This will be a nice opportunity to mingle and get some great “one of a kind” gifts just in time to kick off the holiday shopping season.  We’ll be serving up coffee, hot chocolate and cider, spiked or non-spiked and plenty of snacks.

We have 13 fantastic venders and 15 great door prizes lined up for this event.  There will truly be something for everyone at this perfect opportunity to mingle and shop with out pressure.  Meet some really cool people and feel free to invite and bring your friends.  They won’t want to miss the awesome “one of a kind” gifts just in time to kick off the holiday shopping season.   from new and vintage jewelry to handmade soaps to children’s books to yummy tastefully simple foods, and everything in between, you’ll find gifts for everyone including teachers and hostesses – which we could all use some help with this time of year.  We’ll be serving up coffee, hot chocolate and cider, (spiked or non-spiked) and plenty of snacks.

Our line-up includes:

Whimsy Trims – Awesome Hair Bows and Headbands, other stylish accessories and décor  (Malia Clark)

Bad Cowgirl Designs and Jewelry – Super Cool decorated cigar boxes and tins, t-shirts and transformed vintage jewelry  (Kris Miles)

Usborne Books – Fun and education books for children of all ages  (Ashley Elverum)

Norwex – Environmentally friendly cleaning products  (Jen Westerhaus)

LimeSmile Images Photography – Fantastic Lakeville based photographer specializing in children’s and family photos  (Kelly Klosowski)

Swanky Servers – Beautiful embellished serving pieces and gift sets  (Amy Armstrong)

Tastefully Simple – Delicious and easy to prepare gourmet foods and gifts  (Stephanie Manley)

BathnBeads – Fabulous handmade soaps and knitted items  (Kris Cournoyer)

Recycled Jewels/Sunburst Designs – Recycled jewelry and cool vintage clothing. (Lysa Voge)

Jewelry by Kelly Grosklags – 50% of proceeds go to the Angel Foundation  (Kelly Grosklags)

Amy Kennedy Fosseen & Jackie Kennedy – Various nifty things – lavender water, children’s CD’s, aprons and cards

Mary Kay Cosmetics – Chrissy Kavitz

Vida Baby Boutique – Baby Goods: bibs, blankets, burp cloths, lovey toys, bath items, cool embellished clothing, nursery decor, etc.  (Karla Folstad and Allison Schanaman)

Please stop by to visit us if you are able and feel free to pass on the invitation to anyone you think may be interested.

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Ingredients

4 eggs

1 2/3 cup sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

15-ounce canned pumpkin

2 cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

Icing

8-ounce package cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 cups confectioner’s sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Beat eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin until light and fluffy.  Stir together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and baking soda.  Add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture and mix at low speed until smooth.  Spread into greased 10X13 pan and bake for 30 minutes.  Cool before frosting.

To make icing – mix cream cheese and butter until smooth, add sugar and mix at low speed until combined.  Add vanilla and mix again.  Spread on cooled pumpkin bars.

YUMMY!!!  This recipe was fantastic and I can’t thing of a single change.  Enjoy!

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Things have been very busy in the land of Vida Baby Boutique and in both Allison’s and my households.  As far as our households go, we both have crazy crawling and cruising little kiddos – I personally think that Allison’s son is going to walk any day now. And Lucy is really keeping us on our toes.  Right now I just checked on her and she had taken all of her baby dolls upstairs and put them in her crib, laying in a row with their heads on her pillow and tucked in.  How stinkin’ cute is that?

In regards to Vida, we have been super busy with a couple of shows.  We did the Minneapolis Farmer’s Market on Sept. 27th, and the Birth and Babies Expo on Oct. 10th.  So, we were pretty much buried in flying fabric and creating new ideas prior to both shows.  We did well and had a great time at both.  It seems our stuff shows so much better in person than photos, so we got tons of compliments and encouragement and made some great connections too.

So, what do we have coming up?

Minneapolis Farmer’s Market – tomorrow (Sat., Oct. 17th)

a small private boutique  – Sunday, Nov. 1st

Nokomis Urban Art Fair – Saturday, Nov. 14th

South of the River Holiday Boutique – Sunday, Nov. 15th (we’ll post more details on this one soon!)

Other than that, just trying to spend some time with our families and get our new stuff photographed and loaded to etsy.  Stay tuned for some cool new things!

