Moms often complain that we don’t have a lot of time to put ourselves together the way we would like to, because we are always getting everyone else together, so of course we are often left going out of the door looking like we are constantly under-construction (steamrolled, bulldozed, and all of that!).  One thing we can do that’s very easy and inexpensive is to make sure that our eyebrows are neatly arched.  Like the beautiful work of art that your face is (feel better moms?), it needs a frame to bring it all together and nothing makes you look more polished with the least amount of effort than neatly groomed eyebrows.

So what do you need to create your perfect frame?

Well, first you need to start somewhere if you haven’t already.  There are three major ways to shape your brows: waxing, threading, and tweezing.

Waxing is a very common way to get those brows in shape.  It’s relatively inexpensive, it’s very accessible (you can go anywhere from your local nail salon to a high-end day spa), it’s very quick, and the results last for about 2-3 weeks.  Waxees beware, when choosing a waxer, make sure you watch her do more than a few eyebrows before you go sit in her chair, because waxing is not a precision technique and your brows can end up officially being “chopped and skrewed” BIG TIME (and the 8 week grow out period is not fun)! Also, make sure that she uses a combo of waxing, tweezing, and trimming in order to get the perfect shape.  Straight waxing is not enough.

Threading is an ancient method of hair removal which originated in parts of Asia and uses 100% cotton thread to shape your brows.  It is gaining popularity because it is more precise than waxing and allows for a better shape.  Threading is not yet available in all areas, but when looking for threaders, it is best to find a salon or person that specializes in threading.  Threading can really hurt if you don’t have the right person, so be careful.  Threaded eyebrows are beautiful, I love them!

Tweezing is the third method and I recommend it in conjunction with the above methods.  Tweezing stray hairs is a great way to stretch out the time between waxing or threading appointments.  You can go 4-6 weeks if you are dedicated to tweezing stray hairs each day.  Don’t get too tweezer-happy!  Tweezing can be addictive and you can alter the shape of your brows if you tweeze too many hairs.

After you have your perfect shape, just fill in your brows every morning, if needed, and go!  There are many ways to fill in your brows: brow pencils and eyebrow powder (my preference with MAC’s angled brush) are two popular ways.  Just be sure to choose a shade that’s a little lighter than your brow hairs.

So the next time a crazy morning comes your way, don’t despair… you are now ready to face the world!

Let’s hear from you: what are your favorite eyebrow tips? What are some dos and don’ts when it comes to eyebrow grooming?

Welcome to 2009!  I for one am very excited about this year and all of the possibilities that it may bring.  I hope that this New Year brings peace, love, and prosperity to your family!

One of our New Year’s Resolutions here at Divas N Babes is to make sure that we are reaching out and supporting all of the mommy-divas out there so this year we are committed to our all new Divas Den Blog.  Last night when I was thinking about what I would write about each day, I couldn’t really decide on one specific topic (I loved all of them!) so I guess the Divas Den Blog is going to be all about my random ramblings about life now as a mother of two and all of the craziness that goes along with it.  I know a whole lot of you out there can relate and I am hoping that we can help each other maintain sanity or at least be sisters in the struggle!  Can’t wait!

I am also really excited about our Fashion Fridays here at the Divas Den Blog, which is where we share some of the little things that help us to maintain our mom-me style.  I think it is SO important to try and maintain a positive self-image, especially after baby when a LOT of things have changed (clothes size being one of them…but we won’t talk about that right now, please) and life as you once knew it is over.  I am hoping that Fashion Fridays will help us help each other to look and feel like the “diva” that we are, even though we are overworked, sleep-deprived, being pulled in a thousand directions wearing a thousand and ONE hats, while running the household, working the boardroom, and kissing boo-boos, etc. etc. aka being a Mommy.

I can’t wait to share my adventures of 2009 with you and I am looking forward to sharing yours.  I guarantee that it will be one interesting ride.  Raise your glasses divas (oh and don’t let me be the party-pooper because mine has sparkling cider…I am nursing !

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!

Love,

Tonjia

I absolutely LOVE being pregnant, I really do. I love everything about it: bonding with the growing life inside of me, feeling all of her movements as we go about our day, daydreaming about what she looks like, and most of all my big, round, robust belly. Yes, I love my belly as it grows from the little bump, to the round basketball, to the HUGE ripe watermelon that it is at 36 almost 37 weeks, I love every part of it, emerging stretch marks and all.

