Busy Week!

It's a busy week coming up, I secretly feed off these moments, and tend to get an incredible amount done when the week presents itself this way. Last night I had "the girls" over for a Product Swap - it was just an excuse to get together and see everyone before the busy holiday season starts. We had a great time, but I totally forgot to take photographs... sorry! So here is the concept, invite your friends over (if you need an invite idea see below), everyone brings the products that don't work for them, you know those things.. you HATE to throw them away but you knew as soon as you bought them that they were NOT going to work for you. Thing is.. in a room full of women, what doesn't work for you will usually work for someone else! We had a great time swapping stuff, drinking wine and having a light evening snack (including the delicious Organic Avenue brownies!! recipe below)

To start the week off right I had my daily one mile run, yes pretty silly just one mile but it really helps me get into gear, and my breakfast of champions!

delicious hard boiled egg, Swedish salmon caviar, parsley on Siljans cracker and a cup of tea

finished sandwich!

Then on Tuesday I pack up my car..

full of my store (well as much as will fit!) and drive down to NYC for a Sample Sale on WEDNESDAY, November 16th from 9am to 1 pm, together with my friends at Clover New York, Pappi Pappi, Atsuyo et Akiko, Wovenplay and Jann from Lucky Fish! We will have a beautiful range of baby, kids and mom clothing and accessories at great prices.. We will be in TriBeCa at the Church Street Music School (74 Warren Street-NYC)... it's a great chance to get a jump on Christmas Shopping!

lucky wang new republic jacket! (fleece inside!)

In the midst of that I just got a big box from Lucky Wang! including their wonderful (and MY personal favorite the Republic Jacket), new baby quilts from Haptic Lab, I just made a slew of new nonchalantmom necklaces, new colors in colored denim from ESP no1 and Erica Tanov should be here any minute now... so lots of photographing is in order!!

Then this weekend is the Book Fair at School - which means baking, working the sale and having some fun is in order! Our local Waldorf School has a Holiday Faire this weekend too which I would never want to miss... amazing toys and fun for the kids always! (thankfully my husband is IN town this week... whew!)

So now that I have been sitting here writing my blog I need to move my BUTT and get into action! Have a great week everyone!

vegan brownies

Vegan/Raw Brownie recipe (via Organic Avenue!) - the great thing is this recipe takes about 5 minutes or less... it's crazy easy and everyone loves them -- even your kids!

Ingredients: 

1 1/2 cups organic walnuts
16 pitted organic deglet dates
1/3 cup cacao powder
1 tsp vanilla bean powder
2 tsp of purified water

dash of sea salt  

extra handful of whole walnuts, pulsed on food processor for top

In a food processor, grind the walnuts and salt until fine. Add the dates and process until dough forms. Next add the cacao, vanilla, water and process again until well mixed.  

Scoop out a tablespoon full of dough and roll into a ball. Pat down into a mini brownie shape. I pulse a little bit more of the walnuts and then sprinkle it on top and even on the bottom... YUM!

GROUP HuG... GROUP sALe!!

I am joining my friends from

Clover New York, Pappi Pappi, Lucky Fish, 

Wovenplay and Atsuyo et Akiko for a sAMplE SaLE!!

weDNesDAy, NoVembER 16th (one day only!)

9am to 1pm

at the Church Street Music School in TriBeCa

74 Warren Street between Greenwich St & West Broadway

cHAmpagne and MUsic accompanied by a BEAutiFul range of 

Spring, Fall and Resort designer clothing and accessories at AmaZIng prices!

I look forward to seeing you there!!

(pssst... tell ALL your friends!)

stay tuned to my blog and I will give you an idea of what I am bringing...

as soon as I figure it out!

Halloween Contest WINNERS!

the WINNER - Robin!

runner up!

I swear that everyone was really a winner this year.... so many amazing costumes! We had to do some heavy canvasing because I loved all of them! I had the neighbors over, the neighbors kids, MY kids, we laid them out and voted on our favorites - of the over one hundred entries I have to say that every one of them was super creative and so amazingly well executed! We thought we needed to show a few that were constantly in the top, to give you creative guys some ideas for next year...

