Jewel Kade Jewelry *GIVEAWAY

I definitely have jewelry that I become attached to (for those of you who know me, you know this is true!). The kind of attached where I end up wearing it all the time. I have a piece like that now… my Jewel Kade charm necklace…

No truer words were ever spoken… “Follow your heart…” and I love having that charm dangle beautifully from this necklace as I wear it. It makes me smile from ear to ear. My charm is from the Jewel Kade Glitter Collection. Each charm in this gorgeous collection shimmers and glitters with a very special saying. This collection is my absolute favorite.

Jewel Kade is an exceptional source for finding jewelry that is personalized and chic both at the same time. The creations are unique, extraordinary and very appealing. I love that you get to choose your charm and then decide on a chain to accompany it. It’s an easy way to really find that mixture of beauty and personality through your jewelry.

Jewel Kade also gives moms the opportunity to become their own stylist.

**I also am excited to announce that Jewel Kade is doing a giveaway with us! Leave me a comment or tweet this post out… I will choose a winner Sept 17th… you will win a charm of your choice from Jewel Kade – including a photo charm option. GOOD LUCK!!**

It’s Fun to Play Dress-up at Any Age

I never ever, ever, ever get the chance to play dress-up anymore.  EVER.  When I was a little girl, I used to play in my mother’s closet for hours.  I would try on her jewelry.  I would wear her shoes.  I would wrap myself in her sweaters and dresses and blouses.  I would just have a ton of FUN!

As a wife and mother now… I can assure you that I don’t have much time to play dress-up in my own closet, nevermind my mother’s!

But sometimes you just have to have some fun and let-fashion-loose!

I did just that in LA this past weekend with my mother!  With no where to be… and with no kids with us… my mother and I decided to have some fashion fun at Loehmann’s in NYC.  We literally spent 4 hours in Loehmann’s weeding through racks and racks and racks of clothes, looking through dozens of shoes and belts and handbags and sifting through endless pieces of jewelry.   I don’t remember having this much fun in a store in forever… and sometimes it really is just fun to let go and have some fashion FUN! I tried on things that I felt were so-not-me… and things that were-way-too-expensive… ahhh… so much fun!

Here are 7 looks from the day…

Emmy Trip with Suave

As much as I was excited about going to the Emmy Awards and seeing all the stars and all the Hollywood glamour… I was just as excited about getting ready for the Emmy Awards!

Last year at BlogHer, I missed the chance to have Luke O’Connor work his magic on my hair.  After seeing so many of my friends get the star treatment from him and have magnificent looking hair, I was beyond excited to hear that Luke would be styling my own hair for the Emmy Awards.  Luke has worked with Suave for years and I felt completely at ease in his chair when I told him, “Do whatever you want to my hair!”

I recapped my Saturday and Sunday because I didn’t want to forget a THING!

*Suave sent me to the Emmy Awards to work with them in interviewing Sofia Vergara and give a first-hand account of the Awards weekend.

Modern Family’s Sofia Vergara is Emmy Ready with Suave Professionals

Suave gave me the opportunity of a lifetime… head to LA, interview Sofia Vergara and attend the Emmys. OK. Absolutely. When do I leave?

As I mentioned yesterday, Sofia worked with Suave Professionals and allowed her fans to vote for her Emmy hair style. Sofia would have looked stunning heading to the Emmys with a ponytail, jeans and a tee… that’s the kind of beauty she exudes. But she did get glamour-ized head-to-toe for the night…

Sparkling in a Carolina Herrera gown and dazzling with her Suave Professionals Glamorous Waves, she perfected the red carpet with style, elegance and old-school Hollywood glamour.

I was honored that Suave allowed me some time (only 3 hours previous to her red carpet walk!) to chat with Sofia about working with Suave, being a working mom and how she makes it all work and look gorgeous at the same time!

Stay tuned… I have some more Emmy fashion and beauty coverage coming!

The EMMYS with Suave and Sofia Vergara!

I’m here with Suave in Los Angeles getting ready and very excited for tonight’s EMMYS! Suave Professionals products and Suave Professionals Stylist Jenny Cho will be creating the incredible and talented Sofia Vergara’s red-carpet hair style tonight for the Emmys. America has been able to vote for which hair style they like the best for Sofia… the voting has ended and tonight we finally get to see what hair style “won!”

I voted for the Glamorous Waves! One thing about Sofia… she’s absolutely stunning and gorgeous, so I’m positive any hair style will have her looking Emmy-ready!

To find out how to create these 3 styles, “LIKE” Suave Beauty on Facebook and check out “Like the Look.”

I also want to wish Sofia Vergara good luck tonight – she’s nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy for Modern Family. GOOD LUCK, Sofia!

Tip Toes by Foot Petals

One thing every woman needs to have in her emergency fashion arsenal is Tip Toes! Stick them right on the front of your shoes, below your toes! I love that they’re flower shaped so cute and chic.

Why Tip Toes?

Well… here’s my top 5 reasons:

1. Your feet will not slide forward in your heels any longer.

2. They are great at cushioning the ball-of-foot.

3. They will prevent calluses.

4. Will prevent your nylons from running… this used to happen to me all the time!

5. They ultra-comfy.

The Perfect Ponytail by Sarah Potempa

If you were at our Getting Gorgeous Event in NYC on August 6th, you had the pleasure of meeting the amazing Sarah Potempa!

