Mom Central | Sophistishe: Finding Zen in Being Human

August 24, 2010 2 Comments

Taken May 2010 – See the sunscreen?

I have a grudge against suncreen. It takes forever to rub in and it is almost impossible to do when applying on a toddler who hates it. Jayden gets enough of being rubbed down daily with his Eczema remedies, so when it comes time to apply sunscreen, he throws a hissy. Because of this, I cannot throughly rub it in resulting in an ashy glow. *points up*

I received an invite to participate in a blog tour for Shady Day Daily Sun Protection Wipes. I read over the key selling points. “Sunscreen wipes? Seriously? Paraben free? Water resistant? Why am I just learning about these?”, I thought. Immediately, I agreed to join the tour.

Daily Sun Protection Wipes are gentle and provide extra moisture, which is very beneficial to Jayden’s Eczema ridden skin. Using these wipes make applying sunscreen on my antsy toddler much easier. Jayden loves wiping himself with wipes, so I am able to give him a wipe to occupy himself as I’m applying with another. Now, he and I don’t have to fight anymore and he no longer has to walk around with a an unattractive white glaze over his skin. They smell good too; clean and citrus-y. Satisfied I am. Now if only his Eczema remedies came in wipe form…

Get your own Daily Sun Protection Wipes at: Diapers.com, Ulta.com, and Shadydayinc.com

I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Shady Day and received a sample package of SPF 30 Shady Day Daily Sun Protection Wipes and a gift certificate to thank me for taking the time to participate.

Filed Under: Health, Parenting, Project Hippie, Reviews disclosure 2 Comments

August 19, 2010 4 Comments

Ralph Lauren

Child models from the RL Gang.

During my time in NYC for BlogHer, I attended an exclusive event hosted by Ralph Lauren and Mom Central. The event took place in the lavishly decorated Ralph Lauren Reading Room. While there, I had a chance to meet David Lauren, Ralph Lauren’s son. And I learned more about the brand I love dressing my little guy in. I never knew much about the history of the Ralph Lauren and I had a few preconceptions to be honest. Listening to David Lauren tell his dad’s story was simply inspiring and reassured me that the brand was not started from wealth, but an average guy with a dream. Ralph Lauren and his two brothers and sister were raised by his immigrant parents in the Bronx. His family’s last name was originally Lifshitz, but they later had it changed to Lauren.

Ralph’s passion for fashion budded at an early age. He took on an after school job just so he could purchase the stylish suits he desired. He went to business school for two years and served in the army another two years. He picked up a job as a salesman at Brooks Brothers and eventually under the name “Polo”, he started selling ties in a small store. Ralph began designing clothes for his wife and kids. His inspiration came from dreams and fantasies of the life he wanted for his family and the life of those who wore his clothing. He wanted to tell a story; write through his clothing–which brings me to the RL Gang Storybook.

The RL Gang is a shoppable children’s storybook narrated by Harry Connick, Jr. It’s an interactive fashion ~~show~~ story that provides an exciting way for children and their parents to shop the latest back-to-school fall fashions online. The eight characters in The RL Gang go on adventure their first day back to school. Each character has their own sense of style and their looks from the Childrenswear Fall collection are showcased in the virtual storybook. There’s a shopping cart integrated in the book which allow parents to purchase their favorite items directly from RalphLauren.com and Bloomingdales.com.

The RL Gang is also available as a hardcover book at Tikatok.com. Through September 15th, Ralph Lauren will donate 15% of all proceeds from the sale of the Childrenswear Fall collection on RalphLauren.com to support the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music in New Orleans, a cause Harry Connick is very passionate about.

This project is pretty impressive to say the least and I am thrilled to join Ralph Lauren as an ambassador for the brand. Jayden and I will be receiving clothing from from Ralph Lauren (we’ve already received a few gifts at the event) and I will be writing a series of posts as we gear up this upcoming fall. I absolutely can.not.wait. to take photos. And ~~secretly~~, I’m ~~hoping~~ begging to have Jayden featured with the RL Gang.