I would love this supergirl to save me anyday! - so simple yet couldn't be cuter!

we had lot's of baby entries... but we all thought this one was well-made AND oh so cute and unique

I loved this one... there is also a dumbbell involved but this photo.. so cute!

Amelia Earhart complete with clouds on mom!

there is harry potter and then there is Harry Potter from the second book with the car, spiders... AMAZING!! to top if off they are reading the books so this is where they were in the book and decided to make a costume right there...

There are two of these, a butterfly AND a bird... it's amazing really! what a costume!

Yes, just had to include this because... its perfection! (love that she is in her carriage - it looks a little like she may just LIVE every day like this)

AND THE WINNER IS..... BATMAN AND ROBIN!!

The Winners!

Thank you EVERYONE for entering... it was so much fun to see what everyone puts into this holiday to make it fun and creative! My 6 year old said... "this is my favorite holiday! -- well, after that one where we get presents". Happy Holidays to everyone and THANK YOU AGAIN!!!

Mix and Match... LOOKS for FALL that you will LOVE!

Tuss, Wovenplay, Lucky Fish.. all at once. For details see below...

We pulled together some very fun looks for you from the store that we really love... just to show you that mixing and matching the Nonchalant Mom collections is FUN and looks GREAT! You can click on the descriptions and they will take you to the item on the website! Hope you LOVe them !!

Tuss navy wool jersey poncho, Nico Nico Charlie sweatpant - zig zag mountains t-shirt,  Shampoodle elastic/adjustable suspenders

Makie baby alpaca stripe hat, Makie reversible vest, Nico Nico sunrise T in bone, ESP no1 jeans, Super Editions make your own book

ESP no1 pocket sweater, cotton royal blue neck warmer, ESP no1 black jeans, Wovenplay pony necklace, Clare Vivier pebble leather royal wallet

Tuss Ted navy shirt, Super Sky skirt railroad stripe, Wovenplay star belt, Atsuyo et Akiko locket necklace, Lucky Fish silk animals scarf, Clare Vivier natural wallet, Veja sneakers

Lucky Fish blue foil bat hoodie (bat on back!), Lucky Fish pink peacock long sleeve t, Kit + Lili eseme mini skirt, Atsuyo et Akiko fur handbag (fake fur that is...), Wovenplay clementine hair clip

Lucky Fish glow in the dark moon thermal t, Makie navy velvet skirt, Nico Nico organic cotton sherpa vest, Atsuyo et Akiko fur key necklace, Wovenplay + Jess Brown doll

Shampoodle big dot t-shirt, Kit+Lili esme silver skirt, ESP no1 jeans, Lucky Fish pink peacock messenger bag, Erica Tanov yellow fur neckie/belt, Wovenplay couronne

Tuss black denim Tilda blouse, Wovenplay gide stripe skirt, Tuss tights, Lucky Fish animals silk scarf, Wovenplay+Jess Brown doll

Makie Marla dress, ESP no1 jeans, Oeuf snake

Nico Nico organic cotton sherpa poncho, ESP no1 stripe japanese cotton long sleeve pocket t, ESP no1 jeans, Lucky Fish animals silk scarf, Veja sneakers

Wovenplay pink moleskin cape, Lucky Fish faded bunnies long sleeve thermal t, Nico Nico Charlie sweatpants

Kit+Lili grape flora Natalie dress, Nico Nico sherpa vest

Makie baby alpaca stripe hat + reversible vest, Lucky Fish faded bunnies thermal t, Lucky Fish/edible schoolyard tea towel as scarf, Makie navy velvet skirt

BABY!!

