May Days and Grubbery

Although May started as a warm month, it quickly flipped and in turn- made me question my belief in superstitions and "jinxes".  I spent a week or so, sopping in sweat and battling my post-pregnancy hot flashes while taking the kids for my work-out-walks (and to be honest, breaking a sweat just getting off of the couch, thank you post pregnancy horomones =) ).   After digging through a plastic tote filled with an abundance of summerwear circa 2010 from the days of post-wedding, pre-kids and pre, smushy tummy I was left with one sad looking pair of capris pants that I could fit into semi-comfortably when public outings were necessary.  My everyday uniform of yoga pants and oversized t-shirts started to feel like an un-breathable tarp that trapped in all of my my hot flash air and I was finally accepting that I was due to spend some money.  I needed to purchase at least one more pair of shorts to get me through the next couple of months until I hopefully can unpack my pre-kid-clothing-totes for good.
After having what seemed like episodes of tourettes verbal ticks regarding this summers trends of shorty shorts (aka long panties), I was able to find one pair of bermuda shorts that were affordable and had a great fit.  I also scored a great deal on a used jean skirt and a used pair of bermuda shorts.  These three finds combined with the number of times I actually leave home and enter the relm of public viewing, made for a great "transition" wardrobe.  After completing my at-home runway show for my little kiddos, dancing to the beats of Informer by Snow, I packed up my maternity clothes, long pants, turtlenecks & sweaters, and filled my drawers with tank tops, tees, dresses and my new bottoms.  Fingers were crossed that my body would be able to control it's temperature a little bit better with more appropriate clothing for the hot weather we were getting.
This "summer fever" also spilled over into an instant need to have leaves raked up, swings hung, wagons alined, slides and playhouses purchased bubble blowers topped up, sand shovels ready for the taking etc.  My kiddos dressers were cleaned out of winter tops and heavy pants & hoodies, and replaced with swing tops, short sleeve onesies, light-weight pants etc. 
NEW SALES completely influenced by the nice weather, were announced to the facebook fans of Black Violet (www.facebook.com/blackvioletbaby) which include

(all sales valid until the last day of May)
And after all of this excitement and preparation, the weather has been cold and rainy for what seems like the last 2 weeks. hahahaha. 
Other than repeating daily to my husband the phrase "what are the chances...I was so ready for nice weather!", I have decided to cook myself into warmth!  If you were to look at my meal planning calendar this month, you can actually tell from the meals written down, how the weather was shaping up for that week.  This weeks meals consist of a lot of what I call "hibernation food".  The heavier, home-cooked warm types of food.  If you are not already following me on Pinterest, you can find me @ http://pinterest.com/blackvioletbaby/  and I actually have a board dedicated to my Menu for the week as well as a handful of other boards that are equally if not more exciting =)

Since today is Wednesday and I try my hardest to attend a play group on Wednesdays,  the meal for Wednesdays is typically something that does not require a lengthy preparation or many dishes and I am ALWAYS a fan of any supper option that will offer some leftovers for lunches.  So, today is garlic break and *slow cooker* Lasagna Soup - http://pinterest.com/pin/107171666104930605/ - (recipe & photo from Family Fresh Meals) 

This is yummy, low sodium, toddler approved, husband approved and fairly inexpensive.
It is perfect to temporarily warm me up on such a damp and chilly day. 

Stay tuned for my next blog later on this month where I will introduce a new designer that Black Violet will be carrying and the shipment of loot specifically for the older toddlers that is en route.  You can check out the tees that are up for pre-order by visiting our store site www.blackvioletbaby.com and shopping our selection of tees.

ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY APPROACHING!!

GUESS  WHAT?

 

 

 

WAIT!!!  You are lucky enough to get a peek at the big celebration steals and deals!!   Check out the details below and when it comes time, celebrate with us by shopping at www.blackvioletbaby.com and www.facebook.com/blackvioletbaby

 

 

 

 

Valid from April 10th through April 12th

 

Mei Tai sale April 10th only!!

