Style Saturday: Labor Day Looks

Happy Saturday! Today, I'm sharing my favorite looks for Labor Day Weekend! YAY, for three day weekends!!

First up... Casual day look. This is a super comfy outfit for BBQ's, shopping, lunch or wearing over a bathing suit! By the way, I am so in love with gladiator sandals!

Labor Day Look #1 by scggirl featuring River Island

Aerie v neck t shirt / J Brand white shorts, $305 / Bucco brown shoes / Forever 21 brown bag / Brooks Brothers leather bracelet / Henri Bendel hoop earrings / River Island hair accessory, $9.94



Next is a dressier look. I love this for a party or dinner date! Gotta keep the red, white and blue theme going!

Labor Day Look #2 by scggirl featuring movado jewelry

Pinup dress / Platform shoes / Henri Bendel navy blue purse / Movado jewelry / BCBGMAXAZRIA rope chain bracelet / Sperry Top-Sider post earrings

So in love with this outfit. I need a pair of boyfriend jeans ASAP, like I am going to take advantage of all the Labor Day sales at the stores this weekend so I can get a pair (or two!)

Labor Day Look #3 by scggirl featuring crystal stud earrings

Gap striped top / Gap low-rise boyfriend jeans / Keds white sneaker / Merona hobo shoulder handbag / TechnoMarine stainless steel watch / Crystal stud earrings

Are you doing any Labor Day shopping this weekend?

Easy Fundraising For Your Child's School With Labels For Education® #Labels4Edu #cbias

Disclosure: This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc., and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone! #CollectiveBias #Labels4Edu

My son goes to our local public school. I love the school and always try to help out as much as I can. I was so glad to hear that this year, the school signed up for the Campbell's Labels for Education® program. It's an easy way to help the school raise funds for items they need just by purchasing your everyday kitchen staples. From soup to cereal to popcorn and yogurt, your kitchen is probably full of eligible Labels for Education® items!

I went online to the Labels for Education® website to see which items on my grocery list have the labels. It turns out most of them did. I also found coupons for items I was going to be purchasing. Talk about awesomesauce! Then, on my weekly grocery trip to Winn-Dixie, I picked up all my items. I did notice that the Labels for Educaiton® items were available in every aisle. The labels are on the following products: Campbell's, Prego, Swanson Broth, Danimals yogurt, Pop Secret Popcorn, V8 Fusion beverages, Emerald Nuts, Post cereals and many more!

The labels contain points on them. Some products labels are worth 1 point, some are 5 and there are even products that have double points. Our school's goal for the 2014-2014 school year is 50,000 points. 

I purchased 9 products that had the Labels for Education® on them and those 9 products totaled 21 points! 

Now to get Adrian to clip all the labels and then I will drop them off at the school's main office. It's that simple. There are 38 weeks in the school year and if we drop off 20 points a week, that's 760 points from our family alone. There are hundreds of families in his school. If most of the families help out, they can reach that 50,000 point wish this school year and be able to purchase all the items on their wishlist!! This is also an easy way to ask grandparents and other family members to help out your child's school using products they are probably already purchasing!

Want to help out even more? Enter the Labels for Education® Grand Stand for School Sweepstakes going on now. 1,000 schools will win $1,000 and one of those could be your child's school! I already entered and have asked all our family members to enter as well!

Do you collect Labels for Education® for your child's school?

$500 Disney Gift Card Giveaway

Who loves Disney? Raise your hands high, higher and even higher! Well, how does a $500 Disney Gift Card sound? Amazing right! Enter now for your chance to win a $500 Disney Gift Card that can be used for anything Disney! 

One off my favorite pictures from an early Disney trip with Adrian! We are long overdue for Disney!!

One winner will receive a $500 Disney Gift Card.

Giveaway ends September 19th at 11:59pm, open to US, ages 18+. Only one entrant per household, per address. Winner is subject to eligibility verification. Enter using the giveaway form below. Good luck!

