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Real Solutions for Real Parents by Autumn Rose Reo

Shoe Shopping for Back-to-School at Famous Footwear

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Mama Mondays: 
Disclaimer: I was provided a gift card from Famous Footwear as well as the opportunity to shop for as many shoes as possible as part of a local Famous Footwear event hosted by Dallas Moms Blog. All the comments here are my own. 

It’s no secret that I have issues with shoes. Really. 

While I enjoy looking at them, I don’t like to wear them. When you have a wide foot it makes it hard to put on cute shoes and be comfortable. That’s why I’m the queen of sandals and always in need of a new pair of shoes – at least ones that aren’t summer specific. And since it was also right before back-to-school, I wasn’t the only Reos could use another pair of kicks. 

That meant shopping. And shoe shopping is the worst… 

However, just in time, I was invited to a little special “mama time” with some friends to do a little private shoe shopping at Famous Footwear. Thank goodness. I needed some female opinions so I could make some purchases in a reasonable amount of time that weren’t just comfortable, but functional and hopefully, cute too!

Oh, how I found all kinds of choices – just which ones should I buy? 

Considering my current athletic shoes were about two years old (and just a little note, that’s way too long to not replace your running shoes), I really could use a pair, especially since the ones this season are fun, bright and very colorful. There were also some adorable Sperry boat-style shoes that were SO cute. I’ve always liked Sperry’s for the whole family, especially since they give moms like me an alternative to flip flops – ideal during the winter time! Black and white damask with red laces, sequins and even leopard print, I eyed several pairs I would want to add to my wardrobe. And of course, I would have to peak at some gladiator sandals, my always go-to. The ones I found were so hot and had a little Bohemian vibe. Adorable. 

What to buy. What to buy? What to buy! 

Thankfully, for a limited time, I didn’t have to purchase just one pair, but could get a second pair half off! (Gotta love some BOGO 1/2 off!) Then add my special discount for being a Famous Footwear Rewards member, I had discounts coming out my ears! Now that +  shoe shopping was something to be excited about. 
It was time I leaped over to the kids’ aisle. While my little girl is a little young for these Converse, I couldn’t help but stop to take a look at them. With all kinds of colors and fun tongues that even included emoticons on the reverse side, these shoes screamed “I would have to have you IF I had a teen!” 

Finally reaching the little girls’ shoes, I set eyes on a pair of tennis shoes that Miss T. had to have. They were pink, glittery, blingy, and had studs all over them! And they lit up too! And considering little girl had a birthday the next day, I just had to snatch these up and surprise her for her big day! Aren’t these Skechers CUTE!?!


Starting to really find my stride after my first must-have, I spotted this sign:
Discovering this great little kernel of knowledge was perfectly timed since I had eyed me a pair of these Naturalizer Peep Toes (both stylish and comfortable!) Unfortunately, my size was missing! What to do, what to do? I just brought the shoes to the register and they took my address. For $0, they would send these gotta-have heels to my doorstep. (Now that’s service!)
And that wasn’t all either! A little love from Lady Luck made me a winner of an opportunity to get as many pairs of shoes as I wanted in :30 seconds with a little shop-to-you-drop. That meant I was able to pull a pair of Sperry’s for both me and my hubs, plus, of course, those cute shoes for my two-year-old! (And I may have also found a pair of sandals that would get a little play for the remaining weeks of the summer!)

So perhaps, maybe, I don’t mind shoe shopping. Especially if I can get it all in one place and at a price I can afford. Thanks to Famous Footwear, I was able to find that and more. 

Now I understand why their tagline is “Victory is Yours.” 

There’s a mama challenge I was excited to win. 


When That Twilight Star Ate My Margarita Soup Pie on TV {Recipe}

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Me Mondays:

Today’s been a big day for the fam. Baby girl turned two, little boy had his first day of kindergarden, daddy enters his last day of law school and oh, yeah, mama was on TV. 



If you missed my segment on WFAA’s Good Morning Texas where I have been lucky to be on a few times, here you go. However I do have to preface a few things for you first. 



  1. The margarita pie is made mostly out of sherbet, frozen yogurt and margarita mix. 
  2. TV studios are hot. Very hot. Especially in August. In Texas. 
  3. Ice cream melts.
And if they fun in watching my pie turn into soup isn’t enough to make you watch it, check out the cutie from Twilight, Vampire Diaries and Nashville (love that show), that makes a sneak appearance at the end to taste the soup…I mean pie. Thankfully, once we were off air, I was able to redeem myself with the apple enchiladas which he at least made me think were tasty (and he swallowed them with a smile.) So I’m good with it. What do you think? 

Make sure you stay close to your TV this week! I’ve some great news for you! 


