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I can only dream of what it must be like to have a teenage girl..ayiyiyi...For now I'll enjoy elementary school and dream of what my teenager would willingly wear if I were to have one. Because that's what teen girls do? Wear what their moms pick out for them right?
xo Kate..enjoying her three (non-teenage) girls.....
Hello Mamas Kimberly here!!
I got a text last Saturday at about 11:00 am from Kate saying she had two tickets to The Country Music Festival and I must find a way to go!! LOL!! I was sitting on the beach in Martha's VIneyard with friends and my four children hmmmmm.... 8 hours later I was back home dressed and ready to be high step'n to some country music!
Even if you are not a fan of country music, (and I am not sure how you could not be) the stories these songs tell are often funny, romantic, but certainly fun to sing along too! This summer especially I have many fond memories of country!!
Kate and I could not get enough of the fashions that night...... Everyone was crazy about Paisley!! Brad Paisley that is!
Lots of beautiful girls in Cowboy hats and boots! Lots of men in Muscle shirts and Cowboy hats!! Everyone was kick'n it up and singing along! Country music is about real life to the hilt!
Country Music: The Spirit of America. - Alan Jackson
We had a ball!! Life is short Mamas.... make it HAUTE!!! Can I get a Yee Haw!!!
XO Kimberly and Kate
Hello Everyone Kimberly Here!!
I have now just recovered from my day at the mall yesterday with my three boys. Yes, back to school shopping is here... I must divide and conquer!! Yesterday was the boys... tonight....... my daughter. I remember the joy of shopping for my kids, picking out adorable outfits, matching accessories and so on and so on. Fast forward to 2010.... A 9 year old daughter, twin 7 year old boys! (Thank goodness for my youngest who still has no opinion I can still throw in an outfit here and there I love!)
Last year I started out at The Children's Place. I love their 2 for sales, perfect when you have twins I bought them loads of jeans and rugby style shirts.... adorable! Well they decided that they didn't like how the jeans felt on them and I figured out that they had trouble with the buttons and snaps at potty time. ( Classic Boys) I was not prepared for them to tell ME what they would be wearing. Being as a good mom and listener I obliged! They loved the comfort of track pants and they are easy to pull on and off. ( Ok! I'll buy it) Happy Kids, Happy Mom, Happy Mornings!!!
The best places to find these hot comfy items are.... Old Navy, Walmart, Gap Kids and Lands End. I hate to do this to The Children's Place but the waist on their pants run soo big!
Boys Graphic Mesh-lined Basketball Pants $14.50 Boys Rec Tech Track Pants $16.50
Walmart Boys Starter Track Pants $7.00 Gap Kids Athletic Pants $19.50
I must say I love the Gap's quality but my boys are sooooo hard on their clothes I have been buying out the Walmart pants and Old Navy when they run specials!! It saves me from beaking down in tears when I see a rip in their knee!! Now onto tops... this year I am going to be bit frugal and layer some long sleeve t-shirts under their existing T's. I buy in every color the plain long sleeve T's from Target $ 6.00! Grab em while you can they go fast!!
Fall in New England means cold mornings and warm afternoons. My boys have mastered how to remedy this problem and never be cold at school! They love their fleece pullovers!!
Gap Fleece Zip Hoodie $ 24.50 Old Navy Fleece Logo Pullover $ 16.50
Lands End Kid's Micro-Fleece $ 19.50 ( Dylon's Favorite!) Keeps him snuggley warm in the class room! He wears these all fall, winter and spring!
and now for the cool kicks........
Jordan Basketball sneakers.... We scored these on sale at Olympia Sports for $ 51.99. These are all my boys wear until the snow but I am loving the Sketchers Urban Track Rain Boys Oxfords $ 40.00 @ JCPENNEY as well as the Arizona Li Jack Toddler Shoe $ !9.99
As we all know for boys and men it is all about comfort!!! Choose these items well because as we all know they get attached to things!! LOL!!
| “Boys are beyond the range of anybody's sure understanding, at least when they are between the ages of 18 months and 90 years.” | |
XO Kimberly |
One would think I could peruse the J.Crew juniors line, crewcuts, sale and restrain myself. One would be wrong. However..I did use a little bit of my Yankee ingenuity,hit the sale and factored in the free shipping on all orders over $150. And then I hid the receipts..
girls crinkle bubble skirt 14.99. One word. Swoon.
the cotton pattycake skirt 24.99
ballet flats 24.99 works with both outfits though..
flamenco top 24.99 Ole!
Giraffe print tassel top 29.99
As much as I'd love to pair the tops with white jeans, we all know what happens when you put a child in white pants..so as close to white as we can go. Worn in vintage slim jeans 39.99
and a jacket for the chilly bus stop 34.99
and because every girl needs a first day of school dress..you may as well go big..
$54 and absolutely delicious. And I can totally see my 4 year old rocking this with her hot pink cowgirl boots.
