Tea Collection $15 Dresses & $10 Tees {Sale}

by Kate on May 22nd, 2012  |  5 Comments  |  Shopping

The Tea Collection Memorial Day Sale is on NOW. With $15 dresses and $10 shirts you can save 50% or more on this season’s Destination: Bali styles.

Shop $15 Dresses.

And for the boys? Shop $10 Tees.

Here are some of our favorites from the sale.


Agung Polo (reg. $30, now $10).


Barong Batik Layered Tee (reg. $30, now $10).


Floating Rice Field Dress (reg. $39, now $15).


Lotus Batik Knot Dress (reg. $35, now $15).

Get more wear out of the dresses and plan ahead for fall with coordinating $10 leggings.


Radiant Rice Leggings (reg. $25, now $10).

Happy shopping!

GapKids Launches Cabana Collection

by Kate on May 8th, 2012  |  5 Comments  |  Shopping

Gap recently launched the Cabana collection for GapKids! Inspired by the warmth and energetic colors of Tulum, Mexico, the Cabana collection encourages little girls and boys to be true to who they are through the expression of color. The bright new styles for Summer include striped dresses, embroidered rompers and denim vests for her and plaid shorts, garment-dye shirts and graphic T’s for him.

GapKids Cabana Collection

Here are some of our favorite pieces that will bring color and joy to little wardrobes this summer.



Children’s Cabana Cha Cha

To celebrate the spirit of the collection Gap partnered with Debbie Allen, an award-winning actress, dancer, choreographer, director and producer, to create an energetic dance called the “Cabana Cha Cha.” The children are dressed in clothes from the Cabana collection and they are as cute (and talented) as can be. Make sure you watch and share the video because Gap will donate $1 to the Debbie Allen Dance Academy for every time the video is shared via Facebook or Twitter!

Shop! The Cabana Collection is available at Gap stores and online at Gap.com - check out the boys collection and the girls collection. Prices in the collection range from $14.95 – $39.95.

DownEast Basics Girl {Review & Giveaway}

by Monica on April 24th, 2012  |  5 Comments  |  Clothes, Giveaways, Reviews

Cute Clothes from DownEast Girl

When I first heard of our DownEast Basics review opportunity, I remember thinking, “I think I have seen their catalog and they carry really cute clothes.”  I had no idea exactly how cute, or how amazing their new girls’ line is until I took a look around. I was super excited to check out the fashionable and hip options for not only me, but my two year old daughter as well.  Here are a few of the adorable clothes I found at DownEast Girl for my little one!

DownEast Girl Review

I had a hard time deciding on an item to review, but finally decided on the Sandcastle Swimsuit above.  We vacation in Maine every summer, and the whale detail on this suit was too cute to resist! When it arrived, I couldn’t wait to try it on my daughter.  I ordered a size 2 and unfortunately it is a little too big for her at this time. Full disclosure here: she is pretty tiny for a two year old and, in fact, she can still wear many 12 months clothes so I wasn’t really expecting it to fit her. The top was ok, but the the little bottoms just won’t stay up due to her bum, or lack thereof.  So, unfortunately, I don’t have a good picture to share of her running around in a cute little suit! However, I am hoping that with a few more trips to the local ice cream parlor once it gets warmer, she will get a little more to her to hold these adorable bottoms up! So as for sizing, I would not say that this particular item ran big, I would call it true to size, which is always helpful when ordering for kids (or yourself!) online.

As for the quality of the suit, I was really impressed. It was a lined suit, and both layers were very thick and seem as if they will wear well. Although we haven’t had the opportunity to use the suit in water I can guess it will hold up really, really well.  And in our case, most likely last two summers! I will say I was surprised a little by the coloring of the suit. Online, it did look a bit more pink as opposed to coral accents, but I like the coral and navy accents with the turquoise blue a great deal, very fresh and current colors this season.

 To Buy to Not to Buy

To Buy… I really was impressed by the quality and pricepoint of the item I reviewed.  I would certainly look to DownEast for future purchases for us!

Or Not to Buy… I can’t think of a reason not to purchase from this great retailer. The clothes are cute, they are fasionable, and at a great price.

Shop! DownEast Girl has affordable and fashionable clothes for girls in sizes 2 through 14.. They also have a great women’s line as well!  And if you act fast, last I checked, all Clearance items were on sale for an additional 30% off with promo code “SPRING 30″. Plus, you can stock up on girls items and save 25% off all DownEast Girl items with code GIRL25. 

Win! Your Choice of any DownEast Girl Item!

How to Enter: Visit DownEast Girl and leave a comment with your favorite find.