A Real Mama Challenge: My Baby Girl Turns 2 and Mama Won’t Be There

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Mama Mondays:

Today’s my little girl’s 2nd birthday…unfortunately, I won’t be there to wake her up in the morning since mama will be off early to WFAA Victory Park Studios to share a real “mama challenge” from Good Morning Texas. I actually have spent the weekend trying out the three Pinterest desserts that seem “too good to be true” are really good or really not true. 

And while the moment is bittersweet since I won’t get to see her beautiful eyes open on her special day or take her to her first day of school, at least I know that I’m doing my best to set an example that when life gives you an opportunity, you take it and are thankful for it. 

…And then as long as one of these desserts actually work out, we’ll share a slice together in honor of her special day when I pick her up from school. 


To make it worth it for both of us, if you are in front of a TV at 9 AM on ABC WFAA 8, I’d love for you to tune in to see how these three Texas-themed Pinterest recipes work! 

  • Margarita Pie
  • Pink Lemonade Pie
  • Apple Enchiladas

And of course, I’ll be these babies on Pinterest later, too (if they are good!) 


Yabba – Dabba – Doo! Bedrock Brownies {Recipe}

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Disclaimer: This shop is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group™ and Post Pebbles but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #PebblesBTS http://cmp.ly/3/8vNxcO. 

Sharing bits and pieces (and in this case Pebbles) with your children is part of the fun of being a parent. However, during a trip to Walgreens I picked up a box of Post Cocoa Pebbles and my son pointed to Fred and Barney on the front of the box and asked, “Who’s that?” 

Oh, Hanna Barbara. We had work to do. 

 Kinda a fail on my part I felt for never airing an episode of “The Flinstones,” until I was able to find only  few clips of the classic cartoon online. Thankfully, iTunes gave us some options to make a real formal introduction, but it seemed like unlike the recent surge in my favorite childhood boy bands reclaiming the limelight, the Bedrock buddies I watched as a kid, had slipped into an oblivion. 


After my enjoying my own moment of nostalgia, I decided to use the opportunity to talk about the Flinstones’ prehistoric period (how people did it then) with a little Cooking 101 using our box of Post Cocoa Pebbles  – with both the almost-two-year old and five-year old. (I’m pretty sure my head was full of rocks.) 

After a huge fight about who got to stand next to mama in the chair, who got to crack the egg and who got which apron (they are exactly the same color), we began putting together a dessert that we later would call “Bedrock Brownies,” a layered “rocky-road type” desert using brownie mix, cheesecake filling, crushed Cocoa Pebbles, marshmallows, chocolate chips, nuts and icing. And you’re right, it ain’t fat-free. 


We talked about measurements, learning patience (all of us during the process), taking turns putting in the ingredients and of course, stiring the mix. Things were going pretty well at this point until my oldest asked if we created another episode of “his cooking show.” Always happy to share my blogging adventures with my kids, I was elated to go behind the camera to direct while he set up for his intro…

 Unfortunately after about the 20th take, I gave up on this time creating the next Bobby Deen. He was tired, I was tired and by this time the toddler had escaped with a couple of tastes of the mix and fled to the living room to play with her dolls. We just needed these sweeties to get done, so we could break “brownies” together. 

 You too can create this Yabba-Dabba delicious dessert that is creamy, chocolately and crunchy. It’s so good you might consider running your car around the block with your bare feet in order to burn off the calories just so you can have another one. 

 It’s a whole new way to eat your milk and cereal!

Bedrock Cheesecake Brownies
Ingre­di­ents
  • First layer:
  • 1 pkg favorite Brownie Mix

