I love jewelry and although most of the time I wear classic pieces, I also enjoy fun interesting ones that make a statement. If it has a story behind it I say EVEN BETTER! When I saw The Giving Keys ($35) I knew I wanted to give one a try. Fashion with a message and purpose…..sign me up!

The Story Behind The Giving Keys

When you buy or are given this one of a kind necklace, you must give it away at some point, to a person who you feel needs the message that’s on your key.

I found that to be an amazing concept. I chose a necklace that says LOVE, and I am so excited to wear it for now knowing that someday I will give it to someone. I can only imagine how good it would feel to have someone come to me and give me this token with a message. It would always be a reminder of a good friend being in my life.

The Giving Keys was started by Caitlin Crosby who is an actress and singer. After seeing beauty in an old hotel room key, enough to make it into a necklace, Caitlin received a ton of complements and The Giving Keys became a company.  The company itself employees many homeless people to do the engraving and shipping of the keys.

I met this sweet homeless couple on Hollywood Blvd who have had a really tough life. After falling in love with their hearts, and how hard they’re working to try and change their lives, I had an “Ah-Ha moment.” I realized they were the missing link to The Giving Keys. So I asked them to be my business partners. After all, the whole concept is PAYING IT FORWARD.

By this one major act of kindness, the couple, Cera and Rob, have turned their life around, and their story is an uplifting one.

You get to choose your personal message. Words like FAITH, LOVE, and STRENGTH are prominently featured across your key. You then choose your chain/chord. These range from a gold chain to a suede chord. Once you choose your order is placed, (with free shipping in the US) and you then get to “borrow” your necklace until you encounter someone who needs that message more.

The Giving Keys are more than just jewelry. Once you share your message, be sure to share your story on The Giving Keys website. It’s amazing what a little key can do!

I was provided with a Giving Key for the purposes of this review. As always all thoughts and opinions are my own.

I like to take a lot of pictures, so therefore, when I go to an event what I am wearing is captured multiple times. Therefore, I hate to wear the same dress twice! It’s a problem I know, but I always feel like people are looking at me thinking “she totally wore that to the last wedding”! Yes, it is definitely all in my head, and I am pretty positive most people don’t even remember what I wore, but I still swear at least one person would judge. So each formal event I get on the hunt for something new to wear.

Enter the little black dress. I have a ton! As much as I try to venture into color I just always go back to my trusty friend…black. It is slimming and always appropriate. I also always try to rationalize in my head why I need a new dress. I count how many times I can wear it, even though I already know that I will only wear it once. At least I try right?

Even though I hate online shopping , I still search for dresses there. The ladies wearing them in the pictures just look so much better then I do in the dresses! Sometimes you even get to find clothes from Europe like these Evening Dresses at Bank Fashion . I still have no idea how much they really cost due to the Euro price tag, but it’s still fun to look. Sometimes you can even get something very different and unique.

I complain, but I do love to go and try on dresses…that is if I find a bunch I like.  It’s all about the dance….the shopping, the jewelry, the make up the hair….you just hope the end result makes a pretty picture.

How about you? Do you like to wear something new to each formal event? Or do you have that tried and true dress that looks good and does it’s job each time?

When I think of summer clothes I think of anything that’s flowy, light and comfortable. I always think I look best in the summer because I find it easy to just throw on a long maxi dress and be on my way. In the winter my go to is always sweat pants. That is why I was happy to find  Fresh Produce . This site has clothes that are fresh, fun and perfect for summer.

Just picture yourself packing for a beach vacation and that pretty much will sum up the clothes from Fresh Produce….Beach Clothing!  Fresh Produce first sprouted in 1984 in Long Beach, selling silk-screened t-shirts in bright graphics and custom jewelry at the ’84 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles in the parking lot across the street from the coliseum. From there the company grew, and with the same beachy, leisure theme in the clothes they had back then, Fresh Produce is what it is today. The Fresh Produce story really is an American dream story. Husband and wife start company, other family members join, and now in its third decade, Fresh Produce continues to be primarily Made in the USA and has grown into a $50 million company with one of the most original, refreshing and captivating casual, resort and sportswear lines in America. If that’s not the American dream what is???