Oh, I have something for you. Use code RLG_SOPH to receive 10% off regularly priced Ralph Lauren Children’s and Baby products through 8/20.

Alternatively, you can shop stores such as T.J.Maxx and Marshalls who keep Ralph Lauren in stock. I shop at these stores as well as Ebay for all of my Ralph Lauren goodies. I love the lifestyle image of the brand, but it doesn’t mean I have to overstep my own lifestyle to achieve the look.

Tonight’s Twitter Party Info

What: Ralph Lauren #RLGang Twitter Party
When: Thursday, August 19th from 8-9 pm EST
Why: Talk about the new Ralph Lauren digital storybook, a children’s book that gives Moms a unique way to explore Ralph Lauren clothing and their new fall line. You’ll also be entered to win a Ralph Lauren outfit for your child or one of six $50 AMEX gift cards. There’s no RSVP required, just use the hashtag #RLGang and join the conversation!
Host: @MomCentral and @RalphLauren

Filed Under: Campaigns & Promos, Digitally Speaking, Fashion, Parenting disclosure 4 Comments

June 1, 2010 6 Comments

I absolutely love egg rolls. Our local Chinese restaurant sells them in packs of 2 for $2.80. I wish that I could order nothing but egg rolls each week, but that would not be very frugal of me, would it? I decided that I would learn how to make egg rolls, so I’d be able to enjoy them whenever I wanted without having to worry about costs.

My very first attempt at making egg rolls included egg roll wrappers, chicken, shrimp, cabbage, green onions, and Uncle Ben’s Whole Grain White Rice. The Whole Grain White Rice looks like white rice, is supposed to taste like white rice, but has the health benefits of whole grain rice. I think it does taste a little whole grainy, but that is what I love about it. I am lucky that I don’t have to disguise healthy foods in order for my little guy to eat them. Rice, whether white or brown, he’ll gladly eat. In fact, he was opening up the boxes of rice before I planned on cooking them. As I prepared the rice for the egg rolls, danced around singing, “Riiice, riiice, riiice.”

The egg rolls came out pretty good, but I have some tweaks to make before I go public with the recipe (like frying in peanut oil). Here’s the footage.

So back to the whole grain rice. It is very good. Like I said, it does taste a little like whole grain, but if your picky eater picks at food because of its appearance, then the hint of whole grain flavor shouldn’t matter. In the egg rolls, you can’t really taste the whole grain flavor since there’s all kinds of other flavor combos going on, but alone with a little butter and salt; definitely.

Stay tuned for some yummy egg roll recipes once I get everything perfected and measured!

I wrote this review while participating in a blog campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Uncle Ben’s and received samples to facilitate my candid review. Mom Central will send me a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.

Filed Under: In The Kitchen, Reviews disclosure 6 Comments

March 17, 2010 No Comments

I’m in the process of taking the wayback machine through old photos of Jayden. Since his 2nd birthday is right around the corner, I figured, why not create a book documenting his first 2 years? Mom Central and American Greetings PhotoWorks teamed up to offer me the opportunity to create a baby themed Studio Book. I’m having so much fun creating the book, sifting through folders of photos, swapping backgrounds, layouts, elements, and fonts. I’m trying to tastefully cram as many photos as I can on each page. I’ve taken so many pictures over the years! I’d like to show you guys what I have so far by linking to the digital version, but I don’t want to expose my little man’s squishy baby booty. So the screenshot up there *points up* will have to do. I’m using a lot of stars since they are age neutral. After Jayden’s second birthday, I’ll upload the very last photos and I’ll update with the finished product when it arrives. Stay tuned!

I wrote this semi-review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of American Greetings PhotoWorks and will receive a free photo book to facilitate part two of my review.

Filed Under: Reviews disclosure No Comments