Best Dressed Wedding Guests

To have the chance to "people watch" at this Royal Wedding...must have been amazing! I think America needs to take on some customs like wearing hats! Maybe every Friday can be hat day! From the hats to the attire, I picked my favorite guests and named them the best dressed!

I have to start with the Queen who absolutely made my day in her canary yellow Angela Kelly pleated dress with sparkly brooch! You go, girlfriend!

Now, I've never been a girl who went gaga over David Beckham, but today my jaw dropped! He looked beyond dapper in his Ralph Lauren! I see he carried his top hat to not mess up his elegant do. I have to say I wasn't completely fond of Victoria's dress or hat. It just didn't sit well with me. The hat didn't sit well on her head either.

Simplistic beauty was worn well by Charlene Wittstock. I absolutely love the color she chose and it blended perfectly with her gloves, purse, and hat. Very classy and well put together.

I usually like very outlandish garments and accessories, but my favorite hat very well might be Sophie Winkleman's!

In a daring Deborah Milner, while some critics might bash socialite Tara Palmer Tompkinson for her electric blue dress and hat, I have to say that it was dashing and my favorite! It's a little over-the-top, but so is this entire wedding, right?

American Idol Look-Alikes from My Childhood

This article is meant for fun only! I really hope no one takes offense to this. I just really started cracking up one of the first nights of this season's American Idol competition as the Top 12 began reminding me of characters from my childhood. Each week, the thoughts tickle me more and more, and so I had to share.

What HAS to be obvious to probably just about everyone watching, is that Scotty McCreery has the most striking resemblance to Alfred E. Neuman from the MAD comic!

The other great and really amusing resemblance is that of Casey Abrams to Yukon Cornelius from 'Rudolph the Rednose Reindeer'! Somewhat sexy!!

Paul McDonald who IS quite a character with a gigantic smile, reminds me of none other than (and appropriately named) Dr. Teeth from 'The Muppets'!

It doesn't stop there though. As Lauren Alaina performs, I wait to see Uncle Joey and Uncle Jesse make an appearance! Does Lauren Alaina not look exactly like DJ Tanner aka Candace Cameron from 'Full House'?

There is no comparison to my Stefano Langone, but he definitely has a familiar hearthrob look to my old Chachi from 'Happy Days'!

Next, is the beautiful and exotic Naima Adedapo. I was still playing with the thought of all of my childhood favorites and how they resemble the American Idol contestants, when I couldn't get past Naima's hair. I used to love to sit for hours and put tons of braids and flowers in to My Little Ponies hair. So, I couldn't help but make that comparison.

If you're my age and are a girl, you most likely had a cornsilk cabbage patch kid! Well, because of her precious dimples and shiny flowy hair, Haiely Reinhart fills those shoes!

As if you didn't see this one coming, when I was a little girl, my favorite barbies had brown hair like me! So, pretty Pia probably most reminds me of my barbie dolls!

I really can't find a comparison for the lovable Jacob Lusk. To play along though, I thought of a jolly character because I LOVE Jacob's boisterous and large personality. The only charcter who matched that description was Fat Albert. Lusty Lusk is by no means fat though! He is however PHAT!

Maybe it's the denim jackets, vests, bandanas, and bad boy persona that makes me think of the late great Corey Haim when I see James Durbin!

Singing "Colors of the Wind" may have had something to do with it, but when I look at the natural beauty Thia Megia, I think of Disney and Pocohontas!

Hope you had fun with my selection of look-alikes from this season's American Idol!

Ryan's Quest Valentine Ball - Shine the Light on DMD

In the matter of about two days in November, the 2011 Ryan's Quest Valentine Ball was near sold out thanks to efforts of local salons selling tickets! On February 12th, there was a packed house at the new Stone Terrace in Hamilton, NJ as a near 400 guests attended what was a spectacular evening and a success for the charity!

I wanted to give a recap of the evening in case you weren't able to attend this year. Upon entering the Stone Terrace, a cocktail hour took place where a signature drink was served on a martini ice luge and hors d'ouerves were passed as Bob Orlowski performed. Many contests took place as Miss New Jersey and many other pageant winners helped out and a silent auction including trips to Puntal Cana, Disney World, and Broadway were displayed for all to bid on. Once seated, the Glam Slam began which was a contest in which Alexa Prisco, The Glam Fairy from 'Jerseylicious' judged and picked the Most Glamtastic look of the evening. The award went to Great Looks 4 Less for the fantastic hair and make-up they did on their model! Mercer County Freeholder John Cimino then said a few words and gave a proclamation to David and Maria Schultz. Next we were fascinated by Dr. Brian Tseng who told us about new developments in DMD research. After that, John Crowley spoke to the crowd and made some referrences to the movie based upon him - 'Extraordinary Measures'. All of this conversation was very intriguing to listen to while enjoying an excellent land/sea dinner! A video followed which showed why Ryan's Quest is such a wonderful charity and how many boys it aims to help!