Entry-Form

Disclaimer: The participating bloggers were not compensated for this post. No purchase is necessary to enter. One entrant per household, per address. Void where prohibited by law. Winner(s) will be contacted by email and have 48 hours to respond before a new winner is chosen. The sponsor(s) will be responsible for product shipment to winner(s) of this sweepstakes. This event is in no way administered, sponsored, or endorsed by, or associated with, Facebook and/or Twitter, Google, Pinterest. Contact teri@mompoweredmedia.com if you have any additional questions or comments.

Getting Into A Back To School Routine With Healthy Essentials® & Coupons! #Moms4JNJConsumer

Disclosure: This post is part of the HEALTHY ESSENTIALS® 2014 program by Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies, Inc., and The Motherhood, who sent me a box of products and compensated me for my time. Opinions, experiences and photos shared here are all my own and I hope you enjoy them.

We've been back in school for about two weeks now. It's been a quite a transition this year but thankfully we have already established our back to school routine! There are a couple steps to our routine and I make sure they are done in the same order and (pretty much) at the same time every day so the kids have gotten adjusted rather quickly.

 Tip #1: Set a firm bedtime!

Morning wake-up calls are at 7am so I make sure the kids are in bed by 8:30pm. No later! I started them back at this schedule one week before school even started. There is still complaining and attempts at negotiating this bedtime, but I stay firm. Lights out at 8:30pm!

Tip #2: Stock up on bath and hygiene products that your family loves. 

This one is important. I get home by 5:30pm and then have to start on dinner and homework help. I do not have time to go to the store because we ran out of shampoo or lotion. I stock up on all the Healthy Essentials® we need for at least 2 months at a time.

Tip #3: Hygiene is important. 

I know this seems like a no-brainer but you would be surprised at  how hard it is to get my kids to shower or brush their teeth. I have a set-up like this on the bathroom counter:

At 8pm, I turn off all electronics and TV shows and it's up to get ready for bed. We go through the nightly routine of shower (make sure to scrub!), hair washing (yes, you need to wash it!) and rinse (all the soap needs to come off!). The kids use Johnson's Baby Shampoo & Conditioner to wash their hair. I like it because it doesn't hurt their eyes so they mind it less than adult shampoo and it's a one-step system. If they had to shampoo and condition separately, forget it. Once they are out of the shower, they dry off and I make them use lotion on all their body. It's so important. I don't want their precious skin to dry out. Then it's teeth brushing and mouthwash. They use a kids mouthwash and I like the Listerine Healthy White. Gotta keep our pearly whites healthy!

Tip #4: Bedtime story!

I believe you are never to old for a bedtime story so I read one to the kids every night. We chose the book depending on how much time we have before "Light's Out." I think this helps them settle down and get ready for bed. It's also a special quiet time where I know they are actually listening to the words coming out of my mouth.

Tip #5: 5 minutes for Mom!

Seriously, take time, even if it's 5 minutes for yourself! I like to take at least 5 minutes for myself every night. I close the bathroom door and no one can come in! I'll shower, shave, brush my hair, anything ALONE! Getting back in a routine stresses me out and I get breakouts, so I'll use an Acne Wash like the grapefruit scrub from Neutrogena and Acne treatment on my face. This only lasts a couple of weeks but it happens every school year.

All these tips have helped us get into a routine rather quickly and I hope they help you too!

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While you are there, check out some of these great savings:

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10 Oh So True Quotes About Parenting

Lately, I've been having a hard time with this whole parenting thing. I usually go for the "provide your child with options" parenting-style but it's not as easy as it seems. Adrian is 7 and talks back ALL THE TIME. He knows everything. I am always wrong. It's like raising a mini-teenager. Honestly, I am a little scared for the teenage years if its like this at 7. After a whole afternoon or arguing and fighting with him about homework, watching TV, taking a bath or going to bed, I lay in bed and cry out my frustrations. Everyone around me has a say about how I am raising him ("You need to be tougher or he is going to run all over you" type of nonsense) and all I really want is a bottle of wine and some chocolate cake. Like really, that's it. I know I have to be up the next morning for the same craziness, just give me my wine and cake!!

