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We’re giving away a limited edition Modern Warfare 2 Xbox 360 bundle!
We are kicking off our holiday giveaways with a bang! We’ve teamed with our friends at shoot it! to bring you this Modern Warfare 2 Xbox 360 limited edition console, a $400 value. The bundle includes a custom Xbox 360 console with exclusive design, a 250GB Xbox 360 hard drive, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, a pair of black controllers, and more. It hits stores on November 10th, and we’ve pre-ordered one that we’re giving away to one of you. Be sure to check out the giveaway rules to see how to enter!
What’s the most indulgent (read: expensive) beauty item you’ve ever bought?
Posted by Katie Gutierrez Painter Categories: Editorials, Fashion, Health
So, yesterday on Gilt, I’m trolling around, looking for deals, no real intention of buying. And THEN I see the Quasar Baby Blue. Now, at first glance it looked like a shower head to me. Or something a dentist would use. I was unsure. Then I read that it’s a device that uses blue light to target the sebaceous glands on the face, killing the bacteria that causes acne. So I’m intrigued. I Google reviews. Sure enough, people like this thing. It seems to work. And for a girl like me who (1) has battled her skin for her entire post-pubescent life, (2) has bought countless items from late-night informercials, and (3) just has hope that something will work as promised, darn it, it was a perfect storm. Plus, Gilt has never disappointed me. So I winced, paid $250 (on sale from $350—hooray!), and am now anxiously awaiting its arrival at my door. I’ll tell my husband it cost $25. Just kidding—sort of. Anyway, I’ll keep you all posted!
Your turn: What’s the most indulgent/expensive/ridiculous beauty product you’ve ever bought? Did it work? Share!
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Who do you treat better: your boss or your spouse?
Posted by Katie Gutierrez Painter Categories: Editorials, Marriage, Relationships
Okay, that’s kind of an unfair question. After all (in most cases… hehe) the relationship is as different as could be. Perhaps I should rephrase: To whom do you show more courtesy and consideration: your boss or your spouse?
The question is one I’ve vaguely had in mind for a few days, ever since I decided to multitask by using my lunch hour get my cardio in via taking the dog for a jog. I also took along my Bluetooth headset just in case any clients called. Instead, it was my husband who called, and I tried valiantly to have a decent conversation while keeping my pace through the home stretch. Eventually, he griped, “I can’t hear a thing you’re saying with all that wind. Just call me later.” Before hanging up, he added, sort of incredulously, “You wouldn’t actually talk to a client like this, would you?”
Click to continue reading Who do you treat better: your boss or your spouse?
What’s in a Name (When it Comes to Designer Shopping)?
Posted by Katie Gutierrez Painter Categories: Editorials, Fashion
In the last, oh, say five years, I’ve gone from swearing American Eagle was the only brand I’d ever love to seeking out designer clothing and accessories for their quality, workmanship, and lasting value. (Oh, and because they’re preeeeetty.) But one thing that hasn’t changed is that I still will not buy goods that have the designer’s name splashed all over them. Monogram purses, for example? So not my thing. Even if I admire the shape and quality of some Louis Vuitton bags (like the Speedy, above), I won’t buy them if they’re covered in the signature LV. And why would I want a belt stamped all over with the Coach logo and featuring a buckle spelling, what else, Coach? To me, these are gratuitous status symbols, and that’s not why I shop designer.
Granted, I know there’s a threshold—a line dividing classic from tacky. But that line is much thinner to me than it is to, I think, a lot of people. And don’t get me wrong: My little pet peeve can get pretty annoying. Because plenty of designers I really like, such as Marc Jacobs, sneak their name onto the most innocuous places, like the buttons on a blouse. Buttons! Or this otherwise perfect daytime Miss Sixty purse that I would totally buy if it didn’t have MISS SIXTY right in front. See it? Sure, it’s small, discreet, and perfectly tasteful, but it’s there. For things like this, I know my distaste is silly, but I can’t help it.
Am I alone in my abhorrence of designer name-flaunting? I’d actually love to hear from people who disagree with me—please share why!
Crappy Dad Encourages Young Daughter to be Next Jenna Jameson—Yep, For Real
Posted by Katie Gutierrez Painter Categories: Editorials, In The News, Parenting, Sex
Alright, folks, ready for a little controversy? On second thought, what I’m about to write shouldn’t be controversial. It should be a that’s-ridiculous-and-disgusting-and-offensive-to-good-fathers-and-functional-daughters-everywhere no-brainer.
So tonight, as I’m driving home from nearly exerting myself to death on my bike, I hear this situation on the radio: A father, right here in my humble town, is encouraging his 18-year-old daughter to be an “adult film starlet.” Yes. As in porn star. Here’s how this went down. Apparently this douche dad had his old college buddy—and thriving porn star friend—over to dinner. This friend sees the 18-year-old daughter and tells her father that she’s “smokin’ hot.” Not conventionally gorgeous like Jenna Jameson, he adds, but she could easily fit among the top 25 of today’s porn stars. He wanted to sign her right there on the spot. For $400,000 a year. And Daddy says? Hell yes!
