A Memory Of Us

||Solid Starts courses | Ink Spots Gallery camping prints* | Grabease double sided toothbrush | Ro-Sham-Bo Zack Morris Sunglasses | Primary light-weight puffer baby jacket | Pipette Baby Shampoo and Wash* | Eloise and Lolo Original Diaper Bag Backpack | Ezpz Tiny Cup* | Fat Brain Toys Dimpl* ||

Last week, I posted about my Favorite Local KC Stores. That post included most of my favorite local places to shop. Continuing on with that theme, today I thought I would share my favorite small businesses to buy baby products from. Most of my favorite small businesses to support happen to be for baby products. (Probably because that seems to be the only thing I am buying this year!) If you have any favorite small businesses you love that sell baby products, please leave them in the comments. I love learning about new local shops that I can support when I need to buy goodies for my little one! (Links with an * at the end are affiliate links.)

1. Ro-Sham-Bo Baby Shades - Probably my top favorite small business for baby products is Ro-Sham-Bo Baby Sunglasses. Baby sunglasses are one of those things you don't really think of until you absolutely need it. For that reason, these sunglasses are one of my favorite gifts to send to new parents! We have these for our son and absolutely love them. They don't break, clean easily, and are comfy on his little face. They also have an amazing mission, where they support an autism charity with a portion of every sale. They partner with Surfers Healing - which takes kids with autism and their families out surfing. The idea is that is program shows the kids everything they can do - not what they can't. Their Black Friday promotion is up to 25% off your purchase.

2. Primary - Primary is a great place to shop for kids clothing. Everything is great quality and is made for every kid. Each item comes in a rainbow of colors. There are no labels or weird slogans on the clothes. Just nicely made, colorful pieces. My favorite thing we own from there currently is their light-weight puffer baby jacket. We have it in red! Their current Black Friday promotion is that if you make a purchase this weekend you get free shipping for the whole year! (They also have quite a few pieces that are 40% off.)

3. Solid Starts - Solid Starts is my favorite Baby-Led-Weaning (BLW) Instagram account to follow for help and information about BLW. They provide soooo much information for free on their Instagram and website. I reference their first food database weekly when I want to see the nutritional value of food I am feeding our son, as well as to learn how to prepare it. They provide quite a bit of information for free on their website and Instagram, but they also have guides for feeding babies and toddlers available for purchase online.

4. Grabease - Grabease sells utensils, plates, bibs, toothbrushes and more. Grabease was started by a mom who continually noticed gaps in the products available for her own children. We use their double sided toothbrush with our little one. The double sided toothbrush means that you can brush faster - as you can be assured you are getting both top and bottom teeth in one swoop! They also partner with charities to give back to children in need with each purchase. They are currently offering up to 30% off your total purchase.

5. ezpz* - Ezpz makes great products to help you feed your child! They sell placemats, bowls, cups, utensils, and more. Our favorite product from them is the tiny cup*. Our son has been able to drink from an open cup (with assistance) since probably 7 months because of this cup. We have since introduced sippy cups and straw cups, but keep coming back to the tiny cup. There are a lot of benefits to a baby drinking from an open cup. For example, drinking from an open cup helps a baby's oral and speech development as well has helps baby to learn how to swallow. They are currently offering 25% off your total purchase. Ezpz is also available at buybuy BABY*.

6. Ink Spots Gallery* - Ink Spots Gallery is an Etsy store that sells adorable custom art for nurseries. They probably sell artwork for whatever nursery theme* you have chosen for your little one. They offer multiple ways to order your artwork, but we just downloaded the prints and printed them here in KC. (You can choose digital downloads, prints, or canvases at check out.) We have these camping prints* in our son's outdoor themed nursery.

7. Big Wheels 2 Butterflies Kids Resale - Although you can't shop there online, I wanted to share one of my favorite places to get kids clothes online. Big Wheels 2 Butterflies is a kid's resale shop in Omaha, NE. I love going there when we are in Nebraska visiting family. Children grow sooo quickly, so it is nice to balance out their wardrobe with some resale items. Most of the items we purchase from there are $2! Your local area probably has a kids resale shop, so do a search to see what you can find nearby. A thrift store is always a good option too. ThredUP is an online consignment store that does sell kid items, as well. I have bought/sold clothes for myself on ThredUP in the past.

