Okay, I know I don't need it...

...but I want it.
Pippa Middleton bag envy.Just because I'm about to be a mom doesn't mean I can't lust over handbags, does it?

Diaper Bag - check!

Okay, so here is the thing. If I know exactly what I want - I am a quick trigger person. I don't hesitate. I whip out my credit card and do the dang thing.

So I've learned to pay attention to my instincts if I don't want to instantly purchase something. Because if I have to hem and haw over it... and then I purchase... almost always I get buyers remorse. That's how I've felt for the past 6 months about diaper bags. I'd see something I'd like, make a note of it, and even tell myself that I'd really like it.

But there would always be something that held me back. I never had the urge to take out my credit card and swipe.

Truth: finding a diaper bag is no easy feat. There are soooo many different styles, sizes and shapes. Different patterns and materials. Reviews that are conflicting - too big, too small, not enough compartments, too many compartments, not wipeable enough, not good enough material, not as pictured, etc., etc., etc.

So, yesterday I was very close to purchasing this yellow Liz Lange diaper bag. I had been eying Liz Lange bags since the beginning... but for some reason I couldn't pull the trigger. Sure, of everything I had seen, I liked it best. It looked the most like something I would carry. I liked the bright yellow leather and gold hardware. But then I'd hesitate - I was afraid after a few months of bright yellow, the color would wear on me. I was afraid that the a bright color in the winter would look funny. I was scared that yellow would clash with about 50+% of my outfits.

And, honestly, if I'm buying a diaper bag because it looks like something I would carry, I need it to be something that at least matches the majority of my wardrobe.

So I kept looking. It wasn't easy.

I thought about this one...

or this one...

or this one...

but none of them felt 100% right... though there were parts of them I liked for different reasons. But still, nothing "trigger worthy."

And then I found it.
The Storksak Gigi. It was me in a diaper bag. Simple. Good quality. Without the bells and whistles. Something I could carry all the time and not get sick of. Something that if Chad had to carry around a shopping mall, he wouldn't feel like an idiot. Something that even post-baby would probably work great as a laptop bag. It just worked. I had found it.

The next decision. Brown or black. I love them both. How can I possibly decide?!?!

Answer: hassle one of my best girlfriends at the beach with a 7:45 a.m. text message to pleaseeee help me decide. It was hard enough for find a bag I actually wanted to purchase- why did it have to tempt me with two excellent color choices.

We both quickly agreed that black with the tan piping would have been ideal... but alas, that was not in the cards. But when I thought about it:

1) Although you can totally do brown+black together, I wear black much more often than brown.
2) Black is less likely to show scratches, pen marks and stains. (A necessity for me in a normal purse - never mind a diaper bag.)
3) My stroller (which this puppy will be hanging on the back of often) is cream and black.

So black it is.And thanks to free two-day shipping, this little princess will be mine all mine come Monday.

So I'm sooooooo glad I didn't purchase one of the other diaper bags just because I was anxious to mark it off my list. I found one that I 100% adore. Three cheers for me!

Shopping and Storms

Well, Saturday turned into quite the eventful day.

We will start with the most eventful part, and work our way back. Saturday late-afternoon, bad storms and tornadoes ripped through our (normally) peaceful neck of the woods. We rode out the actual storm at my parents house in their basement. We are extremely blessed to be able to say all our family (and respective houses) are safe... but many, many people were not so lucky. Tornadoes touched down a mile or less from both our house and my parent's house. So many homes and cars were destroyed, and many lost their lives. We continue to pray for those who are trying to put their lives back together after the storms.

Here's a pretty intense time-lapse video of the storm approaching downtown Raleigh. And here are some pictures of storm damage from around the area.

The day, however, started out much more lighthearted as me, Chaddy, my mom and mother-in-law headed out to Green Pea Baby to check out some baby gear and hopefully get my registry together. For anyone in the Triangle area with-or-expecting child, PLEASE check out Green Pea Baby. They are a precious baby boutique in historic downtown Apex that actually has a wonderful website as well (for those not so lucky enough to live in my neck of the woods.)

