By Audrey van Petegem, Chief Editor
What does your perfect Mother’s Day look like? For me, it is breakfast in bed with the newspaper and my young girls competing on whose school-made gift I will open first. It is either going out to lunch or walking the dogs with my 20 year old son, who knows that spending an afternoon together has been our tradition on Mother’s Day for the last six years. Simple, right? How easy for us to enjoy this day that became an official celebration for mothers over 100 years ago.
Not all countries, mind you, have a day [...]

I’m pretty sure most women will agree: Jewelry is ALWAYS a welcomed gift. Especially if it has sentimental value, as when the jewelry piece is composed of gemstones which each (could, but don’t have to!) represent a special family member.
Erin Gallagher’s Gem Bar can help us create such customized jewelry designs quite easily. Her company offers a great choice of “Design Your Own” jewelry pieces, whether it be necklaces, earrings or bracelets. For Mother’s Day, I really like the idea of a pendant necklace where each gemstone would represent the birthstone of a child, and heck, why not, even that [...]

By Audrey van Petegem, Senior Editor
Sending mom a Mother’s Day card and/or a bouquet of flowers is a simple way to say that you are thinking of her – particularly if you live far away. Postcarden cleverly combines the beauty of flora with a greeting card creating a simple and inexpensive way to show how much you love your mama.
These pop-out cards transform into mini-living gardens and are available in three designs: Botanical, City and Backyard. Your mom will open and unfold the card, water it and sprinkle the enclosed edible cress seeds onto the damp paper. Within a few [...]

The Odyssey Collection offers luxury bath, body and home goods imported from the Mediterranean and Levantine coasts. Their Senteurs d’Orient (literally meaning “Scents of the Orient” en français) exclusive line of soaps are 100% natural hand-crafted, with over 15 refreshingly exotic fragrances.
 
 
 
 
SENTEURS D’ORIENT GIFT BOXES

Luxury Medium Gift Box with a indulgent variety of 7 different soap shapes, sizes and fragrances, a vial of pure Essential Oil and a Mediterranean bath salts sachet. Retail $ 64.00. Available in Small, Medium and Large boxes.

There is about using a luxury soap that elicits the true feeling of being pampered. What makes the Odyssey [...]

By Audrey van Petegem, Senior Editor
I am in love with Jo Malone fragrances but the size of any of the bottles makes it almost impossible to take along with me. Traveling anywhere with large bottles of perfume is just not convenient. I can’t take them in my carry-on without losing the bottle to TSA. And most definitely can’t fit a large perfume bottle in my evening clutch!
I have tried other travel-sized perfume bottles but I seem to always spill more perfume out of the funnel than I can get in the other bottle. Way too costly! And anyhoo, if the [...]

By Audrey van Petegem, Senior Editor
Just because it is raining outside does not mean we can’t still have great style. Gone are the days of galoshes and plastic raincoats of yester-years (thank goodness).
We proved that last year when we wrote about the Pop-N-Go Rain Scarf. Now it is time to rethink raincoat as a more stylish, yet practical, outerwear solution.
The RainRaps are such a garment. In fact, Rainraps are akin to  fashionable lightweight, water-resistant, reversible pashminas.
They come in four colorful combinations and are the perfect fashion accessory that can be worn all year round (in winter, over coats to “waterproof” [...]

Ah, mothers… Whoever your mother figure might be, she certainly deserves to be celebrated. This is the woman that gave guidance, has always been there and that, today, loves you unconditionally. Mother’s Day is a day to show appreciation to the woman who helped make us who we are today.

By Audrey van Petegem, Senior Editor

When I first met Taylor Greenberg Goldy, I asked her to speak to the person in charge of ChariTotes. Little did I know that this young, bright, 17 year old was the brainchild behind ChariTotes Design-A-Bag!
What a great story this is: When Taylor was volunteering at her local hospital in the pediatric ward, she would spend time with children who had cancer. She came up with the idea for an activity that would have them decorate their own canvas tote bags with markers, crayons and stickers. The kids loved doing this so much that she [...]

By Lisa Hughes Anderson – Guest Contributor
My mom has always been the subtle driving force in our Patriarch centered family.  Thinking of my mom and I hear an ever so slight southern accent, see gentle sage colored eyes that smile and realize that she is shrinking with age, hovering just under 5 feet tall.  My mom was always there for my siblings and me when my dad’s career took him on the road 2-3 weeks a month.  She is the person strangers always start conversations with, the woman who roots for the underdog and losing teams.  Mom’s calm strength of [...]

By Audrey van Petegem, Senior Editor
My mother suddenly passed away four years ago and not a day goes by that I don’t think of her and miss her dearly. Losing my mother, even though I was in my 40′s, felt like I was being abandoned. I felt a sense of loss that was so paralyzing. I was left unable to take care of myself or make a single decision on my own. I could not fathom that she was actually gone. I would often pick up the phone on Sunday to call her, since that was our standing phone date [...]