LEAVE IT TO TARGET TO GET EVEN COOLER

Tunno Tots Binkers, Peanut Shell baby slings, and Baby Burpees bup cloths - all available at Target.com

I wouldn't necessarily call myself a bargain shopper (I wish I had the patience to be one!) - those who know me can attest to the fact that I can usually justify (at least to myself!) most purchases I make. Not that I don't love the outlets (as you read in a previous post); it's more like I have less impulse control than I should, not to mention that sometimes I'll pay a little more just for convenience' sake. It's not necessarily a good thing, I know. I do get really excited at the thought of a shopping trip to Chez Target, however, mainly because I love the fact that it's a store that has legitimately cool stuff at relatively reasonable prices. I won't say that an average trip costs me less than $100 - that's where the marketing geniuses there have done their magic in strategically placing what you need scattered among what you only think you need - but I am fully convinced that what I buy is stuff that I genuinely will use (or at least, is too cute to resist).

The fact that Target has really done its homework in bringing in fabulous furniture, clothing, and housewares designers who think that even the average Joe deserves something nice is a brilliant move on their part. The other day, while looking for a baby gift for someone, I stumbled across a whole section dedicated to parent inventors, and another entitled "Trendy Babies." This stuff is being carried in some of the swankiest baby boutiques and department stores, and yet it isn't beneath their designers to sell their wares at a place like Target.com - and at good prices, to boot. For example, the Tunno Tots Binker pacifier clips (see above) sell for $8.00 a piece at other sites, while at Target, you get 2 cute clips for $9.99. Tunno also carries cute, reversible bibs for babies, while Hot Slings is selling baby slings in some really gorgeous fabrics and patterns. Peanut Shell is, too! Instead of paying $16.00 at Nordstrom for a fun Diapees and Wipees case to toss in my purse, I could have picked one up at Target for $9.99. For those of you who are still in the spit-up phase with your kids, there's Baby Burpees burp cloths, which look slightly more put-together in public than the plain old stained white ones you have at home.

I could go on and on, but I think instead you should take a look for yourself! Once again, Target has done it - they've put even more stuff out there that I'm going to spend my money on. You know you will too - and if you have a hard time justifying it, just call me. You know that's what I'm good for... :)

AND "THE BIGGEST IDIOT" AWARD GOES TO...

...this woman in rural Wisconsin! (Be sure to stop the music player at the bottom of this page before playing the video)

I think that my favorite part about this whole story is that this woman isn't at all upset about the fact that she was being stupid and endangering peoples' lives, but that she listened to her idiot boyfriend. Even better was when the dispatcher let her get off the phone because the woman didn't like to talk on the phone while driving (although she has no qualms about downing a 6-pack of Beast before getting behind the wheel), or that the sherriff's office thought the judge would be lenient on her for being honest... I mean, really. Call a cab. Designate a driver. Sleep it off in your car. Dump the loser. Lady, enjoy your cocktails, but for God's sake, don't drive! Thanks to my good friend Kristy for the tip...

A REALLY COOL BOOK LIST...

Today, I was visiting this website called Disaboom, which is a site I check out occasionally to see what's new in the disability culture. I came across a really great kids' book list that I wanted to pass along. It's comprised of a large variety of books about people with disabilities, from wheelchair-users to people who are blind or deaf, as well as people with developmental disabilities like Downs syndrome. The books are sorted into age-appropriate categories, which is so convenient. Some of our family favorites are Mama Zooms by Jane Cowen-Fletcher, that my Aunt Karen gave us and is about a mom who's in a wheelchair, and A Very Special Critter by Mercer Meyer, which one of my sisters gave me a long time ago. There are some other fabulous books on the list that I've read with Caroline or in my classroom with my students when I was teaching elementary school. If you're looking to change up the whole bedtime-story rotation, be sure to check these out - they are great for ALL kids!

FREE SHIPPING AT CREWCUTS...

Hi all! Just thought I'd pass along that there's free shipping on orders over $100 at crewcuts right now! Just enter the code "SNOWMAN" at checkout. I know some of you are rolling your eyes at this - what does $100 get you at crewcuts - a pair of socks? But their stuff is just so adorable that I thought I would pass it along. Thanks to my good friend Tina for the tip!

TO MOVE OR NOT TO MOVE - THAT IS THE QUESTION...

