We're Back, albeit a little broke!!

Vegas was a whirlwind as always, we did lots of shopping, gambling, lounging and eating! Here are a few pics that we managed to get along the way. Our stay at the Wynn was beyond fabulous, we got to see Cher in concert at Caesars, and we found some new cute things at market...enjoy!


Love this shot, you wonder why more people don't write our names exactly as they are pronounced:

Fresh flowers replaced each day by our elevators at the Wynn:

After market we decided to lounge around at the hotel pool, it was like you stepped right into a movie, everything was so spectacular!! On the other side of this cabana bar is the "European" pool (NUDE) We stumbled on that one and almost died!!:Brian tagged along with us on this trip and we were able to show him around our favorite City, we all got dressed up to see Cher and LeReve, two great shows:
Finally, proof that we actually did work during our trip....One of our fun new finds at market: Funky stroller umbrellas that attach to your existing stroller, you guys are going to LOVE the fun patterns we got them in:
Every time you come into POPIN you hear the gorgeous voice of Susie Tallman, she is the talent behind the children CD's that we sell. We were so excited to order her new Christmas CD's and get a quick photo...she is so sweet!!:

Serena & Lily has come out with a ton of great new products, a new organic bedding line, new adult bedding as well as some classically cool new accessories - just stop by the store to check out the new catalog!:
While we were gone we received a ton of new stuff at the shop...I'll post some on that tomorrow, but if you can't wait, come on in and check it out for yourself!! ~Jamie

It's that time again...

...where we head out to Las Vegas for Market!! This trip should be extra exciting because we are staying at Jamie's most favorite hotel in the world, The Wynn!
We hope to find lots of fun stuff for the shop, we'll bring our cameras and show you guys what we found as soon as we return.

Have a great week and say "Hi" to our Mom when you come in POPIN, she'd love to see you!!

what a whirlwind!

We are back from market...and very exhausted! We were super excited with all of the great finds and the wonderful people we met in Atlanta. I was able to sneak a few shots of market but there are security guards everywhere so I didn't get too many:
This is building 3 , the smallest of the 3 buildings...yes our feet hurt something fierce!

The hardest part of market for Jamie and I is getting to see all of the wonderful and super talented artists booths that are there whose products are perfect for us, not so much for our store...One of the most amazing booths in all of Atlanta is the Goldbug Studios booth. Ashley Carter's talent is almost indescribable. Just looking at all of her crowns and goodies was pure eye candy.

One of the highlights of our trip (besides dropping a lot of $$$) was meeting up with our fellow shop owner "sisters." Deb always provides us with great insight and ideas. It is always nice to share stories and learn from other gals just like you. Below is our favorite florist to the stars, check out Carole's great website and stop by for one of her huge events if you live in the Foxborough, MA area!

ATL Here We Come!!

It is time for us to head up to Atlanta to go to market again...
These trips are the BEST yet also most STRESSFUL part of owning a store :)

During this visit we will be planning/buying what we will fill POPIN with for you all in the Fall, the ideas we have so far are very exciting....Santa should be able to fill all the good little boys and girls stockings with ease!

We'll make sure to take as many pics as we can (cameras aren't allowed in market but we always manage so sneak some good shots)

While we are at market we will be meeting up with Deb from Curious Sofa and with some of our other favorite Proprietresses once again to talk shop & such, should be a good time.
See ya next week!! ~J

If you want something, go straight to the top!!

One of our goals at market this past weekend was to pick up a much requested line of layette for our store called Kissy Kissy. Mission Accomplished! Of course we at POPIN don't just go and meet with a sales rep to buy into the line, nope, we went straight to the OWNER OF THE COMPANY! We met with Luis (see him here with Wendy...) and he was so excited about our store and couldn't wait to get us as much Kissy Kissy as we could handle. If you're one of the two people in the world unfamiliar with Kissy Kissy, is it the sweetest, softest layette line around. 100% Pima cotton, handmade in Peru (where Luis and his wife visit at least once a month to oversee operations) According to Luis, Kissy Kissy is the nickname that he and his wife called their grandson, so when they started their company it was a natural fit... cute grandson/cute clothing...no brainer. We will let you guys know when we get our first shipment in, from the sounds of it it is going to go fast!

Our trip to market was so successful! You guys are just gonna flip when you see all of the cute fall clothing we ordered...unfortunately we will have to wait until at least August....but I'll just say it will be worth the wait!!

