Welcome to Coffee and Lip Gloss, where I document my adventures as a working mom, covering everything from indispensable gear and mom-hacks to beauty, style and life lessons. I hope you have a nice stay!
I've been paper planning in earnest for several years now. I was an avid paper planner/Filofax gal 20 years ago when there were no smartphones or calendar apps.
Often I am so exhausted after a long day toggling between my work life and my mom life that when I have to take off my makeup and get ready for bed, I’m too dang tired.
There are three items of clothing that have proven time and again to be indispensable for my working mama lifestyle. 1) “Play” dresses by Sonnet James, a clothing line created for “playful moms.”
or April I’ve been enjoying a work-mom bag combo of Ju-Ju-Be’s Be Prepared diaper bag in the Queen of the Jungle leopard print — which is so gigantic that it also could be used as a weekender or gym bag — paired with Coach’s Mini Bennett Satchel in a coordinating saddle color. I really like this mix of big and small. And I love that my Ju-Ju-Be bag allows me to carry all my work stuff and some mom stuff as well as all of my son’s food allergy stuff (medicine, snacks). There’s so much extra room to add even more stuff, but I had to stop because otherwise the bag would be too dang heavy. And I love my mini Coach satchel that I got at a Coach outlet store. Unfortunately I can’t find a legit online resource for buying it now, but I did see some on eBay. I love this cute little bag. It reminds me of the Louis Vuitton Speedy bags, but at a much easier price tag. Anyway, I hope this review/unpacking video gives you some idea for work-mom bag combos you could try out, perhaps from your own current bag stash!
As we head into the warmer spring and summer months, I wanted to share some of the work outfits I've been using in this transitional time between seasons.
The products in my everyday beauty routine are all about effectiveness and expediency. I don't have a lot of time in the morning to get ready for work. So I love pretty much all of the makeup and skincare products I use, many at the recommendation of some of my favorite beauty YouTubers (I'm looking at you, Marni of Ms. Gold Girl and Ashley of Makeup T.I.A.!).
For the weekend of March 11-12, I drove with my husband and son up to San Francisco. Part of the trip was to have a mini-vacay away from work and our hectic lives in Los Angeles. But the main reason, for me, anyway, was to check out the first ever PlannerCon.
I'm a 43-year-old working mom. By the lack of sleep, lack of water and constant rushing between my mom and work lives, you'd think I'd look A LOT worse than I usually do.
For the month of March I’ve moved all of my work and mom essentials into two Lo & Sons bags. The Pearl crossbody carries all of my personal necessities: driver’s license, credit cards, cash, sunglasses, touch-up powder and lip color, phone charger, etc
Every month or so I switch out the bags I use to carry all my mom, work and my son's stuff. It's a lot of stuff.
Being a working mom is tough. Anyone who says otherwise is pretty much lying.
As I've already said in a previous video, I rarely have more than 20 minutes to get ready in the morning.
For reasons I won't get into here, most mornings I have about 20 minutes to get ready for work.
For my first YoutTube video I'm walking you through what's in the Newlie "Louise" mom bag (technically it's a diaper bag) that I'm using during the month of January 2017.
How did a fiercely independent single gal not only find herself married, but also a mother?
