend....I promise!

So when I was on vaca in Florida, Melissa sent me a note that the new package (she went and bought all new treats and re-sent it via USPS this time) was due to arrive.  So that is when I had my dad go to the post office and proclaim pink as my favorite color to secure the package for me.

So Melissa, you did not have to do this!  You went over the top and I was so shocked when I saw all of the amazingly fun treats inside.  Thank you thank you thank you, Melissa!!  If you do not already read her blog, you must!  She is so super fabulous!!

Want to see what arrived?  It's so fun...

Isn't everything so cute!  Lots of pink and chocolate brown.  And chocolate!!

I adore this wrapping paper!  Reminds me of the Lilly print last summer.  And I want to learn how to do cool printables like this one.  Don't you just love it?  I have it up at my sewing desk.  A good reminder when I get frustrated over little things.

Two sets of cute napkins- so excited because I use fun napkins a LOT.  And an adorable blue flower pin/hair clip.  Did you make this M?  So cute!  And so me!

OK I am not sure you realize this M but I actually have a big BIG love of Whoopie Pies!  And documented my first (and FAILED) attempt to make them a few years ago on here.  So this is quite possibly the most perfect prezzie for me!

Love this book in part because it includes giant, glossy photos.  I need a picture to tell me what things are supposed to look like.

Two sets of Caspari tissues (never leave home without a pack in my purse), cute pink popcorn boxes, the most beautiful little pink bowl and my favorite part of the gift box, a necklace from Forever 21.  I have been in that store more than a dozen times.  And never ever found a single thing.  But blog friends find the cutest pieces in there.  Including this cupcake necklace that I have been wearing non-stop since opening the box.  Love it!

I don't normally post on a Sunday night.  But I know a few of y'all might want to pop over to take advantage of this.  Ruelala has a few awesome Elizabeth McKay pieces on super duper crazy sale prices tonight in the Sunday Night Style section. 




I have been DROOLING over this cape of hers since Hopsy highlighted it a while back on her blog.  Guess what?  The normally $300+ piece was just purchased by yours truly for $79!  I couldn't help myself- I just know I am going to love love love it in person!  I actually had a bunch of points saved up so I technically got it and shipping for free.  Thank you Ruelala!

Now back to my newest obsession...Pintrest.  I can't believe I waited this long to join but I am now a crazy pinner just like the rest of the world.  I'm also pinning stuff from my own blog so I can find it easier.  That's allowed right? 

The last four to six weeks have been a big ball of stress.  A lot has happened.  Fundraisers, a few trips, work, volunteering, personal stuff, private stuff, my birthday, yucky stuff, completely awesome stuff, and then some.  It's been a doozy!

But it's not all been heavy and mopey at the Casa de Crocodile.  In fact, I think the following might ring true for a few of you, too!

Story #1: I am in FL visiting bestie Florida and my Godbabies J and E.  But gasp...I am not wearing pink one day.  I honestly thought nothing of it.  But J, my 2.5 year old Godson, comes up to me and asks "Why you not wearing pink today Auntie KK?!"  Do I really wear that much pink?  I guess I do if my baby boy J thinks to ask it unsolicited.  At least I made an impression!

Story #2: While in FL on the above mentioned trip (nine glorious days of Godbabies and sisters and sunshine oh my!), Melissa emails to tell me my swap package (full story and photos coming soon...like tomorrow...I promise!) is arriving at my house.  This has been such a hassle for her sweet swappy buddy self and I did NOT want round two to end up like round one.  I have been feeling so terrible about this swap and was worried it would get returned to her before I got back in town.  So I sent Daddy-o on a mission to collect my package at the Post Office.  But I wasn't there obviously to sign the slip allowing him to pick up my package.  I told him to just make it work because that package needed to be safe and sound inside my house come hell or high water.  So he goes and explains to the woman working that he is my father and I am out of town but asked him to get the package please.  She pauses, looks at the name, looks up at Dad and asks him one question.  "What's her favorite color?"  Not.  Even.  Kidding.  I am still laughing so hard thinking about it.  Of course dad answered pink!  You should note that I go to the PO a LOT.  Like a lot a lot.  Again, I had no idea I ever made such an impression on my lovely local postal workers.  But I guess it totally worked in my favor because the package was sitting on the kitchen counter, safely waiting for me when I arrived home last night. 


Tomorrow...a swappy tale and photos too!

Today is the first day of spring and I plan to take every opportunity to spring-ify my life this year.  Starting with a new ribbon ruffle bag.  I love the colors and the Adirondack chairs and the size.  Not to toot my own horn but....toot toot. 

