Knot Your Mother's Dress, 1 Dress To Rule Them All Giveaway #MMBloggerSpotlight

***This is a Fashionista Events Opportunity.

Momma Told Me: Dress for you.

To anyone who has ever declared that 'Fashion is fleeting,' I humbly disagree. To begin, the most fashionable item you could wear, or own, if one that you feel absolutely stunning in. After all, how do you think bell bottoms have made so many comebacks through the years? Some teenage in Milan decides to pair them with a set of killer stilettos and rock the pavement like it was a high fashion runway. Instant turned heads. After all, you can put on a 10k dollar frock, and wash away in the background of label free fashionistas if you don't have the confidence to wear it.

The biggest key to fashion confidence, in my opinion, is comfort- Fashion Lie #2: The more uncomfortable, the better it looks. Wrong! You can have comfort and fashion as the same time, even more, you are likely to rock those shoes so much more fiercely when they aren't cramping your feet and causing calluses. Believe it or not, fashion is as effortless as finding those key wardrobe pieces you feel confident in, and rocking them every which way all year round. Having the perfect LBD, little black dress (or little pink dress, who am I to judge you?) can be the key to head-turning appearances, or simply a fashionable low key afternoon with the girls. Available in 4 vibrant hues, and classic black, Knot Your Mother's Dress, by Monroe & Main, is a classic example of great fashion.

Naturally it helps that I live in Southern California, to be able to rock a LBD any day of the year- but the ultra soft and flattering Knot Your Mother's Dress is versatile enough to transition through even the harshest weather. Don't believe me? The #MMBloggerSpotlight fashionistas have accepted the challenge to show how this wardrobe must-have transcends figures, age, and especially climate. Because it is made with a soft Rayon/Spandex blend, it can easily be layered over and under other clothing to create fashioned looks that also double as weather friendly. With a great pair of leggings, a coat, and some Winter boots, you can go from car to club looking as fierce as ever.

My only challenge, and Jay will argue this, with the Knot Your Mother's Dress, was styling the bust. Featuring and Empire Waist, the 'knot' of this dress offers a higher waistline that is friendly to full figures, but also accentuates cleavage. I can easily layer a tank top beneath, or a cardigan over, for more demure events. In a pinch, a great scarf will add instant print flavor to the outfit, and also deflect some of the attention from one's cleavage (if desired). Those with shorter torsos and pear shapes will benefit from adding a sparkly tie or belt to the mid-section, which can add some instant length and proportion.

While I love styling with bright colors, and there certainly are some great hues this dress comes in, I tend to gravitate towards black, which can be accessorized and styled with various pop of color. Above I added a light, reversible, skirt from No Boundaries to peek from the bottom of my dress and add some extra color and movement to my outfit. Adding a light skirt beneath a LBD is also a great way to add length for more formal events, while still enjoying the dresses' shorter cut on more formal and romantic occasions. For extra color I chose to style a pair of tropical wedges and a fuchsia handbag that proved perfect for walking the Boardwalk shops.

I fell in love with this dress not only for it's comfort, but for the classic design that could easily be worn around the house, or while running errands, at the beach as a cover-up, or even styled up for more formal occasions like our date nights. With a few extra strands of bling, a great jacket, and some killer boots this dress was transformed into a head-turning ensemble I feel especially confident in. A great outfit truly is effortless to wear, and the star of my wardrobe is surely Knot Your Mother's Dress- How would you style it?

What Daughter Says: Dress for what fits you, then let your confidence be your best accessory!

One Momma Told Me reader will will a Knot Your Mother's Dress in choice of size and color, thanks to Fashionista Events and Monroe & Main! There's also a blogger competition going on, so be sure to head on over and like and comment on my style photo to support me!

Every Traveler Deserves A Home, Where Is Yours? @airbnb

This is a Fashionista Events opportunity.

Momma Told Me: Home is where the heart is.