Oh, goodness. What a decision we've been going back and forth on. After living here for several years, our family has begun to outgrow our house. Don't get me wrong - I know that many people live with bigger families in smaller spaces than ours, but for us, the space just doesn't work anymore. This is one of those places where the wheelchair causes a bit of an obstacle - it's hard for me to take advantage of any extra space that the average Joe could create by adding shelving, bunking beds, etc. Everything in my "world" has to be at a lower height, and we're running out of floor space. Not that I mind sharing part of our living room with Caroline's million-plus toys, but it's starting to get a little out-of-control! Also, our limited-size lawn is on a slope, which makes it kind of difficult for me to take advantage of that outside space. Things that I have loved about my house are now beginning to drive me nuts. Steve, too. I guess that's a sign we need some kind of change.

Recently, Steve and I began talking to builders to get an idea as to whether it would be smart to add on. We love our neighborhood, love the people, love the location and its proximity to DC, Bethesda, Rockville, and Silver Spring, where it seems like most of our life happens these days. We also know that we have to add up as opposed to out because of the sight lines on our property. Of course, that adds money to any sort of project, not only in the way of an elevator but also rent to move out while they pop the top, changing the main floor plan, etc. We're getting lots of good information from this whole process, but it has also made us consider the prospect of moving.

Of course, that opens up another can of worms for us - we have very particular needs and wants, and we feel like if we take that next step to another house, it should be somewhere that can grow with us a bit more. The tricky part with trying to find a someplace that's bigger in our immediate area is that the prices are high, and that's no fun for anyone. Moving further away from the city is less convenient, but definitely a bit less expensive and you can get more bang for our buck. We've been using a site called Trulia to search, which is really cool because it incorporates Google Maps so that you can get an aerial view of the properties we're looking at to get an idea of the size of the property. Homes Database has also been a big help, and has filled in the gaps that Trulia occasionally leaves. For financial information, we've been using a tool at Mortgage-Calc to help us know what we can afford. That's been a big help as we consider all our options.

I know that we'd be just fine if we moved - even if we left the immediate area for another town closeby. Life would adjust, we'd find new routes to get around, and I'm sure we'd settle in quickly. It's still such a big decision, though. There's also that emotional side of me who's attached to where we live for all the memories we've created in it - moving in to our first house and becoming actual adults, the first holiday we hosted, bringing our daughter home... Nonetheless, the practical side of me says that, no matter what, we need to move forward and some sort of change is in order. Anyways, thanks for listening to me ramble on. I'll keep you posted!

GIVES NEW MEANING TO THE TERM "BAG LADY"...

Here's a little clip of Caroline having a fabulous time with a shopping bag she took out of the garbage... Oh to be a kid again! Be sure to disable the music by scrolling to the bottom of this page and clicking the "Stop" button on the music player!

A NICE LITTLE DISCOUNT FROM ONE OF MY FAVORITE KIDS' STORES...

Hi all! I thought I'd pass along an email I got this morning from Mini-Boden, which carries some of the cutest, most well-made kids' clothes I have found! Click here for 10 % off all new Spring styles, plus free shipping. The offer's only good until February 8th, and the good stuff sometimes goes fast, so get to it, and happy shopping!

IT'S A BALMY 23 DEGREES - LET'S HIT THE BEACH!

just chillin' in Mommy's chair

(my new favorite climbing apparatus)

at the beach house

When the temperature drops below freezing, what else does one want to do but hit the beach? We took a mini-vacation to Bethany Beach, DE this past weekend. It was downright bitter, as the coldest weather of the season settled in on the area late last week, but Steve and I decided that if we were going to be stuck inside, we'd rather have a nicer view from the window! We headed down to meet our friends, Mark and Christy, and their kids, Emma and Tommy, and their kids after Caroline's music class at Imagination Stage . The dads decided to brave the 20+ degree temperatures to take the kids to the park - leave it to Caroline to throw a fit when it was time to get into the warm car to come home...

While they were busy taking one for the team, my friend and I also had a chance to hit the Tanger Outlets, where (shock of all shocks) I didn't pick up a thing for myself! I did, however, pick up a couple of things for Steve and some really cute stuff for Caroline at Gap Kids and Polo Ralph Lauren - GREAT sales there this weekend (and definitely warrented a stock-up on baby gifts for friends!).

Although we stayed at our friends' parents' place because the house has an elevator inside (thanks Aunt Patty and Uncle John!), we still popped over to the indoor pool in the neighborhood where Christy and Mark's beach house is. This was probably the kids' favorite part of the trip, and it definitely killed some time for all of us!

The kids had so much fun hanging out together, and Tommy in particular wore Caroline out by playing chase with her for about a half hour before bed. Maybe we should borrow him to come over every night! It was also so nice to hang out and have a few cocktails during the evenings.

