On the weekends my family hangs together.  We run errands, attend the kids’ sporting events, visit family & friends or do something fun here in Atlanta.  We love being together and have tons of fun.  But the other day I had a RARE Saturday alone.  It was very spontaneous; my daughter got invited to a soccer game and my husband had a school volunteer meeting (and taking my son with him), so there I was with several hours all to myself.  A Saturday at Lenox Mall is crowded and crazy, but shopping without kids is just such a luxury that I couldn’t pass up and besides, I needed things.   My first stop was Anthropologie—one of my favorite stores; can I just move in there? 

I needed a travel candle; I had recently spent a week in a hotel room with my family (2 guys, 1 bathroom & lots of rich food) where I quickly learned that “certain smells” needed to be masked.   Anthropologie has the best candles and I bought a scrumptious one for our next trip. 

Ahhh…Sephora!  I love going to Sephora.  

A simultaneous sense of peace and excitement overcomes me the moment I step in there.  Although I was there to replenish my Dr. Perricone toner, since I was alone I actually had time to browse around.  A lip gloss display caught my eye and I ended up buying the perfect color, Sugar Shag by Fresh.  So perfect is this lip gloss that I took all others out of my purse.   And I had been trying to buy some Lavender Hand Cream by L’Occitane, but they were out of the purse size at the L’Occitane stores; it was there at Sephora in the check-out lane.   I am a member of Sephora’s Beautyinsider Club (of course) and the gift I received upon check-out was stellar— Dr. Brandt Microdermabrasion.  I walked out swinging the little black bag a very happy woman.

I needed all those good feelings because now I was looking for a swimsuit.  Ack!–Is there really anything that you can do more tortuous in front of a mirror than try on swimsuits?  In the past I have had good luck with La Blanca, but not  this time.  I must have tried on 20 suits and finally settled on one by Marc Carmen Valvo that I got at a deep discount and more importantly, looked good on me.  I didn’t even know how fabulous I was until I got home and Googled the designer; turns out many celebrities wear this swimsuit.  I will prepare now for the paparazzi sure to surround me at my neighborhood pool.

After picking up some requested Kiehl’s skincare products for my husband (I got him taking better care of his skin via a Father’s Day gift last year; he’s hooked now) and I was off to Phipps Plaza for a movie.  Do you know that a taxi from Lenox Mall to Phipps is $10????   It is across the street.   Another “Hello! This isn’t New York!” moment.  Too hot to walk, I took the complimentary Buc bus.  Scummier than I thought it would be (um, it’s Buckhead???), it did the job.

Since I could actually see a movie that wasn’t rated G (the last movie I saw was Kit Kittredge, which was very good, by the way), I chose Mamma Mia.  Okay, I’m sorry; I know there are big fans out there, but it was just “okay” to me.  Meryl Streep was beautiful, Amanda Seyfried was very cute, Christine Baranski is always funny and I like Abba’s music just as much as the next person, but Pierce Brosnon singing was a bit of a stretch.   As I discussed it with my son later, maybe I don’t like movie musicals…people breaking into song out of the blue and all that, but he reminded me that Grease is one of my favorite movies as is The Sound of Music and I really loved Hairspray (not to mention High School Musical).   I don’t know…someone please comment and tell me why I’m crazy to not like Mama Mia. 

I met my family for dinner and we all told tells from our Saturday spent apart.  Sometimes a little time away makes for fresh dinner conversation.  And a happy Me.

Walking through Central Park, we came upon the end of a photo shoot for Marshall’s and one of the cameramen offered my daughter a red balloon.  As she took the balloon and I tied it around her wrist, we saw just how big this balloon really was.  I hate the word ginormous, but really, there is no other word to describe it.

We continued walking through Central Park and the Upper Westside and the balloon led the way. The balloon was the celebrity; we were just entourage. Every single person that we passed commented on the balloon; either to us directly, to themselves or each other:

“What a huge balloon!”

“Look at that balloon!”

“Where did you get that huge balloon?”

“I’ve never seen a balloon that big!”

“What a big balloon for such a little girl.”

Or just, “Wow!”

Children were speechless and most wanted to touch it.  One of our favorite “wow” looks came from a dog. Everyone smiled or laughed. Of course we got many references to The Red Balloon and in a serendipitous bathroom stop at Barnes & Noble, we saw the book on display and bought a copy.

However, being in the presence of such greatness, wasn’t easy or without cost. We had to wrangle it into small doorways and make sure we didn’t topple product displays in stores. When we ate in narrow restaurants, we tied it up outside, anxiously watching from the window. Treetops and low awnings were our enemies.

But by now we realized that we were not just Balloon Handlers, but in fact Ambassadors of Joy. The task and subsequent lessons were not lost on us. We were given this simple, yet incredible balloon, not knowing how many people it would touch, and how much laughter it would bring on an ordinary Friday in New York City. Life is beautiful that way.

*The next morning we tied the balloon to a tree on 55th Street.  When we looked again a few hours later, the balloon was gone.

*I don’t get paid for my opinions in any way; this is just me sharing stuff that I like and I think you will too.