I'd fathom a guess that I've accomplished my $150 purchase minimum (cough, cough), but what I've also accomplished is ordering all items that can work together. All the tops can be worn with the jeans, the jacket can be worn over every outfit, the shoes can be worn with every outfit, the dress over the jeans..Catch my drift? I could probably save a few bucks, and get a pair of less expensive jeans, maybe change out the jacket to another from Target/Walmart. However because I'm I'm sticking with quality, timeless pieces, I don't need as many. I want that jacket to hold up through the playground, the school bus... The jeans are already distressed. If the knees blow out, so be it. Adds to the look.
Also keep in mind that when I buy, I with three little girls in mind. A Walmart jacket for $13.00 is fabulous, but it's only going to make it through one child. A J. Crew 27.99 jacket will most likely make it through two, possibly, three children. By that point we'll take that jacket and call it "vintage".
Shop fast mamas.. Like summer, and lesser quality pieces, these prices won't last long..
xo Kate
What parent's phone isn't covered in jam and Pirate's Booty dust these days? Thank Apple and their Apps. A blessing and a curse I say, for nary a minute goes by that I'm not negotiating the return of my phone from my kids. Yet, it does allow me the convenience of spending more than 6.2 minutes in Target so there is a plus side. So mamas, in light of the return of school (and a full 6 hours of uninterrupted Mommy phone usage), I bring you the best of back to school apps* for the haute kids in your life. May this buy you 5 minutes of peace in the Starbucks order lane.
For the parent who want to help their little monkey learn to read, an app from the worlds favorite monkey
Any physics geeks out there? Thought so. Draw shapes with the crayon that come to life and interact with the wheel causing it to move according to physical laws. When it reaches the stars the level is complete. Hello son..This is Harvard is calling.
iLive Math Oceans. Not a whole lot of info on iTunes, but the two reviews were very positive and I like the concept. Especially because let's be frank, can we.. math is really hard.
"Word problems can be a challenge to many kids. All word problems in this app are about ocean life and they are accompanied by stunning pictures and great sounds. The child can also seek out more information about the animals by reading about them in Wiki pages in the app"
Who remembers the Constitution? Declaration of Independence? Don't even bother trying.... Famous Speeches does the work for you. oops..I mean..Children, for reference and reading enjoyment only, I give you..Famous Speeches .
Sight words made fun from Learning Sight Words. If one teacher has to teach 20 kids 100 sight words that's....Where's the math app again?
I am always ready to learn although I do not always like being taught.
~Winston Churchill
Clearly the man was never handed an iPhone loaded with apps.
xo, Kate
*Please note I've not used any of these apps firsthand. My children won't give me my phone back.
If it were up to my three girls we'd be out shopping for, at a minimum, 14 new pairs each, back to school shoes. Budget, nor space allow for such whims, alas.. I've given them the instructions they can choose 1 pair of sneakers, 1 pair of "good" or dress shoes and 1 pair of not sneaker/not dress shoes. That's 9 pairs of girl shoes people..
A shoppin' we go....
As God as my witness if someone doesn't pick out a pair of these Toms shoes I will just scream.....
I always buy my kids Ugg type boots, real or faux, like these or below every fall-they're an easy slip on shoe, water proof and can be worn in most situations (unlike ugly snow boots..curse you New England winters!). Target actually has an economical version, and I can attest to the fact that they generally hold up well if you water proof them.
I am a sucker for tartan and leopard. Girls. You are too when payless is having a buy one get one half sale!
Those boots? Those boots!! Cuteeeeee...with a pair of skinnies and a plaid shirt dress! Add. To. Cart.
Sorry, but the rule says if the shoe's cute, and it's six bucks..You buy it. Oh yes the leopard and the fringe? Six dollars each..
ps..the boots, the leopard and the fringe? Walmart. I think we're over our 3 pair per person limit..
My kids love color, color, color. Like circus clowns, the more the merrier. I love thesebecause of the old school feel. And yes. Color, color, color. And Vans.. sigh..I remember when I was a kid....
I'm sorry..Thoseeeee are Crocs?? Roar!
And the cutest of them all for your young and small..I looked.
And I saw him (No. Not the cat the in hat..it was the fedex guy).
I looked and I saw him leave something on the mat.
These shoes.
How 'bout that?
xo, Thing one
I get it. The girls (meaning the under 8 crowd I roll with that call me "Mommy") have asked, almost without pause, since August first "Can we go shopping? Can we? Can we?". No more lazy, hazy days of summer. Schedules. Ballet. CCD. Homework. Lunchboxes. Piano. It's here. School. I have accepted the fact, my white flag is a flyin'..
But for the time being, let's get's back to that part about shopping shall we?
