Want it Wednesday: headbands!

This latest and greatest throw-back accessory is getting me really excited! I want a headband! Not just for little girls anymore, these things are classy, sleek, elegant, and some are truly works of art!

My good friend Heather was sporting one the other day and I immediately had two reactions. "WOW! that is so cute!" and then to myself I added, "YAY! Headbands are back!" Then I started looking around and found some really cool ones at Nordstrom. 

I have also found a few at etsy.com. But to be honest I was disappointed. I thought the etsy.com crew would be all over this trend. 

I haven't bought one yet. I can't decide on one. And I'm going to need some affirmation that I don't look like a 5 year old or like Mischa Barton. But this is most definitely on my Want It list. 

Eww. 

So what do we say? Do we like this new thing? Are you sporting headbands? 

There are tons to choose from. I also think they have so much potential! What a great Christmas gift for a friend! What a great way to spice up your holiday attire! Just think it's another place you can wear jewelry now.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

C. 

JCrew is an EPIC Mess!

I am so disappointed.

JCrew and I go way back. I remember my first shirt from there. It was a dark peachy and light peachy colored big horizontal stripe rugby shirt with 3/4 length sleeves. Oh, how I loved that shirt. My roommate had the same one. We both adore JCrew....well, adored.

Fast forward to the near present. I still love JCrew. Even though their style has changed, and my style too for that matter, we can still meet eye to eye on a few key pieces, except for of course, price. Over the years their clothes got fancier and prices got steeper. And my visits got fewer and far between. But after having two babies in two and a half years and finally getting back to normal, I thought I had a good excuse to go get a few new things. And with the help of a sweet mom, I had the backing of a giftcard!

So, I enlisted the help of one of their complimentary personal shoppers. Rebecca was her name and she was wonderful. She still calls, and writes and calls and lets me know of anything going on that I might be interested in. Right now I feel like shaking my finger in her face, but my rage is not with her, she doesn't make the clothes after all.

I came home with a good size load of new stuff. I had a pair of matchstick jeans, 4-5 of their cute T-shirts with something random on the front, 2 sweaters, 1 embellished tank top, a belt, and a few other things.

One of the shirts I loved was a white t-shirt with some colorful dyed ribbons off set on the side of the v-neck. I loved this shirt. I wore it and wore it and wore it until finally the thing had to be washed. I followed the instructions to a T. And those cute ribbons bled all over my shirt. Of course they took it back, even admitted it wasn't the first to be returned, but that's not the point. I wanted that shirt!

Next up, the jeans. These weren't your everyday jeans. I wore them a couple of times one of them being on Mothers Day. After lunch, we took the boys to play at a bookstore and as I was bending over to pick up my 1 year old, rrrrrrrriiiiiipppppp! (Insert bright red face) You have got to be kidding me. I hightailed it to the bathroom and put my sweater around my waist and left for home immediately.

Again, they of course took them back, they hadn't even been washed yet. When I returned them I was so hoping Rebecca the personal shopper would be working so she could stand on the register and yell, "ALTHOUGH THIS GIRLS JEANS RIPPED IN THE CROTCH, I AM HERE TO BEAR WITNESS THAT SHE WAS NOT TOO FAT FOR THEM."
Which is of course, what I am sure they were thinking. (I promise they weren't, I'd tell you if so, I have no shame.)

So I got a new pair and didn't wear them out of fear, for a few good months. Which brings us to girls night two weeks ago where I wore my new pair of JCrew matchstick jeans for maybe the 5th time since I exchanged them the day after the Mother's Day incident. Now wearing my new jeans I make a visit to the ladies and look down to see that the button has all but ripped out of where it was sewn in. WHAT!!?!?!?

It was at that point I decided to write this blog. Despite all my love for JCrew, the quality of their clothes is extremely poor. Other than the beloved white t-shirt and matchstick jeans, I also had a burnt orange tank top with ribbon embellishments that came detached the first time I wore it. I have another white t-shirt with little t-shirt material flowers on the side which a few have fallen off, and I fear for it's life every time I wash it.

All of the t-shirts are so thin, I had to buy XS when I usually wear a M, because they stretch out so badly after the first hour of wearing them. And then they have to be ever so delicately hand washed. Which just seems like a bit too much trouble for a damn t-shirt. Am I wrong?

I will be writing a letter, via snail mail, email and maybe even courier pigeon or Harry Potter's Owl. Otherwise how will they know, right? I will also be taking back the jeans, YET AGAIN, and the orange tank top and see what they say. I will let you know how all this turns out, but for now

JCrew is a big, horrible, stinky MESS!

