Curvy women, rounded bellies, imperfect moms unite! We don’t have to go all Paula Dean, but a little belly is ok. Why fight that last 10 ( or 20) pounds that hang on our middle. Embrace it. We have had kids, we are not getting any younger. Sure if I had Madonna money I’d have Sergio come and work me out every morning followed by a “massage”. But, let’s deal in middle class reality.
Let’s celebrate who we are!
Perhaps in song!
From nobodies to somebodies they walk among us.
You know.
Moms.
Moms with scarves.
Are you one of them?
Maybe that’s all a modern action hero can wear!
(Note: Help from the Cool Mom players: sister Carole, neighbor Laurie, producer Michelle. Look for my bewildered child in this vid, but please don’t call child protective services!)
Best Dressed Toddler!
Fancy dress for rough toddler boys!
Style and sporty for little boys!
I keep thinking of tag lines for the cute clothes that Blume sent to Rex. I saw them online and they kindly sent him this shirt with something extra. One with a tie and one with a tie and vest. Trying to get a real tie and vest on a boy who is constantly in motion is a lot harder than just pulling the one t-shirt over … which is hard enough since Rex has a huge head.
The “little man” and the “dapper dude” are a score. They also have shirts with pocket squares. Check out the whole collection.
Check out the “catwalk” of Rex’s choosing. He struts his stuff with the best of them.
Oh, new tag line: Super Toddler Model!
This is the first in an occasional series here on cool mom. What is a recessionista? It’s thrown about a lot these days. I think it’s a person who is still trying to be as stylish and joyful as they were when they were fully employed, their house wasn’t underwater and they thought they had a retirement fund.
Now, sometimes, my “take aways” don’t work. But, oh, well, laughs are free.
Let me know your recessionista tip and I will try to work them into another vid.
I remember those iconic Blackgama fur ads, before fur fell out of favor. It was exciting to see which star they chose for the black and white photo, wrapped up in a fur coat. I didn’t know about fur; I just liked the glam ladies. They weren’t being trendy, they were old school. I would gaze at them with saucer eyes.
My day-to-day legend is my two-year-old Rex. He can put something on that is boy-like or that is more usually suited for a female. He could stand naked and yell “poo poo”. He always looks good to me. I’m just not good at judging him. Except when he bit my thigh on Saturday. I was pretty upset about that. But I digress. Once you fall in love with a child’s sweet, open face, the airbrushed, faraway look of a star seems less intriguing.
Also, I’m so far now from having those pictures be aspirational as I truck along in my clown shoes that they have lost a lot of meaning.
I have issues here, people. I need you to work them out! Am I clever or a crazy lady? Perhaps a bit of both. How long did you wear your maternity clothes?
I would write more, but my brain is meatballs. Was awoken four times last night: once by Rex at 1:30am (“You come here now, mommy!”) and three times by Vivien. She wanted to sleep in her pop-up castle. Rex’s screams awakened her to the fact that she was darn uncomfortable. I put her in her bed (well, Oliver’s bed, but hers when he is gone, sigh). Then she woke me up pissed that I had taken her out of her castle. I put her back. Then she came back because she couldn’t sleep. I don’t quite remember it, but then she ended up sandwiched between me and MP. At 6am, when Rex started screaming again, I told the man who impregnated me to get up. That bought me about 25 minutes. Then Rex hurled books at me (see “reads”).
But, back to the issue at hand, just because Fashion Team was canceled is that any excuse for me to cling to my old clothes?
Full disclosure: I went to this wedding already, but shot this video several weeks ago. I have to get my timing better. But the main thrust is the same. Mommy gets to get dolled up and go out! I did wear the shoes I’m wearing here, but instead went for a long sleeve, grey jersey Vivienne Westwood dress, that I had gotten a while ago for a red carpet event, and put a new belt on it. I don’t like when middle aged woman wear what look like prom dresses, so I went understated (here with friends Heather and Liz).
