Archive for the ‘Random Ramblings’ Category
10 Tips to Healthy Grocery Shopping
It’s a new year! 2012 already? That happened way too fast, but I am a bit disappointed because I was sure that by now we would all be driving flying cars and using teleporters.
But I digress, back to the new year and new resolutions. This year I resolve to have the best year in kids belts history! That should be easy because I only have to compete with 3 years and while they were great years, I am certain that this will be the best. That’s not my only resolution, like tons of people out there, I am making a resolution for health. Maybe I should be more specific, good health. I’m not looking to lose mounds of weight and be super model skinny thereby making my head look hugely disproportional to my tiny frame, I just want to be healthy. In my search for healthy-ness (shhh, I can make up words if I want…), I thought I would pass along some healthy shopping tips that I picked up.
- Shop the perimeter of the store. That’s where the good fresh stuff is located. The produce section, fresh meat section and dairy section are the best places to shop for clean eating.
- LIST LIST LIST Take a few extra minutes before you go shopping to plan out your weeks worth of meals and make a list. If you have a smart phone, there are so many free apps out there that are specifically for shopping lists. The really neat thing about those apps is that they will also organize your list for you into sections so in the long run it makes the shopping trip go much faster! (I like the ShopListFree app. It’s very basic, but also user friendly.) Some of the apps even include pricing, so you can keep it budget friendly!
- Focus on Fiber Officially, fiber is a type of carbohydrate that the body can’t digest. Most adult women should shoot for over 20 grams of fiber a day; men should shoot for over 30 grams. Some great sources are whole fruits and vegetables, whole grain breads and breakfast cereals, and all manner of beans. You should choose foods that list whole grains (like whole wheat or whole oats) as a first ingredient. Bread, cereal, crackers and other grain foods should have at least 3 grams of fiber per serving.
- Avoid Overly Processed Food Box mixes and canned food, while they are convenient, are riddled with sodium. Try to avoid boxed food altogether and if you must get canned food, always opt for low/no sodium choices.
- Buy Lean Cuts of Meat There are so many choices out there now with chicken and turkey (ground meats, sausages, cutlets, etc…) that it’s much easier to make substitutions. Beef and pork aren’t too bad in moderation, but you definitely should get the very lean cuts.
- Dairy Opt for low-fat items. Cabot has some really great low-fat cheese options (Cheddar, habanero, jalapeno and pepper jack). Skim milk is a good choice and if you are going for yogurt, opt for Greek yogurt. It packs more of a protein punch and has little to no fat. Plain Greek yogurt also makes a wonderful substitute for sour cream.
- SAY NO TO IMPULSE JUNK Resist impulse buys while standing in the check out isle. Don’t let those candy peddlers win! You don’t need the candy bar or that bag of chips. Put it back…
- Resist the Twinkies Ok, it’s hard to jump into healthy eating, so if you are going to pick up some not so healthy treats, limit it to what you can fit in the top of the buggy (you know, where a small child usually sits). Then when you get in line to check out, re-evaluate those choices and ask yourself again if you really want (NEED) it.
- Don’t Meander Shop with a purpose. When you aimlessly meander through the store, you open yourself up to more impulse buys. You also fall into the stores sales traps, the end caps. The end caps are where bad food goes to tempt you and the store pretends that they are “practically giving it away”. Usually, the deals aren’t that great anyway. Just walk away.
- Don’t Go Hungry A huge mistake is to shop when you are hungry. Everything looks good when you are hungry and when you are hungry your stomach is telling you that you NEED it all. So save yourself some trouble, eat before you shop. You will thank me later.
So, that’s it. That’s my miracle list for healthy grocery shopping. I know that its not an exhaustive list by any means, but it is a start. I hope you can use at least a few to make your 2012 the healthiest ever!
Blessings,
ABC Kids Expo Post Mortem: Smoking Marketing Crack (Also Blowing Smoke)
I usually try to keep my opinions to myself. As I’ve said before, I can’t always say what I want to say. But after the first communication from ABC Expo after the flop that was the 2011 Louisville ABC Expo, I just can’t help myself… (I’m just going to apologize for this extremely long and cranky post upfront.) Also, I started this post 2 months ago. Sometimes it just takes a couple months to get it all down.
