Sometimes you’ve gotta learn to just laugh at ya self! I am the furthest example of what a true fashion blogger looks like and my hubby probably has a better eye for what looks good on me. He is literally my stylist and shopping buddy, he never complains! I try not to take myself too seriously when it comes to style because comfort is key in my opinion. I’m short & bow legged, wear minimal to no make up and can’t stand posing for cameras. Last weekend I joined a few local bloggers for a brunch hosted by Mazda, DiMe Media and DriveShop at the beautiful New Leaf restaurant up by the Cloisters. I swear All of this bipolar weather - 70 degrees and sunny one day, arctic chills and chunky snowflakes the next, has had me clueless on what to wear these days. It's been a while since I've been out, the Flu and all kinds of cooties have had me and the youngest out of sorts these last few weeks and cabin fever has definitely taken it's toll on all of us. Weekend brunch with some of my fave mama's and driving around in the newest Mazda rides were the perfect cure. Plus I caught a bit of nostalgia because the New Leaf hosted the last wedding I coordinated before moving on to coordinating media/ consumer events and it was a great reminder of doing what I love alongside my blogging tribe.
2017 marks the fifth year that She Buys Cars has partnered up with The New York International Auto Show to host bloggers and influencers for an amazing Girls Night Out where we had the opportunity to check out the latest automotive eye candy from some of the best brands {Mazda, Genesis, Toyota and Hyundai} in the car industry. It's personally one of my favorite nights of the year, where we head to the Jacob Javits center to check out the latest & hottest vehicles & trends coming out before the masses on opening day of the auto show. This year I had the wonderful opportunity to attend as a Mazda ambassador which was a pretty awesome pairing seeing as our family absolutely loves their line of vehicles and have had the chance to test drive a few working with Driveshop & Mazda over the last two years. Disclosure: This is a sponsored post and opinions expressed are 100% my own
We were provided the Mazda 6 Grand touring to facilitate this review. No compensation was received and all opinions expressed are 100% our own. Thank You Mazda & Drive Shop USA!
We've been aiming to plan out local day trips as a family at least one Saturday a month as it's the only day a week we are all home together. With Six Flag's Great Adventures open for the first time over the holidays we figured testing out the 2016 Mazda 6 Grand Touring would be perfect. As a family of 4 we had such a great ride driving to New Jersey to check out Holiday in the Park and really loved a lot of features in this mid-size car that's also top 3 of mid-sized cars for affordability.
If you saw our post on the Mazda CX-5 then you know the boys were loving the solar red color that definitely stands out on this sleek car. They thought the pop of color on the Mazda 6 made it look like a cool sports car so to them it would be worth the extra on the price tag. The lean design and color of the car make it resemble a sportier vehicle but it's still perfect for families.
The Mazda 6 was named a top safety pick which was what made me the happiest about driving it around and named Driver 10 Best of the Year. In addition to those awards Here's a few things we thought were most impressive about this car:
An estimated 40 mpg on the highway - hubby only had to fill the tank once and he drove it almost daily over a course of 10 days for local errands and our drive to Jersey.
Mazda advanced key-less entry means no digging through the over-sized tote!
Heated front seats - although it was unseasonably warm for December this feature of course comes in handy once the temperature drops at night or during season changes.
Blind spot monitoring system, Rear cross traffic alert and Electronic parking brake// Smart City Break Support won me over in regards to keeping the family safe while traveling. If the Mazda 6 detects an impending collision it activates the break automatically, which is pretty amazing technology.
The active driving display pictured below allows for the driver's eyes to stay on the road while glancing at the speed being driven.
The boys had plenty of room in the back and were comfortable for the nearly 2 hour drive.
The holiday lights show was fantastic in it's first year and it had such a great turn out., we really loved the holiday themed food and shows. We couldn't have asked for better weather to ride around in the Mazda 6 Grand Touring. For more information on price points, specs and more head to MazdaUSA.com and make sure you watch our video and mark The Holiday Lights in the Park at Six Flags on your calendar for next year!
Looking back on 2016 for a lot of people means remembering some pretty awful moments whether personally or in the news. Moments that may have made your heartache, ones that may have made you frustrated or angry but one thing my hubby Mike is always encouraging me to do, is to seek out the positive in every lived in moment big or small. Having the ability to just pick up and go in a reliable car is a top priority for families, whether it's the daily trips to your grocery store or to create long lasting memories with friends and family. When setting off on the road the last thing you want to worry about is the safety of your loved ones. Compact in size and perfect for our family of four the Mazda CX-3 allowed us to celebrate a long time friends birthday, witness the union of two Blue Sky film makers, dab with clowns and make an urgent spur of the moment visit to see our favorite uncle.
