Man Capris??

I was out the other night with my friends Danni and Laura.  We saw some guys Danni knew from the gym.  One of them was giving the other heat about his "Man Capris."  I had never heard of these crazy things. I thought he was kidding....Um he wasn't!  I guess he knew that Ashton was wearing them...and he is just as cool....who knew?

I don't know if you know this, but Man Capris (Man Pris) are rampant in Europe and unless we do something about it, they are going to invade this side of the pond.  They aren't quite as long as women's capris pants but they're not short enough to be shorts. They're man capris.

The Urban Dictionary says
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=man%20capris


I say,

I think the only time a straight American male should wear capris is if he is aboard his multi-million dollar yacht, sailing the Mediterranean with his supermodel girlfriend. Then, he is allowed to do whatever he wants. Otherwise, its off-limits.

~JR

Leave the crops to us chicks please....like my favorite from Citizens of Humanity Dani cropped.

Sorry for the teeny tiny picture....I have these and LOVE them.  Buy them here and mention Chambers Street to get $25 off a pair or stop by Next Door and try on

 some soft buttery denim for the summer!

We are located in the Sendik's Towne Centre 

Capitol Dr. Brookfield, WI

Fortune Telling.....?

Do you believe in fortunes? Palm readings? Horoscopes? 

I am super skeptical about all of this. My friend Jenn

 (yes, another one..not hair stylist/moscow mule Jen)

had some of us over last summer for a palm reading.  Some of it was creepy accurate, but the rest seemed that it could be true for anyone. I came across this book at

Anthropologie last week.

 Look what is says about "Jennifer." Of course there are 5 million Jennifers, so is this true for all of us?

I sure the heck hope it's true for me....



Heading to a party at my friend Kori's. Her son, (my God son) Tyler is turning 13! Wow....that went super fast.

They have a beautiful pool and today the sun and heat is out. Should be lots of fun.

Have a great Memorial Day.

Thank you to all that have served for our country, to give us the freedom we are so very fortunate to enjoy.

Did you know

There are approximately 625,000 soldiers who died during the Civil War; 116,516 during World War I; 405,399 during World War II, 53,686 during the Korean War; and 58,209 during the Vietnam War.

-JR

Total Slacker

Serious blogger slack has been happening here. I have been busy eating Puerto Rican rice and beans (Abuela is in town), dining out with girlfriends, attending soccer games, planting a flower or two, and just hanging out with my 3 little girls. 

 One would think it's because I have been out enjoying the weather, NOT. Milwaukee weather this spring goes down in my history as the worst load of crap weather ever. I know, I am bitter and it comes off in this post, terribly sorry. Was reading the weather portion of the Wall Street Journal . Milwaukee was the lowest temp in the world that day...52 F. 
Calgary was even warmer at 54 followed by some place in Russia that bottomed out at 55 that day. Seriously, Russia!

 If your one of my 4 readers in Milwaukee, sorry about this rant. I know everyone here has either quit their job, moved, divorced, or freaked out on their kids.  I'm done. Next.

I went on a field trip with my daughter Ellie's 4th grade class.  It was actually a nice day, the sun came out. We went to Madison, the capitol of Wisconsin. The building is really quite beautiful. Everything gold, including the gold paint on the wall is 18kt gold....glad they spent the $$ back them. I heard that Governor Walker wanted to spend 2 million dollars to clean and repair the place...somehow they got the cost down to 250K, hmmm.  That's all I am saying about politics.

For all you IPhone people, I took these photos with my Blackberry. Yep, they look good.

I had lunch with my friend Laura this week....Juniper 61. (or 51, I can't recall) This roasted vegetable salad with a balsamic reduction...fanflipp'ntastic!

This photo looks a little creepy, but it was really good.

Went out with my girls Danni and Jen for a bite to eat at Elsa's....we loved these!  Moscow Mules in a copper mug...apparently Oprah is following me, she likes them too.

along with Danni. :0

I watched lots of soccer this week. My little star E is a fantastic soccer player. She's the legs running in the orange...one tough cookie. She had 2 goals each game

last weekend...just bragging a little.

*note the rain.....Midwest weather.

On a totally different note....my bangs.

Stupid small?

Do I go for more?

Alright? Reese is adorable and blonde, but her bangs are heavy, mine are weak.  My good friend Jennifer (moscow mule jennifer) cuts my hair, should I show her this photo?

UPDATE: Danni says my bangs are already like Reese....blurry but recent pic.

*This is my most shallow post since I have started this blog. Sorry.*

I am heading back to work at the store this week. I hope this little day dress from Ya! is still there in my size.

I love this look too. The shorts are from

Jack (a division of BB Dakota)

On a more JR note, I found some quotes that felt good this week. Here they are.

I would like to be this.

I think I have followed this my whole life.

and my favorite is this one.....

