Must See: Monte Carlo in Theaters June 30th

This post brought to you by Monte Carlo. All opinions are 100% mine.

If you read my blog on any sort of regular basis you know I have a degree in French, and am what some would say borderline obsessed with French culture, music, language, etc.  It is a passion of mine.  So, anytime a movie comes out that involves Paris, someone French, or is even filmed on the French Riviera – I dash to see it so that I can soak up just a bit more culture (and whine that I’m ready to go back, etc.)

Social Spark contacted me last week and asked if I was interested in writing about the movie Monte Carlo.  For me, this was a home run, no-brainer fit for me – here is why:

1.  I’m obsessed with France, the French, etc. Yes, I know the Principality of Monaco (where Monte Carlo is located) is technically it’s own country and not a part of France, but it counts for me. If you’ve ever been there – it feels like you’re still in France. I love it.

2.  I’m equally obsessed with Gossip Girl.  This movie co-stars not only Leighton Meester but also season 4′s resident bad girl Katie Cassidy.  Throw Selena Gomez into the mix and I can’t get in the theater fast enough.

3.  It’s a princess-type story. I have a Princess Complex.  This is also not new news to you.

Then, as part of my research for this post I watched the trailer and fell in love with the movie. Actually, I was bummed that this post didn’t include a special ticket to catch a sneak peek of the movie.  I’m ready to see it already, darnit!

If you don’t believe me – just check out the trailer.  Then grab your daughters and head to the nearest theater to check it out starting tomorrow!  You can buy tickets early on Fandango starting on 6/29 – so save yourself a wait at the theater!

Oh, and don’t forget to head over to Facebook and “like” the official Monte Carlo page!

Tell me, will you see Monte Carlo?

Lux Baby Product: Mustela Bebe

France and all things French seems to be a recurring theme for me this week. It’s been three years since I’ve been to France, which is my longest stretch since I first started visiting. It’s killing me – I need a French fix.

Then I received an email telling me that ULTA, hailed as the ultimate beauty destination, is now making available a number of awesome brands in it’s brand spankin’ new Mom and Baby section.  I scanned the email – Philosophy, California Baby, Belli…

Mustela.

Mustela. Mustela. Mustela!!!!!

I did a double take and rubbed my eyes to make sure I had read it correctly.  Mustela.  Right there.  ULTA is now selling Mustela and Mustela Bebe products.

Maybe this means nothing to you.  But let me tell you, if you have a baby – run, don’t walk, over to your wallet, grab your credit card, and order yourself some Mustela products.  I fell in love with them in Europe – especially the baby wipes (which are AMAZING) – and when I got home I wished I had thought to buy a whole bunch more than I did to bring home with me.

I scoured the internet. I wanted nothing but Mustela Bebe wipes to touch my little one’s tushie.  Alas, it was not to be.

But 3 years later ULTA has come through for us.  You can buy them online now. They’re a bit spendy, but it is so worth it.

Trust me.

And for the record, I have absolutely no relationship with this company at all.  I just love these products and wish someone had found them for me when Audrey Grace was still little enough to need them.

So go, order, be thankful.

And thank you ULTA for my France fix.

I needed it.

Mater’s Secret Mission

Git-R-Done!

Everyone’s favorite Cars character is back with a vengeance in Cars 2 – the movie is very Mater-centric so all of you Mater fans (myself included) can rejoice.  I was fortunate enough to be on the red carpet for Cars 2 interviewing all of the stars of the film, and the was able to watch the premiere with them all.  I can tell you, you’re definitely in for a treat!

For all of you die-hard Mater fans, check out  Mater’s Secret Mission which Walmart just launched on their Facebook page!  Aside from it being oodles of fun to play around with, you can win movie vouchers, exclusive downloadable coloring pages, and Disney Mater’s Tall Tales Videos.  If you want a chance to win, just send a coded message to a fellow “secret agent”!   You can also buy exclusive Cars 2 merchandise through the Mater’s Secret Mission Facebook app – which is super cool!

Still can’t get enough Mater?  You can get your very own phone call from the loveable tow truck by texting Buddies, Secret, Spy, Mission, Mater, or Charge to 63257!

So what are you waiting for! Go check it out!

Disclosure:  I am a participant in the Walmart Moms program and this is a sponsored post. However all opinions are and always will be my own.

Beachy Hair: The Michelle Money Curl

Michelle Money. Bachelor fans everywhere hated her guts. Then something odd happened – we all kinda started to love her.