It is so funny to be down there in such a mellow kind of way - for so many years after college, Dewey Beach, DE (where we had a summer house with our friends and my cousins, just north of Bethany) was our home-away-from-home, and it definitely moves at a different pace! Although The Starboard, my most favorite bar in the world, was closed, I would be lying if I didn't say I got a little sad when I drove by! We'll have to make a trip down to Dewey this Summer... It's crazy how much life changes when you have kids! Speeding down to the beach in record time so that you could get a coveted parking space in front of our house in Dewey and run straight to the bars has been replaced by speeding down to the beach because Caroline needs a diaper change! Despite this, I wouldn't trade her for all the Starboard Specials in the world (hee hee)! Even though we never even saw the sand, and only saw the water from Coastal Highway, the weekend was relaxing, and just what we needed. Hope your weekend was nice, too... :)

TWO REALLY COOL TOOLS...

So I found two really cool tools that I thought that The Pink Totebag audience would find useful. I'll preface this by saying that I was definitely not the first one to discover and share these tools - for that, I'll give credit to the authors who first passed them along on their two other fun blogs (because even though I know they're out there for public consumption by their publishers, these bloggers deserve the credit for feeding them to the masses)...

First, on Gnome Sweet Gnome (and no, that's not a reference to the statue/trophy my husband steve won at our last annual beer-pong tournament although that's a fun coincedence!), the blogger Olivia posted about this awesome calculator at Domino.com that helps you figure out how much fabric you need, wallpaper, or how much paint to buy to finish a home decorating project. I took a look at it (as we're in the slow process/discussion of renovating our house) and it was really helpful and easy to use! Happy re-upholstering!

The second is one that I found via Oh Happy Day! where blogger Jordan posted about this fabulous route planner/calculator for running, walking, and jogging. You can literally zoom in on your neighborhood, use the mouse to map out your route, and it pops out not only the distance for you, but also calories burned according to your weight (and some other stuff, too!). ALL FOR FREE! You can also save your routes, or easily find new ones in your area that you can try. My husband was so excited to find out that he burns 352 calories on his morning walks with our daughter. Now if only the visit to Starbucks midway could be counted as some sort of a "refueling" stop, life would be golden...

IT "SNOT" A JOKE - THIS THING WORKS!!!

Okay, so I am in no way a crunchy granola, health-foody, homeopathic kind of girl (well, with the exception of Zycam, which I SWEAR reduces the symptoms and duration of my colds). I am a person whose parents were relatively traditional in their treatment of our common childhood ailments, so of course I grew up thinking that if you had a cough, Triaminic would fix it. If you had a fever, you took Tylenol to make it go away.

However, now that I'm older, I have to say that I am beginning to have a shift in my thinking that is making a bit more room for alternative medicine in my own repertoire... For example, I absolutely swear by Zycam, which is a nasal-swab gel that you put in your nose at the exact time that you find yourself saying "I couldn't possibly be getting a cold" (although you are starting to feel the first twinges of it). I started using this when I was teaching elementary school and I promise that it has shortened and lessened the severity of every cold since, as long as I took it right at the start of my symptoms. You can even use it on kids, although the only thing that Caroline will put in her nose right now is her own finger, so I guess I have to wait on that.

Last night, I was fighting yet another sinus headache, which have plagued me off and on for the past few years (especially after being pregnant). This particular one had lasted for a day-and-a-half, brought on by the cold, dry DC weather, combined with the warm, dry heat in my house. Also, as our second snowstorm of the season started to make its way here, the pressure outside just added insult to injury. I had tried everything traditional that I could think of to shake this headache - Sudafed (my favorite over-the-counter miracle), Advil, ice packs on my face - when I remembered something that my sister-in-law Carrie had given me - a neti pot. I had seen it on Oprah with Dr. Oz before, and it "sounded" like the answer to my sinus issues, but the thought of dumping water into my nose ON PURPOSE skeeved me out a bit. When Carrie gave me one, I thought about it, and then put it away - I wasn't desperate enough to have that "just jumped in the pool without closing my mouth/nose" feeling that I was sure I would have by using it.

Well, last night, out of sheer misery, I decided to give it a try - AND IT WORKED! Yes, it did take a bit to figure out just how to hold my head so that the salt water flowed out of my nose and not down my throat, but I definitely felt better (though not 100%) than I had before doing the treatment. This morning, I woke up with that feeling of "I'm about to get another bad headache," used the pot again, and I totally staved off the headache! We're going on 5 hours now, and not a sign of the headache anywhere. I think I am a convert, but I will keep you posted...

