March 2010

Talbots is Cool

March 29, 2010 at 11:12 am , by Sue Erneta

I love Michael Smaldone. Who’s he, you ask? Well, just the genius Creative Director who has transformed Talbots into a really cool brand. Have you noticed how good Talbots is looking lately? Michelle Obama has. And when the best dressed woman in America is wearing it, so should you.

It’s kind of crazy when my mom’s favorite brand is suddenly appealing to me—and I’m not even 40 yet! (Okay, I know I’m getting close but I still shop at American Eagle so clearly I’m fighting that “40-something-look” every way I can!) Their clothes are cut a little closer to the body now, and their jewelry is looking downright modern. And the bags? Don’t get me started on the bags. At their recent fall presentation, I was drooling over all the gorgeous (and well-priced) styles. You’ll have to wait for fall to get the get the one pictured here but you can find other great handbag styles on their website right now. I particularly love this little camel clutch so much that we featured it in our March fashion feature. I’m also dying over this python-embossed leather clutch. And bonus: Most bags cost well under $300, with many under $200.

If that wasn’t enough to get you running to your nearest Talbots, how about this: They’re not just promoting looking good, but they’re doing good too. Talbots is giving $200 gift cards to 600 female veterans as part of Maria’s Shriver’s WE Support program that helps veterans transitioning back to civilian life. In addition, 2,100 military spouses will receive Talbots 30% off discount cards. Now, that’s something that makes shopping feel even better.

Can Sandra Bullock’s Marriage Be Saved?

March 26, 2010 at 4:26 pm , by mhickey2

That’s the question that the New York Daily News posed to two of the marriage counselors who are behind Ladies’ Home Journal’s signature column. And the good news for Sandra and her biker husband Jesse James is that both of them think it can!  Despite the revelations that Jesse cheated on his glamorous and oh-so-loyal wife, marriage counselor Flo Rossof, who is one of our Can This Marriage Be Saved contributors, thinks the relationship can indeed be salvaged. “Sandra would have to get to a place where she could give her husband the gift of trust,” Rossof said.  Another one of our marriage counselors, Robin Newman, concurred. “Fight for your marriage, fight for it,” she advised Sandra. Of course, both marriage counselors stressed the fact that Jesse would have to put his cheating ways behind him.  And after reading about the latest revelations, I wonder if he’ll really be able to do that.

Cheat Sheet: 5 Things You Maybe Missed This Week

March 26, 2010 at 11:59 am , by Catherine LeFebvre

1. Health Insurance Reform Bill Passes
The most important legislation since the Civil Rights Act, or a step towards Fascism? Both opinions might be a bit extreme, but you be the judge. CBS does a nice job of explaining what exactly the bill does, and the Christian Science Monitor breaks down the economics of health reform.

2. Sarah Palin Comes to TLC
Cable network TLC confirmed  it will air Sarah Palin’s Alaska, an 8-part reality series. The former governor is teaming up with British TV producer Mark Burnett, best know for the reality show that started it all: Survivor. The series will show Palin in Alaskan locales, like on a salmon fishing boat. Filming starts this summer.

3. Baby on a Roomba

This isn’t exactly new, but it’s made everyone in our office happy this week, so I thought we’d share.

4. Wow this Cat Loves Physics
The Fox show Glee brought the once web-geeky fun of mashups, making a new song by overlaying the parts of two other songs, into popular culture. Now it’s easy for anyone to make a mashup with YouTube Doubler,  a site that lets you play two videos side-by-side. My favorite find so far is this cat’s reaction to magnetic force. Wow is it amazing.

5. Can This Marriage Be Saved?

Our most popular and longest-running column becomes a video series. Watch the rest of the videos here.

You Can’t Do “Cheers” With Plastic

March 25, 2010 at 10:54 pm , by Louise Sloan

“Cheers!” I said to my three-year-old son as I hoisted my glass at our favorite Mexican restaurant. “I can’t do cheers,” he replied, looking scornfully at his brightly colored cup. “It’s plastic.”

He was right, of course—his cup wouldn’t have made that all-important clinking sound.

At home, he insists on the glass Dr. Seuss drinkware and prefers to eat off ceramic or glass plates.

Junior snob, junior environmentalist, or both?

Time will tell. But it got me wondering about how cool it is, really, to eat off plastic. You’re told not to microwave it, yet some plastic is labeled “microwaveable.”  “BPA-free” is the buzzword in baby bottles, but there’s pretty much been silence when it comes to adults drinking out of plastic, eating off of melamine, etc.

