Thursday, June 30, 2011

True Vintage

I had to share this; Miss Gemma Grace is sporting some true vintage today - she's wearing an outfit that I wore at a similar age back in 1978!  I would share who it was made by but there's no longer a tag.....I'm assuming Chocolate Soup.

 Isn't this darling?


Wednesday, June 29, 2011

I should change my name

I mean, my blog name.  To Mascara Meets J. Crew.

Every catalog I get in the mail has more stuff I heart!

A few things I'm coveting.......

Boho Embroidered Top  - perfect with cut off denim shorts (and some wedges)

Linen Summer Fling Sweater - this is especially cute in the cinnamon spice color, paired with the below shorts

Wild Ikat Chino Short - Ikat is perfect for a short - not too much print, just enough.

the Jemaa Ballet Flat - they totally spelled Gemma wrong, but I still love them.  ;-)

Lucca Suede Sandals - in aged driftwood. Yummy.

the Greta Canvas Wedge - as you can see, I'm in a bit of a neutral mode.......but neutral looks great with my other summer favorite - HOT PINK!   




  

Monday, June 27, 2011

The No-Power Hours

I must re-cap last week.  Just in case I forget - the next time the power goes out for 3 days - what to do.  Arrrggghh!!!!

Monday:  Best day of the week.  Got up at 6:30am, did my Tracy Anderson workout, out the door by 9 to drop Griffin off for his 1st day of camp (big day!!) and then to work for myself.  Griffin did great at the drop-off, acted like it was old-hat.  See ya later Mom!!!

Had a quick Wonder meeting, then sped downtown to be a guest speaker at Frankie's Fashion Camp - held at the darling tween boutique in Lincoln Park, Frankie's on the Park.  I was so honored to have been asked to speak to the girls at Fashion Camp, and they were great listeners and asked some mature questions about the fashion industry for their ages of 10 and 11.  I was wowed!!  By the way - how lucky are these Chicago girls that there is such a thing as 'Fashion Camp,' right?  Within a week, they work on what it takes to design your own line, listen to guest speakers who work in and around the fashion world, do fashion shows...the list goes on!  My 10 yr old former self is JEALOUS.

Tuesday:  Seemed to be a normal day - went out to dinner with some friends from Madison who are moving to the Chicago area soon, came home, put kids to bed, and had just gotten out of the shower when my husband announced that we were under a Tornado warning.  Joe gets pretty amped up about these things - I admit they worry me too, but a little less-so since I grew up in Kansas City and we did go down in the basement a lot when the tornado sirens went off.  Lo and behold, the sirens went off at about 9.  I in my robe grabbed Gemma out of her crib (she was NOT happy to be woken up), Joe grabbed Griffin, and we went into the basement with the dogs.  All would have been fine had there not been a large 'CRACK!' sound and when that happened the power of course went out, and the insanity began.

Griffin started panicking about the power being out and kept trying to turn the lights back on, Joe was doing his best to maintain his composure yet still freaking out, and I was holding Gemma, who I soon realized had a gigantic poop in her diaper.  Mmmm.........so stinky I brought some wipes and a fresh diaper downstairs and attempted to change it in the dark.  Of course since I couldn't see much by the light of my IPhone a big ball of poop rolled out of her diaper and onto my leg.  Since it was my own kids' poop I wasn't super grossed out - it was pretty funny actually.  Griffin was like "Gemma's poop fell out Mommy!!!!"

Anyway - long story short - no tornado.  But 80 mile an hour winds which knocked out the power all over the suburbs.  Hence, no power that night.

However the Tuesday night adventure does not end there.  Bella, my endlessly nervous cocker spaniel, started crying from the mudroom at about 3:30am.  So, I trudged downstairs, only to be greeted with a smell reminiscent of the bottom of a garbage can.  Downright nasty.  She had thrown up and had you know what all over the mudroom - and then walked all over in it.  Poor Nani (our other more laid back cocker spaniel) had also walked around in it and was looking at me like - get me the hell out of here!!!  At the time, I thought she had kind of lost her cookies b/c of all of the beeping (the house alarm would NOT stop beeping even though the power was out) and the lack of routine from that evening.  Anywho - spent about 30 min cleaning up you know what and barf from the mudroom, letting the dogs out, putting barfy/poopy towels in the garage, and went back to bed.  4:30 rolls around - and it's time for round 2 of barfy/poopy mess.  Seriously.  I cleaned the mudroom twice in one hour.

