Some say I have a problem - I say it's a skill. I enjoy finding the best deals on smocked and monogrammed children's clothing. A recent check in my super-secret-hide-from-my-husband email folder revealed nine shipments of children's clothing heading my way (hope he isn't reading this!). He doesn't understand that an $80 outfit for $30 is a deal that MUST be taken advantage of, so I hope that by sharing this list with you, my friends will understand my shopping obsession on Facebook:
1. The GOOD
Smocked Threads by Cecil and Lou: Adorable clothes, great customer service. Any time I have to email about a shipping time or an ordering mistake, I always get a prompt email back from one of the owners who is happy to work around my needs.
Kandyland Kids: Formerly Candyland Kids, they have recently branched out to FB. I love their appliqué selection. Their Black Friday sale was so good that I ordered five outfits, and they arrived within days.
2. The BAD
Lolly Wolly Doodle: LWD is GREAT at marketing. Their actual product is terrible. What you receive in the mail is vastly different in the picture - rough seams, poorly spaced monogramming and incorrect product description (if an outfit is belted, it would in fact come with belt loops, not just an accompanying sash). On top of that, they have an extremely long shipping period. Their customer service seems to be evolving in the right direction at least - they apologized for the longer shipping period and gave me a discount coupon. However, the quality of their clothes is sub-par.
Smockadot Kids: I've ordered a couple of things from Smockadot Kids. Their clothing is high in quality and their pricing is fair. The problem? They have terrible customer service. I received an outfit from them with the wrong color monogram. Their CS agent admitted that a glitch in their system caused the mistake, but they wanted me to pay $10 to fix the monogram that they admitted was their mistake. I spoke to everyone I could with no relief. Finally, I disputed the transaction with PayPal who refunded my money. Instead of correcting their own mistake, they lost $38.
3. The U-G-L-Y
Smocked Tots: I ordered an outfit in October and promptly paid the invoice. By the end of November, I still hadn't received any shipping information. When I inquired, I received random emails - 'it's in the mail', or 'I'll refund your money as soon as the manufacturer refunds us', or 'it's in the mail and I added a bow set to apologize for the delay.' After communicating with them via FB and email, it became apparent. I was the victim of a scam. I started reading other comments on their wall - whenever they would post an item for sale, people would leave comments asking where their orders were. After leaving several messages on their wall, they blocked me. I sent a few follow-up emails to no avail. Their BBB rating is pretty low. There is even a FB page called Smocked Tots fraud. I filed a complaint with the BBB, but the transaction was too old for me to dispute it with my check card.
Honorable Mention:
Smocked by StellyBelly: They have, hands down, the most adorable clothing. A friend recently suggested their site and I was very impressed. I've ordered several bubbles from them and look forward to receiving them in the mail.
Jetterbug's Monogramming: Jetterbug's is a great combination of price and quality. It's a local company that sells over FB, and most of the items are shipped next day. However, for 40% of the items I have ordered, I've had to send a gentle reminder to the owner that she still needs to ship them. She always sends them after I remind her. I think the owner is just overwhelmed with the site's popularity.
Posh Pickle: Posh Pickle doesn't have a large inventory, but they have good prices for what little is in stock. In fact, I ordered two outfits from the owner. When she sent the shipping information, she said that the outfits had gone on sale after I ordered them, and she went ahead and gave me the reduced price. Good customer service!
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Sunday, January 12, 2014
2013: My Monthly Retrospective
I checked this blog the other day - apparently all the witty, interesting weekly posts from yours truly since October haven't been published, so I'll cut to the chase;)
2013 was obviously a banner year for us with the birth of our daughter. Here's a monthly highlight recap:
January:
We kicked off the year with baby showers and day care tours.
32 weeks:
February:
My college roommates, Crickett and Martha, surprised me by flying into Memphis. We spent the weekend seeing Mary Poppins at the Orpheum, walking around Shelby Farms and catching up on our gossip;)
March:
41+ weeks pregnant and about to pop!
Baby G is a GIRL! Say hello to Nora Renee (3/13/13 at 11:45 pm - TWENTY hours of labor):
And we took her to church for the first time for Easter at 2.5 weeks old:
April:
Our families took turns visiting Nora. Sarah (JD's sister) flew in from Houston to meet her niece:
Megan and Emma came in for a second visit. They all came up the weekend after she was born, but had to get back to school and work the next week. This time, they were able to stay a bit longer over their Spring Break.
Nora officially has godparents - our friends, Brent and Stephanie! They were so supportive of us during all of the infertility years (and ongoing). Nora is lucky to have them!
