DC Moms Expert Series

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New Year…Get Kid’s Things Organized!

January 14, 2013

No time to blog over the weekend….so I am bringing back an oldie but a goodie….an interview from last January from local home organization expert and mom on how to keep your kids things organized all year long. Hopefully some of her tips will help you this year!

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“You can always be organized but with children, you’re not always going to be neat,” says local mom & home organization expert Rachel Strisik.

Can I hear the “RIGHT ONs” bouncing across the beltway right now?

What? What is that I hear you saying? Say it again? Should we shout it from the rooftops? Can I remind myself of this mantra when I get into my definitely not neat car or open one of my closet doors and duck for fear of what might just come tumbling out at me?

Rachel on NBC4 with Angie Goff

What about when I cringe and peer into the playroom?

Come to think of it, maybe I will make a theme of blaming my shortcomings on my children in 2012 because even though I am awesome, I fall short in a few areas. Husbands are part of the problem of things not being…ahem…neat (need I remind you of the dis-mantled crib that remained in my upstairs hallway for a few months earlier this fall?).

As we know, 2012 is the year of I am Awesome and Moi Loves Moi. Part of being awesome is being organized. So, who best to talk to about this problem than Rachel Strisik, home organizer extraordinare.

Rachel started her home organizing business back in 2005 before her twin girls were born. Along the way, she also spent 2.5 years working for Stacy London, who many of us know from What Not to Wear. Bottom line – if you need some organization in your life – then this is the local area mom to call. We had the chance to talk in late December and I have lived by her words since we last spoke.

Rachel pointed out that holidays and birthdays are the perfect time to weed through playrooms and make room for the new stuff. With her own twin girls, who turn four this month, she’s made a regular habit of looking through what they already have and starting a donate pile, and now her girls participate in this activity. Typically I am skeptical of any sort of “involve the kids in cleaning” tips because they come saddled with “They will love it” advice, and I used to wonder if that was a euphemism for “Really, you’re going to just give yourself another reason to listen to your kids whine while you try to do something productive.” But, surprisingly, I have found that my 6-year-old truly enjoys participating in the “donation pile” cleaning activity and we make up stories about the younger kids who might use this certain toy and what they’ll be like. Plus, we all know from Toy Story that no toy is happy until it has a child to play with it, and so it’s fun to remind her of that as we dust off the toys she’s outgrown and I remind her why she actually can part with it.

Another reason that cleaning out toys is important is this: Rachel reminded me of the impact of visual clutter on both kids and adults. A chaotic cluttered room is not peaceful, or even something anyone wants to set foot in. Kind of like my car. A common solution to tackling the visual clutter is to rotate toys. Frankly I’ve always known this is a good idea but I just don’t see myself doing it. Rachel’s advice is to actually schedule time on your calendar, like a doctor’s appointment, and then you have no excuse – you’ve set aside that date and time to approach the clutter, rotate it out and leave only the toys they actually play with in sight. And it is true that when they eventually see a toy again that they haven’t seen in a while, they are going to play with it, and eagerly. I really appreciated the tip of scheduling the time in your calendar.

Finally the dreaded topic of kids art work came up. Rachel raised the issue of taking pictures of the kids artwork and loading them into a Snapfish album. I’m sure like moi, you’ve heard this approach several times and if you are anything like moi, you are apt to dismiss it as just high maintenance and unrealistic. But then Rachel made two points that really struck a chord with me. First, she said that what she advises clients to do is write down what the child said about that piece of artwork and include that statement in the Snapfish album, so when they are older and looking back on it, not only can they see what they made but they can read what they thought about it. I loved that idea. And then she said this – we all need to be “conscious of what we are saving because we are passing it along to our children.”

And she is totally right. I myself have boxes of my old cherished art work from my youth, hogging up prime storage space in my basement, that my mother eagerly passed on to me. Do I ever look at it? No. Can I bear with tossing it out? No. Do I have a problem? Maybe. So do I need to repeat the cycle and pass it along to my girls? Probably not.