Earn Extra Entries – valid only after completing the first required entry. Please leave a separate comment for each you do.

Giveaway ends May 9. Open to US residents only.

Thanks to DownEast for providing review and giveaway items. 

Nostalgic Graphic Tees by Elizabeth Horton Design {Review & Giveaway}

by Monica on April 23rd, 2012  |  5 Comments  |  Clothes, Giveaways, Reviews

I love checking out Etsy for handmade and unique items for my kids, as well as for others.  When I was approached to review Nostalgic Graphic Tees by Elizabeth Horton Design, I knew right away which cute tee I wanted to review! Although she has many cute and adorable designs, there was one in particular that would fit my daughter (and hopefully one day my daughters) personality well: the Tennis Pro girls tee.

About Elizabeth Horton Design

Seeing my children grow and develop their imaginations made me feel nostalgic of some of my own childhood memories. I remembered the joy in picking a flower, playing on a see saw, twirling in a tutu, catching that first firefly of the summer, looking at clouds against a blue sky, blowing bubbles, fishing in grandaddy’s pond, riding a bike. I loved reliving those simple moments with my own family and wanted to capture them in some fashion. 

My goal is to design products that are comfortable, unique, timeless, and age appropriate. This is the shirt that I hope you and your children will reach for time and time again!

My Experience

When I browsed around the Nostalgic Tee shop I was immediately impressed.  First of all, there is nothing more classic than a child’s silhouette, and on a tee it can be so cute! Elizabeth has captured many important and timelss momens in a child’s life in her designs, there has to be one that speaks to you. The one that I immediately fell in love with was a little girl silhouette with a tennis racket. Tennis has been a huge part of my life, both as a child and now as an adult.  I hope that it is a sport that I will be able to share more and more with my children. I just knew my little girl had to have this Tennis Pro tee to cheer me on in my matches this spring and summer! I play in a league all year long, and she will be the hit of the stands cheering Mommy on in this adorable tee.

You can see a close up of the adorable graphic to the right.  My little girl loved it as soon as she saw it for two reasons, 1) it was pink, and 2) it was tennis, like Mommy plays. I loved the quality of the lettuce edge tee, as will as the expert way the graphic was printed to the tee perfectly.

We had an absolute ball doing this little photo op. The amazingly adorable Nike dri-fit shorts seriously complete the outfit, don’t they! They were the perfect color pink to match!

To Buy or Not to Buy

To Buy… Elizabeth Horton’s Nostalgic tees are high quality, original works of art that your child can wear over and over, and look adorable doing so!  I am certainly keeping this shop in mind for birthday gifts for kiddos from here out!

Or Not to Buy… Unles you don’t like t-shirts and fantastic images, and not to mention, supporting small buiness, then I don’t see any reason not to buy!

Shop! Visit Elizabeth Horton’s Nostalgic Graphic Tee Etsy shop and take a look at all of her fantastic designs. There are tons of tees, infant wear, and adorable dresses as well! Short sleeve tees are $20, long sleeve tees and infant sleeping gowns are $22 and dresses are $29.

Nostalgic Graphic Tees Giveaway! Win your choice of any in stock item.

How to Enter: Visit Nostalgic Graphic Tees  and leave a comment here with your favorite item that you’d love to win.

Earn Extra Entries – valid only after completing the first required entry. Please leave a separate comment for each you do.

Giveaway ends May 4. Open to US residents only.

Thanks to Nostalgic Tee and Elizabeth Horton for providing review and giveaway items. 

Lottie Da Baby Trunk Show {Exclusive Discount Code}

by Kate on March 18th, 2012  |  5 Comments  |  Shopping

We are really excited to be participating in one of the very first Lottie Da Baby Trunk Shows. Lottie Da is shifting their retail focus away from the gorgeous storefront to focus on designing and creating beautiful custom crib bedding and boutique clothing. As part of the shift, Lottie Da Baby is launching the trunk show model which means we all benefit from a great, exclusive discount on the beautiful girls dresses.

My daughter has several dresses from Lottie Da Baby and they always garner quite the response. (You can see my daughter wearing one of her dresses in our family photos.)

Lottie Da dresses are truly works of art, combining colorful fabrics in unique patterns for truly one of a kind dresses. Here are just some of my favorites from the current collection

Pink Opal Owl Dress

Vintage Party Dress

Marie Antoinette Dress

Garden District Easter Dress

Shop! Visit LottieDaBaby.com and check out the gorgeous boutique girls dresses. Use code LOTTIETR3 for 10% off and Free Shipping. Hurry – the discount code ends March 21.

