Best Travel Snacks for you and your family

I was just emailing with a friend this morning that I am travelling like a mad man this month! Between my family coming to New York for the Children’s ENK Trade Show and going to Africa next Friday, I feel like I am always on the go…and well, hungry without anything yummy to snack on. It is hard to stay healthy when you are a mom on the go, especially with kids or taking care of kids. Here are 2 great no brainer healthy snack recipes that I love to whip up and have on hand in 5 minutes!

On-the-Go-Trail Mix Recipe
Prep Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups mixed dried fruit of your choice (i.e. cranberries, apricots, cherries, raisins, or apples)
• 1 cup pecans
• ½ cup candy-coated chocolate

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, combine dried fruit, pecans and chocolate
2. Divide among 6 re-sealable plastic bags
3. Grab and go!

Oven Dried Blueberries Recipe
Prep Time: 2 hours
This recipe is great to add to yogurt, ice cream or even just a little baggy to snack on.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup blueberries (for 1-2 servings…just increase # of blueberries per # of people you are trying to serve)
• 1 teaspoon honey

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 225 degrees.
2. Toss blueberries with honey in a bowl.
3. Bake berries on a parchment-lined baking sheet until shriveled but still supple, about 2 hours.
4. Let cool.

Note: Berries are good up to a month in an airtight container or Tupperware!

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Helmets and Kids Skiing

Not sure if you are reading this blog item and you are from New York or the east coast, but there have been major blizzards there the past two days. I barely made it back to California for my friend’s birthday in Lake Tahoe. On the way to California, I was re-routed to Utah – a beautiful state with unbelievable snow. My boyfriend’s niece was geared up and ready to go skiing. This morning as I was bidding farewell, I got to watch her try on her K1 skis and get fitted for her helmet. What I found interesting is that she wanted to pick her helmet before trying on her skis! I think it is fantastic that she learning ski safety at age 3, and she even remembered from last winter ski season the importance of helmets from when she first learned to ski at age 2 (see picture). It’s all about safety!

Head injuries are one of the biggest contributing factors toward deaths in the snow, so it’s vital you teach your children early about the importance of wearing a helmet.

Purchasing a helmet for your kids when they ski is one of the first important steps before going to the snow and learning to ski.

What to consider:

• Does the helmet come with a certified safety standard? Check for a label of certification.
• Is it made for skiing? Don’t opt for letting your child wear their bike helmet instead just to save money.
• Ensure that the helmet fits your child’s head correctly. If it doesn’t fit, there it completely defeats the purpose of having it in the first place.
• It is recommended that you purchase brand new, as most helmets need to be replaced if they have been involved in an impact.
• Check if it has a UV rating and protect your little one’s eyes.

How to know if it fits
When looking at kids ski helmets refer to a sizing chart to assist you. Most helmets are measured in centimeters.

Steps:

1. Measure the circumference of your head (just above the eyebrows) for the most accurate measurement.
2. When a helmet is on and secured under your child’s chin, you should only be able to fit one finger between the strap and the chin
3. When secure you should be able to place 2 fingers above the eyebrow as a measure before you hit the front top of the helmet
4. Check to make sure the back of the helmet doesn’t touch the nape of the neckline.
5. Ensure ear pads are covering the ears
6. If you tilt your child’s head backwards the helmet should not move

NOTE: If you are wearing goggles, it’s important to fit your helmet with these on as they do impact on the weight and fitting of the helmet.

ALL IN ALL? Kids ski helmets are no longer considered “not cool” or “dorky” – they are cool and a fun new accessory to purchase during the winter season or a great holiday vacation!

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Real Housewife Becomes First Real Housewife Mom!

Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage

The Real Housewives of New York City reality star Bethenny Frankel is now a first time mom!

Bethenny and husband Jason Hoppy welcomed their first baby girl on Saturday, May 8th!!  Talk about a mother’s day present.  Baby Bryn Hoppy was born at 8 a.m. in New York and weighed in at 4lbs 12 oz.  According to Bethenny’s rep “Bryn, mom, dad and (their dog) Cookie are all very happy.”

Congratulations to the happy couple, and to Cookie of course, for the newest edition to the family!

