Monday, March 31, 2014

A Spring Wish List (+ Springtime Shopping Savings!)


1. Spring Glam Flower Frontal Necklace, Betsey Johnson  //  2. Xhilaration High Low Lace Dress, Target  // 3. Organic Lavender Mint Body Wash, Nourish Organic  //  4. Essie 'Spin the Bottle' Nail Polish, Target  // 5. Persol 2422 Sunglasses, EyeSave  //  6. Erin Small Top Zip Bag, Fossil  //  7. Merona Floppy Hat, Target //  8. Strappy Slide Sandals, Loft  //  9. With Love from CA Charm Bracelets, PacSun


Although I'm not one of those obsessive coupon clippers you get stuck in line behind at the grocery store by any means, I am known to search for online coupons or discounts codes pretty much every time I make a purchase over $20.  So when the folks at Coohpons contacted me to tell me about their company, I was admittedly a little excited.  There isn't much better than a website that features coupons and promo codes to thousands of top retailers all in one place.  From Target to Fossil to L’Occitane to Home Depot and beyond, they offer the best deals to some of the best online stores. 

Like everyone else in the northern hemisphere, I've got springtime on the brain.  So I put together this little roundup of some spring items I'm coveting right now.  The best part is that all of these goods come from stores for which Coohpons offers discounts (you can see their full store list right here).  Spring shopping is always better when you can save some money while you're doing it, right?


Coohpons

 

This post is in partnership with Coohpons.com. Thank you for supporting Bubby and Bean by allowing me to post occasional sponsored content. All sponsored posts feature products or services that I genuinely feel would be of interest to my readers. 



Sunday, March 30, 2014

Urbanknit Giveaway WINNER!

Urbanknit Giveaway Winner

Thanks to all of you who entered Urbanknit Giveaway for a chance to win a handmade Supersnap Clutch from Urbanknit!  The winner was chosen via random.org, and that lucky Bubby and Bean reader is...


Congratulations Elise!  Please contact me at bubbyandbean (at) gmail.com so we can get you your prize.  Thanks again to Dolapo at Urbanknit for offering Bubby and Bean readers the chance to win one of her gorgeous bags!

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Friday, March 28, 2014

Little Golden Books - For Today's World


Little Golden Books - For Today's World

Remember 'Little Golden Books' from when you were a kid?  Those classic books with the golden spined covers full of wonderful stories and illustrations? They're actually still around, and I've picked up a few for Essley to add to the collection of them that I still have from my own childhood.  Recently, I came across some information about an exhibit at a Los Angeles area gallery called Gallery Nucleus that featured 'Little Golden Books' inspired works based on popular movies, television shows, people, and characters.  Seriously though, how cool are these?!  My favorites are 'Breaking Bad Cover' by Maxime Mary and 'Little Moonrise Kingdom' by Jerrod Maruyama.   The 'Young John Muir' by Israel Sanchez is pretty cool too.

The exhibit ended last month, but some of the pieces of art are still available for sale on Gallery Nucleus' website.  Which one is your favorite?

I have to give a quick shout-out to little sister Morgan, who is celebrating a birthday today.  Happy Birthday Sissy!  Essley also officially turns 3 months old today.  Today is a good day!


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Thursday, March 27, 2014

Color Love // Divine Desert


Desert Shades for 2014 // Bubby and Bean
1. Kline Crossbody Bag, Free People  //  2. Magical Thinking Tapestry, Urban Outfitters  //  3. Daniela Bustos Maya Coin Bracelet, Madewell   //  4. Studio Time Top, Modcloth  //  5. Nali Turquoise Stone Statement Necklace, ASOS  //  6. Pattern Web Belt, Urban Outfitters  //  7. Fiddlehead Curtain Tie-Back, Anthropologie  //  8. The Slingback Sightseer Sandal, Madewell  //  9. Cactus Ring Holder, Urban Outfitters  //  10. Fantastic Elastic Passport Case, Saturday

On Tuesday night, I arrived back in Chicago after ten glorious days in Arizona.  I take a trip to Scottsdale around this same time every year, but my level of appreciation for being outdoors in the gorgeous Sonoran Desert was at an all-time high after the winter we just had.  More than ever, I made the effort to be in the moment whenever I was outside.  I consciously took in the warm sensation of the sun on my face, the scent of the blooming flowers, and the visual beauty of the gorgeous colors of the desert.  In fact, I can't seem to get those desert shades out of my mind - the sandy beiges, the vibrant corals, the rich oranges, and the vivid turquoise blues (there is just nowhere else where the color of the sky is so magical as the desert!).  And in the spirit of my recent vacation, for this edition of color love, I thought I'd share some of my favorite desert-colored goodies as of late. 

Are you a fan of desert shades?  Are there any nature settings that particularly inspire you when it comes to color schemes?

