Steal the Look: Angelina's Diamond Studs

I've never owned a pair of diamond studs, but seeing Angelina wear them from everything to a walk in the park to the red carpet makes me wish I had a pair. I've been doing some research on these beauties and it seems Anglina's earrings are most likely a minimum of 4 carats of flawless diamonds set in platinum. Something like that would cost well over $10,000, perhaps even more depending on the quality of the diamond. I don't think I'll ever have the money to get the real deal, especially since all my savings are going to hell in a handbasket in the stock market, but I think I've finally found a faux pair online that would pass for studs just like Angelina's.

4ct Absolute 14K Round Stud Earrings, $45.95

Check these babies out ladies, 4 carats (2 carats per ear) of simulated diamonds set in 14K gold. For me, the 14 K gold setting is key, because my ears are allergic to the nickel/metal plating done on most costume jewelry. I don't care if they're not real diamonds, I just want the sparkle and the look of real ice, without breaking into a rash or going broke. Besides, when Marilyn Monroe said diamonds are a girl's best friend, she didn't say they had to be real diamonds. For me, faux friends will do just fine.


UPDATE:
I actually ordered these, and ended up returning them soon after because I found the size of the studs too big for my ears. There's no question these were beautiful earrings, but I think my earlobes are too small to accommodate 2 carat stones. They ended up looking fake and over the top instead of subtle and glamourous. I think faux studs in the 2 or 3 carat range would have been a better choice.


Angelina pics via Just Jared.

Check Out the $5 Dollar Bling at Amrita Singh

I love how all the fashions of South Asia have slowly been merging in with Hollywood. First it was the lehnga-style skirts (remember those crinkle skirts from Express in the early 90's?), then the kurtis, the sari-style dresses made popular by J.Lo, and now more recently, the jewelry.

Everything from bangles, pendants, to the chandelier earrings, desi style is in. Wearing lots and lots of bangles on one arm, or both, is one of my favorite fashion trends of the moment, and the designer who I think is bringing us the the most practical way to achieve this look, in the US anyway, is Amrita Singh.

Her costume jewelry line, Bangle Bangle, represents everything I look for in everyday wear jewelry. The style is the perfect blend of east meets west, practical, affordable, and very well-made. And right now, you can get a whole mess of it for only $5 bucks!

Here are some of my fav picks from the $5 sale:

I love this bangle mainly for the color, orange, which is so in right now. The flower detail and the fact it's made of kiddie-proof wood doesn't hurt either. (If you've ever had a flimsy metal bangle or even 22kt gold hoop earrings squeezed into a D-shape by a curious child's hands, you'll know what I'm talking about here.) I really love wood bangles for how practical and durable they are. This is a great piece to add color and interest to any outfit, especially if you're wearing a white t-shirt and jeans.

I like thin bangles like this for layering. The green ones are sold out, but the red ones are still in stock.

Isn't this piece just stunning? This is actually a 3 piece metal bangle set, which you can wear alone, or layer with others. Whichever way you wear it, the sparkle in this is sure grab attention. I could even wear this with my desi clothes. And it's such a steal for only $5 bucks!

There's a few other pieces I'm eyeing at Amrita Singh too, mainly this beautiful wood cuff:



Scalloped Edge Bangle, $24


and this stack of bangles.



11 Piece Bangle Set with White Stones,$30



It's a tough choice choosing between the gold and silver bangles in this design, but I think silver is the more wearable color for me. It's better for casual, everyday wear.

photo source: drew barrymore, shopamritasingh.com

Cruisin' With My Homies

Again, sorry for the much overdue update, but we just got back from a much needed, and quite possibly the best vacation I've ever taken in my life, a week long trip to the Bahamas on a Disney Cruise. This was our first time on a cruise, and I'm glad we chose the Disney line over any other. We were looking for a family-friendly cruise, and Disney definitely fit the bill in every way. Plus, the kids loved it too because they got to interact with characters and themes they were already familiar with and adore. (The girls are gaga over Disney Princesses and my son loves anything to do with Playhouse Disney). We had done the Disney World tour thing in Orlando last year for vacation, and although we all really enjoyed walking around the parks and seeing the shows, we were exhausted by the end of the trip. Standing in long lines all day for 3 minute rides, bathrooms, food, etc.. really zapped the energy out of us. This year we decided to try something different by going on a cruise, and I'm glad we did because it was the first time we went on a vacation and all of us actually got to relax and have fun.

I think the best part of the vacation, aside that I didn't have to cook or do laundry for an entire week, was that I didn't have to watch the kids for a good part of each day. All of them were enrolled in The Oceaneers Club, a playgroup for kids ages 3-7, where they got to hang out with children their own age, make crafts, dance, play, and meet the Disney characters face to face, even the girls' favorite, Belle! The Oceaneers Club was such a fun place to be, the kids would beg us to drop them off after breakfast each morning, and usher us to just "Go! Go!" after they got signed in. The supervisors were great, and even hooked me up with a pager in case somebody wanted to be picked up early, but that rarely happened. The staff in the Club took care of everything, from making sure they ate their lunch and dinner, to reading them a story before naptime, and most importantly, making sure everyone took frequent bathroom breaks. It was perfect, and just the kind of break all of us were looking for.

