SOLEIL MOON FRYE: HAPPY CHAOS!

In 1984, there was really only one person I wanted to be: Soleil Moon Frye. Between the world's coolest tree house, brightly colored socks and tapered jeans, and an adoring "dad" named Henry, Punky Brewster was every little girls' idol. When I was about 8, I did a little acting and did a commercial for the actual Punky Brewster doll (Click HERE to watch... and make fun of me). Who knew that 25 years later, I would meet Soleil and get to work with her on a web series dedicated to women and moms (Btw- SIDE note, do you think anyone in the 80's would have believed you if you said, "one day, there will be an 'intra-net.' And there, we will 'tweet' each other and search each other's names using a 'search engine' called 'goooooogle' and we will stalk old boyfriends and like each other's photos by being friends on a 'social networking site' that's not exactly a book, but it has a lot of faces....")

ANYWAY, I digress... SOLEIL. When we met on the set of Her Say, I was instantly impressed by her charm, spunk, and savviness-- especially with social media. Not only does this busy mom have 1.4 million twitter followers, but she's Target's Mommy Ambassador and now a budding author.

Her book HAPPY CHAOS: From Punky to Parenting and My Perfectly Imperfect Adventures in Between (on sale August 23, 2011) is a refreshing take on modern parenting that encourages moms to be themselves and to embrace the inevitable madness of raising kids and living a full life. Hello, relatable!

Soleil believes that "happy chaos" is a sign of a family operating at its best-- when parents accept that they'll make mistakes, there will be messes, tears and skinned knees. In fact, just the other night she tweeted that to get one of her daughters to bed, she had to bribe her with $5. Sounds like the morning I had involving "here's a lollipop, now please brush your teeth."

1) You're so busy, how did you find the time to write your book? Between kids, work, and marriage, did you have to stick to a schedule?

I'm so crazed during the day with the kids and juggling work, that my time to sit down and write ends up being the middle of the night. I'm lucky because I am often inspired at midnight :) hard part is living on 3 or 4 hours of sleep.

2) My motto in parenting has definitely become "Whatever works." What are some of the things you thought you'd never/always do (always organic, never TV etc) that went right out of the window the minute you had kids and life got a little crazier?

I always thought that I'd be this super laid back hippie mama and then when I had kids, I realized that we aren't always the parents we think we will be before we have children. Now I try to find the balance in everything so while I buy my kid's wooden natural toys, they also play with Barbies.

3) We've talked a lot about unplugging and how technology can get in the way of a relationship. How has technology affected your parenting? Do your daughters understand your connection and time spent on Twitter/ Facebook etc?

My girls are obsessed with technology. Jagger literally goes up to the Television and tries to move it as if it were an iPad. We try our best to balance so when we are having dinner or having quality time with our children we put away the devices.

4) Let's talk clothes. You're always so put together and cute. How much thought goes in to what you put on? Are your wardrobe decisions based on body, function, kids, work, etc?

I'm lucky if I walk out of the door without my clothes on inside out! If I ever have to get all dolled up, you can bet that on my way out the door in my tallest fanciest shoes, I will 100% hit the floor.

5) Okay, I saw recently that your number one crush in the '80's was "Jake" from 16 Candles (Once again, I knew that we had so much in common). But I'm dying to know, as a child/teen star yourself (in the 80's & 90's) were your walls also covered with Tiger Beat, Bop, Teen Beat etc.? Who were the boys that covered your walls?

I had head shots all over my wall. I was actually just looking at pictures of my room from that time period and I had a hot pink neon light and the walls were covered with everyone from Johnny Depp to James Dean. Lots of Boys. I was truly boy crazy.

Happy Chaos comes out August 23rd. Order your pre-sale copy today! CLICK HERE!

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY: CATCH ME IF YOU CAN

Leap time....

SHE STREAMS'11

Exciting news! I've been ask to speak at SheStreams '11! This is such an honor as I will be speaking with women I admire... Nicole Feliciano, Melissa Gerstein & Denise Alberts, Janice Croze, Audrey McClelland... the list goes on! But we're talking serious heavy hitters. I love any opportunity to go to New York so to get a chance to connect with social media influencers and smart brands and advertisers in my favorite city in the world (okay, second to Paris) is incredible.

A little on SheStreams:

What is SheStreams conference?

SheStreams is a conference that spans two days of informative and engaging sessions intended to catapult women and brands into the future of social technology. It will take place on Friday, September 23rd and Saturday September 24, 2011 at the Crowne Plaza Times Square in New York City.