I was spoiled (despite a busy Saturday morning of shoppers) to get the nearly undivided attention of the store owner, Krista, for about 1.5 hours as she walked me around and personally wrote down all the things I should/wanted to register for so that she could later into them into the online registry. I'd like to say that the attention was because my sis and Krista's eldest daughter are longtime friends, but I have a feeling that Krista is just as dedicated to any customer that comes through her door. She was SO thorough in her explanations that you can tell not one item is picked for her shop without painstaking examination from Krista. (Which is a big relief for this first-time mommy.)

Krista spent tons of time talking over advantages of different strollers with us, but when we got down to the Peg Perego Pliko and the Baby Jogger City Mini, we were too carried away with the lightweight and transportability of the Baby Jogger City Mini to imagine another stroller for baby J! Even Chad was in love with it.

I begged and pleaded for Chad to let me order a black one, but "Mr. Practicality" wouldn't back down on the fact he thought a black stroller would by way to hot for ol' North Carolina... despite my argument that the material is super breathable. He said breathable or not, black material absorbs heat and his little baby wasn't going to be our taking walks in the Carolina summers in a black stroller.

Chad doesn't argue with me much, so I would have felt guilty choosing the black stroller for superficial reasons (i.e. - i'm a vanilla ice cream kinda girl and I like the simplicity of black) over the health (and body temperature) of our little boy. Bah.
Anyway, we decided to register for a light green one, which is nice and neutral and should suit us just fine.

Note: I DID win the argument that I can register for the black Peg Perego Primo Viaggio SIP 30-30 --- in Nero --- by promising that I wouldn't strap our baby into this "black death-trap" and leave him out in the sun. ;)

...little victories...

(And thank you to Krista for being patient as we had this argument in front of her.)

And while I was originally going to register for a good ol' Baby Bjorn, Krista walked me through why she MUCH preferred the Ergobaby Carrier... mainly for the fact that after the baby is about 15 pounds, the Baby Bjorn is simply not comfortable for mom and dad. Chad was a trooper and tried on that Ergobaby - since I have a feeling we'll be splitting the time wearing this thing 50/50 - and even requested the fake baby doll to sit in the thing so he could get the whole experience. We both agreed Ergobaby was the way to go... and wouldn't have known a thing about it were it not for Krista.

Among tons of other "little" things, we also found our crib at Green Pea! I love the simplicity of the look with the high-quality of the furniture (and had been wanting a white crib), so this one by Million Dollar Baby was a winner.
So all in all, the shopping experience (despite completely overwhelming Chad) was a huge success for all. Except, maybe not so much for my mom's credit card who left with a big ol' shopping bag of goodies for her grandbaby James and grandbaby-to-be.

So I could go on for way too long about how fabulous Krista and Green Pea Baby are (and no, I promise I'm not a paid spokesperson), but I tried to keep it as short as possible. But - even for those who aren't in my area - let this be a reminder to please please PLEASE support your local businesses. The customer service is a million times better, their products are more carefully tested and selected, and often times the prices aren't that much more than what you'd find in your big-box chain. Yes, their selection is more limited - but that's because they've taken away the options that they find aren't up to their quality standards (which I much prefer!). I could have walked around in Babies R Us or Target (or even 'nicer' ones like Pottery Barn Kids) for HOURS and not had a fraction of the experience I had at a local shop.

So, GO LOCAL!

This WILL be purchased this weekend

I'm going shopping with my mama this weekend to pick up some things for the little man and nursery (since I've withheld until we knew the gender), but while I'm out...



... a stop by Anthropologie will be made where this milk bottle measure cups resides. They will be coming home with me, no doubt.

love.

Dress love

I love dresses in the summer. I wear them about 80% of the time.

Here are a few from Anthro that I'm swooning after right now:


I just want to dress these dresses up in my love.

To bad when I open our credit card statement, I burst into tears. I thought the new house spending would slow down after two months. Guess not. Still so much to do/buy!

Shop til you drop

Let me start by saying that online shopping is the greatest thing since sliced bread.

It is convenient. It is easy to find what you're looking for. You don't waste gas money. You don't have to find a parking spot. And... you can usually get really, really good deals.