I still love my JCrew style, but I haven't bought anything else purely out of fear it won't hold up. Because if I did, and it didn't...  I may just have to...oh... I don't know.....go hold up signs outside of the store? Ok, maybe not. :-)

Good Luck!

C.

Want it Wednesday: An Epiphanie! (camera bag)

I like to take pictures. I also have a very girlish obsession with bags.

I'm such a stereotype in this department. But once I show you this, if you have a DSLR camera, and you are a girl, you will want one too. Trust me. (If you don't know what a DSLR camera is you'll probably go find one just so you can have this bag.)

Introducing the Epiphanie Camera Bags. They are super cute.

(Lola) 

There's Ginger, Lola, Clover, Paris, and Belle. They each come in a variety of colors. And they are all stunning. Most of the bags will run you about $165, but Clover and Paris are $185.

(Belle) 

I don't think that's very bag...er...I mean bad in the bag world in terms of price. You could totally justify this. Just look at the inside of these beauties!

(Lola inside) 

Here is the website: www.epiphaniebags.com  These would make a wonderful Christmas present for any camera loving gal, but hurry because I see on their new flashy-yet-a-little-much website that Clover and Paris are already on backorder.

And you know, now that I think about it, you don't even have to have a DSLR camera to have one of these. You could use it for half camera half purse. You could stick your video camera and camera in there. The possibilities are endless!

Enjoy! I would love to hear if anyone dives into one of these. I need to hear how it functions! It has to be fabulous, right? It just has to be. :-)

Off to find my next want......

Stirrups are for saddles not pants.

I've seen them a few places now and I don't like it. It's just not right. I mean, what's next shoulder pads? Yeah, I know, I've seen a few of those too.

So let's break this down...

Our Special MOI secret spy cameras went under cover at our local nationwide retailer. (think blue square, three letters) This is what our secret operative found...

                                           

Wow. Eesh.

The only way I can see supporting the stirrup comeback is if you go the route of "I'm wearing boots so you can't really tell they are stirrups." But this is just wrong.

And to make things worse...

Look it's jeans! No wait, they are stirrups....and jeans. Are these jerrups? steans? Ick. I can't look...

I know, I am no fashionista, believe me. And if you have a different opinion please let me know. I'm more than able to jump on board...maybe. I was once a flaming protester for capri pants. Ahhh those were the days!

But for now... These are just a MESS!!!

(to me) :-) 

Want It Wednesday: Hobo International Lauren Wallet

Wednesdays are going to be my days for things I want but don't have. So here goes the very first Want It Wednesday:

I was at dinner the other night and when it came time to pay both of the gals I was with whips out one of these!
                                      

My immediate thought was... if you both have these it must be good, and why don't I know about them!?

So now it's my latest want.

It's perfect for my needs. Plenty of space for cards, cash, and a check book. There's even a nice zippered part for receipts or anything like that. I can toss it in my bag with the diapers and wipes and when it's time for mommy alone time, I can whip it out, fit lipstick and my phone in the side and it's a nice clutch. VOILA!

They come in a wide variety of colors and leathers and retail cost is $100. I have heard you can catch them in the off season colors and get a good break.

I go and visit my future wallet from time to time and the lady at Nordstrom said they are extremely popular and they often have trouble keeping them in stock. I have also seen them at Belk and online at many places like zappos.com and ebags.com.

One day if I get one of these I'll use it and give an updated review. Or if you have one and would like to make a MESS or IMPRESSED call. Feel free to let us know!

Enjoy!

my mission

So I guess I've neglected this long enough. I really like this concept. But I have one blog already and two kids, and little free time.

But I WANT to do this so I'm giving it that old college try...again.

I'm going to review things. And by things, I mean all things. I have no limits. Products, websites, theories of intelligence, books, people....I'm on it.

Have something you think would be great? Please let me know at codychase@mac.com.

Oh and FEEDBACK! That's what this is about. I can't wait to hear what YOU think of this stuff too.

So here we go!

Teach Me Time! Kids Alarm Clock & Nightlight

I like sleep. A lot.

Every parent knows kids and sleep don't go together. But my kids have always been great sleepers until one day the oldest wasn't. Jonah came up with every excuse in the book to start padding down the hall and into our room very, very early. And I mean before the rooster crowed early. Long story short, I needed an answer and boy did I find one.