Every time I go on vacation, no matter how many months I anticipate, or what the culminating event is, I always find myself one foot through the door (of my hotel room) and one heartache away from home. I love seeing the world, meeting new people, and expanding my list of experiences, but there is something so clinical about even the sharpest of hotel rooms, it's simply hard for me to truly relax. I recall the first time I discovered hostels, when my bestie headed out on her complimentary 3 week tour of Europe, trekking across Ireland and sharing tales of (American) underage drinking. I was gren, pun intended, with envy, but I also couldn't understand how she could spend so much time away from home without getting home sick. As traveling students go, she was, in fact, staying in a variety of student minded hostels and host houses across the continent. Some of them were little beat up holes in the wall with 8-10 students per room, and a single bathroom to a building, while others were actual homes she explained to be as 'magical as Harry Potter

Now, if you all know the tale of Mr. Potter you know that his actual family life, and home, was quite horrid, but what my friend had meant, rather, was that she thrived off of the genuine living experience of sharing these real live homes with their actual inhabitants. How much more relaxed would you be if you were a traveler with a home? Well, Airbnb believes that every traveler, around the world, no matter their destination, deserves an actual home. No, they don't hand over the keys to a house and turn you loose; rather, you are often renting a private property space within a home, or on the homeowners property. In essence, Airbnb allows real, friendly, people to share their world with travelers, while offering all the comforts and amenities of a real home, while away. After all, who will be able to offer you better hot spot tips and point you to the best bar in Old Tow, the Marriott receptionist, or the middle-aged couple who has experienced the land their entire life?

While there are hundreds of thousands of listings available for worldwide lodging, property owners can easily set the dates and times of year they wish to open the listing up for travelers. They also set their own pricing, which is most often much more reasonable then your standard bed and breakfast. And, as the recently created Home To You installation and video shows, there are hundreds of truly unique listings to discover throughout your travels, when you use Airbnb. I have to admit, I'm a little bummed I didn't know about this service earlier, what better way to let your feet wander and your heart grow than to find a unique local listing, to your destination. Airbnb feels so strongly that every traveler deserves a home that they recently sponsored an amazing undertaking of craftsmanship and human bonding through the Home To You Ultimate Traveler project.

No creatures travel the Earth quite like birds do, limited only by the distance their wings can travel and the branches open to them. They soar the skies and land in new places without feel and with the ability to call any place their home. In this spirit, 50 of Airbnb's most unique lodgings were transformed into detailed, miniature, replicas of birdhouses in the birdbnb project. It's hard to accurately describe the beauty of this installation, a the Tree of Life in New Orleans, LA; but the video below is well worth a few minutes pause, as is the Birdbnb website, which showcases each of the 50 replicas and a fully interactive 360 degree view of the exhibit.

What Daughter Says: Every traveler, no matter how small, deserves a home as unique as they are.

Spring Fashionista Event: Electric M|V|M|T Illuminated Giveaway

The Spring Fashionista Event is FINALLY HERE, and we've got 2 wonderful giveaways to share with you! If you've arrived here, for the web's only all fashion, and only fashion, blogger event, you're truly in for a treat with over $20k in prizes, across 115 blogs! Your hands will be aching for days to come, just trying to get all those entries in! This event would not be possible without our wonderful organizers; Still Blonde after all these YEARS and Modly Chic , with co-host Ksquared Glamour.

Momma Told Me: Express yourself through style

Style is all about letting the star within shine; it should always be an expression of you, never the other way around. Wear the clothes and demand the attention your presence deserves, whether the occasion is formal or relaxed. Living in Southern California, I'll admit the majority of my wardrobe is fairly relaxed. I have my staple LBD (little black dress), 3 pairs of black heels, one Emerald Green leather jacket, designer rain boots (though we only see rain about 9 days a year), and enough pairs of glasses to wear a different one each day of the week. Yes, for me, the easiest way to express myself through fashion is through the creative inclusion of unique and illuminating accessories. The perfect coat can truly tie an outfit together, while the right pair of shoes can improve posture and increase confidence. Much like the physical things in my home, my wardrobe and accessories reflect a certain eclectic nature that I find randomly comforting, yet wildly inspiring. I don't like to wear what everybody else is wearing, and I search hard to find emerging trends before they're 'hot'.