Rachel was on NBC4 with Angie Goff on Saturday discussing kids room organization tips in-depth – so if you want specific advice on containers and storing and organizing toys, check out the link to her fabulous interview.

In the mean time, happy organizing! And tell me – do you rotate toys out or have you ever done a photo album just of the kids artwork?

For more true confessions on how not-organized I really am..and other such fun…be sure to “Like” the WM page on FB.

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DC Moms Expert Series

Today’s Topic: All About Lice

August 15, 2012

Today’s public service announcement is brought to you from…..MOI. Ain’t life grand?

Look, I can’t help but notice the search traffic to my site is increasingly driven by those looking for information about LICE. Ahh…lice…..our mortal enemy. The equal opportunity offender. I have survived this epidemic. C’est vrai. And in the spirit of school starting soon and kids returning from summer camp infested with lice…yes, it can happen to your clean child too, I thought that I can only bring to you this very informative post in the event you suspect lice in your pipsqueaks. Even if you don’t, please read below. Denial, as I’ve learned, is never a good thing when it comes to lice.

And so….my post with the lice expert (yes, she exists) from this exact time last year.

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Ahh….it’s that time of year…that time that many of us think will never come….Back-to-School! And with the return of the cherubs to school comes that never-ending, itchy scratchy problem that if you’ve never had, you pray you never will, and if you’ve never had, you probably think you only get when you’re a dirty, lazy parent…..LICE. Lice. The great equalizer. Lice. The equal opportunity offender. Lice. It happens to the best of us.

Don't fake it, we all look like this when we realize our kid has lice

And so, for today’s expert series, I turned to none other than the lice expert in Montgomery County. The woman who saved me in a dark phase of my life exactly one year ago when I realized that my child wasn’t scratching her head because she was hot and needed to pull it back (denial is never a good thing when it comes to lice), my child was scratching her head because it was infested with lice. And despite what I might have thought before, lice does happen to people who are clean and anal and attentive. I introduce you to Karen Franco of Advice on Lice in Kensington, MD. Without a doubt, my money spent at Advice on Lice was some of the best money I ever spent. Is your head itchy yet? Cause it will be by the time you are mid-way through our very helpful interview but well, an ounce of prevention does us all a world of good as we gear up to send the kiddo’s back to school in less than two weeks. Karen and her husband now run a full-time business checking heads for lice, educating parents on what to do, and generally being life-savers in your time of need when lice hits the house. Karen got started in the lice business 15 years ago when her daughter was young, she used to volunteer to do head checks, and was appalled with the stigma attached with lice and how unwilling people were to acknowledge it and do something about it. Her experience evolved into an in-demand local small business. Karen and her husband not only check families for lice, they educate you on what to do and give you the steps you need to take to make sure you eradicate it completely from your house. I won’t lie, it’s definitely work intensive but I survived…so read on for some great advice.

Karen, is there a peak time of year for lice?

Yes. Back-to-school is definitely a peak time of year for lice. Because of summer camps and people traveling, there are cross-over populations and people are sharing lice. All summer long, we are distracted – which is partly where some of the denial comes in that you mentioned – we think it must be allergies or dandruff which is absurd but people don’t want their summer disrupted.

How do we know it’s not dandruff?

Dandruff will blow off easily. It flakes. There is a mis-conception about lice – people think they are greyish white but that is misleading – they are transparent, a milky color and the nit is glued onto the hair, you have to scrape it off, whereas dandruff flakes off.

Let’s talk more about the role of denial and lice. I am very guilty of this. This time last year, my eldest walked around scratching her head like crazy for easily 2 weeks. I didn’t want to accept that it could be lice, and because we’d never had it before, while I did check her head, I didn’t really know what I was looking for and her hair is very thick. It wasn’t until there were bugs actually hopping that I had to accept this child had lice. I feel like sleep away camp is a big problem with lice and going back-to -school. Do you find this about sleep-away camp?