I can’t believe that my family won’t be able to take advantage of this SPECTACULAR offer from Club Med! Unfortunately we have already made our vacation plans, but this price is absolutely unbelievable, so do your family a favor and book this vacation. Club Med is one of my favorite family vacation spots because it is all-inclusive and there is so much for the kids to do (and so the parents get to have their own kind of fun). Because our kids are such different ages, it is hard to find vacation resorts with activities of interest to both of them. We have taken a cruise before and with my apologies to the cruising fans, we all hated it. Club Meds are perfect for us. The price is all-inclusive, the food is good and plentiful, the staff is fun and the destinations are sunny. The atmosphere is very casual, kind of funky and very international.

On our first Club Med vacation, my son and I went to Sandpiper, Florida when he was 4 years old. My husband couldn’t take time from work, but I didn’t a vacation that was easy to do with a four year old alone and a quick flight from New Jersey. By the second day in Florida we had a routine: we would eat breakfast together, I would drop him off at the Mini Club and I then I wouldn’t see him again until 5:00 p.m. My son made fast friends with several boys his age and had a blast doing all the activities planned by the G.O.s He played tennis, participated in Circus School, built sand-castles, tye-dyed a tee shirt, won a prize in a talent show and was in several theater productions. I had great plans for myself during the day: roller-blading, tennis lessons, circus school, maybe even some golfanaged to do was yoga class every morning before I parked myself by the pool for the rest of the day. Sometimes I found my son at his activities and joined in, but mostly I enjoyed my much-needed time alone.

When he was six years old we went to Club Med in Punta Cana with my husband as well and again my son had a blast. My husband had a great time too playing basketball, working out in the gym and lounging by the pool with me (7 months pregnant). Punta Cana had a lovely beach, good food and a great pool. The G.O.s at that Club were just as fun as at Sandpiper.

I have a soft spot for Club Med because I used to be a G.O. a long before husband and kids. I worked at both Sonora Bay, Mexico and Copper Mountain, Colorado. I don’t believe that either of these Clubs are in existence anymore and Club Med as a whole has changed a lot. It is more “Americanized” than it was before, and while I do miss the old bohemian Clubs with no televisions, alarm clocks or door locks, the newly renovated Clubs look very nice. One of the exciting additions to the Family Clubs are the teen centers–perfect for my pre-teen son who is too old for the Mini-Club, and wants some independence on vacation, but could still benefit from planned activities with kids his own age. Ixtapa and Cancun in Mexico are on our list of Clubs to visit in the future.

Listen to this song; it is addictive.  I promise that you will want to jump on a plane and get to a beach as fast as possible!

I’m sorry Belk, I was ignorant; I didn’t know how fabulous you were. I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago where Marshall Fields was THE store and moved on to the West Coast where I was introduced to Nordstrom, and then to the Northeast—hello Bloomingdales. Nordstrom and Bloomindales have been my department stores of choice ever since. I was first introduced to Belk last weekend at a birthday party for my 6 year-old daughter at Libby Lu (for those not knowing, a girly-girl explosion of pink, sequins and feather boas). Being that I am a bit of an Intown snob, and this Belk was in what I call a “mall-mall” (the malls of my mid-western youth with Orange Julius, photo booths and Claire boutiques vs. the Buckhead malls that I frequent today), I didn’t even give Belk a glance as I dropped my daughter off and breezed through. My husband, pre-teen son and I were off to enjoy the best reason for coming to such a mall: Orange Julius and Auntie Anne’s Pretzels.

But after retrieving my daughter from the party, we passed through the shoe department. Wait! Cute shoes on sale! BCBG sandals, Yellow Box flip flops! I quickly looked around: Prada! Cole Hahn! Donald Pliner! ALL ON SALE! I knew that I couldn’t get my family to stay and shop for shoes, so I made a plan to go to the Belk in Buckhead later that week. Yes, there was a new Belk in Atlanta’s chic mall, Phipps Plaza and I hadn’t ventured in because, well, it used to be a Parisian. I used to go with my grandmother to shop for shoes at Parisian during my summers spent with her in Alabama. Admittedly my grandmother had a thing for nice, high-end shoes, but after I moved to the south, I stayed clear of Parisian….any place my grandmother shopped was not really my style. Every once in awhile I would venture into kids department when my son needed dressy clothes and Nordstrom couldn’t accommodate him, but that was about it.

But those shoes on sale I saw over the weekend were reason enough to give Belk a try. So, my daughter and I made a mommy-daughter date to go shopping and see a movie together. I tried on about 20 pairs of shoes from their vast shoe selection. There is a whole alcove devoted to Donald Pliner shoes. Most of the summer shoes were on sale 30-50% off and I got these cute Pelle Moda shoes that were originally $119 for 50% off. Can you see the bling?

I got them to go with a long slinky sundress, with the hope that my husband will take me out to dinner at the new W hotel (wistful sigh) and more likely, to wear to dinner while we are on vacation in Mexico later this summer.

Right across from the shoe department was the purse department, and I had to have a look. I told myself that I needed a new wallet for an upcoming vacation, and Belks didn’t disappoint: I found a Coach wristlet pouch for 50% off. But, my hallelujah moment came when finding my way to the bathroom; I wouldn’t have even ventured into the clothes section otherwise. I saw signs that caught my eye: Free People, Lucky Brand, True Religion. And ever better, smaller signs: CLEARANCE. I still can’t believe that I got this Free People shirt (one of my favorite brands) for $9!!!!

So, forgive me Belk, you classy Southern lady, I didn’t know.