One Chic Mama turned two this past May! We are excited by what a fabulous readership we have gained. Don't worry, we're not going anywhere! But we are making a few changes.

First of all, in the next day or so when you go to OneChicMama.com, you'll notice our site will look a bit different. Well, I have ventured into the world of image consulting, also under the One Chic Mama name. But don't despair, there are two places you can click to be taken over to the blog you know and love. If you like, you can poke around the new site to hear about my offerings, read my "Mama's Little Helpers" for a quick beauty boost, or just learn more about my background.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me at michele@onechicmama.com. If you're in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill Triangle area, I'd love to work with you! My focus will be on moms, from stay-at-home moms to working moms and all moms in between. Even if you're not a mother, I would love to work with you to help you look and feel your best. Because inside every woman, there really is one chic mama!

Is there a trip to Disney in your future? How about a water park, theme park or mall? While these places all offer fun and adventure, unfortunately they offer opportunities for your child to get lost in a sea of people. When you plan your next excursion to a crowded place, make sure you mark your kids with Tattoos With A Purpose so your cell phone number will be with them at all times. If they wander off or get separated from you, they can find a policeman or security guard and have them call to so that you can be reunited.

With school getting back into session, Tattoos With A Purpose can be great for field trips or sporting events. The tattoos last from 3-5 days, so they're good for multiple outings, a vacation or a busy weekend. Made with FDA approved inks, these are easy to use and to customize with your contact information. Plus, the fun designs will delight your kids - boys and girls!

Keeping your kids safe is important. Tattoos With A Purpose helps make safety fun. Kids love temporary tattoos, and it's a great idea to give them something they'll love while you arm them with information that can help keep them safe, too.

Clutter is not money. Clutter is clutter.

Say you're going through your closets and every time you go to eliminate something you stop because you've just computed that this scarf, this radio, this toaster-oven cost you money and, hey, now you deduce you're throwing out money. Sound familiar? Equating clutter for money limits your ability to get rid of old clutter that is no longer serving you.

Clutter has the potential to be money only when:
· You still have the receipt.
· The "return by date" has not expired.
· You sell it on-line.

I say "potential" because this involves actually doing something about it, not just thinking about doing it and not procrastinating another seven months.

You have already spent the money and no matter how long you hang on to this item, no matter how deep you tuck it into the closet, it's not going to miraculously turn itself back into money.

The only miracle that's happening here is you doing yourself a favor and moving it out. Donate it… someone else could start using it today!

Space-tacularly,
Erica
The Spacialist
New York Magazine's 2008 choice for BEST SPACE ORGANIZER!
212.924.4383

On Boston Mamas: Cool Pregnancy. Check out these tips to beat the heat and stay cool during pregnancy.

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On Moms Buzz: Online Lingo Your Children Use - Learn Them Too! Have you ever wondered how come children of all ages are so good at text-messaging or chatting? The answer is that they employ a secret language of acronyms to communicate: an online lingo. Learn them and be a cool parent too!

Melange (French, verb): to blend or mix.

Melange Apothecary (English, noun): a place to indulge your senses through custom blended products, unique scents and intoxicating fragrances.

When I received my lovely package from Melange Apothecary it was a dreary, overcast and rainy day. So upon my discovery of a lovely, scented candle in this exquisite presentation, I was delighted! I immediately lit the candle and all was calm in my world, for a few minutes anyway. The seductive scent of Asian Pear is a fresh, yet exotic scent that livened up my office and my senses.

Melange Apothecary is an online fragrance bar (with a brick-an-mortar in Sherman Oaks, CA) that blends some of the finest home and personal care products with fragrances and essential oils to create decadent treats for your senses. Many of their fragrances are one-of-a-kind that can only be found through Melange Apothecary. The belief here is that fragrance should be interesting, accessible and fun! Their products are blended weekly in small batches, and the custom-blends mean less packaging for their products.

With products such as body cream, eau de parfum, body wash and home ambiance diffusors, as well as candles, body scrubs and oils, there are many different ways to get your fragrance on. Which one will you choose?