The beautifully lighted room was done through the efforts of Sound Connection Entertainment who also provided us with CJ Westcott, an amazing DJ who also emceed the entire event! Floral centerpieces were donated by various florists and beautiful work was contributed by those such as Corey Fyffe and Customized Wedding Creations. Snapshot Photobooths provided a unique photo booth in the foyer in which guests had fun striking a pose! The GForce band blaired their horns and rocked the dancefloor for the remainder of the evening and the floor remained packed with people dancing. The silent auction winners were announced at the end of the evening and so many amazing prizes were won! The biggest winner though, was Ryan's Quest. It was able to achieve it's goal of 'Shining the Light on DMD'.

We hope many more people are now aware of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and will continue to come to our exciting events throughout the year!

A huge thank you to our big sponsors: First Choice Bank, PNC, Princeton Bank, PSE&G. This was by far an All The Rave Event!

Photos courtesy of Martelli Photography.

For more on Ryan's Quest, please visit http://www.ryansquest.org/ .

Be sure to like Ryan's Quest on Facebook!

DO Get it Twisted!

Dessy Group now offers a jersey matte dress that is convertible and changes in to a variety of styles from formal to sexy in the matter of seconds! This is the perfect dress for brides wishing to change in to a fun reception dress without having to purchase one, a neat way for bridesmaids to all express their indiviual personalities, and for women in general to have a great piece in their collection that they can wear over and over again, but always have a new look! This dress is great to travel with and perfect for destination weddings. What I like most is that now your bridesmaids can go to the ceremony elegant and sophisticated, then switch it up before cocktail hour for a whole new look! It comes in a bunch of great Dessy colors and the price is not bad at all at $180 (especially since you get so many looks out of it).

GLAMTASTIC CONTEST

To get a celebrity to come out for a charity event isn't always the easiest thing, but as much as New Jersey often gets a bad reputation, I think we might be one of the states with the hugest hearts! Alexa Prisco, The Glam Fairy of TV's 'Jerseylicious' did not even hesitate when I asked her if she would get involved for the 2011 Ryan's Quest Valentine Ball! Because of her selflessness, we were able to sell tickets to the Ball at local hair salons where anyone purchasing a ticket would be able to enter themselves in to a drawing at THAT salon to get their hair and make-up done complimentary for the evening of the Ball. The catch? (Not that it's a bad one). They would also be representing the salon as their "model" who would work the look and be part of the Glam Slam where Alexa chose THE MOST GLAMTASTIC SALON based on the looks of the evening! Everyone had so much fun with this contest and Alexa really brought excitement in to the room when she walked in with her shiny sequin dress!

I just wanted to do a fun little recap for anyone who didn't attend and also for the salons and models who we thank so much for being part!

Alexa is excited to see what Central Jersey has to offer in the glam department!Katie Mutz is up first representing Salon Cusato. Her make-up and hair were pretty close to perfection and yes, she looks like a real life Barbie doll! Alexa really didn't have anything negative to say at all, but how could she?Kristin Seitz is also representing! And again, Alexa says the look is near flawless! You wouldn't even know that Kristin is a police officer by day as she looks as though she models for a living!

(I may have to put Kristin Seitz in to the 'Best Dress' category! Girl, where did you get that?)Jaime Young is all smiles as she works it and KNOWS she can! Absolutely breathtaking stunning work by Salon Pure! You can see in a picture above how her hair was pulled to the side and tossled. Her smokey eyes were subtle and rocked! I believe the words to Denise Chiarello worked on by Salon Belissima were "Hey Hot Mama!" What I love most about this is that Denise KNOWS she looks good! That's what a great salon can do for you - make you FEEL it too!Jen Besserman represents Salon Artigiano giving a sweet sophisticated look with an intricate updo while Alyssa Potena (below) goes fierce even shaving a part of her head for this competition! I love that two opposite styles were taken on for this challenge as these girls went 'head to head'. This shows diversity in work under one roof! Alexa was pleased with both!

Robin Cipriano, who was made up by Salon Eclipse, was told that her "sexy" (that we know this red-headed firecracker has) could've been brought out a little more for the evening, but watch out wedding world as this salon knows what they are doing in polished updos! Alexa was impressed by that!New mom Melissa Hanson had a blast being made over by Salon Di Moda. I believe she let the artists "Snookify" her as she called it! Melissa really looked and felt beautiful! I'm pretty sure Alexa loved this "Jersey look" too!The very elegant looking Gabby Bagherian, made over by Robert James Salon, is all smiles as Alexa is commenting on how much she loves the flowers in her hair! Nice touch!Bridget Rogers got a big smile from Alexa when Alexa noticed the peacock feathers in her updo, but moreso, there was some extra glitz and glamour lurking on her eyes which were adorned with tiny blue crystals. This was top notch work done by Great Looks 4 Less.Wilmary Pardo showed up adorning pure Classic Hollywood due to the excellence of Terra Salon. Alexa commented on how wonderfully this "period piece" (a look of the 20's and 30's) was brought to life and said this team really knows their stuff.Miss New Jersey Ashleigh Udalovas and Miss New Jersey Oustanding Teen Natalie Ragazzo stand by with the crystal trophy, brought to us from Crown Trophy, ready to award the winner.And the winner is...Great Looks 4 Less and "Miss Peacock" named by Alexa, for their hot and trendy work on Bridget Rogers!A huge thank you to the models who put their look in the hands of the professionals, represented the salons, and put on a fabulous show for the crowd! Loved your enthusiasm!

You were all glamorous, dahlings!

Photos courtesy of Martelli Photography