Sometimes, late at night, when I can't sleep since I am up thinking about one of our more recent arguments, I will grab my laptop and type "funny quotes about parenting" into Google. I love to read quotes. I get really inspired by them and these funny ones have really helped me relax. I've realized I'm going to need lots of laughs to get through age 7 (and maybe 8 and 9)! Today, I'm going to share my favorites with you:

1. "The only things kids wear out faster than shoes is their parents! "

~John J. Plomp

 2. “The quickest way for a parent to get a child’s attention is to sit down and look comfortable.”

~ Lane Olinhouse

3. “You can learn many things from children. How much patience you have, for instance.”

~ Franklin P. Jones

4. “Raising kids is part joy and part guerrilla warfare.”

~ Ed Asner

5. “My second favorite household chore is ironing. My first one being hitting my head on the top bunk bed until I faint.”

~ Erma Bombeck

6. “If your kids are giving you a headache, follow the directions on the aspirin bottle, especially the part that says, ‘keep away from children.’”

~ Susan Savannah

7. "You know your life has changed when going to the grocery store by yourself is a vacation" 

~Unknown

8. "I think we're seeing in working mothers a change from "Thank God it's Friday" to "Thank God it's Monday. If any working mother has not experienced this feeling, her children are not adolescent."

~Ann Diehl

9. "Children seldom misquote. In fact, they usually repeat word for word what you shouldn't have said.

~Unknown

10. Children in a family are like flowers in a bouquet: there's always one determined to face in an opposite direction from the way the arranger desires.

~Marlene Cox

Sunday Funday

Yesterday morning after breakfast we packed up the kids and headed to a splash park. Yes, I know my kids are older and the splash areas are meant for young kids/toddlers but we didn't care. I needed to get out of my house, get out of my neighborhood and go somewhere new.

The kids had a blast. This park has a splash area, lazy river and wave pool. Best part? My kids are old enough to be let loose. They each do what they want when they want to but first, family lazy river ride. We grabbed two double tubes and one single. We jumped in our tubes, held onto each others ankles and off we went. It was wonderful! I didn't get any pictures of this because I didn't want to get my phone wet. Maybe next time!  I actually took one lazy river pic from later on in the day:

Of course, my kids were the ones swimming in the lazy river instead of riding on tubes. Anyway, after the family lazy river ride, we went to the splash area. There were maybe three other families there (when it gets super hot in Miami, everyone heads to the beaches, best time for a water/splash park) so it was great to run around and have fun!

Man, he's handsome!!

Then we went to the wave pool. Here I annoyed them enough to take a group pic for me!

And then everyone in true form:

We had a wonderful, family-fun, carefree day. Exactly what a Sunday should be!! After the park we went to Dunkin Donuts and had doughnuts and bagels for dinner! This was our "We survived the first week back to school" celebratory dinner!! Days like this make life worth living!!

What did you do this weekend? 

Style Saturday: Maxi Dress Style

I love wearing maxi dresses. They are an easy one, piece outfit. You will notice that I wear them often because to me they are comfortable and versatile! I usually purchase maxis within the $20-$50 range and get lots of use out of them. Here's two looks that I really love when it comes to maxis:

Casual day look; this is perfect for going out shopping, out for brunch or lunch or just visiting with friends!

Maxi Style: 1 by scggirl featuring a knit dress

Knit dress / Mossimo shoes / With Love From CA brown purse / Toms bracelet


This is a great date night or evening out look! I bought this dress at Gap a couple of months ago and wore it with wedges to Gian's graduation! It's so versatile and the fabric is amazing, light and airy!

Maxi Style #2: Date Night by scggirl featuring a collar necklace

Gap maxi dress / Gold sandals / BCBGMAXAZRIA clutch / Cuff bracelet / Ettika collar necklace / Betsey Johnson hoop earrings / Essie nail polish, 


Do you like wearing maxi dresses?

5 on Friday

Happy Friday!!! I'm super excited that its Friday. It's been a long week and I need a break! I'm all linked up at Oh Hey Friday and ready for the weekend!!
ONE
The kids went back to school this week and oh man, has it been hard. Amberly, Adrian and Gian started third, second and first grades respectively. Early wake-ups aren't fun and we have been late or near-late every day! Next week will be better!

TWO

I'm so super duper excited that my dear cousin is coming to visit on Saturday with her girls. She has the most adorable 3 year old twins you have ever seen. I'll make sure to take lots of pictures so I can show them off next week! 

