And that is hardly an exaggeration.

Years of sucking my thumb as a child gave me protruding teeth and made me feel, and look, pretty much like a walrus.  Go ahead, laugh.  It was more sad than funny, though, I assure you.

So after 3 years of wearing odd contraptions on my head (oooh, fun, remember headgear?) and having a mouth full of metal, my braces came off when I was 14 – at the very beginning of my Freshman year.

Turns out, I had a pretty fantastic smile after all.

Ever since that day, I’ve gotten compliments on my smile.  I remember the week I got my braces off, a sweet lady in the checkout line at the grocery store turned to me and told me I had one of the most beautiful smiles she had ever seen.

I’ve gotta admit, it kinda went to my head.

On that day I realized what a powerful tool my smile could be.  My smile gives me confidence, and let’s face it – it’s rather disarming. Smiling at someone when they least expect it really knocks them off of their game – and gives you a significant tactical advantage.  (Sorry, I’ve been watching re-runs of 24 again – words like “tactical” seem to be making their way into my everyday speech.)

All joking aside, I’m proud of my smile, and of my teeth – and I like to take care of them.  So when BlissTV and Crest 3D 2 Hour Express Whitestrips came to me and asked if I was willing to talk about my smile on camera, I said yes.  In part because I can 100% honestly say that both my fiance’ Morgan and I use Crest Whitestrips religiously (we have occasionally been known to have a conversation wherein we try to figure out who has the whiter teeth – we are SO a match made in heaven) but also because I’m a big ham and I enjoy sharing my hamness with the world.

One final note:  The Crest 3D 2 Hour Express Whitestrips are awesome.  Perfect for a last-minute occasion, job interview, etc.  Thank you to Crest for sending a box over to us.  Morgan and I ended up in one of those “who has whiter teeth” debates to see who would be allowed to try them out (like I said, Whitestrips are a HOT commodity in our house) and because of my propensity to drink coffee all day long, I totally won.  I think that might be a bad thing, because it means my teeth were in more dire need, but c’est la vie.  All I’m saying is, these things are awesome and I will be heading out to buy another box this week.  This time for Morgan.  Because you know, now I’m the one with the much whiter teeth.

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post on behalf of BlissTV and Crest 3D Express Whitestrips. As a reminder, I only endorse things that I truly believe in, because keeping the trust of my readers is the only way this whole blogging thing works.

With your own money.

Let’s face it.  Teachers already make next-to-nothing.

Box Tops for Education makes a huge different in that regard.  Students can collect the Box Tops then turn them into their teacher or school, who can then exchange them for additional funds to put towards a variety of items.  I’m sure of you are already very familiar with this awesome program and are using it at your schools.

For the month of August, you can get BONUS Box Tops for your school by shopping exclusively at Walmart.  The Box Top program has really expanded over the years and now you can buy items that have Box Tops that are suitable for breakfast, lunch, dinner and even dessert!  Really anything from Cheerios, to Pizza Rolls, to Hamburger Helper and Macaroni Grill items have Box Tops – so you can see there are lots of ways that you can support your school!

Let me know in the comments – do you use Box Tops?

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post done on behalf of the Walmart Moms.  All opinions are and always have been my own.

On our way over to the house this afternoon we stopped at Walmart and grabbed some pool toys to bring to the party.  Audrey Grace was thrilled that she was able to pick out some toys – she kept throwing things into the basket.  We had to gently remind her that we weren’t buying the entire aisle of toys, just a few select ones.  Here is what we ended up with:

An inflatable shark, inflatable turtle, variety “pool fun” pack (which included a ring, a beach ball, and a blow up boogie board with a clear see through window that Audrey Grace LOVED), a purple pool noodle and some sunscreen.  The shark, turtle, and Pool fun set were $5 each – which was unbeatable.  Especially when you consider the abuse that they all took…especially the poor shark…

The men always take turns doing their fancy-pants “pool tricks” whenever we all get together (ask my fiance about the famous “flying squirrel!), but this is the first time I’ve seen Uncle Bruce get in on the action!

I love the comment at the end from one of the guys — “that was 8 seconds”.  Awesome.

The pool toys, as you can see, were a huge hit and made for a ton of fun!  Here is one last photo of Audrey Grace, my future SIL, and myself having fun in the pool!  Thanks Walmart for providing a gift card for all of the fun!