MY NEW FAVORITE PICTURE...

Caroline just LOVES her rocking horse that Granddad (my dad) picked up for her in the Amish country, very close to where he grew up in Meyersdale, PA. He got it for her this past Summer, so she had to grow into it a bit, but now it keeps her entertained off and on all day long. She literally drags it out of her room and around the house, as if she's taking him for a walk. This morning, while I was working on my computer in the den, I heard her grunting and groaning . Turns out, she was just "walking" him all the way out into the foyer. Her new favorite (read: my LEAST FAVORITE) thing to do is to try to stand up on him... I see rodeo work in her future.

BRIGHT IS BACK

This past late-summer, early-fall, my mom and I took my daughter Caroline on a little day trip to Leesburg Corner Premium Outlets, which is about an hour away from our house. My goal was to get a little bang for my buck in terms of Caroline's wardrobe, as she continues to grow like a weed! Fall fashion was full of browns, creams, oranges - typical for this time of year, and not necessarily my favorite choices for my baby girl. Now don't get me wrong - I absolutely love brown as a color, and use it all the time in my stationery designs and in my own accessories and clothes. As we speak, I'm in search of the perfect brown coat for myself. And I don't really mind a bit of it in Caroline's Fall spread but I longed for something a bit brighter to cheer us up as the weather turned cold. She needed clothes, though, so I had to settle, and I have to admit that it was nice to find mixy-matchy stuff no matter where we went - Baby Gap, Ralph Lauren Children, Carter's, Osh-Kosh... Without even noticing, I bought 3 pairs of brown pants for her - I mean, how many brown pants does a baby need?

Over the next few months, Caroline got a lot of wear out of her stuff, and I was able to pick up some cute stuff at Mini-Boden to satisfy my color cravings, but I somehow couldn't get past the fact that I was actually longing for Spring and Summer to be here. I found myself practically pacing in front of my computer, waiting for the post-Christmas online sales to be over (because pacing in front of the actual stores with Caroline practically requires that she wear a baby leash these days so that she won't take off...), as I knew my dreams would soon come true.

You know how you go into some stores or the mall in August and they are already getting the Santa "throne" set up for the Christmas holiday, only to be followed on January 2nd by the Easter Bunny? That kind of eagerness to move the calendar forward drives me nuts, with one exception: the launch of the Spring clothing lines at my favorite stores. I know that if I can just wait until mid-January, the marketing gurus at said stores will, much like the proverbial groundhog, use splashes of poppy pink and grassy green to signal that warmer weather is just around the corner. Not much makes me happier than buying a cute madras dress for my daughter from Baby Gap on January 8, even if it will be a bit before she'll be able to put it on. And while they are burning a hole in my pocket, I am resisting the urge to spend the fabulous J Crew gift certificate Steve gave me for Christmas on yet another sweater so that I can pick up something that makes me look more like I should be out on a boat or sitting on the beach at our house at the bay.

We're heading to our friends Christy and Mark's house in Bethany Beach, DE this weekend. While Steve and I were discussing the idea of making the trip, he asked casually, "What exactly are we going to do at the beach in 30+ degree weather?" Aside from relaxing, playing with the kids, and having a few cocktails at night, the answer is clear: outlet shopping! After all, I just got the signal, Spring is just around the corner!

LET'S TRY THIS AGAIN!

So some of you know I started this blog last year, mainly to share our goings-on with everyone. With my daughter Caroline under foot, it became more and more difficult to get to, especially when she began to move (and hasn't stopped since)! I also felt like my last blog lacked purpose. Despite this, I feel like I need a place to get out my ideas, get ideas from others, and share what's up in the Feldman household, as we often find ourselves relaying information over and over to the various members of our family... So I've once again decided to give this a go. It's a bit more structured than the last try - yes, the title of my blog is the same (and indicates my love of all things pink and preppy :) ), but I also wanted to include a bit more in the way of resources and links that I stumble across in my daily life. You'll find news, shopping tips, rants and raves, different fun blogs I've stumbled across (including my sister Lulu's!)... basically anything I might find interesting or discussion-worthy, I'll be putting it here. I also wanted to use this as a way to put any creative solutions we've come up with where my wheelchair is concerned - especially since becoming a mom last year! Why not help someone else so that they don't have to reinvent the wheel - no pun intended. Hee hee. So enjoy, and do check back often - I promise I'll be showing up here myself!