I'd like to say that with my kid-free time on the ship, I went to the ship's spa and got one of those fancy stone massage treatments, but they were damn expensive, so I didn't. Instead, I used my free time to do a little shopping on the island with the husband, eat, drink, and roam around aimlessly. It was the best fun ever.

Now we're back, about 5 lbs. heavier from overindulging in all the awesome food onboard, and slowly settling back into our normal routines. I spend a good part of last week helping my son catch up with all the homework he'd missed in kindergarten. Who knew kindergarteners had so much work to do? And you know, the homework really is for me. If I don't keep track of all his assignments and make sure he gets them done, it's me who gets in trouble with the teacher, not him, because I'm the one who the assignments are given to. I'm usually up-to-date with all his homework, but with all the hustle and bustle over the holidays, I came this close to completely forgetting about his Flat Stanley project. Luckily, I had left a giant Post-it note on the fridge with the words "Don't Forget To Mail Flat Stanley!" to remind me. My original plan was to take Stanley with us to the Bahamas and mail him from there, but he was accidentally left home alone. When I got back, I overnighted the paper dude to my sister in Pennsylvania with a note to please send him back to school with a picture of a tourist attraction in PA. It's so crazy. My son, all he did was color Stanley in rainbow colors and bring him home with the instructions. I'm the one doing all the work, and yet I'm taking a most unusual interest in it. I hope I..... I mean, my son gets an A.

Happy Holidays!

Whether you're celebrating Eid, Hannukah, Christmas, Kwaanza, or Festivus for the Rest of Us this holiday season, here's to wishing you all have a good one. We've been busy having our family over and the kids have been having loads of fun with their cousins. It's so cute to watch them play with each other. The girls have all been up in the twins' room playing dress up, while the boys have been having a non-stop Wii playing marathon. This Wii thing is amazing, I get to play too when the kids take a break from it. You may not know this, but I used to be quite the Nintendo expert when I was younger. I played so much Nintendo, I could solve Mario and Legend of Zelda blindfolded. (Yes, I had no life outside of school.) But now, everything is super advanced and I'm finding it much harder to get through the Mario game on the Wii. My five year old can figure it out better than I can. The husband, meanwhile, has a preference for the Sony Playstation, and has been playing some game called Assasin's Creed downstairs in the basement with his brother. I can't even begin to understand the Playstation, and judging by the amount of gore in the game, I don't really want to right now, but it's fun to watch him play. The graphics are so real, it's like watching a movie unfold before your very eyes, with you in the director's seat. Suffice it to say, our holiday weekend so far has been full of gaming. Tomorrow, when the malls open, we'll try to get out of the house a little more.

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year! And don't forget to check out this video greeting by Jib Jab highlighting the biggest headlines in pop culture for 2007.

Don't send a lame Holiday eCard. Try JibJab Sendables!

Testing.....Testing....I'm still here...

No, I didn't run away (yet), I'm still here. Sorry it's been so long since I last updated. I think you all probably guessed I've been extra busy with the kids. It's really hard managing them at this age because they're old enough to voice their opinions and fight with each other, but not old enough to go to school for a full-day. I actually did start a search over the summer for a part-time babysitter to help me out a few times a week, but I stopped after I realized everyone was charging the same exorbitant rate: $25 an hour to watch three potty-trained, self-feeding toddlers. Umm yeah, that's so not gonna happen. I'd rather put on a Disney movie on the tv and go hide in my closet for a while to get some "me-time" than pay someone $25 an hour to watch them. [In fact, that's what I'm doing right now ;)] I went through pre-screened, reputable nanny agencies to save myself the trouble of doing the background checks myself, so I'm wondering if that's why the rates were so high. I didn't expect to pay more than $10 an hour, because after all, the job I need the sitter to do only entails watching a movie with the kids, playing with them, serving them dinner, and making sure they brush their teeth and go to the bathroom before tucking them into bed. I don't believe it should cost more than $10 to do that, and if it does... hey, I should start working as a babysitter myself and start making some money. What's a few more kids, if I'm getting paid money like that to watch them?

My friends keep telling me to put up an ad in the local high school for a babysitter, so I'm going to check there next. I just have to get over my trepidation about hiring a high schooler to watch my kids. My parents did that when we were young, and the babysitter ended up having a schnapps party with her friends after my parents left. Even her boyfriend came over. My parents were so furious when they found out, they refused to leave us alone with a sitter until I turned 15, when I became the official babysitter for my little brother and sister. I think they gave me $5 for the whole time they were out for the night, child labor was cheap back then.

Other than that, we had a pretty low-key Thanksgiving. My parents are touring the world these days and were out of town, so we ended up going to Philly to show the kids historical landmarks and such. They didn't really care about Independence Hall or the Liberty Bell, but they sure did enjoy the Please Touch Museum. The museum was hands down their favorite part of the whole trip, I don't know why we wasted our time at the other stops. For once, they could touch everything, and it felt good not to have to tell them "No... don't touch" or "You can't......" Plus, there's a pizza place that serves authentic Philly cheesesteaks right across the street when it's time for lunch, so it was an ideal place to take the family.