Dislcosure: We were provided this car to review by Mazda and Drive Shop. All opinions expressed are 100% our own and there was no compensation for this post.
I'm not one for glorifying being busy, unfortunatelyit's such an overly used phrase these days and every time I hear myself utter the words "I don't have time" I cringe. Lately it seems our schedules are all over the place with my hubby working in the culinary industry, sometimes 7 days a week and me juggling a PT office job and my event coordinating and freelance writing positions. If we aren't working then we are running all over this city attending the several blogger events that, although enjoyable fill our calendars. We marvel in any downtime we get where all 4 of us can just enjoy some qt time together and are hoping to enjoy life a little bit more without any specific agenda.
We realize more and more that as our boys are getting older and are no longer my little babies (Tristan just turned 5, at the end of October) before ya know it, they'll be headed to junior high, attending their high school proms, going off to college & leaving the nest. It's because of my mom that I'm always on the go, she kept us busy with trips to the zoo, museums and other touristy NYC locations, all via public transportation. We want the boys to also be able to explore outside of the 5 boroughs and to look back on all the memorable moments & adventures we've had. With that said this post is not only a car review of the new 2016 Mazda CX-5 but the introduction to our new series #WilsonFamilyFirsts where we'll be sharing first time experiences and videos! So please do leave comments on what you think of it, and suggestions for firsts we need to try.
I'm always nagging the hubby about planning more of our family outings and he always retorts "guys don't make plans, at least not way in advance" so imagine my surprise when with a sprinkle of spontaneity he told us to get dressed for a day out with our monsters. For years he's always wanted to go apple picking, he's been dreaming of all the things he can whip up in the kitchen with apples fresh off the tree, from pies and milkshakes to smothered with porkchops.
Two weeks ago thanks to Mazda and Driveshop we took to test out the 2016 Mazda CX-5 Grand Touring and ventured off to Barton Orchards. I've got to tell you we were really impressed with this crossover. Of course the soul red metallic color was a hit with the boys, it must be a guy thing because anything that comes in red or black are a must have! Personally I thought the car was really sleek and gorgeous to drive around in, it really popped against all the fall foliage. But if red isn't your style it comes in 7 other color choices (jet black, meteor gray, deep crystal blue, titanium flash, sonic silver metallic, blue reflex and like the solar red for with an extra cost option there's crystal white pearl)
Stand Out Features
Named 2015 top safety pick plus by the IIHS when equipped with available Smart City Brake Support which helps prevent frontal collisions when driving over speeds of 10 MPH. With kids in the car it's great to know that if the system determines that an accident is unavoidable it will apply the breaks automatically.
The hubby was a fan of the distance recognition system which gives visual warnings on the display screen and the adaptive lighting which came in handy since it gets dark earlier and we made several turns driving in areas that were pitch black and lacking street lights.
SKYACTIVE Technology {this was all a bit over my head} but it allows the car to be more efficient, provides lower emissions and with a lighter designed body they've still managed to increase crash safety performance.
The Mazda Connect is an "infotainment" system that let's you control and customize your Mazda's features , connections and entertainment. It was really easy to use with a control knob and really large touch screen.
It's a 5 passenger crossover SUV that was really spacious for us, the boys didn't feel like they were squished next to each other in the back even with Tristan's bulky car seat and their was ample trunk space to pack enough for a traveling. And I'm short but I definitely noticed more leg room.
Below you can see how on the left hand side the display indicates if the driver is over the speed limit.
Check out our video and a few pictures from our day, we really lucked out with gorgeous weather with temperatures in the low 70's.
I don't think they'll ever forget the very first apple that they reached out to pick from a tree on tip toes and atop their daddy's shoulder, they were so excited.
Cheeseball smiling after picking my very first apple.
Mike had to shine his up really good for the camera.
Comparing who had the reddest, shiniest and juiciest apple, pretty tough decision making.
Have you gone apple picking before, if so where do you go?
We really hope you enjoyed the first post in our new series Wilson Family Firsts, we'll have a part two to the apple picking posts to give you more details on our experience at Bartons.
And if you want to see future videos, make sure you are following us on youtube!
