Coquette Maman

American Girl Store to Open Nov 16 at Stanford Shopping Center

(Photos: Courtesy of American Girl)

American Girl is coming to the Bay Area! The new store will open on November 16, 2013 at the Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto. The new two-level 15,000-square-foot retail store features all of the American Girl products. This store is opening just in time for Chloe's birthday. I had promised her I would get her an American doll for her 5th birthday and now she can have a true experience instead of me having to order a doll online.

Not only can you shop. Girls can bring their dolls over to the store to play. They can get their hair done at the Doll Hair Salon (how cool is that?!) or enjoy lunch/dessert at the 27-seat contemporary Bistro where dolls sit in "treat seats" and have special doll-sized menus.

For crafty kids, the store will feature a "Creativi-tees" boutique, where girls can create stylish T-shirts for themselves and their dolls. Girl-friendly events and activities based on the American Girl characters and award-winning books will also be available throughout the year.

The new American Girl store is also set up for celebrations from birthdays to special occasions. Girls can have a Bistro party or opt for a deluxe celebration in a private party room where they can enjoy an organized game and craft, special food and cake, and party favors.

For more information on the new American Girl store or to make dining or party reservations, please call 1-877-247-5223.

Wee Society's DIY Halloween Costumes: Brown Bag It

Wee Society has added three new designs (a dinosaur, unicorn and koala) to their collection of DIY Halloween Costumes. All you need is a brown grocery bag and colorful construction paper. Simply choose what animal your child wants to be and download the PDF that includes the instructions and templates.

Once you've completed your paperific costume, take a pic of your kiddo in the costume and upload it to the Wee Society Facebook page for your chance to win a free Wee Alphas art print!

Mini Boden's Colorful Fall Fleeces for Boys and Girls

Kids need to keep warm and with the fall and winter weather coming up, I love the lightweight warmth and easy-to-wear functionality of fleece jackets. Mini Boden has them in cute colors and patterns that will make your little one look his or her best. The polka-dot fun of the girls' Hooded Teddy Zip Sweatshirt ($42 at bodenusa.com) and the stunning colorblock of the boys' Two-in-one Sherpa Zip Sweatshirt ($54 at bodenusa.com) are two of my favorites.

Here are more cozy fleeces from Mini Boden:

Cosy Vest ($38)

Teddy Zip Sweatshirt ($38)

Shaggy Lined Hoody ($54)

Back to School Shopping at Nordstrom Rack SF

Nordstrom Rack at 555 Ninth Street in San Francisco is now stocked with plenty of kids clothes! (For you new moms, there are lots of baby clothes too.) The folks at Nordstrom were nice enough to give me a $150 gift card to shop and check out all the cool kids' goods. A few days ago, my little fashionista Chloe and I took a shopping trip over to get her some new clothes for Back to School. Pictured above are the items we picked out together. She had a lot of input on what she wanted and we had a lot of fun. There was so much to choose from with lots of brand names you know and love.

Nordstrom Rack
555 Ninth Street (between Bryant Street & Brannan Street)
San Francisco, CA 94103
(415) 934-1211

Hours:
Mon-Sat 10am - 9pm
Sun 10am - 7pm

My girl probably grew about an inch or more this summer so we needed to stock up on jeans. We got two pairs in one of my favorite kids brands, Tractor. They make the best pants. I got a dark jean color and a floral pattern for her. These retail for $50 and over and we snagged them for just $29.97 and $23.97. I loved the colored jeggings by Joe's Jeans so we picked up a pair in Magenta for only $19.97 (regular $48). Let me tell you, this is going to be my go to place to pick up new pairs of pants. I don't have to wait for the anniversary sale and they have all the pants that are in fashion so I don't have to skimp on quality.

Hello Kitty cuteness was on display as well as sparkly tutus.

There were also lots of great clothes for boys. I love these striped Hurley hoodies – a staple for our foggy SF weather. I didn't get any photos of it but there were some great North Face fleece jackets for boys and girls floating around the section, mostly in toddler sizes.

You can't go back to school without a backpack, right? There were plenty of backpacks and mini-backpacks that were about $30 and under.

If you're a new mom and not yet ready for back to school, you'll enjoy the array of baby clothes that you can pick up. It made me nostalgic for the days when I could simply pick whatever outfit I wanted to for Chloe.

And if you are lucky enough to have some alone time to go sans kids, the handbag section is packed with some cute bags from Michael Kors, Rebecca Minkoff and more. Chloe didn't have the patience for me to look at my things so I'll have to go back by myself another day.

Shopping at Nordstrom Rack's kids' department was a breeze. Back to School shopping should always be this easy. Plus it's great to have free parking to shop somewhere in SF!

Disclaimer: Nordstrom provided me with at $150 gift card to review the shopping experience in this post.

Lunch Time

I have gone through a few different kinds of lunch bags for Chloe and I've found the lunch bags at Pottery Barn Kids to be the best. I love that the lunch bags designs feature a wide variety of adorable prints for girls and boys and they are not tied to any commercial character. Chloe has the retro lunch bag in a previous butterfly pattern. I even got it embroidered with her name too which is a nice touch. It's the perfect size for a kid to carry. I chose the retro size lunch bag since it was easier to stack up her small plastic containers to sit along with a thermos of soup or juice box. After a year of daily use in school, it's still in perfect shape. I asked her if she wanted to pick a new lunch bag for Kindergarten and she refused. She loves her butterfly lunch box. Gotta love that!
Tip: I saw this on the Today show last year. There are so many germs at school that it's important to wash their most used school items such as their lunch bag or backpack. I have been washing Chloe's retro lunch bag each weekend and it is still in such fantastic quality.

Get free shipping for a limited time on all lunch bags at potterybarnkids.com.