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Tuesday, March 25, 2014

12 Weeks of Essley


Documenting Baby, Week By Week // Bubby and Bean

When you have a new baby, the one piece of advice you'll get from every parent you know is to make sure you pay attention to the details as much as possible, because they grow and change so much (and so quickly).  So I decided that I'd take a picture of Essley once a week, every week for the first year, as a way to document the subtle changes that we'd otherwise miss.  She just turned 12 weeks old, and I have to admit that it's pretty cool to go back and look at her even just a few weeks ago, and to be able to see the differences between then and now.  It's amazing actually. 12 weeks isn't much time at all, but for an infant, the transformation that occurs over the period of even a week or two can be almost monumental.  And someday we'll be able to share this with her so she can see for herself.  When we were babies, digital cameras and smart phones didn't exist.  We are lucky to be able to so easily record Essley's first weeks and months on this earth and to have something so special to hold on to as she grows up before our eyes.

P.S. We fly back to Chicago from Arizona today.  Booooo.  It was an awesome ten days of sunshine and family time, away from work and stress.  You can see some shots from our adventures on my Instagram (@bubbyandbean).  I'll share more here later this week as well.

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Monday, March 24, 2014

Be a Part of Bubby and Bean in April!


Sponsor Bubby and Bean in March

April is just a week away, which means it's time for the official monthly sponsor call here at Bubby and Bean.  If you have a shop, blog, Etsy store, or small business, I'd love for you to be a part of the blog next month!  A Bubby and Bean Sponsorship is an affordable, effective way to promote your brand to several thousands of interested people every single day.

In addition to promoting sponsors through their ads on all pages and posts here at Bubby and Bean, I work one on one with each advertiser to ensure that they are given optimum exposure through the blog and our social media channels.  For more information on our various advertising packages, current stats, press, and pricing, visit our sponsor page right here. You can also book your ad space there directly in one click.  There are currently a few spaces in each size still available for April.  All ad spaces are first come, first serve. 

Have questions?  Feel free to contact me

Friday, March 21, 2014

GIVEAWAY // Win An Organic Long Apron Wrap Dress From Gaia Conceptions!


GIVEAWAY // Win An Organic Long Apron Wrap Dress From Gaia Conceptions and Bubby & Bean

I'm always excited about announcing giveaways, but my excitement level may be even higher than usual for this one.  Andrea of Gaia Conceptions is a long time sponsor of Bubby and Bean, and as a fellow eco-fashion designer, I'm a huge supporter of what she does.  Her designs are incredibly beautiful and are made by hand with love and serious care from start to finish, using all eco-friendly materials.  Every single item she sells is custom made for her customers based on their sizing, color, and fabric choice.  Pretty amazing!  For this giveaway, one lucky Bubby and Bean reader will win a Long Apron Wrap Dress in their choice of color and fabric, worth $170!  This dress is perfect for spring and summer, can be dressed up or down, and best of all, is created by hand from sustainable fabrics.


This giveaway is open to Bubby and Bean followers/subscribers through GFC or Bloglovin'. 
To enter, just visit the Gaia Conceptions website, then leave a comment below telling me your favorite item.


Once you've completed the mandatory entry above, you can also gain one additional entry for each of the following.  (*Please list each extra entry in a SEPARATE comment in order for it to count).
  • Like Gaia Conceptions on Facebook
  • Follow Gaia Conceptions on Twitter 
  • Follow Gaia Conceptions on Pinterest
  • Follow us on Instagram 
  • Post the top image from this post to Instagram with the following caption: Follow @bubbyandbean to win this Gaia Conceptions Dress at bubbyandbean.com! #bubbyandbeangiveaway #giveaway
  • Tweet this: Enter the Bubby & Bean and @GaiaConception1 GIVEAWAY to win a custom organic dress! via @MotM_EcoFashion http://bit.ly/11UQ2Tb
  • Pin the top image from this post on Pinterest 
  • Click the Facebook 'Like' button below to like this post on Facebook 

This giveaway will run through March 27th and is open to Bubby and Bean readers worldwide.  The winner will be randomly chosen and announced shortly after.  (Important: Please make sure to check back and/or leave a way to contact you in your initial entry!)  Many thanks to Andrea at Gaia Conceptions for giving Bubby and Bean readers a chance to win one of her gorgeous designs!

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Thursday, March 20, 2014

Hey from Arizona!


Hey from Arizona! // Bubby and Bean

Essley and I have been having such a nice time relaxing here in Scottsdale.  The weather has been absolutely incredible, and we've spent a lot of time just hanging out outside, doing very little.  It's really the first time since she was born that I feel like I've been able to just enjoy being Essley's mom.  I started working again two weeks after giving birth, and for the past two months, we've been in the midst of Robbie's busiest time of the year on the road with the band.  So it's been a nonstop juggling of work and taking care of Essley (mostly by myself) for a while now, with no down time at all.  Being able to take a little time away from working and also have help with Ess (we're staying at her grandparents' house) has felt like the greatest luxury.  The band plays in Tempe on Saturday and then Robbie will stay here with us for a few days before we head home, which will be so wonderful.  His birthday is tomorrow and I can't wait to reunite (it's been two weeks since we've seen him) and celebrate in the Arizona sunshine. 