Here's the scenario: you're traveling to visit family with your six-week old daughter in tow. She was fussy on the long flight so you nursed her several times before she fell asleep. When she woke up, again fussy, you immediately offered her a breast. But wait, which side did she last nurse on? You can't remember. Yet later that day, as you make your way through the airport to baggage claim, you feel a familiar wetness on your shirt. Uh-oh. It must have been the other side.

Moms have busy lives, and better things to think about than which side to nurse on next. Leave it to BoobyTag to let you know which breast to offer at the next nursing and avoid unnecessary and embarrasing leakage.

BoobyTag is a clever little ribbon that snaps onto the strap of your nursing bra or tank top to remind you which side you last nursed on. Available in several fun colors, BoobyTag lets you concentrate on what's really important in life - taking care of your baby!

Gas is hovering between $4 and $5 a gallon. Airlines have initiated a $25 per checked bag surcharge. Your grocery bill is at an all-time high. Living the posh life just isn't as easy as it used to be.

But don't despair. Practically Posh: The Smart Girls' Guide to a Glam Life, from Robyn Moreno, is your guide to the good life - on a budget! She brings us some clever ideas for cookig up delicious meals in the kitchen, as well as tips for saving at the grocery store. I love her tips on Organic 101: When to save and when to splurge. Personally, we eat organic as much as possible. But with food prices rising, it's not always affordable to go 100% organic. Robyn offers us advice on when organic really matters, and suggestions for throwing a posh party without breaking the bank.

Practically Posh wants to make sure we're well dressed, too. With tips for scoring designer duds on a beer budget, creating your own personal style and a few Hollywood insider's style secrets, Robyn will steer you in the right direction. She'll give you tips for budget beauty with suggestions on when to splurge and when it's ok to buy the drugstore brands. She includes some easy, girls-night-in recipes for face masks, scrubs and the like that will help you make the most of your stay-cation this summer!

In short, Practically Posh is for anyone who enjoys the posh life, but doesn't want to be slowed down by life's practicalities. Robyn shows us that a little ingenuity and creativity can be our currency to help us lead a life that is rich every way but the price tag!

Busy moms wipe away many messes each day. Wet wipes can be handy, but sometimes you need something more than just a cold wipe than can sting sensitive skin. miniTISSUES are hydraulically compressed viscose and cotton tissues that come in tablet form. Just drop them into water (hot or cold) and they expand and rise to full size. Simply unroll and wipe. They’re perfect for runny noses, sticky hands and freshening up. About the size of a quarter, miniTISSUES are portable (just add water), and ideal for air travel, camping trips and family outings. miniTISSUES are pure and gentle, with no additives, so all you get is clean. miniTISSUES are $13.95 for a package of 96 tablets.

I remember reading Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing when I was growing up. The sentiment of "eat it or wear it" has stuck with me ever since. Not that I plan on instilling that into my own kids, but it's just such a wacky and clever tactic for parents to lure their children into eating their veggies.

Now kids can wear their food in a whole new way. The cute and clever designs (with a little wacky thrown in for good measure) from Food Fight will entice your kids to dress themselves, and express their own personality in the process. Is your child a budding rock star? There's a shirt just for them. How about a fan of old school rap? There's a shirt for your home boys and girls, too. Food Fight specializes in finding the best tee shirt designs available on the web, and packages them up all nice and neat so you can have your pick. The tees are available in long sleeve, short sleeve and onesies, and come in a range of sizes from 0 to 5+.

At Food Fight, you'll find AC/DC, shirts for princesses, monster trucks, dinosaurs and more. We received the fabulous Triceratops shirt and the best part is the cute little footprints on the back of the shirt.

As adorable as the shirts are, the packaging is like the cherry on top. Wrapped up in a little french fry basket filled with shredded paper, then packaged in a cellophane bag and tied with ribbons, this presentation makes Food Fight tee shirts perfect for gift giving. And giving food for thought.

Teaching your child to read is an exciting milestone in their lives. However, sitting still and going over the same words time and again can begin to feel like a chore, leaving them wanting to get back to their video games. Why not make it fun with the LeapFrog® Tag Reading System?

