Bea gave me this card after daycare on Valentine’s Day.

Bea: “I made this for you.”

Me: “Thank you!” (opening it)

Me: “Which person is you and which is me?”

Bea: (Laughing) “Actually, one is Olivia (her friend) and the other’s Beyonce!” (Laughing uproariously now.)

of a balloon, that is, is a sad event in the life of a kid. But besides getting clocked in the head by a swing every child needs to experience this cruel (not to mention eco-unfriendly) rite of passage.

Lookit how happy she was before she let go?

Yesterday M told me she wanted a haircut and that she wanted it cut to look like her Aunt Charlotte’s and/or cousin Lydia’s. Since Lydia and Charlotte have totally different (both very stylish) cuts, we met in the middle. It was hard to believe that a little girl would WANT a haircut but Maddie has her own style and a strong sense of fashion so I wasn’t about to stand in her way.

We set out for the salon.

BEFORE (with a side pony)

This salon is so adorable. Let me interrupt myself to apologize for boring most of you with this post about my daughter’s first haircut. Nobody hates hearing about cliche parent experiences like this more than I do but gosh dang it, for some reason these little kids make even common everyday experiences fun!

Anyway, The Yellow Balloon has been in SM for ages.

I actually saw the salon from the car, pulled over & called. They told me to come right in! It was so totally friendly inside, well, actually kid-friendly inside.

Our stylist, Denise, was so sweet. She let M sit on my lap which I doubt made it easy.

M really enjoyed looking at herself. And the cookies they gave her. And the Cinderella flashlight. The tattoo & the lollipop. Oh, and she also enjoyed the haircut.

She took a quick ride in the car (which the owner insisted on paying for).

And we left!

She accidentally let go of the balloon later in the park and wept bitterly as we watched it shrink to a tiny dot. I understood how she felt as I watched them cut her baby hair off and sweep it away into a dustpan.

The Yellow Balloon
1328 Wilshire Blvd.
Santa Monica, CA 90403
(310)458-7947

Hours:
M 9:30AM-6PM
T, W & F: 9:30AM-7PM
TH: 9:30AM-8PM
SA: 9AM-6PM
SU: 10AM-5:30PM

You can’t tell from this post but I’ve been distracted/obsessed with the storm that has devastated (and continues devastating) the east coast. Not only do I have loved ones there (my sis & niece as well as dear friends & extended family) but I worry for the future of my children. We are starting to have 100 year storms every 2 years now?? Can we do anything to lessen the intensity? Or do we just build stronger infrastructure and carry on as usual?

Regardless, I’m posting this as I wrote most of it last week and want to support this special local business that has a ton of heart!

***

It’s so easy to order gifts for people online with Amazon. But all the packaging that comes with it drives me nuts. I am such a cluttery person that I think it’s best for me to make the effort to actually go out & buy presents in person. Not only does it make me buy less, but I also save on all the wrapping & shipping.

The other nice thing about shopping locally is that you are supporting a person instead of a huge corporation. I definitely like seeing tiny unique shops in my neighborhood and the only way they’ll stay is if we actually SHOP there.

So I’ve started getting cute gifts here at Baby Daze lately.

Baby Daze is a resale shop for childrens’ clothing but they also carry brand new toys & books. A lot of the toys are Melissa & Doug (just to give you an idea of what’s there) but there are loads of other things like fancy bassinets

bouncy seats, barely used Bjorns, strollers (jogging strollers, Snap N Go’s and Graco travel systems).

Besides toys/gifts I’ve gotten some excellent deals at Baby Daze since it opened including a ski suit for my daughter for $17.99. It looks brand new. You know how ski suits go in Southern California – you use them 1-2x and the season’s over. That must be the story with this one.

Next year, Bea!

Also found a really cute pair of Tea Collection pants for her

and a Gap jumper.

Angela, the owner, also had (and I’m SORRY to post AFTER-Halloween!! Aggh – sorry Angela!!) Halloween costumes for $7.99.

She has hand-knitted caps right by the door as well as new baby gifts made locally. She also has loads of leg warmers (NEW) which make great baby gifts. If you have had a baby in the past few years you probably used them – great way to keep baby legs warm while making diaper changing easier! I was not able to get pix of everything as M was trying on shoes with abandon as well as packing a Melissa & Doug shopping cart with every baby toy she could find and strolling around and I got busy nagging her to put everything back.

