Fall is here! We love this time of year and one of our favorite events to participate in started today! Junior League of Raleigh, A Shopping Spree is a fun way to kick off the up and coming holiday season … Continue reading
Shopping Spree Picks
Back to School
Back to school is upon us and nothing throws us into a panic of preparation, like North Carolina’s Tax Free Weekend. This coming weekend August 2nd – 4th will mark the LAST Tax Free Weekend for school prep. and purchases. Here are some of the essentials that we recommend tracking down this weekend:
a good bookbag
great bookbag in all sizes and good for schools with label and character restrictions
Finding the right bookbag for your child for pre-k to high school, has been made a lot easier by Lands End. They make bookbags for all sizes and come in fun colors, with no character themes and stand the test of time. We like this new floral print shown in medium, which is great for kindergarten to 3rd grade.
pottery barn mini sizes, great for pre-k and camps
If you have a little one in pre-k pottery barn makes really great mini-bookbags that are great for a change of clothes, a lovely, sippy cup and a few pullups. They also scale their bags and we love the simplicity of the Green and Navy Fairfax Stripe.
a labeled towel/pillowcase
classic school colors monogrammed towel for “rest times”
I must admit, with a rising kindergartener I was a little thrown with this one! But they use these for their ‘rest time’. I think we all will assume that when it says “labeled with name” it really reads “monogrammed with name”. There must have been a typo on the schools list. I found a really cute basic towel at target and love this idea for monogramming which we can do for you at Babiology!
a good fleece
I know. It has been 90 degrees outside, but think of our very last 6.5% off ever folks! Then also think of the horrible tears and struggle that ensues and your little student is refusing the giant puffy coat. A good polartec fleece can help. Super warm and washable, these easy on vests, coats and hoodies can be a morning saver. If you don’t want to spend the price, Babiology has already put out some great options:
easy on widgeons are great through the whole winter
The Widgeon is perfect for pre-k. Two tabs and your done, a hood to cover ears and two years worth of wear makes this an easy and perfect pick for the littlest of learners.
waterproof lining and warm shearling make patagonia a great light weight choice in all their styles
Patagonia is the best fleece. In vest and zip ups you can’t beat the need for just a little extra layer of warmth without the weight.
lessons learned
As a mom of a soon to be kindergartener, I picked Velvet’s brain on what to do and not to do. One of the things I was worried about was getting out the door on time. Her suggestion was to start getting in the mind set now. Starting with the good bedtime routine that will keep everyone (including mom) from being cranky at 6:30 a.m. Another surprising tip she had was to not get sucked into the “fun” pencils.
Evidently, the erasers are no good and can make our little learners frustrated and accidentally rip all of their hard work. The best pencil, just the good old standard yellow No. 2.
We hope to see you this weekend during Tax Free shopping. We can’t wait to hear about all of the school adventures coming up and the excitement for shopping for the school list of supplies.
Project Runway: Diamonds and Drama
Nothing is more scary than a production shtick no mall cops with guns i mean, Hiedi and the button bag. The second episode of season 12 starts with some very petrified contestants. Evidently men in black, guns and Hiedi and the button bag are enough to make the designers pee their pants a little.
But alas, the jig is up and all are super excited to realize that they are in the presence of $30 million dollars worth of diamonds dripping from their models ears, necks and arms.
I am pretty sure this is Alexander’s natural face, but his expression captures the surprise the best. The contestants are to select their model after their name is drawn from the button bag. Their garment must be befitting and complimenting of the jewels adorning their models.
Yay! Couture, Evening wear!! Oh wait, they only get a day. Well, here comes the hurried extravaganza of organza. I really have come to loath the lack of time they give these designers for the more detailed challenges. Imagine what they could do with one more day. Couture takes months, is an extra day much to ask??
I digress, on to MOOD! I have never seen such a bizarre experience at Mood. Usually it is a frenzied rush. Bumping into one another, running up and down the stairs. Begging their competitors for extra money. But this year, with the contestants in control of their own $4,000 budget for the whole season, some seem to have a pretty relaxed approach so far.
Sandro may have been pondering his look while lounging. But Timothy took rummaging for fabric to a whole new level.
Timothy decided to go with scraps, seconds and dead stock (actually Zac Posen’s dead stock as we will find out later). This led Tim Gunn into the supply room of Mood to talk to Timothy about his vision for his dress and in front of a door that said “this is not a bathroom”, no less. If you are familiar with the regal-ness that is Tim Gunn, this is waaaay out of his comfort zone!
