Brie Barbaccia, desert aficionado and owner of a seriously good head of hair

Brie is a fashion and lifestyle brand manager, event producer, and the Creative Director of Modrn PR (so "hugely successful" is a pretty good descriptor) -  and easily one of the most stylish and in-the-know (about pretty much everything) women I've ever met. She could also have a second career as a high desert tour-guide: we just spent a couple of days tooling around the area on a girls' weekend, and Brie executed an itinerary so perfect - hikes! vintage shopping! cool bars with live music! midcentury-modern hotel rooms with plunge pools! - that this weekend just went down in my personal history as one of my all-time favorites.

Tl;dr: When it comes to brand management, style, and the desert, Brie knows what she's talking about. So let's give her a listen.

Tia Link at the Shazam offices

(Photo from the series I Am An Actor by Franck Bohbot)

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Click over to Hope & Grace to check out an interview in which I talk whether I "always knew" I wanted to be a mom, judgy strangers, that time I gave birth and totally lost it at my husband and mom, and (much) more.

 Aquazzura is KILLING IT with the tasseled shoes lately. (These are my favorites and I would like to wear them every day all spring and summer except I won't because children.)

 FYI: Ferndell artisanal coffee (the company dates back to 1862) is HELLA good (and has a swoon-worthy Instagram page).

Say hello to "Five Things," a new series on RG that I'm super excited about: I'm partnering with DRIVEN for Women - a site that features weekly profiles of incredible women doing incredible things in the world, exploring how they got where they are and revealing their brilliant and savvy advice.

Say hello as well to our first profile: Kelly Goldston, the VP of Marketing for plus-size fashion online retailer ELOQUII. Kelly started working for ELOQUII in the unlikeliest of ways: because she made a big return to the store, received a phone call from customer service, and impressed them so much with her observations about the brand that she was asked to talk to the CEO...which led to a job, and ultimately led to her position as VP of Marketing for the brand. Really.

Check out Kelly's five right-this-moment favorites below, and head over to DRIVEN to read the story of her unlikely - and amazing - career trajectory.

{ Go-Gratitude bracelet (a gift from reader Jaime); glam | camp cuff ring }

I don't think I've missed a day of posting more than once or twice in the six years that I've been blogging. It's because of my mom: if I don't have a post up by 9AM PST, I am virtually guaranteed an email: "What's wrong? No post?" (It's not because she's actually worried; it's because she's eating a donut at her desk and wants something to read.)

I didn't post yesterday. (And, as it turns out, people other than my mom totally noticed, which surprised me and made me feel kind of great.) I had a full day of meetings, and when I wasn't at meetings I was chasing an extremely active toddler around my parents house, trying to keep her from destroying things, and during my two hours of in-front-of-the-computer time (nap time) I was working on a new proposal. And then it was nighttime, and I totally could have sat down and written...except I decided to go eat cheese and drink wine with my dad instead. I miss him a lot.