8. Fat Brain Toys* - Fat Brain Toys* is one of my absolute favorite places to buy baby toys. I don't know that I can technically consider them a "small business" anymore because they have grown like crazy, but they are a local Nebraska company that I love! They have also partnered up with Team Jack to support pediatric brain cancer They strive for all of their toys to help provide children with a smarter way to play. (Also, most of the time after I purchase directly from their website, I get sent a survey about my experience. After I complete the survey I get a $5 coupon to use next time!) My favorite toy we have purchased from them is the Whirly Squigz*. Our son loves these large silicone spinners. (They look like an oversized fidget spinner... remember those?!) They suction to his activty table, windows, the fridge, tile floor, and more. I have also heard they are great for airplanes as they suction to windows and the trays! Our son is also receiving the Dimpl* for his first Christmas. Fat Brain Toys currently has a small selection of toys up to 70% off for Black Friday*.

9. Pipette* - Pipette is where I purchased my son's bath and body products from. I first heard about them in a magazine. Again, not sure if I can *technically* consider them a small business since they are in Target, but I do love them! They currently have 40% off sitewide for Black Friday. All of their products are made with safe ingredients and are non-toxic. Also, they practice Carbon Neutral Shipping, which means that they offset carbon dioxide shipping emissions by funding reforestation projects and planting trees. I love their Baby Shampoo and Wash* and Baby Lotion*.

10. Eloise and Lolo - To round out this list, I wanted to share where our diaper bag is from. We have their Original Diaper Bag Backpack in Navy Blue. It has worked great for us over the last year. However, since COVID hit soon after our son was born it hasn't gotten much use this year. Shipping did take quite awhile when we ordered from them, just an FYI! They are currently offering 25% off sitewide this year for Black Friday.

I hope you were able to learn about some new small businesses to support from this post! If you have any small businesses to buy baby products from that I did not mention, please share them in the comments!

baby - Sunday, November 29, 2020

Small Business to Buy Baby Products From

|| Solid Starts courses | Ink Spots Gallery camping prints* | Grabease double sided toothbrush | Ro-Sham-Bo Zack Morris Sunglasses ...

My Favorite Local KC Shops | A Memory of Us

||Charlie Hustle KC Heart Sweatshirt | Rainy Day Books The Happy Ever After Playlist | Made in KC Sunday Funday Hat | Hallmark Twinkle, Twinkle Little One Book | Jorjy Amber Rim Margarita Glass | The Roasterie ArtsKC Unleashed Blend | Mama and Me Boutique Double Decker Bus Tee | Lauren Alexandra Ballerina Mouse ||

Now more than ever, it is important to shop small. We all should do what we can to support the local businesses in our area. Today, I thought I would round up some of my favorite local KC businesses. This is just a small list - there truly are so many great shops to highlight. I did limit my list below to places that have a good website you can shop through. There are some local stores that I love, but that you can't purchase online. I know it is not always easy to shop small or local. However, if we all make an effort to shop small more often it will make a big difference! I have seen interviews with small business owners in the past saying that if they just received one extra order a day it would make such an impact in their bottom line. In the spirit of holidays, try to to purchase at least one gift this season from a local business!

If you have a favorite local KC shop, please leave it in the comments so that we can all support more local businesses!

Clothing and Jewelry

1. Love Letters KC: Love Letters KC is one of my favorite stops for cute KC gear! They have so many great shirts, sweatshirts, and hats to represent KC sports teams, or just the city in general. This is my favorite shirt from them that I own currently! It's perfect for Chiefs football season.

2. Charlie Hustle: Charlie Hustle is another great shop to pick up KC gear. Charlie Hustle is probably best known for their shirts with the heart that have a "KC" in the middle of it, but they have soooo many other great options. They also have a fun "Hometown Collection" that highlights special interests to KC such as the plaza lights, the Nelson Atkins art museum, BBQ, and more. If you aren't a KC sports fan, they also have gear available for other schools in the area such as Nebraska, Arkansas, and Iowa. I personally have one of their hearts with an "NE" in the middle. It doesn't look like they sell those anymore, but here is their Nebraska collection.

3. Made in KC: Made in KC is a one stop shop for locally made goods. They have multiple locations in the city now and the one on the Plaza is amazing!! It a huge store that even has a bar, coffee shop, treats, and more. You can find awesome KC gear, candles, jewelry, chocolate, BBQ sauce, etc. "Go Chiefs Go" is a great addition to your little one's library to help commemorate the 2019-2020 Kansas City Chiefs season. We own this book and the rhymes and illustrations are fantastic. I also have this KC hat from them and love it.

4. Meierotto Jewelers: Meierotto Jewelers is by far my favorite local KC jewelry store. Our wedding rings are from there, and so is my ring that my husband gifted me when our son was born. They have high end pieces, estate sale pieces (that are so fun to browse), and even some of the more affordable brands like Alex and Ani and Kendra Scott. At the time of this posting, they have free shipping on all orders so it is really easy to support a local store for any jewelry needs. Their store itself is also amazing and really impressive. Post-Covid you must go check it out -- they even offer coffee, beer, and treats for guests. (Although I am sure that is all put away right now.) My husband and I still talk about how many jelly beans we ate while choosing our wedding bands.