We attended a recent trade show, one that used to be the largest in the juvenile industry, All Baby & Children Kids Expo. The trip didn’t get started off on the right foot. I don’t blame the trade show for that. My stupid ticket didn’t help. Other not-so-fun stuff happened… Upon unloading our trade show stuff from the trailer, after we got the cart loaded with 400 lbs of stands, product, and marketing collateral, the caster on one of the wheels broke in half. How did this happen??? Just our Kentucky luck I guess.
My list of complaints is long, especially when it comes to Fern, the company hired by ABC to be in charge of setting up everything from carpets to electricity to food services. They had to be one of the worst companies I’ve ever had to deal with.
- They left everything a mess after they set up and didn’t clean up after themselves. They didn’t bother to vacuum any of the carpeting they laid down.Our poor neighbors had the whole border of their flooring torn up because the Fern staff felt they couldn’t possibly lift it up out of their way, but instead threw pieces of it all over the booth.
- Their idea of an apology for leaving a mess all over our booth, as well as many others, was to tell us that we didn’t ask them to clean up after themselves. If we wanted them to do that, we would have to pay $200 extra…per day! I have a hard time believing that it would take that long to vacuum a 20×10 carpet that was 30% covered in furniture. But hey, they’re better than the GES staff we had to deal with in Vegas, right? WRONG!!! The guy in charge said that since I was so unhappy about the mess they left, they would vacuum our booth every morning of the show free of charge. And then they didn’t do it. You all know how I feel about poor customer service.
- They didn’t offer empty bin service (this is for empty boxes to be saved and repacked after the show) without outrageous storage fees. So much for Fern being cost effective because they are non-union.
- The carpets didn’t match. We counted 5 different colors of blue carpeting in our area, all smushed together like some bad patchwork quilt. It looked horribly unprofessional. And it stunk. Badly.
- Power cords were run arbitrarily under carpets. We had the privilege of having the center of our booth host a spiderweb of power cords under our carpet to share with everyone else in our row and could do nothing about it. We did our best to lay the lines flat and close together (after pulling the carpet back up) so that there would be less to trip on. Then we had to arrange our booth so that the lump under the carpet wasn’t so obvious, and so no one would trip on it.
- We were offered a great way to save money on parking so we could come and go as we pleased. Instead of paying $8 every time we parked our car (not per day, but per parking), a 24 hour expo parking pass was offered to exhibitors for $24. But the pass stopped selling 1/2 way through the first day. We don’t know if they ran out and couldn’t figure out how to print more, or if Fern was just being greedy. But we ended up paying way too much for parking!
- The food was a joke. A really bad one. My quest started off with a desire for coffee. An hour wait in line was met with 2 elderly “baristas” who had no idea what they were doing. We jokingly decided along with some other customers that we were going to start a support group for the Survivors of Kentucky Grind. About the time that lunch time rolled around the lines for food were impossibly long. There were only a few places to get anything to eat on that first day. And what was really sad? They ran out of food! People were being turned away as they closed up shop. I waited 45 minutes in one line only to watch them put up a sign claiming they were sorry but they could not accept anything but cash. I guess their credit card readers decided to stop working. Those of us without cash were out of luck. We could leave the expo center, but we would have to pay another $8 to park again. The next day more food vendors showed up. Big trucks outside claimed you could have the best pork chop sandwich ever, or a “taco” salad (yeah, that isn’t what you think it is), or deluxe potato chips (like nachos with potato chips instead of tortilla chips). The food was awful and the prices were worse. For what they were charging, you could almost go out to eat and pay for parking all over again. For as much as it cost us for the booth and travel, should we really have to pay super-inflated county fair prices for something to eat?
Of course, not the fair expo people’s fault, but our hotel (one set up with ABC housing) was not a good experience. Normally I’m not picky about hotels. As long as they provide what they say they are going to, we are good to go.
