Nordstrom X Central Park Conservancy Playground Partners Annual Family Party

Yesterday, my family and I attended the Nordstrom X Central Park Conservancy Playground Partners Annual Family Party. This event was a fundraiser to support Central Park's playgrounds which helps keep the 21 playgrounds safe and clean.

Blueberry Lemon Glaze Cake

Treats from TOUS les JOURS

By now you probably know how much my family loves visiting Korea town and Flushing, NY. It's become a weekly activity for my family for more than 10 years. One of our favorite places to visit is Noona Noodles in Korea town. After indulging in the absolute best noodles, we like to stop by TOUS les JOURS. What we love about TOUS les JOURS is that each good is freshly baked daily. This makes the quality exceptional and each item consistently delicious. 

A few days ago TOUS les JOURS reached out to share their limited-time desserts from their Mother's Day collection. I was over the moon!! They treated me to a variety of my favorites baked goods and a gorgeous bouquet of flowers. 

new Mother's Day assortment from Baked by Melissa

If you didn't already know, Mother's Day is May 8th and I'm already feeling so loved by my family and friends. Every year I come around here talking about "everyday should be Mothers Day... blah blah blah" and yes that's partly true. but the whole truth is I LOVE Mother's Day and if it was celebrated everyday it wouldn't be so special! Yes, we should appreciate our Mothers, love and care for them on a daily basis but.. also treat them a little extra special on Mother's Day. We deserve it. 

& nothing says I love you like a box of delicious mini-cupcakes in a beautiful floral box from Baked by Melissa. 

If you're thinking of purchasing a few mini-cupcake assortments be sure to use code: JOHNNYBELL10 for 10% off your order on BakedbyMelissa.com 

expires May 9th

Change begins with you

Good morning my wonderful family of friends! Lately, I've been missing you all so dearly.. I just had to hop on here to say hello and share what's been going on in my crazy life. I mean where do I even begin? I've taken on so many new ventures its challenging to keep my head above water these days. Funny enough I've managed to do so seamlessly without trip. I know that's not just me, it's the power of God on my side... Amen. 

These past few weeks I've been busy due to one renovation project I've kept secret until now. If you follow me on social then you might remember my at-home gym I did last year and that beautiful mural Mike Stylez did for me. I loved it so much and hesitated on getting rid of it but I didn't get good use out of the space. & you know in New York, space is essential. So, Moe and I decided to transform our entire garage into a guest house. Yes, a guesthouse or more like a guest loft. I absolutely love having my family over and of course my in-laws as well. Unfortunately, even after turning our attic into a shared playroom and bedroom we still don't have enough space. Ugh, the struggle of living in NY I tell you! Nonetheless, I'm always thinking of ways to solve problems. It's my specialty (they say). So that's one project that has kept me very busy lately. I will be sharing before and after photos/videos (on social) and will be creating lots of content in the space so you will see it very soon. 

Now that the guesthouse is completed I'm working on something else. As if being a mom of three and editor isn't hard enough haha. I'm currently planning an Iftar dinner party for my extended family of 42! Its the biggest gathering I've ever hosted and I'm so flipping excited! Since it's a pretty big crowd I decided to host them in our backyard. I rented everything from chairs and tables to doing the full decoration on my own. If you know me then you know, I go big or go home! I even created tiny personalized menus to place on each seat. It's going to be so cute :)

There is no specific theme but I do want the traditional Ramadan moon and a few stars here and there. The color scheme is sage because green is my absolute favorite color. I'm doing a beautiful balloon garland (which I've never done before so wish me luck). Initially, I reached out to a party planner/ decorator and she didn't get back to me on time so I decided to save money and just do it myself. You know what they say, "if you want something done right, do it yourself". I live by this quote! 

Part of why I am so excited about this event is because one of Moe's dreams has always been to have Iftar with his family on a big long table under a sky full of stars. That's exactly what I'm going to create for them. I will be adding twinkle lights all throughout the backyard to mimic stars. Believe you me, I'm going to make it extra special because he deserves the world. 

With so much happening there are bound to be curve balls thrown at me.. nothing I can't manage. To help me duck those balls, I like checking a few boxes. Which I'll be sharing in todays post. 

Quality brands for Kids from Maisonette.com

Over the past 11 years I've curated my blog and social accounts to focus on quality over anything else. 

I've only worked with brands I fully support and believe you all would enjoy. That's why I'm so excited to share that I'm officially a Maisonette fambassador. This means I will be sharing my monthly favorite items from Maisonette.com as well as styling them. The reason this partnership brigs me so much joy is because I've been a Maisonette lover since 2017. The website was founded by two moms with the goal of helping modern families with all their childs needs. Maisonette.com is an expertly-curated baby and kids marketplace featuring high quality products from around the world.