Disclosure:  I am a Walmart mom and this post is written as a direct result of that relationship. All opinions are my own, always have been, always will be.  You know how I roll, y’all.

tunic, jeans, tank, shorts, blouse, jeans
sunnies, polish, sandals

Note from the Erika: I had NO idea she was planning to write this – but thanks so much Kat! xo

Oh, and did I mention that the wardrobe makeover would be with Tim Gunn?

You see, Tide understands the importance of every woman’s individual style, and wants to help you to not only set but achieve those style resolutions during this hectic “spring cleaning” season.

So, sweet readers, I made you a (decently funny) video to share my personal resolution for my spring wardrobe, and exactly why I needed (desperately) to clean out my closet.  Think awful dresses with ruffles, a plaid shirt that should have never been in my closet in the first place, and too much athletic gear – so much that I may end up tempted to wear it outside of the gym – which is my number one no-no!

My resolution this Spring is to Fight the Frump – I want to get rid of everything in my closet that doesn’t make me feel fabulous when I put it on.  This way, if I stock my closet with a bunch of very streamlined choices, then I never have to worry about being the frumpy girl in the room because I’ll always look pulled together.

Thanks, Tide, for the motivation to set a spring resolution to clean out my wardrobe, and make it a much more cohesive place!

So, what is YOUR spring wardrobe resolution?  If you share your resolution with me in the comments, you will be entered to win a trip to NYC for your very own spring wardrobe makeover with Tim Gunn, courtesy of Tide!

Yes. You read that right.

So leave your resolution in the comments, and you could be schmoozing and discussing cuts, lines, and color with Tim Gunn in NYC before you know it!  Good luck!

Disclosure:  This post is sponsored by Tide.  All opinions are, always have been, and always will be my own – but you knew that already, didn’t you?

I love it. LOVE.  My hobbies are reading, swimming, shopping, and makeup.  Seriously.

I mean, not that you’re surprised.

Maybelline approached the Walmart Moms and offered us the opportunity to review their new product line-up for 2011 and I was all “duh”.  Because, you know, makeup is my hobby.

I started with the new Maybelline Fit Me! product line, which includes 18 different foundations, 6 different concealers, 12 different shades of blush, and 3 shades of bronzer.  This lightweight formula is meant to allow your face to breathe which hopefully means fewer blemishes and breakouts, plus skin that is much, much healthier.  All of the different available shades allow you to completely customize your complexion to find the best shades that “fit you”.

I liked the Fit Me! line, and if you watch the video below, you can see me apply the line in real-time – and you can see how smoothly it evens out my complexion.  The Fit Me! line is very affordable and I would buy it again in a heartbeat.

Now, I’m a bit of a mascara freak, so it takes a lot to impress me.  I’m a big fan of anything that makes my lashes big, bold, and sorta out of control.  My all-time favorite is Dior Show Mascara, but it costs a whopping $28 a tube, and as a very famous makeup artist once told me “you should never have to pay that much for mascara”.  So, for the past year I’ve been on a mascara “diet” – hopping around trying to find the perfect one and I really, really think that I’ve found it in Maybelline’s One by One by Volum’ Express Mascara.  This mascara coats and separates every single one of my lashes with no clumping.  One coat is enough to make me feel like hot stuff, but two coats is enough to make me feel va-va-voom!

The last product that I tried from Maybelline is their SuperStay 24 Lipcolor – a 2-step color that lasts for 24 hours.  Let’s be honest – I was super skeptical.  According to Maybelline, this unique formula has 5 years of research and 10 US patents backing it up – and it won’t crumble, cake, fade, feather or transfer.  24 hours?  That’s a long time.  The first time I wore the color, I remember walking into the bathroom after eating lunch with friends and being shocked that my lipcolor looked like new.  Like I had JUST applied it.  That afternoon I brought my daughter home a few cupcakes from her favorite bakery, and we devoured them together – while my lipcolor stayed put.  So far we had made it though 8 hours and it looked great.  I started to notice a little fading around the interior of my lips, but nothing worth complaining about.  My fiance’ loves it too – he used to go in for a kiss to tell me how pretty I looked and then quickly pull back to avoid messing up my lip gloss.  Now he smiles and says “24 hour stuff?” and kisses me anyway.  That’s a keeper in my book!

Check out the video to see more of my experience with these three great products – and leave any thoughts that you have in the comments section!

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post for Walmart as a part of my role in the Walmart Moms.All opinions are, and always have been, my own.

