Boutique Review: Fill your Itty Bitty Closet
This is a new series I am going to try. Boutique and Market reviews. I’m hoping this will help you find some cool, new places to shop. I’m only going to give you the scoop on places I really love or really think should have a buyer beware sign posted up front. Also, none of these reviews will ever be paid, they are all my opinions based on personal experience. Enjoy!
Itty Bitty’s Closet is a gently used kids store in Corona, CA that carries kids items from your itty bitty infant up to size 12. They carry everything you need to get ready for your first-born (all the strollers, crib bedding, onesies, gear, etc) or if you have more than one kid, they offer every size imaginable up to size 12 to keep your kids clothed without breaking your wallet. When Itty Bitty first opened I took all the baby gear that Chiara had outgrown and exchanged it for store credit. Since then I have used that credit to buy things for Adeline (dance shoes, sweaters, etc.) My kids love going to Itty Bitty because they LOVE to play in the gated off area conveniently located right next to the cash register. I love it because they go and play while I get to shop without constantly saying “STOP THAT!” “PUT THAT BACK!” and in my calm shopping experience I feel like I might eligible for the Mom of the Year Award. OK, stop laughing… I said MIGHT.
When I first walked in to Itty Bitty I was amazed by the smell. Yes… the smell. It doesn’t smell at all like a second-hand store. No musty smells, no smokey smells. Nope. The store smells… fresh. Like just washed laundry that has been hung in the sun to dry. That fresh linen, bright spring day kind of fresh. The warmness you feel like you just entered into a Tide commercial and now that all your laundry is clean all of you life’s problems have been solved kind of fresh. Ok… I might be exaggerating a bit, but compared to other second-hand stores this place doesn’t stink.
The other thing I was really amazed at was the quality of the goods. They claim they carry gently enjoyed children’s merchandise. The emphasis is on the gently. I’ve been to other second-hand stores where the merchandise is clean, it has no stains or tears but the article of clothing has obviously been worn by several kids and has been washed so many times that all the colors have faded. You WILL NOT find this at Itty Bitty. I’ve shopped there for about a year now and only once have I come across something that slipped by their radar. They have super-duper quality radar. Like super-hero strength radar. I wonder if they wear capes outside of the store? They won’t take anything that isn’t in almost new or really good condition. I’m also surprised by the brands they carry- Coach, Gap, Old Navy, TONS of brand name stuff.
They’ve recently redesigned the layout of the store to make it feel more roomy inside. So the pictures I have don’t show the store as it is now. But here’s a sneak peek:
Besides the gently used children’s merchandise they also carry some boutique type new items. I’ve found the most unique educational toys for my children at their shop. They are super supportive of the community also (which is always a plus in my book). They have a Mommypreneur program where they support parents who make children related items in the community. They give them a space in their shop to showcase their wares. There are some guidelines, so if this is something you are interested in, please refer to their website or call the store.
Overall, this is one of my favorite places to shop. I love that I can use credit towards new purchases. That really helps when the kids need new things and money is tight. A tip from a frequent shopper- if you find something you like there (new or used) snag it. They change their merchandise offerings quite often and it may not be there the next time you go in. For instance, they had these cute time out rugs for kids that were themed. They had a pirate themed one that I thought would have been perfect for my kids, but I waited and now it is gone forever. Otherwise, I love this store. They have great merchandise, a GATED play area so you’re kids aren’t going anywhere while you shop and you can just pick them up by the cash register when you are ready to check out. The staff is very friendly too. And the people there are SO creative. They are always finding new things to offer.
FREE STUFF ALERT!! I’m giving away a $10 gift card to Itty Bitty so you can check them out for yourself.
To enter- answer this question in the comment below.
If you were to shop in a resale store (such as Itty Bitty) what features would make you a loyal customer?
That’s it. Contest is open to US residents with a mailing address. Entries must be received by 12:01 am PST Monday, March 5, 2012. Winner will be chosen using random generator and will be announced Thursday, March 8, 2012. Good luck!
Mamavation Monday: The Unwind Edition
I’m going to change the way I do the Mamavation posts a bit. I’m going to start with a how I did, what I learned and what is my plan first, then I’ll address the Mamavation question of the week. I’m hoping this will help me document the inconsistency issues I have when it comes to working out and eating healthy. Once the information is in front of me I think it will be easier to find a way around it. Here’s hoping.