Love her or hate her there is no denying that Michelle Money has fabulous hair. If you watched the show she always had slightly tousled wavy curls – perfect beach hair without going to the beach. Lucky for us, she also decided to make a YouTube video about how to get the perfect Michelle Money hair.

This is my new favorite ‘do – I’ve been rocking it every other day. It takes a little time but it’s not hard, and Michelle gives us some great tips like running the curling iron over your hair once to warm it up before starting to curl.

Want perfect Michelle Money hair? Check out the video that she made below!

Recap: Cars 2 Hollywood Premiere With Rayovac

If you don’t follow me on Twitter, or we aren’t friends on Facebook, then you probably missed me fah-reak-ing out on Saturday.

Why?

It was a bucket-list style evening.  I attended a Hollywood premiere with my favorite man on my arm.  Not only did I attend, but I had a spot in the press line, meaning I interviewed the likes of Grayson Chance, Guy Fieri, Peter Jacobson, and Owen Wilson.

Let me back up.

A while back, Rayovac contacted me to ask if I would be interested in covering the red carpet for the world premiere of Cars 2.  I have some on-camera experience and frankly, I’m a ham, so I jumped at the opportunity.  I’m also a huge Disney fan, and was well aware that Rayovac batteries are the only batteries that you can buy in Disney Parks (because if you’ve ever gone on a Disney Vacation – something inevitably runs out of batteries – usually the parents themselves but I’m pretty positive that Rayovac does not make human batteries.  Anyway, I digress.).  Rayovac had a large hand in sponsoring Cars 2 – so in the end a beautiful partnership was made.

And I have the photos to prove it.

When we arrived in Hollywood at 4 pm there were already throngs of fans pressed up against the barricades – and the red carpet set up in front of the El Capitan Theater (where the premiere was held) was nothing short of insane.  The traditional “red carpet” was actually “black” carpet because it was themed as a racetrack with tires stacked up all along the way and life-sized remote control versions of Lightening McQueen, Mater, and the new cast addition Finn McMissile rolled down the carpet itself to make their entrance.

No. Big. Deal.

(That was sarcasm.)

We interviewed the crowd across the street about their excitement over the premiere, and even talked to one somewhat reluctant policeman. Then we headed back to the press line where I was not afraid to geek out over the fact that right in front of where I was standing it said “Rayovac / Chic Shopper Chick”.  I had no trouble admitting to folks that this day was more than out of the ordinary for me and pointing out the fact that this was pretty much the coolest thing to ever happen to me.  I’m no Giuliana Rancic (but I could be!).

The celebrities started arriving on the red carpet and let me tell you – it is harder to interview someone than I initially thought.  The actual interview process isn’t that bad – but trying to get them to STOP in front of your spot (when they could be talking to the likes of Giuliana Rancic) is no picnic.  It didn’t help that Bob Iger, CEO of Disney, and the head of Pixar basically stood right in front of my spot for an hour, chatting – blocking any access I had to interviews.  I even asked security to ask them to move, but they took one look at them and told me “Ma’am – that’s the CEO of Disney and I’m sorry, but I’m not going to be the one to ask him to move.”

It’s good to be Bob Iger, y’all.

Even with Mr. Iger blocking my game, I still managed to get an interview with Grayson Chance, Guy Fieri, Peter Jacobson, Caroline Sunshine (of Disney Channel fame), and Owen Wilson.  Grayson Chance is adorable, and so sweet.  YouTube fame has not gone to his head in the least.  He even sang a few bars for us on camera – I’m excited to share that footage with you soon.  Guy Fieri is a fireball and was such a fun interview – I even had the chance to interview his son, Hunter.  Peter Jacobson (of House) is new to the Cars 2 cast as the voice of Acer the Pacer – one of the bad guys. He was so down to earth – I really enjoyed interviewing him.  I even bumped into him again at the after party and had the opportunity to chat a bit off-camera as he built Lego cars with his 8 year old son.

Interviewing Owen Wilson was pretty much the craziest mob scene in the world.  First of all, the man had on beige suede shoes with his blue suit.  That has nothing to do with the interview – but I just couldn’t stop staring at them.  Bold move, Owen, bold move.  Anyway, he is every bit Lightening McQueen – I could hardly stand it.  He is confident, composed, and witty – and not at all intimidated by the fact that 10 people were shoving microphones in his face at once.  Let’s just say that no one had a one-on-one interview with Owen – 8 or 10 at a time seemed to be par for the course.  I asked his publicist if I could get one more question in and she just told me “I think he’s done”.

Ok, then.

Check out the official video from Rayovac with all of my interviews and red carpet coverage below!