A clever system created for preschoolers, the LeapFrog® Tag Reading System offers children an interactive way to learn to read, while empowering them to work on their own. They simply curl up with a good book (Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Olivia, The Little Engine That Could, Go Diego Go, and more) and hold the fat pen that fits so well in cute, chubby fingers. Once the system is turned on (easy peasy!), they just touch the pen to the words and they are said out loud, teaching your child how to read and pronounce them with ease. As your child's reading skills become more advanced, they can opt to read the book on their own, getting help from the electronic reading pen only when they need it.

The LeapFrog® Tag Reading System is a fun system that your child will enjoy while beefing up their reading skills this summer. With a price tag of $50, it's an investment you can rest assured will do more than just mindlessly entertain them - they'll be learning, too!

To track your child's progress you can connect your LeapFrog® Tag Reading System to your computer and access the Leapfrog Learning Path. It's free and gives you access to such insightful information as which skills, stories and activities your child is most engaged with, as well as when your child has started playing with content above their grade level. You can even see the questions your child has answered during play.

Another great resouce is Savyy Source for Parents. Want to know what's going on in the mind of your preschool-aged child's mind? Take the SavvyQuiz in the sidebar on the right of this blog and you can get a progress portrait of where your kiddos stand. It'll help you (and them) better prepare for learning when you know if they're ahead of the pack, lagging behind, or right on target.

This review was written for Parent Bloggers Network.

So you're off to the beach, the mountains or wherever your Summer travels take you. When you get home, guess what will be "not-so-quietly" waiting for you… your mail! As you snap scenic shots, surf the waves and hike the trails, your mail will be multiplying like rabbits.

Before you go away, look at your calendar and actually schedule in time for the week you return to immediately deal with the backlog of mail that will have mounted. For example, plan to focus on it for an hour while you're doing the vacation laundry, before your weekly run, after the kids get a tub or dare I say, even while you're eating breakfast. Remember, it only takes one week to start a huge and overwhelming pile-up, so focus on it before it turns into 5 or 6 weeks of unopened mail.

Just imagine when you return home and see that stack of mail lurking what a relief it will be to know that you've already padded your week with extra time to deal with it.

If you've already incorporated some of my tips from earlier this year and are receiving most of your mail electronically, then the above scenario applies to your email. At least you won't have to do as much shredding.


Space-tacularly,
Erica
The Spacialist
New York Magazine's 2008 choice for BEST SPACE ORGANIZER!
212.924.4383

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Summer weather can sure wreak havoc on your skin. Chlorine from the pool, salt water and the sun's rays can zap moisture right out of your skin, causing it to have a dry, flaky appearance. Yet during the warmer months, the last thing you want is a heavy moisturizer. This is why I have recently fallen for Ambi Soft and Even Cream Oil Lotion.

Providing a rich dose of moisture like you'd get from oil, this clever concoction is anything but greasy. It goes on light and smooth, thanks to the addition of such fabulous natural ingredients as shea butter and olive oil. Moisture is locked in and your skin can't help but look silk and radiant, without any greasy residue.

Look for Ambi Soft and Even Cream Oil Lotion at your local CVS, Walgreens or other drugstore for $7.99.

Well, not really, but who doesn't like to pretend it is with pretty, fun clothes? These sweet frocks from Dress ReHERsal will keep your little one looking chic with a homespun charm, and all at prices that are unheard of!

It's a well-known fact that ginger helps to soothe an upset tummy. So when a mama-to-be is feeling a little queasy, it makes sense for her to sip a little ginger ale to ease her morning sickness and help her get through the day. With the help of mom Beth Vincent, now she can sip 'til her heart's (and tummy's) content and feel good about that fact that she's taking in essential vitamins, too.

