My Best Feature? My Smile.

When I was a kid, I had the worst teeth on the planet.

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.

Rayovac, Disneyland, & the Cars 2 Premiere!

We just wrapped up the most magical weekend and I’m here to gush all about it to you.  My fiancé and I wanted to bring our kiddos to Disneyland for a taste of the magic that only Disney can provide, and Rayovac, as the official battery of Disney Parks, helped to make that happen.  We had 2 amazing days at the parks, full of character meet-and-greets, first roller-coaster rides, and a VIP viewing of World of Color.

Our kiddos had an amazing time – riding together in the front of the Monorail, Finding Nemo as a family, spinning like crazy on the Teacups, and Soarin’ Over California.  It was a really amazing time for the four of us, and I cannot thank Christine and Rayovac enough for making it all happen.

Though I haven’t done as much blogging about Disney here on Chic Shopper Chick, I’ve done a fair share of writing and tweeting (and most certainly Facebooking and Flickring) about the fact that I’m a Disney FANATIC. We are annual passholders to both parks (as in Disneyland and Walt Disney World), DVC members, and at this point, we’ve been so frequently that my daughter thinks the Southwest airplanes are actually “Mickey airplanes”.  Also, this marked her 10th visit to a Disney Resort of some sort.  She is 4.

Heck, I love the Disney Resorts SO much that I was even able to share that love with others in a Disney Parks commercial!

I’m sure you can see why, when Rayovac came to me with an insanely cool proposal involving the Cars 2 Premiere, I jumped at the chance to get involved.  Check out the announcement video that I made for you at the not-yet-finished Cars Land in Disney’s California Adventure!

You heard right – I’m going to be representing Rayovac on the Red Carpet for the premiere of Cars 2 in Hollywood! I’m so excited to be reporting on behalf of Rayovac, and I’ll be sure to be back here to update you as the June 18th premiere gets closer!

Disclosure: While this post was not compensated, I did benefit from the ongoing relationship that I have with Rayovac, and this post is a reflection of that relationship. However, my opinions are and always have been 100% mine.

Spring Cleaning Your Closet with Tide and Tim Gunn {Giveaway CLOSED}

A few weeks ago, Tide approached me with what I thought was a very cool idea – share my spring cleaning resolution for my closet and my wardrobe with my readers – and have the potential to win a trip to NYC with one of my readers for a Spring Wardrobe makeover.

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?

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.