When I was getting ready this morning (oh, I even took a shower, oh yes I did), I started thinking about a few of the simple, everyday items that make my mornings a little easier and a little bit more pleasant. These things aren’t necessities by any stretch of the imagination, but they’re helpful. Maybe even a tiny bit comforting.

You know, stuff like Eucerin moisturizer. Because it prevents my skin from cracking and falling off of my face. So in that sense the Eucerin performs a vital role in my skin care regimen.

Or Maxwell House French Roast coffee. Because it’s strong without being bitter. Inexpensive. And delicious, too.

Or my beloved Mentholatum, which costs all of $2, soothes my chapped lips and makes my sinuses snap to attention as soon as I remove the top from the jar. I’ve even used it to minister to some deeply resistant under-eye bags, and it did not disappoint. I heart it deeply.

None of these things are fancy. You can buy them at any drugstore (or, as we say in the South, AT THE WALGREENS). But they’re my early morning support network - I use each of them every single day before I snuggle into my spot on the couch and start what Alex calls “Mama’s quiet time Bible study.” They help me to wake up, feel reasonably presentable, and face the day.

So, internets, what are your everyday favorites? What inexpensive treats make your mornings a little easier? And for the sake of clarity, let’s classify “inexpensive” as less than $10, though I think my Eucerin costs $10.99, so CLEARLY I AM DISQUALIFIED.

Comment away, girls (and guys!). Can’t wait to read about your faves.

Over the last couple of months I’ve gotten several emails from people who have wanted to know if another Tour of Homes is in the works.

And my answer has been something along the lines of “Well, actually, now that you mention it, no.”

But a couple of days ago I got another email about it from Lisa, and she made the point that there are probably some new readers hanging around these parts since we did the first Tour-o-Homes. Plus, there may be some people who wanted to do the Christmas Tour last year but didn’t get a chance.

And then Lisa suggested that maybe I could take a poll or something.

Y’all, I’m telling you: Lisa is overflowing with good ideas.

So at the bottom of this post you’ll see a little poll, and it would help me a bunch if you’d take five seconds to answer. I would love to host another home tour if anyone, you know, cares, but if it’s too much trouble for everybody I’m fine with that, too.

As Big Mama and I like to say (via “Friends,” NOT “Seinfeld,” please forgive me, I made a huge TV trivia foul): I’m breezy.

And thanks in advance for your help in addressing this issue of critical international importance. No pressure or anything - it’s just that THE FUTURE OF THE WORLD HINGES ON YOUR ANSWERS.

But other than that, it’s no biggie.

Every year Someone To Whom I Am Very Close organizes a Big Festive Deal for her work. And while I can’t be terribly detailed about the Big Festive Deal, I can tell you that it takes place in Nashville.

And I think we all know that Nashville is really famous for its, you know, peas.

OH, I kid.

Anyway, Big Festive Deal is coming up soon, and for the first time ever, I’m getting to go. I’m not a real guest or anything, oh heavens no; I’m going to be STWIAVC’s official gopher for the evening. But it is a dressy event, and this is going to be quite a challenge for me considering that I haven’t donned what I like to call “them fancy clothes” since I went to a Christmas party in Louisiana in 1999.

(As you can tell, D and I are really plugged into the social scene.)

(But if you ask me, a huge problem with dress-up parties is that nobody wants to watch TV. I mean, why would I dress up to NOT watch TV when I could stay home in my pajamas and watch TV ALL NIGHT LONG?)

Anyway, I do have some very fun, wide-legged black pants that Mama gave me after I had Alex, and initially I thought I would wear them and try to find some sort of dressy top. So today I headed to the Steinmart(s) and tried on eleventy five different versions of dressy / silky / cocktail-y tops and jackets, all of which left me sufficiently underwhelmed.

I brought home (well, I mean, I BOUGHT it - I didn’t just walk out of the store with it) a very pretty long, celadon-green jacket that wasn’t especially dressy but could be passable with the right jewelry and shoes, but on the way home I kept thinking that since the jacket was made of a pretty thick material and had long sleeves and required an additional shirt underneath, I would no doubt be BURNING UP HOT at the Big Festive Deal, and y’all know that I do not enjoy being BURNING UP HOT, and really, what’s the point of wearing a pretty new jacket if you’re just going to be BURNING UP HOT the whole time?

So I decided the green jacket was out. And I also realized, in a moment of horrified clarity, that being properly attired for the Big Festive Deal was going to require something of me that I try to avoid at all costs: a trip to the mall.

Now the good news is that Mama is here all week, so I knew she would be great reinforcement at the mall in terms of helping with the little man AND helping me pick out something to wear. Because those department stores have A LOT of clothes, y’all. And I get a little overwhelmed.

We decided to start our search in Macy’s because I love their INC line, and by the time we made a half a loop on the main floor I had ten or twelve things to try on. I also had removed my child from at least two mannequin stands and reminded him no fewer than six times to use your inside voice, please since most shoppers aren’t really hoping to find a forty-two pound four year-old doing his best imitation of a ROARING LION when they’re trying to make their way through Better Sportswear.