Not long after that everyone started filing into the theater to watch the movie, so we closed up the interview shop and headed for the theater ourselves .  We put on our super-special 3D glasses (I cannot believe I didn’t get a photo of me wearing my special Cars 2 glasses – because those things are HOT), munched on our super-special Cars 2 popcorn, and giggled like a fool when the lights went down and everyone burst into applause.  I quickly became immersed in the movie but every now and then it occurred to me that I was watching a movie for the first time with the cast and crew who MADE it and well – that was pretty surreal.

You didn’t come here to read a review of Cars 2, so I’ll just say quickly – it’s very Mater-centric, visually stunning, and pretty clever.  It will make millions. There will be a Cars 3.  The world will rejoice.  Or at least, in my opinion.

Hey, maybe I’ll be at the premiere of Cars 3?!

What, too soon?

After the movie we strolled out of the side entrance to the theater right behind it to Hollywood High School to the opening of the World Grand Prix attraction where the after party was held.  If you live in the LA area be sure to check this out – you can view the movie at the El Capitan and then head over to the attraction after, just like we did for the premiere.  There you’ll find the Tokyo Tower Gravity Slide, Mission McMissile Spy Game, Springtime in Paris Eiffel Tower Bungee Jump, Wall O’Tires Climbing Wall, Time Trial Race Track and even more.  I felt like a big kid – and all of the kids of the cast and crew were obviously enjoying themselves as well.

Check out our official video recap from the afterparty!

We were wandering around the World Grand Prix attraction in awe, bumping into celebrities like Cheech Marin, Wilmer Valderrama, Larry the Cable Guy, Bonnie Hunt, Owen Wilson, and more.  At one point, we stopped as John Lasseter posed along side of his newest addition to the Cars franchise – Finn McMissile – to snap a photo.  As he walked away Morgan stopped him and told him how much we enjoyed the movie and Mr. Lasseter stopped to talk to us, asking how we enjoyed it, if we were having a good time, etc.  He was so nice and seemed genuinely interested in how we enjoyed the experience.

I was totally geeked out at that point.

Of course, before we headed out we did a few wrap-up shots at the after party.  One of them involved me climbing into a real race car, through the window, IN A DRESS.  Sadly this shot did not make it into the final video but I felt it was necessary to point out that I climbed through the window of a race car in hopes of getting the perfect shot.

Who am I kidding?  That makes a great story!

I could not have imagined a more amazing night.  We stayed at the after party until we were kicked out – almost literally, and then I buzzed about what an amazing night it was the entire ride home.

This post is plenty long enough, and I’m cringing as the word count climbs even futher so I’m going to wrap it here. HOWEVER – I’m currently working on editing together some of my personal video footage for a little Cars 2 Remix – so I’ll have another post up within a few days with that in it!  In the meantime, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed my little peek into Hollywood!

Disclosure: I have a working relationship with Rayovac and this post is a direct result of that relationship. As usual I keep it real and all thoughts, opinions, and insanely excited moments are solely my own.

CoolSculpting Review: Months Later

My daughter said the cutest thing the other day and I’ve been telling everyone who will listen – and of course, now it’s your turn. She was so excited when I told her that she could ride the carousel at the Zoo as many times as she wanted that she screamed “Oh my COW!” Her little mixup of “Oh my gosh” and “Holy Cow!” had me tickled pink. Kids say the darnedest things.

This morning it hit me – I’m getting married 5 months from today. FIVE MONTHS, friends.

Frankly all I can think is OH. MY. COW.

There is so much to do. Like, urm, a location. Like, a dress. Like honeymoonclothesandweddingringsandinvitationsandOHMYCOWjustsomuchstuff. And very little time.

Of course, I want to look amazing in my dress. I want to walk down the aisle and take Morgan’s breath away. I want him to think, at that moment, that he has never seen anyone so beautiful.

From what I hear, that takes work. So I’ve started exercising. I’m sticking to a healthy eating plan, I’m going to be working out, and I’m probably going to be complaining loudly about it until I start seeing results. Then I’ll slow down to a mild whine because while I might not like the process, I’m sure I’ll love the results.

I’ll confess though, that I’ve already had some help. Back in February I had the opportunity to try CoolSculpting – a revolutionary new procedure that helps to freeze off the fat cells and slowly help to eliminate them from your body. By slowly I mean it takes approximately 3 months to see the full results.

I was absolutely game. I’m not in the worst shape by any means – and I just needed a little extra help – nothing major. Or at least that’s what I like to tell myself.

