What a week! Last week was April vacation for the kids and I am glad we stuck around Boston. We had three separate day trips to the beach all in New England in April and it felt like summer. It was also my birthday and I celebrated by participating in a fashion show at Copley Place sponsored by Smiling Stilletto to benefit Project Smile.My friend and I participated and it was glamorous getting our hair and make-up done and then strutting down the catwalk! This was the best April school vacation ever as I am sure my kids will agree too. Believe it or not I did squeeze some work in as well!
Earth Day is coming up on April 22nd. Today on 980 WCAP-AM we talked about Earth Day and my three new favorite products. Listen in!
“De Vine†Lip shimmers are my newest, favorite lip balm. Made in the U.S.A. of 100% natural ingredients, DeVine Lip Shimmers are the only ones on the market that contain all the benefits of wine, including Grapeseed Oil, and Red Wine Antioxidants (without the alcohol, of course.) The Lip Shimmers are gluten free, cruelty free and contains no pesticides, parabens, or other unkind chemicals. They are $4.50 each and come in 5 colors
Supergoop (supergoop.com) is my favorite sunscreen of all time, especially the wipes.
Glass bottles are very popular right now and two of my favorites are The bamboo bottle and the glass bottle from lifefactory. Â
Did you hear boat shoes are back? I did not even like them when they were really in but I did have a pair when I was young. They were so…..plain! Thank goodness the company known for their boat shoes decided to add a little fashion and bling to the classic shoe. Sperry Top-Sider now has updated the footwear with a bit of flair! Everything from high heels to the traditional shoe style with sequins and denim are being offered.
Today on my trendymommies.com weekly radio guest spot we of course talked Oscars but we also talked about transitioning your kids back to a routine after having a week off! What do you do to get your kids back on track? Here are a few tips that I have found work pretty well!
Make no plans Sunday night – Especially after a week’s vacation - take a chill pill! I remember growing up we always had Sunday night dinner and quite time afterwards to wind down from the weekend. Have the kids relax with you, watch a movie or even have a quiet family dinner.
Late nights are the norm on a vacation so I usually start to transition them back to their normal bedtime a few nights before school starts (not just the Sunday night)
Be prepared – I made sure I had “school” snacks already packed, lunches, backpack and clothes ready to go. I try to do this every night. My kids don’t like when I make the sandwiches the night before but many moms do just that and that helps! Anything that can cut your morning routine time helps!
I have to admit I have a hard time getting up in the morning and my hubby has actually changed the clocks back 15 minutes so that it looks like I am running late when actually I am not – I know how goofy is that – but frankly I forget he does this so it helps on some days! A little secret: we would make it look like it was later when the kids were younger by switching the clock back saying no it really is your bedtime. This stopped working when they got older and figured out to go and check all the clocks in the house and it rarely worked in summer when it was still light out! Sometimes they just need the extra sleep!
It is day three of school vacation week and I am proud to say we are relaxing! (that and I am working as well!) The kids just love this. This past weekend my hubby’s friend was in from Miami and we ventured out to lunch and dinner at various restaurants. We did take a trip to a petting zoo but I think I liked it more than the kids (see photo) So far this week my kids had friends over and we watched a few movies – some better than others (hello…fred..the movie..ugh)
If you are looking for things to do this week that are pretty low key and affordable, here are some tips:
Have a movie night and the kids can invite over their friends – always a fun time at our house, especially the popcorn with the parmesan cheese!
Take a walk in the park. I have not been good about walking the puppy but the kids love to take the trip around a local lake to explore. We also had a puppy play date with our dog’s sister.
This is our slow sports season- swim team is complete so we are waiting for soccer and lacrosse to start so my hubby took the girls and some friends to play lacrosse and practice some drills (and found out he was out of shape in the process – but that is another story!)
School vacation is not complete without a trip to a breakfast hangout, the mall or some other store adventure (we love the dollar store!)Â My kids also love to head to Starbucks for a hot chocolate. We ventured to Barnes & Noble and they did actually read while they were there! We bought a few biographies that the girls are really into. We also like to head to Jordan’s furniture for the ice cream, an IMAX show, and the jelly beans!
I have a bunch of stainless steel water bottles which I love – you won’t see any plastic bottles in this household! While attending the Be Healthy Boston Expo I discovered a new bottle which is quite unique and I am sure my mom friends will love it.  The Bamboo Bottle is a glass bottle surrounded by an outer layer of bamboo. The bottle, including the straw and lid is BPA free. I love drinking water out of glass and will enjoy my iced tea out of my new glass bottle too! It is also safe for hot beverages as well. The glass can slide out for easy cleaning and is dishwasher-safe. The creators of this bottle wanted to add an element of bamboo as according to the web site: “It is as sleek as it is durable. It is as stylish as it is sensible. And it’s renewable”. It is a bit heavy but it’s perfect to keep by my bedside table and on my office desk.
Disclosure: the company sent me a bottle to review
In keeping with my blog posts this week…..tis the season for cold weather…fa la la la la…
There are so many fun accessories for the winter season to make you look oh, so fashionable. Here are a few of my favorites and some I mentioned on NECN.
It’s a scarf? A shawl? A belt? It can be all of them. TheIsatwist.com is a hand knit flexible woven fabric that does it all (starting at $76)
I love Echo scarfs! Echo Touch gloves in the kids version keeps your little ones’ hands warm while they keep in touch on their iphone, ipad, etc. ($24.00) They have wonderful infinity ring scarf’s and sets as well. Nice colors and selection on their website
Thumbdogs.com are great with any pair of gloves you own. You can attach to any glove and use your iphone, even to ski gloves too, but make sure you check your phone on the ski lift and not on the slopes! ($12.99)
These are very trendy right now: animal hats:Â D&Y critter kingdom gloves and hats. Everyone seems to be wearing critter gloves and hats this season. I love this line!
My kid’s favorite are the fuzzy animal hoods from Spirit Hoods. ($79.00)
And of course to dress up your boots this season check out HUGGRZ. (Disclosure: and I am not just saying that because they are my client.) These boot wraps are great, try them out yourself and change the look of the boots you have (so save yourself some $ this season). They have 20 different styles and fabrics from fur, leopard print and knit.