Wendy and I did have fun in Atlanta despite the small window that we had while we were there to even breathe... here is something that made us laugh on the way to our hotel (what's in your backyard?...)
And a pic of our hotel room....it seemed to us that they knew the POPIN girls would be there...our logo being a poppy and the only art hanging on the walls being a big poppy. (this was the case on our last market trip too, completely different hotel, I wish I would've snapped a pic....the coincidence is just overwhelming)

Glad to be back, we always miss you guys when we're gone! ~J

Off we go...back to market

The fun/crazy/exhausting part of keeping a store that carries gifts, furnishings, and clothing is the amount of times you have to go to Market on buying trips. Wendy & I just got back from Atlanta two weeks ago and we're headed back up this weekend, we drive each time (the 5 hour car ride gives us plenty of time to plan our infamous "next floor move") This weekend we will be there picking out the clothing our store will get in in the Fall of this year....so hard to think about since we are just starting to get in all of our cute Spring lines now!!! Ann will be working at the store on Saturday so come in and say hi (for those of you that don't know her yet, she's awesome, oh yeah...she's also our Mom!) ~J

Back to Business

Jamie is doing much better, and is actually back to work- that is dedication!! Our hours are back to the normal 10-6 M-F and 10-4 on Saturday. Thank you for all of your calls and emails wishing her a speedy recovery, I think it did the trick. For those of you following her IVF process, she will try again in June once her body has had time to fully recover from all of the trauma.
Yesterday, we went to market, where we purchase merchandise for the store. We found quite a few new items and are really excited about getting them in. Here are a few pictures of new stuff we picked up (see the last picture, I mean "picked up" literally!!)
These are drawer knobs...sooo cute!
Finally got to test drive the new double stroller from Easy Walker, it will arrive in our store next week, along with the new Sky single (adjustable handle bar...yeah!!!).
Our most unique purchase...retro sofas for kids fashioned off the classics: mustang, corvette and camaro back seats.
Because we went on the last day of market, some of the vendors actually let you take home some of their merchandise. I fell in love with these sofas and had to get one for my son. So this is a picture of me trying to carry this 100 lb box with a sofa in it at least a mile through the showroom and out to the parking lot. Needless to say, today...I can't lift my arms!

Vegas and other happenings

We are back from Vegas and had a great time! (sorry picture is blurry, but so was the trip...not from alcohol, from all that walking) We picked up some great new lines I think everyone will like. We have really struggled with the direction we want our store to go, gifty or decor. I think we have a good mix of both now but at market we found some really unique items that will bring POPIN up a notch. Things should be arriving in the next 2 weeks so please pop in and see the changes. Jamie caught a cold on the trip and we both think we got e. coli- very disgusting!!! We did however get to see a show while we were there- La Reve at the Wynn hotel- holy moly- talk about amazing! and not just the show, that hotel even had Jamie speechless. She wanted to just walk through looking at all of the decor and pom-pom fringe and mosaics...it really was breathtaking. Of course, I was more interested in the roulette tables but I guess I could still appreciate the beauty around me (while I was handing them over all of my money). Yes, I am a gambler-we saw a great T-shirt while we were there that said "I only have a gambling problem when I am losing" boy, isn't that the truth. I had a garage sale a few weeks back so I could have some personal spending money for the trip, I made about $350. After the first night in Vegas, I had over $1000 because of my lucky #19 (Preston's b-day). I was on cloud nine! I would love to end the happy gambling story there, but as most of you know, it never works out like that...why, you ask?..because the roulette table calls to me, beckons me, to give them all of the money back...AND I LISTENED!!! I did end up leaving with exactly what I started with ( after hours of being in the hole) so all is good and I didn't learn the lesson I should have, which is...go buy something expensive when you are up, that way you have something to show for your winnings- but then, I wouldn't get to experience those desperate emotions I went through praying for that dumb little ball to land on #19. Did you know that most of the casinos have gone to computerized roulette? Everyone has there own computer with a touch screen of where you want your chips to go, then a real person spins the wheel and you watch it on your computer. This has pros and cons, Pros- no reaching over other people to put your chips on the table. Cons- since you don't have the chips in your hands, you spend a lot more money because you can't see your stack dwindling before your eyes. Anyway enough about my addictions! The show was in a convention center that went farther than the eye could see. One sign said there were 35,000 attendees. We started the first day at 9:00am and finished after 6:00pm. The second day we started at 10:00am and finished at 2:00pm. Our feet really hurt. No matter how comfortable the shoes are, when you are on your feet for that long, they are going to hurt. Bratt Decor came out with a new canopy for their girl bed we thought was really neat, along with some other new pieces we just got in our store yesterday. Newport Cottages came out with this new crib Jamie fell in love with. Our #1 thing we are most excited about is...yeah right, like I am going to tell you on this- you have to come see it in the store! Anyway- in other news, Bella's birthday is tomorrow (sigh, already 3 years old...my baby is 3 years old!) and Preston in about to lose his first tooth! Here he is showing off the moneymaker (bottom right). I am a little scared that the toothfairy will not leave the right amount for this time period...meaning, when I was a kid I got a quarter for a little tooth, a dollar for the big ones. I think he is expecting like $5 for this little tooth...wow how the times change, I just want to the toothfairy to leave enough that other kids don't say "the toothfairy left me more" which will cause a long conversation at my house about why the toothfairy leaves one kid more than he leaves another kid...By the way, Jamie asked Preston what the toothfairy does with the teeth and he said, matter of factly, that the toothfairy gives them to babies so they will have teeth too, duh!