What do you wonder? Nerdy Baby artwork for the young scientist in all of us.

I love Tiffany Ard’s Nerdy Baby artwork.  Her books and flashcards feature prominently on my Amazon wish list.

I follow her on Facebook and was in awe of the artwork she posted today.

Source: Tiffany Ard (Click on the image to see it full-size and read the text on the Nerdy Baby FB page)

What struck me most about it was the idea that there is wonder to be found everywhere, even in the seemingly mundane. And really, that wonder is science.

I’ve written before about how it’s not just make-believe that can spark the imagination.  The world around us if full of amazing things.  I love how Ms. Ard captures that with “What do you wonder?”

Turns out, lucky for us, that Zulily* is featuring several of Tiffany Ard’s prints on their sale site right now!

I picked up two of these prints- one for my daughter, and the other for her fabulous preschool teacher.

I also picked up this one for Nemo, who at 1.5 years already said, “Three, two, one, blastoff!”

How does a rocket go zoom? by Tiffany Ard

And this set of “Art Prints for Young Scientists.”

If the Zulily sale is over and you would like to order prints, or if you want a signed print, check out the Nerdy Baby Site.

Have fun inspiring your young scientist!

*Note- Zulily requires membership to shop.  Some of the links to Zulily in this post are referral links.  You can click here to join, referred by me.  However, you should know that if you join, and purchase something, I will get a $15 credit.  So, if you have a friend who is a member, have that person refer you and he/she will get the $15.  You can also join without a referral, but it usually isn’t instantly.

Tea Collection deals on Zulily today!

I’ve been sitting on some store credits from Zulily*, so I was super excited to see Tea Collection on sale today!  The sale amounted to about 50% off the regular prices, but with my credit, were even cheaper.

I love their girl’s clothes- patterns, (non-pink) colors, etc.

So these are what I picked up:

Cornflower Daisy Chain Dress

Raincloud Aurora Dress

Jet Black Finn Flora Shift Dress

Two of them I got in a size 4 so they’ll be a little big right now, but Mabel will hopefully be able to wear them next year too.  The other I got in a size 3.

However, Mabel routinely wears dresses for a long time because this year’s dress is next year’s tunic with leggings!

*Full disclosure:  If you use the links in this email to join Zulily (you have to be a member to shop) and you purchase something, I will get a referral credit.  I’m pretty sure you can join without a referral if you want- or you can see if a friend has an account and use their referral link so they get the credit!

Steals and Deals: Tea Collection and Target

I am cheap.  Really cheap.  It’s like that saying, “Champagne taste on a beer budget.”

So how do I make it work?  Deal sites and clearance sales.

For instance, I love Tea Collection stuff for Mabel.  I love the prints, the bright colors, the cut of the clothes.  However, free shipping on orders over $150 is no bargain!  Uh, I don’t care how cute it is, I’m not paying  $140 for four pieces of kids clothing unless it washes itself!

So, I head to my local children’s consignment store, or shop the seasonal consignment sales that pop up in my area.  I also frequent those flash sale sites- like Gilt, Haute Look, Totsy, Zulily, Mini Social, etc.*

A few weeks ago, Zulily had a sale on Tea Collection and I got the dress below for….$4.92!

Tea Collection Lotus Vines Dress

How?  Well, if I had gotten it on Amazon it would have been $39; however, Zulily was offering it for $21.99 and I had a store credit (combination of credits from referrals, see * below) and they were running a promotion where you could get free shipping on your first order placed with their new iPhone/Android app.

It’s super cute, Mabel loves it, and for less than $5, you can’t beat it!

It fits her just right now, but my other cheapskate trick is “this year’s dress is next year’s tunic!”  She wears cute dresses that are too short lengthwise with leggings and they work.  So we should easily be able to get a full year out of this.  She actually has one Tea Collection top that she’s been wearing since she was 9 months old!  It’s sleeveless (no too-short sleeves to give it away), and started out as a dress, so it went from dress to tunic to shirt.

