What to do with My Maternity Clothes

www.CluelessChick.com

I was finally inspired to clean out my “maternity closet”!  After spending an hour sorting and folding all of the clothes, organizing everything by type (dress pants, jeans, short sleeve t-shirts, dresses, etc.), making a Goodwill pile and hiding my two favorite dresses (he he), I was amazed at the extent of my maternity wardrobe.  Yes, this was amassed over two pregnancies but given that the seasons were nearly identical that’s not much of an excuse.

It is also quite amusing to see the broad range of sizes and styles in the mix.  I’ve got everything from size 4 to size 10 and there are numerous pieces that I have in multiple sizes.  Needless to say, I get pretty big when I’m pregnant.  Forget the healthy guidelines (which we all should follow), this Chick gains no less than 60 lbs.  So take it from me, keep up your exercise routine throughout your pregnancy – it is a lot easier to lose 20 lbs than it was to lose 70 lbs.  And even if I’ve lost more than gained, I’ll never get my belly back – but I digress...

Looking at these massive piles of maternity clothes, which easily covers the Queen size guest bed and includes no less than 12 skirts and 14 pair of jeans, I knew there were only 3 things I could do:

1. Get pregnant
2. Open a maternity consignment boutique
3. Make some newly pregnant Chick very happy

Option #1, is currently NOT an option given that my husband and 2 beautiful babies, a demanding career, and the Clueless Chick, leave me with 3 hrs precious hours of sleep which I am hanging onto for dear life.

Option #2, while honestly very tempting, requires too much capital, time, and the desire to work retail.

Option #3, however, is a fabulous idea!  There are 2 unsuspecting fans of The Clueless Chick who will be receiving a nice little care package, and a few personal friend’s of mine who will be getting some additional pressure to start the families they have been talking about (hint, hint, nudge, nudge).

I won’t lie; it did make me sad to think that I won’t be wearing any of these clothes again.  While I am not opposed to having more babies, chances are we won’t even though I LOVE being pregnant (60 lbs., acid reflux, bed rest and all).  There is just nothing in the world like feeling those little kicks and jabs – they make all of the morning sickness, heartburn, and sciatica pain worth it.

If you have a stash of maternity clothes you haven’t touched in years, it’s time to start purging!  Do a little pre-Spring cleaning of your own then find a pregnant girlfriend, local maternity consignment store, or better yet, a charity that helps pregnant women in need and drop off those boxes.  Freeing up all of that space will give you plenty of room for something fun!

Now if I could only get inspired to have my wedding gown cleaned a preserved……

Until next time,
Jennifer
AKA Chick #1

P.S. For tips on saving money on maternity clothes and not making the over-buying mistakes I did pick up a copy of Pregnancy Tips for the Clueless Chick.

The Latest in Baby Bathtubs {Clueless Chick Giveaway}

WIN your own UpSpring Baby Aqua Scale!

Now this is a super fun giveaway to announce!  We all know that you need an infant bathtub for the first few weeks of the little one's life, but did you know that you can get an infant tub with a water thermometer that is also a digital scale??  No, seriously!  This super cute UpSpring Baby Aqua Scale is a 3-in-1 that will also grow with your child.  It has an anti slip insert for newborns and will comfortably hold toddlers up to 2 years old.

I wish this tub had been around when my little guys were born - weighing them during a bath would have been much easier than standing on the scale with them and subtracting my weight :-)

There is also no need to buy a water thermometer because the Aqua Scale has one built right in so that you know when the water is too warm or too cold. And, there are two handy dandy shampoo and soap divots.

The Aqua Scale retails for $69.99 but you can win one of your very own right here!  Contest ends 3/1/13.

Until next time,
Jennifer

AKA Chick #1

For a complete list of all of your baby registry MUST haves, pick up a copy of Pregnancy Tips for the Clueless Chick.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I received an Aqua Scale from UpSpring Baby that will be given away in this raffle.  I received no monetary compensation for my honest review.

After Valentine's Day Sales!