Valid April 10th through April 12th

 

 

Select Hair Accessories in Facebook albums. Valid through April 12th

A coupon code will be released via www.facebook.com/blackvioletbaby at a later date.  Valid April 10th through April 12th

 

 

 

Valid April 10th through April 12th

 

 

Valid April 10th through April 12th

 

 

 

Valid April 10th

 

 

 

 

 

Be Rewared with 25% OFF!

 

Our ONE year anniversary mark is quickly approaching and as a large thank you to our amazing followers, customers and strong supporters, I'd like to offer 25% off of any order until the end of this month (March). 

Now that the first year is pretty much under our belt, we have had the opportunity to take a look at our sales and where many of our orders are being made from.  Surprisingly, we are sending TONS of product to the US and it is my mission to spread the word to our local consumers that Black Violet is a locally based, Work-at-home-mom run business that was created to bring alternative, hip, edgy and uncommon child related product and designer apparel!  I created Black Violet because of the lack of options not only in Nova Scotia, but across the country to purchase alternative apparel for kiddos.  I quickly expanded our inventory to include alternatives to the parent, meal and bath products you see around here.  I didn't need to think twice about creating Black Violet to provide you all with a one-stop-shop sort of experience that housed all of my favorite edgy clothing & accessories and alternatives to "big box" parent products.

To spread the word locally, we have put out a local flyer in the mail with a Sale coupon code for 25% off orders expiring the last day of this month.  As a sneak preview to this offer- I am spreading this coupon code early to our blog-readers and facebook fans =)

Our flyer is due to hit local mailboxes Thursday, March 21st but you all will have access to utilize this Coupon code effective immediately to get a jump on current stock at favorable prices !

What do I recommend?  Lollipop Moon clothing is a steal @ 25% off!

 

 

One of our TOP sellers will never be found priced this low so seize the day- stock up on your favorite Babiator colors now!!

Get your toes and fingers looking "Springy" with a deal on Piggy Paint!

 

 

Any of your favorite Dimpleskins bath and body Products!

 

 

.....And EVERY OTHER BRAND we carry!! Enjoy and share with others you know so they can capture these deals as well and learn about a locally based business that is tailored to the hip and edgy parent who is looking for alternative products for their kiddos =)

Shop @ www.blackvioletbaby.com
View and Like our Facebook page for additional product not listed on the e-commerce site @ www.facebook.com/blackvioletbaby

I will leave you with a yummy recipe that is fairly healthy, light and leaves you craving more spring and summer foods : http://pinterest.com/pin/107171666104983149/  Grilled Cheeseburger Wraps!
Follow more of my pins on Pinterest @ http://pinterest.com/blackvioletbaby/

Spring Fever Giveaway- Barefoot Sandals

a Rafflecopter giveaway


With yesterday's sunshine and mild temperature, I realllllly got the itch to pack up all of my socks and winterboots and bring out the pedicures and sandals!  Why not break out the kiddos spring and summer wardrobe too?!  These barefoot sandals are such a natural accessory and I want to share them with one lucky winner!  They are one size fits most and are made with organic yarn.

The prize draw will take place April 1st- and as always I've offered chances for bonus entries as well as daily entries so there are lots of ways to boost your chances!

While you're in the barefoot mood, take a peek at our ever popular selection of Piggy Paint and stock up now as they will be flying off the shelves as soon as the last drop of snow melts I'm sure.  Piggy Paint is perfect for all ages and we also carry the Piggy Paint remover, nail art for the little ones and the Piggy Paint nail pen which is popular amongst toddlers who are interested in "doing things themselves".  Teaches really great motor skills as well!

Shop @ http://www.blackvioletbaby.com/accessories-3/www.blackvioletbaby.com/accessories-3/

Don't want to wait to see if you win the barefoot sandals?  Send me an email @ info@blackvioletbaby.com or take a look at our facebook page to get full color selection @ www.facebook.com/blackvioletbaby 

Spring Fever and Judy Clever

So, I'm craving a little bit of spring time weather.  I actually find myself day dreaming of what the spring and summer will bring and how great it will be to not have to bundle myself and two kiddos in a billion layers just to make it from the door to the vehicle!