Wednesday:  Wake up, no power.  Dangit. At this point, we know everything in our fridge was a goner.  What a colossal waste!!  Still went to work though (we worked out of the local Courtyard Marriott b/c Wonder didn't have power either).  Came home from work, threw out entire contents of fridge, along with the nasty towels from the dogs' episode the night before, and went to Whole Foods for dinner.  Oh - gave the kids a chilly bath - which they didn't mind really.

Thursday:  Still no power.  But Joe and I needed to shower.  So I took an ice cold shower at 7am which really works in terms of waking you up, fyi!  While he showered I was amused by the pre-pubescent 'aaah's' and 'ooohs' coming from the bathroom, that's for sure.  Again, went to work and came home - still no power.  That night I paid bills by flashlight.  I had to do something!  Didn't even have our wireless network, so I couldn't browse on my laptop or anything, and couldn't use my phone b/c playing on there would drive down the battery which we couldn't charge anywhere except the car.  Good times.  At this point - totally over it.

Friday:  6:30 am - still no power.  Had to drive Griffin to an appointment, and decided that no one cares what my hair looks like.  Or at least if they do, I don't care.  3 days without any kind of styling product or hot iron or shower - it was reminiscent of what my hair looked like as a kid!  Frizzy and in a ponytail.  Must mention that I got downstairs and ready to leave with Griffin for the appointment, and smelled the bottom of a garbage can again coming from the mudroom.  Turns out Bella wasn't nervous on Tuesday night - she must have had a bug - b/c this time Nani had covered the mudroom in poop.  Sweet.  This time though - Mommy didn't have to clean it up - we had to leave - so I went upstairs, and quietly whispered this to Joe in his half-awake mode: "Honey, Nani barfed and had diarrhea all over the mudroom.  It's horrible.  But I have to leave so you're going to have to clean it up.  Bye."  BAHAHAHAHAHAHAA...............I later learned that he didn't appreciate this - but what was I supposed to do??  Go in there and freak out and yell about the mess in the mudroom?  No! I figured a quiet whisper of the details was all he needed at that time of the day.  I'm still laughing.  

Got home from the appt at 9 - AND GLORIOUSLY - the power had returned.  Yahoo!!!!!!!!!!  I must admit this little adventure afforded me the opportunity to clean out the fridge (and actually clean it, you know, with windex and stuff), and restock.  Went to Costco, the grocery, had a grand ol' time.

Thank you old man weather - you threw us for a loop this week!  We learned that we don't HAVE to watch TV every night, or play on the computer, but it sure is nice.

Friday, June 17, 2011

Happy Father's Day to 4 Great Dads!

To the patriarch of the Luci - Love you Grandpa!  

Happy Fathers Day to a wonderful Husband and Daddy!

Could this picture be any cuter Papa Gio?  Love you!

Dad, you are SUCH a wonderful Papa to my kids,  'thanks' doesn't cover it!  We love you!

Thursday, June 16, 2011

One Good Week

Serious about playing in the water

I took a blogging break last week - as usual, when I have a 'blog break' it's totally unplanned.  Life just gets in the way of me and my laptop!

So let's see........what happened the week of June 6th:

  • had our first HOT HOT days of summer and went to the splash-park for the first time this summer (and the first time ever with Gemma, she LOVED it).


Look at my big boy and then those legs on Gemma!

  • My Mom's Birthday - Happy 49th again Mom!
  • My Birthday - yes, 29 again!


Me and my wonderful Birthday dinner organizer, my husband!
As you can see, I wore 'the dress' that I blogged about a few weeks ago - it was FAB!   Can't wait to find another excuse to wear a hot pink dress......
  • was offered a full time position at Wonder! as the Senior Apparel Buyer (infant and children's apparel and shoes), wahoo!

  • accepted the full time position at Wonder!, double wahoo!

  • sadly notified my sales managers at LSpace and PilyQ that I can't be their midwest rep anymore (tiny tears, these women are the best to work for and I truly enjoyed doing this for the short time that I did)

  • ate a scrumptious Sweet Mandy B's cupcake

  • received a BEAUTIFUL new David Yurman ring from my hint-taking husband... ;-)

  • had an amazing birthday dinner with GREAT friends at Piccolo Sogno; we sat on their amazing patio complete with 3 heat lamps because somehow, on June 11, the high was only 65 degrees!  Oh the Midwest, I love/hate you.




  • at the birthday dinner, I must mention that my husband ate not one, not two, but three entrees.  Seriously.


  • spent the night at the Westin downtown after said birthday dinner so we could both enjoy some amazing wine and not have to designate a driver, therefore sleeping until whenever we felt like it


  • for us, 'sleeping in' is now defined as simply not waking up to 'Mama!!!!  Daddy!!!!! I'm ready to get up!!!!'


Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Jonathan Adler IS summer


Right?  Everything Jonathan Adler does seems summery and fun.  From beach bags to picture frames the colors and stripes and prints always make me happy.  

I have come across so many fab things from him lately I had to share...




All of these are different versions of his 'Countess Tote' available on Shopbop.com for $198.



All of these Jonathan Adler frames are available on Amazon.com for only $14.95!  So cute!  

Loving these magnetic boards - they'd really punch up an otherwise dreary office.
Also on Amazon.com, $17.99

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Pink Chicken New York


For my new job as the senior apparel buyer for Wonder! (more on that in a later post this week, promise), in a short time I have already come across some DARLING lines for babies and kids.  I am in LOVE with this one called Pink Chicken, which is definitely going to be in the Wonder! store and website come Fall.  

Allow me to introduce....


pink chicken is designed and owned by Stacey Fraser, a 15-year fashion veteran
(babyGap, Tommy Hilfiger, Old Navy, Ralph Lauren) and mother-of-two.
after the birth of her second daughter, this Virginia-native wanted to take some time off,
away from seventh avenue and raise her family. but stacey couldn't get designing out of her head,
and with two perfect muses available everyday… pink chicken was hatched!


You can find more info about Pink Chicken on their website, and shop online if you so desire (you will).  But, a few of my favorites from the current spring/summer collection that Miss Gemma would look adorable in:






Thursday, June 2, 2011

some special pictures

I recently road-tripped it back to Kansas City with the kids to get in some family time before the summer gets really busy.  Always on my list of things to do when i'm home is to make a trip up to St Joseph, MO, where my Grandpa still lives.  He is the proud patriarch of a decently sized Lucas family (my maiden name); he has 4 kids of his own, 8 grandchildren and 9 great-grandchildren to date!  

I think these pictures are very special - there are 80-something years in between Gemma and her Great Grandpa, but they look as if they're old buddies on their first meeting.


All smiles


Checking Grandpa out

He is an old pro at holding babies, right!?

Enter my Dad and Griffin (who was NOT into taking pics)

A good time had by all
One more thing - TODAY is my Grandpa's 88th birthday!  

Happy Birthday Grandpa!  

As I said on the phone earlier - I hope that when I am 88 i look and feel as good as you!  Cheers to you today!


Love,
Mollie

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Giveaway Time.....on Apparently Obsessed

Hey all!

Want to win a cute pair of earrings from one of my fav's, Stella and Dot???



Head on over to Apparently Obsessed to enter the giveaway!  

my Superhero party inspiration


Remember Griffin's 3rd Birthday party I posted about?  Click HERE if you don't, or want a recap.  I completely drew inspiration from my cousin-in-law Angie who has a lot of experience in this  department - she has two boys.  :-)

When we were in Kansas City, we totally lucked out and got to attend Angie's older son Grant's 6th birthday party.  It was at a place called Leaping Lizards (a gigantic bounce-house basically).  The kids had a BLAST, and again, Angie outdid herself.  Grant requested yet another Superhero party - but this time he raised the stakes:


He wanted Superman, Batman, Flash, and Green Lantern capes for his favors.  I just did Batman and thought that took a lot of time. Whew!!!  A lot for a Mommy to make.  But Angie delivered.  

Enjoy the pics!

Handmade Banners - Perfect, right?

Look at the favor bags - perfection down to the tissue that matches!

Close-up on the bags (so I can remember to copy this, ha)

Cupcake Superhero mania

More Cupcake mania
More fabulous homemade banners

Griffin & Hudson (Birthday Boy's brother, who is Griffin's age) mowing down some cupcakes.  I don't have the pics, but Griffin literally later made-out with his frosting.  HILARIOUS.

FINALLY - Grant, our birthday boy (the one in the middle flashing a smile)

Grant showing off his cape and mask 

He patiently stood still so i could get a pic of his cape - Angie lined it this time on the inside with a silky fabric, the outside is a crushed velvet.  Her first capes (prior parties) were just the crushed velvet, so this time the ante has been upped with the silky lining - MUCH more durable for wild wild boys.....

Griffin of course got a Batman cape - and he was EXCITED!  I love the silver lining - rock star!

Showing me his superhero skills (with sound effects, can you tell?)

I snuck a pic of the Flash Cape - darling.



Great great job Angie!  I was VERY impressed - you should start up an Etsy shop!  I can't wait to see what you come up with next time.......