Who am I kidding? I’m hardly a rule breaker. I don’t like to break rules. I actually beg for a list of rules during a game or contest because I like guidelines. I’m an organized, follow the rules, OCD, maniac!

But there is one rules that I like to break. And I’m hopeful that this rule isn’t going to be around much longer.

No White After Labor Day

We’re not supposed to wear white pants or white shoes until Easter and then we’re not supposed to wear them after Labor Day. First of all, I don’t wear white shoes. Not a fan. But Hudson does have a little pair of white sandals and I know that men like to wear their white bucks with their seersucker and linen and I’m okay with that. But not after Labor Day.

Now, the “no white jeans or white pants after Labor Day” rule is the one that I break. I love my white jeans. They’re comfortable, they pop against color, they dress up an every day outfit. I have lived in white jeans for two summers now and my summer doesn’t end until the middle of October when the weather finally gives us some relief down here.

chart from here

The only difference is that I change what I wear with the white jeans. I won’t be wearing summer colors on top after Labor Day. I can pair them with a darker, richer color on top and a scarf. And I won’t be wearing shoes that scream “summer.”

I won’t wear white capris or cropped pants past Labor Day and I won’t wear seersucker (or let the men in my family wear seersucker) past Labor Day. Not sure why I insist that these items go back into storage, but the white jeans can stay out. But that’s just how I feel about that.

What do you think? No white after Labor Day or are you going to wear them a little bit farther in the fall?

A couple of years ago I did a post and asked my fun readers this question:

If a song played every time you walked into a room, kind of like your entrance music, what song would you choose?

It got some really fun responses that you all should read.

At the time, I said that my “walk into the room” song was “Walkin’ on Sunshine” by Katrina and the Waves. And sometimes that is still my song. It’s happy and has a fun beat. And I’m happy most of the time. But other days, I think my song is “American Girl” by Tom Petty. It also has a nice beat for strutting and walking. And I just like the words.

I love movie soundtracks. I used to run out and buy the CD for every soundtrack that I loved. Some of my favorites are from Working Girl, The Big Chill, Dazed and Confused, Clueless, Now and Then, The Graduate, O Brother Where Art Thou, Garden State, and I’m sure there are so many more. I’m not even mentioning the countless soundtracks for movie musicals that I love so much. Or Glee! I’m obsessed with the Glee soundtrack.

If someone made a movie out of my life (which would never happen for obvious reasons, number one being that the audience would walk out because of boredom), I’d be more concerned about the soundtrack than who the casting agents chose to play me in the movie.

I thought I’d give you a rough draft of my soundtrack after about twenty minutes of thinking about it. These songs are songs that make me happy and some are songs that I loved at some point in my life. I didn’t put them in any particular order, but they’re all songs that I listened to over and over at some point in my life.

Everyday People by Sly and the Family Stone

Ain’t Too Proud to Beg by The Temptations

Building a Mystery by Sarah McLachlan

Baby, Now That I’ve Found You by Alison Kraus

American Girl by Tom Petty

Let The River Run by Carly Simon

Cecelia by Simon and Garfunkel

New Slang by The Shins

This Time of Year by Better than Ezra

Your Song by Elton John

Dreams by The Cranberries

Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Katharine McPhee (my favorite version ever)

Go Your Own Way by Fleetwood Mac

Holiday in Spain by Counting Crows

St. Elmo’s Fire by John Parr

Small Town by John Mellancamp

I Wanna Dance With Somebody by Whitney Houston

If you had to make a musical compilation of songs that would end of being the soundtrack of the movie of your life, what songs would you include?

Sometimes I check my Stat Counter and my Google Analytics to see where the traffic is coming from and how people find my blog.

One of the most entertaining things is to look and see what Google searches are done that lead people to my blog. My favorite search that I saw was…

“How does Blue-Eyed Bride have time to watch so much TV?”

I don’t think there’s already an existing blog post on this topic, so the reader probably wasn’t able to find what he or she was looking for. I will answer the question right now to help out with future searches of a similar topic.