Well, okay, I guess he didn’t say hell yes. He brought it up with his daughter, who was “taken aback” by the suggestion. Um, yeah! If my dad approached me after dinner with his raunchy-ass friend and said, “Hey, Kate—Bob thinks you’ve got the stuff”—a.k.a. T&A—“to be a hot porn star. Wanna give it a go? You’ve got my support.” I’d be like, WTF? My dad thinks I’m a ho.
And the kicker. Apparently the girl’s mother—who is still married to the father, mind you—knows nothing about any of this. She has no idea that her husband, who held their baby girl in his arms after she was born, is encouraging said baby girl to be everybody’s “baby girl.” Yes. That’ll be a fun conversation. “Hey, hon, how would you feel about Margaret being renamed Crystal and starring in Back Door Beauties XXIIIII?” If I were the wife, I’d be packing my bags and my daughter and getting the hell outta there!
Am I being completely close-minded here? Is this actually the act of a loving and supporting father who wants his daughter to be financially and sexually liberated? Or is this pimp guy just absolutely in-effing-sane? How would you react if you were the daughter or the wife in this situation? I’d love your opinions!
Oh… and as a fun little add-on, my husband just told me about a dad who SWORDED HIS SON for not moving out. Sworded. As in like, stabbed with a sword that he just happened to have hidden under the living room couch. Well, yeah. Isn’t that where everyone keeps their swords? The son’s okay. The dad’s effing nuts. What’s wrong with parents these days???
It’s summer, people! Why the scarves?
Posted by Katie Gutierrez Painter Categories: Celebrities, Editorials, Fashion
Alright, granted—I’m from a place that gets hotter than much of the country. Hundred-degree summer days are the norm. Sweating while walking from the car to the grocery store is expected. It’s still effing scorching at eight in the evening. So maybe, just maybe, that’s why I’m so annoyed by the summer scarf trend. But maybe not. It just doesn’t make sense. It’s hot, people! Why are you wrapping extra fabric around your neck? Why not just mummify yourself while you’re at it? Wrap bandages around your face. Let your eyes peer out at the hot summer days. At all the people walking around with blissfully bare necks.
I’m calling it now: Opera gloves are the next summer It item. Maybe they’ll be refashioned from these inexplicable scarves.
What do you think? Do you buy the scarf-as-necklace trend? If so, tell the truth—are you dying under there??
Let Your Clothes Take You Far, Far Away This Summer…
Posted by Katie Gutierrez Painter Categories: Editorials, Fashion
You know that moment when the wheels of the plane touch ground and you shoot forward in your seat with the new momentum? And you briefly, deliciously forget how your hair became that odd combination of greasy on top, staticky on the bottom, and that you ran out of face blotting tissues and feel slightly nauseous? It’s that fizzy moment of anticipation, of your travels opening in front of you with all the possibilities of dreams…
Haven’t felt that way in awhile? Me neither. Which is why I’m loving this summer’s trend of clothes that are rich with cultural details: Navajo-inspired dresses and tunics with intricate, boldly colored embroidery; 
Indian-influenced statement earrings and cuffs; 
colors and embellishments and attitude straight from Mexico, Turkey, Africa—almost anywhere you can imagine.
Even if imagining is all you do this summer!
Well, last night marked a big night at our home - it was my daughter’s last t-ball game. For those of you who have not been inducted into the t-ball club, let me give you the Cliffs Notes version. T-ball is played by 5 & 6 year olds. In our city, there are approximately ten players on each team. When we go to a game, there are two innings. Each player bats. They can swing as many times as they want, there are no outs. We do not keep score. When the last batter is up, the umpire calls, “Last batter,” and the kid playing “pitcher” stands at home plate and tags any of the kids who were on base. When it is over the kids have absolutely no idea what they have done or who has won. It is INSANE!
My husband and father are vehemently against it (due to their competitive natures) and began “unofficially” keeping score during the second game. Needless to say, I was not sorry that the season was rounding to an end. All day long my daughter has gone on and on about how sad she was that the season was going to be over and how excited she was about her big game. At about 5:00 I went to her room to get out her uniform. It was gone!!! I couldn’t find it anywhere!!! After fifteen minutes searching (with her pacing along behind me), I called my husband who was on a business trip in Miami. “Do you have any idea where her uniform is???” I shrieked into the phone. “Yes, it is in the trunk of your car,” he answered calmly. “But you drove my car to the AIRPORT!” I screamed (the airport is three hours away). “Hmmmm,” was his reply.
So I pasted on a fake toothy grin and called my daughter to the room. I asked her if she’d like to go eat pizza and go swimming tonight. “What about my game?” she replied suspiciously. “Um, your-uniform-is-in-the-car-at-the-airport-so-you-aren’t-going-to-play,” I rattled off as quickly as possible. “Thank goodness,” she answered, “I am so tired of pretending to have fun!” Then she skipped out of the room.
Well my spring 2010 just became wide open!