You can browse their site here. 

                                                                                                                                                      

Durante los últimos 11 años, he seleccionado todas las marcas con quien trabajo para mi blog y mis cuentas sociales. Siempre enfocándome en la calidad por encima de cualquier otra cosa.

Solo he trabajado con marcas que apoyo totalmente y creo que todos ustedes disfrutarían. Es por eso que estoy tan emocionada de compartir que soy oficialmente un fambassador de Maisonette. Esto significa que compartiré mis artículos favoritos mensuales de Maisonette.com. La razón por la que esta asociación me da tanta alegría es porque he sido un amante de esta pagina desde el 2017. La compañía fue fundada por dos madres con el objetivo de ayudar a las familias modernas con todas las necesidades de sus hijos. Maisonette.com es un mercado de bebés y niños seleccionado por expertos que presenta los mejores productos de alta calidad de todo el mundo.

Puedes navegar por su sitio web aquí.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Happy 2022 Friends! What a crazy year 2021 was for most of us. We all went through some crazy things and somehow made it out to welcome another year. Amen to that. 

May 2022 bring you all happiness, health, peace and everything else you deserve.

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¡Feliz 2022 amigos! Qué año tan loco fue 2021 para la mayoría de nosotros. Todos fuimos tentados de muchas maneras y de alguna manera logramos dar la bienvenida a otro año. Amen a eso.

Que el 2022 te traiga toda la felicidad, salud, paz y todo lo que te mereces.

These Boots were made for walking

Happy Monday Trendy Mama's! 

I couldn't help but tittle this post exactly that. Not only were these boots made for walking but they were also made for me!! I ordered these boots a few weeks ago and kept missing the mail carrier until this past weekend when I prioritized stopping by the nearest post office to pick them up. I instantly brought them home and opened them on camera ( instastories ) only to find that my son James fell even more in love with them than I did. We were both dying when I opened the box! 

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¡Feliz lunes, Trendy Mama's!

No pude evitar titular esta publicación exactamente así. ¡Estas botas no solo fueron hechas para caminar sino que también fueron hechas para mí! Pedí estas botas hace unas semanas y seguí perdiendo al cartero hasta el fin de semana pasado cuando prioricé pasar por la oficina de correos más cercana para recogerlas. Instantáneamente las llevé a casa y las abrí en cámara (instastories) solo para descubrir que mi hijo James se enamoró aún más de ellas que yo. ¡Los dos estábamos muriéndonos cuando abrí la caja!

New Ultra Suede Lipsticks by Makeup By Mario

  

A few weeks ago I met the man behind Makeup by Mario at a beauty event, Mario Dedivanovic himself. Being the makeup and food enthusiast that I am, I introduced myself and initiated a conversation with him about non other than food. He recommended a few Albanian dishes (which I have yet to try) and I told him how excited I was about his current and upcoming products. Through the next few weeks I basically stalked his Instagram account as I knew something big was going to be released soon. & there it was! Makeup by Mario's new Ultra Suede Lipstick Collection! The excitement was felt all over the beauty community. A 20 color range collection of matte lipsticks that are comfortable, soft and suede feel. It's long-lasting, water resistant and blurs the lips for a soft-focus finish. Now, if that's not a perfect matte lipstick description, I don't know what is. Along with the 20 shade lipstick collection, Mario also released an edible lip scrub thats ideal for prepping the lips before applying color. 

One of my favorite things about the packaging is the simple and sleek design. The magnetic lid won't open when thrown in your bag and did I mention each shade is named after his employees + teammates. 

Visit MakeupbyMario.com to view all the shades or watch my latest reel HERE.

for the record.. "This is thee most comfortable matte lipstick I've ever worn"

I'm here to stay

This just hit me. I've had my blog for over 10 years!! That's flipping insane! I literally remember like it was yesterday designing my page on blogger, writing my 'about me' page and being super giddy about this new way of journaling. When did that feeling stop? I miss it. I truly do.

So much has been happening in my life that I haven't shared on here. I now have a septum, just collaborated with IT Cosmetics and James is 3 and a half years old! I've gotten so accustomed to sharing everything on Insta-stories (which only lasts 24 hours) and most of you can't catch up.. I don't blame you either. We all have lives away from work, family, friends and hobbies. It's not easy to keep up with everything happening and I feel like social networks don't make it any easier. 

..... but that's all about to change.