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women

Fashion

Look Good and Feel Great Poolside This Spring Break

I recall last summer when my daughter asked, “Mom, are you getting in the pool?” and I had to respond “Ugh, sorry babe, not today! I will just sit over here, you guys have fun. I will get in next time!” Come on, I think to myself, I JUST washed my hair, and I haven’t’ lost those last few pounds yet… I can’t get in right now. Does this sound familiar?

Don’t get me wrong, I love swimming and I love watching my kids have fun, but I regularly prefer sitting on the sidelines because it means I get some me time and they kids get to have a little space too.  Just getting to the pool can be a roller coaster half the time, I can’t get out of the door without at least twenty minutes of prepping all of our gear: goggles, sunscreen, pool toys, sunglasses, a hat, towels, flip flops, snacks, water, etc.  You know  the drill! So by the time we get there, all I want to do is just relax!

This Pom Pom Dress/Cover Up

Statement Earrings

Kate Spade Sunnies

Then there is always the pressure of being comfortable at the pool, do you leave the cover up on or just embrace your body and lay by the pool without an ounce of insecurity?  Although I am a pretty confident woman, I always feel like there is room for improvement when it comes to my body and I am in constant pursuit of my pre-baby body–an inconceivable dream at this point.

What is conceivable is finding a swimsuit that makes me feel comfortable in my own skin. Last summer I tucked my belly into high waisted suits and one pieces that were nice for lounging but not for swimming.  And then I had the classic fits that were great for swimming but kind of boring for lounging.  So THIS year, I have found a balance between comfort and style.  I found swimsuits that work well in AND out of the pool along with some cover ups and accessories to make the whole trip to the pool easier to manage.  Check out our top swim essentials here!

Swimsuit

Floral Off The Shoulder

Flirty Poolside Florals

The Cover Ups

Best Cover Up SkirtTiare Hawaii Wrap Skirt

Accessories
The Bags
Our Favorite Pool Toys:

For more cuteness, see what we are packing for our upcoming Spring Break Chick Trip to Charleston, SC in a few weeks!

Cheers,

Rina

Beauty, Lifestyle

Night-time Beauty Maintenance: An Essential Routine for Women in their 30’s

I don’t recall ever being as tired as I am most days after work, school pick ups and drop offs, homework, extracurricular activities, going to the gym, and managing my household.  Taking care of me and making time for myself comes only after all of that is done an settled. I like to call the hour of 8:30pm to 9:30pm the “golden hour”.

During this time, I am truly off duty. I am not worried about tomorrow, I am not worried about what is not done from today, but I take this time to just appreciate the end of yet another day with my family.  I use the golden hour for leisurely multitasking: TV time and skin care.  While watching Green Arrow on Netflix (OMG – I love Stephen Amell!), I apply a half a dozen or so products to my face nightly. If I keep these at my bedside I am 100% more likely to use them regularly. Here is the step-by-step night time regimen I use.

Makeup Remover Wipes

I know I could just wash my face, but I have never been in the routine of doing this.  I usually brush my teeth and hop into bed. But more than ever I need my skin to breathe at night. I keep face wipes at arms length to guarantee that I don’t skip giving my face a chance to breathe at night.  Although I do not have sensitive skin or any true allergy to common ingredients, I love these make up removing wipes because they are inexpensive, or do not leave a soapy or filmy feeling on my skin after I have used them. Even baby wipes work well and are cost effective. I have tried a bunch of different make up remover wipes but have yet to determine if one actually works better than the other, so I usually grab whatever is economical.  Night time skin cleaning is paramount for brighter skin.

Make Up Remover Wipes

Lash Boost by Rodan and Fields

My sisters and I swear by this amazing product by Rodan and Fields.  As former Latisee users, we loved that we were able to get Lash Boost without a prescription.  The product works similarly and have therefore has similar results- fuller appearing, more dramatic and appealing eye lashes.  As a wearer of ‘falsies’ I love the ‘pop’ that your eyes get from having enhanced lashes. For the days I am not wearing my go to wispies, Lash Boost has my back.  This is an expensive product, but fellow chicks get an exclusive discount or gift with purchase if you contact Dr. Erica Bennett at drericabennett@gmail.com.  Trust me, this works. You’re so close to gorgeous natural lashes.

