All Things Fashionating by tracy mausser

With almost 30K page hits under my belt -- I'm still not even sure if this is impressive or not -- but I just know that it seems like a lot to me, my blog All Things Fashionating is going on hiatus. ATF has been my baby for almost two years but, over the past few months, I have found it very time-consuming to keep up with my writing.  Personally, I haven't felt that I was putting my most creative foot forward and that is really hard for me. Right now, my focus has to be to my family and, that is not to say that once our busy lives slow down a bit, I will have the time to get back to being creative and revitalize ATF.  However, I can honestly say that the guilt of posting crap or not posting at all has become very difficult for me. So, with the approach of 2013, I wish all my readers -- from afar and close-by -- a very Happy New Year and extend the warmest thank you for taking the time to follow and read my posts since 2010. I promise to continue to pursue only the...

Edina Kiss Rose Gold Earrings with Smokey Quartz, $45 Every year, one of my besties Tracy has an all-girls holiday gift exchange.   Thoughts of a white elephant gift exchange may be conjured up in your mind and, if you aren’t familiar with the term “White Elephant” – according to Wikipedia – it is an idiom for a valuable but burdensome possession of which its owner cannot dispose and whose cost (particularly the cost of up keep) is out of proportion to its worth. I still have a sombrero chip and dip platter that I scored at a family reunion many moons ago, so you catch my drift. Well, Tracy’s party ain’t your grandmother’s white elephant gift exchange. The premise is sort of a favorite things party.   Each woman – who wants to participate (as it is optional) – brings a nice gift valued at about $100.   Each player then selects a number based on how many participants are partaking in the festivities and predetermines the order.   Each woman can s...

One of my most decadent guilty pleasures is back on TV.  Last April, I posted about the Bravo  Network's show, "Shahs of Sunset."  A reality television series which follows a group of Iranian-Americans who live in Los Angeles. Well as of this past Sunday -- along with the belly laughs -- they are back on Sunday nights at 10pm local time. http://allthingsfashionating.blogspot.com/2012/04/finding-funny-in-tehrangeles-with-shahs.html

This weekend, I had the chance to get away with my BFF Leslie for a little R&R in Ojai.  While there, we talked about most things that women are age -- who are moms -- talk about: kids, fashion and beauty. At one point, Leslie brought up the topic of a Beauty Bomb and I said, huh?  I'm not one who is typically stumped but -- I am wont to admit that I sadly do not know everything...damn -- but I had never heard of the Beauty Bomb or otherwise known as a BB. Leslie let me know that BBs are an all-in-one balm that includes your moisturizer, foundation, SPF lotion, primer and other good things which helps your skin to look fantastic but protects it as well. I thought of my morning ritual: a swipe of regular lotion as soon as I get out of the shower, my SPF tinted moisurizer, primer, foundation -- layer upon layer which takes about a full hour to apply. I let Leslie know she was the bomb for letting me know about BBs.  With Santa on his way, I will definitely ...