THREE

I'm in the cooking mood so this weekend I'm going to try some variances on my all-time favorite bread pudding! I love bread pudding and I have blogged about it before, sharing a basic recipe but I'm going to kick it up a notch this weekend!

FOUR

I need new reading material. I want some fun reading. The last book I read was a tough one. It was a true story and just hurt my heart. I need an uplifting story. Does anyone have any books they recommend?

FIVE

It's almost here! Football season! Yes, I am one of those women who gets overly excited about football. I love the sport. I love the man candy. I love the food. I have ordered all new Miami Hurricanes and Miami Dolphins shirts for me and JC. We are ready!!!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend! Enjoy every last minute because two days is definitely too short, in my opinion!

Braided Top Knot Hairstyle for Girls #NoMoreTangles

Disclosure: This is a compensated campaign in collaboration with JOHNSON’S® NO MORE TANGLES® and Latina Bloggers Connect.

If you have a daughter, step-daughter, niece, cousin or little sister, then you understand me when I say "hairbrushing is like pulling teeth!" Amberly has this gorgeous thick, straight super long hair that she hates brushing. It's naturally tangled, ALL THE TIME. I feel bad for her because I know how much trying to untangle hair hurts but it has to be done. I grew up with the old notion that "beauty is pain!" but I don't want that for her so when I was contacted to try out the JOHNSON’S® NO MORE TANGLES® line of hair products, I jumped at the opportunity!! I knew that these would be the perfect products that I could use to create my favorite little girl hairstyle: the Braided Top Knot!

.

A Braided Top Knot is so perfect. It's two trends in one: a top knot and braids. It's perfect for these hot summer days and great for keeping hair up and tidy during school.  It's also super simple to do and looks so adorable on little girls!

First, I had to try out the products. Remember, I didn't meet Amberly until she was 5, so I never went through the baby hair stage with her. Since I've known her, she has had long, thick hair. I just used my regular shampoo and conditioner on her hair. Then, I tried out the JOHNSON’S® NO MORE TANGLES® 3-step system: 2-n-1 Shampoo & Conditioner, Leave-in Conditioner and Detangling Spray. I washed her hair and added the Leave in Conditioner. Next step: Detangling!

Honestly, I sprayed the Detangling Spray all over her hair and brushed the tangles out in about 5 minutes! No crying, no screaming, no arguing! So easy!

Now onto the tutorial. This is a super easy and quick hairstyle for girls. All you need is a comb, 2 hair ties and a couple bobby pins. I added a bow, it's not required but I am bow-obsessed and Amberly always wears a bow!

Step 1: Gather hair into a high ponytail, as high on top of her head as you can get it!

Step 2: Loosely braid the ponytail. Then GENTLY pull on each section of the braid to make it look a little thicker. You don't want to pull the braid apart.

Step 3: Wrap braid around base of ponytail. Do not tighten, wrap loosely.

Step 4: Tuck hair tips and loose strands into bun. Pin in place. You can add as many pins as needed. I used three. 

Step 5: Add a bow, ribbon, scarf or leave as is! Now proudly show off your braided top knot!!!

Here's a close-up shot. Notice it doesn't have to be a perfectly tight ballet bun. This is a loose top knot.

I really loved the 3-step nourishing system from Johnson & Johnson. It makes it so easy to brush Amberly's hair now and maybe she will be more open to trying new hairstyles!!

The three-step regimen is essential for maintaining healthy-looking and nourished hair.

● Step 1: JOHNSON’S® NO MORE TANGLES® Shampoo & Conditioner leaves hair beautiful and 

easy to manage

● Step 2: JOHNSON’S® NO MORE TANGLES® Leave In Conditioner controls wild frizz and 

tangles for silky, shiny hair

● Step 3: JOHNSON’S® NO MORE TANGLES® Detangling Spray instantly unlocks stubborn knots 

in wet or dry hair

SHARE YOUR CHILD'S BACK TO SCHOOL HAIRSTYLE AND WIN!!!

Share their Hair-Back to school Children Hairstyles #NoMoreTangles #sweepstakes for a chance to win $5,000!