My parents always did a great job of making Halloween a super-fun holiday in our house – I made arts and craft projects, and decorated every empty surface in the house.  Our home had a grand brick entrance (well it seems grand in my memory) and it was always covered in those creepy spiderwebs that just stay wherever you stick them.  Most years my parents threw a Halloween party where we covered every inch of our empty garage in black visqueen and then filled it with spooky creatures, black lights, and creepy music. My dad became a master pumpkin carver – whipping out several pumpkins each year, each one more impressive than the last.  I’ve gotta say, it was a great way to grow up.

When I became a mom I was determined to pass the fun spirit of Halloween on to my daughter.  At 8 months old I dressed her up as a snail to take her out Trick Or Treating- she was seriously the cutest thing I had ever seen – and not just because I’m biased!

Now my daughter is 3 and a half, and she has been telling everyone that will listen that it is Halloween at our house.  Of course, I’m doing the single mom thing on a budget, so I am sort of restricted in what I can and can’t do.  My secret is that each year I buy a few more decorations – I start small but then each year my collection grows a bit.  By the time she’s 5 or 6 I’ll have enough decorations to be the neighborhood haunted house!

This year in my role as a Walmart Mom, Walmart offered me a gift card to check out some of the things that Halloween has to offer.  I was ecstatic, because I can honestly say that I’ve always shopped at Walmart for my holiday decorations – they have a great selection and prices that I can afford.  I know that I sound slightly like a commercial right there, but I promise that it’s absolutely true.  All I was asked to do was write about my family’s version of Halloween, but it’s true that our Halloween shopping is almost always done exclusively at Walmart.

I made a video of some of my favorite Halloween finds at Walmart this year set to some spooky tunes and I’ve embedded it below so that you can check out the offerings for yourself.

So, what items did we come away with?

1. A few Halloween books. We read a lot around here, so it was great to change it up with some themed books for Halloween. Our favorite is Ten Timid Ghosts – Audrey can practically recite it to me!

2. A bunch of Halloween Candy. I had to refill fill the candy bowls around the house and have some for the Trick or Treaters! Don’t worry, we only give out the good stuff – the high-quality chocolate.

3.  Some Halloween lights (my favorite type of decoration) for our porch/balcony to help increase the spooky quotient.

4. A Halloween Blanket/Pillow set that I can’t find a link to online.  It’s super soft – Audrey hasn’t put it down.

What are your Halloween traditions?  Do you dress up with your kids?  Do you celebrate Halloween?  Share your thoughts in the comments!

Disclosure:  I was compensated for this post as a part of my role in the Walmart Moms program.  Though I am not compensated to be a part of the program, opportunities to create content like this one are compensated.  However, everything I said above is 100% my opinion and true.  For more information please read my disclosure policy.

Oh. Emm. Gee.

I mean, sure, I’m already coloring my hair at home, and I’m already a ham, but I’m also a bit vain.  When I color my hair I am just a MESS.  There is hair dye staining my shoulders and dripping down my forehead, and let’s not forget about the not-so-pretty 30 minute wait when I “loosely pile my hair on top of my head” and basically end up looking like a drowned rat.  Suffice it to say that I was more than nervous to go through THAT process on camera.  You know, once on Google, always on Google.

My nerves were quickly quelled when they told me that the reason Fat Foam would rock my world was not only because the color is awesome, but because it is a revolutionary new approach to hair color – easy to apply in “foam” form – and it won’t drip.

Yes, I said that there is now a hair color on the market that won’t drip.  It’s called Fat Foam.

My experience with Fat Foam was truly a great one.  Here are the reasons to consider trying it if you already color your hair at home, or if you are even toying around with the idea:

1.  Fat Foam is practically foolproof.  It was easy to mix and a cinch to apply.  If you have ever used at-home hair color before you are well aware that this is not always the case.  Great for beginners or the not-so-coordinated (don’t worry, I’m looking in the mirror on that last part, too).

2.  The color is gorgeous.  For an all-over hair color, I thought the dimension that my color had to it was phenomenal.  It was shiny, soft, and in the light you can really see the depth of the color.  Awesome.  For the record, I followed the directions to a “t” in the studio – there was no extra conditioning, color boost, etc.  The color you see is authentic and looks just like it would if I were to re-do it in my own bathroom. I was so impressed!

3.  Fat Foam is affordable.  The Holiday season is quickly approaching and my wallet is already starting to panic.  Skip the salon color and try this out – Fat Foam is only $8.97 at Walmart (but don’t forget that you can only find it at Walmart) and even if you don’t have a Walmart near you, shipping is only 97 cents.  A new “do” for under $10.  You can’t beat it!

