Category: Lifestyle Tips

Beauty /

Talk of Alabama Lifestyle Segment – Valentine’s Day Beauty Prep from Head – To – Toe

I was invited to visit Talk of Alabama and share Valentine’s Day Beauty Prep from Head – To – Toe.  This segment featured at-home beauty essentials to impress your significant other or indulge in some much-deserved TLC.

The products I presented on ABC 33/40 included WUNDERKISS Lip Plumping Gloss, JuvaLips, Amarte Wonder Cream, Amarte Natural Finish BB Cream, SweetCheeks, NeoCell Beauty Bursts, INGLOT Breathable Nail Enamel, A Complete, WUNDER2 WUNDERBROW, Glycolic MUD Cleanser, HA + Collagen Anti-age Serum, and Vitamin C Serum.

Here’s the breakdown:

FACE

Amarte Wonder Cream

Amarte Natural Finish BB Cream

Glycolic MUD Cleanser

HA + Collagen Anti-age Serum and Vitamin C Serum

WUNDERKISS Lip Plumping Gloss

WUNDERBROW

A Complete Moisturizer

JUVALips

NAILS

INGLOT Breathable Nail Enamel

HAIR

NeoCell Beauty Bursts

BODY

SweetCheeks Cellulite Massage Mats

Click Here To Watch:  TALK OF ALABAMA

Accessories /

Valentine’s Day Gifts From SHAPE Activewear And Fourlaps

Valentine’s Day is quickly approaching, but not everyone has chocolate and flowers on their list. If your S.O. would rather go jogging than binge on candy hearts, Fourlaps and SHAPE activewear have the gear to get them there.

Fourlaps is the GQ-approved men’s athletic brand offering bright, color-blocked basics made with fabrics that keep him cool and dry, anti-microbial materials to combat smell, and four-way stretch fabrics for comfort – what more could a workout lover ask for?

For the female fitness guru, SHAPE activewear is the TODAY Show favorite that will score you serious relationship points. Give her the gift of an on-trend high-neck sports bra, performance-enhancing leggings and super comfy loungewear for post-workout Netflix And Chill.

 

Lifestyle Tips /

Valentine’s Day: Get Flirty with Medici Ermete Lambrusco

This Valentine’s Day romance your special someone with fun, flirty Lambrusco, a sparkling red wine that’s not only on trend but delicious. Served slightly chilled, this beautifully versatile wine pairs with your main course, dessert, or can be sipped on its own. A bonus feature is that these wines are incredibly affordable, which means more roses, diamonds and chocolates for your sweetheart.

To save you from heartache, I recommend going straight to the expert, Medici Ermete, one of the oldest Lambrusco producers in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy.  For over 120 years, the Medici family has been producing top quality Lambrusco. The winery blends historic winemaking expertise with a modern, original style. Medici Ermete selects grapes exclusively from Lambrusco’s prime vineyards of the Emilia-Romagna region. They use a natural second fermentation process (Charmat method) to make fresh, fruity wines that are easy-drinking and approachable.

 Below is the Medici Ermete portfolio to provide options for every wine lover’s taste:

Concerto Reggiano Lambrusco 2015 –SRP $22.99- Grapes: Salamino Lambrusco

  • Medici Ermete’s flagship wine, Concerto is the world’s first single vineyard vintage Lambrusco. It is a sparkling dry red wine with lively bubbles achieved through natural fermentation.
  • Pairs with a wide variety of foods such as grilled chicken, lamb, steak, lasagna with mixed vegetables and pastas with meat sauce.

Solo Reggiano Rosso 2015 –SRP $19.99- Grapes: Salamino Lambrusco, Ancellotta

  • A vivid, brilliant ruby red, the wine shows classic red fruit aromas. Though dry, the palate is fruity, round and exuberant with fine and persistent bubbles.
  • Enjoy with charcuterie, mortadella or a variety of pasta dishes such as tortellini, tagliatelle with meat sauce or tortelli stuffed with pumpkin and spices.

I Quercioli Secco Reggiano Lambrusco, NV – SRP $13.99- Grapes: Salamino Lambrusco, Marani Lambrusco

  • Bright ruby red in color, the wine has a distinct violet scent. Dry yet fruity with fresh, pleasantly harmonious flavors and a lively effervescence.
  • Delicious with grilled or cured meats and a variety of pasta dishes and cheeses.