Tutu Pour Mon Deux: Design It Yourself Tutu Shirts {Discount Code}

by Kate on March 16th, 2012  |  5 Comments  |  Clothes, Reviews

We’ve been fans of Tutu Pour Mon Deux for years. In fact, it’s almost exactly two years since we first featured the awesome custom tutu shirts. (If you want a chuckle, pop over to our original Tutu Pour Mon Deux review to see my daughter wearing her custom tutu tank top. She looks so little!) 

What is a Tutu Pour Mon Deux Tutu Shirt?

We’ve combined a band of tulle and colorful ribbon and attached it to the bottom of either a sleeveless or long sleeved shirt with a unique image ironed onto the bodice creating a one of a kind, little girl’s tutu shirt. Our tutu’s come in an array of eye-catching colors and come in sizes ranging from 18 months to 6T. 

DIY {Design It Yourself} Tutu Shirt

The process of designing your Tutu Pour Mon Deux tutu shirt is really simple. You pick the style (tank top or long sleeve), size (from 18 months to 6T), shirt color, patch, tutu color and ribbon accent. One of my favorite features is that, in addition to the standard selection of patches, you can pick a custom letter or number patch. Wouldn’t this be a fabulous birthday shirt?

My daughter received a long sleeve pink shirt with monkey patch and brown tutu. The tutu material changed from organza to tulle and the result is a more sturdy tutu that seems to hold up to machine washing a little better. We know the shirts are great quality and will last – my daughter wore her first Tutu Pour Mon Deux shirt until I couldn’t squeeze her into it any longer. She’s wearing a size 4T which is a bit on the big side, but she doesn’t seem to notice.

How can you not smile while wearing this shirt?

Smile and dance…

To By or Not to Buy

To Buy… Tutu Pour Mon Deux shirts are adorable, unique, custom and completely fun. Whether you’re dressing a princess, ballerina or rocker there’s a tutu shirt just right for your little one. The quality is great and we love that you have complete creative control to design the perfect shirt. But perhaps the best part? One third of the proceeds of every shirt are donated to Children’s Hospital Boston.

Or Not to Buy… The shirts are pricey, but you’re paying for the custom made shirt and you can feel good knowing a large chunk of the proceeds are going to a great cause.

Shop! Design It Yourself Tutu Shirts from Tutu Pour Mon Deux are $44 for tank tops and $46 for long sleeve shirts. We are excited to offer an awesome 25% off discount code! Code shoppingmama is valid through April 30.

Thanks to Tutu Pour Mon Deux for providing a sample.

Trinkets & Tutus: Unique Fabric Tutus {Review & Giveaway}

by Shannon on February 6th, 2012  |  5 Comments  |  Clothes, Giveaways, Reviews

Tutus are a BIG thing in our house. Preschool girl has always loved them.

Even toddler boy loves them. Yes, he will kill me for these photos in the future.

He compensates for the tutu with a manly Lightening McQueen “hunk-o-burning love” shirt.

And even the dog wears tutus. Featured here inside out around her neck.

It is sad to have to retire some of our favorite tutus. However, they are tucked away for future reminiscing and children who may wish to wear them. So how about a tutu that can grow with your child?

That’s exactly what Trinkets and Tutus makes. These shabby chic tutus are made in a variety of color combinations from dozens of materials and ribbons attached to a coordinating adjustable waistline ribbon.

Because they are made from so many varieties of ribbon and fabric, no two tutus are alike (say that three times fast!). At their Etsy shop, trinkets and tutus features adorable fashions for all the upcoming holidays, including St. Patrick’s Day and Easter.

My daughter loves her (trinket and) tutu! The first time she put it on she said, “It makes me feel like singing!” And sing she did.

As a mama, I’m very pleased with the Trinkets and Tutus product. I love that the product is handmade by moms who have put great thought into their pieces. I like the adjustable waistband (to a point, trinkets and tutus makes them for age ranges) that you can simply tie looser as the child grows. I love that a variety of ribbons and fabric have been used. Preschool girl spent almost an hour one afternoon looking at all the fabrics and ribbons to pick her favorite. Additionally, both children have used the tutu in their imaginative play. This tutu has been a lion mane, a door for their clubhouse and a rug on which their pet store pets (stuffed animals) can sleep.

Upon wearing the tutu to preschool for the first time, preschool girl received a million compliments which made her heart very happy. She loves to be the center of attention (what girl doesn’t?).

We have had some fraying of the satin ribbons in the tutu. I solved that with some fabric scissors and a quick “V” snip.

Our Trinkets and Tutus tutu is great fun!

