Sale Calendar Added

I just added a new page (see navigation bar above for “Sale Calendar“) detailing the biggest sales that major retailers do each year. Typically, these sales are called “Friends & Family” sales and they have the fewest exclusions. Let me know if there are any additional sales you’d like me to add to the page!

Hopefully this page will serve as a resource guide for 2014 and beyond to determine when a good time to purchase items that don’t typically get discounted.

Bloomingdales Friends and Family Sale!

Gosh, where have I been the past 2 weeks?!  Time flies when you’re having fun.  My Dad came to visit and I hadn’t seen him in over 9 months so I was really happy he was here.

It’s time for the Bloomingdales.com Friends & Family sale where a ton of stuff is eligible for 20% off!

Here are a few quick picks of some great deals.

Luggage

Victorinox Spectra Hardsided Ultralight Luggage 65% off retail price
Victorinox Spectra Hardsided Ultralight Luggage – 65% off retail price

This Victorinox Spectra line is already over 50% off.  Add in the F&F 20% discount and things are now 65% off!

Delsey Helium Aero Luggage - 60-80% off
Delsey Helium Aero Luggage – 60-80% off

This Delsey Helium Aero line is 60-80% off after the F&F discount.  Delsey is known for their ultralight and high quality luggage.  This set gets really good reviews on Amazon.

Delsey Xpertlite Luggage -  68% off
Delsey Xpertlite Luggage – 68% off

Another Delsey collection, this one is softsided.  The Xpertlite collection is 68% off after F&F discount.

The Bloomingdales sale is also a great time to get things that don’t normally go on sale, such as a beautiful new handbag or coat.

Burberry Brit Balmoral Classic Wool Trench (Sale: $796)
Burberry Brit Balmoral Classic Wool Trench (Sale: $796)
MICHAEL Michael Kors Satchel - Gilmore Medium East West (Sale: $286)
MICHAEL Michael Kors Satchel – Gilmore Medium East West (Sale: $286)

And don’t forget… if you’re looking for a designer diaper bag, Bloomies also sells those!

Will you be shopping the sale?  What did you get?

 

 

 

3.1 Phillip Lim for Target is a huge hit!

The 3.1 Phillip Lim for Target collection launched today and it was a huge hit!  The handbags and accessories sold out very quickly online and I heard that the bags were the first to get cleared out at stores as well.

This video shows how crazy it all got so I’m glad I did my shopping online.  I was refreshing the page over and over waiting for the bags to show up on the site and around 1AM PST, they finally all showed up!

I ordered several styles and I am eagerly awaiting their arrival next week.  Based on my experience last night, I have a few tips for shopping the next big Target designer collaboration.

  1. The collection will launch sometime after midnight online.  Don’t expect the items to instantly show up at midnight!
  2. Check Twitter for the official hashtag.  A few links to items were posted on Twitter before I could find them on the Target site by clicking through the category page (e.g. Handbags).
  3. Target imposed limits on how many items each person was allowed to purchase.  In this case, it was 5 items from the line and 3 of the same item.  So if you’re planning to purchase many items, you’ll need to split your orders up.
  4. Make sure your credit card information on file is correct to help speed up checkout since items can disappear from your cart at any time!

Did you score anything in store or online?  I’ll be sharing photos of what I got next week!

First Birthday Gift Ideas

Sorry for the weeklong hiatus!  Things have been hectic around the house with our baby girl turning 1 last week and planning and hosting a party for 50 people at our home!  Now that is out of the way, I can get back to blogging! 🙂

So my husband and I looked around our living room and realized that we barely have any toys at home for our baby girl.  So I’ve been thinking about what toys would be age appropriate to mark this big birthday.

Personally, toys with a lot of noise drive me crazy but she seems to enjoy them.  We have a Leapfrog Musical activity table that we got as a hand-me-down, so it had no batteries for the first few weeks we had it at home.  I finally decided to put some batteries in it and C now LOVES IT.  It’s currently one of her favorites!  The nice thing though is that there are 2 volumes — loud and super loud. 🙂

Here are a few toys that I’ve been scoping out.  I think she might be a little too young for some of these but she’ll get there soon.  Right now, she’s crawling and cruising with no problems.  I think she’ll start wobble walking without a walker pretty soon.

Ride On Toy

Little Tikes Cozy Coupe ($44.90)
Little Tikes Cozy Coupe ($44.90)

This looks really fun for my little one to ride around in, Fred Flintstone style!  I showed this to my friend and she mentioned that babies also like to be pushed around so she suggested this one as another option to consider.

Little Tikes Push & Ride Racer ($27.28)
Little Tikes Push & Ride Racer ($27.28)

Both of these have tons of great reviews on Amazon so I’m sure either of them would be great. I’m kind of leaning towards the Push & Ride since we will soon be upon our winter months in the Pacific Northwest which means a lot of indoor playtime and I think that one would work better inside our home since its a little smaller.