My other recent deal was this super cute top from Target:

I had seen it online for like $7 and didn’t want to pay that.  Then a few days later I was in Target and found it on a clearance rack for $2.98 and picked it up.  Mabel wore this last Friday when we randomly had an 80 degree day in October, but she probably won’t wear it again this season.  Since I figured it was too late for this top for this year, I got it a size bigger (3T I think?) so she can wear it next summer.

I wish I had as easy a time finding bargains on plus-sized clothes for me as I do finding stuff for Mabel!

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*Note- these links are my referral links.  All these sites are ‘invitation only’ for some reason.  I’m not sure if it’s so the low prices are less public or just to make people feel special that they’ve been invited.  Most of them you can join without an invite if you are willing to wait a while for membership.  The most likely reason they do this is free advertising.  If you invite someone and that person joins and actually buys something, you get a store credit.  Thus, members will be encouraged to get people to join just so they can get credits- like some money saving pyramid scheme.  So, if you use the links above to join any of those deal sites and you purchase something, I will get a store credit.  If you ask around amongst your friends and find that one of them is a member, get their referral link, join and buy something, they will get the credit.  Just want to be upfront about that.

Invitation link to Gilt.

Invitation link to Zulily.

Invitation link to Totsy.

Invitation link to Haute Look.

Invitation link to The Mini Social.

Steals and Deals: Boba Carrier on Zulily

This past weekend I was with Mabel in the Catskills.  My family has a cabin on several acres there.  On Saturday afternoon my cousin and I decided to take a walk to the pond and pick blackberries (if we could find any left behind by the bears and birds) along the way.

Mabel came along with us, but the tall grass, hills, and rocks were too much for her tiny legs, so she wanted to be carried most of the way.

Last summer we had the Baby Bjorn, which was a little rough on the back but doable for short walks/hikes around the property.  This summer she’s too big for it- or at least too big to make it comfortable.

Mac and Mabel at the pond last fall.

So, on the way up, I gave her a piggyback ride.  However, because she doesn’t understand that she’s supposed to actually hold on, I had to lean way forward and basically let her sit on my hands.  Despite being stooped over, she still tugged on my shirt and choked me.

On the way back, I opted to put her on my shoulders.  Well, neither of us really liked that.  It was pretty easy having her up there, but she didn’t want to sit on my shoulders and kept twisting and trying to climb down.  Add to that the rocky, slippery, wet, and muddy path and not having my hands free if we should fall, it wasn’t working.

We’re planning a trip to Costa Rica in the Spring, and after this past weekend, I knew we needed a back-carrier.

I had been keeping my eyes peeled at tag sales, on Craig’s List, and in children’s resale shops for months with no luck.  I really wanted an Ergo because I had heard such good things about it, but I wasn’t going to shell out that much money for it.

Yesterday (or was it Monday?) I saw that Zulily was having a sale on Boba carriers.  I read reviews on Amazon (here) and it got high marks and compared favorably to the Ergo according to the reviewers.

However, I’m cheap.  I still wasn’t going to the pay $59.99 plus $5.95 shipping.  Yes $65.94 is much better than $100, but I still wasn’t sold.

Well, today I am glad I waited!  I was reading on Boba’s Facebook page and one of the commenters left a coupon code for $10 off!

Maybe it’s the psychological thrill of getting a deal, but I felt like $55.94 was worth it.

So, this is Mabel’s new ride:

Source

I haven’t tried it on, but from the reviews for the Boba Classic Baby Carrier on Amazon, it works for larger people, and if it doesn’t work for us and we have to re-sell it, I’m sure we can recoup the cost.

If I was rich, and money was no object, I would probably get one of the gorgeous Petunia Pickle Bottom Ergo Carriers.  I love the patterns, but not the price!  Although I’m not sure Mac would want to wear something that feminine.

Do you guys use carriers?  Which do you use?  Would you recommend it?

Oh- and of course, I’m going to share!  Here is the Zulily coupon code I used!  SMDF10