Sunday, February 13, 2011

Monday Giveaway: WallCandy!

Is it Monday already? But hey, it's Valentine's Day! We're celebrating by giving away a Chalkboard Heart kit by WallCandy. WallCandy makes super-cute wall decals for kids and grown-ups -- all removable, reusable, and repositionable without damaging walls. Perfect for lazy decorators such as myself.



To enter, tell us: who was your first celebrity crush? Double your chances by commenting on Facebook. Triple your chances by posting a photo of said celeb crush on our Facebook wall!

Mine: the dreamy Simon Le Bon, circa 1982. Laugh all you want, you gotta love the hair.

The Most Amazing Camera for Amateurs

I know I have not posted any personal pictures so far, and the reason for that is simple: all the photos I take with my Canon point-and-shoot camera absolutely suck. I want to be able to post pretty pictures, like the ones on this blog or this blog. (I know, that second one is a food blog, but aren't the photos gorgeous?)

To that end, I just got one of those new micro 4/3 cameras, specifically the Olympus Pen E-PL2. Basically it's like a DSLR camera in a small body - perfect for amateurs like me who just want decent shots of my kid, without the expense and size of a real SLR. I've got enough stuff to lug around, I don't need a huge camera and lense taking up valuable diaper bag real estate. It takes great photos right out of the camera, with not a lot of fuss. It also has a cute retro vibe to it.
I'm not saying I'm going to be able to take photos like photog extraordinaire Lisa Slotsve, who has done mini photo sessions at our store. But at least I'll hopefully have some pictures that will be decent enough to post on this blog!

Monday, February 7, 2011

Monday Giveaway: I Love My Mom/Dad Onesie or Tee

UPDATE: This week's winner is Kacie Worrell, who posted on our blog and on Facebook. Kacie, please our Facebook page for instructions on how to claim your prize!

Today's giveaway: a Valentine's Day-inspired onesie or tee of your choice, printed by local Minneapolis printer Too Many Many Suitors.
Simply tell us what your idea of the perfect Valentine's Day spent WITH the kids would be. We'll randomly select the winner tomorrow morning. And don't forget to enter your answers on Facebook to double your chances. Good Luck!

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Moving up. Hopefully.

We're in serious talks to move our downtown store to a skyway location. We're currently on the street level of a mall. An OK location, but anyone who works in downtown Minneapolis knows that the action is on the skyway level. (Which reminds me of one of my favorite Replacements songs.)

I'm nervous because the rent per square feet is double what we pay at the Northeast Minneapolis store. But it's small, which makes it affordable to us. It will also get much, much more foot traffic in the winter, compared to our NE location. This is important, considering our winters (which I don't think are really that bad, but that's probably because I grew up here and don't know any better).

The leasing agent is trying to figure out how much TA they can provide. TA stands for "tenant allowance," which is the amount they'll give us to make the space look nice and pretty, the way a baby store is supposed to look. In exchange for TA, we will probably need to sign a 5 year lease, plus the rights to our first-born. Good thing we adopted.

I get slightly terrifed thinking about committing to a 5-year lease in a high-rent space, so I'm going to stop now and instead post some photos that are in my inspiration folder for a new store.




Thursday, February 3, 2011

20% off New Tea Destination: Barcelona Beach

Destination: Barcelona Beach has arrived! After slogging through all the boxes and tagging each item, we are ready to go with our special Tea Collection deal. Buy 5 or more regular-priced piece, get 20% off.  Enter coupon code 'barcelona20' at checkout. Offer ends Monday, February 14. Happy shopping!