Stilettos With My Latte Staging

With so many things going on in today's society, it is easy to get caught up in all the emotions surrounding you. Luckily for me, I have this kid around always ready to give me an extra hug & kiss. His presence reminds me to be still and to always exhibit a spirit of gratitude.

He also allows me to unleash my inner child and embrace the more simple pleasures of life like swinging on swings, ice-cream cones with jimmies, or infectious giggles.

After a hard day at school (he had an accident and will end up losing a front tooth), I gave him an ice-cream cone for dinner. Ice-cream always makes everything better.

And he is constantly learning - he has just mastered tying his shoes. My boy is really growing up and he beams with pride as he accomplishes each milestones.



AND the best lessons of them all: love with no reservation...exhibit a kind & gentle spirit...and when all else fails, SMILE.

I think I will keep him around forever.

Oh Margaritaville - you have a place in my heart. As I drank, my mom was sending pictures to my father who wanted to know how many ounces were in each glass. I told him 16 - I knew I would be questioned about that further later - lol!

After consuming all my margaritas and most of my burger, it was time to rush back down the boardwalk to catch our Cirque du Soleil Show, Ovo.

Let me rewind a bit - I HATE seagulls. My biggest fear is being shit on by one of them. When they dive in low, I get all squeamish and want to run, but I just walk faster. SO as I am hustling back down the boardwalk, I feel this warm sensation hit my arm. I look down and I exclaim LOUDLY, OH F&*K! Everybody turns around and looks at the shit on my arm and down my black dress. My mom grabs my phone and bag. This lady who is walking by throws her bottle of water on me (so now I have spit and shit on me) and starts wiping my arm, as I wipe my dress. She then asks for a selfie with me and she wants a kiss...because after all, IT'S HER BIRTHDAY AND SHE WILL NEVER FORGET THIS DAY! I oblige and thank her for her help - and silently I am still cursing, but at least it did NOT get in my hair, right?! And apparently, being shit on is good luck - so they tell me to go play at one of the casinos.

Anyways, there was no time for my dramatics because the show started in 20 minutes...and we slid in our seats just in time. Ovo blew my mind! I was captivated the entire time.

This was my face the day after when I sat down at my desk - no amount of coffee sustained me properly, BUT Rae & I went to the new Wawa for lunch and I discovered their milkshakes. And THAT was exactly what I needed to make it to 5pm.

What are some of your favorite childhood summer memories?

This year we decided to host the 4th of July a tad bit differently. My aunt is home visiting from Australia and my mom wanted to have Thanksgiving in July at our home on Friday night. We cannot remember the last time we shared a Thanksgiving dinner with her, and it was a pleasure to host so many of our family members.

Thankfully, I only had to clean the house, bake, and make punch. AND my mom even did most of the baking - all I had to do was make apple crisp - there were chants for this as soon as I pulled out the knife and cutting board. I have no idea how Price knew what I was up to - but he requested his own. Of course in the middle of cutting up all the apples for THREE crisps, the apple corer/slicer broke. My dad stepped right in and began to slice up and core the apples. I love a good sous chef.

But what was on the menu you ask?! Well, let's see...my mom prepared a fried turkey, ham, mac & cheese, candied yams, sweet potato pudding, stuffing, greens, AND string beans. For dessert we had sweet potato pie, blueberry cobbler, apple crisp, coconut layered cake, and a pound cake. It all was delicious! My mom cooked for three days preparing and has yet to pass out from exhaustion. She is remarkable!

Everybody loves fried turkey, right?!

Ironically, this is the only picture I took - I was too busy running around hosting, cleaning up, and making sure everybody was comfortable and didn't need anything. 

It is ironic how my father and Price always manage to have celebrations in the same week. We started the week with Father's Day, followed by Pricey's Pre-K graduation, and ended with my dad's birthday. I swear they plan this just to keep my mother & I on our toes. This has been a busy week to say the least.

Not sure how this baby -

On this day, we celebrate my father's birthday...yup 3 days after Father's Day. A man who is dedicated to his family, job, and community. He works HARD and rarely complains. No matter how tired he is or if he has a headache or if it is in the wee hours of night, he will always lend a helping hand. The manner in which he approaches life is commendable and should be applauded. He does not have a petty bone in his body.

A few weeks ago, he stepped out of his comfort zone and embraced something new.

Let's rewind...have you heard of the running man challenge?! Well, the Detroit Police Department called out the Philadelphia PD. Now what do you think was the first thing I did?! I ran into his room to show him this challenge and asked him what was he going to do about this...his fingers started moving on the phone and we began to strategize stunts. I could NOT contain my excitement. THIS WAS HAPPENING. I would come home every day and ask him when were they coming to record SWAT, bomb squad, K9, Homeland Security, and the marine unit - he probably grew tired of me asking. But this did NOT stop me. I've been known for my persistence.

Then I received the text...they were coming the next day. I wanted to call out of work to go observe them filming, yet I did not. But there were other ways I could prepare...we watched ALL the videos (I swear the song makes me feel like I am back in high school), we were obsessed with all the stunts the other departments incorporated because we (yes I am a part of his team in my head) did not want to copy anything. And of course we practiced the running man to get my dad ready the night before.YOU READ THAT CORRECTLY - my dad was going to dance guys!