I'm having a moment...With all that's going on in the world today, from attacks on everyday freedoms and innocent children, to just dealing with the struggles of the day to day I'll be the first to admit I believe in and seek out the magic of the holidays. During that time of year I put blinders on and sift through all the negativity to make sure my kids enjoy the holidays, and by no means does it mean by just anticipating the presents left under the tree from the Jolly man above but to truly revel in all the moments spent with loved ones and to count our blessings one by one before the year is out. Living in NYC what's not to love about that time of year? The lights, the stunning holiday window displays, skating under the Rockefeller Tree and of course standing on those insanely long lines to meet Santa. I live for those moments!
I must apologize for just sort of disappearing before wishing you all a Happy Holiday and a joyous New Year but the weeks leading up to Christmas were actually way more stressful than I could have imagined and I just never really got the chance to sit down in front of the computer to fill you all in. But if you follow me on Instagram I tend to post little intimate blurbs from time to time as a quick way to get it all out. All of December I tried my darndest to keep up with the magic of the season even though I just wasn't feeling it, maybe it was the unseasonably warm weather (70 degrees in NYC on Christmas eve was just crazy), maybe it was just me coming down from a year of running around & 6 months of back to back event planning. A time out was needed and I just took it and ran. Of course because of the stress ultimately a Crohns disease related flare up snuck up on me and has been kicking my butt since the start of the new year. But today something clicked and I decided to muster up some energy and to get back to writing but not before sharing my pursuit to keep the magic alive. Warning - this post will be lengthy, maybe a bit wordy but bare with me o.k, It's a rarity. The Accident that Put it all in Perspective:
On the 11th, an unassumingly normal Friday, I kissed the hubby and my 5 year old lil' monster goodbye as they headed off to school. Only to receive an anxiety inducing phone call from my husband to say that they were in a car accident just a block away from the main entrance for morning dropoff. Despite my husbands assurance that he and Tristan were fine, it was one of the most gut-wrenching pangs I'd ever felt and I was literally frozen in fear. You have to love the resilience of children because the only thing that was on Tristan's mind was that he got to ride to the hospital in a cool ambulance and during our brief conversation he said to me "We're OK mommy, but we definitely broke the car". What was even scarier to me was that I think I had a premonition about the incident the day before when I decided not to post a picture of Tristan in front of the car. He was beyond excited about showing his friends the red Mazda 6 we had on loaner to review and couldn't wait to show his friends how his new favorite sweatpants matched the cherry red new car. I was going to put a little anecdote after noticing the sticker highlighting the car's award for safety in the rear window about how most car accidents happen only within a few blocks from home, but for whatever reason didn't. All though both cars were pretty banged up we are all truly blessed that the other driver and my boys could walk away to tell the story. After that car accident my mission to revel in the whimsy of the "most wonderful time of the year" commenced full throttle, well slowly..... I'll admit we didn't put up our tree until the week before Christmas and it remained up as the first week of January rolled on by. Don't judge me! And some how I found myself wandering the aisles of Target one by one for last minute gifts the night before Christmas eve. All I knew was that this Christmas could have played out so differently had the accident been worse than what it was and I was just thankful that the hubby and his mini me walked away (the hubby a bit more shaken up then I'd ever seen him) without so much as a scratch.
Stop Knocking Santa - Go Ahead and Believe:
Imagine my frustration trying to be all jolly while my tween CJ starts tossing around skeptical questions about the "realness" of Santa. As the years pass I can see the idea of Santa slowly diminishing, it's not the first time he's questioned St. Nick and certainly won't be his last, until the truth comes out. I nearly went off on one of the hubby's co-workers who took it upon himself by whispering to CJ "the real deal" on Santa by having him question how Santa really gets in our NYC apartment without a chimney - but everybody knows Santa just takes the stairs from the roof, C'mon! Instead of answering him directly I've decided to tell him that believing in Santa is a personal choice and asked him "Do you want to believe in him?" I've read tons of blog posts and comments on FB where parents have gotten upset that their kids give all the credit to Santa for the cool presents under the tree, or the debates on whether the Santa their kids believe in is black or white and I just don't get the big deal. And you may not agree and that's fine, but to me Santa is just a symbol of childhood innocence and with everything our kids could be caught up in, the idea of this magical person bringing them presents at the end of the year is the last thing I'm going to be up in arms about. But you better believe mom and dad score points for awesome presents too!