One of my favorite tips (that I'm sure you're sick of hearing...) is to go shopping the day after a holiday to stock up on everything from decorations to serving pieces to non-perishable foods.  I mean really, what could be better than a 50% off sale?!?

This year, I decided not to go too crazy on 2/15, but I just could not resist these fabulous Peeps!  I mean really, $0.74 for 6 Chocolate Mousse Marshmallow Bears - FABULOUS!  The best part is that these adorable teddy bears (which are good through Oct) don't scream Valentine's Day.  The key to making the most of a post-holiday sale is to selectively purchase items that will do double duty for multiple occasions, as everyday ware or next Tuesday's dinner (be sure to check expiration dates).

Sooooo, will these adorable marshmallow bears reappear as:

• Baby Shower S'mores Favors
• Edible Centerpiece for a Milk & Cookies Party
• Cupcake Toppers for a 1st Birthday Party
• Garnish for Easter Brunch Hot Coco
• Baby Shower Cake Decorations

Say tuned to find out!

Until next time,

Jennifer

AKA Chick #1

P.S. Years ago, I saved a ton of money on pink and white M&M's for our May wedding favors by stocking up on Valentine's M&M's the day after Valentine's Day! Genius :-)

My Favorite Cart Cover {Clueless Chick Giveaway}

WIN your own Green Sprouts Cart Cover!

When it comes to baby products, everyone likes to throw around the term “must-have”.  But honestly, as a mom how many items can you truly not live without?  As someone who is always striving to downsize my big bertha diaper bag, I can tell you that no matter how many times I purge my diaper bag, one of the few things that ALWAYS remains is my Green Sprouts Cart Cover.  In fact, I keep one in the diaper bag and another in my car.

Unlike other cart covers, this is truly compact, super easy to clean, and in all of our travels we have yet to find a shopping cart, high chair or baby swing that it does not fit over.  So why should you get one?  Have you seen people turn a restaurant high chair upside down to set their infant carrier in the bottom - do you really want your little one touching that?!?  (I will admit that becoming a mom did turn me into a bit of a germaphobe).

If you are going to go to the grocery store, Target, a restaurant or the local park with your little one, you need a Green Sprouts Cart Cover.  They are only $12 and can be found everywhere from Whole Foods to Babies'R'Us.  And take it from me, you need an extra one to leave in the car just in case.

You can also see the Green Sprouts Cart Cover in action on our Traveling with Baby segment on My Carolina Today.

-Jennifer

AKA Chick #1

For more great tips for leaving the house with your little one, pick up a copy of Baby Traveling Tips for The Clueless Chick

Enter to win your own 

Green Sprouts Cart Cover

! Contest ends 2/13/13

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I received sample products for use on TV appearances from iPlay in exchange for my honest reviews. I received no monetary compensation for this review or opinions. In fact, I love their products so much that I asked if it was ok for me to publish a review :-)

Organizing Your Inspiration {Clueless Chick Style}

Every month I get a stack of magazines and catalogs in the mail and they either: 1. Go straight into the recycle bin or 2. Collect dust on your bookshelf.  I flip through these beautiful magazines, feeling so inspired (sometimes overwhelmed) by the creativity and style, then the phone rings, a baby cries – life happens and I put down the magazine, it makes its way onto a shelf never to be heard from again.

It’s such a shame… there are always so many great recipes, entertaining and decorating ideas, and endless craft and organization tips.  But what usually happens with all of this fabulous inspiration?  It sparks an idea, inspires me to create something fun and new but as soon as I close the magazine the idea begins to fade.  Then, when I actually find the time to work on my next great project I spend an hour searching for a single page on a shelf full of magazines because I can’t remember if it was the June 2012 or the March 2010 issue I was looking for.

To combat this conundrum I came up with this super simple way to organize your inspiration:

Organizing Your Inspiration {Clueless Chick Style}

1.  Find your favorite magazine or catalog 

2.  Tear out your favorite pages (the ones that inspire you to cook, clean or create!)

3.  Organize your pages by category

4.  Store your pages in an accordion folder, file folders, whatever you have handy 

(or one up the Clueless Chick and digitize them!) 