I cannot, for the life of me, tell you how I came across emerging clothing brand Electric M|V|M|T. Unfortunately, if you try to find them through basic search terms like 'lighted clothing' or 'light up jacket,' you will not get very far; that's just how fresh this exciting clothing line is!  I recall, last Summer, having just adopted our pup and wanting to find a piece of stylish nighttime apparel that would also promote safety and expression. I thought to myself, "There must be a clothing company that specializes in outerwear that lights up." What I did manage to find in conjunction to this query was a disappointing array of poorly made fiber optics clothes mainly built for live action shows and entertainment. By some show of grace I happened to stumble onto a very basic website for the brand Electric M|V|M|T, claiming to be the founders of the world's first Light Up Hoodie. The images on the home page were immediately intriguing, with models in my age demographic chilling on high rise rooftops and swirling amid blurs of light in clubs.

At the time their flagship product, the Delaware St Black Hoodie was only available with Blue accent lighting. I'm happy to announce there are now 3 color options including; Blue, Green, and Pink (which photographs as more of a Red). You may recall I was one of the first bloggers to break news of the animal hood trend with the original brand; Spirit Hoods. This trend is still raging hot years later, and has been since copied by countless knock off brands and concepts. I am putting my name out here to state that Electric M|V|M|T will quickly gain popularity as it's discovered by countless fans such as myself. Snap one of these, authentic, lighted hoodies up today to turn heads and ride the fashion pulse through 2013!

The concept of a 'lighted hoodie' is quite simple. Electric M|V|M|T has worked tirelessly to design a form fitting and style friendly black hoodie that easily zips and offers the basic convenience of front pockets. Inside, behind the left pocket, is a secret pouch that secures the 3 mode (2 AA battery operated) remote for the LED lighting that runs up the zipper seam and around the hood. With just a click of the button one can cycle through a stationary illumination, slow flash, or rapid flash, to really help liven the atmosphere. As of now, the initial model I received, does seem to emit a very low frequency hum, only audible in the complete silence of my home; and undetectable outside near the street. Because it only requires 2 AA batteries, the remove device is fairly lightweight, and offers hours of continual use.

I cannot rave enough about how unique, and how well this light up hoodie fits; it is well worth every penny of the asking price. Regardless of the illumination, I love to wear this ultra soft, flattering, hoodie for warmth and style. When I'm out with the dog at night it provides ample visibility for me and others, and transitions into a conversation piece at parties and clubs. Just the other weekend a girlfriend and I went out for a girl's night on the town, and to do some dancing. Countless times I was approached walking down main street, and on the dance floor, and asked where one could buy one of these unique hoodies. The answer, of course, is exclusively online through Electric M|V|M|T. But don't wait to order your favorite color, these sell out fast!

What Daughter Says: Electric M|V|M|T helps me stay fashionable 24/7!

One lucky Momma Told Me follower will win 2 Electric M|V|M|T Delaware St. Hoodies of choice! Please enter via the Rafflecopter Form below then visit our second event giveaway for Barefoot Tess.  Every entry in a Spring Fasionista giveaway enters you to win a $1200 Grand Prize Package including White Gold and Citrine Stone Necklace from Emma Parker Diamonds, $100 Amazon GC, $250 GC from Midnight Velvet, and $250 in Shoes from Bobbi-Toads. For every giveaway in the Spring Fashionista Event that an entrant enters, the gain one entry toward the Grand Prize Package. Claim your entries here: Spring Fashionista Grand Prize.

Spring Fashionista Event: $125 Barefoot Tess Giveaway~ 3/18

 The Spring Fashionista Event is FINALLY HERE, and we've got 2 wonderful giveaways to share with you! If you've arrived here, for the web's only all fashion, and only fashion, blogger event, you're truly in for a treat with over $20k in prizes, across 115 blogs! Your hands will be aching for days to come, just trying to get all those entries in! This event would not be possible without our wonderful organizers; Still Blonde after all these YEARS and Modly Chic , with co-host Ksquared Glamour.