This last week I only worked out once. I can’t tell you what happened last week that I only worked out once. I was more mindful of what I ate but I have yet to weigh myself and figure out where I ended up last week. This morning I got up and worked out first thing in the morning. It felt great and I feel ready to conquer my day. Even if my day IS starting at almost 9 am. That’s a big one for me. Maybe this is something left over from my Mary Kay days, but I feel like I need to join the 5 ’0 clock club to be productive. The issue with that is by 7pm I am exhausted and when on some nights I don’t get out of class until 10pm I can’t be exhausted at 7pm and be successful. I’m not sure why I feel I have to get up early. I just do. I feel like if my day doesn’t START until 8 or 9 am I’m a slacker- although I am admittedly much more productive at night after the kids have gone to bed. I have time to do yoga, homework and work on any customer projects and work on my business in general. Hmmm…. this is something to think about.
What I’ve learned. I love to do yoga at night. It calms my mind, allows me to stretch out the day (good or bad), do a little reflection and just be. I also like to do cardio and strength training in the morning. It gets my blood moving and helps me feel energized and ready to conquer the day. My plan this week, (since I am doing the 2 week challenge) is to do the Mamavation workouts in the morning. If I get up between 6 and 7 this should help me feel like less of a slacker and is much more realistic than my dreams of joining the 5 ‘o clock club. I will also do yoga at night to help me re-focus and get on with my day. Since I have to do modifications to the Mamavation workout due to my shoulder injury, on the upper body days I will do my physical therapy exercises and do the c25k to make sure I am still getting moving.
Why the unwind edition? I wanted to share with you my favorite way to de-stress. I love doing yoga. The breathing exercises are a sort of meditative quality to it that allows me to just relax. I can sort out ongoing issues, focus on my body, how it feels, the alignment of the poses. Yoga forces me to just be present in the moment. I am forced to listen to my body, where with cardio and strength training I may be tempted to push it a bit. It helps to calm my mind and the stretches feel so good. It’s a good way to end the day and re-energize for the next day. When I am stressed I am often tempted to do yoga just to get a clear mind. I’m currently working on the Crunch – Candlelight Yoga
What is your favorite way to relax?
Fan Pick- Gen Art and Crest Competition Submission
Of course I would post that I am going to post two to three times a day to catch up and then my entire site goes down! That is just the kind of luck that I am having lately. Currently the store is entirely down, but the blog part of the site and email is back up and running. I have spent the last 24 hours trying to make sure that happens. Hopefully tomorrow I will get EVERYTHING back up and running- including the new store front.
Since NYFW is currently going on and the Gen Art/ Crest 3D fashion design winners have officially been announced I can now go ahead and share with you what my submission looked like. I couldn’t share it before because the submission had to include unpublished work and since the web is a form of publishing, I couldn’t post it until the winners were announced and shown. So, here it is. My grande submission.
This was a really difficult submission for me. First, the collection was supposed to be made of only white. IF you chose to use other colors, they had to be silver/grey, purple or blue. No other colors allowed. I tried my best to stick with the white palette as much as possible and try to use either print or texture to create interest. It was rough. I did end up going with silver for a very basic tunic, but otherwise I was able to stick to the white color palette.
This was good for me really. It forced me to design in a way that I never would have on my own. I’m not really a fan of one color collections. I LOVE color! But this forced me to stick with one color and still stay true to my design aesthetic. It was tough and there were countless days where I stared at a blank piece of paper trying to pick a direction to go in. Overall, I am very happy with the submission and I plan on creating a few of these looks for the store. I can’t tell you which ones yet because I may end up using some of them in the upcoming California CC Fashion Symposium (yes, it is that time again). Until I find out whether I got in, you will have to just wonder which ones will become available in the store later.
I do welcome any suggestions, so if you see one here that you would really like to see in real life please don’t hesitate to comment below or send me an email.
Thanks for all your support!
~KR
TFE Files: I Want to Sew Edition
First I am going to apologize. I’m a little behind in the blogging schedule but there is so much I want to share with you guys! I’m going to post two or three posts a day until I catch up. After that it will be back to the normal 3x a week or so. There is so much going on now with the line development, some limited edition stuff I’ll be doing and just life in general. Now… on to this week’s TFE Files.
