I was so excited when Aleeka arrived. I immediately fell in love with them when I saw them in my boutique and I loved them even more in person. They are absolutely Fabulous!! The Leopard print is sexy and flirty. They fit me perfectly. I got my usual size 6.5. They are going to look great with a pair of skinny jeans or a mini dress. Aleeka also comes in a grey color that will look great for an office look. I am loving JustFabulous.com!
Top 10: Things I say Over and Over
We all do it. Say the same thing over and over again with our kids. I’m sure that there’s more than 10, but these are what pop into my head. I’m thinking of making a recording and just putting it on repeat. lol
1. Stop Fighting!! – I can not count how many times I say this in a day. Two boys = fights every day over everything.
2. Pick up your Toys! – If you’ve seen how many toys my kids, you’d know why I say this all day long.
3. Go to Your Room! – not only for time outs. Sometimes I just need them out of my sight for a few minutes.
4. Share! – trying to teach them to get along.
5. Maybe Later – I read some where saying “Maybe” instead of “No” helps diffuse situations a little quicker. It works for me.
6. Eat Your Food – Every day, every meal I have to say this. apparently the presence of food on the table makes no difference. They always want to do something else besides eat.
7. Not Inside- Throwing balls, playing catch, riding bikes… outside not inside! They test this everyday.
8. Did you brush your teeth? Every night. I’m big on dental hygiene.
9. Wash You Hands – Gotta keep those lil hands clean.
10. Do your work – they like to think that they are going to “work” like daddy. I make cleaning and studying their “jobs.”
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Keeping it Simple
“Less is More.” That’s what I’ve been doing for my daily makeup lately. Being a Stay at Home Mom doesn’t mean that I have unlimited time to do my makeup. It’s actually the opposite. Time is always my biggest enemy so I’ve been Keeping it Simple. I turn to my favorite: Stila Cosmetics.
One Step Correct
Illuminating Tinted Moisturizer
Perfecting Concealer
Sheer Pressed Powder
Prime Pot Smudge Proof Eye Shadow Primer
One Step Bronze
Kitten Eyeshadow
Smudge Pot in Brown
Convertible Mascara
Coconut or Yumberry Cheek and Lip Stain
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“Hop” Movie Review
HOP
We went to see this on it’s opening weekend – not my favorite time to go but it wasn’t as hectic as I thought it was going to be. This movie is a really cute and funny family movie to watch. It has James Marsden, Russel Brand, Kaley Cuoco, Hank Azaria, Hugh Laurie, Chelsea Handler, and David Haddelhoff. I thought it was a creative story line.
E.B. (Russel Brand) is the teenage son of the Easter Bunny who is overwhelmed by the expectations of becoming the next Easter Bunny and would rather be a drummer. He runs away to Hollywood to pursue his dream and gets hit by Fred O’Hare (James Marsden). Fred is also under pressure from his family’s expectations for him to do something with his life. These two peas in a pod wind up together and through some very funny circumstances wind up succeeding with their dreams. Besides their inner turmoils, they also battle Carlos (Hank Azaria) – an over ambitious chick who wants to take over Easter. They change some rules about Easter Bunny traditions and well, you can guess that it has a happy ending. There was some adult humor in there but nothing too over the top. My five year old was able to understand and enjoy it. Both of my boys loved it. My 4 year old loved the music. All around a great family movie.
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Maria & Mia
Women are complicated. No matter how simple we may seem, there is always more to us than meets the eye. This probably sounds bi-polar or schizo, but there are many sides to me and they can boil down to two girls: Maria and Mia.
Maria: Sugar and Spice and everything nice. She’s the one that everyone meets. She’s polite, sweet, and always does the right thing. She’s the responsible one – always. She is always in Mommy Mode. She is insecure and worries. She likes to be in control.
Mia: If you’ve met Mia, then you’ve had a good time. She is all about fun. Only certain people get to meet her. She’s wild and unpredictable. She is confident and short tempered. She is adventurous and fearless.
They are loyal to their friends. They can’t stand liars and can be bitchy. They don’t like being told they HAVE to do something. Both Love their family more than anything in the world.
Maria is pretty much in control all the time. Mia helps Maria feel more confident and to not stress out so much. Mamma Mia shows up for parties and vacations. She helps Maria enjoy being a Mom. When there are no kids around, Mia is free but Maria keeps her out of trouble. They balance each other out. They are me.
Kiss Kiss from Maria & Mia ;-)
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First Haul from HauteLook.com
Brand names at discounted prices? Over a 50% discount? Yep! You can find them on HauteLook.com. I’ve heard of them for a while but it wasn’t until one of my favorite cosmetics company – Stila – teamed up with HauteLook for an event. I couldn’t pass up getting some great Stila products for such great prices. I picked up a Lip Rouge, two 24k Lip Glosses, and a Bronzing Tinted Moisturizer.
The Lip Rouge (Smooch) was only $5.99 – originally sold for $20 on StilaCosmetics.com
24K Lip Glosses were $6.99 – originally $25 on StilaCosmetics.com It’s even cheaper than the sale price of $10 on Stila’s site!
Bronzing Tinted Moisturizer was $12.99 – originally $32 on StilaCosmetics.com
Talk about Awesome Savings!!!
I also picked up two Hype Girls Dresses for $19.99 each. Yes, I am small enough to fit in Girls clothes.
HauteLook let’s you know when your items will arrive and whether or not they are returnable. Most items will arrive in 10-14 days. It’s only about a week longer than when I order straight from Stila and it’s well worth the wait. One thing I want to point out is that when you place an item in your cart, you have 15 min to check out or else it gets put back for others to have a chance at it. But while the item is in your cart it’s on hold for the 15 min. So I suggest looking first, then add to your cart when you decide what you want. But don’t take too long. Things tend to go quick!