You can watch the final video below of my experience – be sure and let me know your thoughts in the comments!

Disclosure:  I was compensated for my role in the commercial as well as for this post, but the payment does not in any way affect my opinions.  I was not required to say good things about the product, simply to give my opinions.  It just so happens that they are good opinions! For more information, please read my disclosure policy.

About a week and a half later, they got back to me with said details – I was being asked to walk in a Fashion Show, hosted by Kelly Ripa, on September 8th, along with nine other incredible fashion bloggers.

Oh. Emm. Gee.

I was being asked to wa…hold on while I gather my composure and pretend like I don’t think this is a big deal.

So, tomorrow, September 8th, I will be exuberantly crossing something off of my bucket list by walking in a runway show – something I had pretty much filed under the bucket list category of “Don’t Be Absurd Erika, You Will Never Get To Do This But Since This Is A Bucket List You May As Well Write It Down”.  I know what you’re thinking so I’ll just go ahead and acknowledge that yes, I know I should probably work on shortening my category titles but hey, IT’S MY LIST PEOPLE.

So where was I? Oh, right.

HOLY SCHNIKES, I’M GOING TO BE IN A FASHION SHOW.

(Why did I eat french fries for dinner last night?!)

Walking in the show hasn’t been all glitz and glamour – it came with a challenge: create the perfect white-hot weekend look for the runway, polished with teal accessories (teal is the official color of Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month).  Naturally, I whined a bit – it was the end of summer, so how would I ever find something in white that is suitable for a RUNWAY?! Oh, and did I mention that I live in LA – as in LOUISIANA?  Home of if-you-can’t-get-it-at-a-department-store-you-can’t-get-it-anywhere, sugah?

Luckily, after THREE very intense shopping excursions and at least one whiny phone call to LA Stylist Mom (who lives in the real LA, people) I found myself with two very viable options, a delicately draped strapless dress from White House Black Market, and a Grecian-inspired Calvin Klein dress that I purchased months ago but have never had the occasion to wear.  My original intention was to wear the dress from White House Black Market but after speaking to Mindy, the stylist for the event, on the phone – I decided to bring both options and see what worked the best for the show. I’m not sure what dress I’ll actually be wearing in the show yet, though I will find out today – but you’ll have to tune in to the show live on September 8th to see the final look!

Strapless Drape Blouson Dress from White House Black Market

So, returning back to the important part of this article, and the whole reason that I have this opportunity; beginning on September 8th (that’s tomorrow!) you can help to do your part to support this very worthy cause as well.  Ovarian Cancer is the 5th leading cause of cancer in US women, and The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2010, 21,880 women will be diagnosed with it, and 13,850 women will die from the disease. (via OCRF.org).  By visiting the Wash ‘n Care lounge at Kelly Confidential, you can support the cause by entering to win a Perfect Steam washer and dryer from Electrolux, as well as a daily shopping spree.  Each time that you enter by pressing the Perfect Steam button at Kelly Confidential, Electrolux will donate $1 to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund.

In addition, if you’d like to watch me potentially make a fool out of myself on the runway, simply by looking gloriously happy to be struttin’ my stuff, you can watch the live stream of the show at Kelly Confidential or on the Kelly Confidential Facebook Page.  The show will be live on September 8th at 1 pm Eastern time (for those of you counting backwards, that’s 12 pm Central, 11 am Mountain, 10 am Pacific).

You should definitely watch.  I’ll do a little wink, and you’ll know it’s just for you.

For now, good night from New York City, the home of fashion and NYFW, where for one delicious season I will be on the runway and not in the audience.  Wish me luck (I need it!).

(My participation in the ‘Rumpled to Runway’ Campaign was sponsored by Electrolux, who provided me with a $150 stipend to style my look as well as travel arrangements to and accommodations in New York to participate.)

I was so glad that my guests Shannon from Traveling Mamas, Stefanie from Mommy Musings, and Debba from Girlfriendology could join me at this fun event!  Michael Moloney of ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition was on hand to teach us how to reorganize our sock and underwear drawers (seriously, when is the last time that you did that?  It’s time!) and also to show us just how quickly it could be done.  Celebrity stylist Jenn Falik went back-to-basics and showed us how to create some super-stylish outfits using the awesome new Hanes bras (bandeau?  one shoulder?  both straps?  one bra does it all!) and by layering items like the tanks and tees – great ideas for fall! 