Who Should Attend SheStreams Conference?

Who should attend SheStreams Conference?

-Women that are interested in the newest platforms and technologies that will connect them with other women and brands

-Brands and business who desire an understanding of what’s new in female social media

-Providers of new and established social technologies

Start spreading the news! http://www.shestreamsconference.com/

CAR-KHARMA-GEDDON

I don't know what it is, but I have the world's worst luck when it comes to cars. While I consider myself a fantastic driver (all of you that have driven with me, shut up), and frankly the most competent and skilled parallel parker you will ever meet (it's true, I could win medals), when it comes to... how do I say this delicately, damaging cars if you will, I suck. Let me take you through a little chronology of said luck:

1993. It all started when I got my driver's license (Aced it to be clear) and was given the lovely gift of borrowing my grandfather's 1980 Camaro. While there may have been many boys in high school that found this giant white tank to be cool, as a 16 year old in Beverly Hills, I can assure my girlfriends and I found it to be embarrassing and hideous. It was like a low riding jalopy and had AM only radio. Yah. Not cool. After spinning out in a major intersection just for turning left in the rain, I knew it was time for this beast to be returned to my grandfather and was happy to go back to having to call Shotgun.

1999. Luckily after high school I moved to New York and therefore didn't need a car, or frankly really drive a car. But when I moved back to Los Angeles and was ready for my first car-- my first adult lease, in my name and all, I settled into a nice little Ford Escort. Very first day, first hour really, of having my first adult car. I pulled away from the dealer. Decided I'm an adult, in my adult car and well, I'm gonna have a cigarette (I was fresh out of NYU theater. Smoking was the thing). I light up, feeling fantastic and free and adult in my adult car. Roll down the window more... ZAP. The cigarette goes FLYING in to the back seat of my car... as I'm driving Coldwater Canyon (a curvy, windy, no light, two lane, canyon). Of course, I couldn't reach the cigarette but was able to watch slowly as it burned a nice big hole in the seat.

2005. I'm married. A true adult by now. The escort is long gone and now, and it's literally the day I'm turning in my leased Jetta. Moving on to an Infiniti. A real grown up. My Jetta had just come from the shop and gotten some work done (you didn't think I got a way with a car that was scratch/bashed/missing parts-less did you?). Now it was in perfect condition. An inspector comes to see the car, give me the "ok" to turn it in and move on to my fancy new Infiniti without fees or issues. He gives me the stamp of approval. Two hours later, I take my Jetta for it's last hurrah (to the bank or an errand or something). I "roll" through a stop sign and BOOM. Am hit by a foreign exchange student with an invalid license and no car insurance. My fault but he's actually in bigger trouble. $2000 more dollars later, I return my Jetta and move on to the Infiniti.

2007. Infiniti goes to my (ex) husband. I have a mommy car. A Nissan Murano. I love it more than words. My newborn baby is home from the hospital and I feel great in this car.... Until out of nowhere, I'm driving and a rock flies into my window, shattering the windshield as I drive with my baby alone on the 101. No biggie. Glass guys come, replace car. Just a pain.

2007. and a Month. I hit a woman's car in Target. Don't remember the details, just remember I did it. Insurance handles it, we get it fixed. I need to be more careful. And maybe only go to Target during off peak hours. And not 15 times a week. (Hello, motherhood).

2010. Murano still alive and kicking. Lease is up in just a month when SLAM. I tap, okay, REAR END an older gentleman and his wife at a stop sign. Bumper very crunched and will need work. Lots of work. It wasn't necessary to check Facebook at that time. I've learned my lesson. For REAL.

2011. Lease has been extended but bumper hasn't been fixed. Good thing though because as I'm gently reversing/ parallel parking into a spot, a guy opens his door into my car. DING. Right on the passenger side. No problem, insurance insurance insurance. Blah blah blah.

2011. Last week. Murano returned about 2 months ago. I'm now in my brand new car. Only issue with it is you can't program multiple seat settings and blue tooth sort of sucks. Other than that, happy as a clam. UNTIL... I'm just about to get out of the car, I reach for my purse and take one last look at work email so I can go into the house and focus one hundred and percent on Jonah, and WHACK! A Range Rover comes barreling down the street and virtually takes off my door. The car, with a door that won't close, remains on the street that evening, draped with a sheet and a rope saved from a lovely gift I was given and a lame sign. Just perfect, the night before the weekend in the land of Carmageddon...

