Mermaid Princess Party

A few weeks ago I went down to Texas to see my "surrogate family" as I generally refer to them.  It was H.R.H. Carolina Grace's 3rd birthday, and a mermaid princess party was in order.  

Mermaid tail, mermaid princess headpiece, lifesize mermaid cardboard cutout

Ta-da'ing for us but a little confused as to why she had to hold the pose for so long

The amazing cake

Castle tent with presents

After making a tiara and getting a mermaid tattoo

Taking a swing at the tiara pinata

And I didn't even get a pic of the Chick-fil-a nug tray!! This party was a blast and all the details made it amazingly cute.  

I didn't take nearly enough pictures, but I had a great time as always in Texas.  I am already planning how I can get back there! 

Graduation!

Last Saturday was a day that I didn't think would actually come: Mike graduated from law school!
It's debatable whether he or I was more excited.

Mike getting his Pro Bono Award! They don't tell people before graduation if they are going to get awards, so it was a big surprise.  It wasn't a surprise to anyone who knows Mike though, because he's put in over 500 hours in the past year to the Community Tax Law Project in Richmond, where he helps low-income taxpayers deal with the IRS (I think...it kind of confuses me...taxes...yuck)

Getting his "diploma"-the real one has yet to surface

I got to hold the "diploma" 

Mariani's

Renaldo's

Action shot of Milly helping with the wrapping paper

Chompin down.  Don't worry, we took it away before she ate the whole thing.

Yayyyy Mr. Mike graduated AND got me a new play toy.  Hopefully I can get it in my mouth and trot off with it.

Going at it.  Intentionally got the briefcase Mike's dad handed down to him in the background.

The diploma was literally a blank piece of paper. Not even a generic fake diploma on it or anything. Juuusttt blank. 

Unfortunately, the only pictures I took of the rest of the day's festivities were these of Milly.  I was mad at myself later so not thinking to keep taking pictures.  We all hung out at Mike's apartment until dinner at Hard Shell, where we were joined by Mike's "Richmond family" the Congdon's.  As always, a good time was had by all.  

Next up....the Bar.  About 70 days to go.  Not really studying for another week though.  

  

5 DAYS, PEOPLE!

until Mike GRADUATES!
Woohoo!

The spiffy graduation gown is steamed and ready to go:

Don't know if you can tell, but when you get a JD (or any doctorate, I think) you get VELVET on your gown. If that's not motivation I don't know what is...

a kind of ghetto look at what's left of "the chain".  You can't see the orange hanging down right outside the frame, or the black that goes over the door (that the gown is hanging on), but it gives you an idea.  

I think the official number is 86 days til the bar.  

Easter Batheez

On Easter morning, I gave Milly a bath.  Usually, as most dogs do, she runs around like crazy after she gets released from her bathroom prison.  She did that for a few minutes like usual, but then she laid down in her bed.  I took advantage of this by trying to dry her off some more with a towel.  I ended up wrapping her up in it, and she actually liked it and fell asleep like that.  Kind of bizarre, but cute as can be.  

Here are some sequential shots of Milly/Bug Eyes going from crazy wet dog to slleepppyy pup: 

What? No, please don't touch me with that towel anymore! I'd rather use the carpet and furniture instead!

Ok, I guess this could be ok. I'll give it a try...

Ok. Yep. This is pretttyy niiiicceee.  

Cozy. Cuddly. Sleep. 

Easter Sunday

We didn't get too many pictures of the Easter Parade this year, but we did go again.  It was unusually hot weather, and the pollen was out in full force, plus Milly spent the entire time trying to jump up on us.  I don't think she likes big crowds, despite the fact that she likes meeting people.  I'm guessing it's because the attention isn't all on her.   We were going to enter her in the Pet Easter Bonnet Contest, but someone's mom was a little too lazy to ever getting around to making her one.  Maybe next year...

Milly's New Best Friend

Meet Patrick! I wish he was mine, but no, he is my roommate Courtney's 9 week old Cockapoo! He is a precious lil guy and Milly loves playing with a pup who makes her feel like the bigger, badder pup. I foresee lots of PFC in the future.

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A Little Bit of Grace

This week, I ordered some makeup I needed from Sephora, and in order to get up to the free shipping amount, I ordered some Philosophy "Amazing Grace" shower gel.  (The two important shopping mantras my mom instilled in me: 1-Buy now, you can always return it later. 2-Always buy more actual product to avoid paying shipping (within reason) ) Also, I was running out of shower gel.  

The whole reason people buy Philosophy, in my opinion, is the packaging and the descriptions they put on them.  

When I read this description, I couldn't help but think of two of my favorite Grace's (Lauren and Caolina, both of whom I feel confident are a large percentage of my loyal reading base, and both on Apple products no doubt): 

"Amazing Grace Philosphy: Life is a classroom, we are both student and teacher, each day is a test, and each day we receive a passing or failing grade in one particular subject: grace.  Grace is compassion, gratitude, surrender, faith, forgiveness, good manners, reverence, and the list goes on.  it's something money can't buy and credentials rarely produce. being the smartest, the prettiest, the most talented, the richest, or even the poorest can't help.  Being a humble person can, and being a helpful person can guide you through your days with grace and gratitude."  

So here's a little shout out to all of the Grace's out there, and all of us remembering to keep grace in the forefront of our daily thoughts (as tough as that may be), especially as we approach Easter Weekend.