Unilever's Back To School Bash

I was recently invited to a "Back to School Bash" in NYC hosted by Unilever and PR firm Weber Shandwick. The party was a back-to-school fashion event for tween girls to promote Unilever's newest scent for Dove® gofresh(TM), Rebalance. I brought my daughter and my niece, who are both 11.

The company really went above and beyond to make the guests feel special and pampered. Servers circled the room with trays of delicious, finger foods like mini-hamburgers and tiny grilled cheese squares and fruity mixed drinks like pink lemonade and citrus punch. A fashion consultant introduced the girls to the newest trends in tween fashion, showing off racks of clothes and rows of shoes.

Parenting expert and author, Rosalind Wiseman gave back-to-school tips and signed free copies of her books Boys, Girls and Other Hazardous Materials and Queen Bees and Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends and the New Realities of Girl World (the book that helped inspire the movie Mean Girls and personally helped me get through a tough situation with my daughter a few years ago).

Professional stylists did the girls' makeup and hair, before they had a fun photo shoot courtesy of Stardoll. Each guest went home with a copy of their best photograph in a picture frame decorated with stickers, jewels and pom-poms, a mini Caboodles makeup case, and free samples of gofresh Rebalance deodorant and body mist.

I have to say that the event was amazing... both of the girls had a great time.

The brand really made them feel special and grown-up and important. They couldn't stop gazing at their photographs - marveling at how pretty their hair and makeup was - and raving about how delicious everything tasted. On the ride home they both devoured the first two chapters of Wiseman's book and both mentioned that they can keep the mini deodorant sample in their lockers when they start middle school this September. 

Shortly after dropping my niece off at her house, I received a call from her mom thanking me again and again for bringing her, saying how she wouldn't shut up about what a great time she had.

The event was part of Unilever's "Don't Fret The Sweat" campaign, the mission of which is to help parents and children to "successfully navigate the tricky tween years". Unilever has aligned with community partners to provide parents with the tools they need to help build their tweens’ confidence during these critical years and help their children transition into confident and self-reliant teens.

Disclosure: There was no charge for this event. I was invited by a representative from Weber Shandwick. I was not compensated for this blog entry and all of the opinions stated in this blog entry are my own.

Tips for Medical Professionals: Buying Scrubs

Despite the fact that I am completely squeamish about all things medical (I even faint at the sight of blood sometimes!) a lot of people don't know that many of the lousy jobs I've held over the years have been in the medial field. Don't worry - I wasn't performing surgery or anything... that would've been scary, haha! But I'm way too familiar with medical offices than anyone with my fear of blood and stuff like that should ever be...

Usually my responsibilities were restricted to 'safe' stuff like making appointments and answering the phones, but that was at 'people' doctors. Working for veterinarians was usually a whole other story. Sometimes I had to clean out cages and prepare fecal tests (let's just say it was the job was overall... shitty). Puppies and kittens are cute. The stuff that comes out of them? NOT SO CUTE. 

But every once in a while I did get stuck holding down a squirmy cat while the vet drew blood or petting a dog as it came out of anesthesia post-surgery. Scary... and sometimes gross.  Although my responsibilities varied from job to job - and from day to day - one thing was always the same. The uniform. Yep, I'm talking about scrubs.

At the 'clean' jobs (the people jobs) the scrubs I was required to wear were purely... ornamental. They were for show only. I guess they just wanted us to all match... or maybe they didn't trust us not to come to work dressed inappropriately (I am prone to showing excessive cleavage when left to my own devices). Or maybe it was a 'just in case' policy. It's not your job to treat patients - and we would probably get sued if we let you - but god forbid someone bleeds or pees on you by accident at least you didn't ruin any real clothes. Don't worry, no one ever did... at least no people ever did.

As I already said, the 'not-so-clean' jobs (the animal jobs) were... not so clean. So the scrubs were absolutely a necessity. 

Did I mention that they made me buy my own scrubs? They didn't even provide them for me. And since every office had their own separate, different 'theme' going on, every time I started a new job, I had to buy a new pair of womens scrubs. If I was dealing with children or animals, I wore those ridiculous scrubs with cartoon characters or puppy paw prints. If I was dealing with adult human beings, it was respectable solid colors only.

Over the years, I've held so many jobs like this that I've become somewhat of an expert at buying nursing uniforms. So for those of you who work in this industry... here are a few tips:

•  Wear the right size! It sucks to have to constantly pull up your pants while you're trying to look professional and treat patients. And if your scrubs are too snug you'll look - and feel - ridiculous.