Yes. Kids go to sleep-away camp and often get lice. And many of the camps actually screen them when they arrive and if they find lice, send them home, which leaves upset children. Some parents bring them to see us for a head check as soon as they pick the kids up from sleep away camp. The bottom line is there is no magic potion to make lice go away – there is no smell that repels them.

So what can we do to prevent lice?

Get a fine tooth comb and comb their hair on a regular basis. Make it part of your weekly routine and that is your best prevention. Prevention is getting the lice out before it takes root and sets up a family. I recommend the Lice Meister comb and brushing through the child’s hair twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening. You can order the comb online. I have one client who has made combing through her child’s hair part of their family routine by starting and ending the week with the comb throughs. Every Monday and every Friday, she sits down her child, uses some conditioner, and combs through from the scalp to the end of the hair. The public schools here believe that lice is a nuisance and because it is not life threatening, you don’t have to keep your child home from school, but that doesn’t help anyone. The bottom line is, it’s prudent to designate a day to look through everyone’s hair every week. It is never appropriate to say your child can’t miss school and you will just let it go.

So, you find out your child has lice – so then what? What do you do?

First let me say that the homeopathic treatments are not based on science, they are not effective. You need chemicals to kill the lice. I recommend Rid and I recommend that my clients leave it on their heads for longer than 10 minutes, which is what it says on the box. I advise clients to leave it on for a minimum of 30 minutes to kill all the live bugs. The method that we lay out on our web site has been validated time and time again. The problem is that the live bugs are the contagious ones, they crawl, they know they want to be in the human head. There are so many mis-informed theories out there about how to kill lice. One really common one is putting olive oil on your head and sleeping all night with it – that does not kill the lice. The lice breathe through pores and they can close their pores for up to 18 hours, so sleeping with olive oil doesn’t kill the lice. And then – you have to comb through the hair. The comb that comes with the RID is a joke. They do not work. You have to use a fine tooth comb, like the Lice Meister. Parents of boys often shave their son’s head and that will get rid of the lice.

What about if you are pregnant or have very young children – what product should you use that will still kill the lice but doesn’t have chemicals?

There is a new prescription medication that has no pesticides called Ulesfia. It’s not meant for anyone under 6 months. Because the product is new, we recommend using less product than prescribed the first time and then using it again 10 days later. Many pharmacies don’t carry it but the pharmacy in our building does carry it.

Are we all itchy yet?? But seriously, having lived through this, I was cursing all the stuffed animals we owned as I put them in the dryer and bagged them for a few weeks. How long do they live when they are not on a head? And what about car seats?

A healthy adult female or male can live for about 1.5 days, depending on where it is. The nits will die within an hour or so. If your child has been in the car seat and it’s summer time, the bug will be dead in the hot car within 2-3 hours. The bottom line is the head is where they live, they are not infecting your car, carpets, your home. They can’t do their important activities anywhere beyond the head, so what I urge people to do is spend their time focusing on combing the hair with a proper fine-tooth comb.

So Karen, as we embark on the school year, can you tell us how much your services cost and give us some parting words of wisdom?

Yes, we charge $85/hour or $20 for a screening. All the products we recommend are available in our store. We can go to people’s homes but children are usually much better behaved when not at home and in our offices and we are just better equipped with the seating and lighting in our office. Also, I think it is important to teach children about lice in terms of “life sciences” to help eliminate the stigma attached with lice and really teach prevention and education. As for parting words of wisdom, I like to say “When in doubt, comb it out.”

Those are excellent final words from Karen. So moms, when in doubt, comb it out……and call Karen. And remember, denial is never a good thing when it comes to lice. Finally, if you liked today’s WM Expert Series, please “Like” Wired Momma on Facebook or look to the right and subscribe…it’s an easy way to keep up with future fabulous local mom expert interviews and well, other random things we discuss here.

