Let's Hear it for the Girls!

This weekend I took my 3 1/2-year-old daughter to Kansas City to visit friends and celebrate my god-daughters' first birthdays. We had a fabulous time!

Abby was an amazing traveler. She watched two movies in the car each way, and never complained. We visited Kaleidescope and the Crayola Cafe, walked on the Plaza, went to the birthday party and had lots of snuggles. It was our first girls weekend. I know she had a blast because last night when we got home she had a bit of a meltdown.

I'm done traveling for a while. I am happy to be home, and back in my routine. I have enjoyed these past few weeks, but it's good to be home!

For the Love of Travel - And Sephora!

I know I spend a lot of time blogging about Sephora, but I just LOVE that place! The past three weeks in my house have been very busy. First, we visited Simsbury, CT for the wedding our our friends Ken and Karen (who my husband and I introduced!). While there, we visited the West Farms Mall which is fabulous, and of course has a Sephora. We had only a few minutes, so our visit was just a tease.

The following weekend, however, was spent in Las Vegas with awesome friends. Of course, in between hanging at the pool, eating delicious food, hanging out at exclusive nightclubs and gambling, I was able to sneak away for some quality Sephora time. Yippee!! My favorite purchase was the Benefit "10" bronzer/blush combo. I LOVE this product. One sweep of this both bronzes and highlights and looks amazing on any complexion! I highly recommend this product.

About that trip to Vegas - it was the bomb. Of course, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but I can't think of a better group of people to spend a weekend with and I can't wait to do it again!

I just wanted to take this opportunity thank my travel partners!

Product Junkie!

I looooooooooooooooooooove products! I will try just about anything! I say just about because with my sensitive skin I am pretty careful with facial cleansers and lotions. But I do love to play at the cosmetics counter at a good department store.

I have been working on a product comparison between two mineral makeup products. I have purchased Bare Escentuals i.d. bare minerals and sheer coverage. Both products work well and offer that airbrushed look. I really want to do a side-by-side comparison but I don't want to look like a freakazoid! What I have been able to determine is that the sheer coverage product is "flat" and the i.d. bare minerals has more shimmer to it.

There are a few products I am itching to try. The first is Benefit's creaseless cream shadow/liner in "skinny jeans." This gunmetal silver color looks just perfect with a black liner to create a more modern smoky eye. I am also very anxious to get my hands on "10" also by Benefit. "10" is a bronzer and blush together in one compact so that you can bronze and highlight at the same time. Sculpted cheekbones and a rosy complexion are just a compact away!

I just can't get to a larger Sephora fast enough!

College-Bound?

There is so much to write that I will have to break it up into a few posts. I am way behind on this project!

A few weeks ago the New York Times magazine had a very interesting article about high school seniors applying the college and the pressure they feel to have perfect applications, to get accepted early and to Ivy League universities. The article was somewhat reminiscent of the book "The Overachievers," by Alexandra Robbins, which is a fabulous read. Anyone with high-school-aged kids should read this book. Even I felt anxious for these kids as they completed the application process and went off to school. In a few weeks, Ms. Robbins will be speaking at an event here in Omaha and I urge everyone to go hear what she has to say.

Is it too early to be worried about college applications?!

Girls Day Out

The highlight of my weekend was spending Sunday afternoon with my daughter. I took her to a new salon at the Shadow Lake Towne Center , called Sweet and Sassy. The salon is hilarious. It reminds me of Libby Lu, but it is an actual salon so there are stations for hair, make-up and nails. They do birthday parties (on the pricey side) and once a week they do drawings where the winner gets to ride to school in the pink limo. I treated Abby to pedicure, which she loved. Truthfully, she would have been happy at home with mom painting her toe nails, but the expression on her face when she put on her leopard print and pink robe was worth every penny! She sat nicely to have her toes painted and then got sparkles in her hair and a glitter stamp on her cheek. After the pedicure, we ran across the center to our mini-Sephora. I made a few purchases which I will save for another blog, and Abby sampled just about every eye shadow at her eye level. She had a blast. After that she was exhausted and it was time for me to have some mommy time. I took her home to watch some baseball with daddy. Truly, it was one of my favorite mommy-daughter outings! Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me so you just have to use your imagination.

All Hail the New Jeans

Of course, this post is about my favorite subject...JEANS! I ordered a pair of wide-leg dark denim "Ginger" jeans by 7 for All Mankind from Nordstrom and they arrived in my mailbox this afternoon. They fit great, besides needing to be shortened (because not everyone is 6 feet tall!!!), and I can't wait to wear them. Of course, their first stop will be to the tailor. As usual, about 6 inches needs to be shaved from the bottom of each leg, and then the original hem needs to be put back on, but then they will be ready for prime time. The trick is always to make sure that they aren't hemmed too short so I have to try them on with a few pairs of shoes to make sure I know just how much to have trimmed. Aren't these cute? I can't wait to wear them!!

On another note, I recently finished a great book and have just started another one which I am really enjoying. The book I finished is a history of Saturday Night Live - it delves into pre-production and talks about the dynamic between Lorne Michaels, Dick Ebersol and the NBC management team. It's very interesting! My new book, complements of my mother-in-law, is "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan." So far, it's an excellent read. I am about 1/3 of the way through and am enjoying it immensely. I am torn between what to read next. We have a great book by David McCollough laying around about the history of the Brooklyn Bridge that looks good. If you have a recommendation, let me know!

Finally, you might remember my post about Rachel Zoe and how she trash talked Anna Wintour a few weeks ago. Ms. Zoe was recently fired by her publicist. It appears that Anna Wintour has more power and influence in the industry after all!