It was not a run of the mill shindig. It was the wedding of my old friend Jodi Applegate, a newscaster in NYC (I met Jodi years ago in one of my early broadcasting jobs at Metro Traffic, the tobacco road of broadcasting), and Michael Kay, a sports broadcaster, voice of the Yankees. It was at the Plaza Hotel and Rudy Gulianni performed the service. It was full of incredible food and great music, and Jodi, who hasn’t aged in 20 years, looked stunning. Here is the write up in the Post (full of false hoods — no ice sculpture, no changing of gowns, no player jamming with band). Here is a slide show of the wedding. Right before the walk down the aisle there is a glimpse of me, hair up, in the second row on the right. I was honored to be there.
I hope it doesn’t ruin our friendship.
We don’t mean to be BCM, but the life of a mom is one of stooping, running and countless bending overs. It’s not meant to be sexy; frankly, it’s not. It looks a little crazy. But, if you want to stop your toddler from running into traffic, or you are involved in playing with your kid on the floor, sometimes you show some crack.
This conversation started because Alice Bradley wrote on her blog Finslippy that she was going to go gray, or grey. I can never decided. Rebecca Woolf of Girlsgonechild raised her hand to be on the “you go girl” side of going gray and she had her super cute mom Wendy with her her silver bob to throw into the mix. Having had a partial hippie upbringing I have a mixed relationship with au natural. ( see chapter in my future book called “fighting to get filtered apple juice at school”) I line up on the dye, baby, dye side of things. Especially if you are MY age. I have a friend from junior high whose hair has so much gray in it now it shocks me when I see it. Last time I saw her I said, “Hey, Emmylou, if you get anymore gray in your hair I’m going to tell people you were my teacher in school not my friend.” She lives in Northern California, which is probably why I moved back home. As much as like a stone ground wheat something something, I also like a little artifice in my life. (see old vlog on Botox)
I brought my mom Morency to this show and tell. Morency has made coolmom appearences, and momversation, before and she was only to ready to talk about her love of dye. Hold on to your mouse, because I am pretty sure this is the first Momversation that included the word ‘pubic’.
Mommy, I love you and I am so proud.
Maybe it’s better to dress like Zsa Zsa Gabor when changing a diaper?
I’m trying something new this year. For the first time ever Cool Mom will be a direct portal of sales through it’s vlogs. Or vlog rather, I only have this one here. And it’s not extensive product it’s one cutio cocktail ring ( well, a bangle as well). I think I’m like other mom’s as well in that a large portion of my shopping has become online, after the kids are asleep and I’m surfing around. Hopefully, for something I wouldn’t find in a store and at a good price.
I learned about Open Sky months back. Open Sky is a way for small merchants to connect with buyers through blogs. With no marketing or merchandising budget it’s one of the few ways they can get their goods to the market place. Like other people online I struggle with the “how do I monetize this?” while “keeping my voice” and cred issue. This is not a product review site-which would be perfect for Open Sky. I waited until I saw a product that is available on Open Sky that I really loved. Of course it also has to be something that I can weave into a humorous video about the daily life of a parent. So, I stumbled upon this beautiful ring online by Roberta Chiarella. She has lovely costume jewelery that is fun, classy, great price points and rarest of all! MADE in the USA… well at least the ring is.
I love a cocktail ring. Even a simple outfit can be elevated when wearing a cocktail ring. When I told them how much I loved this ring she set it up so Cool Mom buyers would have a steep discount on this fab bauble. From $60 to $28. Yes, coolmom does get a little commission if people buy the ring or some of the other pretty things in my “marketplace“. But, it’s not a lot and I was more into the virtual trunk show/ flea market, small business aspect to this then anything else.
So, check it out. It is Cyber Monday, it is the Holiday time and it’s also nice to treat yourself. It is returnable, as well. Watch the vid for fun and if you like what you see and want to give it to yourself or some gal you know go to the links here.
Swarovski Crystals Bubble Cuff
So, enjoy the vid and happy shopping. Not sure of ring size? Click here.