So lately I’ve been seeing a lot of commercials for the “new” JCP.

But they were kind of confusing. Like, were they not ever having a sale again? Were they becoming a bargain basement retailer? I couldn’t figure it out. And the commercials were really no help at all.

Then I opened today’s newspaper and there sat the JCP flyer looking suspiciously glossy…more like a thin catalog than a flyer. After browsing, I think I’ve deciphered the new JCP “red, white, and blue” pricing strategy.

Red: Everyday prices — no sales, no gimmicks.

White: Month-long values — this stuff goes on sale at the first of the month and returns to normal price at the end.

Blue: Unadvertised best prices — products are marked down on the 1st and 3rd Friday of every month.

They’ve also revamped their return policy. You can now return anything, anytime, anywhere.

In the grand scheme of things, this is pretty huge. JCP was losing it’s lackluster for sure, so I’ll be curious to see how things turn out now. I’m actually excited about the pricing on furniture and the fact that, in most cases, the delivery price is built right into the price you see. I’ve got my eye on a pretty sweet couch and chaise for the family room.

photo credit: jcp

This is going to sound crazy. I just bought a new red wallet (on a great sale at Kate Spade!) and on buying it I thought WOW THAT’S RED. But I felt compelled to buy it, not because it’s Kate Spade and not even because it was on super sale. I just had to have it. It called to me. It’s come hither lipstick red. That’s not the crazy part.

When I got home and organized all my things in it, I thought, uh oh…did I just stash all my money in something as red as fire? As in burning a hole in my pocket? As in that’s what my mom has always said about me and money? OOOOHH NOOOOO NOT GOOD!

One of my goals this year is to make as much money as I can in order to buy a house. So spending it willy-nilly isn’t on the agenda (present example of buying a Kate Spade red wallet not included). Maybe you can see why Mom used to always tell me that?

Again, not the crazy part.

Instead of getting all worried about the potential of burning through my money, I Googled ‘red wallet’ and feng shui and guess what y’all! Red wallets attract wealth! Yippee.

Typically I don’t put much stock in this sort of thing not because I think it doesn’t work but because I think we never hear about when it doesn’t work, so all the information out there seems lopsided to me. Or maybe it’s all hooey. I don’t know.

But I love love love that I intended, at the beginning of the year, to buy a house and houses cost money, right. And I just bought something that will attract money to me.

Alright, money…here I am. Have wallet. Hop right in. Hooray for the red wallet.

And yep, that’s the crazy part

photo credit: MHMB

Thank you Isabella Oliver for making maternity clothes look like real clothes! Now I wish I were pregnant just so I could wear these. You know the maternity line is good if even a non-preggers woman wants the look.

Here are my top many choices:

Like I said, I’d wear these in a heartbeat. And Isabella Oliver isn’t giving me anything to say this. Seriously. Well, she may be giving me a little wardrobe envy…

image credit: IsabellaOliver.com

In the midst of this winter greyness, it’s refreshing to see bright spring dresses at Target. I was just looking at the Jason Wu line at Target – Woot!

Yes, Jason Wu, who shot to stardom after dressing the First Lady for the Inaugural Ball has a Target line. I love how a designer is now considered BIG TIME when they create a look for big box stores. Remember when it was the other way around…ala Jacqueline Smith?

Anyway, Target has some incredible stuff for Spring. And not just Jason Wu – who admittedly has great dresses if not short dresses. Best paired with leggings in my 40-year-old opinion!

I found 2 really great Merona dresses, the Tie Waist and the Trapunto, that would look lovely with a different belt and maybe a long grandpa cardigan. I always switch belts. I think it adds personality and style, don’t you?

Tie Waist by Merona

Trapunto by Merona

But they are only available on line…so get thee to Target.com for a little Spring in your winter step.

photo credit: Target.com

This just in from the fashion people: color, color, color. Have you seen the new neon? It’s everywhere. Pink. Green. Orange. Just SCREAMING AT YOU.

Peruse J Crew‘s new arrivals and, if you’re my age, you’ll start singing the Thompson Twins or Spandau Ballet what for all the 80s influence. At least color wise.

That said, since I’m terrified of color (Yes, that’s right. It scares me), I’m totally intrigued with the new look coming out. I dream of being able to wear ORANGE and not going around apologizing to everyone I see for being so loud. It’s not that I’m meek minded as much as I like to blend.

But I won’t be blending in neutrals! I went for a hike with a friend this past weekend and she had on a deep turquoise sweatshirt with a neon orange vest and a blue-green scarf. What with her deep red hair, she looked amazing! Just amazing. For a hike!

So she’s inspired me to venture out a bit. Try some color.

I bought a hot pink scarf. Woooo hoooo.

Images via J Crew.

By now we’ve probably all heard about dry shampoo and the minutes it saves us when we are looking a little more greasy than glam, but did you know about the off-label genius of baby wipes, your hair iron or a sharpie?