So they filmed and the waiting game began again. They had to edit and piece together their video. Oh yeah - did I mention I had to keep all of this a secret?! And finally it was released. AHHHHHHH - please cop your enthusiasm as the Philadelphia Police Department takes on the running man challenge.

You know what happens when you spend the week in Costa Rica and you don't prepare enough content to post while you are gone...you text your friends who love to write and ask them to guest blog. Maya expressed interest in getting back into writing, so I text her as I was packing. Her blog was sitting in my inbox shortly thereafter. Thanks My! Now let's see what she means what  happens when she encounters a Catch 22. 

Exhausted…not even the word - mama is tired! Why did I want to grow up and be an adult?! Why didn’t I listen to my mama when I was a teen…and just slow down and enjoy being a kid?! ADULTING SUCKS!!!

I have been “ADULTING” since 19……this is what happens when you have kids. My mind is always racing…do this…did you remember this…damn  Iforgot to remind him to do that…grrrrrrrrrr…aaggggh

Funny thing is if my life wasn’t full of sports, dance recitals, dojo practices, kids' parties, play dates and everything that comes with kids…I would not know how to live. After all, my kids are my world.


Let's rewind…I have been a mother since I was 19. So essentially,  I have been putting someone else’s needs before mine for almost15 years. AND I look good for almost 34 too baby. There is no more me. There is always a we. What will WE eat? What will WE do for the holidays? Or WE need to go to the store.

There is no more sleeping the day away unless a child is sick. Then you have that inner guilt thanking the Lord for a peaceful and quiet day, but Lord please heal my baby.

Then you get confronted by the siblings because there is no happy medium. You get the I am bored
cries or the I am exhausted cries...when all mommy wants to do is  cry! Is mommy allowed to cry too?!

Yesterday, leaving my oldest son’s baseball game, I was talking with parents and getting the kids together. Blah blah blah - you know how it goes when the kids are involved in sports. I didn’t even realize that my 4-year- old, kept walking...without me. Finally, when standing still, I realized it was
too quiet - we all know when a 4 year old is quiet, this is not good. Panic set in and I am looking
around for my baby - not a baby baby,  but he is 4 and my baby. My mom panic mode set in resulting in 2 other moms going into panic mode. Finally, I look across the street and my baby is standing across the street waiting on me patiently by the car, like I did something wrong. I wanted to cry! I am so tired and not alert, I didn’t realize that he kept walking...across THE STREET. Now after the anger subsided because he knows NOT to cross streets without an adult and holding their hand, I was kind of proud he in fact crossed the street safely. He was very proud of his independence - he waited for the cars to pass and he crossed the street safely.


Outside of his accomplishment, I felt guilty and ashamed because I totally dropped the ball. AND I felt like everyone at the field was looking at me and judging. I wish I had a turtle neck on, I so would have played like a turtle. What if he would have got hit? Or worse someone would have taken him?

My lack of alertness could have caused me to lose one of my precious joys. Me being Supermom, could have hurt one of my babies. Most moms love the title super mom...they thrive on it. They want to be the mom that is able to make a dress out of two pieces of yarn and a shoestring. Can I just be the mom that doesn’t lose her kid at the ball field? The mom who remembered to put the soy butter in her peanut allergy son’s lunch and not give him regular peanut butter and jelly? The mother that was just able to remember to put deodorant on?

I know a lot of moms feel the same way. You feel inadequate and discouraged if you aren’t able to
make a 4 course meal from scratch on a week day. Or you have 5 loads of laundry to do and you
have been washing the same load of clothes for 4 days because you forget every day to put that
load in the dryer. You totally feel like Jan next door is always judging you because you have the same clothes you had one Monday and Tuesday. Well Jan can kick rocks with flips flops.

Moms please remember to take care of you! Even if it’s for that extra hour of sleep or just 10 mins to catch up on some reading. We are the backbones of our families. We let men think they run shit…but we all know who runs the world! Don’t be like me…so exhausted that you lose your kid at the baseball field. Be a better me! I plan to be a better me…but first let me take this nap!

Holls, thank you for letting me guest write while you are soaking up the sun in paradise. It was truly a fair trade!

she's my favorite girl.

Words cannot begin to express the love I have for this woman. The morals and values she continuously instills in our family are priceless.

You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God. 1 Peter 3:4

This still remains true. Whenever I cannot find something, I am quick to yell MOMMMMMMM - it's funny how the roles have changed and I am the one who always knows where Price's belongings are in our home.

This PR Maverick is on the move - Drea put together the cutest campaign for her company's new mobile app, Curate.

She headed to Center City last week to see how people share their love - check out the video of her pr stunt below:

I had no idea kids still made friendship bracelets and keychains with gimp. Imagine my surprise when Khloey pulled these things out of her purse.

There is something about disconnecting from technology and playing board games. Guess Who was up first, followed by Chutes & Ladders.

This is the look she gave me as I was snapping pictures and it was my turn. O_o

After 5 hours of non stop fun (which included Gabi losing a tooth - I swear kids always lose teeth around me), the girls were returned home with bags full of candy, bunny bait, colored eggs along with lots of memories. As for Price, he was tucked in the bed by the time my mom and I returned home from dropping off Mochs & Gabi. Finally, I could collapse in my bed after 17 hours. AND since I did everything Friday night, this meant a "kid free" weekend for me with no definite plans!