Hooray Haroo Shop!

Last week I had the opportunity to witness something very exciting.  My friend Roxy, along with her business partner Staci, opened their new children't boutique!  Roxy and I worked very closely together for a few design seasons before I had Pearl.  We got to know one another very well and she is one of the few people that I keep up with regularly from that company.  It has been fun to watch her start a business with a friend and have it grow into what it is today.  I'm so excited to see a friend realize a dream.

Pearl and I stopped by their store last week as they were preparing the space.  I love all of the work they did.  They painted the floor with lace stencils and accented the wall space with a bright turquoise.  It's a really happy space.

I also had a chance to look at some of the product they are selling.  They have their own line of adorable girls clothing and sell from a number of local vendors.  They carry very popular kids items like Blabla Dolls as well.  I love supporting local businesses so it's great to know that when I buy from their store, I am not only supporting local shop owners, but the majority of the items are made locally as well.  They have my bow ties and bibs for sale too!

If you are local to the Portland area, I highly recommend checking out their shop which just opened on Mother's Day!

The store is located in the Sellwood area of SE Portland at:

8235 SE 13th Ave

Portland, OR 97202

Check out their Facebook page for more info.
-Kira

Toddler Tantrums - How to Manage?!

Post total freak out

Pearl has entered what I have heard referred to as the "terrible twos" stage.  She isn't quite two yet, but she is certainly throwing ridiculous tantrums all of a sudden.  She is still a very sweet girl, but will occasionally lose it over the tiniest things.

We walked to a nearby restaurant for breakfast on Friday.  She kept trying to walk into the road on the way home and since that stretch of the walk has no sidewalks, Jeremy picked her up.  Pearl went totally nuts.  She was crying, screaming, kicking, and eventually started hitting him.  Once we got home, he sat her down on the floor bed in her room to let her work it out.  She rolled around her room crying for a good ten minutes before finally crawling into my lap and falling asleep.

I thought he handled the situation amazingly well as it was his first experience with one of her tantrums.  I have been seeing them more and more recently during the day though and I have no idea how to punish a young toddler who is crying for silly reasons.  It's one thing when she dumps out the dog food or is playing with the stereo.  Those are easy things to tell her she shouldn't be doing and pull her away from the situation.  But what do I do with a kid who all of a sudden thinks the end of the world has arrived?  I'm not sure how to make her understand that acting like that is not okay.

So, I would love advice.  I know a lot of you who read my blog are parents and I'm curious to know what has worked for you during the crazy tantrum stage of toddlerhood?

Thanks for the help!

-Kira

Portlander Problems #41 - Guest Post by Leah of The Content Owl

The problems this week come from fellow Portland area blogger Leah of the Content Owl!

1. There are super long waits to get into the best restaurants in town (like multiple hours).  One would think you were waiting to get into a hot nightclub instead of trying to get into brunch at the Screen Door.  But we all wait in those lines, don't we?

2. Telling people you live in Beaverton by choice, and you get THAT look...*

3. Getting upset with your neighbors for not recycling so much so that you take photos and send them to friends/family to shame them. (I will have to Instagram this before we move so you know how bad they are!)

4. Rain pretty much the entire Rose Festival and all of June.  It's supposed to be summer!

Thanks Leah!

Click here to see the problems from past weeks.

If you live in the Portland area and want to share some of your own, I would love if you would submit your Portlander Problems to me. 

I will post yours one of these coming weeks.  E-mail me at kiralynnpdx@gmail.com.

-Kira

*side note from Kira - I would totally give you THAT look.  The only thing I can count on out there is that I will get lost every time I drive to that area.

Toddler Style #8 - Dress Hem Quick Fix

This dress was the first item I purchased for Pearl after finding out I was pregnant with a girl.  I was on a vintage inspiration shopping trip for work and when I saw it, I just had to have it.  The smocking detail was just too sweet to pass up.  The dress is a size 2T and although Pearl can wear 2T shirts now, she is too short for dresses and bottoms in that size to work yet.  It fit her pretty well in the shoulders, but was way too long.

I decided to hem it, but thought it would be great if I could keep the length on the inside so I can let it down as she gets older.  I wanted her to wear it today, but only had 20 minutes before we had to leave for an appointment.  Hand stitching was out of the question.  I decided to do a basting stitch in a matching thread because I would be able to pull it out easily later.  I measured it to the length that I wanted, pinned it up, and stitched all around the top of the hem.  I just back stitched a bit at the beginning and end to keep it from unraveling.  Then I pressed my new hem.  The whole process took about 5 minutes and we got out of the house with plenty of time to spare!

Dress: Vintage (purchased at Vintage Pink), Shoes: Target, Headband: Anthropologie

-Kira

Perfect Weekend

This weekend was kind of perfect.  The weather was so beautiful.  A group of my friends arranged to take me out for craft time and brunch to celebrate baby boy.  Then we had a barbecue at our house that evening. It was so fun to see all of the kids running around and enjoying our big yard.  On Sunday we went to Cartlandia then played games and ate s'mores in our backyard.  It was exactly the kind of relaxing weekend I needed prior to things getting crazy around here with a toddler/new infant combo.

On Sunday I officially hit full term status at 37 weeks.  Baby boy could come at any time now.  I can't wait to meet him!

-Kira

Get Your Orders in Now at the Rain OR Shine Shop

I wanted to give everyone the heads up that I will be closing the Rain OR Shine Shop for a while after baby boy is born.  I will keep in stock items listed, but as I have been doing a lot of sewing for local shops recently, I don't have much in stock.  I will be 37 weeks on Sunday so really, he could come any day now.  So don't wait, if you see something you want to order soon...you should probably do it right now :)

For those living in the Portland area, I just dropped off a ton of Pendleton wool bow ties and pacifier clips at Tender Loving Empire downtown.  I'm also working on an order for Hooray Haroo which is a new children's boutique opening in the Sellwood area this month.  So those of you in PDX will still have an opportunity to buy.

Happy Friday!

-Kira

San Juan Island Trip

Over the weekend we stayed in Friday Harbor on San Juan Island up in WA.  We have been there a few times.  This is actually Pearl's second trip up there.  She went once as an infant, but obviously didn't care too much.  It was fun to watch her explore and experience new things this time around.

Jeremy took Pearl out on a little boat.  She was pretty freaked out about the whole experience and would only stop crying when he was able to pick her up and hold her.  I was probably equally freaked out while watching.

She had a ton of fun hanging out on the deck where she could watch birds, play with lumber, and sit in boats (as long as they were not in the water).  Pearl was also very helpful and liked handing wood to whoever was building the fire.  She was spoiled quite a bit while we were there with ice cream and a trip to a cute local toy store which resulted in new cars and puzzles for her to take home.  We were usually out and about during nap time so she took a lot of little cat naps in the car.  On the last day she gave up though and slept through lunch in her stroller.

She absolutely loved going outside while on the ferry.  I couldn't take it for very long.  It was so cold and windy, but she was having the time of her life.  Jeremy kept her out there for a while because she was loving it so much.  I managed to get a few funny face photos, but Jeremy doesn't think they fully capture the joy she experienced.

We had a great time and can't wait until we can take both kids up there next year!

-Kira