Give a backpack. You've hopefully already purchased your kids Tom's shoes, now purchase them their backpack. Along the same lines, buy a packback and they donate backpacks and school supplies in communities that are not equipped to do so. As of August 18, 2010, the company has donated 2,068 supply filled backpacks! Can you imagine not being able to provide basic educational supplies for your child as they go off to school? Then buy two backpacks and make yourself feel a lot better.
You know how once school starts, you're required to label every single item that your child brings into the school/sports field/school bus/daycare/world? Well you don't have to. Let Mabel do it. Mabels Labels that is. Let them know your child's name, and they will send you the awesome-est labels ever invented. They actually stick. To everything. All the time.
We are moms who were frustrated by the amount of stuff that left our houses, never to return. After lots of research and testing we created the perfect labels for the stuff kids lose.
Our sticky labels and clothing labels are dishwasher, microwave and laundry safe, and customized with a child’s name, choice of colours and icon.
They even offer Allergy labels-as an Epi-pen carrying mama, these are genius!
They even offer back to school packs (a little bit of all their labels), but hurry..like the lazy hazy days of summer, they're only available for a limited time (until September 24) so hurry or you'll miss the bus;)
"If there were no schools to take the children away from home part of the time, the insane asylums would be filled with mothers."
Country music has always been the best shrink that 15 bucks can buy. Dierks Bentley
Now when one thinks New England girl, cowgirl isn't the first term that pops into one's mind. But for one night only, cowgirl be thy name. Lucky me is attending the New England Country Music Festival! Brad Paisley (Mr. Kimberly Williams-Annie Banks-Father of the Bride-helloooo..), Darius Rucker (Hootie's in the houseeeee), Sara Evans (Why am I suddenly feeling not so pretty), Jason Aldean (she's country-that's ME Mr. Aldean), and Easton Corbin (well it'll be nice to meet you) .
So let's talk country fashion? Daisy dukes, bikinis on top? um. Wrong genre.
Everyone loves a cowgirl by threehautemamas featuring Juicy Couture shorts
No one will mistake me for Dolly or Johnny, but I think I'll get my point across..For tonight anyways, She's country....
Yeehaw Mamas! xo Kate
While researching India for my post I came across an interesting statistic
the Indian wedding industry has today ballooned to a whopping 40-billion dollar enterprise, and is still growing exponentially. -the Malaysia Star
Ooohh..apparently Indian brides and grooms have decided to ignore the recession and throw caution to the wind on their wedding day.
“Often, money is not even discussed at client meetings,” says wedding planner, Meher Sarid. “They just tell us what they want and we have to produce it.”-the Malaysia Star
I can't stand it!
The most talked about wedding celebration in recent history was the one hosted by US-based Indian hotelier Sant Chatwal, 65, for his son Vikram’s marriage to Delhi model Priya Sachdev in 2007. The wedding had creative inputs from Milan’s Paola Ricotti and production designer Sumant Jaikrishnan was on the scale of a Hollywood production. It included a restrospective of Ferragamo’s Maharani collection from their museum in Florence, a fashion show where 25 leading designers displayed their best creations along with collections from Valentino, Marc Jacobs and Galliano. -the Malaysia Star
Be. Still. My. Beating. Heart. Did they just say Galliano?
Who can forget the uber chic Elizabeth Hurley when she married that insanely good looking ___________ (whoever he was, but he was in fact, Indian)? The point of the matter is..Who could forget that wedding?
Are you kidding me? I mean everyone looks good on their wedding day, but Liz, you set the bar. And by the way..that handsome Indian man..has a name. Arun Nayar. It's Indian for tall drink of water.
And the colors....White schmite, it's all about color dah-ling. Did someone say BLING baby?
A new take on the Indian wedding dress by Ritu Beri.
Quite frankly I'd skip right over the china and register for either of these dresses. Just a suggestion brides-to-be..
YouTube is a treasure trove of how to apply Indian wedding makeup so for a fun night out or for your own Indian wedding, the complete tutorial here
Happy Saturday Mamas, Kate
Well my movie night got cancelled, gahh.. so instead I sat at home imagining where I'd go if given the fashion choice of Ms. Gilbert. Italy? Been there, done that. Bali? ehh..ten thousand degrees, give me a hundred swimsuits and I'm good.... India? YES! I am the laid back, hippie of the group. Christina walks through Bloomingdales, and the Cheers theme song plays (Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name...and they're always glad you came....). Kim is the buy now ask questions later. True Italian girl who ends everything with, you need a heel with that _______ (fill in the blank) skirt, shirtdress, bathing suit. Me? Casual, but more boho-chic than peace signs. Give me color, exotic prints, gold jewelry and don't get me started on black eyeliner. And if we're spilling secrets I've yet to meet a curry I didn't want to swim in. So India, let's get to know each other..
"So far as I am able to judge, nothing has been left undone, either by man or nature, to make India the most extraordinary country that the sun visits on his rounds. Nothing seems to have been forgotten, nothing overlooked."
Mark Twain