- The first night there, we had no air conditioning. So after a really long stressful day of setting up and getting our booth ready for the show, we spent our night tossing and turning and sweating. Mind you, we called the hotel management before we went to bed at 1 am to get someone to fix it. The poor night manager (on her 3rd night working for the hotel) had to put up with plenty of discontent, not just ours. She got our AC working again…for a short while. And then by 4 am it was hot again.
- Lack of promised amenities. Where was the free wireless? Every day they would get it working and then a half hour later it was off again. The poor night manager had her hands full with this one as customers yelled at her for it not working when they got up in the morning, not like she had any control over it. Can you tell I really felt bad for her? Poor thing…
- The continental breakfast was a whole lotta not good; much like salmonella looking for a place to propagate. I think I’ll take my chances with the county fair food at the expo.
- Hubby would like me to also mention the total lack of water pressure to even have a decent shower, also not mentioned in the list of amenities.
That pretty much leaves me with what I know to be ABC’s fault directly.
- I fault them for going for the lowest bidder and hiring Fern.
- I also fault them for providing housing that not only did not meet standards, but was overpriced as well (and we were in one of the least expensive hotels).
- They obviously did not know enough about Louisville (and neither did we until we spent time with a friend who lives there) to know that the expo and the hotel we stayed in, and really a 2 mile radius of the expo, is known to all as the “bad part of town.” Although I think maybe they did, but didn’t really care since they weren’t paying for the expo space anyway. Rumor has it that it was free the first year, but they are under contract to pay next year. Apparently Louisville, like every other city in the country, is struggling with jobs lost, housing foreclosures, and poverty. The more visitors they can get into the city, the more income is raised with overpriced lodging and food. Seems like a win-win for everyone except the exhibitors.
- Uniformed police officers walked around the exhibit hall constantly. They didn’t make me feel safe. They actually put me on edge. I was waiting for a take-down or something crazy like that. What was up with the police presence? Well, just say hi to them and they will spend an hour in your booth telling you tales of thievery and deceit right there in our very own trade show. Ugh…
- Ever been to a mall on a Monday morning? That was pretty much how the show felt the entire time. 54% of the people walking around were other exhibitors. Only 14% were actual buyers. Not sure how many of those were undercover police posing as buyers from Violet’s Playhouse. Yes, the uniformed police told us about the undercovers. Your secret is out!
- The highlight of the trade show, the party/concert held for all exhibitors and buyers was very badly done. I spent so much time talking this thing up to so many people only to feel embarrassed and let down. You see, every year (when it was in Vegas) the party would have some stupid theme and an old decrepit band, whose members we all thought were long passed, would play the night away (well at least the 3 hours the party was on) while we ate and drank our fill from the free buffets and open bars. It was the one night that didn’t cost us anything except cab fair to get back to our hotels. What did Louisville have to offer?
- Their cocktail and appetizer (don’t want to confuse them with a big word like Hors d’oeuvres) servers were completely unknowledgeable about what they were serving unless it was fried. Deep fried bacon on a stick? Umm…no thanks. My assistant Jen asked a server what kind of wine he had on his tray. His response was, “Char? Char nay? Char? Don? Um…uh…White wine.” Thank you master sommelier. The dinner served was marginally better than the expo fare. What’s that saying about lipstick on a pig?
- And the open bar? Well, if you were at all late, you were screwed. They had the bar open for a total of 45 minutes and they ran out of Cabernet Sauvignon before I could get a second glass. As soon as they announced the closing of the bar, people crowded in droves around the bartenders and ordered as many drinks as they could carry back to the carpeted section they were sitting on.
- Did I forget to mention to utter lack of tables and chairs? Yeah… Besides a couch and love seat, there was no furniture except high tables to stand at. Wanna sit? Cop a squat!
- The concert was held in another part of the building, so really, no where near the food or drinks. And you could still drink after they closed the open bar if you wanted to pay an outrageous amount for small servings.