Sand/Water Table

Step2 Splash N Scoop Bay ($29.99)
Step2 Splash N Scoop Bay ($29.99)

This looks really fun and I like that it includes an independent cover for each side so if you have a child that likes to chuck water in the sand or vice versa, you can prevent that. However, it also looks like it is a bit small.  You can’t really launch a big boat in the water side.  It is one of the more affordable sand and water tables.

Kitchen Set

KidKraft Uptown Espresso Kitchen ($129.99)
KidKraft Uptown Espresso Kitchen ($129.99)

A play kitchen is really high on my wishlist but my little one is probably still too young for this right now.  From my friends who parents of older children, they say this is one of the most played with toys in the home and will last for years.  I like that this one has gender neutral colors.  It also looks way nicer than our real kitchen. 🙂

Train Set

Melissa & Doug Deluxe Wooden Railway Set ($89.82)
Melissa & Doug Deluxe Wooden Railway Set ($89.82)

When I told my husband that I wanted to get our daughter a train table he was surprised since it’s something he’d LOVE to play with, with our daughter.  This wooden set has gotten some great reviews and includes 100 track pieces as well as 30 accessory pieces.

Right Track Toys - Wooden Rail Pieces - 52 pieces ($29.99) or 100 pieces ($46.95)
Right Track Toys – Wooden Rail Pieces – 52 pieces ($29.99) or 100 pieces ($46.95)

Another option would be to get the tracks separately from the trains. This one claims to be compatible with all major systems including Thomas the Train sets.

These are the big items on our wish list.  In the next post, I’ll post some smaller items that (a) don’t take up as much space and (b) are more budget friendly for gifting to friends and family.

Do you have any other great 1st birthday toy ideas?  

Rebecca Minkoff Baby Bag Reviews – Kendra and Logan Diaper Bags

I was in Neiman Marcus last week and I stopped by the children’s section to take a peek at what was new and I found 2 new Rebecca Minkoff baby bags there that I haven’t seen before.  Here’s some quick thoughts after close examination of the Kendra and the Logan.

Btw – Neiman Marcus is currently running a promo through August 19th on children’s purchases.  With the code KIDSGIFT, you will get $50 off your $200 purchase!  What great timing for these brand new bags!

The Rebecca Minkoff Kendra Baby Bag

Rebecca Minkoff Kendra Baby Bag ($295)
Rebecca Minkoff Kendra Baby Bag ($295)

First up is the Kendra baby bag.  This bag was made of nylon and includes a change pad.  When I saw the bag last week, it wasn’t up on the Neiman website yet so I think it is brand new.  Nordstrom also carries this bag in a plain black nylon, also for $295.

I liked that the bag had a top zipper to keep items inside from falling out.  I also love the elasticized and non-elasticized pockets that Rebecca Minkoff puts on all her baby bags. They are laid out in the same way as the Knocked Up bag.  If I remember correctly, there is a horizontal zip pocket across the back and 4 pockets on the inside.  There are also 2 exterior side pockets and an exterior horizontal zip.  Because the bag is made from nylon, it is easy to wipe clean and it makes it very lightweight.

Rebecca Minkoff Kendra Diaper Bag Interior
Rebecca Minkoff Kendra Diaper Bag Interior

I didn’t love the size of the bag.  The website lists it as 13 1/2″H x 17 1/2″W x 7″D and I just thought that the 7″ depth of the bag wasn’t enough.  It just seems too narrow.

The Rebecca Minkoff Logan Baby Bag

Rebecca Minkoff Logan Baby Bag ($325)
Rebecca Minkoff Logan Baby Bag ($325)

What initially drew me to this bag was the leather trim.  You really don’t see too many baby bags that have any leather, which is too bad… because while nylon is very practical, I think leather is more durable.

The straps shown are just faux, as the closure is actually a magnet behind them.  At first, I didn’t realize this and struggled to get the strap out and thought “this diaper bag is useless if I can’t get anything out of it!”.  Thankfully, the designers realized that a magnetic closure was much more practical for Mommies and Daddies!

The bag also includes a change pad and has multiple wall pockets.  If I remember correctly, they were in exactly the same configuration as the Kendra bag.  There are also 2 exterior bottle pockets.  What I really like about this bag is that it has a long strap.  I find those to be so essential when you are trying to juggle your diaper bag, the car seat and open doors. When the car seat weighs about 10 lbs and your baby is 15 lbs… you start needing 2 hands to lift the carrier.  You really start to appreciate the long cross-body straps during those times!  The bag also has a hook closure for keeping it together, though I suspect things could still fall out even if the top flap is folded over.

Rebecca Minkoff Logan Diaper Bag Interior
Rebecca Minkoff Logan Diaper Bag Interior with the hook closure

I would say the size is the main negative for me.  I prefer a larger bag and this one was a smaller bag with dimensions listed as 13″W x 12″H x 7″D.

Here’s a comparison on the same model.

Rebecca Minkoff Kendra Diaper Bag
Rebecca Minkoff Kendra Diaper Bag
Rebecca Minkoff Logan Diaper Bag
Rebecca Minkoff Logan Diaper Bag

Hope this quick review helps you decide if one of the Rebecca Minkoff diaper bags is right for you!