I have the outfit shown above and love it. I look at it and just think….walking on the boardwalk at night. Don’t you? The Women’s cardigans and the summer capris are so light and comfortable you just want to wear them every day!

The Soleil Dress ($79) is another summer must have. It comes in a ton of great colors, and fits my style perfectly. Like I said, the maxi dress is a go to outfit for me pretty much every day.

Another thing I like about the Fresh Produce line is that each outfit/piece of clothing comes in so many color options. You can choose from the basic black or white, or you can go bold with beautiful bright colors. The line also can accommodate women of any age. It’s always great to be able to find something for someone who is 20 as well as someone who is 50!

Fresh Produce can be found in Nordstrom, Walt Disney resorts and stores, and over 800 specialty boutiques and resort retailers. Plus, company-owned stores and factory outlets are scattered throughout the country, including exclusive seashore resorts in North America and the Caribbean. Plus of course online.

Overall I was truly impressed with Fresh Produce. The clothes are extremely comfortable and well made. So next time you are shopping for your beach vacation, or for your every day summer look, be sure to check out Fresh Produce. You won’t be sorry.

I was provided with some clothes from Fresh Produce for the Purposes of this review. As always all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Up until now I haven’t really seen the benefits. Most of the time you are left to pay shipping, which I find to be an unnecessary added cost. Sometimes the cost is rather hefty! That is usually the point where I rethink my purchase. I search for items, add them to my cart, and when I am ready to check out I notice the shipping charges and cancel my order. I pretty much do it every time. I should learn by now to not even search unless I have a free coupon code!

How about sizing? I normally have to try on a ton of clothes in the dressing room before I find anything that fits. Especially when it comes to pants or Jeans. How does one buy that stuff online? Shoes? I feel like I need to put them on my feet before buying. Yes, a lot of shoe websites offer free return shipping, but that takes time, and I normally want my shoes right away. I am extremely scared of the online shoe ordering trend.

Even after all the things that scare about online shopping I still tend to browse regularly. I mean take this Knitwear by Pure Collection (yes, I used the word knitwear!)….doesn’t it just look cozy? My biggest guilty shopping pleasure is stuff that I can’t afford on those discount designer sites. Even at the discount things are too much for me, but it’s fun to look!

I do see the benefits, such as saving yourself a lot of time that you don’t have in a store. But how do people not see the negatives? How do you get around the negatives I’ve mentioned? What do you think? Are you an online shopper? Or are you like me, and still find it rather scary….

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Have you ever experienced a Brazilian wax? Well I have and if you take any advice I give take this….Don’t do it! Whoever started this trend was a horrible human being. Why do women subject themselves to this? Because it’s sexy? Maybe…but no matter how sexy your man may tell you it is, I promise you it’s not worth the pain.

How about the poor women who wore corsets back in the day? They pulled those things so tight they could barely breath…why did they do this?? So their waist would appear smaller! Fast forward to modern day and us women wear body shapers. I admit that I like to wear them under dresses and stuff. They really do slim you down. But why don’t men have to wear anything to hold themselves in? Maybe their bodies could benefit from a “shaper” of some sort.

Do you know that it takes me 3 hours to get my hair highlighted and cut? (yes I am admitting that I “help” my hair a bit by highlighting). That is a really long time! And why? To feel prettier? Yes! That is the only reason. The good news I do it for me, and for no one else. But I still look at it as a pain in the butt.

High heels are another painful invention. Do my legs look ten times better when I wear them? Sure! But why do my feet have to suffer? Why is it OK to squeeze our feet into pointy toed shoes? Why do we rock 10 inch heels (ok I’m exaggerating)?  I don’t know about you, but I can’t wear them. Sometimes I see women walking all tall and confident in them and think…”wow…I wish I could wear those shoes”. But then I have to wonder if they are feeling excruciating pain with every step like I feel when I wear them. Maybe they are just better actresses than I am!