Momma Told Me: They don't make that style in your size.

'They' always say it takes a little pain to look 'that good'. There's one particular fashion curse I've spent my entire life battling, and I have to agree, it's been painful. I'm of course, referencing my 'clown feet'. Those who've spent their lives wearing flip flops to prom because there aren't any cute shoes in their size, who secretly pause by every high end boutique window and imagine if only they were 2 sizes smaller, know a fashion discrimination of a different kind. For me, it has been a bigger lifelong battle than my weight; my shoe size. And there's absolutely nothing I can do about it. Did you know Jenna Elfman, Angelina Jolie, and Kate Winslett all share the plague of non-standard shoe sizing. The only difference, for them, is that they can afford a closet full of personally tailored shoes; I'm not quite as lucky. And with the process of evolution continuing as it tends to, the increase in prenatal vitamins, or just plain 'something in the water' is turning out more and more women with 'plus size' feet. For those unfamiliar, a non-standard shoe size is typically anything above a 9. This gray zone is where the Payless aisle drops to 2-3 of last season's most hideous styles, and designer names are almost non-existent.

If you're an equally cursed shoe shopper you know the shame, embarrassment, and down right frustration of passing display after display of chic shoes- knowing none will ever fit. It's a sort of blatant discrimination to those who are foot challenged; instead of shoes that are out of budget, it's shoes that aren't even made in my size. I, at least, deserve the option to consider how to carefully balance my credit cards and pick up a third job to cover the cost of a Manolo Blahnik (don't I?) I first became aware if this trend entering high school, already 2-3 years younger than most of my peers, and unable to find fashionable footwear in my size. I was mortified while shopping 'back to school', when Momma drug me into our local Sketchers to purchase a pair of sneakers. The last thing I wanted was to wear 'PE' shoes every day. Then, my first HS dance found me in tears, ready to forgo the event all together after an entire afternoon and 2 shopping outlets turned up nothing but a hideous pair of metallic sandals my mother was determined to see me wear. I can still remember her holding up the tacky plastic pair of ill fitting bargain bin shoes and when my Momma Told Me "It's this, or you're going barefoot!"

Of course, looking back now, I can't hold a grudge against my mother- she truly did try. I went on, in adulthood, to grow tired of the endless searching myself, wearing heels 2 sizes too small to my own wedding (insane, right?) Surprisingly it's a compromise more and more women are forced to make in the name of fashionable feet. As if shoes can't be tormenting enough with their straps and micro heels, thousands of us are forced to wear sizes that don't properly fit! In the spirit of remedying this epidemic, Barefoot Tess was born; an online emporium of shoes sized 9+. Finally an exclusive shoe club made just for people like me. Let the reverse discrimination begin!

Not only can shoppers choose from an impressively comprehensive catalog of top designers such as Corso Como, Ed Hardy, and Blowfish- they can shop Barefoot Tess' exclusive line of ever-growing designs! The real life woman behind the brand, Tess, is a sort of All American every woman- struggling to balance her life and career between hunting for fitting footwear. She's fashion savvy, yet diverse in function, and loves shoes with the same passion as many other red blooded women. Tess wants the same envious shoe closet her size 6 and 7 counterparts enjoy; whether that means a collection of sandals and wedges or runway heels and boots. And she's too busy juggling her exciting life to scour websites, wait on inventory orders, and call stores! With the help of her mother, in 2005, Tess launched the one stop alternative sizing shoe-wear site, Barefoot Tess, and my feet rejoice!

 Last year Barefoot Tess introduced a collection of country/cowgirl inspired selection of waxed canvas, animal friendly boots. I was sent a stunning pair of Nashville Boots in tan, with a pull on style that is casual and fiercely flirty. This particular style runs a size smaller, for most, though the actual calf and leg area seems wider, order a half to a full size up to allot for the pull on wear. With a 1.5" heel and intricate scroll stitching these kicks are comfortable enough to wear casually with a pair of leggings and a breezy dress, a flowing skirt, or some skinny jeans. You don't have to be a cowgirl to rock this style this Fall! As a well endowed (in the feet) kind of gal, I often struggle to find affordable Western style footwear. Buying larger sizes in leather can run over $300 a pair, and these Nashville boots are not only leather free (easier to care for and break in), but half the cost.

