Wednesday, February 25, 2015

{#WordlessWednesday} It is a Gold Foil Wrapped Magnum Kind of Day! {#Photo}



Now, Now Butterfly get your mind out of the gutter! What did you think I meant? Leave your link as a comment and we will be sure to stop over and give your Wordless Wednesday photo some love too! (No Giveaway links please!)

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FTC Disclosure: This is NOT a sponsored post, all opinions are 100% my own!  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission 16 CFR, Part 255 - Guides Concerning the use of endorsements and testimonials in advertising, you may check our Giveaway and Disclosure Page for additional information regarding Ascending Butterfly Disclosure.

Monday, February 23, 2015

Find out how my #Travel Wanderlust could mean a trip to #Paris for YOU! #trafalgarinsider

This post is sponsored by:



I have battled both Snowmageddon 2015 and the Flu this brutal winter here in the North East and the only thing they have both stirred up in me is my never-ending battle with Travel Wander Lust! I want to escape, and I want to escape BAD! Having worked in the airline industry in the past my passion for travel has never waned.

With my birthday coming up in April I really want to go big, but quite frankly I'm not sure I am up for the planning involved in an Epic adventure you know - that 'once-in-a-lifetime' trip that you never forget! (My first trip to Vegas was one of those Epic trips that's for sure! Thankfully what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas!) The only thing I'm sure of at this point is that I want it to be an international trip, Europe, Asia or somewhere Down Under are my top choices right now.

While stuck at home with the flu I have done some preliminary research, and come across some real contenders both in terms of destination AND who should plan it - with the same attention to detail that I would if I did it myself.  One of the forerunners is a family owned company who is one of the innovators in "Insider Experiences' - allowing travelers to dine with locals in their homes and more! I have always been an 'off-the-beaten-path' type of traveler, and like me, the folks at Trafalgar share a passion for all things travel.

I need a personal travel director/concierge for this upcoming birthday trip and with Trafalgar they arrange for every detail - think luxury coach transportation, hand-picked four-star accommodations, all baggage, hotel and restaurant gratuties! Now that's what I'm talking about!

I personally was snowed in with the Flu on Valentine's Day, but my research for one thing (my upcoming birthday trip) led to another that I just couldn't keep to myself and just had to share! How does an eight-night romantic trip to France - you know THE CITY OF LOVE - sound to you?

The Eiffel Tower
Photo Credit: Mayors & Cities - The Worldwide Municipalities Magazine
Not yet sold? The Wonderful France Trip Includes:

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Visiting famous landmarks including: Eiffel Tower, Champs-Elysees, Palace of Versailles

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - St. Tropez and Monaco - the playground of the rich and famous

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Pristine Cote d'Azur Coastline

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Trafalgar unique insider experiences including a Be My Guest dinner in Provence cooked in a wood-fired oven in a family run restaurant

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Visit the world-renowned vineyards of Cote du Rhone and Burgundy Wine Regions

But HURRY! The contest runs until February 26th, that is also the deadline date for the Early Payment Discount allowing couples to save up to $1,200 on trips to Europe! Enter HERE for the contest, and if you can't wait to find out if you won and want to lock in that discount, call Trafalgar Travel Experts at 866-544-4434!

MY TAKE

You know just how much brands that give back mean to me and I am happy to share that Trafalgar is a founder and active supporter of The TreadRight Foundation, a not-for-profit that works to ensure the environment and communities we visit remain vibrant and well preserved, TreadRight has donated $2.5 million to sustainable tourism projects worldwide!

If you are like me and like to 'lurk' a bit and get to know a brand before you commit, you can hang out with Trafalgar on Facebook and Twitter! And as a blogger I am literally bursting at the seams to share that if you fill out the form HERE and share your best photo taken during a Trafalgar Vacation, they will PAY YOU for it! And it is easy as one, two, three - (1) Enter your Details, (2) Upload your images and (3) Submit, note they will only accept hi-res images 710 x 710 pixels or larger!

Where is your next adventure? Where would you like Trafalgar to help you plan an epic adventure for? Did you enter the Wonderful France Competition Butterflies?