I want to write more, but my time is running out, I hear a fight breaking out downstairs, but before I go, I have to tell you I met THE Clinton Kelly, of "What Not to Wear" at Macy's. I didn't get to speak to him or ask him my fashion disaster question, mainly because I looked like a totally grungy "Before" when I went to the mall that day, but I did get to hear him speak. The focus of his workshop was style tips for Petites and Moms, both of which applied to me, I'll let you know more about it in my next post.

Hope ya'll had a Happy Thanksgiving!

When Bed Hoppers Attack

To say I'm exhausted and tired of being a mom would be an understatement. I'm so tired of this 24/7-thankless-cleaning-mess-all-day job, I wish I could run away for a few days like Ashley Judd did in the "Ya Ya Sisterhood" movie and sleep in a hotel with no phone, no computer, no communication with the outside world. There is just always something to clean around here. Always. And I want to get away from it.

Yesterday, I did eight loads of laundry and washed the waterproof mattress pads and bedsheets for every bed in the house except the guest room bed. All because my youngest, who I now call The Bed Hopper, came into my room at 4 am and peed all over my bed. Under normal circumstances, this would not have warranted washing four beds, but of course, everything that happens to me seems to happen exponentially. In her attempt to find a drier place to sleep, she wound up leaving pee stains on every bed in the house, I think she even peed on her brother because he woke me up in the morning wondering why his clothes felt damp when he swears he didn't have an accident. The Bed Hopper didn't try to hide it at all, in fact, she confessed first thing in the morning saying, "Accidents happen. Can you give me a bubble bath?" I ended up having to give all three of them a bath because everyone had been tainted by The Bed Hopper's pee.

It took me all day to wash and change the beds, in addition to doing all the other laundry I had been procrastinating. I got done around 10 pm last night, watched Fantastic Four on DVD (the highlight of my day), and went to bed only to wake up to another round of chaos. It just doesn't end. Most of this morning was spent arguing with the kids about why they can't wear summer clothes to school anymore (because it's freezing outside, that's why!), dressing them, trying to make them eat at least a graham cracker before going to their 2-hour schools, and trying to find my damn cell phone. I didn't even notice my cell phone was missing until I got in the car to take the kids to school. I was so furious, we were already running late and now this. But I had to find my phone because I never drive without it. I finally found it under my bed after calling it five times and playing Follow the Ringtone around the house. Thank goodness the phone was switched to "ON" when it was lost.

Today, I'm just tired. I wanted to come here and write about something a little less whiney, but I just couldn't muster anything else. I hate that the kids don't nap anymore, and when I ask them to do something, like clean up the mess they just made, they act like they didn't even hear me. I could be yelling at them with a megaphone and they still wouldn't hear me. I have to repeat myself over and over again just to be heard. I'm trying hard to keep it together and "enjoy this time" like all the older mothers I run in to keep telling me, but I'm finding it hard to do when most of my day is spent cleaning up after them. One mess after another. The only reason I'm even enjoying this blissful moment to complain is because I'm letting the twins TP (toilet paper) the family room. And spread goldfish crackers all over the carpet. It's worth it though, because I figure vacuuming crackers and picking up tp shreds is a piece of cake compared to doing a mountain of laundry.

Would You Like Astroglide With That?

It's amazing how much useless, but interesting, trivia I've acquired by reading old magazines in the bathroom. My most recent find is discovering that the concoction known as Cool Whip, one of my favorite dessert toppings since childhood, is actually just one step up from eating condom lube. Gross, and here all this time I thought it was a version of real whipped cream. I've even eaten it on it's own right out of the box with a big spoon!

According to the article in the April 2007 issue of Wired magazine (yeah, the magazine's been sitting in the bathroom that long!) Cool Whip is nothing but air, water, and sugar, rolled in with wax (yummy!), and a lubricant called Polysorbate 60, better known as a sexual lubricant and a key ingredient in Astroglide.

What else is in there besides this? Here's a list of the main ingredients in Cool Whip, as detailed in the article:

Water

Natural and Artificial Flavorings (more artificial than natural, I'm guessing)

Corn Syrup and High-Fructose Corn Syrup (refined sugars guaranteed to make you fat)

Hydrogenated Coconut and Palm Kernel Oil (trans fats, not good for you)

Polysorbate 60 (hello astroglide)

Sodium Caseinate (a milk protein found in non-dairy creamers, not real cream)

Sorbitan Monostearate (sometimes used as a hemorrhoid cream)

Xanthan and Guar Gums (to keep it fluffy, like it was just whipped fresh when it really wasn't)


Umm, yeah. Aside from the water, not one ingredient on this list is something I'd like to consume on it's own, especially the hemorrhoid cream part. Ewww. I kind of regret having this newfound knowledge of Cool Whip, ignorance was bliss. Now that I know what it can double for, I'm going to have second thoughts before I ever make that "Pudding in a Cloud" recipe again. I think I'll just stick with Reddi Wip from now on. Even though Reddi Wip comes out of an aerosol can, at least it's made out of real cream.




photo credit: Thomas Hannich, Wired Magazine