But, Amy Kennedy Fosseen was the lucky winner of our giveaway!!!  Amy, how lucky for you! You’ll have to let us know what you would like, and if you don’t need a small baby gift, maybe we can make something special for you instead.

Thanks to all who entered and stay tuned for future giveaways!

Custom Wall Letters – Not just for baby’s room, but anywhere in the home.  Want to spell out FAMILY in gorgeous blacks and creams?  We can help.  Want a cool initial to match your decor? We can do that too.  But of course we always love spelling out your baby’s names in cool designs and colors to compliment your nursery. Examples and ideas will be posted on etsy soon!

Blankets - We have come up with a design for a blanket so cozy you’ll want one for every family member.  You’ll fall in love with them once you see them.  We’ll be posting a few on Etsy as well, but they will be custom only, so you can let us know what you like and what fits your decor and we will be happy to create a one of kind blanket for you!

Ultimate Gift Sets – These sets are perfect for when you need a really special gift.  Like the baby shower of a close friend or a gift to the grandma of a new baby.  Gifts will include a gorgeous basket or box, with a coordinating set of baby supplies (burp cloths, washies, a bib and a linky lovey).  If you really want to go over the top, you can add a plush full size baby blanket.  Gift will be packaged and dolled up, ready to give.  We will have beautiful handmade cards available that you can add for a minimal cost, and we can even fill it out for you and ship directly to the lucky person you wish to give it to.

Events - we are also lining up a few events this fall where you will be able to see our great products in person.  We will have loads of cash-and-carry items,  but you’ll also be able to see some of our custom stuff before you order.  Stay tuned for more details.

We are so excited about these new ideas and opportunities. We really want to thank all our of friends and family for being so supportive of this new little project.

And don’t forget to enter our giveaway by telling about about your favorite must have baby item!

Herberger’s is once again holding this Goodwill Sale.  For every gently used item you donate, you’ll receive a 20% off coupon for any items.  Some restrictions apply, but this is great because items that never go on sale like cosmetics and fragrance are included.   Sale runs through Tuesday, September 29th.

Learn more here – http://www.millionactsofgoodwill.com/about.aspx?store=Herbergers

Happy Shopping!

As moms of young kids, we both feel that sometimes there are so many choices on the market for products, that we don’t even know what to try.  Then one day someone tells us about something, and we feel like we’ve been missing out.  For example – we both love Boudreaux’s Butt Paste.  It’s a fantastic product, but if I hadn’t been given it as a baby shower gift (Thank you Sarah D.),  I would have never known what diaper rash cream to try.  I have, for the record, tried several others that were also gifts and none had the seemingly magical properties of Butt Paste.  Allison can relate her own story in the comments, if she wants.

So, we’d love to hear what you all love and why.  There’s nothing better than an awesome testimonial or a glowing review to steer us in the direction of the next best must have item.

And for your efforts, we’ll conduct a Randomizer drawing on Friday, September 25^th.  The winner will receive a gift certificate for a free item of their choice ($20 or less) from our Etsy shop.  Shipping will be free, even if the winner chooses to buy additional items.   Be sure to enter a valid e-mail address when you leave your comment, so we can contact you if you win.  All comments entered prior to 6:00 pm will be eligible for the drawing.

We can’t wait to hear about all the great products you love!  Good luck!

www.vidababyboutique.etsy.com

Anyway, those of you who know Allison or me, might know that we do a weekly lunch exchange.  One week she cooks, one week I cook, and we both end up with yummy and somewhat healthy food to bring for lunch a few times a week.  Which greatly reduces both of our stress loads.  So, in the summer it tends to be pasta salads, which are cool, refreshing and offer tons of flavor possibilities.  But even so, it seems we are both looking for new recipes to try.  I found this one last week and it’s definitely a “make again” recipe.  Of course, I editted it, but the original recipe is here:  http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Spinach-Pasta-Salad/Detail.aspx 

Spinach Pasta Salad

12 ounce package of farfalle (bow tie pasta) cooked according to directions on box, drained and cooled

2 cups diced turkey breast

10 ounces of baby spinach rinsed and torn into bite size pieces

4 ounces crumbled feta with basil and sun dried tomato

1 small red onion chopped

2 large tomatoes diced

1 15 ounce can of black olives halved

2 tsp. minced garlic

1 small bunch of fresh basil chopped

1 cup creamy Italian dressing

salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together and chill for a couple hours before serving.  Yum!!!