Share their Hair! Do you want to send your child back to school looking their best? With JOHNSON’S® NO MORE TANGLES® Shampoo, Leave-in-Conditioner, and 

Detangling Spray, you can be sure that your child’s healthy, tangle-free hair will be the talk of the classroom. In fact, it’ll look so good that you might just want to show it off! Take a picture of your young scholar’s back-to-school hair style and share it via Instagram using the hashtags #NoMoreTangles and #Sweepstakes. One lucky winner will win $5,000, you have until September 15th to enter.

Do you have a daughter? Is it torture to brush her hair?

Back to School 2014-2015

Yesterday was the big day here in South Florida, first day back to school! Adrian had been dreading this day for weeks. He did not want summer break to end. Amberly and Gian were looking forward to school starting, they enjoy every minute of school. This year the kids went back as third (Amberly), second (Adrian) and first (Gian) graders. All big kids around here!

Adrian's first day pic:

JC and I both walked him to his class on the first day. He needed the help to carry all the supplies in that were requested by the teacher. It is the only day the school allows the parents to walk their children past the entrance gates. After that, they have to walk to the cafeteria themselves where their teachers pick them up around 8:20 am. 

We didn't make Amberly and Gian's first day this year so their mom sent us this pic. They go to a private school in another part of the city since they live most of the time with their mom.

Last Friday, was teacher meet-n-greet day at Adrian's school. Check out his excitement!

That is one super cute front door! I was super comfortable and not even a bit nervous about meeting his teacher once I saw it. I knew she would be great!

Now, I really could not have a sad, over it face in all my pictures so I told Adrian "We are not leaving until I get a happy picture of you!" and I got this:

Adrian's teacher is great and highly recommended by all the fellow teachers and past parents whose children have been in her class. I'm super excited for this school year!!

FROZEN Fun For Boys

Disclaimer: This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #FROZENFun #CollectiveBias

Unless you've been hiding in a cave for the past year, you know that the movie FROZEN is still all the rage. Kids are still driving their parents insane to have all the toys, plates, cups, backpacks, shirts, movie, games, everything and anything FROZEN related. In my house, we watch the movie at least once a week. The kids can't get enough of it, especially my boys. They don't think of FROZEN as a princess girly movie. Why? Because of one super cool snowman: Olaf!

Olaf is our family's favorite character from the movie. I mean, c'mon, how can you not fall in love with a snowman that dreams of summer? My boys think he is hilarious and oh so cool!! School starts this week here in Miami and so while I was shopping for supplies at Walmart, I decided to stroll through the aisles and see if I found any fun FROZEN stuff for my boys.

To be honest, the store was a little scarce on FROZEN toys. I was starting to get a little bummed since I really wanted to get them an Olaf toy. Then, as luck would have it, a store employee had one in a cart that he was putting back on the shelf. Someone had actually returned an Olaf toy! I may or may not have launched myself at his cart and grabbed the toy. Oh and it wasn't just any Olaf toy, it was the Pull-apart & Talkin' Olaf toy! SCORE!!!! I couldn't believe my eyes! Hoping this was my lucky day, I ran over to the electronics section, slid into the aisle with the Nintendo DS games and found the Olaf game. This was my best shopping trip ever!

The boys were so excited, I even got some smiles (well, sort of! Gian is not a big smiler)....

The Olaf Pull-A-Part toy is great for boys. They actually pull on it and it snaps back together. when you press his buttons or pull on the bottom snowball he says 6 phrases form the movie like "I can't feel my legs, I can't feel my legs" and "Hi, I'm Olaf, and I like warm hugs!"

The Nintendo DS game "Olaf's Quest" is so fun and my boys have played it every day. In "Olaf's Quest", Olaf must navigate his way through many colorful levels collecting treasure and avoiding hazards that cross his path. The levels are simple which make it easy for gamers of all ages. If your kids want more a challenge, you can adjust the player levels and make it just a little harder for Olaf to collect his treasure!!

Olaf's adventures in the game start in winter wonderland and slowly progresses to his ever coveted "summer!"

FROZEN really has been a hit in our household. By the way, in case you were wondering, yes, I earned like a million mom points for getting them these toys! Moms rock!!!