I Quercioli Dolce Reggiano Lambrusco, NV – SRP $13.99- Grapes: Salamino Lambrusco, Marani Lambrusco

  • Bright ruby red with persistent bubbles, the wine shows delicate floral notes of violet leading to a luxuriously sweet, fresh, vivacious palate that is pleasantly harmonious.
  • A perfect pairing with dessert, white chocolate or chocolate covered caramels.

 

Birmingham /

Birmingham Winter Restaurant Week 2017 – Local Cuisine

Are you a foodie and take pleasure in culinary cuisine?  Well, you’re in luck because today starts Birmingham “Winter” Restaurant Week 2017 through Sunday, January 29, 2017.

Residents can enjoy delicious meals from locally owned and operated restaurants.  A few of the participants on the list include Ghost Train Brewing Company, Rojo Latin and American Food, and Perry’s Steakhouse and Grille.

Tourists and residents can also purchase tickets for specialized events throughout the city.

Lifestyle Tips /

Unusual Things to do in Santorini – Unique Travel Aspects

Santorini is a stunning Greek Island on the Aegean Sea just 200 kilometers from the mainland of Greece. Noted for its out of this world beauty, white buildings and churches topped with blue roofs; it is a city that you would expect to find in the best myths and fairy tales.

Although Santorini is a classic holiday town with sun, sand and blue seas as far as the eye can see, not to mention the luxurious Santorini Villas that are dotted around the island, there is much more to the place that meets the eye. So, if you are looking to do something a bit more unusual than topping up your tan on your next Santorini holiday, you might want to check out the following:

The Medieval Village of Emporio

The definition of quaint, Emporio is one of the places you absolutely must visit on your travels in Santorini. The village, which is perched above the popular Perivolos beach, is home to some of the most impressive medieval architecture in the world, including a particularly impressive castle, which is arguably the most interesting on the island.

Go in Search of the Santorini Vampires

You won’t find many packing tips that suggest you bring a stake, but if you’re traveling to Santorini, it might be a good idea.

If it’s unusual you’re after; you can’t beat the story of the Santorini Vampires. What few people know is that Santorini is thought to be home to more vampires than Transylvania. Legend has it that the bodies of Greeks who were considered to be creatures of the night were transported to the island, where they were buried a safe distance away from the mainland. 

So, if you’re a budding Buffy or a Van Helsing in training, a trip to Santorini could be your chance to finally come face to face with the foe!

Visit a Volcano

If you laugh danger in the face and you love nothing more than showing off just how brave you are to your mates, take a trip to Amoudi Bay, where you can plunge from the top of a huge boulder into the warm, clear seas of the Mediterranean.

With so much to do and see in Santorini, it is easy to miss out on the more unique and unusual aspects of the island. However, it is well worth seeking out odd experiences as they are often the experiences you remember the most about your holidays, rather than the usual sunbathing and partying, which you can do almost anywhere.

 

Collaborative Post
Accessories /

#LOVEMYSHAPE Body Confidence Campaign | Shape Activewear

In 2016, SHAPE Magazine launched #LoveMyShape – The viral campaign born with the goal of inspiring women to embrace their unique physiques through body positive posts on social media.

Today, SHAPE activewear debuts the official #LoveMyShape Bra, available exclusively on shapeactive.com. 10% of proceeds from each sale will be donated to the Movemeant Foundation, SHAPE’s partner in empowering women and girls to change the body image conversation.

About Movemeant Foundation:

Movemeant Foundation enables young women to feel confident about their bodies by empowering them with the tools to be active.  By using fitness and physical movement as the primary platform for social change, they strive to be a catalyst for creating a new era of healthy, strong and self-assured young women.

About SHAPE activewear:

Launched in 2016, SHAPE® activewear is the ultimate performance and athleisure collection woven with the style and personality of SHAPE magazine brings cutting-edge fabric technology and beauty together to create feminine and sophisticated styles that take you from the studio to the street. The collection utilizes reflective details, prints and signature features to complement a woman’s body, workout and active lifestyle. A combination of fashion and function with a feminine edge, SHAPE activewear competes with the most exclusive brands in activewear, but is inclusive in sizing and pricing.

SHAPE activewear is now available in more than 100 retail locations nationwide, including leading fitness studios and regional department stores, including Equinox, CorePower Yoga, Scheels and Von Maur.

