Hey, Now…We’ve Been Busy!

The next boomer generation...

I guess it wasn’t just the celebrities having all those babies (with their interesting baby names)…it’s been lots of people! It also explains all the baby shower invitations! We all know about the baby boomers (those born between 1946 and 1964, give or take a couple years) who reached their peak numbers in 1957. Well, in 2006, we reached about 4 million, but  in 2007, we topped over 4.3 million births (surpassing 1957’s birth rate) — the highest ever in our nation’s history! That’s a lot of shopping for baby clothes…not to mention diaper changes. We’re having our own boomlet here at le•top blog, so we seem to still be trending toward a baby boom. Congrats to all our readers who gave birth in March…Happy Birthday, little ones!

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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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A Favorite Dress for a Day with Grandma

Lilah playing at her great aunt's backyard in a most favorite dress from rabbitmoon

This weekend, my daughter wore the cap-sleeved short dress with tiered skirt from the soleil collection (rabbitmoon spring 09). It was a special occasion that day, as she was going to her great-aunt’s house with her grandma. I tend to save my favorite clothes for those types of occasions, so the dress was just the ticket. The soft yellow brings out the highlights in her hair. The design and patterns are absolutely adorable, and the fabric is incredibly soft. When my husband and I got home that evening around 10pm, Lilah was still going strong. She was prepped for bed in her jammie pants, but I noticed she still had on her soleil dress. My mother-in-law explained that when she went to change her, Lilah threw a fit. She did not want to take it off, so she just let her wear it. Actually we let her wear it all the next day too. I can’t believe that it stayed clean enough that we could leave it on her.

Remembering back to the last time she wore it, she had a very similar reaction. I could barely keep clothes on her that day, so I asked her just to try it on to see if it fit. Once I put it on her she didn’t take it off all day. That is practically a miracle in our house. I’m very proud to show my daughter off in any of our le•top and rabbitmoon clothes. People always tell me how beautiful they are, and all I can do is agree. We do make beautiful clothes!

Just in time for spring! Click photo to see the entire soleil collection from rabbitmoon

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Say Hello to Vegas, Baby!

le•top's booth in Las Vegas. L-R: Paul, Sarah Kaufman (San Francisco sales rep), Renee Navarre (Los Angeles sales rep) and me!

One of the venues we use for presenting our collections to the store buyers is at trade shows, and one of the first shows of the fall season happens in Las Vegas. We set up our booths – for le•top and for rabbitmoon – and registered buyers from retail stores come to see what we have created for the new season. We present all the samples to them, and they write up orders to be shipped starting in June – just in time for the new fall and winter seasons.

Of course, one of the ‘perks’ of working hard in Las Vegas by day is that, by night, we are able to have dinner at some really great restaurants once the show closes down for the day. We visited some great ones this time around – one, an old favorite from previous visits and one, a new “find!”

We went to dinner the first night of the show at MGM Grand Hotel & Casino: Nob Hill Tavern. The executive ‘celebrity’ chef there is Michael Mina – a star here in the San Francisco Bay Area and a James Beard award winner. The food is divine – we tried (and shared) great short ribs of beef, wonderful sea bass, and I can’t even tell you how great the Truffle Mac and Cheese can be! Plus, we did a great cheese fondue as a shared appetizer for all. On a previous visit we’d tried their ‘Seafood Tower’ appetizer – but had trouble finishing our dinner, since it was a very generous portion. The great thing about Nob Hill Tavern, for me, is that it somehow evokes a nice, calm atmosphere – a relaxing change from the frenzy of Las Vegas.

The second night (what? you thought I was going to write about clothes? Food and martinis, baby! Food and martinis!!)), we tried a new restaurant at Caesars Palace – Rao’s. Karen (our CEO – “Chief Everything Officer”, National Sales Manager, and mother of the “grandsons of my heart – Nicholas and Dylan) was chatting with a guy on the airplane on the way to Las Vegas, and he recommended the restaurant – and even arranged a reservation for us! (I guess it is difficult to secure a reservation – and almost IMPOSSIBLE at their original New York location. This is a very ‘authentic’ kind of New York vibe – complete with the big, scary-looking Italian guy yelling at a busboy as we came in! The décor is casual and takes you on a trip to Sicily – complete with the gaudy Christmas wreaths and lights, in place all year long. The service was great. Extending the feeling of a family style Italian experience, the waitress pulled up a chair and ‘discussed’ what would be good for us to order. The portions are huge. On her recommendation we did family style – appetizers, pastas and entrées. Great food – and we were absolutely stuffed! By the way, they make a great martini!

The Las Vegas KidShow was a great success – the buyers loved the new fall collections – and we enjoyed some great food along the way. The next show was in the Big Apple – question is, will I write about our fabulous clothes or the food (and martinis)!?