- The concert, while well done for the price, was featuring KC and the Sunshine Band. KC is now a fat old guy that is trying desperately to hold on to his glory days but has to keep walking off stage for a rest (and probably an oxygen mask) between songs. I give him credit for trying. But no, KC, I don’t think you’re sexy. Just for fun, here’s a video clip from the show. The funniest part is around 6:28 when he’s trying to hide his butt crack.
The part that infuriates me the most about the whole thing? They sent out this press release:
ABC Kids Expo Completes First Louisville Show,
Looks to 10th Anniversary Celebration in 2012
The world’s largest juvenile products trade show reports on its 9th annual exposition at its new location at the Kentucky Exposition Center.
San Antonio, TX – All Baby & Child, Inc., the parent company and organizer of ABC Kids Expo®, has released a post-show statement regarding their ninth annual trade show, held for the first time at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville, KY, on September 23 – 26, 2011.
Preliminary stats showed an overall decrease of about 2,200 after last year’s record-breaking attendance and a venue change for this year’s show. Retail buyers, mostly from the West Coast, were down by about 400. Final numbers are expected in the next few weeks.
Attendance figures from the Midwest and East Coast, media, government and special services were up from last year. Although slightly less than last year, the number of exhibitors was about 7% higher than at the 2009 show, and net square footage for exhibit space was 4% above the mean for the last three years.
“Most exhibitors we have talked with had good shows. Some indicated that the show was the best ever in terms of order writing and quality of buyer attendance,” according to Larry Schur, president of All Baby & Child, Inc. “We were very pleased to see that our international buyer attendance was the second highest in the event’s history, with 62 countries represented. Total event attendance was down from last year, but it is consistent with prior show years and understandable with the current economy and the number of retailers who have had to close their doors.”
He continues: “While we understand that some found it difficult to get to Louisville and there are always issues to be resolved in moving a show of this magnitude to a new city and a new venue with all new contract suppliers, the issues are easily remedied. We are pleased with the results of the show and the amount of orders it generated for our exhibitors. Retailers indicated that the layout of the show floor by category, all on a single level, made the show easily navigable and was the best in the history of the show.”
Virtually every significant manufacturer or distributor of products for infants and small children exhibits at this private industry event, showcasing their latest products, networking with established customers, and working to land new accounts from among the retailer attendees. Here are some of this year’s exhibitor comments:
As you can see, they are smoking some kind of marketing crack! I removed the comments because I know for a fact that it’s all crap. One of the quoted exhibitors told everyone how awful it was and then gave a glowing review to ABC. What a lot of hooey!
As if things hadn’t gone badly enough, my poor over-worked car decided that day 3 of the expo from hell was a good time to kick the bucket. We thought we had it figured out, but it wasn’t going to go anywhere without a major repair. When we finally had everything packed up and ready to go, we still had to stay one more day to get the car fixed. The radiator had to be replaced. All in all, the cost of the trip was more than if we had all taken first class flights to the trade show and had everything shipped. And we still didn’t make enough in sales to cover it.
Wanna know what makes me laugh about this all now? This recent press release from ABC Expo:
ABC Maintains Booth Pricing for 10th Year in a Row,
Announces Move Back to Las Vegas in 2013
San Antonio, TX – All Baby & Child, Inc. (ABC), the parent company and organizer of ABC Kids Expo®, is pleased to announce that it is maintaining booth pricing for its 2012 show at the Kentucky Exposition Center on October 14-17. ABC has not increased booth pricing for the ABC Kids Expo since its inception 10 years ago.
Floor space for the 2012 show is already 75% sold. Booth layouts will begin shortly after the first of the year. Once this is underway, major booth increases or decreases will be extremely difficult to accommodate. For that reason, early bird discounts will be forfeited for booth decreases of 25% or more after January 31, 2012.
The official deposit deadline for the 2012 show is January 31, 2012. JPMA members of record as of that date will receive an extension to March 1, 2012.
After careful review of feedback received from industry participants at the 2011 show, ABC is working closely with Louisville officials and vendors to address concerns for the 2012 event in Louisville, such as improved healthy food options and reduction in wait times, re-construction of the expo centers wifi system, and greater availability of restaurant options in the city on Sunday.