Neither did I. Of course, I do know that baby wipes are amazing at many things that don’t involve baby bottoms, but I’ve never used one to de-lint myself. Apparently, it works better than my trusty duct tape rolled sticky side out around my hand. For moms on the go, who are sure to have baby wipes stuffed in a bag more so than a roll of duct tape, this idea is brilliance.

Fixing your hair and find a few wrinkles on your shirt that you didn’t see as you pulled it out of the jam packed closet? Simply re-purpose your hair iron as an iron iron. Swiftly, though. You don’t want to burn anything. Still. Amazing.

And finally, a sharpie. My absolute best friend for odd uses. Did you know that on a dark stained floor a sharpie can hide a scratch like nobody’s business. And walnut veneer dining tables, too. Once, my mother-in-law absent mindedly kicked one of the legs to our table and chipped off a very large bit of the veneer. What I couldn’t glue back on, I colored in with my trusty sharpie and VOILA! Near perfection restored. Of course, that’s for the home. A sharpie is also awesome for hiding scuffs on your heels. Awesome.

Got any quick fixes us gals and guys shouldn’t be living without?!?

Image credit: redspotted

In a word: glamorous. But since ‘glamor’ and ‘mom’ usually are mutually exclusive, that’s not what I’m talking about. I know, I know, all moms can be (and should be!) considered glamorous just by being us. Right? Right?

Whatever. The real world knows differently.

But, one of the cool things we can take home after this weekend’s gawk-fest is diamond stud earrings, the color nude, and mermaid fishtail dresses.

All three of these I can totally see doing! OK, only two. My daughter can rock the mermaid look and I’ll leave her to it.

I gotta get me some diamond (diamondique, diamonelle, or some other diamond look alike is fine by me) studs! Apparently the bigger the better.

As for nude clothing, this sort of scares me. Not as much as color scares me, so there’s that. And the other trend coming off the runway is color!!!!! So maybe in my middle of the road fashion you’ll see me in a lovely nude shirt with a colorful scarf around my neck.

Did you see Heidi Klum’s nude dress gathering?

Are you game for flattering the lovely ladies of the Globes by imitating?

Image credit: MTV Style

Ahh, the one that got away. Gorgeous home, with a backyard. Simple, elegant, all done in neutrals with pops of color. Unfortunately, I’ve found it AFTER it’s been snapped up by some lucky buyer. Oh, and I don’t live in New York. Oh, AND, I don’t have $3.75 million. But still…it feels like the house I want to live in when I look at it: Jenna Lyon’s Brooklyn brownstone.

See, our family is house hunting right now, one of my all time favorite things to do. To tell you the truth, I could hang out in this voyerism land of going to open houses indefinitely. I just love to see the insides of other people’s homes and imagine how I would live there. I think it’s a sickness really, how excited I get on Sunday mornings. I’m not stalker-y or anything. I don’t rifle through closets or open cupboards. Much.

But check out these pics of Jenna’s house – you know Jenna, of J. Crew, style maven, dresser of the First Lady? She has a great section in their catalog called Jenna’s picks. Love her!

I seriously want this kitchen. Sooooooo simple. And yet, not. I might need more cabinet space above the counters but something inside of me wants to have such a clean space to look at instead of more cabinets. The seating area in the bay window is just magical, too. Can’t you just see hanging out having coffee while she whips up something delicious?

Let’s just look at that bay window again, shall we?

The “en suite” bathroom is a little literal. Whaaaat? I mean, it’s the same room practically with only an open archway for “privacy.” Um, door, please.

As for the rest of the house, I’m just in love. The black. The white. The wood accents.

I have found many photos of this house. My favorite is on Curbed because, well, I just love that website. The architect Ken Levenson, Fashionlog and Habitually Chic, too.

images via Habitually Chic, JCrew Afficionado and French By Design

I heart scarves. It has taken me living in San Francisco for a decade – on and off – to learn how to tie a scarf, what with all the cold foggy days here. And it’s not that I do it properly or anything. Mine is always a little pulled together, a little messy. Much like my hair. And my clothes. And my kids. Ah, hell, much like my life.

So, when I saw this video on 25 ways to wear a scarf, I couldn’t stop watching. In fact, I need to go back and watch in slo-mo again just so I can remember a few of the tricks on tying a scarf.

25 ways! Who knew you could tie one long piece of fabric in so many different ways. By the way, Wendy – the model in the video – has her own fashion blog. She’s incredibly stylish and I’m becoming addicted to her style videos. Watch out – you might, too.

Typically, I do the basic loop and the toss. That’s me, a tosser. And yes, I just called my self a tosser (of sorts, ha!).

But I love that you can do an infinity (think snood) with a regular scarf. I’m gonna try that today! What about you? Find an old/new way in there?

Do tell!!!

Also, in the spirit of accessorizing for those of us who don’t really know how, here’s a great tutorial on belts, from how to tie fabric belts to how to make your belt fit just right, even when it doesn’t.

