Interview

Christy Turlington is a force to be reckoned with. After a serious health scare following the birth of her daughter, Grace, she became immersed in maternal health issues on a global scale, and founded Every Mother Counts to raise awareness about the issue of maternal mortality. Earlier this week, Turlington served on a panel at the Mom+Social conference hosted by the United Nations Foundation here in New York. We were lucky enough to chat with the model, mom, and fierce advocate for mothers across the world.

POPSUGAR Moms: This year, Every Mother Counts has shifted its campaign focus from “No Mother’s Day” to “Know Mother’s Day.” Can you tell us a bit about the new push and what the focus this year is?

Christy Turlington: It’s really always been about creating more awareness, because that’s our biggest goal: to spread the information. Once you learn what’s happening, learn the statistics, you kind of can’t help but want to engage and get involved. So we’re trying to move the dial in that sense. More action, more efforts, and more collective energy around this issue that touches so many people.

This time of year, women are being marketed to at such a ridiculous rate. There’s roughly 15 billion dollars being spent on moms around Mother’s Day in the US alone. What that could do for global health would be just tremendous.

Click to read more about Christy's fight for global maternal health, how she controls her kids' access to social media, and what the Turlington-Burns clan is up to for Mother's Day!

You may have noticed a common denominator in the chic nurseries (or grown-up spaces!) you've pinned lately: chances are, they're related to animal photographer Sharon Montrose.

A darling among design bloggers, she takes a strikingly modern approach to capturing her subjects — which range from farm inhabitants to exotic species — for her wildly popular Animal Print Shop series. She's a relatively private person, so we were delighted to peel back the layers during a long chat. Aside from talking animal shop, we discovered other intriguing traits, like her self-described crass sense of humor, Angeleno drawl, and something that could be dubbed as a sixth sense. Keep reading to catch up on the conversation!

You may not expect clocks made of concrete to feature intricate, lace-like designs, but that's the idea behind Para Clocks, the stylish pieces made by LeeLABStudio. Handcrafted at the founders' Brooklyn, NY, shop, the striking clocks offer a surprisingly delicate take on concrete and a unique perspective on design.

Lindsey Lee founded the design and fabrication studio with her husband, Brian, and his brother, John. After successfully raising funds through their Para Clocks Project Kickstarter campaign, the trio applied their backgrounds in architecture to the design of beautiful clocks that are now sold at a variety of retailers, including Anthropologie. We spoke with Lindsey about the family dynamic of their workspace, the creation process, Kickstarter, and more, so read on for our full interview with Lindsey Lee!

If you haven't heard of Nicole Chavez before, you definitely know her list of famous clients: Rachel Bilson, Kristen Bell, Jessica Simpson, Nikki Reed, and Catherine Zeta-Jones. And she "just started working with Reese Witherspoon a little bit." Last night at the LOFT Summer collection preview in LA, we got a chance to catch up with the superstar stylist — clad in this fabulous floral henley blouse ($60). Aside from inspiring this affordable Spring purchase, Nicole doled out her expert seasonal styling tips, the answer to what every girl needs in her closet this season, and what she would wear with a few of our favorite pieces (like a floral miniskirt and white pumps).

POPSUGAR: What are some essential pieces that every girl needs in her closet for Spring?
Nicole Chavez: For Spring, I'm all about the bold palette. I just think that bright, punchy colors are the way to go this Spring. You can do it head-to-toe brights or you can mix it up and do something like what I'm wearing, which is just a punch of color and something neutral. Another one of my favorite trends for Spring was that black and white, really graphic — we saw polka dots, we saw stripes, we saw the checks. That's a really easy trend that you can incorporate day to night.

PS: Any Spring color combinations that you really love?
NC: I'm a really big fan of hot pink and nude. There's another combination that was a LOFT combo that I really loved, which is their really punchy yellow blazer paired with black and white stripes. People would normally think bumblebee, but they have this really great neon yellow.

More from Nicole, including Rachel Bilson's favorite brands.

As Old Navy's official "style attendant," the ever-dapper Mr. Brad Goreski was on hand at the label's Spring styling event to do what he does best: give guests a lesson in putting together outfits with a little of that signature brand of Brad Goreski flair. Between styling sessions and cocktails, we caught up with the very busy stylist and Bravo TV star to talk Fashion Week, the new season of It's a Brad Brad World, and celebrity clients like Stacy Keibler, Jessica Alba, and Rashida Jones.

