Cross Off Something From Your List And Do Something New Today

July 5, 2018

On a hot summer day in Chicago, five friends set out for a picture perfect lunch on Lake Michigan. Honestly, it felt like that kind of day…storybook or movie perfect. Sonia and I have been long time Chicago girls, but we have met many people who come and go that never made their way onto the iconic Odyssey on Navy Pier. It is not uncommon to take things down the street for granted and think that you will eventually do them. In the spirit of having a #MomsOffDuty moment, we checked out a beautiful lunch cruise aboard the Odyssey on Lake Michigan and boy did we luck out!

The Odyssey has been sailing on Lake Michigan for more than 20 years from Navy Pier which means that the party does NOT stop when you get off the boat. See a full list of things to do at Navy Pier here!

We enjoyed all the ship had to offer including, three chic climate-controlled decks with LED lighting and a lit dance floor, a premium bar menu, vegetarian friendly menu items, and a relaxing rooftop lounge with modern deck furniture. The staff was attentive and courteous (S/O to our server Nick for finding us no matter where we were on the boat).

The Looks:

Rina’s Floral Wrap Skirt is On Sale for $43 here | Sonia’s Floral Dress is $25 (She is wearing a Medium and it is TTS)! and linked here | Rina’s Tie Front Tank is here (size down) | Rina’s Favorite Summer Shoes are True To Size (TTS) and linked here

Sonia’s Black Fox Crossbody is $46 and linked here | Rina’s White Rina Bag comes in all colors and is $42 and is linked here

All in all, we were so grateful to take in the skyline on a day like this and enjoyed the time that we got to spend with some of our closest friends (being #MomsOffDuty of course). We ended our cruise experience on the dance floor where we really let loose!

What is something in your town that you have been meaning to check out?

Cheers,

Rina

Chick Picks:

Thank you Entertainment Cruises for having us!

Lifestyle, Motherhood, Review

Life-Gramming with Snap Spectacles : To Buy or Not to Buy?

January 22, 2018

Come on ladies, we have all been there: whipping out our phones every second our children look cute at a party, school or on the playground. As fun as it is to capture these moments, tying up our hands and pointing a phone in their face can be a bittersweet experience. I have been waiting for an organic method to capturing memories in a real-time way for years and that moment is finally here, or so I thought!

The Product: Snap Spectacles

Snap Inc. (formerly SnapChat) has come out with Spectacles. While other people have many reasons for wanting these (e.g. documenting intense adventures hiking on mountains or whitewater rafting), my purpose is singular: to find a more natural way to capture moments with my kids — not for social media, but for myself.

The Spectacles have decent video and audio quality and a fairly minimal profile that makes it easy to use around the kids without ruining ‘the moment’. Although they only have sunglasses version out now, I suspect the next round of specs will have more nighttime and indoor friendly options.

The glasses are really easy to use, it nice to not have to dig through your purse every time you want to capture something. They stay paired with your phone at all time so you don’t need to wonder if you will get the shot when you hit the button on the frame (believe me I kept checking to see if it saved and it did every single time.) The shades run 90 minutes on a full charge (the minutes really stretch since it records 10-60 seconds at a time), which could be nice for adventures with the kids (like going to the the zoo, amusement parks, or even a walk at the park) except that ten seconds with kids on camera tends to feel like one, the ten second window seems to fly by. Also, since the Snapchat app can take photos, I was disappointed that I could not take a picture with the specs, it only records videos.

Check out more reviews and videos here:

I'm a Cool Mom - Right?!?! — I’m a Cool Mom – Right?!?!

Verdict

BUT, in the end, I ended up returning my Spectacles because I found it annoying to not be able to have a continuous shot, even with a 60 second setting, the video gets broken up into six ten second clips when saved to your story. Ten seconds and no photo option is just not going to work for me! This device is so close to something I could and would use. Maybe when they expand the recording options and create a clear lens frame I may be interested in trying this out again but for now, I will probably spend more time fiddling around with the spectacles rather than with the kids which would defeat my original intent for buying the glasses all together!

I hope I was able to ease your curiosity of this device I know that I needed to try it to know for myself. Anything else you have your eye on? Let me know, I will review it and keep you posted.

XOXO,

Rina

Chicks Picks:

Beauty

Sonicblend Brush VS Beauty Blender

January 17, 2018

When I received the Michael Todd Beauty Sonicblend Brush for the holidays I was super excited to try it and see how it compares to my tried and true Beauty Blender. Make up application is a part of my everyday routine, I have simply made it a habit to never leave the house without it. I am always looking for new ways to speed up my routine and love seeing what new products are out there.

Sonicblend Brush VS Beauty Blender

Check out my video to see what happens when I apply foundation to half my face with the Beauty Blender and apply foundation to the other half with my new Sonicblend brush.

Although I still LOVE the Beauty Blender I dare say that the Sonicblend Brush has a more ‘done up’ finish (which I prefer!) whereas with the Beauty Blender you can still kind of see your skin through the application which creates a more natural looking finish unless you layer up! Also the Sonicblend brush does not require water for application so your finish benefits from the full foundation coverage whereas with the Beauty Blender your foundation can get watered down.

I loved testing out this new product and lately I have been sharing my thoughts on our YouTube channel, tell us what you think and if you like what you see, hit subscribe! For more of our other beauty hacks, click here.

Cheers,

Rina

Beauty, Collaborations, women

Loreal Elvive – Your Solution For Dry And Dull Hair

December 20, 2017

Ever since hair serums hit the market a decade ago, I have seen friends multipurpose them: for weight, for styling, for texture, on dry hair, and on wet hair. Hair serums were designed to assist with hair movement and to protect against the elements of everyday styling — this means that using them arbitrarily doesn’t optimize their use. But us chicks have found the ultimate hair tool. L’oreal Paris recently released the Elvive Extraordinary Serum in the United States to set the record straight on what a hair serum is supposed to do.

Using products according to the directions and knowing what is in the products you use is easier than ever. The Elvive serum is a versatile serum but because it is not a very heavy oil, it doesn’t work that well for weight, I found that it works best on damp and freshly shampooed hair. It is designed to provide moisture and protection therefore applying it to clean hair will make all the difference. Without adding more than a few drops, you can avoid too much weight and enjoy full, vibrant hair texture.

Before And After

Having used a variety of serums myself, the blended botanical extracts and oils combined with the overall feel and smell is the perfect storm for my hair. I might have a lot of hair but it quickly turns dry and dull if I don’t protect it. But don’t take my word for it, check out the amazing reviews on Amazon.

If hair loss is something you deal with or if you are looking for more natural solutions to getting #HairGoals, check our post about the no-poo and inversion method!

XOXO,

Rina

**A sample of the product was given complimentary via Inflenster to Chicks And Salsa in exchange for this review, however the opinions held herein are all our own.**