It was so great to relax, hang out with my fellow Comfort Crew members, and sip a Comfortini.  I loved learning about all of the new Hanes products in person (I swear that the ComfortFlex Fit Bandini bra is my new BFF – sorry dad for the TMI) and loved feeling like I’m a continued part of Hanes’ social media efforts.  I have learned so much about the brand over the last 7 months, and I am incredibly proud of everything that the brand stands for (green initiatives, support of Susan G. Komen, committment to it’s customers) both online and off.  If you take a minute to watch the video below, you’ll hear me say that I believe Social Media is really important because it’s how people nowadays communicate and relate – and that Hanes is doing an amazing job.  I mean that 100% – Hanes is a standout in this space.

Thanks so much to Hanes and everyone who played a part in hosting such a wonderful, relaxing event in NYC!  Check out Shannon’s post about the Hanes event on Traveling Mamas – including 10 travel tips for packing for comfort!

I’ve been fortunate enough to grow up with the most incredible powder white sand beaches and clear water just hours away from my doorstep in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, Alabama.  One of my family’s favorite destinations for years, I had the opportunity to visit Orange Beach again this past June with my family.  The experience was an incredible one, but one that left me full of determination to do my part to help this oil spill affected area along the gulf coast.  The reality and the gravity of the situation really sank in as I watched the waves crash onshore from our balcony, and realized that it could be years before tourism was back to normal.

So, to do my part, I’m hitting the road headed to Gulf Shores and Orange Beach next Friday, August 20th (my 28th birthday!) to party it up in style with two friends who will also be celebrating their birthdays on that day – Shannon of TravelingMamas.com (@Cajun_Mama) and Jay of BiteandBooze.com (@biteandbooze) – to raise money for charity.  We’re hosting a tweetup in honor of ourselves – but it’s really just an excuse to raise money for this amazing tourist destination that has been hit hard by the oil spill.

So why am I telling you all of this?

I want you to come with us!  It’s not a party without you there! We have a great, family-oriented weekend planned that will show you the best that the Gulf Coast has to offer, all administered with a hefty dose of Southern Hospitality.  Think of how much fun it would be to pull your family and friends together for the weekend and spend some time on the beaches of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach.  The food and shopping there are to die for, and for the record the swimming advisory has been lifted from the beaches in this region – the oil spill is capped and the water has been deemed safe.  Check out the awesome hotel packages that the area has put together just for this weekend – some that include free nights at the Gulf Shores Deals page.  We have planned activities the entire weekend of August 20-22, but feel free to come for one night or 7 nights – the choice is yours.

They say a photo is worth a thousand words – so here are 8,000 “words” from our trip in June to show you what an amazing time you’re in for!

If you can’t stay the weekend, we’d still love to have you attend the tweetup at Live Bait at the Wharf on Friday night.  Tickets are $5 but every cent will go to local charity Share the Beach who’s mission is to protect the endangered mama sea turtles during nesting season along the Alabama beaches (part of which is a national wildlife refuge).  The oil in the water has taken it’s toll on the nesting habits of the sea turtle, and so the money from this event will go towards making sure that they are able to continue to nest and reproduce.  Of course, since the three of us are from Louisiana, an area that is also affected by the spill, a portion of the proceeds will also go towards a Louisiana-based charity that we are in the process of selecting.  The tweetup will be from 5:30 – 8:00 pm on August 20th and we will be giving out lots of door prizes and even a few free vacations – so please come join us for a celebration for a cause!

Even if you can’t join us on the 20th, we would love for you to consider making a donation.  You can still purchase a ticket for $5 or you can opt to donate more.  Remember, every cent of your money will go to two very worthy causes.  There is an option on the ticket purchase page for donations only, and we would really appreciate your support of the area.

For more information you can check out the Mamas4Mamas official page, or tweet at us with the hashtag #Mamas4Mamas.

Hope to see you there!

If you are going to be at BlogHer I absolutely want to meet you.  Please come say hi, and we can do the girly thing where we squeal, hug, then jump up and down while holding hands.  If you’re more low-key than that, I am equally skilled at the cordial handshake and warm smile – so don’t let my southern affection scare you off! With that said, I figured the easiest thing to do was to post my schedule so you could see where to find me – so here we go:

Thursday, August 5th, 2010

12:15 pm – 2:30 pm – Walmart Moms welcome reception at The Heartland Brewery

3 pm – 5 pm – Hanes party (I heart the Comfort Crew!)at Nikki Beach Midtown

7 pm – 10 pm – Nikon Party at the Bryant Park Grill with my girl Katja Presnal

Friday, August 6th, 2010

9:00 am – 9:45 am – Skechers Shape-Up Walk with my roomie Sheena Tatum

10:00 am – 11:15 am – Hanging out in the Walmart Booth with Amy Allen Clark (come visit!)

