Face Forward

About a month ago, I purchased the Clarisonic Mia facial cleansing brush. It is a great product and a must buy! I bought it before our trip back east. The brush and charger pack easily and it was good that I began using it when my skin was first exposed to a cold winter climate.

The Mia brush retails for $119 and the Mia 2 is priced at $149. One of their claims is that using the brush removes "six times more makeup than manual cleansing." I honestly, cannot say how much more it removes, but with the naked eye (and based on makeup residue on my face cloth) it does remove a lot more than if I had simply washed my face by hand. I use it twice a day and so far it has kept my skin looking clean and smooth.

With the good fortune of a dermatologist in our family (and great ancestral genes) I have not had horrible problems with my skin, but I am definitely prone to occasional breakouts. Having a little one also made me a bit lax on my twice daily cleansing for a while, but now that I look forward to using the brush on my face, I am back to a more diligent routine.

What I like the most is that I can use the brush with any of of my own facial products. I did not feel compelled to buy their cleansers or serums, but I may give one a try along the way.

I picked mine up in a store (pink of course) but if you order a gift bundle online, you have the option to personalize each with free engraving

.

There are a few add-ons that you can buy, such as different brush heads, etc. but so far I have stuck with the basic brush and heads and like it as is. One day I may give the body brush a try too, but for now I am quite satisfied with the face brush.

rikki ragland,
the preppy debutante

Subdued arm candy

I have wanted a feed bag for quite some time, but had not found one that I liked enough to carry, until I discovered this adorable one in a boutique in Highland Park, Texas.

I know several women who have stashed away their handbags with labels splashed across them, opting for a more generic fashion statement...or a classic one. The alternative is my navy Longchamp, which is simple, sophisticated and complements many of my outfits.

Each is the perfect size, carried either as a handbag or converted into a semi-diaper bag.

When I am sans baby and go out with the girls or have an occasion to be a bit more formal without letters or names advertised across my handbag, this is my favorite go-to bag. It is one of my favorite birthday gifts from the hubby.-Louis Vuitton's Epi.
As for the daily feed tote, I wonder if there is a matching burlap wallet out there? Hmmm.

rikki ragland,
the preppy debutante

ΦΜ named a Lilly Pulitzer print

Lilly Pulitzer's marketing & public relations team is stellar. A couple of weeks ago, they announced they were adding three more sororities to the lineup of Greeks with their own Lilly prints. Sorority gals then flooded the Lilly facebook page with their votes...talk about MAJOR web traffic on their page.

The Lilly team then made sure we all stayed tuned by posting this message, telling us that the three groups would be announced through a live streaming cast:

My Phi Mu Fraternity sisters and I are very excited to be on the short list of groups. Through the live web stream, we were announced third

and of course my twitter page went CRAZY with Phi Mus nationwide tweeting the announcement.

Not to disappoint, Lilly surprised everyone and rolled out two more choices. Of course, the lucky five will continue to stay glued to their facebook page to know when the prints will hit the website and stores.

It is a very exciting and involved marketing campaign that was successfully customer-driven. I think many companies and corporations can learn from the tactics and techniques set forth by Lilly.

I am curious to see what they will do with our print. Our sorority colors are pink and white and represented by our lion (and unofficially the ladybug). With our national convention just six months away, I can already envision a sea of Lilly taking over San Antonio.

Congrats to all of the sororities, especially my dear ol' ΦΜ ....Les Soeurs Fideles.

rikki ragland,
the preppy debutante

let's go Mavs!

Tonight we went to a Mavs game against the Phoenix Suns. Of course, we took our little one, which was a lot of fun.

Checking out the players pre-game.

As season ticket holders, we see many of the same people sitting around us each game. The last time Cameron was with us, he was about seven months old, so a lot of people were surprised by how quickly he sprung up.


He really enjoyed himself, watching the game, the mega lights and of course, the chili pepper blimp that flies overhead.

Cameron recognizes the number one team in the country too.

We had headphones for Cameron in case the noise was overwhelming for him, but he took them off and sat through the game without any noise issues.

It was interesting to watch Lamar Odom who seems to have a tough time transitioning to living and working in Dallas.