Photo courtesy of Blue Sky Scrubs

•  If you're able to pick your own colors (that is, if you don't have to follow the office dress code) make sure you pick a color that doesn't make you look washed out or sickly. Patients do not feel like they're being taken well care of if their doctor/nurse/technician looks sicker than they do.

Photo courtesy of Blue Sky Scrubs

•  The better you look, the better you'll feel and the better you will do your job... and the happier your bosses and patients will be. 

• On the same note - you  need to be comfortable. How can you take care of others if you're not feeling good? When possible, look for all cotton scrubs or anything else that won't be itchy and annoying.

BONUS: A couple of cheap scrub tops can also add to a some great Halloween costumes for the kids! But just don't wear these to the office or you might get fired! haha....

Carpet Cleaning Crisis

I just got off the phone with a friend of mine. She has two little kids and one big dog, so I'm always hearing stories about their wacky (and messy) hijinks. Today's story involved a momentarily distracted mom, a full glass of grape juice, and a beige carpet. Oops.

Now, this isn't exactly the first time that my friend's carpets have gotten stained. But a giant purple splotch in the middle of the living room can definitely be filed under 'last straw'. So, suddenly finding the best carpet cleaning in Austin went way up the priority list. This took some doing because she moved last year - in her old neighborhood she was practically on a first name basis with everyone who worked at the local carpet cleaning place, but she hasn't really hit the Austin carpet cleaning scene yet.

Anyway, she told me that she found a really good company to come and clean all of her carpets and get some carpet protector put on. (If they were up to the challenge of her family, they must be really good.) They even offer some "green" cleaning services, which my friend really liked because not only is it better for the environment, but she feels better using fewer potentially toxic chemicals in her home since she does have young kids. They even gave her some professional carpet cleaning tips so that she can handle the next grape juice crisis herself. Can't beat that.

Baby-Proofing Madness

I recently visited a friend of mine who has a new baby. He's her first child, so even though he's not really very mobile yet, the baby-proofing was in full effect at her house, from Baby Gates to stove and window guards. Everything is so thoroughly baby-proofed that getting around is kind of like going through an obstacle course.

I made the mistake of making a joke about all of the guards and gates and ended up getting a full lesson on baby-proofing and kid safety. (In all seriousness though, I don't blame her for being cautious, and I think that's far better than not being careful enough.)

She told me that she researched a lot of baby safety items and ended up going with a company called KidSafeInc.com. They make all kinds of child safety products as well as Pet Gates and other related stuff. She evens checks their KidSafe Blog sometimes to make sure she's up on all of the latest products. Can't leave anything unproofed! (They also have info about things like crib recalls, which is really important because it seems like products for babies are recalled every other week these days.)

The bottom line is that her son is absolutely adorable, so I'm okay with her wrapping her whole house in bubble wrap if it keeps him safe and happy.

Holiday Shopping: Baby Clothes Are Too Cute

So I've started to work on my holiday shopping. Well, okay, I haven't actually bought anything yet, but I'm figuring out who I need to shop for and what to get for everyone. I have a couple of friends and relatives who have babies or toddlers to shop for, and that presents a bit of a problem for me. Why, you ask? Because baby clothes are just too cute.

Yes, it's true. The cuteness of most baby clothes represents a challenge for me. First, I have a hard time deciding what to get, and then I overbuy. It's all just so darn cute.

Cute little dresses:



Cute little onesies:


Cute little shoes:

It's just too much adorability for me to resist. And this is just the clothes! I haven't even started on toys or stuffed animals or little children's books or...well, you get the idea. At least this part of my shopping list is really easy and fun to do. And I know that when I have my own kids someday, I'm going to be totally broke. But at least my kids will look super cute!

SWF seeking...?

I was thinking of moving to the city, but it's just really expensive to live there. (I mean, it's worth the money, but it's still a lot of money.) So I went on one of those roommate finder websites to see if I could find some cool people to live with - and more importantly split rent with!

I had never done an online roommate search so I wasn't exactly prepared for all the questions they were going to ask me about myself and my potential roommates. I expected the basics like smoker or non-smoker, but you can actually search by age, gender, sexual orientation, profession (choices include student, professional, retired or 'others'), and whether you have a pet or a child.*

That surprised me, because I thought you weren't allowed to ask questions like that (something about the Fair Housing Act not letting you discriminate). It's not a DATING site! Although there is the option to choose 'not disclosed' (for yourself) or 'doesn't matter' (for your potential roommates) on certain questions, some of it still seemed a little weird to me. but I guess because it's optional and since the goal of the sites are to bring togethe potential roommates and not necessarily tenants/landlords, then it might be a grey area.

