On Our Radar: Happy Fourth of July!

Happy Birthday America! We hope all JSG readers eat some good burgers, crab cakes, ribs, pie a la mode or whatever else they serve in your neck of the woods, catch some fireworks and enjoy your days off with your girlfriends!

The photo above is courtesy of Epicurious.com. For the recipe and dozens of other burger ideas, click here.

Miami Spa Month

Should you find yourself in Miami for Fashion Week Swim, July 18-21, or any other time in July for that matter, be sure to take advantage of the first annual Miami Spa Month. Twenty local spas are offering treatments for $99, including two of JSG's all-time faves: The Spa at the Mandarin Oriental, which offers the most decadent treatments ever, and the Ritz Carlton Spa in SoBe (treatment room pictured above), which uses the exclusive Prada skincare products. Sign us up! For more info, click here.

David Beckham: Is He Worth It?

JSG's Hope took her two girls to see arguably the hottest man on the planet right now, David Beckham, and his team the LA Galaxy play the DC United. These girls have spent so much time this summer fawning over the Jonas Brothers, Hope felt it was her duty to show them something else. (We value music just as highly as athletics in our fam; but the Jonas Brothers are way over hyped.)

We know that Beckham makes more money than all the other players on the field combined, and probably doesn't have near the talent as many of them (though he made one great pass). But here's what he does well: when he comes in town he fills the stadium and gets the home team to vehemently back their own (he absorbed the FU Beckham chants with a smile on his face). We sat in the middle of the America's best fan group, the Barra Brava, (that's them below) next to the drum corp and behind the giant waving flags, where everyone stands on their chairs for the entire game chanting "Vamos United!" The United won 4 to 1.

Is Beckham worth the $84 we paid for three tickets? Oh yeah, especially when he took his shirt off.

Meanwhile, in NYC, JSG's Annie was learning the value of soccer on her own. Her SO dragged her kicking and screaming to watch the Germany-Spain Euro Cup match last Sunday. Not being a fan of soccer and annoyed by the fact that the bar's satellite was out and she missed A-Rod's near win in the 9th, she managed to make it through by trying to figure out which team had the hottest players (a tie).

Somme Institute: 5-Step Facial Care

The JSG make no qualms about shopping high and low end. We search the travel size aisle at Target before a girls' trip for toothpaste, apricot scrub, and face masks. But we also love to pack a spa quality face care system like this one from Somme Institute. It contains the same products they use in the signature Vitamin Infusion Facial at the Mandarin Oriental spas around the world and it's in a TSA worthy kit.

Unique to Somme is MDT5 (science talk: Molecular Dispersion Technology) which carries the products to the deepest layers of the skin. The 3 most important components of the system are the Transport pads (think Stridex for the JSG that exfoliate with alpha hydroxy and beta hydroxy acids), the Serum (with Vitamin C and MDT5 to reduce fine lines and brown spots), and the A-Bomb cream (with vitamins A and E and MDT5). The set also includes a cleanser, the eye cream, and the Defense Day Moisturizer with SPF 30.

We've spent the past six weeks testing the 5 steps (plus a bonus eye cream). Our skin is as smooth and soft as it's been in the last 5 years. Miraculously, we never had a breakout while using Somme, not even the time of month when we always get a few spots. We were disappointed when the Transport pads ran out which was our clue that we need to move on to another product trial. This is one set we'd recommend highly and search out for ourselves.

The Somme Institute Mobile Kit is now available on JSG's Open Sky Store.

Swimwear Solutions: Malia Mills Discount

We told you on Monday about our on-going search for the perfect bikini. Our current two-piece is an emerald green Malia Mills string bikini, which we still love, even if it is 2-years old (Yes, it has been that long since we bought a new suit!) It's definitely time for an upgrade, and with this $50 discount, courtesy of StoreAdore.com, it's not quite as painful on our wallet! And as the line is known for its wide range of sizes, from 30A-40DD, there's a good chance it won't be painful to find a suit we like. Click here for the deets.

A Peek Inside Our Carry On Bag

We're launching a new feature today, where we look inside the carry ons of our favorite jet-setters. JSG's Annie's, who is headed to our Nation's Capital tomorrow via the Acela kicks it off. (Does that make it a "Ride on" bag?)


*Mario Badescu Facial Spray for a refreshing, hydrating boost!

*Travel-Size Aquaphor: It doubles as lip balm and moisturizer. A must in these liquid-deprived days.

* Snacks like almonds, apples, and maybe some Peanut M&M’s.

* iPod: Goes without saying, but if you’re a nervous flier or want to sleep, make a special playlist of mellow music for the flight. Josh Groban's Closer makes me sleep like a baby without fail!

*Xanax or other sedative of choice. It makes everything about the flight more bearable, from being number 13 in line for take off, to the crying tot behind you who won’t stop kicking your seat, to watching some lame movie like Nim's Island.

*And our travel bag of choice has been a Lululemon bag for a few years now, similar to the one pictured above. It's roomy, sturdy (so you don't mind putting under the seat in front of you or cramming it in the overhead) and has lots of pockets. It's also big enough to fit a lap top so that you can blog on the road!

Sephora by OPI: A Preview of Fall's Hottest Nail Color

We set aside our coral and hot pink polishes for a moment in favor of what is destined to become fall's hottest nail polish color: Gray. More specifically, Metro Chic from the brand new Sephora by OPI collection. All the editors at last week's breakfast to introduce the line chose this deep mauve-y gray and it looked beautiful on every skin tone--from our paleness to deep tans. It's a fresh option to navy, chocolate and black.

The two beauty powerhouses teamed together to create the line. Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, OPI artistic director, says she had American women in mind when she created the 54 shades. "Sephora by OPI allows this woman to find the highest quality products for her nails and hands at the same place that she shops for all of her fine beauty products," says Suzi. The line also includes base and top coats, drying drops, moisturizer and cuticle oil.

Best of all, the polishes are DBP, formaldehyde and Toulene free. We had our nails done on Thursday and we're happy to report, 5 days later: No chips!

The polishes will be available in Sephora stores and online at Sephora.com in August. That's Metro Chic and Run With It below.