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Mom’s Night Out with …

October 29, 2019 By admin

Back-to-school season means back to stressful, busy days and exhausted nights. Add in a dozen tours of NYC middle schools with my tween daughter and my head is ready to explode! Lucky for me, Momtrends came to my rescue with a much needed influencer event full of friends, fun and food.

The Momtrends annual Mom’s Night Out was hosted by Parents Magazine at their downtown office near Brookfield Place and One World Trade Center. There were four stations with interactive activities sponsored by Parents Magazine, Parents Latina, Clorox® and Baby Dove.

I started with the Clorox® DIY Snow Globe making station and it did not disappoint. How cute is my NYC themed Snow Globe?

Moms night out, mom, clorox — Making snow globes at Mom’s Night Out with Clorox.

There were plenty of Clorox® Disinfecting Wipes on hand to clean up the glue and snowy glitter that covered my hands. Whether I’m on the road or at home, there are so many times where a mess needs to be quickly cleaned up and I love the convenience of using Clorox ® Disinfecting Wipes. The fact that they kill 99% of germs is a big bonus for me since staying healthy is a big priority for busy moms. In addition to cleaning messes, the wipes are great for killing germs around my apartment, on airplanes and at hotels (doorknobs, handles, remote controls, yuck).

I spotted my blogger buddy Suburban Wife, City Life and we caught up (yay for no kids) while checking out the Parents Magazine and Parents Latina DIY Halloween stations.

Always a fun time with my blogger buddies.

These magazines are always filled with clever entertaining ideas, parenting tips, gift guides, recipes and more. The current issue has a lot of Halloween ideas and we got to make some cute and yummy treats like spider donuts and fruit kebabs (to offset all the candy!). Once we gobbled them up, we decorated our drinks with sprinkles and cute accessories. Voila!

Such simple ideas that really inspired us to make them at home.

Momtrends Mom's Night Out — Custom perfume bar was a big hit at Momtrends Mom’s Night Out

We moved on to the next Parents station – Alchemologie’s natural perfume bar. We sampled dozens of scents and learned about layering the fragrances to combine our custom perfumes. Such a fun treat.

Lastly, we hit the Baby Dove station where we decorated bath caddies and filled them with new mom essentials including Baby Dove’s Tip to Toe wash. Baby skin is so delicate yet they have a living protective layer of microflora, known as their microbiome. Baby Dove is uniquely made with prebiotic moisture and 100% skin-natural nutrients to gently nourish a baby’s microbiome making it a must-have for new moms.

It was a great night to connect with old friends and make some new ones. And a reminder of how important these nights our are to our well-being. I look forward to another one of these evenings soon.

Thanks again to Momtrends, Parents Magazine, Parents Latina, Clorox and Baby Dove for organizing a great Mom’s Night Out!

NOTE: This is a sponsored post but all opinions are my own.

A Much Needed Mom’s …

October 22, 2018 By admin

Fall is always hectic for me with back-to-school activities, a million birthdays, the sad job of packing up my summer clothes and events galore. I can’t make every influencer event but when I got invited to Momtrends’ annual Moms’ Night Out…which just happened to be in the middle of my husband’s 12-day business trip..I knew I wanted in on the fun.

This annual Momtrends event is always a great time for influencers to learn about the newest trends, news and the latest must-have items from family-friendly brands. The event was hosted by Parents Magazine at the Meredith Publications headquarters in lower Manhattan, an awesome spot for a staycation where you can visit the Statue of Liberty and One World Trade Center just minutes away.

But…back to my fun night out which included food and drinks, fashion, toy and health news you can use, pampering massages, giveaways and a kid-free evening with my blogger buddies. YAY!

The evening kicked off with a welcome from Parents editor-in-chief, Liz Vaccariello, tasty appetizers and a gorgeous made-to-order smoothie bar.

Have you ever seen a smoothie bar this pretty?

Read on for a glimpse of the event…

Culturelle® Baby Probiotics and Diaper Bag Musts

Busy moms need to make sure their diaper bags are filled with every necessity and Culturelle® Baby Probiotics gave us the chance to fill our pick of bags (I went with this chic navy backpack) with a comprehensive list of must-have items.

Digestive wellness is important for the whole family and Culturelle is the #1 pediatrician recommended probiotic brand, based on a 2016 survey among pediatricians recommending a kids probiotic brand.

Culturelle® Baby Calm + Comfort Probiotic + Chamomile Drops helps reduce crying and fussiness due to occasional digestive upset. Culturelle® Baby Grow + Thrive Probiotics + Vitamin D Drops promotes the development of a healthy digestive and immune system, and helps babies build strong bones.

Stylish Fashions for Family and Home from JCPenney’s New Payton & Parker Line

JCPenney gave us a preview of their new Payton & Parker lifestyle brand which features stylish and affordable clothing and home decor. I was really impressed with the on-trend items (lots of sparkle for holidays) and cozy fashions. There were plenty of matching and coordinating items for the whole family which are just perfect for the holidays. How fun are these Peyton & Parker outfits I styled for my family? I love the matching glitter shoes for me and crown headband for my daughter.

The new Peyton & Parker Collection is available exclusively at JCPenney in select stores and on jcp.com/peyton-parker.

Entertain Kids at Home and Away VTech Toys

Momtrends’ Mom’s Night Out requires pampering and the VTech team set up a cozy Relaxation Station where we enjoyed massages! After we were relaxed, we got to hear about all the hot holiday VTech and LeapFrog picks from this year’s Holiday Gift Guide including some awesome picks for travel (more about that to come).