Before we leave Mood we get a little foreshadowing for the rest of this episode from Sandro.
For reaaaal Sandro! Because 9 minutes into this episode Sandro and Ken start going at each other in the work room. What they are arguing about is unclear but Justin LeBlanc (our home town boy!) is concerned for his safety, worried he may sew through his finger, and makes good on his offer from the first episode.
Removing his cochlear implant, he is now immune to the crazy. I only wish that we were. There is only more to come.
After the brief spat, Tim comes in to critique. We find out that Brandon is channeling Scarlett O’Hara and making his dress out of drapery fabric, but seems to be pulling it together nicely. Kahindo evidently didn’t watch any previous seasons of Project Runway before arriving and picked silk charmeuse for her fabric, the kiss of death. This material takes down someone every season and it is starting to work it’s evil powers on her. Alexander is using chiffon, chiffon and more chiffon and seems to be surprised (as best we can tell from his perma-surprise eyebrows) that Tim feels it is too “grandma”. Lastly, Timothy feels like a “kicked puppy” when Tim tells him he should consider scrapping his “sensor” top looking dress/thing.
Everyone tries to pull it together during the day of the runway. Loreal “kindly” let’s Timothy know that they have eco-friendly makeup available and that it was not tested on unicorns. Then we cut back to my two year old Sadie Sandro.
Sandro loses his cool, again, in attempts to get a steamer to turn on and even enlists the unwilling help of RJ, some production assistant guy. RJ didn’t have time to help Sandro find the “on” button so Sandro proceeds to go in the sewing room and pout. I swear I have seen my 2 year old, Sadie, do this exact routine. I fully expected him to stand up and stomp his feet or flail on the floor, but I don’t want to spoil any future episodes.
Phew! On to the Runway, the drama is all done and we get to enjoy the fashion aspect of the show! Right? Right? Wrong.
For the first time ever, a runway show is stopped dead in its tracks because of a convulsing and crying contestant.
Helen is distraught over how awful her look is, hey at least she recognizes it. Having a mini-moment, Tim comes over to console her as best he can. Ahh Tim. Just look at his investment in this person already. One Amazing Man!
On with the show! Helen quickly gathers herself back together and the runway show is complete. No real sarcasm or snippy shots from the judges today. I think the contestants have filled the hour with drama well enough. So on to who won!
Who Won/Who Should Have Won: Kate’s ethereal gown
On the runway, this is a dress that is too period and fluffy for my personal taste, but when she told her narrative of a princess grabbing and sheet and running through the night, I got it. Her corset work as always is beautiful and the draping of the silk with her narrative were perfect.
However, I do have qualms with the fact that everyone doted on Dom’s green floral frock. I felt it was messy and the un-even trim was distracting. Along with the space age arm swoops on one side, her dress made absolute no sense to me. I thought Justin or Jeremy could have easily taken her position in the top 3.
Who Lost:
Who Lost: Kahindo’s boring yet crazy sheath | Who Should Have Lost: Helen’s mess of a dress
I will say when I saw Kahindo’s dress walk down the runway I winced, the camo nature of the print just seemed to hit the model in all the wrong places. I told ya’ll silk charmeuse was a killer! BUT I have to say, at the end of the day when a designer says “this is their forte” and do so absolutely miserably as Helen did, you have to send them packing. This is Kate’s forte too and look where it got her! Either way, this poor model has dodged yet another bullet. First no make-up and shoes and then saggy boobs in front of Heidi! I think she is counting her days for sure.
What did you all think? Did you have to calm your nerves with a glass of wine too? Did your favorite get a shout out yet? Did you have the same expression as Heidi when you found out next week was another un-conventional challenge?!? See ya next week!
Doing Time
Do you ever feel like you spend all day with your kids and then simultaneously feel the opposite? That you haven’t spent enough time with them. This past week and 1/2 Velvet and I have become masters of the hand off. Sending our kids to grand parents, friends, camps etc.
dog days of summer
I think they view their time apart and together as siblings similarly. Missing their sister and hugging and then the joy is gone and they are in your space and you want them out now!
Summer doesn’t help either. It is an all or nothing deal. They are either with you 24/7 if you are home or gone at camp or the grandparents or wherever. There is no rhythm or routine to the day. We don’t seem to miss them as much when they are in school even though we probably see them less.
