I can say this with pride:  I have fierce friends.

They’ve got it all; beauty, smarts, attitude, a funny bone, a keen fashion sense, awesome mothering skills, and a determination that makes me proud to call them my sisters.

Oh and they like purses*.  Ahhh, purses.  Who doesn’t like purses?

When I went to Type-A Mom Conference in September, I was lucky to be a part of a group of speakers who were invited to Dress Barn.  We were decked out, head-to-toe, with clothing, jewelery, shoes, and purses.

Anissa chose a sexy dress that *ehem* accentuated her stellar rack.   She worked that dress; it was seemingly made for her.

The next morning when we put on a little fashion show, for our fellow conference goers, Anissa was called up first.  She worked that stage.  She owned it.  She had this look on her face of strength, beauty, and wisdom.   She’s a total package, that one!

Anissa’s fierce.  Believe that.

(Check Anissa’s Hope4Peyton Blog for updates from her husband, Peter. And keep praying and sending out those awesome positive vibes for our friend.)

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*Dress Barn sent me this great clutch to give away to one of my readers.  I got one, too.  A brownish one.  Oh, Michael’s gotta be thrilled that my “timeless” purse collection is growing.

Just tell me why you love your girlfriends, your sisters.

I’ll randomly pic a winner and announce it Monday, November 23rd.

I can say proudly that I have good hair.   No, I have great hair.  I do.  It’s thick, it’s lustrous, it’s got texture, and above all I know how to style it.   This is positively the effect of having a hairdresser for a mother.   I grew up with all kinds of styles, products, and tools of the trade.   Not only did I have these things at my disposal, I had a whole arsenal of hairdressers from whom I learned, at the hair salon that my mother managed.

My hair evolution:

• In the 70’s I donned cutesy home made ribbon barrettes, french braids, side ponies, and the like.  My hair was my mom’s playground.
• In the 80’s I  convinced my mom to give me a wormy-perm.  I also convinced her to straighten it, not even two days later.  I then mastered the teased out bitch flip.  Two words: Aqua Net

• In the 90’s I embraced my curl and natural flow.  I call this phase the “Eric” phase for the running-of-fingers-through-the-hair-to-achieve-that-oh-so-perfect-yet-not-perfect-look!
• In the early 00’s I didn’t care enough because, quite honestly, I was too busy diapering, feeding, bathing, and taking care of everyone buy myself.
• In the mid 00’s I conquered a pixie style.  I had lost a crap-load of weight and craved something new. Pixie it was, and…
• In the late 00’s I did the asymmetrical Posh Spice thing and then went back to short hair.  I went short in hopes that it would make me realize just how fat my face was.  Like reverse psychology?  Yeah, that worked!  Mmmm Hmmmm.

It’s growing out nicely now and I am forced to remember the techniques I learned, way back when.   Upside down blow jobs (ha!) are KEY.  After all, I can’t have after-sex-hair every day of the week.    And we all know that “after-sex-hair” always looks the best!   I guess you can say that a hair dryer is like a vibrator, in this situation.   A girl’s gotta do, what a girl’s gotta do.

S E L F P O R T R A I T C H A L L E N G E

I have this Polish Diva Photographer Blogger Friend (OhMommy! of Classy Chaos). She presented this post about what we carry with us in our [bags, purses, satchels, messenger bags, what-have-you] and what it all shows about us.

Just recently, I switched from my big, huge Jeep diaper bag, back to my cute and springy diaper bag. I hate it. It’s “cute” and “springy”, but it’s not “me”. I have a million bags that are me. However none of them are big enough for all my baby stuff, personal stuff, and now camera stuff. So, much to my husband’s dismay, I am in the market for a new bag. I prefer a messenger style bag and can’t wait to have the perfect one on me!

Here’s my bag. I got it at Target:

Inside, the lining, is a pink paisley design.
I do dig that aspect. Nothing’s cooler than pink paisley, yo!
There’s even a matching changing pad.

The contents:

It would appear that I need to add some diapers!
Oh and there’s that change that I was looking for at Starbucks. Dammit!

Here are the contents of that see-through utility bag.
Otherwise that little bag is known as the-bag-that-keeps-
me-sane-because-then-all-the-crap-is-not-free-floating!

Oh, and I almost forgot! What’s crucial to having a happy toddler?

Snacks, of course:

There you have it! My bag. I wish it was that organized all the time. Fortunately this “meme” came at a time of freshness. I would have never shown you what was in that big, huge Jeep diaper bag. Never!