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DC Moms Expert Series, DC Parenting Blogger, Lice, Moms/Entrepreneurs, Motherhood, Washington Mommy Blogger

Today’s Topic: Summer Hair & Express Blowout Give Away

July 12, 2012

We are mid-way through this brutal summer and if you are anything like me, you have crazy lion hair in the DC humidity, so in the spirit of “I am moving so you need to bear with me and accept re-posts of old posts” – today I am reminding you of this totally amazing post from last summer – complete with tips from one of DC’s best hair stylists, Denise Sharpe (and full disclosure, my hairstylist), including lessons with a flat iron and a chance to win an Express Blowout with Denise’s trained protege, Paula, or get a discount with Denise for an Express Blowout just because you love moi and you read this post. So read on, kittens.

If life’s lessons begin and end with an episode of Sesame Street , then I’m pretty sure this video wraps up how I don’t feel every summer about my hair, but really want too. In my head, on the beach or by the pool, I look like a sexy summer goddess.

Exhibit A:

Isn't this how you look at the pool?

In reality, well, quite the opposite.

Realizing I couldn’t face another summer of bad hair, I sought out some advice from my beloved hair stylist, Denise, of Denise Sharpe Hair, located in Bethesda. Denise has been a stylist for over 20 years and is also a mom to 3-year-old twin girls. So like us, she’s busy but stylish. Read on for invaluable hair and time-saving tips.

First, let’s talk about hair cut and color trends for the summer. Tell us what styles are popular right now, what looks will keep us from having bad mom hair, and what the color trends are hot for the spring and summer?

For the classic mom, a soft and side swept graduated bob is very popular, with some choppy layers to emphasize the texture of her cut. For the trendier mom, I’m doing more fringe and heavier bangs . The inception of Keratin Complex Treatments is making this style more accessible to women with wavy and frizzy hair because now they can have the fringe and the sleek bangs without the risk of too much frizz and curl. For the funkier mom, the glunge look is more popular.

Glunge? Do tell, I’ve never heard of it. Are we talking hair bands? Brett Michaels meets Kirk Cobain?

Yes! Glunge is the marriage of glamour and grunge. 80s hair band meeting 90s grunge band is spot on, but let’s think of attractive females as our visuals here, not unkempt dudes. Think Drew Barrymore meets JLo, so a loose messy tousle and this style hides kid puke and yogurt stains pretty well. Often this hair style looks unwashed, though it usually isn’t, with the help of synthetic products like pomade and dry shampoo .

So what about color trends for this time of year?

Michelle Williams’ icy blond look is very popular for blondes but it is high maintenance. It requires color about every 3-4 weeks. For red heads or brunettes, Drew Barrymore’s “St. Tropez” highlights work well for the summer. In that look, her scalp is a richer color and the ends are lighter. Also for red heads or brunettes, Kim Kardashian’s “Root Beer Float” highlights are very trendy, meaning she accents her rich dark brown color with warm reds. What’s important is to use a sulfate free shampoo on any of these treatments for maintenance.

Excellent. So moving on to the inevitable bad-hair day or when we are short on time, what is a busy gal to do?

Dry shampoo is the first thing I reach for on a day when I don’t have time to shower or wake up with bad hair. It helps revive the blowout from the day before, and I’d like to point out that it’s best for your hair if you don’t wash it every day. Another quick fix is grabbing your child’s leave-in detangler. If you have longer hair, a side-swept braid is a good way to mask unwashed hair. A cost-effective way to clean up unwashed hair is using corn starch or baby powder. Think Julia Child and just grab a pinch of it, and you will notice how it absorbs oils and then use a wide tooth comb or paddle brush to brush your hair through. And finally, there’s always our friend the flat iron. The flat iron is perfect for working through random bed-head fly aways but also helps your hair not look so contrived; you can keep it loose and playful with the flat iron.

I’m glad you raise the issue of the flat iron. I routinely bow to the Gods who invented the flat iron. But how do I know I have the right flat iron for my hair? And are all flat irons created equal, do I really have to spend a mint because I bought mine at Target for $19.99.