Momma made herself a new summer bag!  Love!!  Happy spring, sweet friends!

One summer when we were little, Florida and her family met me and my dad at Ridin-Hy Ranch during summer vacation.  It was the best joint family vacation too!

We rode horses and swam in the lake and played tennis and ate in the dining room and danced with our dads at night while Florida's mom stayed in the room with her little sisters.  Now that I think about it, this was like a less glamorous and super G rated version of Dirty Dancing.  Anyway. 




Be prepared to be impressed when I tell you that Florida and I won the paddle boat race!  First place.  We got matching tie-died t-shirts as our big prize.  The only tie-died thing I have ever owned.  I bet you didn't know such a boating rock star was in your blogging presence, did you?!  I try to keep these major life successes humble and on the DL, as to not make any less successful paddle boaters feel inferior. 

So one night, they had this cheesy magician.  I should tell you that I am not a particularly big fan of magicians.  I find they fall into one of two categories: super creepy (ala Chris Angel) or sleazy failed comedians.  But I was young and there with my best friend Florida and our dads.  We had a ball.  This magician did several tricks that within a day, we had figured out how to replicate.  We thought we were soooo clever!

So later that summer, back at home, Florida and I decided to put on one of our famous shows.  But we kicked it up a notch and did an entire magic routine.  Being the crafty caterpillar that I am, I made this completely awesome magician's hat out of black construction paper.  Including a false bottom.  Oh the revelation of my talents in this post is never ending!  In the bottom of this paper hat, we hid a pair of white baby doll underwear.  I don't know why we didn't use a normal size pair of undies but for whatever reason that is what we stuck in there. 




So we invited some of the neighbors over for our magic show, including this little boy, Andrew.  He was probably five at the time.  He's probably married now.  But I digress.  So we do our show and it is actually really great given our age and lack of magic knowledge.  Every bit of it was homemade.  No kits or lessons.  So for our final bit, we do the abracadabra and pull out the undies from the false bottom.  We used Andrew as our person- so the guise was that the undies were his.  Purely based on his size vs the size of the hidden undies.

We expected oohs and aahs and laughs.

Instead, Andrew cried and wailed with embarrassment that they were NOT his underwear. 

This was more than 20 years ago and I still feel the exact same mix of guilt for making a little boy cry and laughter at accidentally making a little boy cry over baby doll underwear in a paper hat.

Also, purely because of the word underwear, every time I hear the Barenaked Ladies song Pinch Me, I think of this silly little childhood moment.

So some have noticed that I have added random polls over on the right side of my blog.  And wondered what I might be doing with all that information.

Um...nothing.  I don't even remember what I asked a few weeks ago to be honest.

I have just been thinking of random questions that peek my curiosities at the time.  I love seeing the results.  And move on to the next question.

I have no big agenda.  I've not written a single thing down.  No official reason to ask random questions.  Other than I am curious.  It entertains me.  And hopefully some of you, too.

So that's the skinny on the poll questions. 

Even though this has been one of my very worst weeks, life does go on.  And my big Junior League fundraiser starts tonight.  So I am putting aside my sad face and frustrations and about to enter a world of pink and ultra cute.  My sweet friends, it's finally time for the Junior League's American Girl Fashion Show!




So off I go to volunteer ...




Have a fabulous Friday, loves!

OK so there is yet another sale site popping up.  But this one, I think, caters to preppy clothing and lifestyles.  I say "I think" because the site has not yet gone live.  But if you sign up now to join Country Club Prep (requires nothing more than your email address) using this link before March 15, you can earn free shipping and returns for life. 

This little crocodile loves free shipping! 

So I signed up.  And can't wait to see what fun brands Country Club Prep offers in the coming months.

Did anyone see the Strange Addiction show on TLC last night?  I have seen commercials for weeks now about the woman with the nauseatingly long nails and just had to watch. 

Oh Em Gee!

So disgusting.  I'm sorry but I just do not have another word in my vocabulary.  Yuck yuck yuck.

And to hear her keep going on and on about how sexy her long toenails made her feel.  How without them she would lose 50% of her identity.  How her Godson has to act as her body guard so no one steps on toenails.  (Let's discuss how a grown man- her Godson- rubs lotion on her feet and is her toenail bodyguard.  Disturbing on another level.)

My favorite part was when she cut the front of a pair of sneakers off to accommodate her giant toenails hanging out.  Because that's normal.

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But what got me is that her fingernails were not just inches long.  But several feet long.  All long and curly and cumbersome.  And the show pretty much never mentioned these 10 giant fingernails.  Her fingernails are longer than my longest strand of hair!  No mention of that.  The entire show focused on her two giant toenails.