 

Fall 2016 /

Be Social! Using Facebook To Get More Blog Traffic

So, you’ve started a blog. Whether you’re looking to make a career out of it like me, or you just want to try your hand at a new creative outlet, you’re going to want to know that people are reading some of your work. These days, there are many great ways you can leverage Facebook to drive traffic to your blog. Here are just a few…

Featured Photo from HomeGoods.com

Make Your Images Big and Clear

It’s been shown time and time again that Facebook posts with images get far more engagement than posts without them. Make sure that all of the images you post are large, prominent and clear, and you’re sure to have much more success in terms of likes, shares, and ultimately traffic! As you try out different images, keep looking at your insights, the metrics from your blog, and any other monitoring resources you can get your hands on, in order to gauge how your target market are responding. Soon enough, you’ll start to notice patterns, and will be able to pin down a certain kind of image which grabs your audience’s attention perfectly. You should keep the same high standards in mind when it comes to your profile picture, cover photo, and so on. It may be worth downloading a Facebook cover photo maker and getting acquainted with its features.

Keep Updates Short and Sweet

On your blog, there’s no limit to how long you can make articles. As long as the bulk of it is interesting and useful to your audience, go ahead and turn a 500-word post into a 2000-word feature! However, when you’re trying to use Facebook to drive your customers to these articles, I recommend sticking to short, sweet (or funny or witty) posts which are easily digestible to anyone who happens to be scanning your page. Updates like this are the best way to generate engagement on Facebook, and instigate more click-throughs. Ideally, you should be keeping your updates down to one sentence, and under 150 characters. These days, your average consumer is using Facebook in little windows throughout the day, rather than setting a couple of hours aside for it in the evenings. This means that short, snappy updates that are easy to take in are the best tools for stimulating engagement.

Ask the Audience

Questions naturally make you think of response, don’t you agree? Your audience will want to let their opinions be known, so opening up the floor to them with posts headed by a question is a hugely effective way to encourage engagement. From your customers’ personal opinion on something, to simple trivia to fill-the-blank style posts, I’m sure there are all kinds of questions you could ask to capture your target market’s attention and ultimately drive traffic to your blog. Like all of your posts, I recommend keeping these questions short and sweet. Make sure they’re phrased in a way that’s going to generate instant interest from your ideal customer. Using the word “you” is always an easy way to do this! It’s also important not to give too much away, and make your audience curious enough to click.

Collaborative post

Amazon /

Alexa Helps Get Dinner on the Table: Amazon Restaurants Adds Voice Ordering

Today announced that Prime members can voice-order their next meal through Amazon Restaurants on their Alexa-enabled devices including the Amazon Echo and Echo Dot. The new Alexa skill allows customers to reorder from any restaurant available on the service in more than 20 cities by saying, “Alexa, order from Amazon Restaurants,” and have any meal they’ve ordered before delivered to their door for free in an hour or less.

“Customers now have a hands-free, hassle-free way to reorder any meal from Amazon Restaurants using their voice to get dinner on the table,” said Gus Lopez, general manager of Amazon Restaurants at Amazon. “We are excited to leverage the innovative Alexa technology and give Prime members another easy way for Amazon Restaurants to take care of dinnertime with no menu markups and free delivery in one hour or less.”

Prime members can ask Alexa to reorder from Amazon Restaurants by saying a restaurant name or cuisine type, for example, “Alexa, order sushi from Amazon Restaurants.” The service pulls a customer’s order history from a specified restaurant or cuisine type and lists meal options available for reorder. The selected meal is then sent for delivery to a customer’s default address.

Once an order is placed, Amazon delivery partners deliver the food in one hour or less. Amazon Restaurants offers customers transparent pricing—there are no menu markups or hidden service fees—and delivery on all orders is free for Prime members. If a customer finds a restaurant item on Amazon Restaurants that is priced higher than the regularly priced item on the restaurant’s current online menu within 24 hours of placing the order, Amazon will refund that customer the price of the item.

Customers can also place orders using the Amazon and Prime Now mobile apps or by visitingwww.amazon.com/restaurants. Customers can also browse menus and watch as their delivery travels from the restaurant to the delivery address in real time.

