Need a great ballet flat for fall? Look no further...

Sam Edelman's got you covered.

The Calypso - the perfect quilted ballet flat.

I discovered these over the summer from an InStyle ad - and have now found that they are made in tons of fabulous variations. And at $99, what a great deal! They are a little Chanel, a little Ferragamo, and a lot cute. Here are my favorites:

Nude Leather

Black Suede

Smoke Stack (Suede)

And Cheetah.....for those of you who love a good animal print! Just make sure not to wear anything else that's animal print while donning......K?

If I had to spend my fall budget all in one place.....

It would DEFINITELY be at

My husband and I walked in there last Saturday to check it out, and I said that exact thing to him - If I had to buy all my fall pieces in just one store this year, it would be J Crew! It looks amazing. Not only do the clothes look amazing - spot on in terms of wearable trends and fashion - but they also have made some GREAT partnerships. Well, they are calling it 'J Crew in good company.' Click HERE to see all the brands they have partnered with.

Noteables that I love and that are affordable? Madewell, Essie, and Stila. At the J.Crew store you can buy Madewell Skinnies, Essie nail polish, and Stila lip gloss. Great cross branding, J. Crew! You have made me want all 3.

Here is a sneak peek of their fabulosity:

Convertible Cuff Gloves, $98

-the perfect accessory for cold weather this year; chic and warm.

The Benny Blazer, $168

-pair this knit blazer with some distressed skinnies and ankle boots, and you're trendy without overdoing it.

Miller Motorcycle Boots, $250

-What wouldn't I wear these with? Black is my choice, since they have that moto-edgy feel.

Fenton/Fallon for J Crew Carrington Crystal Bow Necklace, $295

-A bit pricey, but WELL WORTH IT! This necklace will go with your white tank/Benny Blazer/distressed jeans/moto boots look, as well as with a strapless LBD. I love it! I used to buy the Fallon line for bop, and I was always impressed with their unique pieces. LOVE!

So tell me, do you all love what J Crew is doing as much as I do right now??

I Heart BabyLegs

So we've had some cooler weather here in Chicago - a little autumnal tease if you will (and I will), and I finally got the chance to stick Gemma in a basic long sleeved onesie and......Babylegs Legwarmers!

O.M.G. they are the cutest things I've ever seen. I have no idea why I didn't have these on my chubby little Griffin a couple of years ago.

Babylegs makes boys and girls legwarmers, socks, and girls' tights, but the legwarmers are my favorite for Gemma's age. I'm sure once she's more of a toddler the tights will be my first choice.

Here are some of my favorites for fall:

Skee Ball (look at those ruffles!), $12

Plie, $12 - adorable with an all pink onesie, or all white.

Rainbow, for a touch of the 80's that WE all grew up in....$12

And for boys, the Goal legwarmers are the CUTEST, $12

The site also sells them in bundles - what a great baby gift right? With the number of pregnant friends I have right now.....some of you might be receiving these! They are a steal - on sale right now - 3 for $15! How is that possible? There are 5 different bundles to choose from - this is my choice in terms of versatility for girls:

Pink and Purple Party Bundle, $15

Finally, as we are nearing Halloween, I would be remiss if I didn't tell you they have Halloween styles - adorable. And unisex. So fun.

These Bat-tastic legwarmers would be PERFECT for a baby boy this season, also $12:

I'm back. And wishing for Top Siders.

So I've taken a bit of a break from the blog world. Pardonnez moi. I wish I could say I took some sort of a mini Eat, Pray, Love break (and was paid for it too), but instead I've been at home trying to figure out this whole 'having a newborn and a two year old' thing. Yes that's in quotations because who knew that being a stay at home mom of more than one kid could be so tough! However let me follow that up with the fact that I feel tremendously lucky to be ABLE to stay at home with my 2 amazing children - they are only this little once!

All Mom's of two or more out there - I wish I'd said this sooner but you're all amazing! This is one tough job. I'm slowly figuring it out, and I know that once I start getting more sleep I'll feel more like myself, but for now I'm still in a bit of a zombie phase.

Every couple of nights Gemma (she's 5 weeks now) gives me 4 + hours of sleep at a time. When that happens, whoa I feel like a new woman. When it doesn't, I feel like, well, hungover.

So today I'm declaring that I'm back to my blog - and I'm not going to put any pressure on myself to do more than ONE post a week. That may be all you see for a while.

However, it's time for fall fashion, and I have been poring through my many magazines daily getting so excited for what's to come. In fact just today, my gigantic InStyle arrived in the mail. Wahoo! It's so heavy lifting it up might qualify for a workout (that's how much exercising has been going on around here, haha).

My excitement for today was actually inspired by my good friend and colleague at bop, Kristin Hanefeld. Kristin took over at the store as the buyer and store manager when I left back in February, and I miss her dearly. I think she feels the same way about me - therefore we have quite frequent text parties in which we talk about all sorts of things.......what we love on shopbop, her crazy workload, my crazy kids, and of course both of our Starbucks addictions.

So yesterday we were talking about things we LOVE right now in fashion - and she mentioned her obsession with Sperry Top Sider shoes. SO funny, because I have been thinking I need a pair myself. My husband picked up a pair of laceless Sperry sneakers in the spring, and just went back and bought another pair because he wears them so much. Here they are:

Sperry Top Sider Men's Laceless CVO, $70, you can find these by CLICKING HERE.

