Heart healthy snack

Scary but true, our hubbies now take Lipitor to keep their cholesterol in check. In hopes of one day getting them off the drug we’ve been checking out potato chips. You read right, chips that have been proven to lower LDL (bad) cholesterol.

Corazonas make heart healthy oatmeal squares, tortilla chips, and potato chips all of which were proven in more than 140 clinical studies to help fight heart disease. The secret lies in plant sterols, which can be found in fruits and vegetables. Corazonas incorporates these plant sterols via a patented process into their products.

Personally we found all of the Corazonas products we tried to be as satisfying as our staple Lays and given that their prices are comparable, there’s no excuse not to swap out the Doritos, and Co. for more healthful options from Corazonas. While these products are more healthful, they aren’t all that much lower in calories than your run-of-the-mill snacks, so try to curb the desire to munch on a whole pack (with flavors like Parmesan Peppercorn, this is easier said then done).

Dish with us: do you worry about your kid’s cholesterol level?

Freeze-Dried Fruit Chips

While it may not curb our appetite for chocolate, there’s a lot to be said about the satisfyingly sweet nature of dried fruit. However getting our little ones to see the value in fruit – let alone “eww…chewy” dried fruits – is a constant battle. We’re well aware of the competition for who has the best lunchbox snacks during recess and we certainly don’t want the kids feeling like their snacks are the raisins to everyone else’s chocolate covered pretzels.

Mrs. Mays Fruit Chips are crunchy, freeze-dried versions of dried fruit. We told the little ones that these snacks are the kind of thing astronauts munch on when on a mission (actually true!), and what can we say – they were the cool kids at recess the next day.

This single-serve bags come with strawberry, pear, pineapple, or apple “chips” and since fruit is the only ingredient they’re low-calorie, fat free, nutrient dense, and preservatives and additive-free.

So, we’ve found a way to give them something sweet, satisfying, and just cool enough that they won’t notice that it’s way better for them than Fruit Roll-Up.

Dish with us: how do you deal with “snack competition” at recess?

Staple LBD

When we opted to have kids we knew that it would entail countless sacrifices –including less closet space. With little room to spare, our closets have become shockingly well edited. In fact, while we used to be so all about the hoarding, we now strictly (ok - semi-strictly), adhere to a policy of only buying something if we sell or donate something else from our closet.

It’s this mindset that has us loving dresses like this 40’s Day to Party Dress from Twelfth Street by Cynthia Vincent that actress Jamie Lynn Sigler recently wore to an event in LA. It’s easy to wear, versatile, and can go from day-to-night as well as season-to-season with the right accessories. It’s conservative without being doughty and we love that it’s classic yet still manages to stand-out thanks to padded shoulders, an exposed zip, and a scoop back.

All in all the perfect LBD.

Dish with us: have you had to edit your closet down to “essentials” after having kids?

Portable travel guides

Luxe City Guides are the posh version of your run-of-the-mill Zagat and Frommer’s. The guides cover 31 cities from Asia to America and Europe and they’re all formatted to be super-svelte (i.e. they’re light and compact– golden words for those of us traveling with kids in tow). The guides avoid all the padding and get straight to the choicest cut, which results in an ultra-smart guide brimming with priceless information for discerning, value-conscious, and busy travelers.

We checked-out their New York guide to gage how on-point they are and we couldn’t believe how up-to-date on the latest must-see restaurants, nightlife destinations, sights, and perhaps most importantly, boutiques, they are.

While the guides themselves could easily slide into a luggage pocket, Luxe has now come-out with City Guides Mobile editions, available for a multitude of handsets including iPhone, Blackberry, Sony Ericsson, Nokia, Samsung, and HTC. Each app comes with a year of free updates sent directly to your mobile. We love this for travelers, but also as a way to easily stay in the know of what’s going on in our home city.

The mobile app now covers 10 destinations – New York, Hong Kong, Paris, London, Shanghai, Singapore, Rome, Bali, Sydney, and Bangkok - but 20 more are on their way.

The one downside - our “must-see,” “must try” list is now so long, it’s adding stress to our already saturated back-to-school schedule.

Dish with us: how do you stay on top of the latest shopping, dining, and sightseeing destinations?

Breakout control

We’re so not fans of the “it has to get worse before it get better” way of thinking. Unfortunately the facialist we saw last week seemed to be all about it – the result? We have a number of red blotches on our face after what we’re now deeming the worst facial of our life (at the Ritz no less!). When finding ourselves in a blemish pinch, we swear by the Clarisonic, but even that should be used in combination with spot treatments and acne-fighting cleansers. Here are 10 of our fave products - including natural and drugstore options - all of which work well with our zit-zapping Clarisonic (a must-have in your beauty arsenal!)

1. Philosophy On a Clear Day Skin System

2. Murad Acne Spot Treatment

3. Alba Botanica Natural ACNEdot Deep Pore Wash

4. Kanebo Sensai Collection Silky Purifying Mud Soap (Miley Cyrus swears by this for her acne)

5. Dr. Brandt Blemish No More Cleansing Pads

6. Vichy Normaderm Anti-Blemish Intensive Treatment Cream

7. Clinique Acne Solutions Clear Skin System Kit

8. La Roche-Posay Effaclar Acne Spot Treatment

9. Yes to Tomatoes Facial Mask

10. First Aid Beauty Blemish Earaser

Vivid Radiance Serum

It pains us to see 40-something year old celebrities perfectly wrinkle free, so we’re not gonna lie, we did find some joy in seeing those un-retouched Harper’s Bazaar images of Jennifer Aniston surface. I mean we’ve been applying wrinkle prevention treatments since our mid-20s and even those can’t hide all of the stress and anxiety that come with being a working mom.