Editor’s Note: Sorry for the delay in publishing Chris’ post (Vegas was a couple weeks ago)…I kept getting hungry and had to go eat something every time I tried to edit it…

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In Fashion Kids

One of our retailers, In Fashion Kids, was honored as an inaugural winner in the Baby Clothing category by TheFind. We are so excited to brag about In Fashion Kids’ big achievement! A compendium Website for consumers for all things shopping, TheFind lists the best stores, online retailers, sales and coupons, as well as helping to find those hard-to-come-by items…like Nadine’s rabbit moon blankie! 🙂 The Find has launched an annual list giving recognition to top 100 online specialty stores in sixteen categories. We congratulate Jacquie (owner) and In Fashion Kids for winning a top spot in the first TheFind100!

To find a great selection of baby and children’s costumes, dress wear and, of course, our fashionable le•top baby and children’s clothes, the search mission has already been done for you…just go to In Fashion Kids!

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The Team Behind the Scenes

Who knew we had so many photogenic models lurking in the warehouse?

Our warehouse staff is one of the driving forces behind le•top and rabbit moon. They check the mountain of goods as they come in, pack them up as they go out, and make sure all our customers get what they ordered. They even help out with our seasonal photo shoots. This year, our photographer Marcy Maloy was able to honor the warehouse staff with a mini photo shoot of their own. As you can see, they enjoyed their time in the spotlight!

And don't forget our wonderful ladies who took their model turn under the klieg lights!

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Nadine and the Magic Blanket

Nadine with her one and only (until now) Magic Blanket

We all know how important a child’s “blankie” can be, heck back in college, TWO of my roommates still had their blankies on move-in day! So you can imagine the palpable sense of urgency in an email sent to us by a loyal rabbit moon customer in Huntington Beach, CA:

I would like to find out how I can purchase one of your pink blankets, as it was my daughters first blanket, and it became her favorite one. One she will not let go! I want to make sure that we have a backup plan in case something happens to hers!!…Please let me know!!“

Nadine takes her blankie everywhere, and we mean everywhere! Poor mom is left with a very upset little girl when it comes time to give blankie a “bath”, because, according to mom, it is not just a blanket, but a “Magic Blankie” for the way it instantly soothes Nadine when she feels troubled. We were able to direct her to a new blanket so Nadine doesn’t have to go through any more crises (like bath time) without her number one sidekick. I could almost hear the big S*I*G*H of relief on mom’s end of the computer when I emailed that she was getting a back-up Magic Blankie!

You know…on days like this…we love our jobs here at le•top more than we can possibly say!

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Shopping with Dad is Fun! Our Final Favorites Contest Winner Makes Us Smile

Robert was our last and final Favorites Contest winner, and as I did with all the other winners, I helped him fill his virtual shopping cart of $500 worth of le•top and rabbit moon clothes…and he was so cute! Throughout our conversation, he kept repeating, “I never win anything, not even at the casinos!”, and,  “This is so fun! I would never have guessed 4 years ago that I would be into doing something like this!” What a dad! 🙂

Awww...coordinating outfits from the le•top Twinkle Collection for sisters, Ruby and Mary. le•top's Flower Power shirt and skirt set (bottom left). Dress from the Bougainvillea Collection, rabbit moon (bottom right).

Robert has two daughters, Ruby, 4 months, and Mary, 4 years. As you can see from the photos of some of Robert’s final selections, Mary loves dresses and skirts! Her dad told us that she will not wear pants…except for the time she and her mom were out shopping, and she said, “Mommy, I am taking this home!” “This” was the rabbit moon Orchid Tracksuit (obviously the kid has great taste). Cute! We’re looking forward to seeing the photos of Ruby and Mary modeling le•top and rabbit moon. Can’t wait!

Congratulations to our four winners, and thank you again to everyone who entered our Favorites Contest for the Fall 2008 Collections. All of you made this a fun and exciting contest for us! Do you think we might have a contest for our Spring 2009 Collections? Hmmmm…stay tuned! 😉

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Awwww! Daddy’s Little Girl Gets a Whole New $500 Gorgeous Kids Clothes Wardrobe

Adorable Pink Leopard from le•top, and exquisite detailing in Bougainvillea from rabbit moon

How do I know? Because our fourth and final le•top and rabbit moon Favorites Contest winner is Robert S., and all his favorites are obviously for a very special, and lucky, little girl! Robert’s favorites in le•top include Flower Power, My Little Garden, and Pink Leopard. In rabbit moon, Robert chose Orchid and Bougainvillea for his fashionable little girl. Congratulations, Robert! Look for an email confirming your win!

Thank you to everyone who entered our contest! We always have something special going on at le•top blog, so please contiue to read, share and join in the laughter and fun with us…you never what new contests or secret giveaways are going on here!

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