Outfit: My Son's B-day

Top: Banana Republic, Shorts: Old Navy, Sandals: Target, Earrings: Erin Gallagher's Gem Bar, Ring: Lia Sophia, Chain Ring: Tiffany & CO, Sunnies: MNG by Mango, Necklace: Gift 

My son celebrated his 4th birthday over the weekend and we let him have the party of his dreams. He's finally has an opinion about what he wants (and a strong opinion at that) so we created a party around what he wanted. He asked for a bubble guppies themed party, bouncy house, cake (yellow cake with blue frosting to be exact), and french fries. Alright little dude, you got it! ;) He counted down on his calendar and every morning would tell us how many days until his party. He had a wonderful time and said it was so fun. Mission accomplished! Kinda easy to throw a dream party for a 4 year old, I wonder what he'll ask for next year....

And here's me asking my hubby to take a nice photo, this is what I got:
Seriously?

Come on, please.....

Jerk!! ;)

** Make sure you check out the Sisters Marie blog today, fun new item for sale! ;)

Outfit: Rain Chic

Dress: Banana Republic, Cardigan: H&M, Shoes: Victoria's Secret: Watch: Fossil, Ring: House of Harlow, Earrings: Erin Gallagher's Gem Bar, Umbrella: Walgreens

Yes, another maxi dress. Some people live in jeans, some people live in skirts, I live in maxi dresses. This is a new one and I love the double slit sides. I had a few leggy moments, but mostly is just a pop of sexy in an otherwise modest dress. LOVE that!
Can we talk umbrellas now?! Is it wrong that I own 3 and they are all from Walgreens? lol Why spend lots of cash on them if you can get them for under $6? Just saying.... ;)

WINGS Event: 1 of 2

I attended an event for the charity WINGS (women in need growing stronger) over the weekend and had an amazing time. It was called Tastes Take Flight: sip, sample, and shop and I did just that!
I decided to break it down into 2 posts. Today: Shopping and Sampling (food and wine), and tomorrow's post: meeting Katie Workman.

Here is what I wore to the event:

Dress: H&M, Lace Vest: Dots, Shoes: Shoemint, Ring: C/O Sole Society, Blue bracelet: Kristin Hassan, Watch: Fossil, Bag: Coach, Earrings: Erin Gallagher's Gem Bar

Outside the ballroom there was the WINGS resale shop, book signing (tomorrow's post), and 1 shopping vendor. Inside the ballroom was were all the other food and shopping vendor's were at. My aunt (Margaret McSweeney) also hosted the event and had cooking demos going on front stage while people were walking around sampling and shopping. So fun!

There was so much food to try (but I got it done! lol). Here are a few of my favorite treats:
Cheesey Bread from Wild Asparagus (Barrington, IL): This stuff way beyond amazing. Melted in my mouth! 

 Eggplant Bruschetta from Agio Italian Bistro (Palatine, IL): What a lovely twist on bruschetta! I've never thought to make it on top of fried/baked eggplant before, but I now NEED to try to recreate this! ;)

Ratatouille from L'Eiffel Bistro (South Barrington, IL): I loved this one! Perfect bitsized goodness.

 Chateau Ste Michelle Riesling: This was one of my favorite wines I sampled. It was sweet, crisp, and I actually bought myself a few bottles.

I did some resale shopping and found 2 great tops! The mint halter I found for $9 and the Talbots cardigan with tags on it (retail $89) I got for $25! AMAZING!
I also got this beautiful brown linen jacket (level 99) from a store called Grass Roots.

Here are some more photos of what they carry over at Grass Roots (205 South Cook St. Barrington, IL 60010). The owner Todd was so cool and he and his wife also supports a lot of local and US brands and vendors. I SUPER love the leather cuffs which are all made of vintage belts! They carry everything from Big Star to Free people and have rock & roll onsies and diaper bags too! I will for sure be hitting this shop up again. Really loved their style! 

All and all I had an amazing time. I hope WINGS raised a lot of money and I look forward to their next event!
Check back tomorrow to see my meet and great with Katie Workman! 

I Have Joined A Wine Club & Contest Winner Announced

For Christmas this year we got my mom and step dad wine. I joined the Wall Street Journal wine club and got them 15 bottles. They LOVED it. A few weeks ago I saw an email saying my card was going to be charged and 12 more bottles were being shipped out!

Now the moment of truth. Cancel and not get the wine or keep the membership and see what reds they send. I clearly went with the latter! So far I have had 1 bottle and am very happy with being a club member. They came with a binder and each wine has a page about it and what foods are paired well together with it (very helpful). I will let you know if anything if outstanding (not that I'm qualified to do so! I just starting drinking red wine about 3 months ago).