Sarah is a celebrity hair stylist who has worked with celebs like Tiny Fey, Julianne Moore, Anne Hathaway, Brooke Shields, Faith Hill, Patrick Dempsey, Ryan Reynolds and so many, many more! She truly is incredible at hair – she did my hair and Vera’s hair for Getting Gorgeous (seriously) in 45 minutes. What I love even more about Sarah is are her personal hair videos on her blog… they are PERFECT for every woman! She gives self-tutorials on different hair styles… I love them!

Today I wanted to share the “Perfect Ponytail” by Sarah (since this is all I have been sporting for the last 4 days!).

Beauty Advice: Try basq Products

I’m always on the lookout for some great beauty products to recommend to moms. I’ll never forget one of my good friend’s (thank you, Susan!) introducing me to basq. We were at lunch together and she started talking about this incredible moisturizer she was using called Illipe Butter. She had just had a baby 4 months previous, and was telling me how amazing her skin felt using Illipe Butter. It didn’t take me too long to get home and (literally) run to the basq site online.

What was the first thing I loved about reading about basq? basq was started by 2 moms (and good friends) – Kelli Kenny and Lauren Parisier – when they couldn’t find any safe products that they could use during their own pregnancies. As they say on their site and what captured me, “The idea of basq – gentle, effective products that splurge on beauty and deliver on results – is one that appeals to women and men (yes we said men) in all life stages. From pregnancy to weight loss, sensitive skin to mature skin and all the combinations in between, basq offers beautiful solutions that work.”These are the kinds of products you want on your skin.

Now in the trenches of motherhood myself, I find it a luxury to find some products that are soothing, relaxing to my skin and products I actual see results in. I want (and need) my skin to be replenished… especially having 4 boys that literally keep me on my toes day in and day out!

Here are 4 products I highly recommend for moms:

1. basq Energizing Body

The name alone gets me every time. Anything promising to energize my body is something I must try out! This lotion is perfect for all moms (even expectant ones!). If you’ve got swollen legs and feet. If you’re suffering from an achy back or sore muscles (which is me most of the time!). Or if you have a swollen bust, you will really feel the replenishment from Energizing Body. Massage this on your body and feel relaxed. The blend of green tea, eucalyptus, cucumber and lavender is heavenly. The coolness is immediate and the aroma is amazing.

2. basq Cucumber Tea Eye Gel

This is the perfect cure for when you’re up late with the kids and wake up with tired eyes. Sunglasses may do the trick to work or to school drop-off, but there’s still the rest of the day! The cucumber and green tea soothes your eyes and gets rid of the puffiness. Quite frankly, this should be stocked in every mom’s cabinet.

3. basq Illipe Body Butter

It has the word “butter” in it… enough said. Oh, my… this is one of my favorite’s! You can use the Illipe Butter from head to toe. It hydrates your body beautifully. It has a 3 moisture complex of illipe, jojoba and shea butters that really do their job in moisturizing your skin. My feet get so dry in the summer, I have been lathering this on them every single night. It just works instantly. I love it and the smell is fabulous! I just recommend using this all the time and all over your body, especially if you’re expecting.

4. Rebalancing Face Cleanser

Cleaners are tough to find for your face. I really like this one. It works really well. My face feels cleansed and it doesn’t dry my skin out. If you’re looking to get rid of blemishes during pregnancy, you will love this product. I had some breakouts with Alexander that were horrible, I wish I had had a product like this at the time to help me out. Important thing to note here – WINNER of the iParenting Product of the Year Award for 2010, our Rebalancing Cleanser first got it’s fame when mentioned as a Heidi Klum favorite in Us Weekly Magazine. Also a WINNER of Pregnancy and Newborn’s Readers Choice Awards, this cleanser has been spotlighted in countless publications including Fashion Wear Daily, Vogue.com, Cookie and Pregnancy.

Disclosure:  basq provided me with product for review.

5 Lightweight Throw-overs For Chilly Summer Nights

Right now I’m sitting in my house with a sweatshirt, jeans and a tee on. Is it really August? It’s so chilly out today! As Fall is slowly creeping in, there will be days and nights that are on the chilly side. Not cold enough to take out the parkas and scarves and hats, but chilly enough where a simple tank top will just not do. I have to admit, I’m kind of excited and ready for the Fall!

Here are some suggestions for some quick and easy throw-overs for some chilly days and nights…

Beauty Advice for Moms: Getting Rid of Hang Nails

If you’re anything like me, manicures aren’t something that happen everyday. I have tried (once) to take 2 of the boys with me while I get my nails done. Let’s just put it this way, I will never do that again. Even though it actually only took about 30 minutes to get my nails done… it felt like 4 hours for the boys.

Since I need to make solo trips, I usually try to go at least once a month to get my nails done. It doesn’t always happen… but when it does – ahh… perfection! For one week, perfect nails. The other 3 weeks, it’s all me.

The one thing that drives me crazy about nail/hand maintenance are hang nails. Oh, man… I hate them. About 6 weeks ago a friend of mine (thank you, Jill!) recommended I try Melt Away Cuticle Eliminator.

I had been complaining of hang nails long enough, so I figured – what do I have to lose? The only drawback was that the bottle was $20… so, I was hoping (really hoping) it would work.

Well, let me just say. The stuff is incredible! All you have to do is apply a coat to dry nails and you’re done! Melt Away breaks down and softens all of the dead skin cells for gentle cuticle removal… which means there’s no need at all to rip (cringe!). A huge bonus for me – no formaldehyde, no toluene, no DBP and not animal tested.

We don’t have time to get manicured all the time… so if you’re looking for a quick, pick-me-up – definitely worth investing in Melt Away. Your nails will look fresh and clean. And for moms… that’s about all we want.

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