Container Store Cuteness

I had a few minutes before preschool pickup today so I ran into the Container Store for a quick look around. Several adorable items caught my eye...
This cute pink and green striped acrylic tray for only $9.99


How cute is this pink & green acrylic basket? It was $14.99.

I also spotted these market totes. I found the exact same ones in Marshall's & TJ Maxx for $9.99 compared to the $34.99 at the Container Store. I love to give these as gifts filled with fun surprises from my gift closet. I've found some in red, lime green & blue. I came across some other totes like these at Hobby Lobby, but instead of the aluminum frame they were white plastic. With a 40% coupon, you could get them there for around $6. Not too bad.

The Simple Pleasures

Today, I am grateful for some of those little things that can really make a big difference...

• Today was Bonus Baby's Valentine's Pizza Party at preschool so I didn't have to make her lunch. That extra 7 minutes this morning was so nice.


• My full tank of gas that Mr. Madras so kindly filled up last night.


• A dear friend who offered to do carpool pick up today
  
• SUNSHINE!! We've had a couple of dreary days so the sun is such a treat.

I'm about to try and be a bit domestic in the kitchen & make these yummy sounding "chocolate pretzel buttons". I found the complete recipe and instructions at Enamor via one of my favorite crafty blogs, Craftzine. My 13-year-old thought these looked like a great Valentine's Day gift for her buddies. We'll see....

It's all in the bag...

When Tickled Pink & Green posted about her daughter's adorable preppy tennis racquet cover, it got me thinking that it was about time for me to be getting a new tennis tote. Why it had been at least a few months since my last racquet cover purchase, so I was due for a new one, right??? See, I've got a little addiction issue when it comes to cute tennis stuff. By the looks of my tennis bag and racquet cover collection, you'd think I was really good when the fact is I am still (and will probably always be) a struggling novice. I figure that what skills I may lack on the court I can make up for with my fun tennis accessories. Here are a few items from my collection...

I love my Vera Bradley bag. It's on sale right now ($36.56) along with all Capri Melon items since this pattern is being retired. There's a matching visor and water bottle holder that are adorable. Check it out here .

Here are two more of my racquet covers. Both of these are from Toss Designs and Marshall's.

While browsing for a new bag, I stumbled onto Henry Brown bags which I think just might take the prize for adorable, preppy, fun racquet covers & totes. (not to mention great purses and handbags, too) Here are just a few that caught my eye...

The best part is you can monogram all of these. They've got great choices for monogram styles and motifs. Check them out here . I'll let you know which one (or two or three) I decide on. Oh, and here's a site kStyle that seemed to have pretty good deals on Henry Brown bags.

Now, I'm off to attempt to conquer "Mt. Washmore." I've procrastinated long enough and the mountain appears to be ready for an avalanche at any moment. Wish me luck...

Fruity Fun

How fun do these look??? I found this idea while visiting one of my favorite blogs, How About Orange. Jessica always has neat ideas & projects with a funky flair. While I'm not much of a cook, I think these look very doable even for me. Some oranges and jello and I'm all "set". Here are the step by step instructions courtesy of Not Martha. For a fun twist, here's a recipe with vodka from The Food Network. For a little pink & green preppy flair, maybe some pink grapefruit and honeydew melon???

Pinkalicious

We're all about books here at the Madras house. Every holiday is celebrated with at least one book gift. This year, for Valentine's Day, Bonus Baby will be getting Pinkalicious, an adorable children's book about a little girl who loves the color pink, especially pink cupcakes. One day, she eats one too many, and (you guessed it) she turns pink. From the darling illustrations of all things pink to the sweet message in the story, I know this will become a favorite bedtime book at our house. I particularly enjoy all of the fun wordplay with phrases like "Pinkerella" and "Pinkabelle" along with "pink-a-boo" and "Pinkititis." I can't wait until the 14th so BB and I can curl up together to read this "pinkerrific" tale.

Meeting Mr. Madras

Well, I'm finally home after a crazy few days of traveling, cancelled flights, airport food, lost luggage and a bunch of other travel-related headaches.

I was so excited to see that Abnormally Normal had tagged me for my very first time so here's the scoop on how I met Mr. Madras...

It was my freshman year (his sophomore) during the first week of school. The RA of my floor was dating the RA of Mr. M's floor so there was always some kind of good-natured fun going on. My first encounter with Mr. M was the night we had a "boxer raid." All the girls on my floor stormed the guys' dorm rooms, opened their dresser drawers and attempted to "steal" a pair of boxers. Lucky for me, Mr. Madras was a true prep and a pair of freshly-laundered (I think/hope) tartan plaid boxers was sitting neatly folded in his top drawer. I grabbed them, caught his eye for a split second and ran like mad out the door with my prize. Since we attended a relatively small (2,000 students) private college, it was inevitable that our paths would cross again--sooner rather than later. Several weeks later, his dorm floor had a party, and we actually talked a bit. He introduced me to his roommate and kept on making the rounds meeting some new freshmen girls. That fall, I'd see him on campus and say "hi," but it wasn't until we had a class together "Child Psychology" Spring semester that I knew this guy was worth a little flirting. Luckily, he felt I was worth some of his time as well. We met up at a fraternity party that spring and ended up spending most of the night together -- just talking, about everything and anything. I knew that night, without a doubt, this would be the guy I would marry. While it may not have been totally smooth sailing after that night, we did get married 5 years later. This year, we'll celebrate our 19th wedding anniversary, and I can't imagine anyone more perfect for me.

I'm tagging Impoverished Preppy and Melissa C.

Giddyup!

Living in the Lone Star State provides opportunities for some fun traditions. Among them "Go Texan Day" where everyone in Houston is encouraged to dress in Western attire and celebrate the arrival of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. It's not unusual to see wagon trains along the sides of busy Houston freeways as real-live cowboys and cowgirls travel from their Texas towns to take part in the festivities of rodeo season. Festive, it is!!! There is nothing quite like the rodeo in Houston. Where else can you watch high school students rope calves to earn college scholarships then cheer on cowboys in wild barrel races and finally be a part of the "sold-out" Hannah Montanna concert (or see Fergie, Tim McGraw, Rascal Flatts, just to name a few)? Check out what it's all about here.

Since "Go Texan Day" is quickly approaching, I thought I'd do a little shopping for Bonus Baby. Some great cowgirl bargains I found...

Orient Expressed sale $32.88. The t-shirt ($15.88) and sweater($18.38) below also on sale at OE .

How cute is this Sara's Prints fleece coat from CWD KIDS. Only $14. There's a lot of cute stuff on sale at CWD right now.

Every cowgirl needs a pair of fashionable cowboy boots. Here's a cute pair from Target...



I wonder if I paired all of this with a green cowboy hat...Preppy Cowgirl...is that an oxymoron??? Happy Trails, Y'all...