  • Second layer:
  • 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
  • 1/2 cup gran­u­lated sugar
  • 1/4 cup butter–softened
  • 2 table­spoons flour
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 cup chopped pecans
  • 1 cup semi-sweet choc chips
  • Third Layer:
  • 2 crushed Cocoa Pebbles
  • Fourth Layer:
  • 1 1/2 cups mini marshmallows
  • Fifth Layer (Frost­ing):
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 1/3 cup milik
  • 3 cups pow­dered sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 cup Cocoa Pebbles
  • 1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Instruc­tions
  1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. But­ter the bot­tom and sides of a 9×13 pan.
  2. In mix­ing bowl, com­bine the ingre­di­ents for the bot­tom layer until mixed well. Press/spread bat­ter into the bot­tom of the pre­pared 9×13 pan. Set aside.
  3. For the second level, in mix­ing bowl, beat the soft­ened cream cheese, gran­u­lated sugar, 1/4 cup soft­ened but­ter, 2 table­spoons, 1 tea­spoon vanilla and 1 egg at medium speed until smooth. Stir in the 1/4 cup pecans and pour over choco­late layer in bot­tom of pan. Sprin­kle the choco­late chips over the cream cheese layer. 
  4. Now layer the crush Cocoa Pebbles over the cream cheese covering the last layer. 
  5. Bake 26–28 min­utes, until fill­ing is start­ing to lightly brown on top. Take out of the oven and sprin­kle the mini marsh­mal­lows evenly over the top. Bake an addi­tional 2 minutes.
  6. Mean­while, in a medium saucepan, melt 1/2 cup but­ter over medium heat. Stir in the cocoa and milk. Heat to boil­ing while stir­ring con­stantly. Remove pan from heat, and whisk in the pow­dered sugar. Stir until well blended. Add the vanilla, 1 cup Cocoa Pebbles (and 1 cup chopped pecans.) 
  7. When the two min­utes of roast­ing the marsh­mal­lows is fin­ished, remove the pan of rocky road bars from the oven and imme­di­ately pour the frost­ing mix­ture over the marsh­mal­lows. Spread evenly to cover and let cool 30 minutes.
  8. Refrig­er­ate about 2 hours to set. Cut into small squares. Store in the refrigerator.

Flip Flops That Make Your Feet Fit

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Disclaimer: I received these products for purposes of this review. All comments expressed here are my own. 

It’s no secret I’d prefer to be barefoot to wearing shoes any day of the week. However, since it’s kinda gross to walk around like that most the time, I’m always on the lookout for shoes that are good to my feet and hopefully are fashionable to wear as well. 

So when one of my favorite pairs of summer sandals bit the big one the other day, I was almost in a panic. Then like a little FedEx fairy, a box arrived at my doorstep with new flip flops that claimed with every little step my butt, hips and thighs are doing reversed incline stretches while toning my muscles. So basically, I walk and and the worst parts of my body get a little more toned? So like any woman would, I tore the box open and put these babies on my feet immediately.
 


Developed by famed fitness icon Tony Little (you know the guy with the blonde ponytail exercising on the Gazelle trainer), his new footwear line appropriately named “Cheeks” is constructed with an inclined sole that imitates uphill walking. The shoes work by placing the body at a three-degree angle; most of the weight rests on the heels, thus promoting improved posture. 

I was able to wear these sandals every day, all day for going to work out, walking around Schlitterbahn, the grocery store – well everything. And because of the design, I could easily wear them with many outfits.  While I didn’t take my measuments before I began weating the shoes, I can tell you I could feel a little strain on my legs after I wore them for hours – just like I had been running up a hill. Success. 
 
 
And they have all kinds of styles too – from black, pink with some bling and even some interchangeable straps so you can coordinate your look by flipping it over! 
 
Starting at $24.95 this line is definitely worth a walk around the block. 
Available for purchase on HSN.com and TonyLittle.com. 
 
Anytime Dr. Oz makes a recommendation, we all come running and buying. And these sandals from Wellrox were high on his list for improving balance, better posture or just a more comfortable stride. So of course, I was quick to give these “bear claws” a try. 

By separating and providing individual thongs for each toe, Wellrox has developed “GRABS” technology, a revolutionary sandal that reduces the risk of slippage and enables a more surefooted gait. The GRABS™ technology offers added grip, relief, alignment, balance and support, so when spreading your toes, you’re redistributing your weight more evenly and begin using your proper foot muscles to walk as intended. This concept is well known throughout Yoga and wellness circles (yogitoes.)


These sandals bring much needed relief to your aching feet and leg muscles. You can wear them every day, or whenever you need recovery – before or after a workout or a Yoga session, or after a day of wearing constrictive shoes. You can even wear them for a pedicure. (At least they are much better than those throw-away shoes they give you at the pedi place!) 

You can buy these summer sandals at Macys.com and local Macy retailers. For more information, visit wellrox.com.

So now you have options to work out your feet and then give them a massage by just putting your shoes on!

Happy Walking!


Planning Our First Hill Country Bound Road Trip #ReoRoadTrip

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Mama needs a vacation. Bad.

Thankfully in Texas it’s not too hard to visit some pretty amazing places by just driving a few hours in the car. It’s part of the reason I love Texas. And there’s about 1000 more reasons where that came from. #truetexan.

Found this during my trip planning on TexasHillCountry.com

And now I have the pleasure of passing it on to my son. It seems like some kind of rite of passage; instilling that Texas pride and helping him understand why people from Texas feel compelled to decorate their whole house with Texas stars…(I know we aren’t the only ones.) 

Actually the Texas flag is exactly how I got the idea for our first road trip. 