11:45 am – 12:00 pm – Picking up my loaner Asus UL30 (a Windows 7 PC) in the Windows Suite

12:30 pm – 12:45 pm – Video shoot with Beth and Kimberley

12:45 pm – 2:00 pm – Getting Gorgeous at the Warwick Hotel

2:45 pm – 4:00 pm – Workshop time!!!  “Social Media is Bringing Sexy Back to Branding – Do You Have the Social Media Strategy and Tools for Success?”

6:00 pm – Wine In the City.  Excited to be hosting this event along with Shannon Hurst Lane and Tim Hayden.  Reception at the Hilton Manhattan East with Kendall-Jackson Wines.

8:00 pm – Wine In The City dinner and artisan wine pairing (and wine preview!) at The Capital Grille.

Saturday, August 7th, 2010

8:00 am – 9:30 am – Unilever Penthouse

10:30 am – 10:50 – Meeting with Windows Phone

11:00 am – 11:20 am – Momversation interview at the PepsiCo booth

1:45 pm – 3:00 pm – Hanging out with my gals in the Walmart booth (come visit me!)

3:30 pm – ELF and XBox Party with Renee.

6 pm – Vegging, relaxing, and hopefully catching up with people that I love.  My only free time before my 7 am flight!

* * *

So there you have it – I have a crazy, whirlwind 3 days in the Big Apple.  I really want to meet you, so please come say hi if you see me at one of these events or just hanging out!  Thanks to Walmart for sending me to BlogHer this year – and to my amazing Wine In The City co-hosts for making this year’s BlogHer one that I know I won’t forget!

See ya in NYC!

The interview itself has been up on YouTube for quite some time (why aren’t you subscribed to my channel?!) but I wanted to share it here, as the excitement mounts for tonight’s premiere!  Don’t forget that you can enter to win a copy of the DVD/CD pack of The Jensen Project over at the other post, simply by leaving a comment!  Yo, dawg, Randy Jackson laid down the tracks, so you know it has to be good!

So here it is, my interview with LeVar!  It was a lot of fun – I think you’ll love it! Also, a huge thanks to Kelly at PegLegPug and her master video editing skills for making this video look amazing (two camera angles was no small task!).

So, today I’m on Google, searching for pictures of myself and my friend Katja for this way cool NYC Tweetup that we’re hosting on January 13th at the Roger Smith Hotel, and I come across this photo!

And I’m all … awwww … what a CUTE photo!

But then…then I came across this video.  And I’m giggling like a madwoman because here I am, looking like a total goober throughout the entire thing, and I didn’t even know it existed.

And, because I love you, my readers, I thought I would share my gooberness with you.  I’m especially fond of the 14 second mark, where I make a quick appearance just to drawl “bubbles”.  Tee hee!

By the way – my dress is from one of my favorite online stores – ModCloth, and the shoes are Steve Madden.  The crazy mad scientist lab coat was courtesy of Wisk HE.  I especially love that Nichelle from StyleMom immediately cinched hers up with a belt.  Only someone that fashionable could make a lab coat look good.  I’m just sayin’.

Speaking of never doing things on time – this brings me back to why I’m here.  Remember back in September I went to NYC to attend this little thing called Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week?  Well, while I was there I was invited to the CVS Reinventing Beauty Lounge – a pop-up spa like experience where I was basically pampered by having my nails, makeup, and hair all done.  While I was there, I was able to hang out with both Robert Verdi and Nigel Barker.  If it sounds like heaven…well, that’s because it is.

The highlight of the event was having my makeup done by Cover Girl Makeup Artist Jake Bailey.  He explained all of the different Cover Girl products to me, and gave me a rather stunning makeover with all of the products.  My absolute favorite of the bunch, which I have now incorporated into my daily routine, is the Outlast Lipstain.  It looks and works much like a marker — just paint it on your lips and go!  Jake also showed me a technique using a lip brush to get a lighter color from the lipstain that just made me look like I had these fantastic, naturally flushed lips.  I also fell in love with the Simply Ageless Foundation – and I am very loyal to my Clinique foundation, so that was a big jump for me!

Jake Bailey and Erika Lehmann

Not that you are at all surprised, but I also made this video of my experience at the CVS Reinventing Beauty Lounge – it’s a lot of fun, and a little of me being silly (imagine that!) so enjoy!

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