VTech is a world leader in developing high-quality, innovative educational products that enrich children’s development and make learning fun. My daughter has enjoyed their activity tables, baby laptops, tablets, musical toys, cameras and smartwatches along the years. She is currently wishing for the cool new KidiBuzz for tweens.

Cold & Flu Season is here. Borion to the rescue!

Because germs are always around at home and away, staying healthy is a priority for busy moms. At the event, we got to create our own health-boosting smoothies made with fruit, greens, toppings and pretty edible flowers courtesy of Borion.

Boiron USA is a world leader in homeopathic medicines best known for their top-selling flu medicine Oscillococcinum and their line of cough and cold relief medicines. Their baby & children’s line includes Children’s Coldcalm Liquid Doses and Children’s Chestal Honey Syrup. These homeopathic remedies won’t interact with any other medications, herbs, or supplements, and don’t contain any of the ingredients questioned by the FDA for use in children under age 4.

Thanks again to Momtrends and Parents Magazing for organizing a great Mom’s Night Out!

Note: Thanks to Meredith Corp., JCPenney, VTech, Culturelle Probiotics, and Boiron USA for sponsoring this post. I was compensated for attending this event and writing this post but all opinions are my own. If you don’t want to miss a post, subscribe to Globetrotting Mommy for daily updates!

Mom Life: Mom’s Night …

October 13, 2017 By admin

Summer always has me running in a million directions and then back-to-school season arrives and I am oh so thrilled to have my daily routine again. Meet-the-teacher curriculum nights can be fun but what really makes moms happy is an adult night out full of great food and drinks, socializing and a little pampering. Am I right?

When Momtrends invited me to a Mom’s Night Out Event to mingle with fellow influencers, editors from some of my favorite Meredith Magazines like Parents, Family Fun, Fit Pregnancy and family-friendly brand reps, I couldn’t say “yes” fast enough.

The evening kicked off with a welcome from Parents editor-in-chief, Liz Vaccariello who remembered me from a South Africa press trip we attended together many moons ago. After sampling the gorgeous and tasty appetizers and wine from Willamsburg, VA (more about that later…), it was time for some pampering and mingling.

I had to start with the New Balance team who had masseuses on hand to massage our tired mom feet. I broke one of my toes just before school started and living in NYC, my recovery has taken forever so I was thrilled to get a little TLC. I’ve been forced to wear the ugliest medical shoe for the last few weeks so I was super excited to receive a pair of Fresh Foam Arishi New Balance sneakers (in chic gray) to wear post-recovery. I love the lightweight, (perfect for my travels) breathable styling and the ultra cushioning which will keep me comfortable as I run around New York City (drop-offs, pick-ups and after-school activities) and beyond.

The team from Swaddle Me knows moms never have enough time for pampering so they brought along the GlamSquad team to treat us to mini-makeovers (concealer and lip color go a long way!). With new smokey eyes, I learned about the newest Swaddle Me baby products which have come along way since my baby arrived almost eight years ago. The new, innovative SwaddleMe Kicksie is a legs-free swaddle perfect for warm weather while the new Swaddle Me Footsie is a legs-free swaddle with pajama-like footies which is perfect for cool weather. They’ve also launched three new gift sets (Essentials, Baby Bath and Little Lovey) which are perfect for any new baby and also make great holiday gifts.

My go-to lunch specialty is PB&J so I was happy to say hi to the Jif team and sample some of their new goodies and share how I inspire creativity with my daughter (by letting things get messy, of course!). I especially love their “Jif to go” minis which are great for traveling and school snacks. It’s impossible to learn or be creative when kids are hungry and the “Imagine If, With Jif” program plans to fuel the next generation and support families who want to make the world a better place. Submit your inspirational idea, now through October 20, and you could win up to $30,000 to make that dream a reality. Full details here.

Next, I headed over to the gorgeous nursery set-up where I tried my hand at DIY floral arranging. The Munchkin team was on hand to demonstrate the Munchkin Step Pail which features a childproof, self-sealing system to lock out odors. This is so crucial for NYC apartment-living where one stinky diaper can quickly invade your entire space. Best of all, with Munchkin’s Get a Pail, Give a Tree program, Munchkin will plant a tree for every diaper pail sold. So awesome! We’ve had a slew of Munchkin products over the years but my current favorite is their Munchkin Miracle 360 Cup which looks like a cup but acts like a sippy making it great for kids of all ages.

Last but not least, I met with the Visit Williamsburg (Jamestown, Yorktown, and Williamsburg, Virginia) team to hear about their culinary offerings, family-friendly attractions, pampering spas, famed living history museum, outdoor adventures and more. My husband went to college in Williamsburg and spent many vacations there so it has definitely been on my radar for a family getaway so I was really excited to see how many varied attractions the area features. Check out this inspiration board that I personalized above with my favorite activities (spas, outdoor adventures, crafting, history and amusement parks, oh my!) and stay tuned as I share more details about my top picks in the region.

Thanks again to Momtrends for organizing a great Mom’s Night Out!

Thanks to Meredith Corp., Jif, Munchkin, New Balance, Swaddle Me and Visit Williamsburg for sponsoring this post. I was compensated for attending this event and writing this post but all opinions are my own. If you don’t want to miss a post, subscribe to Globetrotting Mommy for daily updates!