This year I knew I wanted to skip the Santa Land maze at Macy's since CJ questioned why multiple families could go into those little houses within seconds of each other to see the "real" Santa. So I remembered seeing my blogger friend Kristin of My Strange Family posting yearly about visiting the Santa at ABC Carpet and Home and knew we had to see him because he was the most beautiful, authentic looking Claus I'd ever seen. So majestic with the rosiest red cheeks and a beard that looked so cottony soft it would make you shut your mouth for ever doubting he really existed. When I showed CJ the post he even said "Wow, mommy it's really him!" Another Trip to the ER Means Bring on the Holiday Lights and Hot Coco
A mere week after the car accident, another premonition, this time owned by mother thanks to a Lifetime movie (that told the story of a family's loss of a child due to secondary drowning in his sleep) led us back to the E.R with our 5 year old. Tristan a completely fearless but novice swimmer, guzzled way too much pool water for comfort during his last swimming class. You couldn't tell him for one second that he wasn't an Olympic swimmer with that shiny medal swinging from his neck. But he also ended up with some what of a wheezy cough, that caused the hubby to wake out of his sleep as he ran to his bed one night. Top that with a slight fever that occurred earlier in the week and we ended up skipping our plans to attend a family holiday party and while dressed to the nines we drove off to the E.R. Completely amused by the irony Tristan smiled at the fact that he ended up sitting in the same bed from the week before and giggled while putting on a tiny gown that instantly made those pangs in my heart re-appear. How could I not have taken his coughs more seriously, what if something truly was wrong? But yet again my trooper, the little monster was perfectly fine and once cleared to go ended up having a melt down because we missed the party.
Remembering that our vlogger friend Betsy from ThatsBetsyV told us to check out a festive house in Jamaica Estates we hopped in the car in hopes that this fully decorated house would instantly make the boy's eyes light up! We're huge fans of the Holiday Light Fight show and this house that's only a ten minute drive from home was once a winner. And well deserving because it saved our night.
By the time we finished watching the toy trains in the window and the toy soldiers dancing on the fences we were starved and headed to IHOP for hot chocolate that was bigger than the boys faces and of course they loved chowing down on breakfast for dinner!
Christmas Eve Service & Last Minute Guests Means a Clean House Full of Love: It's been an entire year since we've had guests over to our tiny apartment, a whole freaking year. Nope, my husband's long time childhood friend Ty and my brother don't count because they could care less that our place was busting from the seams with boxes of products to review and seasonal clothes we hadn't had the chance to bring to storage. So Imagine how I nearly lost it when my parents decided they wanted to spend Christmas day with us. I mean I was thrilled but I had some major cleaning to do, deep cleaning that required washing walls, rubbing stains out of the couches and scrubbing toilets. I'm so thankful for their visit because it gave us just the push we needed to start of the New Year. We still have a ton of laundry to catch up on, which is supposedly bad luck to entire the New Year, well that's just fantastic isn't it? We can never get a handle on laundry so what will be will be.
Attending church on Christmas Eve was all that my daddy wanted as a gift and it was probably the first time we'd all gone to a service as a family since we were kids other than for someone passing away. The evening's message was simply beautiful and resonated with all that was going on during the month "Out of darkness there will always be light." Celebrating being together, health and a new baby on the way (my nephew baby Quentin) was all worth praising.
Having been so caught up with all that was going on the weeks leading up to the holiday, long hours at work and the kids in school, our tree ended up not being adorned with our star until literally Christmas morning because it's tradition that they do it with their daddy. The hubby whipped up homemade Belgium waffles while the lil' monsters opened their presents and us millennial children cracked jokes on the new generation of grandparents who gifted each other with gadgets and gizmos but couldn't figure out how to use them.
Ringing in the New Year With no desire to be among crowds of folks that were ready to welcome in the New Year, we just headed to a local Applebees and then finally made it to Dyker Heights to see the last remaining holiday decorated houses before heading home round 11pm. Did you catch the show on Fox 5? Well it was full of old school tunes that had the hubby and I dancing as cheesy as we remember our parents doing back in the day. New Years day was only a week before our grandmothers 83rd birthday and she was all smiles from our visit as she cracked herself up while taking selfies for the first time.
Year after year what always seems to ring true is the much needed time spent with loved ones and I'm blessed upon blessed to have been able to bid farewell to 2015 and to welcome 2016 with my family. Can't wait to see what the new year has in store, how did you live in the moment over the holidays?