Prime members can download the Amazon or Prime Now mobile apps or visit the Prime Now website to enter their ZIP code and see if the service is available in their area. In ZIP codes where restaurant delivery is available, customers will see Restaurants on the home page.

To learn more about how to reorder from Amazon Restaurants through Alexa, please visitwww.amazon.com/restaurants-alexa. For restaurants interested in working with Amazon Restaurants, please visitamazon.com/restaurants-merchants. Amazon Restaurants is available in Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Brooklyn, Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Portland, Manhattan, Miami, Minneapolis, Northern Virginia, Orlando, San Diego, San Francisco Bay area, Seattle, and Tampa.

Alexa is the cloud-based voice service that powers devices like Amazon Echo, Echo Dot, Amazon Tap, and more. Using Alexa is as simple as asking a question. Just ask to play music, read the news, control your smart home, tell a joke, and more—Alexa will respond instantly. Whether you are at home or on the go, Alexa is designed to make your life easier by letting you voice-control your world. Alexa lives in the cloud so it’s always getting smarter. The more you talk to Alexa, the more it adapts to your speech patterns, vocabulary, and personal preferences. Plus, Alexa has over 7,000 skills built by third party developers, and new skills are always being added.

More to Prime

Tens of millions of Prime members around the world enjoy the many benefits of Prime. In the US that includes unlimited access to award-winning movies and TV episodes with Prime Video; unlimited access to Prime Music, Audible Channels for Prime, Prime Reading, Prime Photos; early access to select Lightning Deals, one free pre-released book a month with Kindle First, and more. Prime was built on the foundation of unlimited fast, free shipping and today, members receive Prime Two-Day Shipping on more than 30 million items, Prime Same-Day Delivery in 29 cities and two-hour delivery with Prime Now in 30 cities. Start a free trial of Amazon Prime at amazon.com/prime.

 

About Amazon

Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit www.amazon.com/about. Learn more about Amazon Prime Now, Shop, or Download the App at www.primenow.com.

 

Beauty /

Talk of Alabama Lifestyle Segment – NYE 2016 Beauty Products and Personal Glam Squad Techniques

I was invited to visit Talk of Alabama and share New Year’s Eve beauty products and personal glam squad techniques.  This segment featured at-home beauty essentials to achieve a professional look for everyone – not just red carpet celebrities.

The products I presented on ABC 33/40 included EcoTools Makeup Brushes, SensatioNail Pro LED Lamp, Sally Hansen Gel Polish, Hard Candy Nail Polish, Hard Candy Eyeshadow Collection, Vanity Planet Tame Flat Iron, Spa Sonic Skin Care System, and Whamisa Real Kelp Sheet Mask.

Here’s the breakdown:

FACE

Spa Sonic

Whamisa Real Kelp Sheet Mask

EcoTools Makeup Brushes

Hard Candy Eyeshadow Collection

NAILS

Hard Candy Nail Polish

SensatioNail Pro LED Lamp

Sally Hansen Gel Polish

HAIR

Vanity Planet Tame Flat Iron

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE SEGMENT:  TALK OF ALABAMA

Beauty /

Last Minute Holiday Beauty Fixes

The holidays are fast approaching and everyone’s busy getting those last few gifts together – without a minute to spare! Thanks to these last minute beauty fixes, you can get ready in a flash for any holiday party you’re running off to this season.

For a quick hair fix this season, go with the Hairdo French Braid Band. This braid band is designed to fully accessorize your look in just one effortless step. Simply slide on the braid band to best match your hair color. It makes the ultimate statement with a minimum investment (Ulta and Ulta.com; $10).

Repair and protect with KORRES Mandarin Lip Butter Sticks. They are a deeply nourishing lip treatment formulated with a luxurious blend of softening oils, butters, and waxes. Mandarin oil refreshes and soothes dry, chapped lips while rich shea butter and sunflower waxes deeply nourish for long-lasting care and comfort. Available in four tints, all of which can be worn alone or layered under a lipstick or lip gloss ($16.50; Sephora.com).

For dry skin and hands, reach for Lavanila Laboratories The Healthy Body Butter in Pure Vanilla. This super soft, all-natural body butter absorbs instantly for deeply hydrated, luxuriously soft skin. 100 percent pure shea and cocoa butters blend with powerful antioxidants and essential oils for long-lasting hydration. Super soft scents and a non-greasy formula create the ultimate indulgence ($19; Lavanila.com).