Bring it. ~JR

Seeing is believing

So, I know that I blogged that Miami was this whole party thing...fun in the sun.  What I didn't share is that we meet lots of really nice people. People like us with kids, families, jobs, lives, etc. I love meeting new people at home and away.  On our 2nd day in South Beach, at our favorite place, The Clevelander we met these three guys.  They were all married with kids and stopped for a drink before their flight at 8pm. They live in North Carolina and were there on a granite buying day trip.  We had fun chatting with them for about an hour. Facebook came into the picture and Danni was talking with one of the guys a day later.  We found out that he had lost his son just 4 months ago of a tragic unexpected illness. He had not spoken of his son in the past tense with us and he said it would have been a downer to bring it all up, so he spoke of his sweet son the same as always. 

Without sharing too much of someone's personal business,  "R" gave me the okay to let you all in on the magic of his camera.

Here it is, in "R's" words:

After "C" passed away our dog started getting up in the middle of the night and wanting to go out (German Shepard) so we would let him out and he was going wild, not normal at all for this dog and he was running around crazy and wagging his tail, like he was chasing something. After a couple months of this continuing we started taking pictures of this and its what is in the pictures that is truly a sign from God. I want to share it with you and I want you to feel free to show other people you know. We have been blessed with these and it has given me the comfort to go back out in life knowing "C" is safe. God gave me what I needed to see in a very personal way. :)  Ok right before I took this picture I spoke, "C" if you are here buddy, just show me one time." and this is the picture I took. It really is a sign from God and it's happening every night. We are so blessed.

Amazing...."C" will always be with his Mom & Dad.  Their lovable dog is the one that gave them a part of their son again.

I was given the book

The Next Place by Warren Hanson.

It truly is a great picture books for adults and kids about grieving the loss of someone you love. It reminds me of how small we really are and that each person and point in time is just a

speck of this crazy large existence.

It is way more spiritual than religious, which is how I view myself.

Wow, where is easy going Jen? She'll be back tomorrow.

Have a good one and hug your family today.

~JR

Re Entry is a B!@#

I think that giving a mother of 3 the independence of four days in South Beach should be a crime.  The ability to eat when she wants, lie in sun when she can, chat it up with handsome fellas when the moment should arise, and to stay out late with her gals and not have to wake to feed a child is criminal.  The pure act of flying in an airplane to a warm sunny destination felt wrong, but yet oh so right.  I am a criminal of sorts and I loved every minute of it! Getting through the re-entry into Mommyland is crazy tough....oh well.

 The idea of heading to Miami started last spring.

After losing their mom Patti, my friends Gina and Danni

each tested positive for the BRCA gene.

Both chose complete Mastectomies with

 reconstruction that was painful and emotional.

Last May we went on the Breast Vacation Ever! We had so much fun we did it again this year.

Tanya, Gina, Danni, me

We are lucky enough to stay at Gina's boss's condo for free.  Nothing is free in Miami, so this is a huge score. It's right on Ocean Drive, across from Nikki Beach.

We get to see views like this right out our window. I am an old lady...I took a photo anytime I saw one of these things cruising past.  I will never ride on one, but they are amazing to look at.

We met some friends...some pretty like this

and some pretty like this. Hello! (Danni don't be so shy!)

We spent lots of time here (the beach) duh.

and here (Gansevoort Plunge)

and here, Clevelander

We ate this (David's Cuban Cafe on 11th and Collins)

and drank these at the Clevelander.....Red Bull and Vodka frozen...why the heck didn't I think of that????

Weirdly enough while shopping on Collins we saw this at Club Monaco......damn she looks like me. The large grill, angled nose, and the eyes! crazy...we all went right for it....thinking the same thing.

Can't forget this place...

Mango's is the source of meeting lots of fun people.  Last year we loved meeting friends from the UK, we still talk with them on Facebook! I love Mango's!

This year proved the same.....and a late night! :)

See you next year Miami.....even if it is a little criminal. ~JR

This was leaning on the ledge next to my bed in Miami.

I think it rings true.

We were ridiculously fun and had a great time!

Thanks for the fun times

Gina, Danni, & Teenie!

Thanks for coming

What a great night!

So many fun ladies came out in the rain on Thursday night.

The Play Gallery was a great location for the Fashion Show.

Tadpole's had really cute clothes on the kiddos.
The ladies clothing can all be found at Next Door.

 I only have a few pics of the night, I handed my camera off to a friend, and these are what she snapped, so bummed that I don't have all of the outfits....I am a control freak. How did I not have that camera in MY hand! Oh well, next time.


Get used to seeing these ladies...they are in every shot! Cracks me up, sometimes they are paying attention and sometimes they are really into an outfit that walks by. LOL



 Heather and her son Ben did a great job!

Ashley from Next Door wearing her Rock-n-Republic jeans.

Danni wearing Hazel and Miss Me Boyfriend Cropped.
 I love this dress my daughter Nina wore...it's
reversible and super soft.

 Victoria looked so good in this top from Ya! and
Citizen Cropped denim fit her perfectly!

Amanda always looking cute in any outfit she picks!

My tween, Rachel in this sweet top and short.
 Both can be found at Tadpoles

Love this dress Ellie is wearing.

 Heather and her son Aiden.
Her Hudson jeans fit perfect!
Love the jacket from Jack too!

 Victoria, great look, again!

What a fun night...thank you to those of you that made it out to the the show.

Now get out there and use those valuable coupons you took home in the goody bags!

All of the ladies clothing you saw at the show

can be found here Next Door

~JR