Fortunately, Carmageddon was overhyped and the streets were amazingly calm and empty. AND my rental car is lovely.... Though I did just realize the hubcap is missing. I swear I didn't do it. I didn't. I think... Wait... Um...

GETTING ORGANIZED: PART 1

I've often talked about how the old me, the JBJ (that is, Jenny Before Jonah) was highly organized, highly anal, highly efficient. Obviously, a few things were always a little messy--- I had my Lucy Closets and unorganized wallets, sure. But I wasn't all over the place. I had a system. I knew where things were. I didn't have to shave while taking a conference call and folding laundry. At the same time. Things just looked better....

Recently I signed on as a brand ambassador with Brother P-Touch. I was so excited for this opportunity as my own brand of being Perfectly Disheveled is almost synonymous with label making (or at least THINKING about needing to have labels, structure, organization, etc). Anyway, joining forces with this company couldn't have come at a better time. With a child starting (and now fully in) preschool who is constantly growing, never ending paperwork that comes from divorce (even two years later), and an apartment that needs zsuszhing, love and a new couch (that's a whole other post), I am ready to GET IT TOGETHER.

I decided for my first P-Touch project, I'd tackle my son's clothing. Again, he's growing at warp speed and he has so many clothes, you'd think he was a Real Housewife of Beverly Hills. Shoes too. I wouldn't be surprised if one of his converse had red bottoms on it. He's so pretentious like that... ANYWAY, I decided it was time to clean out his draws and closet and put stuff in bins.

I purchased some rubbermaid bins from the big T... and went through each of his drawers and pulled EVERYTHING out. Later that evening, I made piles of what were keepers and what needed to go into storage. I found that I had a lot of 18-24/ 2T and even 3T stuff that he had outgrown. I had enough bins too to separate pants and shorts from shirts and sweatshirts.

What was great about the process was that I had him join in the fun too. When I told him he could push the letters, he was game to help. It actually turned out to be a great opportunity for him to "type" and do some letter recognition/ spelling. I used both the Home & Office "Simply Stylish" (PT -1290) and the Handheld (PT-1090) label makers, which offer a ton of different designs and tapes with different colors. I kept it pretty simple, but I can see how fun it would be to get "fancy."

The bins are now in my garage, which btw, looks big, but in actuality is only equipped to hold a Mini Cooper. I have an SUV. SO, lucky for me, I have plenty of storage space to work with... which means the next few months will be spent organizing and labeling anything and everything I can get my hands on.

My next step, after I put labels on Jonah's drawers, indicating where he can find S-O-C-K-S or P-A-N-T-S (this is a great exercise in learning to read AND letting him make "big boy" decisions), will be tackling my home office. My file cabinet is definitely a little overstuffed... Health insurance info is ending up in Credit Card land and Credit Card land is ending up in Preschool info (though that is kind of one and the same).

Bottom line, 'tis the season to get my type-A butt back in shape. Now if I anyone knows a sponsor willing to help me channel the old type-healthy/exercise/toned arms, I'd love a referral!

For more info on these products visit http://www.brother-usa.com/Ptouch/

WHAT'S IN YOUR BAG?

I don't know about you, but from the outside, my purses look fantastic. Reach your hand in though, and it's possible your fingers could get attacked by a Loch ness-goldfish crumbed-diaper-tampon infested-monster.

Last month, I got to the office, opened my computer bag and voila: I had a lovely pair of underoos and a Pinocchio book waiting for me. Really? I'm that disheveled??

Recently I shot this video below for Piccolini TV. I gave myself a mini purse detox and it definitely felt better. What they edited out was the 95 tampons that would make one think I have some sort of horrible reproductive period thing happening, which thankfully, I do not. (I'm guessing the brand isn't a big fan of period stuff. After all, Barilla is about pasta!) ANYWAY, I guess I sort of just let things pile up and told myself it's always best to be prepared. Sadly, being prepared when you're a busy mom like me can look cluttered and messy.

Am I the only one with a messy purse? What's the craziest thing you keep in your purse or have found in your purse lately? Tell me!

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY: HIGH ROLLER

On vacation, why not get him started early....

Two seconds later, we were told kids can't be in the casino. Duh! Guess you got to know when to fold 'em... and know when to walk away!

(**Been on vaca! Will be back next week and updating more!**)