To Buy or Not to Buy

To Buy… With an adjustable waist, variety of colors and textures and the “swing factor,” a tutu from trinkets and tutus is a great gift for that special little one (I would say “girl”, but have proven that my boy likes tutus as well!). On their Etsy site, Trinkets and Tutus also features doll-size tutus, bows, specialty shirts, themed tutus (Hello Kitty, pirates, Dora and Minnie Mouse to name a few). Starting at $22.50 for a newborn size, trinkets and tutus are competitively priced with other homemade and mass-produced tutus on the market. And, should you not find exactly what you are looking for in their Esty shop, trinkets and tutus will make a custom tutu for you.

Or Not to Buy… Our tutu has seen some fraying with the satin and cotton ribbons, but that was quickly and easily solved with a pair of scissors and a “V” cut. If you have a tremendously active child, you may wish to place a dab of fabric glue at the end of the ribbons.

Shop! Find Trinkets and Tutus on Etsy and have lots of fun browsing their unique offerings. Tutus range in price from $22.50 to $42. Remember, if you don’t see just what you need, customized options are available.

Win! A Trinkets and Tutus Tutu!

How to Enter: Visit Trinkets and Tutus and leave a comment here with your favorite style.

Earn Extra Entries – valid only after completing the first required entry. Please leave a separate comment for each you do.

Giveaway ends February 17. Open to US residents only.

Keep Kids Warm This Winter With Lands’ End Outerwear

by Amy on November 4th, 2011  |  5 Comments  |  Clothes, Reviews

Selecting a winter coat for my little girls each year can be overwhelming because there are so many things to consider. Obviously warmth is high on the list of priorities, but so is style because let’s face it, if they don’t want to wear their winter coat we’re in for daily battles all winter long. We received the Lands’ End Girls’ Expedition Parka and the Expedition Snow Pants for my five year old for review.

About the Expedition Parka &Snow Pants

This ready-for-anything coat is packed with everything she needs for snow days and ski getaways. We built each one to be the “warmest” on our exclusive temperature rating scale and made it impervious to wind and water, so she stays dry and toasty no matter which adventures she takes. What’s more, we added an amazing amount of detail including our interior Stowaway Pocket for stashing hats, hand-warmer holders in the front pockets plus an MP3 player pouch with cord port. We make each pair super water-resistant with our patented DriOff™ finish, and then pack them with PolarThin™ insulation to add extra warmth without the bulk. With durable, reinforced Cordura® nylon lining at the knees & seat, and plenty of side cargo pockets for storing all her snow gear.

Our Experience

When the Lands’ End package arrived I told my daughter that her new winter coat was inside and her first question was, “Is it PINK?” And let’s just say that if both items didn’t arrive in such a super cute pink, she wouldn’t have even tried it on. She put both the jacket and pants on right away and was happy with what she saw in the mirror: a warm & cozy, stylin’ little five year old.

To our surprise, we had a huge snow storm here in New Jersey last weekend, and my daughter excitedly put on her parka and snow pants and headed out back for some fun in the snow. She was very comfortable in the pants and they moved with her while she played, unlike the snow pants we’ve had in the past. The snow was coming down hard and was very wet, but the jacket and pants kept her completely dry, even after sitting in the yard for 30 minutes.

One of the most noteworthy features of the Expedition Parka is the Grow-A-Long™ sleeves, which extend up to 1 1/2 inches. This means my daughter can wear the jacket for 2 years, and with Lands’ End quality, her younger sister can wear it for two years as well! A few more impressive features: SnowGuard elastic wrist cuffs attach at the thumb to keep out snow & cold, EZ-Zip Tab makes dressing mitten-friendly, and reflective zipper pulls and logo in back for visibility.

To Buy or Not to Buy

To Buy… The Lands’ End Expedition Parka and Expedition Snow Pants has every feature (and then some!) us parents need to make sure our little ones are warm, dry, comfortable, not to mention stylin’ in the cold weather. Lands’ End quality and the Grow-A-Long™ sleeves are probably the most important features for me because it means that we will get lots of use out of the coat. Regular price for the Expedition Parka is $129.50 and $69.50 for the Snow Pants. After spending the day in the cold, wet snow with my five year old, I am convinced that this is the best winter coat and pants for her long afternoons playing in the snow.

Or Not to Buy… Price is the only concern I would have when purchasing the Expedition Parka and Snow Pants. They are priced higher than many other winter coats and pants, but are far superior to their cheaper counterparts.

Shop! Visit the Lands’ End web site to purchase. I’ve noticed lots of sales at landsend.com lately!

lands end expedition parka

Disclosure: Thanks to Lands’ End for providing a sample product for the purpose of this review. Opinions here are my own and uninfluenced by receipt of product.
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