It is quite apparent that I'm not the only one with "spring fever".  I have had a number of requests for Chewbeads products in fresh and fun spring colors and I must agree, it is time to spice up the wardrobe with pinks, oranges, greens etc.  So without hestitation, I am pleased to announce that our Chewbeads selection of both the Jane and Bleeker necklaces as well as the Cornelia bracelets will be expanded to include fresh spring colors!  I am also excited to introduce a few new products by Chewbeads which includes:

Chewbeads new Mulberry Teether in 3 different colors!

as well as the

Skinny Charles 3pc Bangle set

 

 

 

 

Both new products continue to offer wearers and users the safety of silicone products with No BPA, phthalates, cadmium, lead, or metals and the ease of cleaning by using dish soap and water or your dishwasher(top rack)

 

All of  these goodies are expected to hit our shelves  in March (approximate ETA).  Have a request and want to put in a pre-order? Contact us at info@blackvioletbaby.com to see the full selection of re-stock as quantities are limited, and we will make sure to set up a pre-order so you are able to get the first crack of the options!

 

 

 

Now, on to non BV related events.

Although spring fever is definitely in my house and thoughts the last few weeks- the air is still frigid and there is still snow on the ground.  My area gets a forecasted snow storm weekly so although the date of spring may be soon- unless we get a good bout of mild temperatures and some nice rain, the snow is lingering for a while.  All of this cold and whiteness covering the ground makes for the natural craving of warm yummy foods on the our family's menu.  Since becoming a stay at home mom, I have definitely put my organizational skills to work.  If only my tasks at home required as much neon highlighter use as the days I used to spend in the office :)
Now, I pride myself on meal planning, budgeting, grocery planning and fun things to do with my toddler.  In my opinion, the chaos at my house is organized.  My house may not be clean, but it is tidy; my meals may have taken 2 hours to prepare and only 15 minutes to eat, but I smile knowing all or almost all of the ingredients that went into the meal and that full bellies left the table.

You will see that I really enjoy using Pinterest to my advantage.  Yes, it is easy to get swallowed up to the endlessness of Pinterest.  But if you use it with goals in mind and really make sure that you are not going on pinning sprees are are actually saving materials that will get looked at a second time, than it is a tool that is quite useful and I am thankful for it.  I was always a big user of the "favorite" button on my computer.  I would ", shoppingfavorite" recipes, blogs sites, neat calendars, budgeting graphs etc.  and what I ended up with was an endless side bar of all of my favorite things jumbled into what seemed like an infinite scroll session.

Enter in Pinterest.  I try to Pin like it's a real-life board hanging on my wall.  At this point I am always going back through to see if I have pins that are similar to each other or the silly 502 error msgs that some Pins have.  Yes, even my organizational use of Pins gets re-organized.  I. dislike. clutter.

You can follow me on Pinterest and keep up to date on some of our BV items, giveaways, sales etc as well as general information and pins related to kids, women, keeping-house, entertaining toddlers, learning, parenting, controversial reads, easy laughs, party ideas, good-eats...(really the list is endless) at http://pinterest.com/blackvioletbaby/.
    