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Le Top Takes: Out of the Mouths of Babes!

This past weekend my boyfriend and I decided to have lunch with his niece Ella and visit her “uptown” (a.k.a. The Upper West Side/UWS).  We joined Ella, her mommy and daddy, as well as her Auntie Alana and two Uncles (Sammy and Marcus) for lunch at a nearby diner.  After lunch we decided to stroll back to their nearby apartment and watch Ella’s mommy get her makeup done for a wedding that evening.   

No, I did not say that!

Ella was the first to burst through the door in excitement that they had visitors, and was followed by the rest of the family.  That’s when I heard (as any good 2-year-old girl host would say):

Ella: “Mommy, should we put out food for everyone?”

Mommy: “How sweet of you!”

Melissa (inner thoughts): “Emily Post would be so proud.”

Editor’s Note:
Please spread the giggles by sharing your funny quotes with us!

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Viva New York!

Table-Side Guacamole Maker

A few weeks ago we had a successful and exciting start to our Spring 2010 season at the Children’s Club Show in New York!  The le•top team, exhausted but happy, was rewarded each evening by the wonderful restaurants that populate New York – we do have a reward besides the satisfaction of happy customers!

Eating is always one of the highlights of our trip, since we LOVE good food!  We have our favorite places, including Gotham Bar and Grill (beautiful, and just FEELS like New York,) Il Cantinori (great Italian with lots of ‘celebrity spotting’) and  Parma (a REALLY OLD favorite – in every way!)  By the way…New York has FABULOUS Italian food, and always seems different than what is available here in California (because New York is closer to Italy than we are???)

The le•top crew (Californians all!) decided to break it up a little and sample some cuisine native to our area at Rosa Mexicano, an energetic and happening restaurant with 3 locations in Manhattan.  We hit the location at Union Square that features architectural accents inspired by the late, famed Mexican architect, Luis Barragan, including an illuminated electric-blue tiled water wall featuring cliff diver figurines and candles within the cascading water – very cool!  We jumped at experiencing the table-side guacamole, both spicy and mild …then just had to order a third bowl!  Honestly, this is the best guacamole!  We enjoyed all Rosa’s menu items, including enchilada suisas, chicken flautas and tortilla soup – and of course treated ourselves to some fabulous Margaritas!  After indulging we were spiced up and eager for another great day at the Children’s Club Show!

If you are ever in Manhattan and want a taste of Mexico, be sure to visit any of Rosa Mexicano’s three locations, you won’t be disappointed!  Ole’!

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New York, New York!

If I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere,
It’s up to you, New York, New York.” – Kander and Ebb

le•top Booth

Every August le•top debuts the new Spring collection at the New York Children’s Club Show – one of the most exciting (and anxious) times of the year for us.  After working on designs, fabric development, go-see’s (a warm thanks to all that responded to our call for ‘Cuties!’) and photo shoots we were finally ready to present the Spring 2010 collection to buyers and owners of the fabulous stores that carry le•top.

Cute as a Button Fall 2009

Ta-Da!!!

The moment had finally arrived when we were able to see reactions to the results of all our hard work.  The verdict is in and…THE SPRING 2010 COLLECTION IS THE BEST WE HAVE EVER CREATED!

Some of the comments we heard during the show:

“It’s all so cute; I don’t know what I am not going to buy!”

“I love the bright colors!”

“This is just what I dreamed you would do!”  (really!!!)

After all the hard work we were ecstatic to hear our retailer’s enthusiasm!  What brought about the smiles and excitement?  Really great groups, including classic Ducks for boys and girls, Grasshoppers that Hip Hop, bouquets of beautiful Flowers and a whole menagerie of our famous Monokinis!  Everyone can look forward to an endless summer of fun – arriving at retailers in January of 2010.

Walking with Dinosaurs Fall 2009

But don’t wait for next summer!  Fall 2009 is here!  The new le•top and rabbitmoon fashions for fall are arriving at your local boutique every day!  The phones are ringing with re-orders as our retailers sell the cutest kid’s clothes on the planet…and beyond!  Check out some of the top sellers from Walking with Dinosaurs and Cute as a Button!