OhMama! Ginger Ale Elixir was created by a mama who experienced first-hand the ill effects that being pregnant can produce in those first few months. Struggling with a busy schedule to keep her tummy settled and get the vitamins her pregnant body needed, she crafted the idea for a ginger drink that helped with both of those, and OhMama! Ginger Ale Elixir was born. With a light, delicious flavor, this is the perfect cocktail for an expectant mama when she's not feeling good - and even when she is. As the temperatures rise, just pour yourself a tall cool glass of this subtly spicy brew and enjoy!

Buy OhMama! Ginger Ale Elixir from Amazon.com for $39 and you can have a case of comfort delivered right to your doorstep. Look for it at your local Babies R Us, Whole Foods and Motherhood Maternity stores as well.

Summer and sunglasses are pretty much synonymous. Your eyes need the protection from the UVA/UVB rays, and you love how chic they make you look. Yet finding a great pair of sunglasses that doesn’t cost a fortune can be one mean feat. For moms who don’t want to sacrifice great style for affordable price, there’s Somatic Sunglasses. Offering stylish sunglasses made for an active lifestyle, Somatic's frames are priced between $50 and $70 a pair. But the best part is Somatic's exceptional replacement guarantee. If your sunglasses are lost or damaged in the first six months, they’ll be replaced free of charge. That means moms don’t have to worry, for a few months at least, if their kids decide to have their way with her shades. A little peace of mind goes a long way!

Running from pickup to playdates, errands to afternoon escapades, mommies are constantly in motion. Occasionally, they're lucky enough to squeeze a workout into their hectic schedules. On the days we do find ourselves with a window of opportunity, it helps to be dressed accordingly. That's why I love the versatile styles Beckons Organic has to offer.

With shapes ranging from t-shirts to tanks, skirts to capri pants, these eco-friendly styles take you from the yoga studio to meeting a friend for lunch without missing a beat. These are clothes that offer flexibility mixed with a modern style, to blend your active life with your real life. Sewn into each Beckons Organic garment is an intention tag embracing a single characteristic of the yogic lifestyle: strength, wisdom, grace, love, courage, peace and integrity. These little reminders were added to give us pause and remind us how simple it is to be conduits for positive change. In a busy world, we can so easily forget what our intentions are for our lives and the lives of those around us. Reminders are a good thing.

Yoga can help bring balance to your hectic life - let Beckons Organic bring function to your wardrobe. Sweat optional.

Pregnancy is a journey that takes your body, and that of your baby, through a multitude of stages. The Nine Month Necklace from J. West Originals is a special creation designed to mark each one of those stages with a beautiful gemstone. At the beginning of each month there is a new gemstone to add. Each gemstone was selected for its metaphysical properties and represents a unique milestone your baby will achieve during that month. The Nine Month Necklace is crafted by hand and includes such beautiful gemstones as citrine, pearl and amethyst.

Designed by a midwife, the Nine Month Necklace makes a perfect gift for yourself, or the expectant mom in your life (hubbies, are you listening?). Available in white gold, yellow gold, or sterling silver, the Nine Month Necklace is a beautiful heirloom that helps you celebrate your journey while marking precious memories. In years to come it can then be passed down to your children as a special keepsake to remind them of their bond with you. Available in silver and gold, prices for the Nine Month Necklace range from $148 - $288.

One Chic Mama readers can save 10% when you use code "OCM10" on next order.

Exclusive for One Chic Mama Readers
Win a 16" or 18" Sterling Silver Nine Month Necklace of your very own ($148 value). Simply leave us a comment and tell us how you are celebrating your journey through pregnancy. The deadline is Midnight, EST, July 14. Please note, all comments are moderated and may not appear immediately.

Your child's birthday is coming up. You've planned the party to a T and you need an invitation to match your creativity. Why not let Pingg be your go-to invitation resource?

With options ranging from simple online invitations to the all-inclusive SurroundSend, Pingg helps you manage your event and makes it a snap to keep your friends and family in the know.

Hosting a baby shower? Embed an Amazon registry to the invitation to keep guests clued in. With unique, original artwork, Pingg gives you modern and chic options for your next soiree. You can even customize invites with your own photos.

Because a picture is worth a thousand words. But Pingg is free.

“We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.”

- George Bernard Shaw


Photo courtesy of BHG.