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FTC Disclosure: This is a sponsored post, however all opinions are 100% my own!  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission 16 CFR, Part 255 - Guides Concerning the use of endorsements and testimonials in advertising, you may check our Giveaway and Disclosure Page for additional information regarding Ascending Butterfly Disclosure.

Friday, February 13, 2015

This #FridayThe13th let's talk what's new on #Television! These Shows are on my radar!



I didn't get a flu shot this year and I have spent the past two weeks doing the flu 'cha cha' a few hours of lucidity where I try to get everything done and then totally wiped out again. In fact the other day I took a shower thinking I was doing great, and my fever spiked so high I thought surely I would pass out. Then the thought of  the EMT's finding me butt naked in my bathroom made me muster my energy to get my PJ's on and get back to bed.

The only great thing about the Flu is TV. Whether it's Cheese TV, Binge Watching, or catching new shows, the flu makes you a captive audience.

Two new shows on my radar are Empire and The Slap.



EMPIRE:

This show centers around a hip hop music and entertainment company called Empire Enterprises, and the drama amidst the members of the founding family of the company who are fighting for control, and stars Taraji P. Henson as Cookie Lyon and Terrence Howard as Lucious Lyon. Lucious is a former drug dealer turned hip hop mogul and CEO of Empire Entertainment who has been diagnosed with ALS and now needs to figure out who his successor will be. Cookie, is Lucious' ex-wife, mother of his three sons and she took a 17 year stretch in prison instead of Lucious for drug dealing. So far this one is keeping me riveted, and I haven't been able to say that about a non cable series in AGES. I can't wait to see this story unfold and it is one of the best TV gifts that has come out of me having the flu and forcing myself to rest! Empire airs Wednesday's at 9pm on Fox! Taraji is truly tearing it up as Cookie!



The Slap

"The Slap" is a miniseries based on the book by Christos Tsiolkas and Australian Television Series and centers on what occurs during the 40th birthday party of Hector played by Peter Sarsaard. His wife Aisha played by Thandie Newton plans a birthday barbecue for Hector that includes his boisterous Greek family. The party comes to a screeching halt when his cousin slaps another couple's mis-behaving child. The series stars Peter Sarsaard, Thandie Newton, Zachary Quinto, Uma Thurman, Melissa George, Thomas Sadoski and Brian Cox. It airs Thursdays at 8pm on NBC.

My Take:

I am normally a fan of cable series shows like Game of Thrones, American Horror Story, Nurse Jackie, Boardwalk Empire and the little time I even allot for TV would normally go to a cable series, however these two network series do hold potential and I have greatly enjoyed what I am seeing so far!

Have you seen Empire or The Slap yet butterflies? If so what do you think of them? If not, what is your favorite Television series right now?

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FTC Disclosure: This is NOT a sponsored post, no monetary compensation has been exchanged and all opinions are 100% my own!  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission 16 CFR, Part 255 - Guides Concerning the use of endorsements and testimonials in advertising, you may check our Giveaway and Disclosure Page for additional information regarding Ascending Butterfly Disclosure.

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

{#WordlessWednesday} My #Beauty Care Haul - See what I won from @mirta_deperales


I love entering contests and I can't help entering Beauty Contests, here is a gift bag I won from Mirta de Perales, on the outside is skincare, and inside the bag was a ton of haircare! 

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FTC Disclosure: This is NOT a sponsored post, I won this gift bag and was under no obligation to write anything about it!

Friday, February 6, 2015

{#FashionFriday} High Fashion AND Washable? Oh yes you can! #PGFutureFabricsNYC

Display of Tide Products #PGFutureFabricsNYC

Are those three dreaded words 'Dry Clean Only' going to become a thing of the past? I can only hope so!

With cars out that can now drive themselves, it's about time fabric and fashion took a leap forward and gave us more choices. Like the choice to enjoy designer label fashion that is completely washable and having the fabric retain both it's feel AND color!

