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We’re excited to introduce you to some of our wonderful retailers, the amazing women who are helping us to make the Spread the Love benefit a reality. Please welcome Louisa from The Stork Wearhouse!
Tell us about a typical day in the life of Louisa.
Typical day? I guess now that my kids are getting a little older our days do tend to be somewhat more typical. My kindergarten son is dual enrolled in home school and our local Montessori school, so he goes to school 4 days a week. My 3-year-old daughter goes to preschool two mornings a week. One of those mornings I reserve for work, and the other morning I reserve to have 2 hours to myself per week. Wow, that’s a change after 5+ years of being full time mom plus full time store owner! Other than school, and trips to gymnastics and Tae Kwon Do, we don’t have much of a schedule. I go with the rhythm of each day to decide when to fit in work and when to give the kids my full attention. My husband does 98% of the cooking in our house.
If you could go on vacation anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?
Vacation right now would be anywhere with sunshine! I’ve become more of a homebody since my kids were born, so I don’t have much desire to travel internationally right now, but a week in Florida sounds pretty wonderful! (Especially since we’ve received way more than our average annual snowfall this winter already in Iowa!) Our oldest son is currently deployed to Afghanistan, but unfortunately that’s not a friendly place to visit!
If you won the $100 giftcard to your own store, The Stork Wearhouse, what would you get and why?
If I won the gift card to my own store, I would go straight to our Big Kid Toys page. My daughter has been drooling over the Welcome Home Balcony Dollhouse and my son would love the Royal Castle. Wouldn’t take me long at all to spend that gift card! 
Where can you find Louisa online?
Blogging about raising kids naturally at her Natural Kids Blog. You can also keep up to date with the latest happenings at The Stork Wearhouse by fanning them on Facebook and follow along on Twitter!
In this series we are introducing you to our wonderful retailers, the amazing women who are helping us to make the Spread the Love benefit a reality. Please welcome Jayne from The Tribe Store in Australia!
Tell us about a typical day in the life of Jayne.
I’m up really early, embarrassingly early really, and do some work on my laptop while watching US morning shows. I help the kids get ready for school and kindy and then go to work in our retail store and office for the day. My day involves hundreds of emails, customer service, product ordering, website updates, marketing , business development….until I go home, go for a bike ride, a walk to the beach or a swim with my children.
If you could go on vacation anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?
Santorini in the Greek Islands, St. Barts, St. Maarten, British Virgin Islands, Maldives, Tahiti, Lizard Island, Bedarra Island, ….I’m the queen of tropical island holiday getaways!!!
If you won the $100 giftcard to your own store, The Tribe Store, what would you get and why?
As a bookaholic, I couldn’t go past the reading corner…I’d buy a couple of the Miroslav Sasek books. Perhaps “This is Greece” and “This is Paris”…they’re gorgeous reprints of children’s travel guides to major cities and countries first created in the 1960s. I’d kick back with my travel books on one of those sunny tropical islands with a funky pair of eyetribe sunnies and spend my loose change on a couple of postcards to send home.
Where can you find Jayne online?
Blogging about all things beautiful for little people- fabric, design, quirky ideas, sustainable living, life’s little luxuries and indulgences at The Nurtured Child. You can also keep up to date with the latest happenings at The Tribe Store by following along on Twitter!
In this series we are introducing you to our wonderful retailers, the amazing women who are helping us to make the Spread the Love benefit a reality. Please welcome Samantha from The Little Sling Co. in London, England!
Tell us about a typical day in the life of Samantha.
A typical day in my life is a combination of Alice in Wonderland and The Brady Bunch, but in fast forward. In all honesty, my day truly begins at 12am, when I climb into bed. Our girls, aged 3 years and 7 months, are tucked up in the middle of our super king size bed; of which hubby and I are relegated to the measly outside sections (hubby says he wants to stop at two, so this sleeping arrangement suits him to a tee and is a very effective method of birth control!). So, my day begins at midnight as this is when the house is quiet and I can get the most work done. I try to wrap up by 2 or 3 am and sleep till about 9am. The rest of my day is spent (with Coco in her Blackberry Stripe sling) changing nappies, singing nursery rhymes and doing ‘happy clappy’ songs, feeding dogs, pretending to be a princess in distress, cooking imaginary (and real) dinners, washing the endless piles of laundry (it’s amazing – the smaller and tinier they are, the more laundry they go through!), doing the ‘school run’, answering emails, updating facebook, phone calls etc., and then hopefully at the end of a long day putting my feet up to watch a film with hubby. (But this month is anything but typical as we are getting ready for our first retail trade show – The Baby Show at Excel in London!!)