Aside from the special sizing, there are a few very special things I particularly love about the Barefoot Tess concept and execution. First, if you fall madly in love with the selection or variety on Barefoot Tess, but happen to be one of those blessed with 'normal' feet, the company kindly forwards you to Lori's of Chicago. For the rest, finding that 'sole' shattering (no pun, okay, maybe some pun intended), life changing shoe couldn't be simpler. Shopping online through this website is a breeze! Simply choose to shop according to Size, Style, Price, or Designer, than get to browsing hundreds, if not thousands, of the world's hottest footwear trends. You'll never find a style that isn't made in, at least, a 10! Of course, alternative shoe sizes for women are a hot commodity, so inventory and availability may change- just keep on shopping!

Once you've found something that catches your eye, and it shouldn't take long, click on over the the style's product page. There, you'll find comprehensive international pricing, color choices, styles in stock, multiple product views and photos, and true sizing measurements. I especially enjoy the customer review section which ranks the styles' accuracy on aspects such as sizing, width, and comfort. To round off the review, you'll even find notes on the customer's service and delivery experience. Shopping for shoes online has never been this in depth, or this easy (and fun too!) Just in time for Spring 2013, the Barefoot Tess line has expanded with brand new, highly flattering, ankle booties. The cut on these shoes is extraordinary, and wide to accommodate those with width sizing needs. You'll also find the above Brooklyn Wedge Sneaker offers an eye catching and edgy style that translates well to a busy lifestyle. With the easy slip on Velcro straps these wedges ad a little lift in posture and extra comfort.

 I am entirely in love with Barefoot Tess from shopping experience to service, and I highly recommend it for anyone touched with larger feet, or loved ones who suffer with the same setbacks when shoe shopping!

What Daughter Says: Never compromise with style friendly footwear again. Ever. Just shop Barefoot Tess!

One lucky Momma Told Me follower will win a $125 Barefoot Tess Gift Certificate, good for shopping on BarefootTess.com! Please enter via the Rafflecopter Form below then visit our second event giveaway for Electric M|V|M|T.  Every entry in a Spring Fasionista giveaway enters you to win a $1200 Grand Prize Package including White Gold and Citrine Stone Necklace from Emma Parker Diamonds, $100 Amazon GC, $250 GC from Midnight Velvet, and $250 in Shoes from Bobbi-Toads. For every giveaway in the Spring Fashionista Event that an entrant enters, the gain one entry toward the Grand Prize Package. Claim your entries here: Spring Fashionista Grand Prize.

The 2013 Spring Fashionista Event Lookbook and Giveaway!

I simply can't believe the first major blogging event of the year is almost upon us, already! Hopefully you have your calendars marked for next week's kick off of the 2013 Spring Fashionista Event, the internet's biggest and exclusive fashion and only fashion giveaway event. This year Momma Told Me will have a returning sponsor, Barefoot Tess- designer shoes for women shoe sizes 9+, and a special first time appearance for Electric M|V|M|T, an illuminated clothing brand. But the prizes wont's stop there. Each of the 120+ participating blogs will have a minimum of one $125+ valued prize pack to give away, and the Fashionista Events Group will be offering special bonus entries when you enter each of them. That's right, there will be a super special giveaway prize drawn from entries collected by those who enter the other giveaways, so stay tuned to the event to hear all about that.

For now, I have some exciting news; the Lookbook for the Spring Fashionista event has been released, and we've got a wonderful giveaway to help promote it. Check out the Spring 2013 Lookbook for all of the wonderful prizes you'll find next week, then enter the Rafflecopter below and share what you are most excited about to have a chance to win. In turn you'll be entered in this exclusive giveaway for a stunning Rose Quartz and Pink Sapphire necklace from Fine Jewelry by Carol Brodie! This little piece of bling happens to retail for $299, so don't delay!

a Rafflecopter giveaway