Tuss grey heather wrap top and pants, Makie mittens, Benk baby hat, Oeuf ball, Lucky Fish baby blanket

Lucky Fish pink foil onesie (also comes in blue), Makie wool felt booties, Bakker baby bibs

Lucky Fish/Edible Schoolyard tea towel (great for chic baby towel perfect for diaper changing... etc..), Shampoodle indigo 3/4 sleeve t, Shampoodle indigo dipped pants, Veja baby sneakers

Shampoodle Leroy tracksuit (sizes baby through adult!), Lucky Fish pink/gold bee onesie, Uncle Goose wood blocks

Atusyo et Akiko alphabet t-shirts for boy or girl!, ESP no1 jeans, Veja baby sneakers, Playsam car w/two people

Makie orange or grey rib one piece, Makie grey baby alpaca socks, Uncle Goose blocks, Lucky Fish/Edible Schoolyard tea towel (perfect for diaper changing, clean ups etc...)

Lucky Fish baby blanket, Tuss wrap top and pants, Makie bib, Atsuyo et Akiko towel

Hope you love it all and keep MIXING AND MATCHING... if you have questions don't hesitate to email me!

My favorite UNISEX items of FALL 2011

wovenplay stripe raglan! - perfect unisex

If you are a long-time Nonchalant Mom fan you know that we started it all off as UNISEX... then I had a girl and things changed... I still think that most of my things can swing either way and here are some ideas of my favorites:

Tuss wool jersey cape - perfect for boys or girls!

see!

All of Nico Nico is perfectly UNISEX! I love all these pieces on both boys and girls

see!

both my kids will not wear any other jeans but ESP no1!! LOVE!

coming soon in a few colors! stay tuned - but this blue is GREAT!

even adults... scosha friendship bracelets... for men AND women!

Lem Lem poncho okay, not so unisex, but for the crazy adventurous man.. maybe!?

I just think it's best if everyone can get use out of their clothing! (especially when you are buying an investment piece...)

happy shopping!

last chance for Anniversary Sale...!!

This is the LAST DAY of the Anniversary SALE! 

20% off the entire store ends today...

don't miss this chance to get 

your FAVORITE Fall items at 20% off!!

use code: 'birthday' at checkout

sale ends November 8th 2011

as part of our 8 Year Anniversary - we are giving away friendship... bracelets, that is!

You know that I am crazy for friendship bracelets! So now through Saturday (11/5/11) all Nonchalant Mom orders will receive a free friendship bracelet (while supplies last)! To celebrate our 8 year Anniversary we thought it would be nice to share a little friendship. These beauties were made by Su Vani. Su is a French mom, who shares her life between Ireland (Dublin) and France (Paris) with her family (2 little boys: 3 and 7) - I met Su on Facebook (see good things can come from Facebook!). We were friends of friends... see how that happens!

I asked her to write a bit about her little friendship bracelets and she gave me this delightful story:

At the end of this summer, I wish the summer would never go away.

So I decided to make a little bracelet in neon pink + pink to bring with me some brightness & sunshine.

I offered some to my friends as a reminder of me, as a gift of love & friendship, and therefore they can think of me too when they wear them.

I love this idea that my little bracelets, the few simple threads I plait together, can become love & friendship symbols between people.

Spread the bracelets, spread the love ! -Su

worn together with the scosha signature bracelets

You can follow Su on her blog by clicking here

If we have any leftover you will be able to purchase them on the website.... but I have a feeling they will be flying out the door!

HALLOWEEN CONTEST! open to everyone!! 2011

Calling all you scary, and NOT so scary, HALLOWEENers!

It's time to send me all your halloween contest photos -- Above you can see what you are up against... a fantastic BLUE dancing FISH! she's great and I am so EXCITED to see all of the new creative costumes that everyone is making! We are looking for every kind of costume possible!!

In Europe All Saints Day is on November 5th... so please also send in your photos of costumes!! we want to see them too!!!

SEND IN YOUR ENTRIES BY:
NOVEMBER 8th, 2011
THIS YEARS PRIZE IS A $100 GIFT CERTIFICATE
TO SPEND AT NONCHALANTMOM!!!

please email entries to me at: carinanonchalantmomcom
(if you don't want me to publish your photo on the blog just write as such in your blog, otherwise by entering your photo... it may appear on the blog!!!)

trick or TREAT!!