A Woman's Right to Shoes

Living in NYC taught me the necessity of proper footwear for achieving one's best life. I never owned rain boots before moving there and now I don't understand how I survived without them. Taking a car does help but second rate cities and suburbs are not immune to puddles. I've decided to take the Finnish approach to raising children. According to the Finnish, outside play is so important that there is no inappropriate weather for play, but instead lack of appropriate attire. This philosophy is getting expensive since I have two toddlers. Nevertheless, it's totally worth the money to keep their feet warm, dry, etc no matter the weather or activity. I've curated a list of the eight shoes my little girl needs at all times so she's ready for anything. Fortunately friends and family have been generous with hand-me-downs for my daughter so I don't have to buy every pair in every size.

(1) Natives - I discovered these awesome shoes with my son. They're comfortable enough to run and jump and play but also double as water shoes because they dry so quickly. 

(2) Mary Janes - I prefer to have these in red so they can be worn at Christmas time.

(3) Ballet flats - These can still be Mary Janes but I try to get them in a neutral color like tan or gold so that she can wear them with anything.

(4) Sneakers - Every day sneakers for the cold fall and winter months are a must.

(5) Rain boots - I prefer Hunter, but we've gotten lots of different brands.

(6) Uggs - I know they keep my feet cozier than anything else so I consider them a necessity.

(7) Snow boots - My daughter's only experience with snow was a tiny bit last October in Denver so she really hasn't needed them but you never know when Atlanta will have a fluke snow storm. My 4 year old has lived through two.

(8) Flip Flops - Just in case we're heading to the pool or beach and don't want to take the Natives.

The Politician Season 2

What a dream cast blessed us for season 2 of the Politician. Bette Midler and Judith Light together is more than we deserve but I am thankful to Netflix and Ryan Murphy for this gift. I don't want to spoil anything so I'll just say that setting the show in New York City was like scrumptious icing on an already perfect cake.

The pastor at Buckhead Church quoted Tennessee Williams this morning. I thought I should share this important truth because it reflects such a deep understanding of America.

"America has only three cities: New York, San Francisco, and New Orleans.

Everywhere else is Cleveland." -- Tennessee Williams

Hope

Lift every voice and sing

'Til earth and heaven ring

Ring with the harmonies of Liberty

Let our rejoicing rise

High as the list'ning skies

Let it resound loud as the rolling sea

Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us

Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us

Facing the rising sun of our new day begun

Let us march on 'til victory is won

-- James Weldon Johnson, J Rosamond Johnson

If I Could Escape

What a draining 84 days this has been. If you need an escape I can highly recommend:

(1) Douglas - Hannah Gadsby's new special on Netflix

(2) Any book by Jasmine Guillory

(3) Never Have I Ever - (Mindy Kaling's new series on Netflix)

(4) Classy Girls Wear Pearls - a beautiful lifestyle blog I've been following for years

(5) thelesliejordan instagram - actor Leslie Jordan's instagram account

(6) Lizzo

(7) Disney+ - What a Treasure Trove!

(8) The Read podcast (This is not an escape. It's just good.

(9) Chobani Flip in mint chocolate chip flavor. It is the only thing consistently available at Kroger and yummy yogurt.

(10) A bounce house water slide combo. This escape is for the kids but happy kids = happy mama.

What I'm Reading

These are the best books I've read since being in quarantine.

I've never read a better autobiography.

I see why this has topped the bestseller's list. It's just a good read that would appeal to most people.

These are fun mysteries because they take place in Los Angeles and the protagonist just happens to be from Augusta, Ga.

Day 36 of Social Distancing

So tonight C and I were watching the Earth Day episode of Mixed-ish and Rainbow is chastising her friends for using hairspray cans because of CFCs and the ozone. And I was all “That doesn’t make sense. This show takes place in the 80s and CFCs were banned in aerosol cans in 1978.” C said “No. They still had CFCs then.” He doesn’t realize it yet, but we’re in a huge fight right now.

Basketball

Monday night C and I went to see the Hawks vs. Grizzlies. It was super fun. I love the energy of a basketball game! C is from Memphis so we are Grizzlies fans. My husband tried to get a pic with the Hawks mascot but the Hawk took one look at my Grizzlies shirt and was like nah. My husband just pointed to the scoreboard and laughed. We had really good seats and C caught two Hawks shirts. Not sure what we'll do with those. I kind of wish we were Hawks fans so we could get season tickets. I was so happy we won since this was a Christmas present and it would have been a bummer for our team to lose. It's also nice that we're only a short uber ride away from the arena. If C and I did stuff like this every week, I might actually like it hear.