5. Sincerely, Ellis: Sincerely, Ellis is one of my favorite local boutiques. Check them out for some cute tops, dresses, pants and more!

Food and Drink

1. The Roasterie: The Roasterie a local coffee shop that continually comes out with new, fun coffee blends. You can purchases coffee beans online, as well as brewing equipment. Once it is safe to do so, taking a tour of their operation is really fun too! They also sell other merchandise like Charlie Hustle t-shirts, prints, and coffee mugs.

2. Headrush Roasters: Headrush Roasters another favorite local coffee shop. You can purchase their coffee and tea online.

3. Boulevard: Boulevard Brewery is a favorite for beverages, but they also have an amazing gift shop of local goods! They have a small selection of prints, t-shirts, and candles available online.

4. Jack Stack BBQ: Everybody in KC has a favorite BBQ place, and Jack Stack is one of mine. You can even order BBQ and some of their spices and sauces online.

Home Decor and Gifts

1. Nell Hills: Nell Hills is an amazing home decorating shop located in Briarcliff Village. Pre-Covid I could spend forever walking through the store getting ideas. They have furniture, Christmas decor, tabletop pieces, candles, and more.

2. Hallmark: Hallmark is great stop for fun gifts. They may be primarily known for their cards or ornaments, but they have so many fun goodies! The baby book I am using for my son is actually from there. Other things you can find at Hallmark are candles, picture frames, coffee mugs, and more.

3. Jorjy: Jorjy is lifestyle and home decor store. The owner of Jorjy also runs Lauren Alexandra, which is a children's boutique. I am a big fan of the unique game night selections at Jorjy, but they also have great decor pieces.

Children's Clothing, Toys, and Books

1. Lauren Alexandra: Lauren Alexandra is an adorable children's boutique owned by the same people who own Jorjy. Lauren Alexandra has adorable baby clothing, books and toys, and even stuff for mom and dad (like jewelry or journals).

2. Mama and Me Children's Boutique: Mama and Me Children's Boutique is in Liberty, MO. There you can find everything including clothes, toys, books, and even items like bibs or plates for meal time. Be sure to check out their "last chance" section for some amazing deals!

3. Rainy Day Books: Rainy Day Books is a local bookstore that has been in business since 1975! Want to give someone some books but not sure what to select? They have curated gift boxes that do the work for you!

gift guide - Monday, November 23, 2020

My Favorite Local KC Shops

||Charlie Hustle KC Heart Sweatshirt | Rainy Day Books The Happy Ever After Playlist | Made in KC Sunday Funday Hat | Hallmark ...

Links in this post are affiliate links and I may earn commission. Thanks for supporting me and my blog!

The Best Two Player Games | A Memory of Us

My husband and I have always been a huge fan of game nights. We love getting together with a small group of friends to catch up and play games. However, due to COVID-19 and 2020, we haven't been able to have game night with friends in months. Instead, we've been building up our collection of two player games. Since it doesn't look like COVID-19 and social distancing is ending anytime soon, I thought I would put together a list of some of our favorite games that are great for two players. These games are great to add to your collection if you are looking for new ways to stay entertained during quarantine. I also have a few games listed that we don't own yet but that I have heard great things about. If you have any suggestions of games that are good for couples, let me know in the comments! I think we will all be looking for ways to entertain ourselves at home over the next few months. Games are also a great Christmas or Birthday gift so these are all great gift ideas! Links below are affiliate links.

Games We Own

The Best Games for Two People | Two People Board Games | At Home Date Night Ideas | Games to Play at Home | Games for Two Players | Two Player Board Games

1. Ticket to Ride: Ticket to Ride is actually one of my favorite games to play with a group but it is also a fun game for just two people. There are so many different versions (We have the original and Ticket to Ride Europe). In Ticket to Ride, the game board is a map of a country. Cities are called out all over the map connected by different colored train routes. At the start of the game everyone draws three routes. The objective of the game is to complete all of the routes you picked at the start of the game. On your turn you draw different colored train cards so that you connect a city. If you have the right cards to connect a city, you will lay down your train pieces to claim the route. It's a super fun game that usually takes about an hour to play.