Wanna hear it? Here it goes...

The "Teach Me Time! Talking Alarm Clock and Nightlight" by Onaroo.

Isn't it beautiful?

It's a digital clock, it's a clock with hands, it's a night light, it's an alarm clock if you're into that sort of thing.

(nightlight mode)

But the most beautiful feature of this clock is that it let's you set it to a specific time for it to do this...


It turns GREEN. And green means "you may now wake up, my child" or, like in our house, it just means GO.

So say you don't want your sweet angel to get out of the bed or come out of his room before a certain time. You set the clock to that time and the blessed thing will turn green at your will. Silently of course, on the off chance your offspring decides to sleep in and give you an extra minute or two. (Hasn't happened for us yet, but a moms gotta dream, right?)

In the box you get three different colored faces, pink, blue and yellow. The instructions were a little daunting to me, as was the back of the clock.

Yep, reading the instructions for this is a must. After the first time you set it, it wasn't a problem. It looks more complicated than it is.

A couple of tips:

-put batteries in the battery back up. My son was so in love with this clock he brought it to us the first few mornings. The a/c adapter comes right out, and after re-setting the clock for the third day in a row I had learned my lesson.

-take it on vacation with you! Vacations were extra early wake ups before we bought this precious device.

-the toe buttons are kinda dumb. One is a 10 minute "snooze" button. (hahahahaha, yeah right.) The other is a voice clock announcing the time in a rather loud and kinda scary voice. My son won't touch that button anymore. Freaks him out.

You can buy this online at Amazon.com or many other websites, (I have yet to see it in a store) for $39.99. You may think that sounds pricey for a clock and I agree, but compared to all the other useless kid/baby stuff that's out there (and I've bought) this was WELL worth it. Save up if you must, sign up for a clinical trial of some sort, donate plasma, but if you need sleep this is your answer.

The Skinny:
I really, really, really, love this clock. It does have many more features than I need, and a few kinda annoying features, but they aren't critical things. I do think it's a little overpriced, but there's not much like this out there, so they got you there. Still, one of the best uses of $40 I've spent in the kid/baby department in a while. Except for diapers, those are nice too.

The judgement: IMPRESSED!

Renee Rouleau Purifying Face Wash

A face wash for the masses!






This stuff is good folks.

Feels great, rinses clean, a little goes a LONG way, and with the Renee Rouleau name behind it, I feel taken care of. The magic comes in an 8 oz. bottle and costs $35.50. Which isn't cheap until I let you know that my first bottle of this wonderment lasted around 6 months!!!! I hate math, so go grab your favorite bottle of Neutrogena (which takes four pumps just to get a single sud) and your calculator and see which works out best.

Here is a picture of my very own bottle of the good stuff. Notice how full it is and I have had it almost a month! (close your mouth now) :-)


Renee hangs her hat on their customer service and info chocked website. It's a cornucopia for all things skincare and has tips and advice that could keep you busy for days. I have had great encounters with their customer service, and let's face it, that's hard to come by these days. Don't believe me just head to the DMV. I could go on and on about this stuff, but you should just trust me and take a look.

The Skinny: I am a HUGE fan of Renee Rouleau and all her stuff, but the Purifying Face Wash is a great place to start falling in love with her products.

The Judgement: IMPRESSED!

Checkout skin care heaven: www.reneerouleau.com

MOVIE: The Backup Plan

I've learned you are supposed to say something nice before you start with criticism so here we go... Jennifer Lopez looked really pretty all through the movie. Full Stop.

I went to see this movie with a gaggle of girls. The point of the night was to get out and be with non-messy, non-whiny, non-needy regular sized people, so in that respect we still had fun. But to be honest, the best part of the movie, was making fun of it.

That's never a good sign.

The Skinny:

1. JLo and the relatively unknown guy who was opposite her were badly mismatched.

2. The plot, storyline, characters were all so unbelievable, unrealistic, and just plain tired.

3. When Jennifer Lopez's character goes into labor with TWINS, she's about as big as I was when I was 5 months pregnant. Seriously, way to piss off your mom fans.

(not buying it, are you?)

4. The scattered "gross out" scenes are the only slightly funny parts, but after you chuckle just once, you ask yourself, "ok, why would anyone do that?"

5. Yup, it's predictable folks. Wrapped up in a neat nice package for you in the end.

Complete waste of time, good thing I wasn't paying a sitter.

The Judgement: Utter and Complete MESS!

Better luck next movie! You know, a year from now when I get to go again!