Well in T-minus 25 days and counting I will turn the big 3-0! Oh sure, I’ve been fed the whole 30 is the new 20 garbage, but bottomline is that anything that has to be “the new” anything else is just plain OLD. As I sit and try to come up with some positives about turning 30, I am plagued yet again with the trendy mom debate. Last week I was bathing suit shopping at Old Navy. After winning a tug-of-war battle with a blonde who looked like she might have a good left hook, I snatched up my cute orange bikini and headed to the dressing room to try it on.
After a quick look I decided it would do. I sashayed out of the fitting room just in time to see that cute blonde hand the same cute orange bikini to her fifteen year old DAUGHTER. My jaw dropped. There was no way that I, a mother of two, could possibly wear the same swimsuit as a girl with her learner’s permit. I tossed the bikini back on the shelf and began my search for a practical one piece tank suit. So here is my question, at what age do you start looking silly if you dress young?
You all know of those women that people whisper, “she’s too old to wear that”...or “she’s too old to have that hair cut”... When do you have to stop shopping at GAP and Old Navy and start shopping at… I don’t know….mom stores? While I am not particularly interested in being a trendsetter, I do like to look nice and cute, but appropriate. Will there come a time when all of the sudden cute clothes are not appealing to me? Will my brain suddenly decide that the knit vest with apples on it is exactly what I wanted to wear today? I really don’t know how all of this works? If anyone has any insight I would truly appreciate it!! Lol!
The Tooth Fairy Needs An Economics Lesson
Posted by Melissa Trebus Categories: Editorials, Humor, Parenting
So last week we had a rite of passage in our home. My five-year-old lost her first tooth. It was a little bit traumatic due to the fact that she swallowed it, but I convinced her to write a letter to the tooth fairy explaining what had happened and everything would be fine. That evening after she went to bed I snuck in her room, grabbed the letter, and left her a dollar. The next morning at church some of our friends heard her talking about getting a dollar. I swelled with pride, well, until I noticed the posse circling around me. All of a sudden the tooth fairy patrol began to cross examine me.
Apparently two of our friends gave their daughters twenty dollars for the first tooth and one friend gave her son forty dollars. Forty dollars!!! That is insane. Why in the world would anyone give a five-year-old forty dollars for a tooth? So I started to feel guilty. I began to poll all of my friends and apparently the average amount of money a child received from the tooth fairy was ten dollars. I don’t know about you, but ten dollars is a lot more precious in our household these days.
Nevertheless, two weeks later when my daughter lost her second tooth (thankfully we rescued it from the sink before it went down the drain), the tooth fairy left a more generous gift of five dollars. Suffice it to say I was a bit chagrined when my daughter yelled for me to come to her room. Upon seeing her prize she sighed wistfully and said, “I wish the tooth fairy would quit leaving me these useless tickets. I would much rather have some crayons or bubble gum!” From the mouth of babes…
Fashion—or Lack Thereof—at the 2009 MTV Movie Awards
Posted by Katie Gutierrez Painter Categories: Celebrities, Editorials, Entertainment, Fashion
So… Is MTV really still doing that movie awards show? I didn’t watch it. (Although maybe I would have had I been home, but that’s neither here nor there.) However, that doesn’t keep me from passing gleeful judgment on the show’s attendees! Without further ado…
BEST
I’ve said it before. I think few women in Hollywood have better natural style than Sienna Miller. Take her green Swarovsky-encrusted Twenty8Twelve—the label she designs with her sister—backless minidress. With the beachy waves and low-key makeup—along with the faaabulous Nicholas Kirkwood sandals—the whole look is fun, glamorous, and effortless. 
I was pleasantly surprised by Ashley Tisdale, who managed to look both chic and edgy in an Elise Overland leather sheath dress, embellished belt, and sky-high gladiator stilettos. I thought the dusky lavender looked great with her skin and chestnut hair, though I did think the extensions were a little much. 
A bit of an odd choice for the MTV Movie Awards, I’ll admit, but I dug Malin Ackerman’s flawless white suit and sexy bustier top. Kind of refreshing amid a sea of overexposed starlets, no? 
WTF?
Okay, I hated—hated, hated—Megan Fox’s hair. The severely slicked back front with the attempt at loose, retro waves in back? Reminiscent of scary man-mullets at hick town bars. I also didn’t dig her D&G metallic jacquard dress, which really reminded me of hotel drapery and/or bedspreads. 
It pains me to do this, because I was originally all for the newly blonde Leighteon Meester’s more daring Emilio de la Morena dress. Then I saw the back. Do my eyes lie? Can you actually entirely see through the rear of her dress? Now I’m no prude, but no matter how awesome your derrière is, showing it in public just seems tacky. Thoughts? 
Ohh, Lauren Conrad. LC, if I may. Why? Nothing flattered about this Moschino rose-printed bubble hem dress, accessorized with ratty, bleachy extensions and deep red lips. The whole look was the opposite of youthful summer style. Enough said, I think. 
So, do tell. Agree, disagree with my choices? Who else should be on this list?
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