If you could go on vacation anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?
For my ideal holiday I would got to Utopia! I have heard so much about it, but never been. I picked Utopia because there (so I hear), they get up with your children (feed, change and play with them) at the crack of dawn so that you can have a ‘lie in’. They have sunshine that doesn’t burn, sea water that doesn’t sting, pool water without chlorine, and beaches with sand that just brushes off. The food is divine, the deserts are fat free and best of all the alcohol does not give you a hangover. I checked to see if we could get just two weeks there over Easter, but they are fully booked! Guess I will have to settle for…the Maldives (never been) or my sister’s house in Clearwater, Florida – great company, fun shopping and good weather. If anyone picks London as their ideal holiday (which somehow, I don’t think anybody will) please give us a shout!
If you won the $100 giftcard to your own store, The Little Sling Co., what would you get and why?
If I were to buy ‘anything’ from The Little Sling Company, it would be a pure Scottish cashmere Lovey sling and if it were to be anything from Sakura Bloom, I would take my $100 and blow the whole lot on a Lotus Artisan silk sling. Already owning a highly coveted Blackberry Stripe I could do with a splash of pink to brighten our dreary London days. Truth be told I have a Lotus en route and I cannot wait to get my hands on it and my baby, Coco’s, chubby little bottom inside it!
Where can you find Samantha online?
You can keep up to date with the latest happenings at The Little Sling Co. by fanning them on Facebook!
In this series we are introducing you to our wonderful retailers, the amazing women who are helping us to make the Spread the Love benefit a reality. Please welcome Christina from GorgeousBaby in Canada (don’t miss Christina’s own line of beautiful pouch slings on her site!).
Tell us about a typical day in the life of Christina.
I do my GorgeousBaby work from home while taking care of my 4 year old and 21 month old…so work is done in little snippets: answering emails over breakfast, phone calls & shipments packaged over naptime. My husband is very helpful and takes the children out of the house most every afternoon which provides an hour of earnest work. I usually am thinking of business from the time I wake up until we sit down for a late supper….and then I’ll be checking my blackberry for orders, etc until bedtime.
If you could go on vacation anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?
Back to Kauai! Haven’t been back since our honeymoon, and we’d love to share the experience with the wee ones. Being from the westcoast of Canada, the thought of warm water swimming is pretty dreamy.
If you won the $100 giftcard to your own store, GorgeousBaby, what would you get and why?
Oh, how to choose a Sakura Bloom? I LOVE the softness of Spice and yet Storm is so classic…probably Storm!
Where can you find Christina online?
Blogging about her awesome baby carriers at the GorgeousBaby Blog. You can also keep up to date with the latest happenings at GorgeousBaby by fanning them on Facebook or following along on Twitter!
In this series we are introducing you to our wonderful retailers, the amazing women who are helping us to make the Spread the Love benefit a reality. Please welcome Katy from Regarding Peanut in the beautiful Northwest!
Tell us about a typical day in the life of Katy.
I wake up and haul buns to get myself and the Peanut dressed and out the door — without forgetting breakfast, teeth brushing or a jacket! I drop her off at preschool and then drive through the Starbucks that shares a parking lot with her preschool (NOOO, not the reason I chose that school, just a bonus!). I run errands and work for two hours while she’s at school, then I pick her up, come home and make a fantastic, healthy lunch — consisting of PB&J or Mac and Cheese. We spend the afternoon playing — sewing, crafting, drawing, reading, or at playdates. If we’re at home, I might even try to work a little bit while Peanut plays. We make and enjoy our dinner together and when daddy gets home from work, he takes care of bath and stories. Once the Peanut is in bed, I can finally get a few more emails answered, some web pages updated, blog posts written, Facebooking done, some web surfing, and general unwinding before it’s time to turn in. This is our current typical day but, in about 6 weeks, when our new baby arrives, it’s all going upside-down and backwards (and we can’t wait!).