What do you think? Why have women always been the ones to sacrifice their time, and money and feel the pain to be beautiful. Do you think men appreciate all we do??

Here on Long Island I am never at a loss to find mom’s who continue to try to be trendy no matter what their age. Even if it means trying to dress like her daughter. Yes, sometimes these “older” women hit the nail on the head, and can actually pull it off, but more often than not they look ridiculous. They just look like they are trying too hard. Now I am a mom, and being that I am only 30 years old (ok, almost 31), I think that I can still pull off the trendy look pretty well. But when do the tables turn? When will I become that mom who is “trying to hard” to stay current and in fashion? Is it an age? Is it at a certain weight? Or am I just destined to eventually rock the “mom jeans” and let it all go?

The other day I was at the doctor’s office, and saw this woman who was with her son (probably around 6). She was definitely older than me, and was wearing a short belted dress, her hair long and a hippie styled headband worn around her forehead. Personally, I thought she looked ridiculous. But there I was..a mom…rocking a maxi dress wearing a straw hat. I thought to myself…when will people start looking at me this way? I hope the answer is NEVER!

Then there is the woman who is obviously a mom. You know the look. It’s a woman wearing high waisted khaki’s or jeans with their shirt tucked in, and the zipper being about 9″ long. When does this look become OK? Does this happen to everyone? There has to be a happy medium between wearing jeans where my ass crack hangs out, and jeans that go up to my boobs.

People may not agree, but I think I would rather go the way of the mom jean than be the ridiculous woman wearing clothes that are WAY too young. I don’t stop and notice the women in “mom clothes”, but I do recognize a woman who isn’t 20 years old anymore trying to hard to look like her daughter.

So what do you think? Is there an age where looking through Glamor Magazine to pick out your trendy outfit is no longer appropriate? When do I have to stop shopping at Forever 21? When does a mom start looking like a mom? Thoughts?

A while ago I was watching an Oprah episode that featured Tim Gunn from Project runway, and he was doing make overs. During the show Tim made a comment that really rang true to me. He called it “The Frumpification of America”. He said “If you want to look like you want to be in bed all day then you should stay in bed!” I laughed, and then looked down at myself and cringed. I was wearing sweatpants and an over sized sweatshirt. Am I adding to the frumpification of America???

The answer is YES I AM! What a horrible realization! I did a post a while back about my love for sexy, soft underthings. This post spoke of my love for anything soft and feminine underneath my clothes. But what about the clothes on the outside? Isn’t that important too? I have ZERO excuse as to why I wear comfy sweatpants and sneakers instead of form fitting clothes and high heels. Actually, I take that back…I love to get dressed up, but not to just sit around my house. But what about those housewives of old that used to wear pearls as they cooked?  How about the days (or so I’m told) that people used to get dressed up to go on an air plane? Now, when it’s travel time I throw on the comfiest outfit I have just so I can bear sitting in that uncomfortable seat for a few hours. But what changed that made it ok to dress down?

I think I’m getting ahead of myself here. So I will step back and look at this situation. When do you think it started happening? When did it become ok for a woman to throw on her biggest and baggiest pair of sweatpants, a big ol’ shirt, throw her hair in a messy bun on top of her head and walk out the door? I don’t think you can blame it on being a housewife..I mean women were housewives for years longer then they were in the work force. Look at my grandma…she worked, raised kids, cooked and even had time to wash and iron all her drapery regularly ( I know this because they are hanging in her closet marked with the day they were washed and ironed) To this day the 88 year old woman’s house is cleaner than mine! But she always looked nice. No sweatpants for her!