Is it mom guilt? Or should I just go get my nails done and forget about it? I think so.
summer reading…or not
When I bookmarked this topic, in my head I thought…oh I would love to put together a fun summer reading list for our followers. Then I realized no one wants The Emperor of All Maladies on their summer reading list and now that Velvet has torn her shoulder, well we just aren’t mentally or PHYSICALLY able to read a good book.
What we can do for you here at Babiology is re-cap one of our favorite shows of all time. PROJECT RUNWAY!! Heidi and her minions are back, and the first episode aired last Thursday and here is what we thought!
This season starts out on an oh so clever play on words the “runway”, airplane runway that is! See how they did that? The designers are challenged to create an article of fashionable clothing out of parachute material. But, first they must run to the color they want the most.
Katie, also previously from season 11, has the ‘eye of the tiger’ and is literally run over in the process of getting the fabric she wanted. Heidi really likes this and sees the ratings already increasing. I appreciate however, lifetime keeping it classy and moving on swiftly to the designer intro’s vs. an “i am going to cut you with my shears” segment that has become reality t.v. drama.
Onto the intros, most people are glazed over, but one person is highlighted and well well well…he is home grown!
Justin LeBlanc, from Raleigh, NC ya’ll!! And yes that is a subtitled “Go Wolfpack!” on Project Runway. But what his intro focused primarily on is his hearing difference. I loved his attitude towards his peers questions, like, should I face you when I talk: “Just be yourself and if don’t understand you, I’ll let you know. ” Wow. Words we all could live by really. He also jested that he had an upper hand in the work room when tensions get high: “If they get on my nerves all I have to do is turn this (cochlear implant) off.” I am pretty sure I would need a cochlear implant as well just to survive the tension much less get an actual garment made!
Another shining star through the muddled intros is Timothy Westbrook.
Sustainable design is an up and coming trend and very important as well, but I just don’t know what to think when someone says they are waiting for a “burning stove challenge”. Rounding out the festival of individuals is a female veteran, a retired modern dancer, a British dad with twins and a Russian. Should be fun!
During the work room Tim Gunn always comes around and gives his input as their mentor. I only wish I had him as an instructor in design school. His investment in his students and passion for design make him top notch and he is just a gentle loving soul to boot.
Tim’s comments for the contestants are always so valuable to life and to them, thanks Tim! Keep the inspiration coming!
Next the frenzy of runway day ensues. Makeup, hair, re-making a complete article of clothing from scratch! For some it brings noticeable issues. For others a little time for choreography.
I just don’t even know what to say, but this poor model. That has to hurt. Sandro doesn’t seem to be bothered by the excessive amount of skin showing, but everyone else seems correctly disturbed by his design flaws.
In the meantime, Timothy has time for some catwalk 101 lessons.
Again, this poor model. Does no one remember that they have $25K and a modeling contract on the line?!?! I am all for the advant garde, but he lost me again at “turn your head like you are gently sniffing your armpit.” I can’t make this stuff up people. I feel Timothy and I may be at odds this season.
On to the RUNWAY! If you are a major fan of the show you may have caugth Tim’s passive aggressive comment “I have always been here but I’m no longer invisible.” zing! Rightly so Tim, your opinion has long been overdue on runway day.
For the first day and being an un-conventional challenge, overall everyone did pretty good. As always Zac Posen is the master of the one liner and he doesn’t fall short in this episode, calling Timothy’s look “tinkerbell at burning man” and Sandro’s look a “slutty cat toy”. But all the judging aside, I could NEVER imagine doing this in a thousand years and be able to come out with some of the dresses these designers did. That being said though, here is who won and lost and who we thought SHOULD have won and been sent packing!
WHO WON: Branden’s gown
WHO SHOULD HAVE WON: Sue’s Gown
We loved Braden’s beautiful story of the wind pushing against the body and the full embodiment of the challenge, but there was something so cool and chic about Sue’s red couture-esk number. The pleating was fabulous and the styling was impeccable.
WHO SHOULD HAVE LOST: Sandro’s swimwear
WHO LOST: Angela’s Dress/Coat/Thing
Wow. Angela’s dress/coat/thing was pretty bland, but the fact that the judges said she needed a pair of pants and managed to completely glaze over the fact that Sandro’s girl was grasping at strings to cover her bits, still has my jaw slack. Again, his poor poor model’s face says it all.