What makes or breaks a good flat iron is really the edges. You want beveled edges, which means rounded, for smooth styling. If you hair is short or medium length, the beveled edges should be about an inch thick with a thin plate inside. You are looking for a square plate for hair that is longer than shoulder length. For blondes with the flat iron, keep it at the 350 temperature because blondes have delicate hair. Brunettes and natural red heads should put the flat iron temperature at 400-450 degrees. Remember that “slow and steady” wins the race with a flat iron. If you race through it at too high of a heat, you might have to repeat the process. And yes, you can purchase an inexpensive flat iron at Target or the grocery store, but it might need to be replaced in a few months whereas a more expensive one will last longer.

So what should we all have in our hair survivor kits or purses?

Depending on your hair style and length, you should pick from any or all of these 10 tips: non-elastic scrunchies like Goodie brand from the pharmacy aisle, non-butterfly flat clips for drying hair or styling hair, Bobby Pins complimentary to your hair color or hair pins to loosely pin back pieces, Rat Tail comb for sectioning or combing fringe, a thermal round brush for volume and flip, a diffuser to embrace your natural texture or curl, a blow dryer with a nozzle, pin curl clips for side swept bangs or to train new growing-in bangs to sweep over between haircuts, dry shampoo and a restylizer such as Wen lavender replenishing mist , Catwalk Curls Rock Curl Booster , “It’s a 10” miracle leave-in or Arrojo Hydromist .

Now tell me how I can possibly not have lion hair all summer long. I’ve tried every product under the sun; I spend gobs on product every summer trying to beat back the inevitable frizz and chaos that comes with DC humidity and I can flat iron to no avail, the minute I walk outside, I look like I’m wired for sound (perhaps the real reason I’m called Wired Momma…)

There are two things you can do, the Express Blowout or the Keratin Smoothing Treatment. The Express Blowout takes just under an hour, lasts for 4-5 weeks and costs between $99-$150 depending on the length of your hair. You do not need to use certain products after you get the Express Blowout, you just can’t wash your hair for 8 hours after. Some women wait a few days to wash their hair because they believe it makes the treatment last longer. But this is how you beat the humidity and keep your hair looking sleek in the summer. It’s really a perfect solution for the busy mom; you spend less time managing your hair and less money because you don’t need all the product. If you’d like a treatment that lasts longer, the Keratin Smoothing Treatment lasts 3-5 months, takes anywhere from 1.5 to 2.5 hours, depending on the length and density of your hair, and costs between $350-$500. For both of these treatments, you can get color at the same time. One client told me that her hair was having an identity crisis after the Express Blowout because it really did stay smooth and sleek despite weather conditions. Look, why not have sleek hair and bodies all summer long, right?

Can pregnant or nursing moms use this treatment?

No. For pregnant or nursing moms or women who are environmentally conscious, we can do the Research in Beauty treatment. It is a keratin gold retexturizing treatment, free of formaldehyde and aldehydes. It lasts about 2-3 months and costs between $350-$500.

Update from Monica:

As soon as I heard about the Express Blowout, I was willing to kick an old lady down to get to the salon fast enough to try out this treatment. I had it done, waited about 12 hours to wash my hair and never believed it would work. Almost five weeks have passed and it is defying all the odds, my entire family is wondering where their mocking hair jokes have gone for the summer because I am still looking sleek and stylish – this after runs in the humidity, hours on the beach, even just walking outside. It is a summer miracle. Also, I’ve not used any product or the flat iron because I haven’t needed too. Am I breaking up with my flat iron for the summer? I am ready to now sing “I love my hair”.

