Rescue Me

In loving memory of my Great Aunt who was nothing short of extraordinary and the canine daughter that kept her company for so many years, Mitzi, I bring you Danny and Ron's Rescue. Dedicated to rescuing dogs in need, putting an end to dog fighting, puppy mills, bait dogs, and starving and abused dogs generally, these guys are pretty extraordinary themselves!! Donations are always needed to help with expenses (especially medical expenses) for the dogs they rescue. Consider following in a great lady's footsteps and making Danny and Ron's Rescue one of your charities of choice or better, yet, make one of their dogs in need of a home like Elmer and Teddy (both available for adoption now) a member of your family!

Tee Time

Everyone needs basic tees and the Vince Little Boy Tees should be those tees! These tees are perfection, by far my favorites!!! They are fit fabulous (yes, I just made that up), made from a combination of cotton (90%) and spandex (10%) which results in the softest (soooo soft), lightest but not too light, most perfect fitting tee!!! The length of these tees is also right on the mark - 27 inches from the shoulder to the hem - not too long and not too short, ideal for layering and equally excellent solo!!! Now for the one catch, these tees retail for $60 each which probably seems pricey to many of you but these are worth it (count the exclamation marks) since you will wear them ALL the time (good thing they come in a ton of colors). That being said, during my 2 second search I found the heather grey and sunflower yellow ones on sale at Barneys.com for $39 (sizes are very limited); the heather grey and black ones on sale at Intermix.com for $39; and and the ceramic, watercress and squash (a.k.a. bright blue, kelly green, bright mustard yellow) on sale at vince.com for $36!!!

Don't Let This Ship SALE!!!!

Layla Grayce has all MacBeth Collection items on sale for 30% off!!! They have a great selection for babies and kids and some globally adorable stuff too!

Escentually Flawless Skin

Bare Escentuals is my favorite make-up overall and I have been using more and more of their products since my Aunt first introduced me to their eyeshadows sometime around 2001! Other than lip gloss, mascara and some eyeliner (I don't wear it often and when I do, I turn to Bare Escentuals or one other brand), all I wear is Bare Escentuals. I have turned so many of my friends on to it over the years that if I worked on commission I would be writing this from my summer home! There are too many products to discuss all of them in one posting so I will start with the basics, the Bare Escentuals foundation, bareMinerals SPF 15 Foundation. Here is all you need to know: this has not irritated the skin of anyone I know, even my friends with the most sensitive skin, this has never caused my oily skin to break out, this make-up is 100% natural, preservative free (made with crushed minerals) so you can literally sleep in it, the coverage is flawless, it is weightless, has an SPF of 15 and you will LOVE it!!

The bareMinerals SPF 15 Foundation comes in a full palette of shades so you can find your perfect match (in the rare case that you are in between shades and go to their boutiques they will mix them up for you to create the perfect shade). The Bare Escentuals Full Covergae Kabuki Brush ($28) is the best brush to use with the foundation, you will find it is so easy to apply the foundation (swirl, tap and buff) and you will get the best coverage with it. If you are a Bare Escentuals virgin, I highly recommend buying one of the Bare Escentuals Starter Kits which contain the foundation and brushes as well as a few more products, most of which I love and will write about at another time. Sorry to be so cryptic about these kits but they vary slightly depending on where you purchase them (Bare Escentuals , Ulta and Sephora, among others all sell them) so you'll have to do your research on them. The kits generally sell for around $60 while the bareMinerals SPF 15 Foundation alone is $25 (to be fair, the containers in the kit are usually a little smaller than the full size bareMinerals SPF 15 Foundation). Let me know how much you love this product once you try it and how many compliments you get too!!

