Zulily is Inspiring Future Fashion Designers with a $6,000 Back-to-School Contest for Kids

 

Disclosure: This is sponsored content in partnership with Zulily as a paid ambassador. Opinions expressed are 100% our or own. 

 

We're barely a month into our summer break in NYC and I already see parents on social media chatting about their children heading back to the classroom in just three weeks. Naturally, that means it's time to go Back-to-school shopping!  Don't you remember how exciting it was to hit the mall with your parents as you picked out the trendiest clothes to kick of the new school year? Online retailer Zulily wants to help encourage self-expression, and inspire future fashion designers with the launch of their #UniquelyZu Back-to-School contest for kids. 

Nike Adventure Club: The New Sneaker Subscription Service Encouraging Play

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post filled with 100% honest opinion. 

Back to School is in full swing and you can usually call me last minute Susie, but this year I actually got a headstart on supply shopping. I'd been procrastinating & dreading hitting the stores to stock up on gym clothes, sports gear, and sneakers for our two boys who seem to outgrow everything at lightning speed and although they have a great personal style, they have absolutely no patience to shop. 

Imagine how intrigued I was when Nike invited us out to an exciting day on Governors Island to learn all about their newly launched sneaker subscription service. Nike Adventure Club is going to save parents time and spare in-store headaches by sending a new pair of cool sneakers directly to your active kids at home. 

Haus of JR x PAW Patrol Kids Clothing Line

PAW Patrol fans get excited! Children's brand Haus of JR has teamed up with Nickelodeon for a new collection of exclusive everyday pieces inspired by the network’s hit animated preschool series PAW Patrol. Available Friday, October 27, the Haus of JR x PAW Patrol collaboration consists of fourteen unisex children’s pieces including premium tees, hoodies, denim, joggers and a tracksuit featuring the heroic rescue pups from the series: Chase, Marshall, Skye and Rubble.

Summer Looks for Stylish Kids from Orchestra and $50 Gift Card Giveaway #AD #MustHavesforLilMonsters

Disclosure: We received a gift card as compensation for this post.

 Opinions expressed are 100% our own. 

Now that school is out for the summer our travel planning is in full swing and we're currently on the hunt for a new Summer wardrobe for CJ & Tristan as we get ready for our family reunion in Atlanta. I'd always thought shopping for boys wouldn't be as fun, especially after noticing how limited the selections were in major retailers when our tween was born. If you've seen one plaid shirt, you've seen them all! As parents we've always got an eye out for stylish, quality pieces with an affordable price tag that our boys will love rockin'. You have no idea how excited I was when introduced to Orchestra, a French clothing line for kids that launched online this Spring in the United States and at The King of Prussia mall in Philadelphia.

Rockin' True Religion and Counting Down to the First Day of First Grade

"When do we go back to school mommy, is it almost time?" You'd think Tristan was having the most awful summer the way he's been counting down until he heads back to the classroom and gets to see all of his lil' monster friends. Watching his face change as he tries to process how many days are actually in a month is hysterical. "So, how many more days exactly? Today is Tuesday, so after Sunday?" and his big brother laughs at him as I tell him not to worry about it, it will be here before he knows it.

Must Haves to Send the Kiddies Back to the Classroom from the #MomtrendsBTS Bash

Time sure does fly when you're having fun and I just can't believe we are almost through the month of July and already thinking about buying uniforms, lunch planning and after school activities for our lil' monsters. As my boys countdown until heading to the 1st grade and middle school, I'm realizing I've got quite a bit of shopping to do over the next 4-5 weeks and luckily I can always count on getting the scoop on the latest trends and product launches during the annual Momtrends Back to school party hosted by Nicole Feliciano and her awesome team. 