So a few months back I found an amazing site that makes online shopping even BETTER - Ebates.

Ebates is f.r.e.a.k.i.n.g. awesome. If you aren't using it yet - you will by the end of this post. Here is how Ebates describes themselves: Ebates is the pioneer and leader of online Cash Back Shopping. Joining Ebates is always free - you'll never pay us anything. And four times a year or more, we'll mail you a Big Fat Check, or transfer the money to your PayPal account if you'd prefer. We can even send the money to your favorite charity. All 100% free. People often ask: "This sounds too good to be true, how are you able to do it?" It really is quite simple. Just like almost every other online shopping center, we get a commission from the stores when you make a purchase. Instead of keeping that money - like almost all other sites do - we share it with you! So as long as 1200+ of the world's top online stores are happy to pay a bonus to attract new, valuable customers we send their way, Ebates is going to continue to send Big Fat Checks to our satisfied customers across the globe.

So this is pretty much how it works:

You know there is a shirt at J.Crew (or a book at Barnes & Noble... or a rug at Crate + Barrel...etc.) that you want to buy. You go to the ebates Web site, login, and then search for whatever store you're looking for. All these different companies give a different percentage of cash back from your purchase (and they run specials sometimes when you get double cash back). I've seen cash back anywhere from 1% to 25%. On top of this, it lists coupon codes for various stores. So you go to the Ebates J.Crew store page, and click "shop now." It will transfer you to J.Crew's webpage but will keep a tracking number for your visit. Then, when you check out, Ebates will have record of however much you spent and will send you a check for the percentage cash back.

They send checks four times a year - which is awesome! I only started using Ebates in December and I already have $35 coming to me in my February check. Awesome, right? I mean it's not a massive amount of money - but it's money back that I get for doing the online shopping I would have done anyway! And while not every online store is working with Ebates right now, nearly everyone is! I think only like Pottery Barn isn't on there yet -- but pretty much every other store I've shopped from is.

So sign up - and when you do, use my email as your referral (caroline.beavers@gmail.com - my maiden name email account that I now only use for things like online shopping). When you refer me, they'll put an extra $5 in my account and $5 in your account! Also (not sure if they still do this), just for signing up, I received a $10 gift card for Barnes & Noble.

So it's super easy. You get cash back for your online purchases. You get $5 for referring me. You get a $10 gift card (you get to choose from a couple different places.) All for doing the online shopping you would have done anyway.

You're welcome! Love to help a friend. ;)

Top Ten Reasons I Don't Participate in Black Friday

Hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving that included: a) a mid-day nap on the couch, b) sweet potato casserole, c) NFL football or d) all of the above.

I know you kids are wondering if I was out there on Black Friday shopping up a storm... cause Lord knows, I do love shopping.

It may - or may not - come as a surprise to you that I do NOT participate in the hysteria otherwise known as "Black Friday." And here's why:



10) Ummm... I like my sleep. I'd rather lose a limb than have to get out of bed before 5 a.m.

9) I'd prefer not be shanked or trampled on by some frantic 40-something housewife trying to buy this year's "Tickle Me Elmo" which I hear is a remote control hamster called a Zhu Zhu.

8) I'd prefer not to shop around people that buy remote control hamsters called Zhu Zhus, in general.

7) I'd prefer not to be trampled by people, in general.

6) I don't "do" large crowds of people... unless it is a concert or football game.

5) I don't hunt through piles and piles of clothing that are in complete disarray to find an outfit. I'd rather spend the extra $20 and find what I'm looking for easily.

4) Marketing people are tricky. Yes they might advertise that Wal-Mart is selling a 60 inch LCD TV for $500... but they may only have one in stock... and refer back to #7.

3) You see, there is this really cool thing called the Internet and it sells everything you can imagine - and then some!

2) More often than not, I can find the same "great deals" you found at 4:45 Friday morning at 2:00 Saturday afternoon. Or any time in between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Or right after Christmas.

1) Are there really, really, such great deals for you early risers who dare brave the malls and outlets on Black Friday that you are willing to overlook #s 10-2?

I rest my case.