The Mommie Series Winter 2017

The Mommie Series is always a great event (even if you’re not a “mommie”) and the winter event this week at the Ballroom at Bayou Place was no exception!  As usual, impressive speakers, yummy food and beverages, great networking and a fabulous holiday market all benefiting a wonderful cause!  I didn’t get to visit with everyone, but thought I’d post a few highlights.

At this event, The Rose was the non-profit receiving a percentage of market sales – what a great cause!  The Rose helps raise awareness about breast cancer and provides screening for both those patients who can pay and those who can’t.  Impressive!

When we first arrived there was prime schmoozing with some of my favorite peeps as always!

Leela Maden of Maden Law, Me, Alla Nowowiejski of Lugenbuhl, Wheaton, Peck, Rankin & Hubbard, and Thais Amaral Tellawi of Amaral Tellawi Law

Misty Khan of Closet Reboot, Christiane Waldron of Jenetiqa, and Stephanie Alvarez of Reasoning Mind

The guest speakers provided some great information on choosing the right school for your child (Ibrahim Farat, President & Co-Founder of Firat Education), breast cancer prevention (Dr. Magda Ghobashy, Director of Houston Methodist Breast Care Center of The Woodlands), and global investing (Robert W. Scharar, President of FCA Corp.).  I was particularly interested in Ibrahim Farat’s “Firat Guide” which helps you rate schools in terms of what your family values most among academics, faith, athletics, social skills, and social awareness.

And lucky me, I won one of the many fabulous door prizes!  Misti always has several wonderful prizes supplied by her fabulous sponsors so don’t forget to fill out the card when you arrive and check in to be entered to win one!  I received this yummy gift basket from W Events, but everyone got some of their cute gift tags in the awesome swag bag..

After the speaker presentations we perused the Holiday Market and spoke with a few of the sponsors – there were some amazing local entrepreneurs displaying some really beautiful things!  Of course, I did some damage both on behalf of myself and gifts for my mother.

First up was my good friend Christiane Waldron, Founder and CEO of Jenetiqa
Professional Skin Care.  Christiane is a chemical engineer and developed this skin care line herself.  All I had to do was take one look at her gorgeous complexion to know that her line was worth trying!  I love her products and am particularly enamored with the Night Beauty Dry Oil and the fabulous Lift Maestro botanical enzymatic peel.  Now that I think about it, I need to put that peel on tonight to prep for shooting the next Closet Reboot video tomorrow!

My eye was immediately drawn to the beautiful olive wood products at Marwah Fawcett’s BellaJules table.  The bowls and chopping boards looked like art to me – not sure I can bring myself to actually cut on one.  But Marwah assured us that they were easily cared for and definitely made for practical use!  And, bonus: not only are BellaJules products food safe, they are eco-friendly too!  BellaJules also carries some lovely hand hammered copper and stainless products – definitely worth checking out!

Next up was Zein & Lisa’s French Women’s Apparel Collection.  There were some stunning jackets, but these purses were what really caught my eye!  Made with sand or beads that glide inside the casing, they reminded me of a toy I used to play with as a kid and yet, they had a very elegant feel – how fun is that?  Although she was a little camera shy, Zein Barakat was absolutely beautiful herself – easy to see where that great style comes from.  I wish I had a link for you, but you will have to ask for Zein & Lisa’s creations in local Houston boutiques.   If anyone knows where to find them, please leave us a comment with the scoop!

And last, but most certainly not least, we made it to Chloe Di Leo‘s table where her sleek and original jewelry enticed me to make a couple of purchases.  Chloe is the CEO and Creative Director for her self named line which can be found in Houston, Miami or online.  She uses diamonds and naturals stones wrapped in white, rose, black or yellow gold as well as some unique leather creations.

What a wonderful evening!  A big thank you to Misti Pace-Krahl who does so much for Houston by organizing these wonderful events that raise both funds and awareness for so many worthy charitable causes.  I’m very much looking forward to the Spring event – see you there!