POPSUGAR: What did you think of the Fall shows?
Brad Goreski: I've never been to London Fashion Week before. It was nice because it was like the shows started maximum 15 minutes late, and there wasn't all of the stuff happening. Everyone just got to the venue, sat down, and watched the shows. It was awesome. Christopher Kane blew my mind, Peter Pilotto blew my mind. I got to see Tom Ford. It was just fun to see these worker bees doing really, really interesting, new, fresh work.

PS: Did you have a favorite?
BG: Christopher Kane just blew my mind. From the first look — I think he did 60 looks — I went backstage and saw the workmanship up close. It was unreal. To be so young and to have all those superfresh ideas is very inspiring.

PS: Do you have a client you'd love to see wearing it?
BG: Jessica [Alba] loves Christopher Kane, Rashida [Jones] loves Christopher Kane. They're probably his biggest fans.

Read on for Brad's favorite reality-show moments, and what we can expect from the new season of his show.

What's sugar and spice and everything nice? Cupcakes! And no one knows more about our obsession with the lil confections than Sophie LaMontagne and Katherine Kallinis, co-owners of Georgetown Cupcake and stars of TLC's DC Cupcakes. The sisters, who learned their kitchen skills from their grandmother ("We followed her around the kitchen and always begged to help"), have been known to bake up to 10,000 lil cakes a day, much to the delight of the patrons who line the block of their original Washington, DC store as well as their outposts in NYC, Boston Los Angeles, and Atlanta. The duo gave me a few minutes of their time to discuss their tasty desserts.

LilSugar: Cupcakes have moved from kiddie birthday party staple to a favorite of adults and kids alike. But kids aren't always willing to try new flavors. Which are most popular with kids?
Sophie LaMontagne and Katherine Kallinis: Our Vanilla Birthday (vanilla cupcake with vanilla buttercream and rainbow bobbles), Chocolate Birthday (chocolate cupcake with vanilla buttercream and rainbow bobbles), and Milk Chocolate Birthday (vanilla cupcake with milk chocolate buttercream and rainbow bobbles) are the most popular with kids. We think it's the color rainbow bobbles!

LS: Moms are busy; what shortcuts can you recommend to making delicious, beautiful cupcakes without spending the whole day baking and decorating them?
SL and KK: Try to keep a stash of baking staples — butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, milk, all purpose flour, baking soda/powder, salt, and cocoa powder/chocolate on hand in your kitchen at all times and you can make almost any flavor! Our recipes are very simple — we don’t use cake flour or pastry flour — just all purpose — we find that works best. Also, we're big fans of chocolate ganache icing. It's so easy — just two ingredients — chocolate chips and heavy cream. You just melt them down (two cups of chips to one cup of cream), and dip your cupcakes in and you've got a super fast and unbelievably delicious frosting.

LS: Do you ever make "healthy" cupcakes for those who want to skip some of the sugar? If so, what goes into it?
SL and KK: We have a carrot cake cupcake, which has fresh carrots and fresh apples grated in it. We skip the walnuts, to save on calories, and it's a light and delicious cupcake!

A new episode of DC Cupcakes airs on Valentine's Day, but if you're looking to create their Red Velvet, Chocolate Ganache, or Strawberry Lava Fudge cupcakes for Valentine's Day, read more

Once you've snagged a job interview, the inevitable nerves that follow can make it difficult to focus on preparation. With a little bit of planning, though, you can bring your best business-ready self to the table. Follow these tips leading up to your big moment.

Several hours earlier:

1. It's important to have a healthy, substantial breakfast, of course, but it's just as important to eat well the night before so that you feel your best in the morning. Choose nutritious foods that fill and satisfy, and remember to limit caffeine to one or two servings. Chances are you'll already be feeling jittery, so put a cap on your coffee consumption.

2. Check the hourly forecast and grab any extra items that you may need: an umbrella, a raincoat, gloves, or suitable footwear, for instance.

3. Shoes are important: make sure your pair is both weather-appropriate and easy to walk in, because the last thing you want to do is trip your way through the office. The night before your interview, wear the selected shoes with socks for a couple hours to guarantee that they're broken in and comfortable.

Continue reading for more essential tips.