GIVE AWAY ALERT, FRIENDS:

Denise is offering 25% off to all Wired Momma readers who want to try the Express Blowout. All readers are eligible for the discount, just mention this post to Denise when you go for your treatment. One lucky winner is going to win an Express Blowout with Denise’s protege, Paula. Entering to win is two-part: first head to the Wired Momma Facebook page, hit “Like” and either Like or comment in my post….then part two: head over to the Denise Sharpe Hair Facebook page and hit “Like.” The one lucky winner will be announced on Saturday July 21 on Facebook and the give-away winner can only redeem her Express Blowout on a Monday between 10-4 or a Thursday between 11-7pm. Don’t forget, for everyone else, just mention this article to Denise to earn your 25% discount on the Express Blowout! Follow Denise on Twitter @sharpedenise for easy access to great haircare tips!

Happy summer . . . love your hair. . .

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Babes Around the Beltway, Celebrities, DC Moms Expert Series, DC Parenting Blogger, Express Blowout/Keratin Treatments, Motherhood, Summer Hair Trends, Summer Highlighting Trends

Work-Life Balance…Thoughts from NBC4’s Angie Goff

April 10, 2012

NBC4's Angie Goff...a busy working mom

As many of you know, I’m always eager to talk about the eternal quest for work-life balance, and I especially love interviewing local moms in DC, so I jumped at the chance to interview NBC4’s Angie Goff. I was lucky enough to meet her at an event at Bethesda’s Kidville earlier this winter, along with her adorable 15-month old toddler Adora, and naturally I seized the opportunity to talk to her then about an interview on how she manages work and her family. Shortly after we met, Angie’s schedule headed in the opposite direction from work-life balance, at least from my viewer’s perspective, as she took on 11pm news work in addition to anchoring the weekend news. On top of this, her husband spends his weekdays away working down South. So really – does she think work-life balance is possible? How does she find “me time”, where does she shop and does she feel differently about covering the news now that she is a mom? Read on to find out…..

Q: First thing I’m always curious to know – what is it like being pregnant on camera?

Angie: I kept it quiet for the first four months and I write my own blog, Oh My Goff, and I started noticing search terms like “Angie Goff Pregnant.” I realized then that the viewers could tell, so I shared the news. Work wanted to follow my pregnancy, so it all really unraveled on the air and we did pieces for women because as a first-time mom, I had so many questions. But as you know, the camera already makes you look bigger than you are, so I just really worried that I would never return to my same shape. I even got a little depressed looking at old pictures. Being on camera for work, I was also obsessed with returning to my old size right away once I had the baby but I learned I just couldn’t run right away. That’s when I realized that I just don’t have the same kind of time to do what I did before and truthfully, I still have my trouble spots.

Q: So you’ve mentioned that once you’ve had your baby, you really realize just how little time there is left in the day, so do you think work-life balance is possible?

Angie: Only if you are willing to accept that it means sacrifice and that you’re not #1 anymore. At first I really struggled with it. I had always done what I wanted to do my whole life and could follow through with commitments. Now I really wrestle with saying no and backing out of things. No one tells you that your own personal life will take a hit and it’s a struggle along the way. There are days I come into work and my brain is about to explode, there are a thousand things to do and I’m just thinking it all through in my head. I’ve realized that if I don’t get everything done, it’s going to be okay because sometimes it’s just not possible. For example, recently I just missed my friend’s kid’s first birthday party, I totally forgot. My heart sunk when I realized it.

I am still trying to learn how to say “no” to have more order in my life.

Q: Has anyone given you great advice on this front?

Angie: Well, I certainly have done some shows and been miserable but a colleague once told me that there used to be a weatherman who had a sign over his door that read “No one cares” and it just really puts things in perspective. People are tuning in to watch the news – so there’s no reason to let your bad day reflect on set. On days when I’m going on zero sleep or have had a difficult time, I go back to that sign and it really helps change my mindset. Also, there are plenty of days where it’s nice being at work, it’s like an escape. I will say, though, that when I am at work, I am in the work mindset and when I am home, I focus on being home and really try to not check emails – I just want to focus on my daughter.

Adorable Adora is already getting her start on the news

Q: Now that you are a mom, is it harder to cover the news?