What I don’t like is the crazy comments that come from the mouths of strangers that I can’t bring myself to believe are actually well meaning. I mean do people really think about what it is they are saying before they open their mouths to say it?

I have been thinking about this my entire pregnancy and I have been meaning to write about it, but I never did, because I thought it was just me being cranky, hormonal, hungry, and pregnant, but I have heard some things in my late pregnant state that are just ridiculous and now I am convinced that I am not the crazy one (this time that is!).

So here are my top 5 comments that I hear almost every day and remember, maybe I AM sensitive, but goodness, I am chock-full of estrogen, give me a break:

Are you having twins? – Now, this might be understandable when you are in your 9th month, but I have been hearing this since I was 6 months! When I kindly say no with a very hard to create smile on my face, they then say “Are you sure?” or one time this man said “Triplets? Quadruplets?” On Thursday, this young lady actually chased me down to stop me and ask me was I having twins and when I said no and probably gave her the glance of death because it was like 95 degrees outside, she apologetically said “Oh, well, um, sorry, um, you look good though.” WHAT?!

You must be due any day now – OK, now this one is also more tolerable now that I am 37 weeks, but hearing this everyday from let’s say around 26 weeks is a little bit annoying. I can’t possibly be THAT big.

You look like you are about to BUST! (Usually followed by a “ha ha ha!”) – Now this one is probably highest on my “OMG, I can’t believe you just said that to me” list. How in the world do you say this to someone and expect her to take this kindly? I just don’t get it! Firstly, the visual is horrible, I just picture my happy little belly exploding and my sweet baby just flying into space…that’s definitely not the serene vision of birth that I have. Secondly, how BIG is someone/something that it is just about to bust? This one I hear every day without fail. Crazy!

I KNOW you’re hot! / You look HOT! - Why this one annoys me, I can’t really put my finger on it, but it does. Maybe because it is July, so yes I am hot, but isn’t everyone?

Finally, here is the craziest one I ever heard…

This lady POINTED to my belly and said “that looks like it HURTS!” I don’t even have words for this one…

So anyway, I just had to get that off of my chest. People, if you encounter a big, huge, watermelon-bellied, hot-looking, pregnant mom that looks like she is overdue with twins and her belly just hurts like heck for her to carry it, please just smile at her and tell her “you look great mama, keep up the good work!” or something like that and save her from running to her nearest chocolate stash to keep from going crazy…on you that is!

HOT mama who is about to bust although I am not having twins (at least not according to my doctor and the ultrasound tech),
T

OK, so yes, I have seemingly dropped off the earth for the last few months, but I am back and I am bigger and better than ever (and please let me emphasize the BIGGER part!). Let me explain…it goes something like this:

Mommy finds out she is expecting her 2nd baby in late July 2008

Mommy immediately goes into preparation mode for new baby while maintaining her crazy life as mommy, wife, entrepreneur, daughter, friend, everything-to-everybody-except-myself…meaning Mommy is cramming 36 hours into 24 hours while being X weeks pregnant and has no time for anything

Mommy is sentenced to bed-rest by her loving doctor (I guess I needed a vacation?) in order to prevent another premature birth

Type-A, anal-retentive, perfectionist, over-prepared, and over-zealous Mommy-in-panic-mode gets everything on her perpetual To Do list done (including packing 2 very large suitcases for her all-expenses paid trip to the luxurious hospital birthing suite, yes 2 suitcases and working on 3, I know I am crazy, you can say it) and now…

I am back and I am waiting patiently for Baby Girl to arrive!

Oh how I have missed writing and oh how many stories I have to share from this crazy journey that has landed me at 36 weeks, but hopefully I have yet a few more weeks to go and we can definitely play catch-up. I promise you, it will be a riot…

Oh yes, and please remind me to tell you about these suitcases. I absolutely need everything in there, I tell you! Yes, even the bags of dark chocolate Raisinets and Haribo Gummi Bears for energy in labor and the 2 iPods with duplicate playlists with 2 types of speakers AND headphones just so I can be sure that I have my birth music…are you calling me crazy again?