Lash Boost

Rodan and Fields

Under Eye Serum

I have cycled through several of these, most recently I used Advanced Night Repair from Estee Lauder which I had received as a gift.  This product is intended to help with fine lines, puffiness, and dark circles.  The serum has great reviews, and in my personal experience it seemed to hydrate well which helped with fine lines, but when it came to covering up my dark circles, I am not so sure.  Once I finished up that little bottle I switched to a product from Rodan and Fields called the Bright Eye Complex and with a water base it promises hydration for the bags under your eyes.  After using this for 10 days, you can see the before and after below, this product is a keeper and can be purchased a la carte from their list of products.

Before and After Bright Eyes Complex

Castor Oil

Like many other children of the 80’s and 90’s I totally trashed my eyebrows trying to keep up with the thin eyebrow trends. The beauty gurus that I follow have given me hope to regain what is lost of my eyebrows with Castor oil.  Castor oil has natural antibacterial and antifungal properties and is high in Vitamin E, minerals, proteins, and Omega 6 and 9 beneficial fatty acids. Its unusually high ricinoleic acid ratio which is what makes it beneficial to skin and hair. I am going to try this on my eyebrows as part of my nightly routine, I will keep you all updated on Instastories.

Lip Therapy

With winter almost behind us, I could not have survived without all the lip balms that I have scattered all over the house and in all my purses. My lips chap easily and require frequent hydration. Currently by my bedside is an argan oil-based balm that is unscented, organic, and simply divine.  In my opinion, truly any balm is a good balm if you ask me. Just layering some hydration before bed can fix all types of cracked lips.

Hopefully you are already using some of these in your daily skin care routine. If you are not, consider this post a life hack to place beauty items by your bedside. Ladies, it is NEVER too late to take care of your skin. This is also a great way to use products that are cluttering up your counters — place them on your end table (NOT in the drawers).  Believe me, seeing them will make you use them.  What fun products do you use as part of your daily skincare routine?

Your Chick,

Rina


**Complimentary Rodan and Fields products were received in exchange for this honest review.  Thank you to Dr. Erica Bennett for her generosity and engagement. **

Lifestyle

5 ‘P’owerful Ways to Connect With Your Spouse

Please tell me I am not the only one who feels like sometimes life gets too busy…to the point that there are evenings when my husband and I are hardly able to chat in the evenings.  I have spoken with my chicks and my mom about this and it seems normal for life to cut into relationships — but honestly, no one likes to feel like they are not ‘connected’ to their spouse or significant other (SO).  Having been married for 13 years with two young children, it’s easy to let one busy evening become two nights in a row and then, before you know it, a week!

Here are some important reminders, the five ‘P’s, to keep your relationship on track and healthy:

Prioritize

Identify that you miss your spouse…this is an easy way to kick yourself back into gear. The best place to start is to communicate that longing. It helps get the wheels turning for you and for your SO. I tell my husband I miss him all the time, even when he is right in front of me. It lets him know that I am thinking about him and that time with him is a priority for me.

Secrets for winning at Relationships
Anil and Rina : Established in 2005
Plan

Remember, actions express priorities. So once you acknowledge that you miss each other, it is time to make a plan. We were so good about date nights in the beginning, but lately (in the last 3 years) not so much. This year, we want to find a way to get back to that place where we set aside time for each other. Making time to do things together (yes, without the kids and hustle of daily life) expresses priorities.

Play

Remember those little things you did when you had fewer responsibilities? In our case, it was watch a lot of movies, NBA basketball games, and walking around new parts of town. Those activities are fun, flirty, and lighthearted. Don’t just go out to a fancy dinner — go to sports bar and catch the game again, like old times.  Play time together is just as important for adults as it is for kids. Remind each other of the easy, playful times amidst the weight of growing responsibilities with families.

Sonia and Badal Celebrating 10 Years!

Sonia and Badal Celebrating 10 Years!

Physical Contact

Do you know it only take 60 SECONDS of physical skin to skin contact to get the endorphins going?  Take that playfulness further by sneaking in moments to flirt at home. These moments can be an unexpected hug or kiss in the kitchen, a slight touch of the hand as you walk by. Making sure to remember that even the slightest physical contact with your spouse can make the body have a positive biological response.