And....the winner of the $100 Erin Gallagher's Gem Bar gift card is #1 Stacie's design!

Erin will email you later with the info! A GIANT thank you to Erin for hosting this design contest and a big thanks to all who entered! 

**Don't forget, if you didn't win and want to buy the style you designed, use code DIAPERS20 at checkout for 20% off!

Erin Gallagher's Gem Bar Design Contest: Top 4

Thank you to everyone who entered! All of your designs were beautiful. Erin wanted to extend a coupon code to all who entered if you would like to buy the piece you designed (or whatever you want on her site). Simply use code DIAPERS20 at checkout for 20% off your order at Erin Gallagher's Gem Bar.

Now onto the finalists! The first 2 had the most votes on Facebook (or "likes" for that matter) so they earned their spot here in the finals.

#1-Stacie's design

#2-Michele's design

The next 2 were just so pretty, we had to put them in the competition!

#3-Heather's Design

#4-Stacy's Destign

Now starts the fun part, voting! One of these ladies wins a $100 gift card to Erin Gallagher's Gem Bar! (UH-MAZING)

You have 48 hours to vote for your favorite design. The winner will be announced Monday morning at 7:00am. Please leave a comment below casting your vote for #1, #2, #3, or #4. That's it!!

Good luck ladies, and thank you again to all who entered the design contest!

Outfit: Vita Wrap Dress

Coat: Victoria's Secret, Dress: Kristin Hassan, Tights: Target, Shoes: Jessica Simpson (similar), Hinged Arm Bangle: C/O Kristin Hassan, Necklace: Erin Gallagher's Gem Bar (style from 2007), Earrings: Jewelmint, Sunnies: MNG by Mango

Every season Kristin Hassan puts out her signature wrap dress in different prints and colors. This style is so flattering on all body types I just had to pick up one in this beautiful print! I just love the colors and feather design, just the right amount of color for the winter months (let's be honest, this dress would also work in the spring/summer months as well so get ready to see it year round). Kristin has a few dresses still in stock so email her if you'd like to snag one of the last ones! ($155, kristinhassan@yahoo.com)
And don't forget all Stiletto and Diaper Bags readers can get 20% off all Kristin Hassan jewelry now through sunday night by using code LISA20 at checkout.

Erin Gallagher's Gem Bar Design Contest

Erin of Erin Gallagher's Gem Bar has come up with an amazing idea for the readers of Stilettos and Diaper Bags! I told you in yesterday's post how amazing the customizable feature is on their website, so here's your chance to show us what you've got!

Head over to Erin Gallagher's Gem Bar and design a piece of jewelry. It can be any style/type you want (necklace, earrings, bracelets, etc)! When you are finished save the photo to your computer and email the image to me at sadbblog@yahoo.com.

I took all of 5 minutes and threw together 2 designs to give you guys some examples. The first is my family charm bracelet:

It has my kids initials and birth stones and mine/my hubbys (we have the same birth month) birth stone as well! 

The second I just play around with one of my favorite necklace designs and came up with this colorful number:

I will put all the photos that are emailed to me up on my Facebook page. 

Next week Erin and I will pick our favorite 3 designs and feature them in a post.  At that point you the readers will pick which design is the favorite. 

The winner of this contest will get a $100 gift card to Erin Gallagher's Gem bar! Good luck everyone, and have fun!!! One entry per person please and don't forget to send your name along with the photo. I can't wait to see what you guys come up with!

Erin Gallagher's Gem Bar

For those of you who don't know, I used to design and assemble jewelry for Erin Gallagher Jewelry now known as Erin Gallagher's Gem Bar. When I recently looked at her website I was BLOWN AWAY!! The selection of jewelry has always been amazing, but the customizable feature has come such a long way and can now be done with pretty much every piece they create! If you want to change up an item that is not customizable online, simply go into their store and design your dream piece with a member of the EG team! I LOVE THAT! Here are some of my favorite pieces for sale (not only online but also at their store in Chicago).

They specialize not only in custom jewelry, but also in bridal jewelry (I had my jewelry as well as my bridesmaids jewelry done by the EG team). I have to say I kinda want to get married again (to my hubby of course!) so I can wear some of these STUNNING pieces! Here are some of my bridal favorites:

The best thing about the website is the custom feature. You can choose gem color, chain type and length, charms, and pretty much create whatever you want to fit your taste and price.
Check back tomorrow for a VERY EXCITING Erin Gallagher's Gem Bar announcement just for Stilettos and Diaper Bag readers! I have to say it's a really awesome opportunity for you guys....