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Women so often have to be brave. But you don’t have to go it alone.

Whether it is facing the death of a loved one or a child, or dealing with rejection in a career quest or problems at home, there are several online resources and centers to help you muster the courage to wake up the morning and face another day.

If you are going through a difficult time, or know someone who is, there’s a wonderful website called www.onebravechick.com. This dynamic trio of founding “brave chicks” wanted to celebrate all women and each of their unique stories; a company that would celebrate any woman, anywhere, who needed a shot in the arm of courage;— anyone who looked life in the eye, and said, “That’s all you got? Well I’m still here. I’m One Brave Chick.”

Another wonderful place is Peter’s Place at www.petersplaceonline.org. As a center with a supportive environment to help grieving children and families in Radnor, PA, this dynamic organization will have their autumn fundraising event called “An Affair of the Arts, to be held Saturday, October 24th at 7pm in the Northern Liberties at the Baltzell Design Center. Tickets range from $150 to $1,000. Founded in 2001 in memory of 10-year old Peter Mosbach, Peter’s Place provides a range of programs and services including providing peer support for grieving children, teens and their caregivers; peer support for young adults; and grief training and education for schools and health professionals.

The fundraiser will feature food, music and entertainment as guests bask in the creative works of top artists. You’ll feel good about being around the company of caring and loving individuals. You’re not alone. Check it out!

You can register online at: https://www.kintera.org/AutoGen/Register/ECReg.asp?ievent=327094&en=fwIYJbNQIiL1JbMVIoLUI6P0IsL8IrO4JhISLcNVIkJ6InMZImJfH

Philadelphia's Fashion Week flutters into town Oct 8-10. While not quite a week of fashion shows, this event features food, fashion, arts and culture and includes the best of student designers from Moore College of Art and Design, The Art Institute of Philadelphia and Philadelphia University. I am really looking forward to seeing the most avant-guard fashions from the best and brightest student designers. Project Runway, here they come!

We'll also be seeing exciting streetwear designers and contemporary couture designers. The models are from the newly launched Wilhelmina of Pennsylvania.

 Kristie Bergey, the executive director of Philadelphia Fashion Week calls the event the largest professional fashion event in Philadelphia and we are quite happy that such a major undertaking will crown our city this weekend. Here, here!

 But of course, www.SnapGlow.TV will be covering many of the shows, so keep your eyes peeled for our latest videos that hopefully, will transport you to Philly Fashionland.

For more information, www.philadelphiafashionweek.org.

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Have you ever wanted to reinvent yourself? To find what you truly love in life and pursue it as a career? Helloo!

One of the great seminars held by the Pennsylvania Governor's Conference on Women held this past week at the Philadelphia Convention Center explored this fertile topic. I was honored to be the emcee for two sessions for about 800 women who were looking to switch it all up.

I know a little somethin’, somethin’ about reinvention. I've been a lawyer, model, actress and journalist, community activist, married at 40 and first time mom at 46. I told the crowd that I either have A.D.D. or that I could blame it all on the "spirit of reinvention" because she is my dark mistress! I must obey! I must obey! (Here is where my glassy-eyed look becomes even more so!)

Pamela Mitchell, the workshop leader has appeared on the Today show and been quoted in the Wall Street Journal and Business Week. She calls herself "America's Reinvention Coach" and we got her to give up some of her secrets to pursuing the dreams you love.

Watch for her video and advice in the next several weeks.

Cow-a-bunga!

Okay, it is terribly hot. We sit on the tarmac of the Huiqong Airport in Guangzhou in Southern China for 3 lousy hours. I have a flashback to the tarmac of PHL and an even more dreadful US Airways flight. The airline stewardesses quickly try to placate us with an early airplane meal (which US Airways would never do). It is shockingly tasty. The hot meal, however, makes me sweat even more.

These stewardesses looks enviably cool, calm and collected: no sweaty brows and gloppy make-up. They glow, while I just sweat. What is their beauty secret? This Philly girl vows to investigate.

After I get off the plane ride from hellacious, I stop by a modern, all-white, corner Chinese drug store, which would be the equivalent of a Rite Aid in the US.  I delve into the cosmetic section, which takes up three-quarters of the store. It is packed with young women all chatting noisily about the different attributes of each product. Surprisingly, most of the beauty area is filled with skin care products and not cosmetics, which is the opposite of most American drug stores. Here masques, skin care lotions, zit zappers and whitening tonics take center stage. Mascaras, foundations and blush are relegated to the corner area. In fact, one Chinese beauty tells me,  ”You can’t make up for bad skin.”

Indeed, I do notice that most Chinese women here wear little foundation or eye liner. When it is so hot, foundation just melts on your face, cover-up stick congeals and eyeliner gets splotchy.