The GapKids + Peanuts Collection is Full of Must Haves for Lil' Monsters #GapKidsxPeanuts

From Snoopy + Woodstock dancing atop the roof of the doghouse and partaking in silly antics to Lucy dishing out psychiatric advice for 5 cents and crushing on the piano playing Schroeder and Good Ole' Charlie Brown who's an ordinary yet lovable kid who never gives up, who doesn't love the Peanuts Gang? Having grown up watching them my hubby and I can't wait for the Peanuts Movie to hit the big screen and whenever I see anything featuring them I Instantly smile and point it out to our 10 and 4 year old boys, who are all too familiar with Charlie Brown and Snoopy.

Last week, I found myself stopping in my tracks passing by the Gap Kids on Lexington here in NYC as I caught a glimpse of the new windows display promoting the GapKids + Peanuts collection. It's so freaking adorable I had to to take a pic, so I remembered to stop in when I wasn't rushing off to work. The new collection launched in celebration of the 50th anniversary of a Charlie Brown Christmas and just in time for the holidays and it's FREAKIN' ADORABLE. So adorable I had to pop back in to the 71st and Continental location to have my mini fashion loving monster Tristan model some looks. He had so much fun getting silly and posing. The Ace bomber was his fave!

Here's a few other must haves you have to check out on the site or in store for the teeniest littles to your toddlers and tweens.

What's even better is you can catch them at 40% off now! Which GapKids + Peanuts pieces are you loving?

From the Classroom to the Playground: Back to School Ready with Fabkids #FabKidsBacktoSchool

Disclosure: We received an outfit to review and the opinions expressed are 100% my own. 

No other compensation was received. 

There' only one more day left until NYC public school students head back to the classroom and I know my 5th grader CJ is excited to go back to school. We had a blast this summer visiting our favorite amusement parks, museums and hanging on the beach and will miss those leisurely, fun filled days. 

As a parent the last thing I was looking forward to was braving the lines at popular retailers for back to school shopping and thankfully FabKids saved me the hassle of needing to head to the mall with the boys when we'd much rather be outdoors having fun. We all know that in order to score the great deals you have to shop early to come away with affordable finds.

Currently Fabkids has School Deals Under $20 for VIP Members so that moms can shop must-haves for the school year

• Dresses starting at $16.95
• Sneakers starting at $19.95
• Tops & Tees starting at $9.95
• Tutus starting at $7.95
• Leggings - choose any 3 for $19.95

And new members have the benefit of buy one get one free, with free shipping!

CJ loves bright graphic tees with cool images underneath button down shirts and this Moto Cool Layered look with checkered button down, motorcycle print graphic tee and black skinny jeans was a perfect choice this month for my trendsetting tween. 

Have you tried out this monthly clothing club for kids yet? If not you should give it a try, it's easy to join and to cancel at anytime and the selection of quality clothes range from size 2 to 12 and won't break the bank!

Must Haves For Lil' Monsters: Fabkids Style for April

Disclosure: Opinions expressed are 100% my own. We were provided one outfit (top & bottom) to review no other compensation was provided. 

Everything is awesome when you're 4 years old and don't have a care in the world. Now that the weather has warmed up and it finally feels like spring lil' monsters everywhere can enjoy hours of play outdoors. It seems this age is also a great time for self discovery and even style discovery and it's cute to see how different Tristan's taste in fashion varies from his big brothers.

We're EXCITED to tell you that we've  teamed up with FabKids to show you our fave stylish looks each month. This e-commerce children's line was started by parents who wanted to help children express their own style through their personalized fashion choices & to make life easier for Mom and Dad with a trendy 2 piece outfit that's high quality at affordable prices {First outfit $15, membership $29.95/month}. 

Graphic Tee's are perfect for kids with lots of personality and as a big wrestling fan, I wasn't surprised that Tristan picked out this tee with colorful Luchador Masks printed on it. As a fearless & active preschooler, I have to make sure that anything he wears is comfortable and will allow him to easily move around the playground. The Tan Twill shorts were a great pairing with the shirt because they feel durable and can even be dressed up with a button down shirt or polo. Isn't this outfit awesome? Stay Tuned for our May look for Memorial Day weekend!