Too-da-loo.

photo credit: Modern Home Modern Baby

Ahh. The fountain of youth. In a jar. It’s not gonna happen, is it? I know this, but that doesn’t stop me from trying to find the perfect night cream. And, guess what? I just happened to stumble on something pretty amazing: L’Occitane’s Immortelle Divine Cream.

Let me just say that I’m enamored with all things French, especially Provence. I know I sound snooty all nose up the air when I say this, but seriously y’all! I can’t get enough of French country-inspired anything.

And L’Occitane…is from Provence.

Now, after living there for a time, I realize that the women there do not have any better skin than they do anywhere else in the world. So basing my decision to buy face cream from Provence has nothing to do with local visual evidence of the cream’s magical powers.

It’s just that I’m a sucker. For waving lavender fields, bright big sunflowers and anything else that screams Provence in advertising.

That said, after using L’Occitane’s Divine cream for just over a month or more now, my face is kinda radiant. Glowing. Yesterday when I went back into the L’Occitane store for some face soap, I got to talking with the sales lady and she told me that the Divine cream won top billing over all super-high-end-youth-in-a-bottle creams in some contest (I’ll have to look up the details!). Up against Le Mer and other creams I would never buy because they are like a gazillion dollars for a 1/2 ounce.

So, imagine that! Anti-aging, radiance cream in a jar that really does seem to make my face look healthier and, dare I say it, younger. I use it morning and night, but sparingly! It’s expensive!

Even so, I can absolutely see a difference in the texture of my skin, the appearance of my pores and the over-all glow. I look “dewey” as we say in the South, which is just a way to say hydrated. I’m hooked. Really I am.

And, if compared to Le Mer, it’s a downright bargain at under $100 a jar – or at least that’s what I tell the hubs.

In case you need a little push in the holiday cheer direction, I just found out about Slacker’s updated holiday stations. Slacker is a cool service that lets you listen to a myriad of Internet radio stations.

I like the classics, so I’ve been listening to Burl and Bing. But the R&B Christmas station is great, too. It appeals to my New Orleans side. Oh, and the Jazz station. Gotta love a little Nat King Cole, and, let’s not forget Billie Holiday!

Anyway, here’s a list of the stations on Slacker that are playing great holiday music right now:

Holiday Classics
Holiday Party
Holiday
Holiday Hits (by BlackBerry AppWorld)
Country Holiday
R&B / Soul Holiday
Rock / Alternative Holiday
Classical Holiday
Jazz Holiday
Navidad Latina
Dysfunctional Holiday

Have a very Merry Christmas!!

That’s right. Channel your inner teen and text your heart away. You can even add fun/crazy/glam icons thanks to Zlango. Of course, if you actually were a teen, you’d already know about texting with attitude and icons and all that. You would have learned it by osmosis and be able to magically have your thoughts appear in a text without perceptibly moving any body part.

And yet, as a mom of a teen, here’s more of what you might send:

Zlango is an app you can download to your smart phone. You can then send text with icons that replace some or all of the words. If you’re thinking “why bother?” then you’re likely over the age of 18. But in case you want to know what those teenagers are up to these days, check out Zlango.

For this holiday party last week I had the dress, the shoes and even the Spanx! But to look in the mirror. Urgh. My make-up was just leaving me flat. Maybe you can relate? I was going to just run into Walgreens again and find a mascara. I seem to do this every time I don’t like my make up. I buy crappy mascara and think that’ll do it.

It doesn’t. It never does and yet I do it anyway.

But this time I went to Benefit, a local cosmetics boutique. They have a store right near me and the music was playing and everyone looked happy so I went in. And met Joseph. Ahh, to be in the hands of a master.

Joseph, the make up artist, sat me down in the chair and started talking while he looked at my skin, my eyes and my brows. Now, I don’t wear much make up to begin with but also, I don’t have time to fuss in the morning. So a little has to go a long way.

Did you know that the number one mistake women make is not putting down a primer for eye shadow (or blush for that matter). I had no idea. I don’t prime, do you? But I do notice that I have absolutely no make up on at the end of the day when I swear I did start out with something!

So Joseph introduced me to primer. It’s like foundation, only more sheer. You just put the tiniest amount on and voila! Eyeshadow stays put. It doesn’t soak in and disappear.

Amazingly, I didn’t walk out with so much new product that I didn’t know how to use. Just the primer and a new big beautiful eye shadow kit – the one with the choices already selected for you. You just follow directions and have bright eyes. Just what this mom needs.

And good eye cream. I did buy their eye cream.

The best part was that I had so much fun. It’s like a little oasis, going into a boutique. I felt pampered. I felt beautiful. And yet I still felt like me.

Thanks, Benefit. Oh, yeah. And, after my quick in-store tutorial and the handy dandy directions in my new eye shadow kit, for my holiday party I felt lovely and pulled together, not blah.

I swear, if you need a little umph…go to Benefit. Benefit is based in San Francisco, but has stores in southern California, the New York area, and the Chicago area. They also have a great online store with lots of useful information.

So give em a try. Visit my man Joseph, even if it’s only online.