Valet Birthday Service from Fiddlesticks in SF

Fiddlesticks is well-curated a children’s clothing and toy store located in Hayes Valley neighborhood of San Francisco. It's definitely one of my favorite kids stores in the city.

It feels like sometimes my weekends are filled with children's birthday parties and figuring out all the right gifts to get can be time consuming and overwhelming. Now Fiddlesticks makes it easier on us moms with their new valet gift service. One quick phone call is all it takes to cross gift shopping (birthday parties or baby showers) off your list.

Just call the shop at least a day in advance, tell the staff who you’re shopping for and what you’d like to spend, and they’ll pick out the best gift in the shop and charge you over the phone. You can swing by the store to pick up your wrapped gift or if you order it in advance, it can be shipped for you too.

I love their range of stylish and unique gifts, from earth-friendly toys to trendy clothes. The Fiddlesticks blog always showcases the new items filling up their shop.

For more information on the Valet Gift Service visit Fiddlesticks online. To shop the service, just call Fiddlesticks at 415-565-0508.

Easy Nursery & Kid's Room Decor with Letters

If you're looking for ways to spruce up the decor in a nursery or kids room, there's no easier way than personalizing it with their name. I love the classic simplicity of these Storybook Letters ($11 each letter, $4 extra for ribbon) from New Arrivals, Inc. Choose from a variety of ribbon styles from polka dots to new chevron patterns.

You can also go with block letters for a fun display if you don't want to hang things on a wall. New Arrivals, Inc has them in a variety of colors and prints for just $8 each. I also love the vintage feel they have.

Go even simpler with just a jumbo wooden letter ($68) and mix in photos.

See all letters from New Arrivals, Inc.

Every Little Girl is a Princess by Andree Prendergast

Every Little Girl is a Princess by Andree Prendergast (Illustrated by Riva England)

I review and read a lot of children's books and with a 4 and a half year old little girl, definitely a lot of princess ones. Every Little Girl is a Princess ($9.99 on Amazon) by Andree Prendergast is a different kind of princess story – one that finally shows little girls the power of being a good person that will in turn enhance self esteem. I read this book to Chloe and she loved it. She used to tell me before bed, "I wish I was a real princess". She hasn't said it again since I read her this book.

The book's heroine is Callie who much like my own Chloe, wishes she could be a real princess. Her dog Toby discovers an old book in the backyard that outlines the five virtues to be a real princess: faith, love, kindness, courage, and friendship. By accomplishing each virtue, "you will feel a warm glow inside". I loved that quote and as I read through the book, I also talked with Chloe about some of the good deeds she did and how good it made her feel. The book also celebrates each person's differences. Callie didn't like her red hair or freckles but came to embrace it all by the end of the story.

Needless to say, this book is a huge hit in my home. Sure Chloe still plays princess (along with her other make believe games) but she no longer pines for the false reality of princess royalty because she enjoys her life and seems to understand it all better.

I have been emailing back and forth with Andree for a couple of weeks now, excited to ask her how she was inspired to write this book. I also have to commend her for going the self-publishing route. Writing a book is not easy (trust me I know) but having to self-publish it is even harder. So if you have a little girl in your home or know of one, Every Little Girl is a Princess is the perfect story to give girls the boost and foundation to becoming a good strong person.

Here's more from the author Andree Prendergast:

I started writing the book, Every Little Girl is a Princess, several years before I had granddaughters [now 4 1/2 years old]. At that time, I wanted to write a story about a little girl who wanted to be a princess, and didn't have a lot, so she thought the answer to her happiness would be to become a princess. I didn't have a time table to finish the book, but kept at it, and never lost my desire to tell this story. I remember thinking that I wanted my book to send a very special message that would have meaning to little girls who perhaps weren't happy with themselves, but needed to believe that they were special just the way they were.

As it turned out, after I became a grandmother, and was blessed with two beautiful granddaughters, my desire to finish my book was reignited! The message I had wanted to convey became clearer to me, and it was something I wanted to pass on to my granddaughters, as well as all little girls.

The message would stress that happiness doesn't result from having a lot of things, and that being a princess isn't really about being treated a certain way or looking a certain way. Being a princess is about who you are inside, and how you treat yourself and others. I was able to demonstrate this through the discovery of the princess virtues, faith, love, friendship, courage and kindness, all traits of a true princess. Little girls would find out that they had always possessed the princess traits, —they just had to discover them!

It's important for my granddaughters, and all little girls to love and accept themselves just as they are, and believe that they are good enough just the way they are!

Uniqlo + Ladurée Tees for Girls & Women

UNIQLO has partnered with famed Parisian patisserie company Maison Ladurée, to create a t- shirt collection for a cause, featuring playful "Les Amis de Ladurée” graphics with 9 styles for kids and 10 for women. A portion of the sales will be donated to IVY, a nonprofit organization helping children in the Tohoku region of Northeast Japan, which was severely affected by the 2011 earthquake disaster. Pictured above are 3 cute designs for girls: T-shirt with Macarons and Eiffel Tower (in mint and navy), Jour de Chance T-shirt (in white and purple), Stripe T-shirt with Kitty (in pink or green stripe). Each kids t-shirt retails for $12.90.

For women, choose from a selection of adorable prints. I love this Laduree Short Puff Sleeve T-shirt in green and this Laduree Print T-shirt in white or pink. All women's t-shirts are $19.90 each. The collection launched this week at all UNIQLO retail locations and also online.

Shop all Laduree T-shirts at uniqlo.com.

BonLook: Stylish Sunglasses for Kids

BonLook has launched a stylish kids collection of sunglasses in collaboration with Bleu Bird and Love Taza. These stylish sunnies come in classic and fun styles like they popped off the runway and shrank down into little mini me versions. Each pair of sunnies are only $39.