ABC is also pleased to announce that a move back to Las Vegas is planned for 2013 and is tentatively scheduled for October 15-18, 2013. Along with this announcement comes some great news for participating manufacturers. Exhibitors at the 2012 show will receive a $2-per-square-foot loyalty credit to use toward their 2013 booths of the same or larger size.
It is not too late to take advantage of this loyalty discount offer. Exhibitor registration is available online at www.theabcshow.com or by calling the ABC Hotline at (210) 691-4848.
Well ain’t that somethin? Seems they can’t just say everything was wonderful after all. When ABC goes back to Vegas, we will come back to ABC. In the meantime, plans are in the works to exhibit at KIDShow and ENK.
Traditions…
It’s December. Seriously, how did that happen? Weren’t we just ringing in 2011? Geesh… It’s holiday time, not like I really have to tell you, I mean there has been a deluge of holiday decorations out since before Halloween. (Halloween? Ahhh seems like only yesterday…) We don’t even get to celebrate one holiday before we are being pushed to the next… Maybe that’s why time flies by…
Anyway, I’m starting to think of holiday traditions. We all have them, whether we like them or not, whether they are forced upon us or we have created our own, we all have some sort of traditions.
A fairly new tradition we have started is the kids belts shop Christmas Party. We have done it every year… well, at least, since we have had employees! So this will be our second year, yay! I bring the turkey and our employees bring side dishes and desserts. I can’t wait!
Family traditions are another story. Hubby and I try to really play up the Santa thing, so on Christmas Eve, we let the kids set out a plate of cookies and a glass of milk for Santa and a few carrots for the reindeer. Then we put them to bed early and hubby and I get to work.
I do the really hard stuff like eating the cookies and drinking the milk while hubby gets the presents from Santa and puts them under the tree. Then, he takes the carrots and chews up some and spits them out on the driveway (gross, I know, what we do for our kids) so the kids see that the reindeer were munching, too. This year we may add some “Santa” footprints or something like that. Super Dude is starting to question the whole Santa thing. He wants to speak to Santa to prove that he’s real. I would like him to still believe and to stay a kid for a little longer! It makes me sad to think he’s getting so old (or at least he thinks he is).
I’ve decided that I am going to go to this site, I Caught Santa, and “catch” Santa in the act. Maybe that will be enough to keep him believing for another year. This site is really cool because you upload a picture of your living room/Christmas tree/etc and then pick the picture of Santa you want to use and ta da! you have Santa caught in the act in your house. Too cool! Here’s a sample:
I hope you all have fantastic holidays with your families! What are some of you traditions? I’d love to hear about them!
Blessings,
Fine Print
Have you ever been seduced by a product or service only to find out that the fine print is ridiculous and negates any good qualities the product or service may have had? The only fine print that our kids belts have is “Dapper Snappers are cool, you know you’ll love them,” and I’m pretty sure a truer statement has never been written.
While watching some recorded TV the other day, we paused it to take a snack break and when I came back, this is what I saw…
It was one of those shampoo commercials for Garnier Fructis. You know the ones I am talking about, they claim that their products will take your hair from a frizz ball to super sleek and shiny. They also claim it’s the best stuff compared to all other hair products… blah blah blah.
Then, something caught my eye while I was waiting for hubby to rejoin me from his snack procuring mission. I got a little closer to the TV and actually read the fine print on the bottom of the screen.
Do you see that? It says “In a frizz test using Garnier Fructis Sleek & Shine System of Shampoo Conditioner and Anti-Frizz Serum vs. a non-conditioning shampoo.” Uhhhh…. ok…. Does that make sense? Shouldn’t they be comparing like products? That’s kind of like putting an average Joe off the street in the ring with a prize winning MMA fighter and when the MMA fighter wins, bragging about it. I mean really did the average Joe have a chance to begin with?
I’m pretty sure I could shampoo with just about ANY conditioning shampoo out there and have my hair look better than if I used a non-conditioning shampoo. I guess they do it so they can say that did a trial and it worked regardless of what they are comparing it too and we (as the general consuming public) would never know the difference. Mainly because the “fine print” is so fine, but also because of the length of time it’s on the screen. Yes, curiosity got the better of me and I timed it.