#PGFutureFabricsNYC


P&G hosted a Future Fabrics Event in New York City hosted by Fashion Stylist/Expert, Author and Television host George Kotsiopoulos focusing in on the science of the beauty and care of clothes and the advancements in fabric and technology that included a Fashion Show of looks by Giles Deacon that are completely washable! (see photo of all the looks below:)

Fashion Show of washable fashion looks by Designer Giles Deacon #PGFutureFabricsNYC
Women wear only 20% of their clothes 80% of the time, and according to Cognitive Psychologist, Dr. Lawrence Rosenblum there are 'a myriad of cross-sensory influences on your experience - what you see, how it feels to the touch, what your nose smells, it is the look, feel and scent of your clothes that combine to impact the relationship that you have with them and your final decision on 'what to wear today'.

The Look Color and Whiteness of Clothes by Tide #PGFutureFabricsNYC
Above: 'The Look' of a garment plays a huge part in whether or not we will select it to wear, no one wants a white shirt that is now beige or yellow! (as you can tell the whitest of the shirts is the one washed in Tide Laundry Detergent, where as the same garment washed in competitor brand detergents did not yield the same results and did not preserve the 'whiteness' of the garments)

The Feel Flexibility and Handle of Clothes by Tide #PGFutureFabricsNYC

Above: 'The Feel' of a garment is part of the multi-sensory perception that goes into whether or not we will pick a particular garment out of the closet that day.

The Scent Invisible Stains Cause Odor Tide #PGFutureFabricsNYC

Above: 'The Scent' While that may seem like an obvious one, I had no idea that invisible stains also cause odor. Tide formulas are helping to protect the 'like new' feel of clothes via Fiber Preservation Technologies that prevent hard water minerals from compromising fiber integrity and The new Tide 4-in-1 Pods with Febreze help take this process a bit further by aligning and polishing the fibers to remove soil and invisible stains and binding the parts that actually cause fiber damage and that also lead to premature degradation.

Scent Notes of Downy #PGFutureFabricsNYC

There was a bit of focus on 'Scent' (which was to be expected!) and I was very surprised to learn that proctor & gamble (P&G) employs the most perfumers in the world!

Scent Notes of Downy  with P&G Fashion Scientist and George Kotsiopoulos #PGFutureFabricsNYC

Six of the 'main' notes that go into Downy include:

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Green Notes
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Apple
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Rose
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - White Floral
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Vanilla
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Musk

The science behind Tide and Tide HE Turbo #PGFutureFabricsNYC

There were even demos that explained the science behind what goes on in our washing machine (this butterfly is thinking it is really time to invest in a High Efficiency washing machine and get out of the 'dark ages' when it comes to washers!)

Green and Floral Notes of Downy #PGFutureFabricsNYC
Green and Floral Notes of Downy #PGFutureFabricsNYC

New products to look for on your next trip to the supermarket include:

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Tide Pods Plus Febreze
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Tide HE (high-efficiency) Turbo
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Downy Fresh Protect in-wash odor shield in the 'active fresh' scent

MY TAKE:

Tide and Downy have always been my laundry 'go-to' products, and getting this inside look into the science and technology of washable fashion was certainy fun and definitely made me think. I want to re-evaluate my wardrobe and get rid of that 80% that is not being worn and focus more into the 20% that I tend to wear more often, this way I can never say 'I have nothing to wear' and I can really say I love everything that I am currently rocking!

And as events always come with cool swag, with my online nickname being The Official Twitter Party DJ, I have to share that part of the swag was a pair of MARC by Marc Jacobs Humlan Oil Edition UrbanEars headphones! (you can toss the  removable headband and the ear cushions in the wash!) SUH WEET

Do you think more designers will embrace the 'washable fashion' trend?

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FTC Disclosure: This is an event recap, no monetary compensation has been exchanged however Ascending Butterfly was provided with Product Samples for Editorial Consideration and there was a 'swag bag'. This however did NOT influence my opinion. All opinions are 100% my own!  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission 16 CFR, Part 255 - Guides Concerning the use of endorsements and testimonials in advertising, you may check our Giveaway and Disclosure Page for additional information regarding Ascending Butterfly Disclosure.