So, when it is so hot that you can fry an egg on the sidewalk, it's best to go as bare as possible. Invest in great skin care and your skin will look flawless, even under the glare of the scorching South China sun.

98 degrees with 80 percent humidity is enough to make even the most dedicated fashionista’s will wilt.

Walking on the Bund in Shanghai, the futuric and cosmopolitan port city of the new China, I’m struck how women can still appear fiercely fashionable even in heat that seriously tops Philly’s own.

When I get ready for the day, should I just schlep around with shorts and my Hello Kitty tank top? Or wear my Gap tented dress with raggedy flip-flops and no belt? Being a tourist and an American one at that, I always like to look presentable and “represent”.  This turns out to be a good idea, since Shanghainese women dress quite well.

 I opt for white Tory Burch linen tunic dress, which felt like a good choice on the way down in the elevator to the over air-conditioned lobby of my hotel.

However, when I step outside the hotel, which is located in Pudong, a fashionable office district filled with high –tech companies, I wince visibility. My carefully applied makeup literally melts on my face. The shower taken just one hour ago is a distant memory. Shanghai swelters, and I am experiencing it.

My linen dress was a good choice for a hot, humid day, but is still insanely wrinkled from being crumpled up in my suitcase. Thank goodness it is white. My friend wears a black shirt, saying it was “slimming”, only to find the color is a heat magnet. Her forehead is quickly doused in beads of sweat.

My gigantic silver-colored leather Tori Burch tote makes me easy to find in a crowded airport. When I start off on my trip, it was a brilliant silver color. Now, I am not happy to report that my sweaty (not “glowing”, just sweaty) shoulders have worn down the silver handles so it now is a sort-of washed-out grey. This item did not pass the travel test.

Shanghainese women go for shorter linen or cotton dresses that flutter in the meager breeze. Details, like ruching and creative stitching help simple outfits look chic and comfortable. Shanghai women aren’t afraid to bare skin, but do it in a fashionable way. Short dresses are matched with colorful sandals. Cropped pants are paired with smart sandals and rarely flip-flops. I saw super short skirts coupled with very high heels and blouson-like tops. Short shorts were also in, coupled with cute chunky sandals.

Pairing your outfit with a matching parasol creates a charming image, if not a practical and cool one. One woman wears a grey linen dress with an umbrella with a silverized reflective coating to keep the sun off her delicate skin. She is one smart and fetching fortune cookie.

One of my favorite designer discount sites is www.gilt.com. They offer discounted designer merchandise and it’s like shopping at a sample sale, except with a fairly wide selection of sizes. Every day at 12 noon, I poise my browser on the site and ready my finger to hit the enter key when the clock strikes so I can grab the best bargains. It brings out fashion animal-ista in me. Exciting stuff. Zac Posen, Alexander McQueen, Chloe, Helmut Lang, Ralph Lauren, Vera Wang, Tory Burch and Gucci, all at discounted prices.

This site is not for the meek and indecisive, like one of my best friends who can agonize for an hour over which cotton placemat to buy. On Gilt.com, if you do not immediately grab your desired item, place it in your shopping cart and buy it, it will disappear before your eyes. I once found an amazingly well priced Marc Jacobs top ($80 compared to retail of $400), and quickly placed it in my shopping bag. Then I got greedy and didn’t check out right away and tried to surf the site for more stuff before I missed out. Then, when I went to check out, my purchases had all evaporated (poof!) into another more determined shopper’s closet. I had been flounced and trounced.

You also must have nerves of steel to buy under because this stuff ain’t cheap. Steel and diamond watches by Chopard or diamond and silver earrings by David Yurman are up for grabs, but many of the designer lots are final sales, so, if you hesitate to drop a wad of cash, you will get scooped. Or if you buy and regret it, there are no returns, just the occasional store credit. There are some great deals, but much of the stuff is pretty pricey. This week, a Fendi Straw Fringe Spy bag, which retails for $4970 went on sale this week for $1498. Cash whip lash!

However, there is good news for those who want to partake in more sanely price offerings. Next month, a sister site called “ Gilt Fuse” will be unveiled. It will be like a Barney’s Co-op where less expensive items reign. Here, you’ll find offerings from Laundry, Diesel, C & C and Generra, from $75 to $150 dollars.

BTW, you can only log on to Gilt.com if you have a friend recommend you. If you want to check it out, send us your email address at snapglowFUN@gmail.com and we’ll enter your address for you so you can get access. No harm in looking! Also, if you want to get the latest SnapGlow.TV updates, sign up for your FREE bi-weekly email in the column just to the right of this blog.