Angela also does special events. On Nov. 17th at Baby Daze someone will be there making these adorable handprint ornaments.
[Photo from Baby Daze Facebook page.]
$19 each OR Free with $50 purchase! Call now to reserve your space! (310)692-9650 or visit the Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/babydazeboutique

[Besides Baby Daze, there is a special little jewelry store just a few doors down - called "Artful Things." Most of the jewelry is made by local artists and is just beautiful but there are other special gifts as well. Also, Twist is around the corner on 17th and has an eclectic mix of gifts including baby Havaianas, Christmas onesies, adult costume jewelry & trendy clothes/shoes, lip balms, jewelry boxes etc. Finally Bob's Market, one of the last small town grocery stores, is on the corner with a coin-operated horsey outside. I'll be writing about more local businesses in the near future & linking to this post.]

Have a big box of old baby/kid clothing? At Baby Daze you can “exchange” clothes for store credit:

[From her website:]

It’s Not Consignment It’s Better!
No need to wait and wonder when you will see the money.

I give Credit of 30% of my retail price per item. Cash will only be given with 3T-6T on request. Also at this time, I ask that you only use half your credit that day and return to use the other half another day.

My credit is good on anything in the store and never expires : )

We accept gently used clothes. No holes, stains, broken zippers or missing buttons. Freshly laundered. No cat hair etc.

Please bring clothes in a bag or box labeled with your name and number. I hope to get through them within a week and call you with your credit amount and leftovers for you to pick up.

Baby Daze Boutique
1706 Ocean Park Blvd.
Santa Monica, CA
(310)692-9650
M-F 9AM-6PM
https://www.facebook.com/babydazeboutique

If you need a last minute gift or have a load of outgrown children’s clothing I highly recommend you stop by!

Some nights you get home with ravenous kids – there is no time to chop/assemble & bake or even to boil pasta water. This is the dinner for THAT night!

I saw it on Pinterest a few months ago.

So far, about 50% of the recipes I’ve tried from Pinterest have convinced me that it’s the PHOTOGRAPHY that is good, not the necessarily the recipe.

Now I’m a little more careful about reading the recipe before trying it. It’s got to taste good.

This one was a pleasant surprise! Taco cups in won-ton wrappers. This is seriously the easiest, quickest dinner to throw together.

You need:

(I tried it with vegetarian ground “meat” but I didn’t care for it so ignore that in the photo!)

and

INGREDIENTS:
- won ton wrappers
- refried beans
- shredded Mexican blend cheese (or cheddar etc.)

OPTIONAL:
- jalapeños
- taco sauce
- diced tomatoes
- diced onions

Preheat oven to 350.

Fill muffin tin with won ton wrappers.

Spoon refried beans into won ton wrapper.

Add any toppings you like. I tried some with meat substitute but nobody liked it so I stopped. I also put shredded cheese on half of them since M hates melted cheese.

Yesterday I made them with 1 sliced jalapeño (jarred) on each of mine. I then sprinkled taco sauce on top of that. Yes, that thick nasty taco sauce you get at Ralph’s. I don’t care!! I love it!! Spicy ketchup!!

Bake for 5-7 minutes. Won tons should be getting browned at the edges. Once you figure out how your oven works (I use the toaster oven to avoid heating up the house in the summer!) you can decide how many minutes.

There is always that tenuous moment when you present new food to the kids. It definitely helps if they haven’t snacked since lunchtime though.

She LOVED them!

Bea didn’t like them until I broke hers up. I don’t think she has enough back teeth to really chew them. Now she loves them! (Bea not pictured.)

M thinks she has long black hair when she wears this hat.

I saw variations of this idea all over Pinterest & the internet(s). This is a really cute, relatively easy gift.

What I used:

- Matte (from Michael’s) – $4.99
- Picture frame (from Michael’s 50%-off sale $14.99 each)
- Photo print (from iPhoto) $.50
- Paint (gift!)

It ended up being just over $20 for a really beautiful & heartfelt gift. And I’m sure you can do it much more cheaply than I did…

When the baby was napping, M and I went out back. I poured silver-dollared size blobs of the five different paint colors, each on a different plate. Next to the table I had a bucket of water & an old towel for hand rinsing between colors. I only brought out ONE color at a time and let M smush her hand in it all over the plate. I put all three mattes (I planned on making 3 of these for gifts) on the table. First we did pink. I let her practice pressing her hand down on a piece of scrap paper first so she understood what we were doing. Then I had her press her hand in the pink and PRESS, PRESS, PRESS stamp all three mattes in the same spot. Very factory-like. When she was done, I moved the pink paint away, she washed her hands in the bucket & dried them with the towel. I then brought over the next color.

After they dry – the fun part. Assembly!

This is the one I made G for Father’s Day.

Photo taken by Tempting Weddings (click picture for link!)