Whoah! Why isn't the bed made?

After spending a week with the Smiths in Virginia, I was reminded that there are certain things only a two-year-old can pull off. For example, if I ever had to use the bathroom, Lily requested that she could come into the room and sit with my while I used the toilet. She also pointed to the man standing (directly) behind us in the grocery store and said (loudly), "Why is he wearing a pony tail?" Additionally, one morning just after I woke up, she walked into my room and said, "Whoah! Why isn't the bed made?"

If I were to make these moves at my age, it would be highly inappropriate. When Lily does it though, it is wonderfully endearing.

She also maintains an ability to make me laugh wholeheartedly, or as my mom would say, all the way from my toes. One morning I was alone with her and I let her pick out her outfit for the day. She ended up wearing a bright pink sundress, with a different shade of pink cardigan, a different shade of pink hair bow, and finally, another shade of pink moccasins. All pink, all different shades.

And she, of course, looked adorable. She put fashion week and fall trends to shame as she strutted her (new) pink mocs around. As I watched her work it, so proud of the outfit she picked out, it made me wish she could maintain this same certainty forever.

I wish she would always think she looked amazing. I wish she'd never think she was having a bad hair day or worry about whether or not something was flattering.

But of course, her confidence comes from a blissful youth and unawareness that she can't ever completely maintain. However, if there's any girl in this world that stands a chance of successfully working an all pink outfit, Lily will be the one to do it. When I left at 8 a.m. Thursday morning, she'd already asked Court if she could put the sweater back on (over her pink night gown).

Luckily, monochromatic is supposed to be hot this season...

Where's the great pumpkin, Charlie Brown?

"The pumpkins are getting smaller and the trick or treaters are getting fatter," Jay Leno.

This summer I was on a mission to make Jim this Jell-O no bake peanut butter and chocolate dessert. I searched the store high and low, only to find the Publix by my house did not carry it.

Since I was already at the grocery, I decided I'd make Jim pumpkin chocolate chip cupcakes, since they're his favorite. However, after looking in every fathomable aisle (we're talking even the frozen section) I couldn't find pumpkin.

Finally I found someone to help me. I asked him where the pumpkin was and he informed me that there was a pumpkin shortage. In Georgia? I asked. Not just GA, everywhere.

Since it was only July and I was skeptical of his credibility, I didn't worry.

That is, until Jay Leno announced there was a shortage tonight.

Apparently, a chilly, damp summer in the Midwest and New England has caused crops to struggle. Some farmers are reporting as little as one tenth the pumpkins as last year. Crops are down, prices are up, and pumpkin will be hard to find.

Personally, I almost don't see the point in beginning fall if I can't be guaranteed pumpkin lattes, ice cream, and muffins. Pumpkin makes fall perfect. So, until I can be certain there will be pumpkins to carve, I'm going to stick with summerfall.

dresses off the shoulder, kanye off [his] rocker

They say a balanced and symmetrical life (zen, if you will) is the key to happiness. Maybe so. This same balance has also been proven the key to being perceived as beautiful.

Brad Pitt is so attractive because his face is perfectly proportioned (his face is zen).

Both the symmetrical face theory and Brad Pitt have been around for quite some time. Because of this, I'm shocked to find stylists still pushing the one-shoulder dress. Stars were decked out in single-shoulder frocks at Fashion Week and the VMA's last night.

Sure, Victoria Beckham looked great in her dress, but she looks great in anything. Imagine if her dress (most likely like her face) had been symmetrical.

Taylor Swift looked stunning in her gold dress, but it would have been even more breathtaking if her dress had been symmetrical.

However, for Swift I'm sure the even more breathtaking part of the evening was when Kanye decided to steal her moment by running onto stage and announcing Beyonce's video was better, essentially.

Of course, Taylor recovered gracefully when Beyonce gave her the moment back, proving the only person un-VMA worthy was Kanye himself.

WhoDey? Oudin.

The first time I watched IU basketball my freshman year of college, I remember thinking - oh my gosh, they're my age! These semi-celebrities, boys we'd had crushes on, were now my peers.

Then as I began to investigate this finding, I realized that some professional athletes were younger than me (I'm kind of a sports-watching novice). It felt so odd. I suddenly felt inadequate. Sure, I was in college, but they were in college and providing us with the joy of March Madness.

It was even more shocking my senior year when I realized that 75 percent of all college athletes are younger than me. What was I doing with my life?

I just experienced this feeling again recently when I learned about seventeen year old Melanie Oudin. I'm five years older than her (half a decade!) and she's all over the news as she made it the US Open quarterfinal. What was I doing when I was seventeen? Well, I think I was probably still enjoying the fact that I could drive...

Even though Oudin lost tonight, I can't help but be in awe. In just ten days, she's evolved from a typical American teenager (though talented at tennis, still leading a typical life) to a celebrity. The word "believe" is now a message reserved for her tennis shoes. She actually has command of a word as common as believe.

She'll undoubtedly receive insane sponsorship as her career continues to grow. And as long as she doesn't pull a Phelps, things should remain pretty constant. So, I'm sure she was sad to see the tournament end for her, but for a Marietta girl, things are looking pretty good.