     As a closing, I would love to share with you a yummers recipe (well actually 2) that I recently tried.  Who the heck knew you could do so much with Pillsbury Pizza Dough? I seriously tried 3 new recipes in a week and a half that I fell in love with. I'll tell you my criteria for a good recipe.  Has to be sort of inexpensive, use up left over ingredients that are either currently in my fridge or will be in my fridge from another meal I have planned for the week, has to taste good (obv) has to be fairly easy to prep and even better if you can prep in advance, easy to clean up and decent for left-overs if there is any.  The spiral stuffed rolls fits all of this criteria.  The brussel sprouts have a little bit more prep work as I find cooking up bacon to be quite tedious, HOWEVER, I meal planned in advance with another meal (enter in Bill's Chilli which you can find on my pinterest) that included bacon and I just cooked the portions for both recipes and had them back to back.  It is really minimal bacon so you don't have to worry about being "over-bacon-if-ied".  Brussel sprouts get four stars (lost one for prep time) and spirals get 4 stars (lost one only because they kinda fell apart so presentation wasn't awesome but was WAY better than the photo that is attached to the Pin, and could have been because I let the dough sit out of the fridge too long beforehand but I get easily distracted with my "two under two" :)

 Anywho- one of my supper meals included these

Spiral Stuffed Rolls:  http://pinterest.com/pin/107171666104782496/  (thanks to Life as a Lofthouse!)
 and

Maple+Bacon glazed brussel sprouts:   http://pinterest.com/pin/107171666104131525/  (thanks to Ambitious Kitchen!)

 

 

 With the spirals- I used half broccoli and grape tomato and half ham and broccoli (both sides with cheese of course).  I don't eat much when it comes to meat and my husband doesn't eat much when it comes to vegetables and my 16 month old doesn't eat much when it comes to colored food.  It only took my money brain 10 minutes to figure out how I could make this and not cross contaminate my meats and veggies ;)

 

Enjoy!

 

 

 

Share this blog post by linking it to your personal Facebook page and recieve 10% off your purchase of NaturzAire all natural deoderizer for your room or diaper pail or wheverever else you may need it :)  Use coupon code:SMELLGOOD at the checkout *valid until March 20, 2013

February's Giveaway

Well, the temperatures and snow just aren't letting up so here is a Giveaway prize to keep your little one warm and toasty.....well at least their noggin =)

Up for grabs is one of our rockin' crochet skull hats.  Winner's choice of instock color and size!

This Giveaway is done through Rafflecopter as always and we've thrown in an additional bonus entry for those Pinterest users!

DYING to get your hands on one of these hats and aren't patient enough to see if you won?  Shop here: http://www.blackvioletbaby.com/accessories/crochet-skull-hats/

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Cupids Arrow causes mom to "talk a blue streak"

I had to find an expression to best describe this post and thanks to http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com, I offer you a post where I "talk a blue streak".

  February- The month of cupid's arrow, chocolates, flowers, 28 days (unless it's a leap year).

THIS February to me, is a month of feeling more energized, more up to my old self! My daughter just turned 4 weeks. I have recovered well from her delivery and as of a week ago, I really started to feel like my old self again. My PRE-pregnant self :) This is good news to all you followers.

So let's talk about the low-down on what's coming up for our E-Commerce store, Facebook page, Pinterest and Blog.

     With the re-birth of myself came what I can only describe as a "craving" to jump back into the saddle at Black Violet. I have post-poned Phase 2 of the store as I just haven't quite found a suitable quality product which in my opinion is a MUST. When I jump into things to share with customers, I want to make sure it has been well thought out. SO, that is now a back-burner, but not forgotten, project.

What has been well thought out, are a few new products to share with you. I have been in touch with a few producers and distributors for a couple of new things to bring to Black Violet- baby apparel and gear sales since last summer/fall and have held off of ordering until the appropriate season. Well both SPRING & SUMMER are just around the corner so giddy up!  I can taste it. Oddly enough I taste it most as I sit inside looking out my window at the reminents of Storm Nemo. As the cars drive by, I just see the tail end of their antennas as the snow plow has graciously pushed aside gigantic amounts of snow onto the side of our roads.  As I type this, a snowmobile is driving around somewhere near my house, but I tell myself that it is a wipper-snipper trimming the lush and fragrant grass outside :) and it's time to get in some new gear!

