Wakin’ Up In Vegas {Video}

Don’t forget that you can win an iPod Shuffle for commenting on any posts during the month of October.  See the bottom of this post for details!

Yay!  Thanks to Collective Bias, I’ll be on a plane flying to Las Vegas for Blog World Expo in less than 10 hours!  Why am I not sleeping, you ask?  (By the way, that’s so sweet of you to be so concerned about me!)  Well, because I’m vlogging.  And also, because I’m a procrastinator.  Will I regret this in the morning?  Yes.

Ohh, but look!  I made you a video!

Now you can probably figure out why, after 6 days, I’m still not packed.

PS — Feel the urge to comment yet? How about some motivation? All comments left on my site for the month of October will be entered to win an iPod shuffle! To enter to win, just leave some sort of comment on any post from the month of October. You may enter as many times as there are posts, and get extra entries for tweeting. Comments that had a bit of thought put into them are greatly appreciated. Good luck, contest ends October 31st and 11:59 pm CST.

A Two Suitcase Kinda Trip

Don’t forget that you can win an iPod Shuffle for commenting on any posts during the month of October.  See the bottom of this post for details!

I’m so excited because I’m heading to Blog World Expo in Las Vegas this week – which sort of brings me back full circle to the beginning of my blogging days.  BWE was the first blogging conference I ever attended and is, to date, still my favorite of them all.  I’m excited to be returning, and even more excited to be moderating a panel on the Ethics of Mommyblogging on Friday.  If you’re going to be there, you should most certainly stop by, as I’m sure we’ll be discussing all sorts of hot-button issues (are you sick of hearing about the FTC guidelines yet?!).

Naturally, in order to do something like travel and attend a really cool conference, it is necessary for me to pack all of the vital items in my life into a little box to put under the plane.  Don’t worry, I’m flying Southwest, so it will be well taken care of.  The bigger issue is…UGH.  I have a closet full of nothing to wear.  And packing?  Well, packing ranks up there with sticking toothpicks in my own eyeballs.  Sorry to be so graphic, but it’s true.

I would totally pay someone to pack for me.  Know anyone who would and could handle it?  Make sure all of the outfits match?  Make sure I don’t forget anything?  Make sure it’s all washed and ironed, tucked away in neat little outfits as to avoid any confusion?  Is there a service for that?  There should be.  I’ll be their first customer.

You should see my bed.  It’s full of clothes, hangers, purses, etc.  I’m considering sleeping on the floor tonight, instead actually in the bed itself.  It would make things easier, don’t you think?

In the mood to giggle?  Watch me huff about hating to pack in the video below and feel free to poke fun at me in the comments.

PS — Feel the urge to comment yet? How about some motivation? All comments left on my site for the month of October will be entered to win an iPod shuffle! To enter to win, just leave some sort of comment on any post from the month of October. You may enter as many times as there are posts, and get extra entries for tweeting. Comments that had a bit of thought put into them are greatly appreciated. Good luck, contest ends October 31st and 11:59 pm CST.

Bubbles and Bubbly {Video Recap}

If you’ve been keeping up with my escapades, you know that I returned to NYC for the second time in as many weeks. This time is was not to cover fashion, but to learn more about one of the things that enables me to take care of the clothing that I so thoughtfully invest in. Wisk and LaundryHE invited several of us social-media types to my adopted city to learn a bit about regular versus HE detergent.

Is this the part where I confess to you that I couldn’t even begin to guess the difference before Tuesday night? Now however, well, let’s just say you’re reading the random musings of a chick who is BUBBLE CERTIFIED. Oh yeah, no need to adjust your screen, you read that correctly.  The experts in effervescence gave me a major crash course in suds-ology.  I loved it.

All joking aside, I actually learned a lot about Wisk’s HE detergent at the event.  I heard the claims about HE creating fewer bubbles, and heard that too many suds can actually trap extra dirt and oils in your clothing and prevent them from getting clean — but it really clicked for the hands-on learner in me when I got to see it first hand.  I actually got to see the difference in the two detergents side by side, and had proof that HE got clothes just as clean with fewer suds, right there in my hands.

It was pretty cool.  I was kinda surprised at how much I learned!  Of course, I also learned all about Champagne from the sommelier who was on-hand.  Did you know that a good champagne should smell like toast or brioche?  Did you know that the better the champagne, the longer the taste will linger in your mouth?  Did you know that more pinhead-sized bubbles in your glass actually indicates a better champagne?  Now you do, and so do I!

Check out my video from the event below, and get an inside peek at the event.  You can also check out my Whrrl story for a better timeline.  Also, I wanted to let you know that you can enter to win a HE Washer and Dryer from Maytag and Wisk right now at LaundryHE.   Runners up will get a years supply of Wisk HE — so go check it out and enter!

“Wisk”ed Away to New York

Oh, things are so busy around the House of Chic.  (I just made that up, clearly it’s well past midnight and I’m still drinking coffee when the craziness hits the fan.)  I am so excited to be heading back up to NYC to spend Tuesday evening learning all about Bubbles!  Wisk has invited several bloggers up for a special event to learn about the inner workings of High Efficiency Laundry detergent – and I’ve gotta say that I’m pretty darn excited about it. As much as I’d just like to buy new clothes instead of washing and re-wearing the ones I already own, my limited budget prohibts such activites.  So…at the very least, it is extremely important for me to know the best way to take care of my clothing!