I know that the federal law does not include sexual orientation, but many states - including New York - do protect against this kind of discrimination...  so I'm not completely sure what makes it okay to ask for this information on a website for roommates. Maybe because it's optional? Maybe because websites are protected as Internet 'forums'? I don't know.

But it all makes me wonder...

If you're going to live with someone, I guess there are some reasons why you'd want to know personal kinds of information about a potential roommate... If you have a young child, you might not want to live with a college student who parties all night long. (Or, if you're someone who parties all night long, you might not want to live with someone who has a young child.) Or if you're in a long distance relationship, your signficant other might get jealous if you were living with someone you could possibly be romantically become entangled with... so in that case the gender and sexual orientation of your potential roommates might actually matter.

I also know that certain religions don't allow living with members of the opposite sex (even if it's platonic) so it wouldn't necessarily be discrimination based on gender if you didn't want to share a bedroom or bathroom with someone who isn't your gender.

While technically it would be discrimination if someone specified "I want a straight, white roommate", it's not exactly the same as discriminating against a potential employee. It's more like "I'm a racist homophobic bigot and you don't want to live with me anyway." (And that wouldn't just apply to gay people either; I'm straight and white, but I wouldn't want to live with a racist homophobic bigot either!)

And theoretically, if you're welcoming a roommate into your home... you should have a right to be somewhat discerning about who you live with. It's not a public space.  Who you live with is a personal choice. It seems shitty to say it, but I don't want to live with someone if I disagree with their 'morals' (or really, if they would disagree with mine... or my lack thereof). But then... there's so much that goes into sharing a living space with someone. I wouldn't want to live with someone who eats lots of tuna fish or does drugs or never bathes or snores or breeds cats or listens to Celine Dion all day. I wish there was a website that would help me find a roommate using search criteria like that!

But when it comes to sexual orientation, I don't care who they're sleeping with as long as they do it in their room and not on the kitchen table where I eat breakfast!

*Information on search criteria came from RoommateClick.com and EasyRoommate.com which are the only two sites I checked out. I can't speak for any other sites.

It's Slumber Party Time!

So the time has come... the time I've dreaded for so many years... it's slumber party time.

Yes, my daughter is finally old enough - and has begged enough times - for her first real slumber party. Since summer is almost over, I decided to let her go out with one last big hooorah... an end-of-summer sleepover to end all sleepovers.

Of course, my last sleepover was probably a good 20 years ago and I didn't exactly plan that one myself... so I'm a little worried about what I'm getting myself into. Luckily for me, as a super-awesome blogger (ahem) I've got the Internet to help me out (thank you very much Local.com).

Unfortunately, my house is not readily equipped for 6-10 girls as overnight guests. So I'm going to have to pick up some extra pillows, blankets and the piece de resistance: comfortable air mattresses. (If there's one thing I do remember from sleepovers back in the day, it's that sleeping on a hard floor is never comfortable - no matter how nice your sleeping bag is.)

According to my daughter, the most important thing is the food. We can't get by with just standard snacks. We need candy. Not just any old candy... we need special candy.

We need pizza. Not just any old pizza... we need the best pizza in New York. We need lots of chips, popcorn for watching DVDs, and no slumber party would be completely without making 'Smores. (But the standard chocolate and marshmallows won't do. It's got to be Nutella chocolate hazelnut spread. Hell, I don't blame her, that stuff is good.)

Any good sleepover also means manicures and pedicures... makeovers and facials... and a good old fashioned game of "True or Dare". But did I mention this is an end-of-summer sleepover? That means beach towels and sunglasses. That means Hawaiian leis, grass skirts, and coconut bras. Time for a visit to a few costume shops.

I need some kind of girly craft project (any ideas?) and no slumber party would be complete without a few scary stories to tell after dark. (Not too scary, I don't want to be up all night with scared tweens!)

Wish me luck!! I'm gonna need it.
*Thank you to Local.com for saving my slumber party throwing ass. (Local.com is a local search engine. More than just an online yellowpages, Local.com is a hybrid of the following sites - Citysearch.com, Yelp.com, Yellowpages.com, Superages.com).