Thursday, September 17, 2015

ASPEN...WE'RE READY FOR YA!

Hey there everyone!!!  Boy has it been awhile since I've posted here!!! It has been a busy and fun summer for sure!  I have so much to catch you all up on including a fun road trip we made out to the North Fork of Long Island, and an incredible vacation to Walt Disney World in Florida!  In the meantime, Rich and are getting ready to jet set to Aspen, Colorado for my very good friend's wedding.  It will be the first time we are going somewhere without the boys...and we are both so sad about it, but know it will be fun just the two of us!  Well, I have to get back to packing, but don't forget to follow along on Instagram!  Wheels up...Aspen we're ready for ya! ;-)


(This picture was taken by my friend who is getting married of the beautiful backdrop for her wedding!)

Friday, June 19, 2015

FASHION FRIDAY: SASSY SUIT

Happy Fashion Friday jet setters!  Hope you all have some fun plans for the weekend...and Happy Father's Day to all of the dads and grandfathers out there!  Today's post is all about my love for the jumpsuit (a favorite of mine), and this sassy printed one for under $35 at H&M was just too good to pass up!  I added a hat (bad hair day), a cardigan, a clutch and some sandals for church, but can't wait to wear it again for a date night with some high wedges and maybe a jean jacket. It's comfy and loose (two mom-friendly qualities), and looks like you spent a lot of time picking out an outfit, when it's just one piece and go!  Gotta love that!









Jumpsuit: H&M
Cardigan: Forever 21 (old, similar)
Sandals: Forever 21
Clutch: c/o Vera Bradley
Bracelets: BaubleBar
Sunnies: Chloe c/o Mills at Jersey Mall

Thursday, May 28, 2015

A NIGHT OF INDULGING!

Talk about a night of fun!!!  Well that's what this mama got to enjoy a couple of weeks ago for an event called "Indulge" at The Mills at Jersey Gardens in Elizabeth, New Jersey.
 I got a fabulous invitation by the stylish and adorable Corine from Complicated Mama to join her and Sheila from Pieces of a Mom to a "Moms Night Out" filled with shopping, drinks and food.  I was in heaven!!!
The Mills at Jersey Gardens was recently taken over by Simon (who happens to own beautiful malls all over the country) and got a face lift that is worth checking out!  The Mills at Jersey Gardens is New Jersey's largest outlet mall with more than 200 stores, including some of my favorites like Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th, Neiman Marcus Last Call and Century 21 to name a few!



This was my first time meeting Corine and Sheila, and the three of us hit it off and became instant shopping buddies, running all over The Mills at Jersey Gardens to see what great stores were there.  We were all wowed by the incredible deals, and endless supply of gorgeous stuff, and we were in and out of dressing rooms all night.  It was so much fun trying on sunglasses, shoes and handbags (and getting to do it without the kiddos in tow was even better)!!!



I left with some great pieces like this Rebecca Minkoff tote, Chloe sunglasses, Steve Madden sneakers for me and Penguin sneakers for my hubby...all for way under what you would pay in retail stores!  
The Mills at Jersey Gardens is an absolute shopper's paradise!  Remember you only pay 3.5% sales tax...so what are you waiting for?  Check out The Mills at Jersey Gardens today...chances are, I'll probably run into you there!! ;-)

Saturday, April 4, 2015

NEW JERSEY BLOGGER BRUNCH AT TALULA'S

Blogging is my shot at entrepreneurship.  It's my ideas, and my hard work that always go into what you see and read here.  It's the same thing for Talula's in downtown Asbury Park, New Jersey-- a fairly new restaurant that opened it's doors only five short months ago, and has been serving up great farm-to-table food ever since.

 Talula's entrepreneurs haven't been able to do too much advertising yet, but instead rely on word of mouth to promote the restaurant.  That is why I picked Talula's as the spot to host my first New Jersey Blogger Brunch.
 In attendance were Reesa from Mommalew- a website with tips for moms, recipes, travel ideas and more, Clarissa who is a Life Strategist and Personal Stylist from ClarissaNassar.com, and Sharon who blogs about petite fashion at The Tiny Heart.  These women are entrepreneurs who have successful blogs because of all their hard work, sweat and tears.  Having a networking event with these great women at Talula's just seemed like the perfect winning combination!
We got a chance to chat about what projects we are working on while enjoying such great dishes as the Avocado Toast with pickled vegetables, Scrambled eggs with Ricotta toast, Kale salad with roasted squash, a Hash bowl with eggs, a Margherita pizza, and some killer hot apple cider donuts! Talula's makes it's own breads and pizza dough, and uses locally sourced ingredients in all of its dishes- it's a great place to get a taste of Asbury Park while enjoying what this part of New Jersey has to offer.