Addy has wanted to sew for a while now. She’s been hanging out in the sewing room watching the MIL and I sew projects since she was about 18 months old. The older she gets, the more involved in the sewing process she wants to be. Just before she turned 2, I got her the Singer Chain ZigZag Machine. It’s been nothing but a toy for her. She takes Michele and my scraps of fabrics, places them in the machine and usually states something about sewing a skirt for her sister. She has a small craft iron that we don’t plug in that she uses to pretend she is ironing while I iron shirts for the Hubs and the FIL or while Michele and I are ironing different phases of our projects. Occasionally Michele will let her help pin patterns and fabric, to which she tells me it usually doesn’t need to be replaced. She’s trying to get more and more involved in the process. She’s been a bit frustrated with me because I won’t let her get involved (for safety reasons) and so she has now just started doing things on her own. That’s a bit scary to me and doesn’t exactly help me sleep well at night. I’ve done some research and a lot of people suggest not introducing sewing until they are 6 or 8. I don’t think Addy will sit tight for two years until I am ready to teach her to sew.
After looking on the blogosphere for other suggestions I found a woman who taught her daughter to sew a simple skirt at 5 and another who was sewing at 3 and practically pattern drafting by the time she was 6 (I think). These women sew a lot and their daughters have grown up around the sewing machine and watched the sewing process countless times, much like Addy. While the women who taught their daughters to sew at such a young age are the exception and not the rule, I like HOW they taught their daughters and have decided that I am going to do the same with Addy.
Here are the guidelines that we are working with:
Something easy/simple/ made for beginning sewers
Something she wants to sew in order to hold her interest through the project
Let her pick out the fabric/ materials for the project so it is truly hers, not mine
So I took her to JoAnns (I know I said I would never go there again, but sometimes it is a convenience factor). They have an entire wall dedicated to easy and low-cost patterns. Finding a suitable sewing machine without shelling out a lot of dough was a difficult process (I may share that in another post). Now if I can figure out how to attach the finger guard to the machine she can start sewing. Having all the materials to make the dress but being unable to do it has made Adeline MORE IMPATIENT about sewing. We will keep you posted on our first sewing adventure together.
Mamavation Monday: Getting My Shoes On Edition
Hi Ladies!
Sorry for the late post. Classwork was sorta crazy this week and I wanted to make sure I was prepared for everything before I started on the blog again. This week I just wanted to share a few things with you. I know we recently finished the 2 week challenge, and while I did not participate everyday as I would have liked it did get me thinking about moving my body everyday. Since starting the 2 week challenge, I have re-injured my shoulders (a repeat of an injury I got back in September) however, this time, instead of putting myself on the injured list I am working on still moving. I’m currently trying to find other ways to move that won’t further injure my shoulders. So… I may not be able to do a cobra yoga pose, or a yoga push-up (or any push-up for that matter) but I can get on the treadmill and walk for thirty minutes. I can do a lower body workout similar to the one used for Beginners in the Mamavation 2 Week Challenge.
At the end of the 2 Week Challenge I was up two pounds than I was before I started. This has been really frustrating for me, especially since I have been trying to keep track of what I eat. At the end of the day I am eating without being hungry just to make sure I get at least 1200 calories a day and I don’t end up putting my body into starvation mode. I’m not sure why there is weight GAIN, but I’ll just try moving more.
I’ve seen the tweet by @MrBookieboo stating that there is another 2 week challenge coming up on Feb. 13th. I plan on signing up and seeing if there is a way that I can make it through all the workouts this time.
There was a point in the Mamavation 2 Week Challenge where it got really easy for me to use the excuse that I had too much to do and couldn’t afford the TIME to workout. I couldn’t spare the 30 minutes or so. Then my SIL told me that the hardest part about working out is getting your shoes on. Usually after you get your workout shoes on you are committed to going through with it. That sorta stuck with me and so now when I don’t want to get moving I tell myself that the hardest part is getting my shoes on. It doesn’t seem like such a huge task after that. So that’s what I leave you with this week. The hardest part of working out, is getting your shoes on. 
Good luck and have a great workout this week!
With love,
~KR