If you could go on vacation anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?
One place I’d love to visit but haven’t yet is Savannah, Georgia. I know it sounds simple, but it’s a place I’ve always wanted to go. I have a major love affair with the South and there is so much history in Savannah. I also love ghosts and architecture, and Savannah has plenty of both! Plus, rumor has it, there are some very good restaurants (like The Lady and Son’s by Paula Deen, a favorite!) down there, and I do looove to eat good food. No doubt we’ll make it there someday…at least it’s an attainable goal!
If you won the $100 giftcard to your own store, Regarding Peanut, what would you get and why?
If I won a $100 gift certificate to my shop, I’d honestly probably use it for a Sakura Bloom ring sling (swear, not just saying that!). I love my ring slings, and I love the SB shoulder style for it’s flexibility and comfort. Plus, it’s a carrier that’s super comfy for newborns, and great as the baby gets older and wants to get up and down, and up and down all the time.
Where can you find Katy online?
Blogging about making parenting a stylish evolution at Regarding Peanut Blog. You can also keep up to date with the latest happenings at Regarding Peanut by fanning them on Facebook!
We’re excited to introduce you to some of our wonderful retailers, the amazing women who are helping us to make the Spread the Love benefit a reality. Starting us off is Giselle from Slings I Love!
Tell us about a typical day in the life of Giselle.
With three small kids it feels like there’s never really a typical day. They always add something to the mix to make every day different. We do love the outdoors and are also homeschoolers, so after breakfast and some work for my two online babywearing stores (Slings I Love and Piece of Cloth), we usually head outdoors. We are big nature fans, so we spend a lot of time at regional and state parks, beach, and hiking trails.
If you could go on vacation anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?
Dominican Republic – the country where I grew up and spent the most wonderful childhood ever. In my day dreams, I own a house there and here in Southern California and spend my time between the two.
If you won the $100 giftcard to your own store, Slings I Love, what would you get and why?
I’d get a 3.6m Neobulle wrap, since my wrap stash is missing more of that length. And it’s a great length for the beach too, because I use it as a blanket!
Where can you find Giselle online?
Blogging about parenting naturally in a modern world at Nurture Baby…Naturally. You can also keep up to date with the latest happenings at Slings I Love by fanning them on Facebook and follow along on Twitter!
Babies. Parents. Community! Babywearing groups around the world do incredible work introducing new parents to the joys of baby carriers. We invite you to join us in an international fundraiser to benefit 60 of the world’s top babywearing groups.
Together with thirty-six of our amazing retailers worldwide (scroll down to see who!) we are thrilled to announce the Sakura Bloom Spread the Love Benefit.
Here’s how you can join in to Spread the Love and Win Big:
Purchase a $10 Spread The Love ticket. Each ticket enters you into a drawing to win one of thirty-six $100 gift certificates donated generously by our participating retailers—a total of $3,600!
All proceeds from the benefit will be used to provide each babywearing group with a silk Sakura Bloom sling for their lending library of baby carriers.
Tickets will be on sale February 1-14 and winners will be announced on Wednesday, February 17.
And….there’s a bonus! The babywearing group with the most tickets purchased in their name—just enter your group’s name in the comments box at checkout—will receive an entire wardrobe of Sakura Bloom slings! What is a wardrobe of Sakura Blooms? A big package from us containing our full range of linen and silk slings!
Buy a ticket or two (or as many as you’d like!) and show your support for babywearing groups here, there, and everywhere!
Our hearts and minds are with Haiti right now. The devastation of last week’s earthquake is so hard to comprehend. In addition to sending our thoughts and prayers, Sakura Bloom Baby Slings is partnering with BabyHawk Baby Carriers to raise funds for Haiti.
Been waiting to purchase a baby carrier? Please do so Thursday, January 21 or Friday, January 22 when both Sakura Bloom and Baby Hawk will donate 50% of all sales to Partners in Health-Haiti.
Who is Partners in Health? An amazing organization providing grassroots health care in partnership with Haitian communities for over twenty years. We support their work and invite you to join us: every little bit helps.