Angie: Yes. Just recently, there was a tragic story of a very pretty girl who died on the track. I was asked to go interview the girls’ parents. My heart just sank. I’ve covered some horrific stories since 2003 – sex crimes, murder – and I’ve talked to victims before. But as we rolled up to the girl’s house and I saw her father out front – and I just couldn’t get out of the car for at least 5 minutes. I mean, what is the first thing you say to someone who just lost their daughter? In the end, I assured him that we would honor her memory but it’s crushing. It tears you apart.

Before I had my daughter, I was focused on hitting my deadline. Now I ask myself – “why does this matter”. In terms of the tragic story with the young girl, there was an outpouring online among her friends and hopefully they found our coverage comforting, I’d like to think it was part of the healing process for them. That takes away the burn.

And truthfully, sometimes now I will break down and cry whereas that never happened to me before. Sometimes I even cry when I’m watching the news as I’m running on the treadmill at the gym. I think I look at the news in a different way now, a better way.

Q: So you’ve mentioned going for runs a few times, is that how you find your “me time” now – if you can find any “me time”?

Angie: Well, I don’t have any extra help at home, so the moment I am home, I am hands on and taking care of my daughter. I can’t just go out for a run anymore, so I have purchased some DVDs to workout while she is napping. The truth is, though, that I always feel like I am up against the clock. I’ve found my “me time” happens when I get home from work, around 12:30 or 1am. That’s when I have my “me time” – between 1-2am. I’ll grab a snack and read or watch some episodes of “Mad Men.” That is really when I have some down time. My husband is also gone all week, sometimes we don’t see each other for 2-3 weeks, then he’ll fly in on Friday, I’ve got an early shift on Saturday and Sunday, then we’ll have lunch and he’ll go back to the airport. We’ve been doing this for almost 5 years but even so, I still don’t think anything would be possible without the support of a great spouse.

Q: That’s remarkable for you to say, even though he’s working elsewhere through the weeks. What a tough schedule. Okay, so in the fall I interviewed Eun Yang on work-life balance and later people emailed me, harassing me, wanting to know where she shops. So, I feel compelled to ask – do you have any favorite shops around town?

Angie: I shop the sales. I am a dress girl and I recently discovered Last Call with Neiman Marcus. I also worked at JCrew through college and love their mix of business chic and casual pieces. I’m also a huge Lily Pulitzer fan and I find some pieces in consignment shops down south. For local consign shops, I also really like Current Boutique in Clarendon and Ella Rue in Georgetown.

Q: Great, thanks! So, do you have any final parting words of wisdom for other area working moms struggling to find work-life balance?

Angie: I think it’s so easy to get wrapped up in the guilt. But I don’t think we should. We are all doing amazing things and achieving so much and not giving ourselves credit. I think it’s pretty amazing that we can keep our heads together and do all that we need to do each day. So, don’t feel guilty. If you are doing it with real love, that’s all that matters. I also think that finding the “me time” is possible but it’s like a diet, you just have to commit to it or it’s not going to work. I really look forward to my 1-2am time. Also, I think it’s really important to find a reason to get out of the house every day. Even if you are just headed to the play area and kids books in Barnes and Noble. It’s just so healthy to get outside, stop by a petting zoo, go see different things, it’s a natural booster and we just get complacent and tired if we do the same things every day.

WM: Awesome, thanks to Angie Goff for her time, of which we know she has very little if she seems to genuinely enjoy her “Me Time” between 1-2am. I loved her advice and perspective, especially her point that we need to commit to finding “me time” as we would to a diet, otherwise it won’t happen. I think that is so right on. Also, where can I get that “No one cares” sign…and will my children get it?

For more talk of work-life choices as I prefer to put it, instead of balance, and other parenting topics, be sure to keep up by “liking” the Wired Momma Facebook page. Catch Angie on NBC during the 11pm news and anchoring the news on the weekend mornings.

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DC Moms Expert Series, Work-Life Balance