5.  Create!  Here I turned one of my favorite inspirations from the Sept/Oct 2010 issue 

of Semi-Homemade Magazine into one of my most popular favors! 

P.S.  Finding inspiration is the easy part, it's the execution that gets tricky.  So don’t forget to have fun with it!  Forget the pressure of being perfect and put your personal spin on it.

Organizing Your Inspiration {Clueless Chick Style}

1.  Find your favorite magazine or catalog

2.  Tear out your favorite pages (the ones that inspire you to cook, clean or create!)

3.  Organize your pages by category

4.  Store your pages in an accordion folder, file folders, whatever you have handy (or one up the Clueless Chick and digitize them!)

5.  Create!  Turn your favorite Valentine’s Day craft idea into gifts for your girlfriends.

6.  Pin the heck out of your awesome creation!

Now go get inspired!  Don't forget to share your amazing creations with us - your reorganized pantry, yummy cheese cake or homemade play doh! 

Until next time,

Jennifer

aka Chick #1

www.CluelessChick.com  

Doing it all…..{Clueless Chick Style}

www.CluelessChick.com

I can’t tell you how many times people say to me “I just don’t know how you do it all!”  Honestly, it happens at least once a day.  I’m really not trying to “do it all,” I’m just one of those chicks who likes doing 10 things at once.  The truth is that I don’t sleep much.  Between a husband and two little ones, a demanding career, and The Clueless Chick, there really aren’t enough hours in the day, so I’ve turned the night into working hours :-)

I jokingly tell people that The Clueless Chick is my 9pm to 2am job, but most weeks that is true.  But what can I say, this is my passion, and we always find time for what we are passionate about, and thanks to Starbucks and a super supportive husband I’m able to make it work.

How do I “do it all”?  Prioritize, prioritize, prioritize, which is even more important around the holidays with so many demands on our time and pressure to make everything perfect.  The most important thing to do is to determine what is most important to you – the way I see it is if you are just too busy playing with the little ones to ever get the ornaments hung on the Christmas tree, oh well :-)

So here’s one of the ways I make it all happen:

I LOVE cooking all day for Thanksgiving, roasting the turkey, pealing and mashing potatoes, but in order to get away with doing all of that work I had to make a deal with my husband.  He doesn’t like the idea of me “slaving over the stove” all day, and since he’s no cook, his solution is to order in so that we can kick back and watch football all day.  HA! That is sooooo not happening in my house…or so I thought.

Two years ago we made a deal – if I could cook all day for Thanksgiving, we would order a fully cooked Turkey dinner from Whole Foods for Christmas dinner.  O.M.G. this has been one of the best deals ever.  I still make our favorite side dishes: Pineapple Casserole, Sweet Potato Casserole, Baked Brie, etc. but we’ll spend most of the day watching White Christmas, teaching the kids to play Go Fish and just enjoying spending time with family from out of town.  Not a bad deal for $120 ;-)  I don’t know about you, but I usually spend at least that much on groceries for the holidays + hours and hours and hours of prep time and cooking.

This morning I got up (after being up half the night with a toddler who has a fever of 102...), got ready, headed to my local Whole Foods to pick up dinner, and now I’m home, writing this blog and chillin’ like a villain with the fam.

My Christmas wish for you is that you will be able to find a little way that you can uncomplicate your life to save yourself time and stress so that you can enjoy yourself.  Worry less about making sure everything is perfect and more about spending time with your loved ones!

Happy Holidays from The Clueless Chick!

Until next time,

Jennifer

aka Chick #1

Stress-Free Party Planning {Clueless Chick Style}

 

www.CluelessChick.com

Earlier this month we were lucky enough to share some of our favorite Stress-Free Party Planning Tips with two of our favorite Raleigh, NC blogs:

Scintillating Simplicity

Sweeps

 

www.CluelessChick.com

These tips are perfect, for Holiday Parties, New Years Parties, or just about any party you’ve got on your calendar.  So check out our tips, and all of the other great info both sites have to offer!

Thanks Sintilating Simplicity and Sweeps for letting us share our tips with your followers!