How I’ve missed you all…

Signing off with some Braxton-Hicks,
T

Time goes so fast when you have a baby. I am pretty sure that just last week I was sent home from the hospital with a new born, and now it’s like we have a little person around here. I mean, sure, she’s a little person who poops her pants and can’t get to sleep without help and whose audible communication skills are fussing, crying, and shrieking, with the occasional raspberry and “ba ba ba” thrown in, but still, she is noticeably moving from baby toward toddler. Read the rest of this entry »

Most of the time Brian can calm Adriana when she’s fussing, but sometimes she just cries and cries, and then when I take her she calms right down. Usually I think it’s because she knows that if I am holding her, she is going to get some milk. One night recently, Brian went to Adriana when she first woke up (an hour after I put her down–it’s the most predictable thing about her sleep), but after awhile I went in because she wasn’t calming down. As soon as she was in my arms, the crying stopped, and I sat down to nurse her. Sitting there in the darkened room, I suddenly remembered one evening when she was about a week old. We were eating dinner in shifts because the baby, in spite of a full tummy and a dry diaper, was a bit fussy, and after I finished my soup, I took Adriana from Brian and the crying stopped. She relaxed against me, and I paced the room with her in my arms until she fell asleep. Eventually I sat in the armchair and just held her while she slept. I think it may have been the first time I felt competent as a mother. Read the rest of this entry »

Benjamin has always been the type of baby/toddler that is very happy and content when Mommy is around, but never really wanted to stay and hang out with anyone else. OK, that is an understatement…Benjamin would kick and scream and tear the house down if I even thought about going anywhere without him for one second, so I always included him in everything that I did and that was fine for us. Lately, he has been fine with hanging out with Daddy and Mom-Mom (my mother-in-law) for short periods of time and I think it’s a result of him beginning to attend Montessori school for several mornings each week and also the natural maturity and independence that comes along with turning 2. Of course, I am OK with that, whew, I actually get to eat a meal with two hands and use the bathroom in peace every now and then, and oh goodness, I can take a leisurely shower…this is heaven! I always said that I wouldn’t mind leaving him with other people as long as he is happy and he is so, I am too.

OK, so yesterday evening I had a Junior League meeting and I decided, what the hey, let’s see if Mom-Mom is around, because at the last meeting that I took him to, he was running around the place yelling and screaming and chasing after this dog that was there (someone brought their puppy) and saying “pup-py, pup-py, PUP-py” about 45,668,797 times and frankly, I think I was the only one who thought this was cute (although if the puppy is welcome, I can’t see why the obnoxious toddler isn’t welcome, but I digress) so I wanted to spare everyone of the Benjamin experience. I, being the prepared mother that I am, took him over to Mom-Mom’s house with a thrown together bag with his pajamas and favorite Lightning McQueen bubble bath and some random cars and left him for a fun evening with Mom-Mom.

Read the rest of this entry »

Hi Divas,

Here at Divas N Babes, we are on a quest to find the perfect Mommy tool, you know, Mommy’s Best Friend, the one thing that you could NOT function without. For me, it’s my BlackBerry, I totally have to have all of my tasks and appointments in one place or I will forget them and I need to be able to communicate all of the time, because let’s face it, with a Benjamin (he’s in a toddler category all his own), I do not get much sit-down-at-the-computer email time.

We are planning a Mommy’s Best Friend giveaway for the Holidays so we want to hear from all of the mommies out there…what is the one (or two, or three!) thing that you cannot live without? What makes your lives easier?

Looking to hear from you…

For a while I thought I wasn’t going to handle Adriana growing older well at all. For most of September, she no longer seemed to be the pleasant baby she had once been. She was always cranky, even when we were both well-rested, and that wasn’t very often, as she was waking every hour or two all night long. I missed the easy baby she’d been a couple of months ago–the one who didn’t fuss all the time and wasn’t always getting into things. Read the rest of this entry »

Why didn’t anyone tell me that having a baby would wear me out? Even though Adriana still doesn’t move very quickly, chasing after her is somehow exhausting. We’re slowly childproofing things around here, so that I don’t have to spend the entire time chasing after the baby as she get into the cat’s food, plays with the stereo, pulls the phone off the hook, or heads for the cords under the desk. I spend what seems like a ridiculous amount of time repeating, “Gentle. Pat the kitty gently.” Read the rest of this entry »