city sprouts fundraiser

oh cambridge...so crunchy i love it! we have this fantastic program called city sprouts which is run in conjunction with the cambridge public schools. it's mission is to promote a respect for the earth and healthy eating through gardening. each cambridge public school has a garden and a garden coordinator. the children are encouraged to drop in and help the coordinator maintain the garden. our school coordinator, louise, has gotten toby to eat things such as chives and spinach. as far as i'm concerned that woman is a miracle worker. seriously, look at these tiny gardeners. it's totally cute. and they love it. it's amazing really to see these children work and have such a fun time doing it.

city sprouts is having their annual fundraiser at the whole foods on river street this saturday june 6th from 11-2pm. $5 will get you a hot dog or hamburger, chips and a drink and 100% of the proceeds goes to this wonderful organization. so really, go...i mean really...where else in cambridge can you get lunch for $5? and for a worthy cause? no brainer. see you there!

if you can't make it and would like to contribute to this lovely organization, click here.

shop local

you know how you hear all the time "shop local". and you think great, i'd love to! but where how? and then you just go to target like you always do...mostly because you are so tired and your car just drives itself there? well fear not my tired friends, i'm here to tell you about an awesome local event called mommies who shop. mommies who shop is a night out for us moms to meet the girls and have a few glasses of wine while at the same time finding some great local artisans who make super cute stuff for our kids! there is always a spa there so you can be pampered while you shop. what's better than that?

toby + rei shows at all the mommies who shop events because we love meeting all these super hip moms and hearing them ooh and aaah over our stuff, but also to find great stuff for our own kids. the next show is in weston, ma on June 10th from 6-10pm at Regis College, 235 wellesley street. get directions here.

some of my favorite events partners are:

1. hoosier magnolia - looking for some baby gifts? nothing says summer like the backlog of baby gifts you need to buy and hoosier magnolia is just the place to stock up! i especially love her beautiful and unique mobiles (shown above), because as you all know i love birds. michelle, the owner/designer, is so nice and wonderfully creative and i get so many compliments when my kids wear her clothing. check out the beautiful hand sewn giraffe dress on jasper above.

2. sheabella tutus - i mean really? 2 nice ladies from brunswick, maine? cute tutus? whats better? if you have a girl in your life, you must buy her one of these fantastic homemade tutus. and then let her run free into the woods with her friends. run free little ballerinas, run free!

3. zooguu - these are the cutest little plush toys ever. so unexpected and different. i love them. how cute is this little bird? i know, i know again with the birds, but they have tons of different animals trust me.

tickets are $15.00 if you pre buy them on line and if you buy 5 tickets, the 6th one is free. so see you there!

swap meets

so, it's spring time (thank god) and as I am cleaning and purging the kids gazillion clothes (where do they come from?) i am starting to think about where all these clothes go. some of these clothes are so cute and have only been worn a few times. like when you buy your kid winter shoes and then the day after you buy them their feet grow two sizes.

anyways, sometimes i am organized enough by season to take them to the consignment store. my favorite is kid to kid in natick. you bring your crates of clothes, they assess them and either give you cash right there or they give you a store credit which they add 10% to total. and then it's like buying free clothes! to find your local consignment store, check here. if you live outside of massachusetts, check here, and then click your state.

finding a children's consignment store these days is tricky since the CPSIA regulations are making it impossible to buy second hand children's clothes. another way to help your clothes find a second life is to go to a clothing swap. these are gaining in popularity, there are some great local swaps already set up, to find one in your area check here. but- i'm wondering if it would be way more fun to have one at your house with your friends, some wine and garbage bags full of clothes. like this lady...but instead of wine she had baked potatoes. whatever. you say potato, i say pinot grigio. at the end of the party, the organizer could take the remaining clothes and donate them to local schools or rosies place or some other fantastic charity. if anyone is interested or has any cool party ideas, please post a comment.

watch out!

as kate browning always says, watch out! toby + rei hits the big time with our tees in the garnet hill catalog, "growing up garnet hill".  introducing the next generation of the robot tee, he is dip dyed (think tie dyed, but you actually dip the tees into a vat of dye) and printed in bright orange.  i think he is the best one yet.  he comes in size 2, 4 and 6.  size up though, the tees run a tad small.  

if you don't receive this catalog, it is super cute and i am loving all the girls bathing suits.  it makes it feel like it's maybe not 12 degrees and snowing here.  a little breath of spring air.  big sign.  

anyways, buy our robot tee through garnet hill here and we will love it when they sell out and we can be all like, really?  who knew?