I've got the introduction of a new line of punk rockabilly inspired clothes for girls up to 2T (larger sizes will follow if I receive thumbs up from you all with the smaller sizes).  I really have been looking for a good combination of my skully, edgy and uncommon clothes meets super rediculous frills and sweetness.  Doesn't seem possible right?  Wrong.  I know I have said this before regarding many of the girl apparel we currently carry, but what I have coming for you all I would 100% wear myself.  I am actually quite envious of any little girl who will be sporting the styles this spring and summer.  The cherry on top is that they are all made in the USA!
I'm also looking to bring in a fun toy for the more sturdy kiddos.  Inflatable bouncing animals that your little dude or dudette can sit on and bounce around.  They are super durable and are a great indoor/outdoor addition to your kids pile of fun stuff!  There has been a lot of interest and inquiries about these little characters and I am glad to have connected with a distributor that is willing to work with Black Violet in bringing them to customers.

As always, we are WIDE open to requests, interests and re-stocking our favorites so if there are products out there that you want please give us a shout out!  You can reach us at info@blackvioletbaby.com, via the Contact Us form on www.blackvioletbaby.com, leave a comment on our blog here or throw us a message on our facebook @ www.facebook.com/blackvioletbaby

In other news, I have jumped back onto the Pinterest bandwagon.  You can find a lot of our favorites and features on our boards under the username Candice@BlackVioletBaby which I believe is http://pinterest.com/blackvioletbaby  You will also see that I have several other boards which pertain to my life right now.  As a SAHM & WAHM (stay-at-home -mom and work-at-home-mom) of 2 little ones, I am always on the hunt for great organization tips, great recipes and meal planning tips, useful teaching and learning resources for kids, easy styles for myself when it comes to my wardrobe, I enjoy a good drool over house design and decorating styles and I crave a good laugh and love to share the "funnies" I find with others.  Best of all- I love to spread the Black Violet Baby love.  I know how hard it was to find sources of Hip. Edgy & Uncommon baby clothes, accessories and gear (enter- the birth of BV :) ) and with the creation and growth of Pinterest, I have been able to provide accessible information and options for kiddos to those who were in the desperate search as well.  Want to get to know me better and get a better understanding of who you're supporting when you're supporting BV? Follow me @ http://pinterest.com/blackvioletbaby  you'd be surprised what you can learn from my many boards.

Our Facebook page www.facebook.com/blackvioletbaby will continue to be used as a communication portal whether it's to see if there is interest out there for new products I'm looking to stock, sneak peeks at products that are on their way to our shelves, Giveaway details and it will continue to house some smaller inventories that aren't on our e-commerce site.  \Side note- we are still looking to reach 300 fans so spread the word and invite some newbies so I can draw for the Fan Count 300 Giveaway Prize!

Lastly, this blog.  I'm not a blogger, but I'm a rambler and a sharer.  My appologies for slacking on the blogs and then shooting our these lengthy catch-ups :)  I really will try to keep on top of them.  I will appologize in advance for typos or non-sensicle entries.  I am usually writing while nursing a child or hosting a nap session against my chest.  If that is the case, I am a one-handed typer.
     The blogs aren't always going to be Black Violet related.  Maybe I will come up with a system of labels so that those who follow can skip over my life ramblings.  I am pretty witty- I promise.  I am just not sure it translates on virtual paper.  We shall see!!  I find at night (well technically 3am is morning) while sitting through some one-eye-open feedings in Turkey's nusery (my newest bebe), I think of weird things.  Always things I want to share with ANYONE but never anyone around to share with.  For example...as much as I know gas in newborns may be umcomfortable for them, I love the gas that gives them that fake smile.  I secretly wish for it.  It gives me some insight inti what Turkey will look like in a few weeks when she really is smiling, it (if I pretend) makes me think she is already smiling because she loves her life and at three a.m. it saves me from grinding my teeth to little nublets when me getting up out of bed to reswaddle and nurse for the umpteenth time wears on my energy supply.  I knew as a first time mama that they were not smiles, but gas pains,  I guess as a second time mama I am more sleep deprived/dellusional or I just allow myself more freely to always look for the cherry on top of the "situation sundae"