Naturally I’m really looking forward to it, as well as meeting some of the other bloggers.  Of course, before any of this can happen, I’ve got to get on a plane from my much beloved hometown of New Orleans to New York City.  And while that may sound like a simple little thing – it requires some form of goverment ID on my behalf.  Of course, as I discovered, there is one teensy, tinsy little problem.

My driver’s license expired a month and a half ago on my 27th birthday.  Oops.

So, first thing tomorrow morning, (oh wait, that would be in 5 hours) yours truly will be standing in line, waiting to get one of those eternally unflattering photos snapped for that little piece of plastic that tells the world that I passed a driving test at the tender age of 15.

Wonder if I should tell them that I drove into a ditch only 3 days later?

The good news is that I’m already packed!  Less than 48 total hours in NYC, and I’ve managed to narrow it down to 4 complete outfits, 5 pairs of shoes, 4 necklaces, 3 pairs of earrings, a blowdryer, curling iron, and flat iron.  Aren’t you proud?

I knew you would be.

Disney Family.com Travel Kit {Giveaway CLOSED!}

It’s summer time, and that means one of my favorite things — TRAVEL!  We travel so often with Little AG that she has gotten used to our travel routine – and she loves it almost as much as we do.  However, most of us know that traveling with a child is nothing if not challenging, so I’m really excited to be giving away a Travel Kit to make your summer travels even easier.

Disney Family.com is offering an “On the Road With Family.com”  kit to one lucky CSC reader! The kit promises to keep children well entertained during car or plane trips this summer and will put an end to the dreaded “Are we there yet?” questions while allowing families to share their favorite family vacation destinations.

Also, make sure to visit Disney Family.com Travel to help with all your vacation planning needs as the site provides a unique resource for parents providing a combination of expert reviews, parent recommendations, and age-appropriate points of interest for family-friendly destinations on any budget.

One of the many great features on the site is a list of “Cities on a Shoestring” where parents can find inexpensive or free activities to do in cities around the country. The site also includes tips for hassle free air travel, videos of popular family destinations, and safety travel tips.

The travel kit includes a plush kid size travel pillow, a copy of Dr. Seuss’s There’s a Map in My Lap, a travel game kit, notepad and pen and adorable tote bag (a $30 value).  To enter, please leave a comment below sharing your favorite family vacation destination spot; a winner will be chosen at random.  This contest will run through July 2nd, 2009 at 5 pm CST.

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A big thank you to the wonderful women over at Mom Generations for offering Chic Shopper Chick readers this awesome giveaway!

A Chic Chick in NYC!

If you noticed I had been MIA (more than usual) last week, it was because I was on a mom-cation in NYC with some of my favorite people and closest friends – who just happen to be fellow bloggy-types.  These are some of the most incredible women that I have ever met, and I am so very grateful to have spent even a few days with them!  (Yeah, yeah.  I’m a complete sap and I’m totally fine with it.)

Let’s see…hmmm…oh yes!  Seeing as how I agree with the idea that a picture speaks a thousand words, I’ll shut up and leave you with some photos.

Christine, Me, Katja, and Lori

Lindsay, Me, Katja, Audrey, Colleen, Jessica, Arianne, and Nikki

Christine, Audrey, Me

Me and Christine

Katja, Tara, Arianne, Me, Alyssa, Audrey, Lori, Chris

Yeah I know, the color in this one is all wonky.  It’s ’cause the kid who took it decided to be fancy and take two pictures with two different cameras at the same exact time.  Heh.  Though it might look like it,  this is not a photo from the 70’s, rather from 2009.

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I am a crazy picture-taking chick, so this is just a few of them, because I figured pictures of me with every girl there would have gotten old.  If you want to see some of the other ones, you can visit my NYC Flickr Stream.

Flying Solo

I was in NYC for a couple of days (um, for the record, they are NOT wearing shorts there like I have been doing here in Louisiana) and while I had a blast, I missed my family! Hubby said that Little AG stood by our bedroom door and called out for Mommy over and over again. Talk about break my heart! However, the time away for me was good in a sense – I have rarely spent more than 6 hours away from her in her in 2 years, and it was nice to have some time to regroup. Naturally, I didn’t sleep as well as I could have — there was no monitor to check, no sounds of “mommy” to listen for — it was peaceful and difficult all at once, if you know what I mean.

Last night as I was walking out of the terminal I spy this sweet little girl with fair skin, big blue eyes, and an adorable pink hat pulled down over her unruly blonde ringlets and my heart just swelled with love. The little girl was saying “Mommy, mommy!” over and over again. I walked over to her, pulled her in and gave her a huge hug and a kiss, affectionately ruffling her hair in the back. Thankfully, her father didn’t seem to mind.

I swear she’s grown taller since I was gone. Flying solo for a few days was great, but it’s good to be home.