May:
Kevin came back from Afghanistan! Nora got to meet her Uncle Kevin for the first time.
Emma injured her finger at school and had a small procedure to reattach the tip of her finger. We packed up the baby and drove to Georgia to go check on our girl!
June (BIG month):
Our friends Jake, Morgan and Frances visited us for a few fun days:
First (of many) lake trips with Nora:
Nora was baptized as our families watched on:
Stopped over at Millsaps College to show Nora her future campus on our way to the beach:
July:
We spent ten days in Portland, OR while JD was setting up his new OR office (this is a picture of a bike exhibit at the Oregon Museum of Art).
August:
Sold our house! We had it on the market for less than 48 hours. Then the contract fell through a few weeks later. Then it sold again in 6 hours. Holy cannoli that was a crazy time;)
We fly to Houston to see JD's sister, Sarah, and get to see her and her husband's new house!
September:
I start back to school and work, Nora starts daycare, and we move into our new house. I proceed to throw out all of the boxes we used for moving as visual reinforcement that we are NEVER MOVING AGAIN. Ridding the house of the 1990s landscaping is my first project;)
October:
JD finally plays disc golf with me for my birthday:
My brother is one of the top three finishers in the Pumpkin Run 5K:
November:
We fly to Georgia for Emma's 5th Birthday:
Nora's first Thanksgiving was spent with our friends the Grodskys. Mary had just given birth to Colin less than a week before Thanksgiving, but Mary's sister, Ruth, insisted we still come over to the house. It was delicious:
December:
Wrapped up the semester as Nora turned 9 months old (my string bean has turned into my butter bean! This girl that was once in the 5th percentile for weight is now in the 50th percentile - wow!):
5,000 Christmas parties and family events occur for Nora's first Christmas:
And, that's a wrap. It's been an amazing year, but I have a feeling that 2014 will be even better!
2013 was obviously a banner year for us with the birth of our daughter. Here's a monthly highlight recap:
January:
We kicked off the year with baby showers and day care tours.
February:
My college roommates, Crickett and Martha, surprised me by flying into Memphis. We spent the weekend seeing Mary Poppins at the Orpheum, walking around Shelby Farms and catching up on our gossip;)
March:
41+ weeks pregnant and about to pop!
Baby G is a GIRL! Say hello to Nora Renee (3/13/13 at 11:45 pm - TWENTY hours of labor):
And we took her to church for the first time for Easter at 2.5 weeks old:
April:
Our families took turns visiting Nora. Sarah (JD's sister) flew in from Houston to meet her niece:
Megan and Emma came in for a second visit. They all came up the weekend after she was born, but had to get back to school and work the next week. This time, they were able to stay a bit longer over their Spring Break.
May:
Kevin came back from Afghanistan! Nora got to meet her Uncle Kevin for the first time.
Emma injured her finger at school and had a small procedure to reattach the tip of her finger. We packed up the baby and drove to Georgia to go check on our girl!
June (BIG month):
Our friends Jake, Morgan and Frances visited us for a few fun days:
Nora was baptized as our families watched on:
Stopped over at Millsaps College to show Nora her future campus on our way to the beach:
July:
We spent ten days in Portland, OR while JD was setting up his new OR office (this is a picture of a bike exhibit at the Oregon Museum of Art).
August:
Sold our house! We had it on the market for less than 48 hours. Then the contract fell through a few weeks later. Then it sold again in 6 hours. Holy cannoli that was a crazy time;)
We fly to Houston to see JD's sister, Sarah, and get to see her and her husband's new house!
September:
I start back to school and work, Nora starts daycare, and we move into our new house. I proceed to throw out all of the boxes we used for moving as visual reinforcement that we are NEVER MOVING AGAIN. Ridding the house of the 1990s landscaping is my first project;)
October:
JD finally plays disc golf with me for my birthday:
My brother is one of the top three finishers in the Pumpkin Run 5K:
November:
We fly to Georgia for Emma's 5th Birthday:
Nora's first Thanksgiving was spent with our friends the Grodskys. Mary had just given birth to Colin less than a week before Thanksgiving, but Mary's sister, Ruth, insisted we still come over to the house. It was delicious:
December:
Wrapped up the semester as Nora turned 9 months old (my string bean has turned into my butter bean! This girl that was once in the 5th percentile for weight is now in the 50th percentile - wow!):
5,000 Christmas parties and family events occur for Nora's first Christmas:
And, that's a wrap. It's been an amazing year, but I have a feeling that 2014 will be even better!
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