Our hubbies are always telling us that we look our best when we’re completely makeup free and by no means do we usually agree with that, but if we’re going to skimp on makeup for date night, we want to feel all-the-more confident in the smoothness and texture of our skin. To that end we’ve been using Sampar’s Vivid Radiance Serum and we’ve seen a noticeable effect on the plumpness of our skin, which in turn has softened our forehead and around-the-mouth-area wrinkles.

Now if only we could always feel as beautiful as our hubbies make us sound!

Dish with us: do you amp up your skincare routine when you go makeup-free?

Artisan Flat Bread Crackers

It’s tempting to blame someone or something else every time we host a dinner party and inevitably end up running an hour behind. Excuses, excuses we know (the nanny was late, the hubby never picked-up the baguette, one of the kids needed their painful swimmer’s ear treated…it’s always something in the life of a busy mama!). We’ve found that the best way to buy ourselves extra time, is to serve delicious, conversation-starting snacks when the guests begin to trickle in.

The latest and perhaps most wonderful discovery we’ve made has been Little Ragghi’s Crackers. Not only do these babies come beautifully packaged with a leaflet describing the story about how they came to be, the crackers themselves are gorgeous (and that’s not a word one uses often to describe a cracker).

Ragghi’s Crackers are little flatbreads with a touch of olive oil, a little seasoning, and some of the best dried cheese we’ve ever tried. They go great with vino, spreads, cheese – basically anything to get your guests’ appetite revved up.

If the taste isn’t enough to get you hooked (which we would find hard to believe), each of the crackers are handmade by Native American Indian Raggatha Calentine and a portion of each purchase is donated to the Native American Family Camp.

Just don’t put too many crackers out or you’ll be stuck with a whole lot of leftover from the actual dinner…

Dish with us: What’s your favorite amuse bouche to serve to your guests?

Body Moisturizer Daily Treatment

It’s not for nothing that First Aid Beauty’s initials spell out FAB. They’re a perennial favorite of ours and are often our go-to when we hit our local Sephora (and not just because the brand tends to be the most economically priced in the store). One of their latest products is their Body Moisturizer Daily Treatment.

Formulated for sensitive, reactive, or dry, scaly skin, it’s an everyday alternative for healthy skin that’s mild enough for our acne-probe back, but hydrating enough to use even on our feet.

Plus it has been allergy-tested, is fragrance free, and has no harsh chemicals, so if your little princess decides to lather it in on when she’s raiding your beauty cabinet for nail polish – you don’t have to worry about her delicate skin breaking out in any sort of irritation (or your own anxiety-induced break-outs).

Dish with us: do you share any beauty products with your daughter(s)?

A more healthful frozen treat

A Coldstone Creamery just opened nearby and the kiddies couldn’t be more excited. Unfortunately for them having half a day’s calories come from a Birthday Cake-flavored Sunday isn’t exactly our idea of a healthful option. But the last thing we want to deal with when walking back from school is temper tantrums and sulky faces. The solution? Oprah-endorsed Ciao Bella sorbet.

All of the Ciao Bella sorbets are low in calories and made with all natural ingredients (and for moms they’ve got Blackberry Cabernet Sorbet). Though they’re not as sweet as Coldstone or Ben and Jerry’s, each serving does have at least 16 grams of sugar so it will satisfy the sweet tooth without causing the fat, calorie, and cholesterol damage of traditional ice cream.

Our fave flavor is Blood Orange. Not only does one serving have just 60 calories, it’s a great way to introduce the little ones to a new fruit. Another fave is Blueberry which actually has frozen blueberries mixed in and one of the brand’s newest flavors, Prickly Pear sorbet – it’s hot pink! The color alone will be enough to peak the curiosity of most little girls.

Dish with us: What your favorite healthy alternative to ice cream?

Pricey, flashy celebrity affairs

The recent wedding of former First Daughter Chelsea Clinton and investment banker Marc Mezvinsky is being touted as the wedding of the decade and given all the hype surrounding it we tend to agree. Sure Chelsea wore a $20,000 Vera Wang dress and hired one of the biggest names in A-list event planning (Bryan Rafanelli), but how does her wedding – estimated at between $2 and $5 million stack-up against other celebrity unions? Lets just say that with guests including Oprah, Bono, Barbra Streisand, Jay Leno, Ted Danson, and Christopher Bailey, the wedding sure holds its own. Here’s our own list of 10 other noteworthy celebrity weddings to pilfer off of when planning christianings, bar-mitzvahs and baby namings of your own.

1. Sir Paul McCartney and Heather Mills

2. Liza Minnelli and David Gest

3. Mariah Carey and Tommy Mottola

4. David Beckham and Victoria Adams

5. Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston

6. Donald Trump and Melania Knauss

7. Madonna and Guy Ritchie

8. Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes

9. Elizabeth Taylor and Larry Fortensky

10. Christina Aguilera and Jordan Bratman

Dish with us: who do you think had the most memorable celebrity wedding?