This is one of the few school nights that we will let him stay up past bedtime, although we left the game a little early to get him home. Fortunately, after his bath he fell asleep quickly. It was well worth some family time cheering our championship team.

rikki ragland,
the preppy debutante

Valentine's idea

Help her make a statement with this irresistibly playful combination of pearls and silver! Wear it with jeans or a little black dress. Check it out at: http://www.preppydebutante.com/

rikki ragland,
the preppy debutante

BEHIND THE SCENES: Cameron's Belk ad

In a recent post, I showed you how our little Kipster was used as a model for Spirit Halloween. This was actually his second modeling gig.

Several months ago, Cameron attended his first audition and landed a job on the spot! He modeled a Carter's outfit for Belk department store. The crew was awesome and allowed me to snap a few shots from "behind the scene," literally. I hid behind a wall so the baby could audition without me in sight.

At first, they tried to audition him with another little boy, but the other child began to cry so they did an individual try-out.

Kiddie auditions are cool to watch, because every conceivable toy, including the fail-safe Sophie squeeky is used to keep the children smiling.

Always the cuddling Libra, Cameron gives a hug as he has his hair "touched up."

Now it was time to perform. Pensive, Cameron is deciding which expressions to give as the photographer snaps away.

After a fun and exciting photo shoot, this is the final ad, which was used as a mailer to all of the Belk customers. It is really a great feeling, knowing that his sweet little face arrived in so many mailboxes, advertising their holiday baby sale.

rikki ragland,
the preppy debutante

Trekking to the Big Apple

We left NJ and drove into Philly to catch our train into NYC. I have spent a lot of time in the Philly train station. As a freshman in high school, I would take Amtrak from DC to Philly to visit my brother at Wharton. I love that it is a small station, though a well traveled one. Cameron was fascinated by the rolling schedule board.

It makes a lot of noise when the words and numbers flip to reveal the train times and track numbers.

Daddy gets his little buddy ready to board the train.

All of our STUFF.
Once we were in our seats, it was a relatively quick trip (about an hour) into the city. I love train travel because there is always so much to see that you would never see by car.

We arrived to our hotel, Casablanca, which is one of NYC's most popular boutique hotels. Aside from staying at the Waldorf, we often stay in boutiques while in NYC because they are more intimate. We decided, though, that this would be the last boutique hotel for us. The hotel itself was a fabulous place with an impeccable staff.

But it was the first time staying with a baby (three large suitcases, a stroller, car seat, etc) and it was difficult to cram everything into the tiny closet. I think we will be back at the Waldorf the next time, simply because it offers more space.

The bathroom mirror kept a certain someone occupied

and I like the fact that they provide a makeup removing washcloth essential for any woman who likes to wear mascara...no stains will be found on this one! The reason the hubby picked this hotel is definitely for its location. We were in the middle of Times Square! When you have a child who is fascinated by lights, as we do, this is certainly the mecca.

Since I have never traveled to NYC with a child, all of my trips have emphasized late night dinners, cocktails and broadway shows. None that are conducive to schlepping a child through the big city, so this trip was a nice change.

We headed to the Children's Museum of Manhattan where the hubby and I were bigger kids than our little boy.

say "ah"

how sweet, my son wants to take me for a ride

watch out, that three-year-old is driving towards us

oh my goodness, hit the brake!

what do you mean your feet can't reach the pedal!

we made it out safely
We then headed to The Museum of Natural History to see the dinosaurs.





The next day we took a walk after breakfast and suddenly had the urge to go to FAO Schwarz, hmmmm.

Obviously, the reason we were going to FAO was for the little one... who FELL ASLEEP on our way there!

Since he slept the entire time, we had fun while he napped. Check out this foosball table for a mere 25K!




It was an exhausting few days in New York and it was a lot of fun (though challenging at times) walking the sidewalks with a baby. Fortunately, we usually spend much of our time on the Upper West and East sides where it is residential and away from most tourists. I think our next trip will be during the summer when we don't have to pack winter gear. Now it is time to head back to Dallas and warmer temps.

rikki ragland,
the preppy debutante