For those who have asked, Essley did surprisingly well on her very first flight. The passengers around us seemed to genuinely appreciate the goodie bags, and at the end of the flight, many of them even remarked on how good she was.  She had a couple of brief crying episodes and blew out a diaper, but it was an infinitely easier experience that I thought it would be. Phew! We were also greeted at the airport by all of Essley's cousins from Austin who had been here visiting on their spring break but were scheduled to leave the day before.  It was a pretty amazing surprise!  I felt so lucky that they were able to meet Essley and that we were able to spend a day with them before they headed back.

I've been posting lots of pictures from our trip over on my Instagram (user name bubbyandbean) and will continue to do so, so follow us over there if you'd like to keep updated on our adventures. 

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Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Searching for Creative Inspiration with Bing Rewards



I spend a lot of time online searching for creative inspiration, both for work and just for fun.  Some of my favorite posts to do here on Bubby and Bean are those that are part of series that feature round-ups of things I come across in those online searches (like cool, creative ideas and recipes in '10 Great', colors I'm currently loving  in 'Color Love', or especially inspiring images like in 'Inspire Me').  I also really enjoy searching for inspiration in my downtime for personal projects, for my travels, for photography ideas, for goodies and nursery ideas for baby Essley, and for images to pin on Pinterest.  Recently, I learned that the search engine Bing has a new rewards program called Bing Rewards that allows you to obtain rewards just for searching the web.  So whenever you search Bing or switch to Bing as your main search engine, you can earn points towards gift cards at places like Starbucks, Hulu, Amazon, and Sephora.  For all of the time I spend searching for inspiration online, this sounded like a pretty great idea to me, so I joined right away (it's free!) and got to searching. 

To sign up for Bing Rewards, all I had to do was sign into Bing one time, and they automatically started to keep track of the rewards I earned.  While searching, I saw that I had easy one-click access to my credit balance, daily tips, and redemptions center, as well as to new offers to earn more credits, bonuses and discounts. I also noticed that there are a bunch of different ways that you can earn reward credits.  You can earn just for searching, or for setting your home page to Bing, or for trying out new features, or taking a product tour to learn tips and tricks to help you find what you are looking for.  I've just started to use Bing for my everyday searching, but I plan to use it a lot more often from now on, which is great for me, because the more you search with Bing the higher your status in the program.  And the higher your status, the more value you get (from discounts in their redemption center to access to exclusive earning opportunities - woot!).  You can also easily redeem your credits at any time in the Rewards Redemption Center.




Since I'm getting ready to leave for a trip to Arizona as I'm working on this post, and hope to take a lot of photographs of my adventures there, I decided to use Bing Rewards to search for some inspiring images of the areas I'll be visiting to help get me motivated.  It was pretty cool to see points accumulate with each search I did, and to get to earn extra points as well.  I even got a point just by picking a goal reward (I'm looking at you, Starbucks card).  I also found so many stunning images that got me excited to take pictures on my trip.  I'm looking forward to using Bing as my search for creative inspiration for other upcoming posts as well (and to continue to earn more rewards credits along the way!).

(Image sources from top:  1, 2, 3)

Oh, and as someone who admittedly spends an excessive amount of time of her iPhone, I should also mention that Bing Rewards is available for iOS.  So yes, I've been using it on my phone as well (hello more credits!).


I am genuinely thrilled to be able to have a way to get inspired and earn rewards for gift cards to some of my favorite brands along the way.  I hope you guys will join me and give Bing Rewards a try!



I'm required to disclose a sponsored partnership between our site and Bing. I have been compensated in exchange for this post in the form of payment, product or experiences.


Thank you for supporting Bubby and Bean by allowing me to post occasional sponsored content. All sponsored posts feature products or services that I genuinely feel would be of interest to my readers.


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Tuesday, March 18, 2014

GroopDealz Giveaway WINNER!


The Groopdealz Giveaway Winner!

Greetings from sunny Arizona!  I'm having such a great time on our little getaway and thought I'd spread some of my good mood today by announcing the GroopDealz Giveaway winner. Thanks to everyone who entered for a chance to win $75 in credit to go shipping on the GroopDealz website!  The winner was chosen via random.org, and that lucky Bubby and Bean reader is...




Congratulations Johnny & Callie Bowers!  Please contact me at bubbyandbean (at) gmail.com so we can get you your prize.  Thanks again to GroopDealz for offering Bubby and Bean readers the chance to win a credit to their amazing site!

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