Since I'm a bit of a Sperry Top Sider novice, and Kristin seems to know WHAT'S UP with the Top Siders as of late, I asked her to find some of her favorites to feature on my blog. She added that she used to wear Top Siders back in the day growing up whenever they were vacationing at their cabin in the summer (she's a Wisconsin girl, people, everyone does this). I also love that she says her Grandpa Hanefeld used to rock a pair of these - and then she says, and I quote " that man had some swagger." Love!

Enough blathering.....here are Kristin's favorites for the newly re-invented brand, along with her commentary below.

Original Barrel Lace by Jeffrey, $125, find them HERE

Kristin says: "very crazy, but I am a lover of neon and I think it would be a nice way to add a little spice to some dark denim!"

Original 2-Eye Boat Shoe, $75, find them HERE

Kristin says: "very authentic, very preppy, my mom had a pair of these growing up. She had no idea just how sport and cool she was, haha!"

Bahama Boat Shoe, $54.95, find them HERE

Kristin says: "Basically I am dying to get these, how cute are they? They have preppy written ALL over them."

Cloud Logo 2-Eye Boat Shoe, $90, find them HERE

These are actually MY favorite. To second Kristin, they are SO PREPPY (which i love!), and they'll go with anything and everything.

I'm excited Top Siders are back - what do you all think of this brand making a comeback?

My newest addition.....

I've been a bit absent from the blogworld - but for good reason!

Last Friday, July 9, my husband and I welcomed our daughter Gemma Grace into the world.

Here are some pics of the last few days....

Gemma with her hospital hat on....

Gemma and a very happy Mama!

Gemma wearing her very FIRST (of many) hair accessory.

Isn't she sweet?!

I can't believe I have a baby

GIRL!!!!!!

Gorjana Bracelet Giveaway Winners!

Happy 4th of July and CONGRATS to the two lucky winners of my giveaway!

Drum roll.....

The two winners are:

Angela Kuiper

&

Erin Leonard

Thank you to ALL of you for commenting on and reading my blog, I was so excited at the number of entries to my first ever giveaway.

Angela & Erin I'll be in touch!

Gorjana Bracelet Giveaway!

I am honored and thrilled to be announcing my first blog giveaway today! Yahoo!!!

A little background - from all of my time as a buyer and store manager for bop (shopbop.com's only store in Madison, WI) I managed to make a lot of friends and acquaintances in the fashion world. Probably my most valuable friendship has come from the makers of the jewelry line Gorjana.

I remember I met Gorjana (that's the designers name, and the name of the line) back in 2004 right before my wedding (aak! a long time ago!) when I was in NY on a buying trip. My associate and I loved the line upon walking into the booth, and immediately placed an order for bop. Gorjana performed amazingly well in the store, and then online as well. I was so happy that the line was doing well, and over the course of the next few years, I got to know the designer and her fabulous husband Jason even better. We (my husband and I) love getting together with Jason and Gorjana, and have shared a lot of great times together - hopefully lots more! Another odd thing we have in common - our sons share the same birthday, 1 year apart.

Anyway, they have been gracious enough to let me host a giveaway for one of my most favorite items they sell - their Graham leather wrap bracelet. Exciting part is - there will be TWO winners! Two of you will win a bracelet, not just one.

These retail at $55 a piece, and wrap three times around your wrist. They come in an amazing variety of colors with either gold or silver studding & hardware - see above. I must confess my favorite is of course the coral color:

But I also LOVE the fuschia - will add a little 'pop' to an LBD or jeans and a white tank:

I own a few of these myself, and have been wearing the heck out of them all spring and into this summer already. They are the perfect bracelet to layer - with each other, or with bangles, or whatever! They don't fall off (this is key, as some bangles might) or jangle annoyingly - basically the best bracelet for a girl on the go. One thing I love too about these is that as a Mom, I can throw these on and look stylish all day without even remembering they're on my wrist - well, until I receive a compliment - which I almost always do. I know that's kind of a hard feat to accomplish (looking stylish/wearing jewelry while chasing your kids around), and sometimes I just want to wear no jewelry, but then I remember the Mom I saw not too long ago in a Pittsburgh park in her pajamas with her hair a tangled mess and no make up. She was a GREAT reminder that getting up and looking nice always makes you FEEL nice!

So, if YOU would like to be the owner of one of these fabulous bracelets, all you have to do is:

• leave a comment on this post stating your favorite color (from the ones pictured above), and whether you'd like it with gold or silver studding/hardware.



• OR leave a comment on my facebook fan page (and become a fan!) - just click here Mascara Meets Matchbox, or when on facebook type Mascara Meets Matchbox in the search box.



• leave your email address so I can contact you



• commentary needs to be in by midnight this Saturday the 3rd, and I will announce the winners on Sunday the 4th of July!



• Winners will be picked randomly

And, if you simply must have one of these RIGHT NOW (I wouldn't disagree), I recommend shopping on either http://www.gorjana.com/, or http://www.shopbop.com/. Both sites have a great selection and a beautiful representation of all of the colors available.