Ramshackle Glam A lifestyle blog by Jordan Reid.

Today’s NBC segment, in which we talk simple beauty routines…and the one thing you actually need to look like a human being in the morning.

Product rundown after the jump!

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Where I’m headed today: to the NBC studios in Rockefeller Center to film a NY Live interview about my book (and give some new-mom beauty ideas). And this is what I’m wearing.

I’ve been doing a whole bunch of these segments lately, and while they still make me kind of nervous (albeit less and less with each one that passes), I’ve been having so much fun getting dressed for them. Mostly because my life doesn’t usually involve places to which one needs to wear things like sheath dresses and blazers and pumps (at the same time) – even if I’m headed to a meeting, it’s usually a pretty informal event where the person I’m meeting with cares more about what I’m saying and what I *actually* look like (which usually means jeans, a t-shirt and too much jewelry) than that I’m dressed Like A Professional. Which is my kind of meeting.

But for morning shows, I feel like I should go just a little more tailored. Clean lines. A decent manicure. Classic bag. Shoes with a minimum of scuffs. Not conservative, exactly - I still want to look like myself – but just a touch more…ironed than usual.

P.S. If you’re expecting (or not), I need to tell you to go to Zara (where I found this awesome dress that will fit me for approximately five more days, but that’s OK; I’ll rediscover it next fall) immediately. They’re in this mod stage right now, and it’s all retro pastels and ’60s-ish swing dresses, and it’s just awesome stuff for accommodating a baby bump (or not).

On Me: Zara dress (I couldn’t find it on the Zara site, but it’s definitely in stores and this is close); Ann Taylor blazer; L.A.M.B. heels (try these in black for a similar look); Tom Ford sunglasses; Petra Portfolio tote ℅ Everlane; Lola V faux lashes.

In need of some home organization inspiration? Above, some of my favorite (affordable) picks if you’d like to try adding a tray (or three) to your decor.

I have an “actual” home office, you know. Or…I did have an actual home office. Now I have a nursery-in-progress, and a corner of my attic where the desk that used to sit in that room is now wedged underneath a coat rack that also used to sit in that room.

But it doesn’t matter: I don’t love working at desks, anyway, and on a day to day basis my dining room table functions as my primary workspace. The only problem with this: the dining room table is right there smack in the middle of our house, clearly viewable from both the kitchen and the living room…and mess makes me crazy. And yet work yields mess (papers, pens, random to-do lists, et cetera).

What to do?

Add a tray. (This one is a cowhide T.J.Maxx find.)

I never really “got” the whole tray thing before – they seemed kind of unnecessary and like they’d add clutter rather than taking it away, but in recent months I’ve started popping down trays all over our house to corral disorganized spots, and I have to tell you: amazing. Even all piled up with remotes and little candies and camera equipment and that ticket that I got the other day and tore up in a furious rage because: hormones…they just look so pretty. And neat.

Trays for everyone!

Our coffee table tray – a marble Max Studio specimen I found at HomeGoods – is my newest acquisition. I love love love the color, and the unusual shape, and the sturdiness; it’s a great solution for organizing the random stuff always hanging out in our living room.

This melamine Cynthia Rowley tray was purchased ages ago for a segment, and I honestly didn’t think I’d ever use it because it’s not really my color scheme…but it turns out trays aren’t just good for organizing the small stuff; they’re also great for helping create “spaces” for larger appliances (like my SodaStream).

My vanity is a total disaster zone of products, and the antique tray that I spray-painted Depression Glass Red is a great way to keep them all in one spot.

And finally: cake plates (like this one from T.J.Maxx) make an excellent alternative to trays, adding height and visual interest to pretty much any surface (they’re especially pretty for storing perfume bottles).

Exhibit 54,736,839 in Why One Should Not Go To The Grocery Store While Hungry (Or Pregnant)

And lest you think “Oh, she just bought a marshmallow pie, big deal”? Nope. Bought a box. Yarrr. They taste like pillows wrapped in cardboard and I love them.

P.S. That’s my Easter manicure, except it has nothing to do with Easter (I’m not really a festive-nail-colors type of girl) aside from the fact that it is pastel. Very into pale shades that are more “nude” than “pink” these days, and this one is kind of perfect. It’s a gel color, alas, so I can’t link you to the exact shade I used, but this is basically it; so pretty.

P.P.S. Despite my Spring Break For My Nails resolution, I’m back to the gel manicures, mostly because I like having polished nails so much and yet am completely incapable of not touching things for a full forty-five minutes while my nails dry. Seriously, I cannot do it. It’s like a sickness.

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