My Shop Crawl haul

Have you ever been to a ChickAdvisor Shop Crawl? Maybe you’ve thought about it but weren’t quite sure about spending $25* to save money and party with a bunch of other women (well, mostly women) who love shopping too.

Last Thursday, I attended the ChickAdvisor Recessionista Shop Crawl. The weather was a perfect ’cause the rain stayed away. My plan was to see how much swag I could walk away with without dropping a penny. Well, things didn’t quite go as planned. The deals were hard to resist and I spent some of my hard-earned cash. At least it wasn’t all on me. With an extra 25% off regular and sale items at Banana Republic, I bought Mr. B a Father’s Day gift too.

Anyway, I thought you’d like to know what I got for free, so I’ve included a photo. As you can see, I came away with a lot of goodies, including a $100 gift certificate towards an overnight stay at the Park Hyatt (another gift for Mr. B), a $25 gift certificate for Stillwater spa, 10% off at Roots online store and lots of beauty products from Maybelline – the event sponsor. All shoppers who completed the crawl got a swag bag with a bunch of stuff from the sponsor, a martini ticket and a lot of surprises on the way. Plus there were games and prizes at the FLOW after party.

Over the next little while, I’ll be coming up with a contest or two so I can share some of this swag with some of you.

This post wouldn’t be complete without a shout-out to Ali, Alex and the rest of the ChickAdvisor team for making the night a success, and especially to Sumaya – we finally met in person and she’s a sweetie.

What did you think of the Shop Crawl? Would you go again? What would you suggest to make it even better?

*Full disclosure: as a media friend, I received a complimentary ticket.

Diaper bags: the most important accessory for new moms

In this week’s baby bargainista column, Jenny shares her wisdom about choosing the right diaper bag.

As a new parent, perhaps the most important accessory in your childcare arsenal is one that you will be toting for the better part of the next two years: the diaper bag. Choosing the right diaper bag for your needs is critical. The wrong bag can leave you fumbling, wailing and/or smelly-bottomed baby in hand, for that elusive diaper/wipe/soother/bottle that has slipped to the bottom of a too-large bag or that is lost in one of too many compartments.

Happily, there are a multitude of options available, and diaper bags nowadays can even come in stylish prints or classic leather. I recommend checking out the bags that other parents are toting and asking for their opinion – ideally, ask a friend who’s a parent if you can give theirs a “test drive” by carrying it for them on your next outing together. This will give you a good sense of how awkward or comfortable that particular style is for you, and how easy or hard it is to find what you’re looking for within it.

Personally, I’ve used three diaper bags, each a different brand and style, for the varying needs as my oldest went through different ages and stages.

1. California Innovations makes a sturdy yet lightweight shoulder bag that I’ve used for both my girls in their infant stage. It boasts a multitude of compartments for the multitude of necessities that I won’t go anywhere without in the first year: diapers, bottles, Tempra, gripe water, wipes, extra burp cloths, my breastfeeding cover-up, soothers, and more. There’s even a thermal compartment with an easy-access double zipper that you can stand a large bottle in! Granted, in a stain-resistant solid navy blue it’s not the most trendy – but at this stage that’s not important to me, accessing what I need when I need it is.

2. skiphop makes gorgeous bags in a huge number of stylish prints and solids. I used one when my oldest was a toddler and found that its one big central compartment was perfect for toting toys, books, whatever would keep her amused when in a store, at the doctor’s, in a restaurant. I also liked the smaller side pockets for other necessities like wipes, a couple of diapers, and extra underwear when toilet training, as well as the top zip compartments for my own personal stuff – wallet, keys, etc. Since at this stage the diaper bag became my own de facto purse, I appreciated the wide array of trendy colors available!

3. Finally, during the preschool years, a simple Roots backpack became my mainstay – perfect for hauling toys, books, extra clothes, ballet gear, gymnastics gear, whatever – and best of all, small and lightweight enough for our #1 girl to haul her own stuff for a change!