Philadelphia Moms

Piccolini: Grand Reopening!

I've posted about Piccolini before, and after being closed for awhile, they have reopened with a new concept: an infant and toddler designer outlet.  I thought Piccolini was great before so I'm pretty curious to see what this new idea is all about.

Tonight, Piccolini is hosting a little party tonight at their 20th and Spruce location (264 S. 20th Street) from 6-8 p.m. Free gift with purchase and a chance to win a Skip Hop gift basket (according to their ad on Facebook).  Plus, there will be more giveaways at both the city location and the Byrn Mawr location on Saturday from 12-3 p.m.

Piccolini

Oh, I'm in love (again).  This time it's with Piccolini at 264 S. 20th Street (there's also a location in Bryn Mawr).  The location is great, just a little over a block off of Rittenhouse Square, and while it's not a super-spacious store, it's easy to get a stroller in and out.  If you are pregnant or have a newborn this is the place to go for gear, clothes and fun accessories, but they also have some toddler gear.  I just dropped in recently to pick up a couple of Dwink holders since my son has discovered the joy of juiceboxes.  The staff was friendly, helpful and not one bit pretentious.

One of the things I like is that Piccolini founder Jessica Troiano dropped her day job after having her baby to start Piccolini because, among other things, she believed people didn't have to give up personal style just because they had kids.  Tell it, sister!

Best of all, Piccolini donates 10% of its profits to Alex's Lemonade Stand.  That alone makes me want to give Piccolini a big fat kiss on the cheek.

Cute Gifts for the Under One Crowd

For the past few holiday seasons, there's always been at least one relative or friend with a new baby.  What to give the little person who's less than a year old?  It's not like they actually want anything.  Of course, you can never go wrong with clothes--I mean at the rate babies spit up, babies can almost always use more clothes, particularly in the next-size-up from what they're already wearing.  But here are some other ideas:

Boon ModWare utensils

Method Baby products

miYim organic plush toys

Latitude Enfant soft blocks

A Better Bib long sleeve bibs

Happy Shopping!

Macy's. Done Over. Sort Of.

The new "home" section of the Macy's at 13th and Chestnut is open on the 3rd floor and I thank them for refraining from calling it "the cellar".  Anyway, it's open, it's nice,  modern, but it doesn't look like it goes with the rest of the store. 

In addition, they've also added a small FAO Schwartz section to their children's section (also on the 3rd floor) filled with stuffed animals and other small toys.  I don't know that it's where you'd want to do your primary toy shopping, but it's a nice touch, particularly for the holidays. 

I should mention that I'm all about dressing my kid up in holiday-related gear throughout the month of December.  Heaven help him, he's going to have to suffer through wearing reindeer sweater vests.  Not forever.  Just until he's old enough to protest.  I was having the hardest time finding anything holiday-ish.  Sure, places like Gymboree have "holiday outfits" but nothing with an actual holiday related thing on it.  Give me a sweater with a Santa Claus on it for God's sake.  So I'm pleased that the Greendog brand at Macy's has what I was looking for, both for boys and girls. 

See Kai Run

Now that my kid is walking/running/falling, I've been a little obsessed with finding him cute shoes.  I've long been a fan of Robeez, but I've recently come across See Kai Run shoes in person, and let me tell you: they are adorable.

Best of all?  Lolli Lolli right here in Center City carries a pretty decent supply.

GAP

The GAP at 15th and Walnut Streets is like the mecca of shopping for me these days.  Not because I'm so, so, so in love with GAP clothing.  I'm not, although I have to admit, it's great for supplying your summer wardrobe.  And your maternity wardrobe actually.  The aisles are wide enough for the stroller and it's never too crowded (with the exception of Christmas-time).

But I digress.  The GAP at this particular location is the mecca of shopping for me because it's one store where I can shop for both myself AND the baby, it's stroller-friendly and best of all, there's a changing room outside the restroom that services as a changing station.

Well, it's officially a changing station at all.  It's supposed to be the men's changing room, but I was in there once when my baby was only a few weeks old, and the staff offered the room and a place to sit while my husband shopped.  Since then, I've popped in there to change the kiddo when we're out and about (always careful to clean the area when finished).  I figure since about 80% of my kid's wardrobe comes from the GAP, it's not too much of an inconvenience.

The men's and kids' sections are on the second floor and there is an elevator near the back of the store.  And while, I may stick to GAP t-shirts and jeans, I think just about all their kids' clothes are adorable.  Extra bonus: the clothes all go sale regularly, so I usually wait a couple of weeks and pay half price for all those super cute khakis and onesies.  I've found that their baby clothes run pretty true to size and hold up well to multiple washings.

Wooden Toys

My son's first birthday is next week (gasp!) and I've been obsessed with finding him quality wooden toys as gifts.  He already has his share of "blinky-blinky" toys that make sounds and light up and I'm sure his birthday will bring more.  While I know that babies do enjoy toys with music and lights (and I can appreciate this especially when the toys are educational, as many LeapFrog ones are), it does at some point  become overkill. 

I started researching wooden toys when we received a toy by Haba as a gift.  Around the same time, I had really started paying attention to all the toy recalls, including the lead paint problems.  I started seeking out toys that were European made--the quality of these toys seemed superior to me.  They seem safer to me (although some European companies do subcontract their work to other companies so you really need to do your research). But I can't deny that a part of me favors the wooden toys because they just are more aesthetically pleasing. 

But where to find these toys?  Not in Babies R Us or Toys R Us (although they do carry some of the Melissa & Doug line, which includes wooden toys).  Some children's boutiques carry European wooden toys.  In fact, remember my trip to Lolli Lolli last week?  I visited the store again over the weekend and they seem to have organized the toys a little better, which pleased me to no end.  Anyway, I found the selection of toys in some stores can be limited so I decided to start searching online.

Here are some websites I've been routinely checking for toys from Haba, Selecta, etc.:

Oompa Toys

Moolka

Maukilo

Bright October

The only place I've actually ordered from is Bright October.  Their site isn't as nice looking as some of the others and they don't offer as much product information, but their prices are good and if you do an online search you can find 15% discount coupons.  I haven't had any problems with delivery, although they do use DHL.  I've found DHL is not particularly recipient-friendly.  Since I live in an apartment in the city, I often switch the delivery address to another address if I realize that I won't be home at the time of delivery.  USPS and UPS let you re-route packages after the first delivery attempt with no problem.  DHL, not so much.  So be sure you know you'll be able to receive the package.  Here in Philadelphia, you don't want them leaving that package on the steps.