Sira & Mara also sent me some pretty bracelets to give away as gifts at the event.  Sandy is the entrepreneur behind Sira & Mara who started her business after moving to the U.S. from Spain without speaking English and with only $800 to her name.  I absolutely love Sira & Mara's jewelry and accessory line, and to have Sandy's business be a part of this day also made perfect sense!

All of these beautiful pictures here were taken by Michelle Scelfo from Yellow Yellow Yellow.  Michelle is a super talented photographer and entrepreneur who has an amazing eye for capturing great moments and is local to the Asbury Park area.


Friday, March 20, 2015

FASHION FRIDAY: HERE WE SNOW AGAIN!

It's the first day of Spring today and Old Man Winter is preferring to stick around!  That's right...more snow today!!!  When will it end?  We snapped these pictures a couple of weeks ago and I didn't know if I would ever post them because the weather was warming up and it seems Spring was coming, but with this forecast...I thought why not?  At least it's supposed to warm up tomorrow!  These are also the first pictures I've posted on the blog with my new bangs.  I wanted to do something different and thought I'd give them a shot.  I'm not too sure how long I'll keep them though because I have curly hair and they are very high maintenance!  (they also look a bit messy here as I was wearing a hat) Anyway, hope you all have a great weekend and see some sun wherever you are!








Top: BB Dakota via Lord & Taylor
Leggings: Forever 21
Coat: Zara (old)
Hat: Purchased in Iceland
Boots: Rachel Zoe
Necklace: Stella & Dot
Bracelet: Sira & Mara
Sunnies: Italia Independent

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

LAKOTA WOLF PRESERVE

(Photo Credit: TripAdvisor.com)

Imagine getting up close to wolves, foxes and bobcats to see how they live in the wild?  Maybe it's because the PBS show Wild Kratts has been such a hit in our house, but I think it sounds pretty cool, and it's something we've been wanting to do with the boys for awhile now.  The Lakota Wolf Preserve in Columbia, New Jersey is the only wildlife preserve of its kind in the state.  The preserve is owned and run by two people who have raised and cared for the animals themselves.  At the preserve you get to go on an educational tour and stand on an observation deck where you are surrounded by four different packs of wolves.  You will get to watch the wolves play, interact and maybe even get to hear them howl!  Wolf watch tours are offered twice a day, everyday except Monday at either 10:30am or 4:00pm.  Each wolf watch tour is 90 minutes ($15 for adults, and $7 or kids up to 11 years old- cash only!).  Unfortunately, due to the recent ice storms and bad winter we've had the Lakota Wolf Preserve is temporarily closed, but hopefully now that spring is 10 days away it will be reopening soon.  Once it does we will be going and I can't wait to share with you how it is!

LAKOTA WOLF PRESERVE
89 MT. PLEASANT ROAD
COLUMBIA, N.J. 08732
(877) 733-9653

Monday, March 9, 2015

A GETAWAY TO CRYSTAL SPRINGS

Last week we packed up the car and headed away as a family to Crystal Springs Resort in Vernon, New Jersey.  We wanted to take Richie skiing for his 4th birthday, and we picked Crystal Springs Resort because it's not too far away, and the mountain and resorts are very close to each other with a shuttle bus that takes you to and fro.
Mountain Creek is where you ski, and then there are a couple of resorts to chose from nearby- Minerals Resort and Spa and Grand Cascades Lodge.  We stayed at Grand Cascades Lodge.  Minerals Resort and Spa is what they consider more of a "family friendly" resort because it has indoor basketball courts, tennis courts, a very nice pool and an arcade room (we checked it out while we were there and we were happy with where we chose to stay instead).  I think it may have been okay if our kids were older and would have been able to use those facilities.
Grand Cascades Lodge is a bit fancier (no basketball, tennis or arcade room), and it has more dining options and a biosphere pool with a slide which is one of the coolest pools I have ever seen!



The cost to stay at Grand Cascades Lodge is more, and we had originally considered going Friday thru Sunday.  But that wouldn't be the "JetSetSmart" way to travel and save, right?  Well, if you go Sunday thru Thursday, you can either buy one night and get the second night half off, or buy two nights and get the third night free.  We went Sunday thru Tuesday, and the price was half of what it would have cost us if we went Friday thru Sunday.  The other plus was that the hotel had less people, so they upgraded us to a room with a fireplace, terrace and full kitchen, and the restaurant and pool was pretty empty so we felt like we had the place to ourselves at times!  




As for the skiing, Richie got to do a two hour drop-off ski camp (which starts at age 4) where after a few falls ;-) he basically got the knack of the sport by the end.  He seemed to really enjoy it!





We had a great little getaway, and look forward to more ski trips next winter!