3.8 seconds… That’s it. I think it would take me about that long to read it if it was normal size print but the fine print? Come on…
I guess I get disgruntled because we pride ourselves on having a quality product that we know is great and we don’t have to resort to slight of hand to get people to purchase it. It speaks for itself.
Here’s to reading the fine print!
PS. Speaking of fine print, did you realize that the fine print on a can of tuna has an allergy warning that says “May contain fish”, ummm, I hope so? That’s kind of why I bought it. Also, a can of honey roasted peanuts has an allergy warning that it contains peanuts. Wow… that’s it, just wow…
Blessings,
Happy Halloween!!!
A special message from the Bug…
Blessings,
Watch your Planogram!
I was going through some old pictures on my computer and I came across a picture that I had taken quite a while ago (in fact, Bug was 2 and she is 4 now).
Being a small business owner and inventor of kids belts, and therefore the face of my company, I have to be careful what I say and how I express my opinions as well as what language I use and what my political and religious views are so as not to offend anyone. I tend to feel like I am being censored. There have been many-a-time, MANY-A-TIME I tell you, where I have been merely a thumb stroke away from tweeting my discontent about something and then all of the sudden, I remember that what I say is what my brand says, and I quickly delete aforementioned tweet. Therefore, I have debated on whether or not I would write about this incident. Ahhh…. oh well, here goes…
Travel back in time with me… 2 years ago I was shopping at a Rite Aid with Bug. We were getting the normal stuff you get at a pharmacy type place. I’m wrangling a two year so I’m not paying too much attention to my surroundings. Then, as I am in the check out lane something caught my eye (mainly because Bug picked something up and I needed to make sure she couldn’t sever a limb with whatever it was). What on earth???? Is that a lighter in her hand? Where did she get that?? And then I saw it…
Let’s take a look at this picture, after all it is worth a thousand words. Ok, we have batteries, film, baseball cards, toothpaste… all seem innocent enough, and then… lighters? Really? Is that appropriate placement? At eye-level with a 2 year old? I mentioned it to the cashier and the manager and they said something like “Well, we will look into it, but that’s how the planogram is set up so I’m not sure what we can do.” Uhh… how about move the lighters up and replace them with something less threatening? I wanted to call the company and complain and raise a fuss, not just for Bug, but all of the other little kids out there.
I was mad… but I left it at that because, alas, I am the face of Dapper Snappers and I must be cordial. Afterall, I may even sell to Rite Aid one day and I am fairly certain that they will place my product up on the top shelf so as to save room on those bottom shelves for lighters, razors and pesticides… Yeesh!
Blessings
Trip from H-E-Double Hockey Sticks
We had the best of intentions when we headed off to the ABC Kids show to display our kids belts…
Bear with me, this may be a lengthy one.
We packed up the U-Haul, so we wouldn’t have the added expense of shipping and plane tickets, and we piled in the car. Off we went with a twinkle in our eyes and nothing but optimism for the trade show.
I should have known it was going to be a bad trip when we had to turn around after only 20 miles because we forgot something. So, off we went (again) with a (tad smaller) twinkle in our eyes and mostly optimism for the trade show…
The beginning of the trip (once we really started) was smooth. We made it through Florida and into GA. My dear sweet husband was needing a break so we stopped for gas and to change places. I get in the car which is pulling the U-Haul trailer (my first time pulling a trailer, mind you) and we proceed to the interstate. I get on the road and start accelerating and merging and then… sirens and flashing lights? What? I wasn’t even up to speed, yet. I can’t imagine them pulling me over for doing 50 in a 70. Crud, the lights were for me.
I pulled over and the city police officer (yep, city cop, not state trooper) followed. As I am waiting for him to walk up to the car, I feel myself fuming inside. What could I have possibly done that warranted pulling me over? The officer comes up and asks “Do you know why I pulled you over, ma’am?” Uh… If I did, don’t you think I wouldn’t have done it so as not to be pulled over by an Adele, GA cop? “No, sir” I say, trying not to cry (not because I am sad or scared, because I am furious and when I am furious, I cry).