I have written numerous posts about my favorite TV shows, but I’ve never answered this question.

How do I have time to watch so much TV?

We start at 8:00 p.m. and watch until 11:00 p.m. It’s probably too much, but we like television. I also like to read and we also like movies. But my child isn’t awake 24 hours a day and he’s asleep by 8:00 p.m and stays asleep until 8:30 a.m.

We don’t go out on weeknights, for the most part. I have choir on Wednesdays and if I miss one of “my shows” I’ll catch it on the DVR over the weekend.

If I wasn’t watching TV at night, I definitely wouldn’t replace it with something productive. I’m not going to go out and train for a marathon. I’d probably just sleep! Or we’d get Hudson to bed, get a sitter, and go out for dinner, which costs money and isn’t all that fun most of the time.

Our TV is rarely on during the day and if it is we’re watching the news first thing in the morning. Sometimes during Hudson’s nap I’ll turn it on, but daytime TV is so bad that I can’t even stand it.

I’m looking forward to the return of my favorite fall shows. We’ve had a nice little break this summer and have only watched TV on Monday nights (The Bachelor!) and Friday nights (Dateline with my man K-Mo)!

I love television.

And if loving television is wrong then I don’t want to be right.

1. Hudson and I had a great week at home with very few commitments. It has been a few weeks since we’ve been able to just sit at home and relax, but it has been nice to have a quiet, restful week with my boy.

2. I haven’t done a post of our meal planning for this week, but that’s another reason why we’ve been home so much. We’re buckling down and really sticking to a family budget in an effort to save for rainy days and exciting projects, so we’ve been trying hard to cut where we usually spend the most– eating out. I made a delicious chicken pot pie last night and I’ll share the recipe soon. I can’t take credit for any of the delicious meals I make because they’re not my recipe. My cooking philosophy is: “Follow a good recipe and you can’t go wrong.” So that’s what I do! If you’re able to make off the cuff, find whatever is in your pantry and turn it into a masterpiece meals, I envy you. Share your secrets!

3. While Hudson isn’t technically starting school, he is going to be attending our church’s weekday program two mornings per week. This falls at the same time that Junior League things start to pick up, so it will be good for both of us. He’ll get a morning of learning and fun with other kids and I’ll get a chance to run errands and take care of some of my weekly tasks without disrupting his day. He even has a backpack that Kim gave to us!

4. My wonderful mother-in-law had a birthday this week and we’ll be celebrating tomorrow morning! And my dad will celebrate his birthday on Sunday. We’re so lucky to have such great parents and Hudson is so lucky to have fantastic grandparents nearby and far away.

5. Todd and I are going out to dinner with some friends tomorrow night, but we’re planning to stay home tonight, eat leftovers, and watch Dateline. A typical Friday night at the Carroll house!

6. My DVR was full of shows from the almost three weeks that I was in and out of town. I spent my nights this week catching up on Rachel Zoe, Flipping Out, and Project Runway. If I could have two new people added to my BFF list, I’d pick Brad from Rachel Zoe and Jeff Lewis from Flipping Out.

Also- I’m addicted to The Bachelor Pad. It’s terrible, I know, but I can’t look away. It’s like the new Real World/Road Rules reunion shows.

7. I have a list a mile long of movies I want to see. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. The only thing I miss about my pre-mommy days are running off to the movies when ever I feel like it. But we have Netflix and we use it. So I’ll be waiting for most of these movies to come out on DVD and be delivered to my doorstep.

8. My mom received some exciting news today from her dermatologist, so be watching for her to update her blog!

9. My dear friend Emily will be celebrating her daughter (and Hudson’s girlfriend), Cate’s first birthday tomorrow! Happy Birthday, Caterbug!

10. The biggest success of the week was finally getting Hudson’s cubbies and shelves completed in his playroom. We’ve slowly been turning our office into a playroom for Hudson. There are so many toys and I can’t handle the chaos of having the toys scattered in every room. I’ll do a post soon with my plans for the room!

Did you all have a great week? Tell me something exciting! Any great weekend plans?

Toodles, Poodles!