I did some digging on the internet and was able to find very little on the topic of plastic tableware and safety.   Maybe this means it’s totally safe?  The plastics industry and the FDA say so. Personally, I’m with this one suspicious blogger. Do I really want to ingest even an FDA-approved amount of melamine?

On the other hand, as a contact lens wearer I put plastic on my eyes every day. What difference does it really make if my fork is occasionally scraping against plastic when my corneas have it pasted on them at least 14 hours a day?

At home, I have acrylic and other kinds of plastic cups and glasses, and a few melamine plates. But I find myself avoiding them, because of those lingering doubts—and because I don’t like the feel of them as much. As my son pointed out, they don’t clink.

What are your thoughts on plastic vs. glass and ceramic? Which do you prefer to drink out of—and is your preference about aesthetics, practicality, environmentalism or health?

We Are The World on YouTube

March 25, 2010 at 5:53 pm , by Ladies' Lounge

Talk about a striking a chord. One of the hottest videos on the web this week is  “We Are the World 25 for Haiti (YouTube Edition).” But there’s no Barbra Streisand. No Celine Dion or Pink. Instead, Canadian-born singer-songwriter Lisa Lavie recruited 57 unknown YouTube musicians from around the globe to collaborate on their very own rendition of the charity single, to raise awareness for Haiti earthquake victims.  “The singers recorded in their bathrooms, their closets, their bedrooms,” says Lavie. “They’re college students, receptionists—they don’t have access to real recording studios.” After “three days and one sleepless night” of editing, Lavie posted her heartfelt rendition on YouTube. To date, it has attracted an impressive 1.8 million views and counting. “I’m really proud of how everybody came together for this video,” says Lavie. “I don’t want people to think we did it for money—no one has made a penny off of it. This was about Haiti relief, and bringing as much awareness to the cause as we could.”

My Summer Countdown: DIY Herb Garden

March 25, 2010 at 5:11 pm , by nicole

Late March to mid-April is the best time to start thinking about your summer herb garden. Here, on the east coast, the weather just started to get warm after several snow day-worthy storms. There’s still a bit of frost in the air, so starting to grow seedlings indoors is a good idea to get a head start.  Homemade caprese salad isn’t as far away as you think.

A few herbs that are easy to grow include parsley, thyme, mint and basil.  Even you notorious plant killers with limited space shouldn’t be alarmed.  You can buy different varieties of seeds at a local gardening shop, and plant them in containers you find around the house — old pots, kitchenware and even cleaned olive oil cans poked with a few holes in the bottom for drainage work great.  Deborah Schneebeli-Morrell, author of Grow Your Own Herbs in Pots, suggests placing the growing plants near windows with plenty of light and moving them outside (in their containers) once the weather permits.  She notes that it’s important to transition the plants slowly to avoid overexposing them to the sun and causing them to dry out.

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How to Host a Kids’ Fashion Show Birthday Party

March 25, 2010 at 12:29 pm , by Sue Erneta

My daughter’s are lucky little girls. With a fashion editor for a mom, they get nice perks like an huge wardrobe of “mommy” shoes to play with and the chance to accompany me to really cool events like fashion shows. Ever since I took Sophia to the Rebecca Taylor show last year, she’s been playing “fashion show” at home. This fun game consists of putting on princess dresses, piling on accessories, and then strutting down the runway (aka: our family room). So, when Sophia recently turned five, I decided to host a fashion show birthday party. The kids had so much fun that I’d love to share my tips with you. And you don’t need to be a fashion editor to pull it off. What you’ll need:

1) Fashion show invitation. It said, “Please join us for the Sophia Erneta spring 2010 collection with a runway show starring you!” At the bottom of the invite, I listed pretend seating assignments “Section A, Row 1, Seat 5.” Everyone got a front row seat!

2) Princess dress-up outfits and pirate gear. If you have a young girl, you probably have dress up clothes, but if you don’t have enough, ask guests to wear a princess dress. I also got foam tiaras for the girls to decorate and foam pirate hats for the boys. When it was time to get dressed, the boys also got pirate tattoos (temporary, of course!), eye patches and bandannas. I just laid all the dresses out in my room for them to choose from. Surprisingly, there were no fights over which dress each girl got to wear.

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