“Well, you failed to move over to the other lane when you passed the cop who had someone pulled over.” What?!? That’s a law? I don’t live in GA, I don’t know your silly laws. Ok, so we have a similar law in FL, but I was under the impression that it was move over OR slow down 20mph.
As it turns out, it doesn’t matter that I don’t know their laws. They gave me a ticket anyway. Phil asked what the fine was and the officer told him, “I can’t really give you that information.” Phil said “Can’t you just give us an idea?” The Officer said “Well the maximum fine is $500.” Yikes! Now I really hate this town of Adele, GA.
Anyway, back on the road. The rest of the drive up is relatively uneventful and we make it to Louisville safely.
The first day we unload and set up. We pile back into the car to head to the hotel and… nothing? The car won’t start. Seriously? It’s like 10pm. Phil checks it out and there is no water in the radiator. Great… we’ll have to worry about that later.
The next day comes and I get a text early in the morning from my assistant. She’s running late for the Expo because she spent the night in the ER with her son. I head down to the lobby to grab breakfast and run into her and her son. I ask how she is, and she becomes a blubbering mess. Poor thing! I tell her to go nap and to come over whenever she’s ready.
The show starts off dismal (but that’s for another blog post). My wonderful assistant shows up a round noon only to get a call a about an hour and a half later from her mom explaining that they are taking her grandmother to the ER. My word what a trip so far!
On the last day of the very disappointing show, Phil takes the car to get checked out since we were having problems. He waited patiently for their call to not get one. He decides to call them at about 3:30pm only to find out that they had just taken the car in to look at it. Ugh… the show ends at 4:00pm and we have to find someway to get the trailer her so we can pack up. Thank you U-Haul for renting us a truck with a tow hitch.
We woke up the next morning and called the mechanic. They hope to have it fixed by the afternoon. In the mean time, we are stranded in KY with no transportation, Phil’s asthma acting up and my allergies driving me crazy. We did find out that Kentucky’s motto is “I’ll get to it when I get to it” and Louisville’s is “It’s not my fault”.
Finally, we get the car back and can load up and head home to Bug and Super Dude. (I can’t tell you how much I missed my babies) We got on the road at about 5:00pm on Tuesday and stopped outside of Atlanta (only 8 hours from home) for the night at an amazing Holiday Inn Express.
At last! We got home around 6:00pm and our kids rushed out to greet us! That was the best hug ever!
PS: Remember those allergies I told you about? Yea, they were not so much allergies as they were a virus. Yay… Oh yea, and my assistant has it too. Turns out the girl in the booth behind us was sick for the whole show.
Blessings,
The Birds and the Bees…and the Lovebugs
We all have that ideal age we think would be a good time to tell our kids about the birds and the bees. For me, it’s some time in the beginning stages of puberty. This seems like the best time to talk to them about their bodies, what’s going on, and what’s going to happen. This opens me up to the question that so far, I have been successfully avoiding; “Mama, where do babies come from?” I think, when they actually get to the point of asking, I’ll pretend to be in the middle of making my kids belts and let daddy handle it!
Here in Florida we are plagued with a twice yearly occurrence of Lovebugs. They sound cute and like they should be ladybug-looking insects with smiles and kisses. They are not. They are ugly. They are everywhere. My kids, upon seeing two lovebugs attached and flying around together, wanted to know what they were doing. “Well, Sweetie,…they are kissing…with their butts…” Now you can imaging the giggles and fits of laughter this statement was met with.
At our most recent lovebug-palooza (at Disney World of all places), Super Dude asked again…no, more like stated, that the lovebugs “aren’t just kissing, right Mama? They are making eggs.” “Yes, son” I answered in shock. “They are making eggs. The eggs will turn into baby lovebugs and they will start all over again.”