The events only last a few days so you have to make sure to get on at the beginning for the best choices. I am constantly looking to see if and when my favorite brands will be on HauteLook. I’ve already placed three more orders for Urban Decay, Harajuku Lovers, and Michael Todd. I am officially hooked on HauteLook!! It’s free to sign up so go check them out!! http://www.hautelook.com
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Your Baby Can Read – Week 1
We’ve all seen the commercials with the babies reading before they can even talk and kids reading as young as 2. Yes, I was skeptical but impressed at the same time. So why did I jump on the Your Baby Can Read band wagon? Well, it’s mostly because of Gio.
His lack of preschool experience did put him a little behind his class when he started but Gio is a quick learner. With a little help from Mom at home, he was caught up in no time and he continued to improve greatly in all subjects…. except for one: Reading. I really didn’t know what they expected from him and what more I could do. I read to him every night and he was starting to read small books to me. I thought he was doing well. Granted, his school has really high standards and his class has a lot of super smart kids.
So what do I do? Pile on more books for him to read? He just kept getting tired and frustrated. Plus I am not the best teacher for Gio. We have different ways of learning and it’s a struggle to get homework done with him.
Now there’s also Seppe… he’s so much further behind than most kids his age. We know that he will need all the extra help he can get. One day, I saw that commercial and decided – why not? It’s $14.99 for 30 days and we can give it all back if we don’t like it and get our money back. We figured it wouldn’t hurt to try it out.
We’ve been doing it for a week now. Gio is on the Your Child Can Read series and Seppe is on the Your Baby Can Read series. I had them both on the baby one at first, but it was obvious that Gio was past that. Plus he wasn’t helping by answering all the questions without giving Seppe a chance. The older series definitely suits Gio best. It’s longer and has more words for him to learn, plus it teaches phonics. I honestly believe that it has helped him a lot. He has gotten better at reading words and at writing sentences. He is at the very end of the age group of when this program will work best, but like I said before, Gio is a fast learner. I will be moving him on to the second part faster than scheduled.
Seppe… well let’s just say it’s as if he’s a baby. He takes a lot more work. I have to sit with him every time he watches his dvd. Partly to make sure he watches it, and partly because he needs that extra support. It’s not that he doesn’t like it. He just can’t sit still and focus. He is getting there though, very slowly. He can recognize a couple of words. It has helped him learn his colors though. He no longer calls black and brown “dark.” It is definitely adding to his vocabulary and also helping with his talking. He is also more curious about any words he sees and constantly asks me to read to him.
Obviously, Seppe will not be reading in a months time, but I am hoping that there is some improvement. So far, I am happy with it. For me, it’s challenging because I have two kids at different levels that I have balance my time with. Reading is very important to me so I am not just putting the dvd on and walking away. I am very involved with this program. Besides the dvd, there are books and flash cards. We spend a lot of our day doing reading games. It’s hard work but my boys are worth it. I’ll have another update after week 2.
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Stila’s Garden Bliss Set
Stila's Garden Bliss Set
Get a natural and pretty look for Spring with Stila’s new Garden Bliss Set. It’s worth $109, but it’s only $32! What a great deal!! I snatched this up right away. I love the natural colors of the Garden Bliss Palette. It’s not too light that you look like you have nothing on, but at the same time it’s not too overpowering. These colors definitely give you a nice natural look. The blush is a powder – different from the travel palettes that come with Convertible Colors.
The set comes in a cute gold makeup bad that has a magnetic closure and folds over. Along with the palette, there is a deluxe sample size of the Glamoureyes Mascara. If you haven’t tried this mascara out – you should!! It is not clumpy at all and it has a cooling sensation. It leaves my lashes longer, fuller, and soft – not brittle. A deluxe sample of their Lip Glaze in Grapefruit is also included. This is a very natural pink color. I love Stila’s lip glazes and Guava is a pretty pink. Just throw this set into the lovely gold bag and you’ll be set at any Spring or Summer event.
Finish off your look with Stila’s Garden Bliss All Over Shimmer Powder:
Garden Bliss All Over Shimmer Powder
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Blue Smoke
Here’s a look I did for my son’s baseball game. His team is the Rays and their colors are a dark blue and white so I decided to do a blue smokey eye.
PRODUCTS USED
Eyes:
UD Primer Potion
Too Faced Smokey Eye Kit – Midnight & Bronze
UD Naked Palette: Naked & Virgin
Loreal Hip Creme Liner
CoverGirl Lash Fusion
Face:
Stila One Step Prime
Benefit Erase Paste
Stila One Step Foundation – Tan & Medium Mixed
Stila Sheer Pressed Powder
Stila Custom Blush
Lips:
MAC’s Viva Glam Lady Gaga II
MAC’s Lady Gaga II Lip Glass
Where I bought the products:
stilacosmetics.com (All Stila products used)
sephora.com (UD and Too Faced Products)
MAC cosmetics store in the mall.
Target (Loreal & CoverGirl products)
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April Pick: Aleeka
For my JustFabulous April selection, I chose Aleeka in leopard print. I really liked the gray color too, but I don’t have a pair of leopard print shoes yet. Aleeka is a ruched, peep toe bootie with cut out sides. She has a 5″ heel with a 3/4 ” platform. She is definitely a sexy shoe in both colors.
My absolute favorite thing about JustFabulous is that when I place my order in the morning, I’ll receive a shipment notification the same afternoon! My shoes arrive in less than a week! How awesome is that? It’s fantastic not having to wait forever to get my new shoes. I ordered Aleeka on April 4th and they’ll be here by April 9th. I am so excited!
From my April Boutique - Aleeka
Ms Mamma Mia 