We had a terrific trip to New York!  Our booth at the Children’s Club show looked great after we put up wallpaper, assembled tables and chairs and steamed and fluffed our samples.  The excitement of hearing the praise for our new creations was our reward…and the reward of experiencing New York City life for a week!  Coming to the blog next week we’ll share our experiences at some of the fabulous restaurants we visited!

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Secret twitter-Only Contest Winning Moms

Our twitter-only contest for Mother’s Day was so much fun! We asked moms for their favorite mom sayings, and we got a great response, with five super-excited winners! Congratulations to Jessica (Alabama), Gigi (Utah), Kerry (California), Victoria (Virginia), and Lisa (New York)! Each of these lovely moms won an outfit from le•top’s Tiptoe Tulip Duckling (available in sizes 3m – 6x) or Lucky Duck collections (available in sizes 3m-4t). Thank you for making us smile with your favorite sayings! Click on each winner’s state to find an online store in that state, or use our store locator to find a le•top retailer near you, so you can find our sweet ducks to put on your sweet little ones. Pssst! And stay tuned for our Father’s Day contests, coming soon…!

le•top Tiptoe Tulip Duckling for girls and Lucky Duck for boys. Click on the image to see all the offerings for both collections

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Conquering the Big Apple

Kathy and Lisa prepping the le•top booth before the show

The theme of our New York week – let’s get to work!

After spending Friday morning doing ‘home improvement’ projects at the new showroom we were ready to move on to the next stop – the Jacob Javitts Convention Center to set up for the Children’s Club show. We had decided to revamp our booth, since we loved our new look at the Las Vegas show. We bought new furniture in New York to avoid the shipping costs from California – so here’s the question: how long does it take to put together 7 tables and 16 chairs? A looong time. Paul was again pulled in as a ‘worker bee’ – resulting in a serious cramp in his hand by the time all this furniture was assembled! So much for “easy assembly” – easy and quick are 2 very different things! Of course the result of everyone’s labor was a striking booth…the customers commented we looked “new and modern!”

The show was very, very busy for us! It is always wonderful to see our favorite customers in person and listen to their feedback. I have a confession…neither Paul nor I actually sell the collection to the buyers, we simply ‘hang out’ and absorb suggestions. I always joke that we act as ‘booth host and hostess’ – but the pleasure is always ours. One of the real treats is that we not only see all of our favorite New York customers at this show, we also see friends from different regions of the U.S. and some from outside of the country. The show is officially an international show – and it is wonderful to hear input from all different perspectives. Our designers are in the midst of designing the Spring 2010 collection and eagerly await the feedback, since it gives them even more inspiration. I loved hearing about colors and styles that are selling in the stores – because we want to be sure we create new things that will make our customers happy!

Of course “all work and no play” makes for a dull group – and we are definitely not dull! Erin said all I wrote about  our Vegas trip was food, making her very hungry, so stay tuned for what we did to “play”…because we love going to great restaurants!

Busy buyers at the rabbitmoon booth

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Painting the Big Apple…Soft Yellow?

Paul, the paint goes here...

We recently relocated our corporate showroom – and we love it! However, there is always something more to make it ‘perfect’ in every way (kind of like a home, you always want to keep perfecting the look!). We have been trying to figure out how best to ‘show off’ our beautiful collections, so we had some movable display walls built. The corporate showroom is also our ‘base camp’ during the New York Kids Shows, so we stopped in a few weeks ago while we were in town. When we saw the displays, we all decided they needed a coat of paint. So, Karen, Kristin (one of our great California inside salespeople and blogger extraordinaire), Lisa (our corporate salesperson and showroom manager) and Paul (‘da boss!) jumped right into the job.

Ahem. Well…let’s just say that Paul should probably stick to finance and overseeing the production of our beautiful clothes. He did a credible job painting – one way or the other, the new fixtures looked great with a coat of soft yellow paint – but he did an incredible job painting his shirt! Paul’s painting skills aside, the showroom really looks great – and the New York buyers love to visit us – just as we love our customers – they are the best!

Sooooo cute! A partial peek at our le•top baby collection

What can we say...there's just something so adorable about seeing our baby and kids clothes on their little hangers. We just love looking at them!

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