Don’t know much about Haiti? Want to learn more? Here are some good resources:
1. The writings of Edwidge Danticat. A beautiful, brilliant writer and recent recipient of a MacArthur Genius Grant, Danticat’s fiction and non-fiction writings about Haiti are lush, evocative, and sometimes painfully poignant. The New York Times maintains a detailed page about her, and in addition to being a gifted writer, she is also the mother of two young girls. For starters, try her novel Breath, Eyes, Memory.
2. For more on Partners in Health, try Tracy Kidder’s moving portrait of Dr. Paul Farmer, an MD, anthropologist, and one of the founders of Partners in Health: Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World.
3. Track down some Haitian poetry. Just posted yesterday on the Elephant website, here are some poems posted in the Kreyol/Creole original with English translations by Merete Mueller with Dominique Herard.
4. Finally, music. Check out Boukman Eksperyans, a Haitian vodou-folk-rock band whose music simultaneously celebrates Haitian culture and critiques Haitian politics. Try their song Ti Bourik Pete san’l pa konnen and go from there!
Our love and strength to our friends originally from Haiti, to all with family and friends there, and to those friends working in partnership with the Haitian people now to save lives, rebuild the country, and hold on to hope.
With thanks to all who are able to join us and BabyHawk in this fundraising effort. Mesi anpil, or many thanks in Haitian Kreyol.
We’ve got a special treat for you all: an interview with Stephanie from Adventures in Babywearing! Stephanie lives outside of Chicago with her family, including three boys and her youngest, a beautiful little girl named Ivy. We met this summer and immediately connected. Stephanie is a force of nature–all positive energy, loving kindness, and a genuine advocate for babywearing and engaged parenting. She brought her own special charisma to our recent Sakura Bloom Triathlon which was not only a great success, but super fun too. We’re thrilled to share her interview with you.
We love your blog! What made you want to start a blog? I had a friend who kept a blog while she and her husband lived in Scotland to keep in touch with family. One day I decided to just start my own! I had just given birth to my third son and was on a new parenting journey- moving to a more Attachment Parenting style. I had a lot to talk about!
What has delighted and/or surprised you the most about blogging?
I have been so surprised that I’ve been blogging for 4 years now and it’s still not getting old. I continue to find true relationships from it, and I met my closest friends through blogging!
One of the great things about your blog is how it showcases everyday parenting, and babywearing as part of the everyday as well as the extraordinary. What would you say has been the most “adventurous” part of Adventures in Babywearing? Oh, gee. The most adventurous part of my blog has probably been the many ups and downs of figuring myself out in real life and in the online world. I dipped my toes in reviews and giveaways early on before it was really common or accepted on blogs, and have been able to go on blogging trips and such. I don’t really feel like that is a fit for my blog anymore as it seems to interfere with my parenting style (I don’t like to leave my kids!) but I’m thankful for all the opportunities I’ve had in the past. I tried some things, liked some of them, thought some things were a mistake, and I let everything help me to do better!
What are your favorite babywearing tips for new parents? The new parent babywearing tips I always suggest: Get a ring sling, don’t ONLY do the cradle carry, and just do what feels best for you. There’s no magic number as to how many hours a day you need to wear your baby, or where you should do it. No pressure- it’s all about knowing your child and them knowing you, then you know what’s best for each other.
Its been a blast doing the Sakura Bloom Triathlon with you! Now that you’ve had the chance to see lots of our slings and try a bunch out, what is your favorite Sakura Bloom sling and why? It’s SO hard to choose my favorite Sakura sling. For a while it was my linen essential sling in the berry~spice. It’s just so beautiful and it feels so good when I wear it. But then I found I was always grabbing the Sakura Stripe silk artisan – no matter if I was just going to the store or somewhere fancy. HOWEVER, my silk luxe sling is something I probably would choose to out of all of them if I have to pick. It’s just amazing. But don’t make me choose! Too hard.I have to consider color and feel and fit and weather and my mood…
A huge Sakura Bloom thanks to Stephanie–for this interview, for the Triathlon, and for always being a bright spot in our day!
Head over to Adventures in Baby Wearing to check them out the videos that the moms from the Sakura Bloom Triathlon created! Do you have a favorite?