So I decided to call her…she reminded me that women didn’t even wear pants in those days! So you were pretty much forced to look semi put together in a nice dress with comfortable heels. Maybe the sensible heel needs to come back in fashion? (was it ever in? Or maybe women didn’t care so much) Or maybe it’s the fact that television is such a prominent part of our every day life? Back then there was no sitting in front of the TV. You were up, dressed and being productive all day.  I mean if you were even going to come close to following “The Good Wife’s Guide” that appeared in a 1950′s Housekeeping monthly, you had to be nothing but put together! (ok so the guide is pretty unrealistic, but it WAS published)

I decided to hop around the internet a bit to see what I could find. In my travels I found the site The Retro Housewife. What a fun site! Here she talks about lots of trends over the decades, but I found the fashion portion really interesting. If you click on each decade of fashion you will see how much it changes. I think it all began in the 60′s when it became more acceptable for women to wear pants…Then the 70′s brought women’s liberation and the pants suit…and I think if you want to pinpoint the real downfall you have to blame the 80′s. And the rest as they say…is history.

I get that the fashion they show in magazines is almost unrealistic…I mean am I really supposed to wear a stiletto heel every day like Carrie Bradshaw? But there has to be a happy medium. I am a HUGE offender of the frump, and need to change my ways. So who’s with me? It’s time to unfrump America! What are some of your sweat pant alternatives???

My favorite part of any awards show is the fashion. I always watch the red carpet events, and the show Fashion Police on E! which is aired the day after the event. So today I want to play make believe. Today I want to choose which dresses I would try on if I were a size below zero.

Let’s start with this number on Jennifer Garner. I personally think she is looking TOO skinny these days, but besides that I think this dress looked stunning on her. My squishy belly would look horrible in this, and I would look horrible in that particular color, but remember we are playing make believe!

Wow! Look at this dress on Marion Cotillard from the movie Nine. I find the color to be just stunning! I will take one of these please!

Above photos courtesey of Capital M

Now this dress that Dianna Agron from Glee wore is definitely something I would die to wear. I think it would fit my body type too since my trouble area seems to be my belly.

 (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images)

I guess if I were to be honest I would say I’d be happy, thrilled, honored ok..those words just don’t describe it…I would feel like a fairytale princess if I got to get dressed up like these stars do!

Now I do want to give a shout out to the men of the Golden Globes who rocked the bow tie. I am a HUGE fan, and think that the bow tie is classic and will never be dated or out of style.

As I started to swoon over these guys in tuxedo’s I realized that Captain Awesome does look pretty darn good in a tux..

So who needs Bradly Cooper or Taylor Lautner? Not me! But I will continue to swoon over those gowns. A girls allowed to dream right? Is it wrong to want to play dress up at 29??

One of my favorite parts of the site is putting together what they call sets. You can look at shirts, pants and shoes and drag and drop them together so you can see how the outfit looks. See..check out this set I made! (I am pretty amateur compared to some featured on the site and in other blogs I follow)

There are some people that are super good at making great sets. Check out these ones that are featured on the site! Couldn’t you just see me in this??

Pretty in Pink. Part II. by Kris_pas_fash featuring Matthew Williamson

So Polyvore is a fun new site for me to play on. Let me know what you think of it!

I figure there has to be a happy medium between the very small wallet purses and the very large hobo type purses. With a large purse comes a very large mess. I tend to drop everything and anything into my purse. Then it gets lost in the black hole until it becomes so ridiculous to find anything in there that I have to clean the bag out. On any given day I am normally carrying…2 pairs of sunglasses in their cases, my wallet, a smaller wallet that just holds the stupid store cards, 2 check books, a small cosmetic case, gum, coupons, tissues, pens…and god knows what else. I must admit that it is convenient to have everything on hand at a moments notice, but I also must admit how freeing it is in the evenings when I switch to a clutch to go out. I carry some money, my ID, Credit card, cell phone and a lipstick…and it’s wonderful.

Now us women are used to carrying it all with us on a daily basis…what happens when the powers that be decide that it is no longer “in fashion” to carry the large bags? Next thing we know they will start getting smaller again, and in order to keep up will will be forced to purge our bags…It will happen again. It’s all a cycle and I think this large bag cycle has been hanging on for a while now. It’s only a matter of time before I will be that mom carrying the large bag with my kids are laughing at how uncool I am…I guess that would be KHARMA!