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Whatever.  It was all horribly disturbing.  A total train wreck that I couldn't turn off. 

Of course I can't function with finger nails longer than my finger itself and don't like them to be painted.  So I am probably not this woman's target audience. 

Please tell me I am not the only one who admits seeing this ridiculous show!

Y'all are truly so wonderful!  I cannot express how grateful how much it means that days later, I am still getting comments and emails and tweets.  Honestly, I have no words.  That has really lifted my soul!

I wish I could explain what happened.  But I cannot.  For a variety of privacy reasons. 

I know that doesn't feel fair.  To put it out there and not complete the story.  But it's just how it has to be this time.  I share a lot on here.  But beyond my emotions, I am just not able to share more this time.

I also wish I could tell you that things have improved.  They have not.  I got choked up some this past weekend but it wasn't until Monday that I had an actual sobbing break-down.  I needed it. 

But in the end, things will find their way back to being better.  Wrongs will be made right.  Frowns will become smiles.  Eventually.

This is my week from H E double hockey sticks.  And that was before my world came crashing down around me.  Before! 

I know without a shadow of a doubt that I will NOT accomplish all I need to get done by Friday.  There is no possible way for it to happen.  And I might be doing laundry as I am walking out the door on Sunday.  Heck I might just bring dirty laundry with me to do on vaca at the rate I am going.

But by Sunday night, I will be surrounded by the people I love the most. 

My problems won't go away.  They will likely follow me via text and email on my vacation.  I'm OK with that.  I think I can deal with things better while wearing flip flops anyway. 

So here's to my realization that I can't do it all while managing an unexplainable personal crisis and not being able to sleep.  For me, that's sort of a big realization.  Growth?  Age?  Who knows.  But it won't all get done and perhaps it's my lack of sleep but I honestly am very much at peace with it.  For the next few days I am going to work my fanny off and leave the rest up to God.  He's better at managing these sorts of things anyway.

Um, so Ruelala is two parts fabulous and one part ridiculous.  Because they have lots of Lilly Pulitzer, Vineyard Vines and other favorite brands on sale.  But they hid them in unmarked places.  Why, Rue?  Why hate on a preppy shopaholic like that?  Where's the love?




So if you are hoping to add a little Lilly love to your wardrobe this season, there are some incredible deals on sale today on Ruelala.  In the Spring Spree sale.  Unfortunately none are in my size.  But if they are in yours, some are as low as $9.99.  Good luck!

I can't talk about it.  For many reasons.  But I need to vent that today broke my heart.  A big bag of bad things were opened and I just don't know if things can truly be mended.

Name an emotion and I promise I feel it.  But more than anything, I feel so incredibly sad. 

I wish I was in Florida right now.

Truth : I have been making poor food choices.  And as a result I feel gross.  Which is adding to my exhaustion and feeling extremely overwhelmed. 

Truth : My vow to stop procrastinating as a New Year's Resolution is not completely working.  Change is hard.

Truth : I leave for a vaca in nine days and I am completely unprepared.  At the moment, I don't even know what gift I plan to make for the big event.  How I am going to fit that in is just beyond me.

Truth : Sometimes when I am feeling overwhelmed, I behave like a deer in headlights.  I just sort of freeze and can't figure out how to accomplish anything.

Truth : Other times I am like a rock star who just ticks everything off the list.  Unfortunately this phase always comes after an extended deer in headlights phase.

Truth : I received a very surprising and bizarre email last night.  A request for a favor that sort of puts me in an odd position.  It's not that the person is undeserving of favors.  I just can't reconcile how I can be both honest and helpful to this person at the same time. 

Truth : Even with all the work and me not being particularly great at anything this week, I have had/have planned some very sweet friend dates woven into the fibers of my hectic schedule.  Sweet friends keep my cray cray in check during stressful periods.

Truth : Even if I don't bring any gift on vaca and have to wear my fat girl clothes, I will be loved and no one will care.  I will stress every minute until I get on that plane but once I get there, I will be nothing but relaxed smiles.  And I will get to wear flip flops!

Truth : No one will perish if I don't get it all done.  Sometimes I forget that. 

I just noticed that there are a BUNCH of cute Lilly Pulitzer dresses on sale, in addition to the cute Jack Rogers for sale, on Ruelala today.  The Lilly stuff is under "Breezy Dresses."  Can you tell I am already over the one and only snow storm this year?  Day dreaming of warm weather...

Hurry hurry hurry over to Ruelala.  Starting at 11AM today, Jack Rogers will be on sale.  And even though we just got a giant snow fall, I know spring is just around the corner.  Time to get the tootsies ready!