2. Qwixx: Qwixx is another game that is great with a group but is equally as fun with only two people. At it's simplest, Qwixx is a dice game where the objective is to roll the numbers 1 through 12 on each of the 4 different colored dice. It's kind of similar to Yahtzee as you are looking for certain number combinations or sequences to earn the most points. Tyler and I were gifted this last Christmas and we have loved playing it all year. We usually play two rounds when we play and can get the game done in about 30 minutes.

3. Sequence: Sequence is a board game featuring cards from a standard deck of cards. They are all mixed around in no particular order. Players collect cards from a draw pile on their turn. When they have a card they want to secure on the game board, they lay it down and play a chip on the card on the game board. When you have 5 in a row you get a sequence. How many people you play with determines how many sequences you need to win the game. We usually play two rounds when we play this game and it takes about an hour for both.

4. Farkle: Farkle is another dice game similar to Yahtzee. However, instead of trying to get certain combinations of dice to cross off a score sheet, you are looking for certain combinations of dice to earn points and get to 10,000 points. Depending on how you roll, this game can take anywhere between 15-30 minutes.

5. Darts: Darts is fun for when you want to be a little more active. We usually bust out darts when we want to watch something on tv, like a sporting event, or just want to still be up and moving. We play either Cricket or 301. Dart boards start cheap ($27.99) and can get crazy expensive depending on how fancy you get. Etsy has some really cool custom ones! I love this one that features American Flag cabinet doors and a place to keep score.

6. Bananagrams: Bananagrams is a fast paced spelling game, similar to Scrabble. Instead of playing on a game board with someone else, you play with your own tiles just in the space in front of you. You win if you use all of your tiles first. Games are fast - 15 minutes for one round.

7. Rummikub: In Rummikub, each player has numbered tiles that they start the game with, and draw on each turn. You want to play your tiles in a sequence (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) or in a grouping (3 3's, for example). After your initial turn, you can add on or break up other tile sequences. Goal is get rid of all your tiles first. If you cannot play on your turn, you draw another tile. This game takes us anywhere between 30 minutes to an hour.

8. Mancala: Mancala is a classic for a reason. It's quick, fun, and easy to learn. Putting it very simply, Mancala is a strategy game to collect gemstones. Fast game that usually takes less than 15 minutes per round.

9. Cards: Not all games need to be fancy, and sometimes all you need is a good ol' deck of cards. Our favorite card game is golf. (Instructions here.) There are so many games you can play with a deck of cards. A bunch of options are listed out on the Bicycle Card Website.

2 Player Games | 2 Player Game Ideas | Games to Play with 2 People | Board Games for 2 People | 2 People Board Games | 2 Person Board Games

10. Upwords: Upwords is another spelling game similar to Scrabble. However, in addition to adding words across a gameboard, you can also stack letters and go up. Game ends when all tiles are used and nobody can make anymore words. Takes anywhere between 30 minutes to an hour.

11. Cribbage: Updating this post in 2024 with a new 2 player game that we love! Cribbage is a fun card game that you can play with 2 players, or play with a teams and play with 4 people. We play this often with my mom. It's a classic for a reason.

12. Genius Square: Another update for 2024. This is a 2 player puzzle game. The board is kind of set up like a bingo board where each square corresponds to a letter/number (like A1). Roll this dice to determine which squares get blocked by a token. Then each person tries to fit the different blocks in. First one to complete it wins! My four year old also likes to play this game :).

Games On Our "To Buy" List

1. Tenzi: The Tenzi Dice game is actually on my Christmas list this year! It looks really fun and somewhat similar to two games we already like (Qwixx and Farkle). Tenzi is a fast paced dice game where all game players roll 10 dice a time. The first person to get all 10 dice to land on the same number wins.

2. Bloom Wildflower Dice Game: In the Bloom Wildflower Dice Game, you roll dice with an objective of crossing off flowers on your score sheet. The number you roll on each colored dice determines what you can cross off on you score sheet. The score sheet looks like a screen in candy crush, where you need items grouped together to be able to cross them off. I don't know anyone who has played this, but it looks fun and has good reviews!

3. Jaipur: Jaipur is a two player board game that has been recommended to me multiple times! It is a strategy card game.

4. Catan Rivals: Catan Rivals is the 2 player dice version of one of my favorite games, Settlers of Catan. Settlers of Catan is a strategy board game that I love so I am sure the dice game is fun too!

If you are in the market for some new board games I hope you found this post helpful! Did I leave out your favorite game? Let me know in the comments. I love finding new games to play and welcome any suggestions!

gift guide - Sunday, November 15, 2020

Our Favorite Two Player Games | Games You Can Play with 2 People

Links in this post are affiliate links and I may earn commission. Thanks for supporting me and my blog! My husband and I have always been a...

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