Must Haves for Lil' Monsters: The New Kardashian Kids Line for Summer 2015 Hits Nordstrom #Kardashiankids

It's been 4 years since we've had a baby-baby in the house, but that doesn't stop us from wandering through the aisles of our favorite retailers while daydreaming of dressing up a third lil' monster {especially if it were a little princess for the hubby} in some of the trendiest childrenswear brands.

Of course the Kardashian sisters are infamous for being trendsetters and with 2 of the 3 sisters being stylish mamas it only makes sense that they have a hip and playful clothing line for kids from ages newborn to preschool. As mom-preneurs who juggle careers and motherhood they can relate to sometimes being too busy to head out to the local mall or boutique to shop. Knowing that convenience is essential, it's genius that they've teamed up with Nordstrom to offer their new Summer 2015 collection for lovers of online shopping! I for one, probably do 75% of our clothes shopping online to avoid long lines and meltdowns from the monsters as we bounce from store to store.

“I’m constantly shopping online because it’s so convenient no matter where I am around the world,” said Kim Kardashian West, mother of North. “I know how important an easy-to-use, stress-free ecommerce platform is to a busy mom trying to multi-task."

We recently got all the deets from a preview of the collection and are excited to share that today, April 13th, 2015 - fans of Kardashian Kids in 96 countries, worldwide will be able to shop the collection online through the Nordstrom website.

What's even more exciting are the new styles for boys, which I imagine had probably been in demand since the line first launched for girls last year. I'm a bit biased as a mama to two boys and remembered looking at the fashionable babies on the Kardashian Kids Instagram feed and wondered where were the cute looks for boys? 

The beyond adorable summer line for boys is offered in sizes newborn to 24 months and retail from $23.99 - $29.99. With an assortment of choices, I know you'll love the lightweight denim shirt and tees and I'm sure the comfy, camo print - french terry pants are going to be a must have for both active boys and girls!

I'll be the first to admit that there are a few pieces from the girls line, that I'd love for myself {ahem, do you see that romper, too cute!}. Styles for little girls include rompers, dresses  and separates in playful geometric prints and beautiful shades of lilac and ballet-slipper pink that range in sizes newborn to 5T & retail from $24.99 - $34.99.

With great detailed pieces like faux leather trim tees and peplum shorts, you'll covet the line {that can also be found at babiesrus.com} because it's perfect for stylish little monsters and functional for everyday. 

Stay up to date on all the latest Kardashian Kids happenings on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram.

Disclosure: Opinions expressed are 100% my own and no compensation was received for this post.

Must Haves for Lil' Monsters: Fall Looks You'll Love for Boys From H&M #FashionforLilMonsters

Farewell Summer! Can you believe just like that we have to put those warm weather, beach worthy days behind us only to start filling our closets with long sleeved layers to prepare us for those breezier Autumn days? Recently the hubby, monsters and I took a trip to the flagship H&M store in Times Square to restock their closets because they both seemed to have had some sort of growth spurt over the last few months.

I remember when I first had CJ, I was worried about finding fun and stylish clothes for a boy because we all know the little girls section usually takes up about 3/4 of any store. Over the years though, I have to admit that there are some really cool and fashionable options that show off their own personal swag, especially at stores like H&M. I'm also realizing that I'm pretty dang lucky to have a hubby and two boys who freaking love to shop and try on clothes, probably even more than I do which makes the experience, without a doubt so much easier to do.

The monsters were definitely happy with their choices and can't wait to start showing you guys some more of their stylish looks for boys. What do you think of their H&M fall look choices?

On CJ

Boys 8Y - 14Y Padded Denim Jacket

Boys 8Y-14Y SURE sweatshirt

Boys 8Y- 14Y Button down shirts

Boys 8Y -14Y Soft Shell Jacket 

On Tristan

Boys 1 1/2Y - 10Y Padded Vest

Boys 1 1/2Y - 10Y Classic Blazer

Boys 1 1/2Y - 10Y Sweaters and Cardigans

Boys 1 1/2Y -10Y Solid & Graphic Shirts

* Disclosure: We were not compensated for this post and opinions expressed are 100% our own.

Dinosaur lovers will love this Knit Sweater