What did you all think? Are you glad Timothy’s model found her shoes? Have you even ever watched Project Runway? Have you ever admitted in public to watching Project Runway? Ha! Join in on the fun and let us know what you think! See you after the next episode!
New Normal
When we started our blog for Babiology a few months ago we wanted to report on trends and life with kids. What I, Kaitlan, didn’t know when I started writing this blog is that it was preparing me to begin another blog about my son Paxton:
avenging leukemia
On April 3rd, our worlds changed and our focus shifted to Cancer and Cancer in our very own child no less. The first month was weary and seemed like so long ago and the second month was filled with the term: “new normal”. You just have to find it you know? Ummm..no I don’t know.
During the second month I assumed it meant mourning our past life and trying to figure out a new one. Cancelling summer camps, making health plans with the school nurse and in general just focusing 24/7 on Cancer. Because Cancer was our new normal, right?
During this past month, now three months in, I have realized it is taking your old life and weaving it into the new as best as possible. The best part about the weaving is that you get to pick up the threads that made you happy and realize that there is just no time for the ones that did not. In writing Paxton’s caring bridge page I realized that writing made me happy and gave me courage to express things that I could not speak about out loud in our situation. It was easy to claim this as part of the “new” part of normal, but this morning I realized I also needed to honor the “old” part of normal and weave the two together.
It is kind of like when you have a newborn baby and you let your living room be enveloped by everything baby: the changing table, the porta-crib, the swing and diapers everywhere. You do this because it is easier for a time. But then you wake up one morning and realize that you want your living room back and your brand new love bug is just going to have to settle for being woven into the house instead of consuming it.
It is o.k. to honor the blog that got my creative writing flowing, even if it veered off onto a different and un-expected path. It is o.k. to write about fashion and parenting and Cancer all at the same time. We all should be able to laugh and cry simultaneously at our own situations.
With that said, the Babiology Blog is officially back! I have missed engaging with our customers in this way and am looking forward to doing it again. On the cusp of school starting and summer in full swing we have lots to discuss so, stay tuned friends!
Kaitlan
Luck of the Irish
This weekend should be filled with merriment and lots of GREEN! The St. Patricks Day Parade will be at 12:00pm this Saturday and should be host to lost of fun.
Luck is with the Irish this year in the designers eye as well. Every year Pantone picks a color of the year and this year they have selected Emerald:
Energizing, lively and fresh, emerald green can be fun to wear in so many ways. Here are some great options from Babiology for this coming weekend and for this coming season! Enjoy the festivities and the beautiful weather!
24m Bella Bliss Bubble, 4 Dress and 18m Paisley Shortall.
Junior Bead in Chartreuse and Perry Necklace in Emerald
hippity hoppity
If you didn’t know already… we LOVE bunnies. Around this time of year we always think for a short moment we could have a shop bunny! So snugly and sweet we just can’t stand it! Velvet even has a whole pinterest page dedicated to bunnies like this one:
Source: Uploaded by user via Velvet on Pinterest
With Easter Bunny themed dresses and outfits coming in the store, we just squeal with joy and love how they make our shop look so fresh and happy.;ds
There are lots of great things going on this Easter season, but NOFO for us is taking the cake. They are having their annual Breakfast with the Bunny, the Princess of Spring and friends on Saturday, March 16th from 9am to 10am. Reservations are required, so sign up soon! Just give them a call at: (919) 821-1240
Then, everyone is invited to come visit Farmer Mary of Winterpast Farms from 10am to 12pm. She’ll be under the tents with bunnies, chicks, and other farm creatures for children to enjoy! We are so excited, Babiology will be hanging out too, we will have treats for little one’s and last minute Easter shopping.
So come and join us in 5 Points on March 16th, it should be a fun time for all and we can pretend for a quick moment that we have our sweet little bunny that we pine over every season.
Over It…Until Your Not
I woke up this morning thinking “I am so OVER this rain and weather!” With glimmering hopes of temperatures in the 60’s and sunny days, Spring has been teasing us for the past several weeks. My son probably thinks I … Continue reading
Hip to Be Square: Monogramming
There is an un-dying urge in The South to do several things: drink our tea sweet and cold, grill our food, say “yes ma’am and yes sir,” and…MONOGRAM everything! There is always that item at the shop we run across, … Continue reading
babiologyblog.wordpress.com 