{Ticket Giveaway for CFG Style Week} Attention Mommy Fashonistas!

Style. Fashion. Runway. Once you become a mommy these terms may feel like long lost lovers amidst the daily grind of carpool and diaper changes. Break away with me for a moment if you will, and let's rekindle that sexy old flame by stepping out of the norm and into Charlotte Fashion Guild's Style Week September 24th-27th 2014. Join top designers from Project Runway, Trinidad, Sweden, New York and beyond, at Label House at the NC Music Factory in Uptown Charlotte.

Grab your girlfriends, your favorite LBD and scoop up tickets before they're gone. Unlike a killer pair of Louboutin's, getting into this shin-dig won't break the monthly budget, tickets are $15-$40.

The fabulous minds that are bringing style back to Charlotte are giving our readers the chance to get their runway on for free! Just sign up below and the winner will be drawn on Sunday, 9/21/14. For more information check out CFG Style Week's website and stay connected with them on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.


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Awaken Your Inner Picasso at Pinot's Pallete

I've always thought of myself as tragically left-brained. I've never excelled at arts or music. Sure I'm copy cat crafty and can draw a mean stick figure, but those abilities are the most I can conjure from the wall flower that is the right side of my brain. When I was contacted by Pinot's Pallete in Southend to check out their upscale 'Paint. Drink. Have Fun.' painting class I was initially concerned about sharing my 'artwork' on my blog and how inevitably awful it would look. They reassured me that all their classes are no experience necessary, guided step by step, lots of fun, and that I may be pleasantly surprised by the outcome of my painting.

My sister and I headed to Pinot's Pallete for a much needed kid-free girl's night out. The atmosphere was perfect for our evening - they have a large selection of beer and wine to choose from (BYOB is not permitted) and snacks for purchase. It was clean, trendy and energized as they played art evoking music. Our names were scribed at each station with our canvas, paint brushes and paint. They were doing a themed night, perfect pairing with the movie "What If" and offered complimentary popcorn and fun-sized candy bars as we prepared to paint the romantic scene "City Love". 

The instructor made the painting process easy to follow and laid back. When I looked around the room everyone's artwork looked surprisingly good - even mine was recognizable! My sister and I laughed, drank, painted and enjoyed allowing our creative juices to flow. I was amazed at how easy it was to create a painting that closely resembled City Love. While I'm not quitting my day job for a career as an artist any time soon, we already have plans in the works to return for another evening of creativity with Pinot's Pallete.

Pinot's Pallete isn't just for GNO's, it's perfect for date nights, birthday parties, bachelorette parties and they host corporate team building events. Classes cost around $30 per painter and you can select your favorite painting by checking out their schedule here. You can keep up to date with upcoming promotions, discounts and events (some even for kids) by following Pinot's Pallete on Facebook, on Twitter or Instagram.

Dive in with the Octonauts at Sea Life Charlotte

Sound the Octo-Alert!! The Octonauts are diving in to Sea Life Charlotte at Concord Mills September 6th-28th. Your family can get up close and personal with Captain Barnacles and Peso during scheduled meet and greets. Then take your little guppies to explore Sea Life's 5,000+ aquatic creatures, including their hands on touch pool. A big thanks to our guest blogger Stacie Taylor for reporting back on the nautical fun at Sea Life. Octonauts, let's do this!

When my daughter was born I had to figure out ways to entertain my 3 year old son while nursing her. Not an easy task! My son would quickly grow bored of playing with his toys alone. Enter: The Octonauts. For 25 consecutive minutes my son was completely engrossed in Captain Barnacle’s sea life adventures and honestly, so was I. The show was both entertaining and educational, minus the annoying voices/songs/etc. What more could a mom ask for? We quickly became fans of the show and 2 years later we have acquired every single Octonaut toy, and my kids know more about the ocean and sea creatures than I do.

We visited Captain Barnacles and Peso at Sea Life Charlotte and there were many cute back drops for photo-ops and a few child-sized tables set up where children could engage in coloring activities. My 5 year old son who was in Kindergarten during the media meet and greet couldn't attend, but would have loved it (we plan to bring him this weekend). My 2.5 year old was certain to maintain a 5 foot distance from the characters so she could enjoy them from afar, but really enjoyed the aquarium.

Where: Charlotte-Concord Sea Life Aquarium
When: September 6-28, 2014
What: Scheduled meet and greets with Peso and Captain Barnacles (see below for specific times), a fun fact finding trail, coloring activity, and special viewings of Octonauts episodes.
Captain Barnacles Daily at 11:00, 12:00, 1:00, 2:00, 3:00, 4:00 Peso Daily at 11:30, 12:30, 1:30, 2:30, 3:30, 4:30
Website: http://www.visitsealife.com/charlotte-concord/