I showed up at Dr. Kinsley’s office slightly terrified but rather determined. I met with Daniel on her staff, and she walked me through the procedure and helped me to evaluate problem areas. I hate my arms, so the first thing I asked was if I could CoolSculpt them. The answer was yes. I wanted to do that FIRST. We agreed to try that and my upper back – you ladies know the area I’m talking about – even the skinniest woman can have bra rolls.

I went in terrified. I’m a big baby and I heard that this was “uncomfortable”.

They put the giant suction machine up against my arm and poof, suddenly it was all being pulled into a suction cup. It was kinda uncomfortable – but not the suction – just the fact that I had to keep my arm at a really weird angle for an hour while the machine worked it’s magic. When that hour was up, they came in to break the suction.

To me, that was the worst part. My arm was so tender that I was tempted to utter words that I normally don’t say. I actually asked if I could wipe the goop off of my arm myself because I could barely stand to touch it, much less have someone else do it for me. The staff at Dr. Kinsley’s office happily obliged and let me recover while they set me up to do the other arm. I briefly considered bowing out at this point and not doing the other one – but after calling myself a big baby in my head and reminding myself that the payoff would be worth it – I begrudgingly lifted my arm in the direction of the machine and let them smush it up against my skin again.

Overall the procedure was more than bearable, and I was so excited about seeing the results. I bruised pretty badly that time around, and when I expressed this to the staff on my next visit, they gave me some Arnica to help with the bruising the next time around. I don’t think I’m a typical patient – I tend to bruise easily – and the Arnica made all of the difference for the next go round. (By the way – the staff seemed surprised that I bruised so badly – they said most patients don’t have that same problem.)

This time I decided to CoolSculpt my tummy and hips. Dr. Kinsley’s staff was very honest and told me that the stomach is the most uncomfortable part for most people. I couldn’t imagine it could be worse than the arms, but when they turned on the machine it literally took my breath away. It was bearable, and not worthy of tears, but I was very tense and had to convince myself to relax. Dr. Kinsley’s staff stayed with me the entire time and kept reassuring me that it would subside after about 10 minutes. They were right. After about 8 minutes it was totally bearable and I was kicked back, watching Hulu.

Because of the Arnica, I had no bruising this time around. My stomach was strangely numb for about 5 days and suddenly on day 6 I was in pain. It almost felt like I was being zapped with a bunch of little electric shocks from the inside of my stomach – and it got to be so uncomfortable that I had one sleepless night. I had 2 days of am-I-crazy-what-was-I-thinking pain, however, on day 14 the pain suddenly stopped – just like they said it would. My stomach was still numb (and itched like crazy!) for almost another month – but after the 14 day period I swear I started seeing results. I still hadn’t noticed a difference with my arms or back, but even my fiance noticed the difference in my tummy and hips.

I went back in for an evaluation and the measurements confirmed that I hadn’t lost anything in my arms – as I had suspected – after about 2 months. However, it takes a full 3 months to see results and I haven’t been back quite yet. However, my tummy was a no brainer. The results are so obvious that the little bits of pain that I endured (also, I’m a big baby) are so worth it. I want to go back and have my stomach and hips done one more time before my wedding so that I can look sexy in my bridal bikini.

Overall I think CoolSculpting is a pretty amazing procedure – especially considering that it is non-invasive. I emailed them and told them that I want to be their SpokesMom! It’s the perfect procedure to firm up those problem areas that showed up post-baby that even the most strenuous workouts can’t target. Also, I have to give a huge shout-out to Dr. Kinsley’s office and especially her amazing staff (xoxo Daniel and Ashley!) who I feel like I have practically become BFFs with. They made me feel at ease, and were so incredibly accommodating throughout the entire process – I cannot thank them all enough!

So, if you’re looking to make an investment in your appearance – I would absolutely, hands down, recommend CoolSculpting as well as Dr. Kinsley. I have had an amazing experience, and I know you will too.

Bunches of Bracelets

With the mercury rising, it is quickly becoming too hot for many of the accessories we have been sporting. Sayonara scarves, bye bye wide belts, see ya later cardi….even long, dangly earrings begin to stick to my (perhaps sweaty) neck! Sure, sometimes fashion can be uncomfortable-but that rule applies for fancy events, special dates, job interviews, and things of that sort. Cool summer style should be just that-cool.

Okay fine, cool-ish.

At least comfortable?

To keep in style and on trend, my go-to summer accessories have been bracelets. Piles of them. The more the better. Here are some of my favorite styles-they all are great on their own, but look super chic piled up all together.

belleblake cuff, dannijo chain, kate spade bangle
stephan and co. stranded bracelet, lucky brand friendship bracelet