Pillow Talk

This one is great. It ties in with #2, planning.  Each night, when the lights are out, it is nice to have a little recap. I tell my husband a quick story about the kids or myself. He will tell me something funny that happened at the office. We try to keep the exchange lighthearted (and phone free), to help us laugh together and end the day with a smile.  Having this brief re-connectivity can help be a reset and recharge button for the relationship. I actually think about pillow talk throughout out the day and look forward to that moment of peace when it is just the two of us.

** Bonus ‘P’: Poetry**

When I first met my husband he would write me lovely snippets in emails, on cards, and on napkins (anything he could get his hands on!) from time to time, sneaking in a romantic thought here an there really drew me to him.  Since that time, I have see many other relationships use this fun way to communicate with each other.  Check out some of my favorite love poems written by my uncle in his book, The Start Of Something Beautiful.  Maybe scoop up a copy for your honey for old times sake, or check out some of our other ideas for gifts.  Here is a sample from the book:

God Exists Poem

Hopefully, you can use some of these tips. When I am on the same page as my spouse, I move through my day with confidence and positivity. When we are ‘off’, it affects me, the kids, my work, etc.  Are you like that?  Drop me a comment below on what you do to connect with your spouse.

Cheers,

Rina

 

Beauty, Fashion, friends, girl talk, Lifestyle, trending, women

You Are The Company You Keep : Why We Blog

It was a life lesson my parents tried to teach us at a young age: if you surround yourself with go-getters and motivated individuals, it would ‘rub’ off on you and make you that way.  We didn’t always understand what they meant – or if they just didn’t like our friends growing up – but the older we got, the more we understood. Surrounding yourself with like-minded and successful people can inspire motivation.  Success, learning, and networking is like an addiction — once you get a taste of what it is like to be ‘one-of-those-people’, you become empowered to continue to learn and create.

Getting a graduate degree was step one for us. We were surrounded by colleagues who were motivated to pursue further understanding and deeper thought. We began learning the importance of not just accomplishing a task, but enjoying the process of collaborating with peers. And it may sound silly, but our lifestyles as a whole began to shift; we started spending more time in coffee shops getting to know people and their passions rather than partying at bars and nightclubs where the discussions were more superficial.

Once Upon a Dollhouse
With Dani and Caitlin of Once Upon a Dollhouse

Most recently, we discovered blogging. Once we entered this sphere, we quickly recognized that this was largely a female-dominated industry filled with creative influencers, entrepreneurs, and philanthropists.  The desire to have these women ‘rub’ off on us was real.  We have always had a strong network of women in our lives, from our Mom to our five aunts to our cousins and  to our friends, it’s hard to ignore the magnetic energy that a room full of women can produce.


We didn’t know at the time what we were bringing to the table. We did know that we had something to offer.  In this past year, we have truly grown as individuals and as bloggers.  Joining groups where women were open to listening and sharing ideas (e.g. the Windy City Collective, Chicago Grammers, and Style Collective) has been meaningful and beneficial.  Somewhere along the way in these discussions, it did ‘rub ‘ off and we caught the bug to try something new and push ourselves professionally and creatively. This infectious transfer of motivation among women helps us to enjoy the blogging process and to have fun even when things seem hectic.

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We are getting a second chance in our thirties to redefine the next fifty years of our life. Although we don’t know what we are going to do with that opportunity yet, we do know that we will continue to grow.  We are truly grateful to the people we have met along the way who have been generous with their ideas and time – shout out to Annie Spano and the dolls from Once Upon A Dollhouse to name a few.  They inspired us to see a bigger picture and talk through a path with us chicks.

Blogging is about reciprocal influence by sharing who you are with the universe and letting the universe shape you. At Chicks and Salsa, we are trying to do just that one week at a time. Thanks for hopping along for the journey. Get out there, form connections, empower yourself and inspire others. Check out our Chicks And Salsa Chick Chat podcast to hear us think out loud about other things in life that motivate us!

Until next time,

Your Chicks,

Rina and Sonia