Sweet memories.

We eventually made our way to a dressing room, and Mama sat down in an area where people can relax and watch television while their daughters or mothers or wives or girlfriends are trying on clothes. Now this idea is great in theory, but I would just like to point out that when the TV in the waiting area is blaring “The Montel Williams Show” and the sound system in the dressing rooms is blaring Corinne Bailey Rae’s “Put Your Records On” and a four year-old is running up and down the dressing room hallway blaring various renditions of “RAAAAAAAAAAR STINKY POOOOOOOOOPY HEAD RAAAAAAAAAAAR,” the Macy’s shopping environment ceases to be even a little bit relaxing.

This is not a criticism. It is merely an observation.

Anyway, after at least an hour of trying on clothes and soliciting the opinions of no fewer than three complete strangers and hearing Corinne Bailey Rae sing, “Just go ahead, let your HAIIIIIIR down” over and over again in my head, Mama and I settled on a very simple black dress that I’ll be able to wear forever. I have big plans to sassy it up with some fun shoes and jewelry. And here’s a picture:

In the interest of full bloggy disclosure, you should know that, well, I haven’t been the size of this model since I was thirteen. And I don’t think it’s the exact same dress because mine has a wider neckline, isn’t cut quite as low, has more of an empire waist and is just a smidge longer.

But other than those things, the picture is completely accurate.

And here’s my question: if you were going to wear this dress to a Big Festive Deal, what would you do for 1) shoes and 2) accessories? I am wary of doing the somewhat expected black shoes and pearls because I haven’t dressed up in a really long time and would prefer to have a little fun with what I’m wearing.

Which may lead you to wonder why I picked a simple black dress.

But still.

So if you have any suggestions, I’d love to hear them, just please don’t tell me to wear hose because NO, NOT GONNA, SORRY.

And if you have specific stores you recommend for great shoe or accessory finds (CHEAP! I LOVE CHEAP!), all the better. Just know that if you put more than two links into your comment, it’ll automatically go into the moderation folder, but I will rescue it as soon as I can.

Normally I do pretty well with fashion stuff like this, but today’s mall-related adventures left me all shopped out. So thanks in advance for your help - you’re the best internets in the whole wide world (web).

LAND SAKES ALIVE.

I had no idea I was touching on such a hot topic with the dinnertime rules and regulations and all.

But thank you so much for the great ideas. Y’all brought up so many “teachable moments” I had never considered before - especially the HUGE lesson of polite refusal / learning not to grumble about what mama has put on the table.

And on top of that, you have no idea how much I appreciate your encouragement to stand firm with P-Dub’s Suppertime Law. You’ll be happy to know that tonight we had fried chicken, and the only thing Alex didn’t want to eat was dessert. But that was just because he wanted to go back outside to ride his bike.

So I just wanted to take a minute to say YAY, INTERNETS, and I’ve enjoyed your comments so much that I feel like I need to ask another question so that I can soak up your collective wisdom.

Let’s start with something lighthearted.

So, um, does anybody have any thoughts on predestination?

I’M SO KIDDING.

Don’t even think about it.

And seriously, I haven’t asked Robin (My Official Book Club Partner) about this yet (HEY ROBIN!), but would any of y’all be interested in doing a little book club type thingy in conjunction with Katrina’s Fall Reading Challenge? Several people seem to have Peace Like A River on their lists - so I thought it might be fun if we all read it “together” and then post about it on the same day.

Or, you know, not.

But if you’re interested, let me know in the comments.

Finally, consider yourselves warned: I’m in the process of doing a little tweaking with my more fall-ish blog template before I switch over to it, and as a result of that I am alternating between my two templates approximately 346 times a day so that I can make sure nothing is looking all wonky.

And by the way, “wonky” is TOTALLY a valid technical term.

So I found out this afternoon that I’m going to get to do a little Q&A with Monk & Neagle. Their new CD (yes, the one I have been talking about for two months now) comes out next week, and I am tickled to death to be able to do something fun for the release date.

And there’s no doubt that I will ask them a wide range of serious questions, including but not limited to: what kind of cereal do they like, do they have a favorite TV show from their childhoods, and when they think of a blogger named BooMama, is the first phrase that pops in their minds “restraining order”?

But then I started thinking.

(SHOCKING, ISN’T IT?)

Big Mama and I have loved your podcast questions so much, and quite frankly y’all are way better question askers than I am. Plus, I know that many of you have enjoyed M & N’s music as much as I have. So if you have a question that you’d like to ask the Monk & Neagle boys (or “Nickel Neagle,” as Alex calls them), would you leave it in my comments? Be sure to leave your blog URL (if you have one) so that if I use your question I can link to you in the interview next Tuesday.

Thanks, y’all!

p.s. For those of you who have emailed and commented to ask about the Deeper Still conference, I’m going to type up my notes and thoughts about it tonight or tomorrow. So much to say - and all of it good.