Of course the biggest part of me is screaming that it’s way too soon, that I’m not ready. He’s all of 6 1/2 and in 1st grade. He’s very popular with everyone in his school, even the older kids, which I’m sure is how he comes up with some of the smart-mouthed answers he has for us on occasion. And I am also sure this is how he found out about the lovebugs making eggs. The tone in his voice was more of a “Mama, I already know the truth. You wouldn’t tell it to me but the big kids did.” Okay, maybe I’m reading too much into it. Maybe he was just tired.
I guess I’m just stuck in that weird place between not enough and too much information. At what age did you, or do you plan to, tell your kids about the Birds and the Bees (or the Lovebugs, as it were).
Blessings,
The show must go on!
The ABC Kids Show, that is…
Here we are a week away from the show and I feel like we still have so much to do to get our kids belts display tradeshow worthy! I am a bit of a procrastinator, I know this, but is it my fault that everything important has to be done last minute? NOOoooo, well ok, maybe it is partly my fault, but I am blaming it mostly on the dog. Mainly because she can’t argue with me and even if she could, I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t be a very compelling argument, I mean, really what reasoning skills does a dog have? Plus, if I didn’t have to constantly take her for walks or endlessly pull bits of soggy chewed paper from her mouth, then I would have much more time on my hands to do actual tradeshow type work.
Current to do list…
- Finalize Booth Layout
- Layout & Print Promo Sheets
- Take a nap
- Lose my mind
- Make sure we have enough product to completed to display everything
- Finish unpacking my house so I can finally find Bugs brush and no longer have to comb her hair with a plastic fork
- Finish cleaning out the old house so as to ensure the return of our security deposit
- Pack for Tradeshow
- And on and on and on…
Aside from all of that, we are super excited about being involved in the ABC Kids show and really are working day and night to get everything perfect. We will be unveiling some exciting new patterns for our original Dapper Snappers line as well as showcasing the Big Kids Belts, the Dapper Snappers for Moms and Mitten Clips. The show is in Louisville, KY this year so we could go and visit Churchill Downs on our off time (ha ha ha). I am ready for it to be here so I can see the turn out, meet some great new people and feed off of the energy that always goes along with these types of events.
If you are planning on attending, come see us at booth #2433!
Ok, now I have to get back to work….
Blessings,
$1 Books, not such a bargain
Occasionally, I take a break from the wonderful world of making toddler belts for a little “me” time. A couple of days ago, my me time included shopping at a local chain store (ok, it’s Target) with Bug. This specific chain store has one of those “bargain” sections.
Now, I don’t know about you, but I am always looking for a bargain so I love to look through those bins. It’s especially nice with little kids, because it’s generally stuff I can cheaply (let’s face it, those items aren’t just inexpensive, they are cheap!) get to entertain them while I shop.
So, here I am shopping with Bug. We are looking at all of the little bargain goodies, trying to decide what we would like to throw into the cart. Do we want some water guns, or some cutesy little stickers? How about some beach toys, or some princess toys? Look there are some storage bins for mommy and some little appetizer plates. (Really? Appetizer plates? What corners are you cutting, exactly, that you can sell ceramic plates at such a bargain?)
Anyway, back to the story… Bug see’s some Sesame Street books with Bert and Ernie that look interesting. Let’s take a look, I mean books for $1.00? I’m game!
Upon further inspection of the book, it starts to become clear as to why they are in the $1.00 bin. Apparently, proper spelling and a grasp of the English language costs extra to produce. What with the whole editing expense and everything.
Seriously, have we become so accustomed to deals that we are truly willing to sacrifice not just quality, but actual “correctness”? It’s one thing to skimp on the quality of ink you use or the thickness of the paper, but actual spelling and grammar?
One explanation could be that the book was manufactured and produced in China, maybe they got a bad version of Google Translate, who knows. I was just sadly disappointed to see our beloved child educators, Bert & Ernie, being discredited in such a manner. After all, isn’t that what Sesame Street is all about, for the most part, teaching our kids to read?
This post was brought to you by the letter P for proof… would it have killed you to proof this book prior to printing?
Who would have guessed it, $1 books, not such a bargain after all!
Blessings,