If you follow me on Twitter or read my other blog, Jennifer James Online, you know that I recently traveled to London on business. It was a quick trip that I decided to take at the spur of the moment. Luckily for me I was able to save $900 through Travelocity (love them!) and scored a great room at the Waldorf Hilton. Yes, it sounds rather grand, but judging by the time of year I went to the UK the prices were extremely reasonable, inexpensive even.

My room at the Waldorf exceeded all of my expectations. This was my very first time in England so I really didn’t know what to expect, but the room was fantastic! Sure, I have stayed in better hotels than the Waldorf Hilton, but for the price I paid it was superb. The room was clean, had US electrical outlets if you forget to bring an adapter, had great customer service and delightful room service. I loved it! The only thing I found lacking was the lobby that is wholly underwhelming. They can do so much better with the decor.

Now…for the photos!

Cappuccino in the Waldorf Lobby

The room. I loved that there was a robe waiting for me! Lovely touch.

The bathroom.

Bathroom toiletries

On the Net: www.waldorfhilton.co.uk

The liquid liner is extremely easy to apply and if you mess up, simply dab it with a tissue to fix the mistake. Chanel’s Ombre d’eau comes in a variety of shades and they look amazing on!

On the Net: www.chanel.com

I love staying in hotels. I travel so often that it’s my hotel experiences that color my stay in a city. Since I am in New York quite often I have stayed at many a hotel. On one of my recent stays in New York I called The Strand Hotel home for a few days.

There are two things I look for first in a hotel: cleanliness and space. While my room at The Strand wasn’t huge, it was big enough for me because I wasn’t going to be in my room a lot anyway. And, the best part? The room and bathroom were both immaculate. I can’t ask for anything more than that. So without further ado…photos from my stay.

The only thing I didn’t like about The Strand is it’s on a side street and there weren’t very may taxis. That can be a pain. Plus, a lot of the taxi drivers didn’t want to do local rides. Other than that, it’s a great hotel if you don’t mind the possibility of having to walk to the main street to grab a cab if the doorman isn’t available.

On the Net: www.thestrandnyc.com

I am going to begin each day with breakfast. If I don’t eat in the morning I’m ravenous by lunchtime. That’s never good.

One of the things I have figured out is if I don’t eat breakfast watch out at lunch and dinner! I will eat everything in my path. And it all starts because my breakfast was lousy. A venti dry cappuccino (as much as I’d like it to be breakfast) just doesn’t cut it.

My friends over at Kellogg HQ have convened a Kellogg Breakfast Council that is comprised of third-party nutritionists who have been charged to help Americans understand the need to eat a nutritious breakfast!

According to a recent survey commissioned by Kellogg, 54% of Americans want to eat breakfast each morning, but only 34% succeed at that daily goal. And surprisingly, 89% of moms want their children to eat breakfast every morning, but 40% admit it doesn’t happen every day.

As a mom I know the quickest breakfast option for me and my family is cereal. All I have to do is pour it in a bowl and add milk. Plus, my daughters can fix their own breakfast. My next challenge is to stop munching on the cereal as a snack, but that’s another problem for another day.

Want to read more about healthy breakfasts? Visit  www.loveyourcereal.com

However, when asked to try out Jaipur Avenue I was intrigued that the owner, Jillu Zaveri, also couldn’t find American chai she liked. I figured Jaipur Avenue had to taste differently than the previous ones I’ve tasted. I wasn’t disappointed.

Coming in five different flavors: cardamom, original masala, ginger, saffron, and vanilla, Jaipur Avenue has a much more subtle flavor to me than the others I’ve tasted. Plus, it’s not as sweet. I liked the flavor, especially the original. If I buy chai I’ll definitely purchase Jaipur Avenue. You can purchase it on Amazon.com.

There is only one thing I didn’t like about Jaipur Avenue and that was the difficulty opening the packet. The contents were delicious, but it took forever for me to open each individual packet. It seemed like there was a small slit on the side where I could open it, but there wasn’t. I had to open each packet with scissors or a knife which was wholly inconvenient.

Given that, though, I still love Jaipur Avenue. I was surprised by the taste and was delighted that it wasn’t too sweet. It is much easier to make than a cup of coffee and didn’t give me the jitters like my beloved cappuccinos. Additionally, I know that each packet has 90 calories. I love knowing that because sometimes I can get heavy handed with cream and sugar in my daily coffee.

On the Net: www.jaipuravenue.com

There’s a brand new eco deals site that will launch on Monday, June 6 that greatly piqued my interest called Loving Eco. They promise to have deals up to 70% off of eco brands like Beatrix NY, Organically Grown, Sustainable Kids, Green As Wee Grow Rebel Green, iPlay, and SIGG.

I also love that LovingEco is co-founded by two women who understand other women and what we want, the trend toward eco purchasing, as well as the digital landscape.

“LovingEco is a passion project for me; to educate and protect women’s health by creating a community of conscious consumption, and to create a sustainable way of giving back,“ says Melinda Moore, Founder and President of www.lovingeco.com. “I have always embraced a natural lifestyle and this is a way for me to inspire other women to discover many innovative and stylish eco brands.”

“Like many women, as a mother I became more aware of the ingredients of products that came in contact with me and my family, along with the longer term environmental impact of everything we consume,“ says Founder and CEO of the site, Justine Lassoff. “I founded LovingEco to curate and promote the best eco-friendly products for women to make it easy to access healthier product choices, while creating a fun and fashion-forward ecommerce platform.”

One the Net: www.lovingeco.com

Armed with a complimentary gift certificate from Tea I sat down with my daughters and let them choose what they wanted from Tea’s girl’s clothing. My youngest daughter, who is an artist at heart, ended up deciding upon the Citron Flora Playdress and rose petal skinny stretch leggings. My oldest daughter, who will turn 13 next month, chose the Seaside Tile Halter Dress with indigo skinny stretch leggings.

Last week while in New York we went to one of our favorite places in the city, Bryant Park, and our daughters wore their new Tea dresses and leggings.

Here is our youngest in the Citron Flora Playdress. She likes her dress because she thinks it is “very pretty, loved that it has a pocket, and is very “flowy”. About the leggings she said they are “very perfect” because they aren’t too tight or too loose.

And here’s our oldest daughter, who again is going on 13, in the Seaside Tile Halter dress. Tea isn’t just for babies and toddlers anymore. She said her dress is “very comfortable and soft and a great summer dress”.

As a mom I am thrilled to have discovered that Tea has beautiful clothes for girls my daughters’ ages and gives us a stellar, affordable option to clothe them in outfits that are unique, beautiful, and not something that nearly every kid in our neighborhood is wearing. They also have boy’s clothing. I also love Tea’s commitment to global travel and raising little citizens of the world.

See, my youngest discovered her dress’s pocket. She loves it!

On the Net: www.teacollection.com

If you follow my tweets and writings on my other web properties you know I was in DC to attend ONE’s “Why Bother” vaccines campaign press conference. And if you’ve followed my tweets you also know I, along with the other members of the ONE Mom Advisory Council, am going to Kenya this July.

Even though I was on the move last week traveling frantically from city to city and then experiencing delays upon delays due to the tornadoes that ravaged the south I still took photos of my Washington, DC leg to share with you. You’ll see photos from the sky as I was flying into DC on one of the most beautiful mornings I’ve seen in a long time, DC monuments, and photos of the Donovan House in Thomas Circle where I stayed.

Here’s wishing you a wonderful Mother’s Day from ONE.org and Laura Bush

I love them! I don’t wear anything but J.Jill.