When I was upgrading his room for Thomas the Tank to Lego the other day, I began to take down some of those nursery remnants on the wall, a wooden Texas flag painted on some old fence posts. 

As I removed it from the wall, my son quickly stopped me. 

“Mama, I love my Texas. Leave it on the wall.” 

With a prideful smile, I happily placed it back on its post.

I loved hearing him say I love Texas, but I felt I needed to show him a little more than what North Texas had to offer. 

So I drafted up a plan of places to take him before school began, work took over and it was next summer that I was trying to take this trip. 

My Hill Country route includes a couple of places I’ve always wanted to go as well as places that I feel are a must-stop in Texas. 

I don’t want to give away all the fun, but I’d love to hear what places between Dallas and San Antonio you think are a must-see, must-do and must-eat! 

Introducing Dallas New GoGoSqueeZ Squad Leader, Me!

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Mama Mondays:

I am so excited to start this week with a BIG announcement! 

Recently, I was named a member of GoGo squeeZ Squad for Dallas. I was already a huge fan of the products, but a couple of months ago at Blissdom 2013 I had a chance to get to know the brand and I love ’em! So now as a part of the team, I really couldn’t be more excited and proud to take on this role and help promote the fun, healthy, convenient and playful lifestyle that GGS is all about here in Dallas-Fort Worth! 

(Hey, I loved them so much I even included them in my Gourmet Pancakes segment on Good Morning Texas!) 

If you are mom who packs lunches or a fitness geek, you probably know exactly what GoGo squeeZ is. However, if you don’t, let me just fill you in: 
Happier Healthier families

 GoGo squeeZ is proud to be the leading squeezable, re-sealable, 100% fruit in a pouch. GoGo squeeZ’s products are crafted with high-quality natural ingredients to provide wholesome goodness for sipping, squeezing and enjoying, wherever life takes you.

 What Does it Mean to be a Member of the squeeZ squad

 The squeeZ squad is a team of passionate GoGo lovers that also love being out in their own community. Whether it’s a mom of 4, an adoring aunt, or a former TV producer, our team mission: get GoGo squeeZ to families at work and at play. From field trips to 5k Fun Runs, the squeeZ Squad does it all with a little GoGo. These amazing women (and men) are on the front lines spreading THE playful message.



To get to the core (tee-hee), I will be popping up around the area at events – small and large – to share a little GoGo squeeZ love with you, your family and friends. So if you have an event, activity, party or opportunity you think that is a good place for Go Go squeeZ sampling or gifting, please drop me an email to see if it’s a good match!


 Every Time You Squeeze, We Please! 

GoGo squeez has teamed up with Life is good® Playmakers, a non-profit that heals and strengthens kids whose lives have been deeply impacted by trauma. They work to ensure that all children grow-up feeling safe, loved and joyful. All you have to do is share this video and we’ll donate $1 to Life is good Playmakers!



See why I’m thrilled to be a part of the squad? 

I hope you’ll join me too in living life playfully with Go Go squeeZ!



Get $424 worth of beauty services for $99 at Facelogic Spa

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Me Mondays:

Fresh from my inbox – what a deal! For only $99, Facelogic Highland Park is offering the deal-of-the-year to get the following services for all one price:

  • Express Make Up Application
  • Express Signature Facial with Microdermabrasion
  • Airbrush Tan 
  • Brow Wax
  • Brow and Lash Tint
  • Image Skincare Vitamin C or Peel
  • 30 minute massage
  • Da Vinci Bleach Whitening
  • 10% off any regular period retail 


I love Facelogic…can you tell? Here are some great experiences I have had – and these are just the ones I wrote about! (The massages there are so incredible!)

Can Cookies Make You Lose Weight? The Magic Cookie Can
Save Those Leftovers: Make Your Skin Merry & Bright with Pumpkin and Yams


Call Facelogic Highland Park at 214-696-3223 to get your Beauty Pass before it’s gone! 

Mad Men Season 6 Finale

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Mad Men Moms Monday:

Oh wow. 

 The finale of Mad Men Season 6 definitely was one for the record books. 

 I couldn’t even think up some of the things that happened and if you haven’t seen it yet, then I almost don’t want to spoil it for you…ALMOST. 

 So round out our weekly recaps of the show, Shannon from MilkandCuddles.com and I couldn’t help but resist watching the last one together. (I’m glad we did because I needed someone to talk to after that!) 

 Also, in true Mad Men Moms fashion, we also celebrated with a cocktail. Shannon surprised me with a fun chocolate-flavored concotion with cream, black cherry vodka and Kahlua (think White Russian meets Yoohoo!) Little did we know how much the topic of chocolate would become a part of our evening’s adventure. 


What did you think? 

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