LA by Diana - Personal Style blog by Diana Marks: April 2016

Pages

April 25, 2016

The Other Mother

Mother's day is coming up so soon, but in addition to acknowledging our beautiful selfless mothers who always have our backs, I am partnering with LovePop to help recognize the "Other Mother" in our lives. It can be an aunt that never told your parents about that one time, a teacher who never gave up on you, a mentor who has always guided you in the right direction or a boss who recognized your talents before you did - she is the woman who doesn't fit that simple definition of mom, and she has no obligation to add to or invest in your life, but she still does it without asking anything in return.
In my case this person is my grandma. She is the person who loves me unconditionally and is always on my side no matter what. I can trust her with all my secrets and can definitely call her my best friend. Every time I am going through a rough moment in life, she is always there for me trying to be a good advisor, supporter and listener. Her positive approach to life, her ability to gracefully deal with any conflict and her ways of appreciating every little thing in life inspire me to move forward and be a better person every day. 
This mother's day you can recognize the "Other Mother" in your life with a special and unexpected 3D pop-up card from LovePop. Say thank you and tell her about her spirit, her smile and her impact on your world with a personalized hand written message on a beautiful 3D LovePop card. You can also nominate your Other Mother for a special card on LovePop site (all nominees will receive a card!) and even win a very special curated gift basket for her. Submit your "Other Mother" story here.

April 20, 2016

Entertaining (and Cleaning) Made Easy


This post is promoted by Dyson
I love gathering my friends for Sunday movie afternoons at my place, but I hate cleaning. It was always too much time and hassle to do it after everyone leaves. But not anymore! I have discovered the new Dyson V6 Absolute Cord-Free Vacuum, which is a complete lifesaver. It is a cord-free vacuum that is super lightweight, extremely versatile and, most importantly, powerful. You can really clean everywhere with it: the couch, the car, cobwebs in corners, crumbs left in the sofa cushions after people leave, etc. And it's all thanks to the cord-free nature of it. This machine is definitely every entertainer's dream!
I find myself cleaning more and more often, because it's so easy now! I ditched my old vacuum completely, and, thanks to different attachments, I can now reach anywhere and clean my house from floor to ceiling, including all those hard-to-reach places (under the couch, the crevices between appliances, you name it!). It's so easy and fast (literally under 20 minutes!). 

April 18, 2016

How to Have More Fun in Your Life

We all have busy lifestyles these days. The term "work hard, play hard" is used everywhere, yet a recent Chase Freedom Unlimited Card survey found out that Americans are experiencing fun deficit and are not having enough fun in their lives. But Chase is on a mission to change that by introducing the new Chase Freedom Unlimited card, that offers 1.5% unlimited cash back on every purchase. There’s no minimum to redeem for cash back—cardholders can redeem any amount, any time.

There are so many ways to have more fun in our lives, and it doesn't have to be expensive or cost anything at all. As you can see from the Chase Freedom Unlimited Card survey, spending time with people you care about tops the list, small treats like coffees, ice cream etc and treating others are next on the list. But to add more fun we have to first recognize that the sources of it are truly unlimited. 

As for me personally, this year I have gone through a lot of changes in my life. I learned that life is an unpredictable journey and that I have to appreciate every single second of it. I am therefore thriving to add fun to my life every single day. Here are my little tips and tricks for adding more fun in life:

1) Laughing, goofing around and just being silly anywhere I go.

April 14, 2016

Veggie Blends for Spring

Spring is in full swing and it's time to rethink out diets for health and body benefits ;) I personally noticed that I haven't been getting enough vegetables in my diet, and I was trying to find a way to add them. As we all know, the easiest one is to drink them in a nutritious smoothie. I was excited to find out about the new blend from Smoothie King - Veggie Avocado Pineapple. There are tons of reasons to love avocado, and no matter how you pair it, they just add up. From skin and blood pressure benefits, to weight management benefits, avocado has it all. Plus it tastes delicious mixed with juicy pineapple. But don't stop there, there are other veggie flavors at Smoothie King, that are delicious and nutritious: Apple Kiwi Kale, Berry Carrot Dream and Carrot Kale Dream. Sign-up for a $2.99 20oz. coupon via email and sign up to earn rewards in the Smoothie King loyalty app ;)

April 12, 2016

Hotel d'Angleterre: Luxury Boutique 5 Star Hotel in Geneva

I know, I know. I promised this post for quite a while and have been teasing you guys with gorgeous photos of this beautiful hotel for the whole month. But here it is, the highly anticipated review of my luxury experience in Geneva.
While traveling to Switzerland, I stayed at a luxury Hotel d'Angleterre, conveniently located on the banks of Geneva's Lake Leman and set in a refined building dating from 1755. The first thing I noticed was the warm welcome each guest receives while staying there. You don't feel like a hotel guest, you feel like a family friend thanks to excellent service and meticulous attention to details of the hotel's staff. 
The hotel boasts 39 luxury guest rooms and 6 elegant suites, which are individually designed in a combination of refined Swiss style and traditional charm with modern amenities. No room looks similar to one another, making the hotel feel like a warm and welcoming luxury estate, full of tastefully selected and placed antiques and exquisite works of art.
My favorite place to relax at night was their swanky and wildly popular Leopard Bar offering live music in a luxury cozy library setting enhanced by a lit fire.

April 7, 2016

Major Jewelry Giveaway

I am super excited to announce that I have partnered with 7 Charming Sisters for this super exciting giveaway! Everyone WINS! We will have 25 winners!!! And each of them will receive any piece of jewelry from the 7 Charming Sisters website! The jewelry is so pretty, versatile and trendy that I am sure each of you can find something they love. The giveaway will last for 10,000 minutes in honor of reaching 10K likes on their Facebook.
The only requirement to participate is to go on 7 Charming Sisters Facebook HERE and comment on any picture posted by the brand using a hashtag #7CS10KGiveaway . Then leave me your email in the comments to this blog post so that I can contact you when you win. That's it! Super easy!

April 4, 2016

Captain Obvious Runs for President with Hotels.com

Time flies and I can't believe it's another election season. Aside from the presidential race, there is another fun race to be followed. "Captain Obvious running for President" race...but he is actually physically running! He will be providing his own satirical insight on the election along the way, which you can follow on his microsite here. Captain Obvious also has over 300K Twitter followers who follow his updates and the #ObviousPresident hashtag.
Hotels.com is supporting Captain Obvious during his race because they believe in simplicity as much as he does - and he'll need a place to sleep at night! They’ll be providing him with running shoes, socks, shorts and everything else he needs for his run.