Hot Wheels

Just in time for summer weekends away, I'd like to introduce you to the cutest weekend bag by Toss Designs, the Rolling Duffel. While I don't have one of my own (yet), I have borrowed my friend's and I give this bag stellar marks for the amount it can hold (it seems like literally the exact amount you can squish together in a big and still get it to fit in the overhead bin on a plane) and equally stellar marks for being so cute but I have to be honest and and ding it a little in the weight department (but then again, who couldn't stand to lose a few) since the bag, sans your clothes, is on the heavy side. So, if you are going to be carrying this on your shoulder (it does come with a detachable shoulder strap) as opposed to wheeling this around behind you, this is probably not a good choice. Otherwise, to wheel is to love!!

Measuring 23" x 11" x 14", the bag has multiple storage compartments and is perfect for short trips (or at least short trips if you pack at all like I do - who wants to make decisions in advance, and what about the weather, you can never tell how it will be...you get the idea). The bags pictured above - the one on left is from the Medallion Collection (one of my favorites) and the one on the right is from the Zanzibar Green Collection - are both are made from vinyl which keeps the H2O out too (and accounts for some of the weight of the bag - the canvas bags might be a little lighter but I am not sure).

The Rolling Duffel comes in a variety of patterns and retails for $196 or you can call Maria at Sealed With a Kiss for discounted prices ~ 631-470 0014!!!

Lend a Helping Paw

In 1997, Puppies Behind Bars ("PBB") my favorite program/charity came into existence and since then has been one of the most remarkable causes I have learned about. I can’t say enough about the benefits of this program, probably because they are so life altering for the prisoners who act as puppy raisers and the recipients of the guide dogs they train. PBB works by offsetting a substantial portion of exceedingly high cost of training guide dogs by enlisting prisoners (carefully selected) to train the puppies. Here is additional information (and a much better explanation) from the PBB website:

Dr. Thomas Lane, a veterinarian in Florida, thought that prison inmates would make excellent puppy raisers, and started the first guide-dog/prison program. Not only do inmates have unlimited time to spend with the puppies, but they benefit from the responsibility of being puppy raisers in ways that are especially important to their rehabilitation: they learn patience, what it is like to be completely responsible for a living being, how to give and receive unconditional love, and -- since puppy raisers take classes and train the dogs together -- how to work as a team.

PBB strives to meet the current needs of the communities in which we work and has expanded its goals accordingly. After the events of September 11, 2001, law enforcement agencies' need for working dogs increased dramatically. To help meet this demand, PBB added the training of explosive detection canines (EDCs) to its program. In 2006, PBB started raising dogs to assist disabled children and adults and launched Dog Tags: Service Dogs for Those Who’ve Served Us, through which we donate fully trained service dogs to wounded soldiers coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan.

The pups live in the cells with their primary raisers, go to classes administered by PBB once a week, and are furloughed two or three weekends a month to 'puppy sitters' who take the dogs into their homes in order to expose them to things they won't experience in prison. These can be as simple as hearing doorbells or the sounds of a coffee grinder, and as complex as learning how to ride in a car and walk down a crowded sidewalk.

The puppies live in prison for sixteen months, after which they are tested to determine their suitability for training as service dogs for the disabled or explosive detection canines for law enforcement. If they are deemed suitable, PBB returns them to the schools where they continue their formal training. If they do not continue on the track to become working dogs, PBB donates them to families with blind children. In either case, these puppies, raised in such a unique environment, spend their lives as companions to people who need them.

PBB pays all of the costs incurred with raising these puppies so anything you could spare, whenever you could spare it to help this cause would surely be instantly gratifying!!! Even if you can't give, it is worth exploring the PBB website to learn more about this amazing charity!

Let it Grow, Let it Grow, Let it Grow

Once upon a time I was at the nail salon. The girl next to me and I started talking (naturally) and somehow we landed on the subject of hair - which she was having issues with since the birth of her daughter. She recommended Hair, Skin and Nails by Purvana and swore that it made her hair (which was falling out after she gave birth) stop falling out, get thicker and healthier. I went right to the vitamin guy, he told me this was his best selling product (even better than prenatal vitamins). I bought them, tried them and the rest is history! My hair, skin and nails will now live happily ever after!