Thursday, February 11, 2010

Itzy Ritzy Fan


Deanna Hernandez-Arza, a member of our Fabric Focus Group and Itzy Ritzy fan, sent us this picture of her adorable daughter dining in style with her Avocado Damask Ritzy Sitzy Shopping Cart & High Chair Cover!

ENK Trade Show

Itzy Ritzy is excited to announce that we will be at the ENK Children’s Club in NYC March 7th - 9th 2010! Come and see us!

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Parent Profile

Meet Maria Barnes, our hilarious parent for February's Parent Profile, and her beautiful family! Maria was nominated by fellow Itzy Ritzy newsletter member Jillian. Jillian says "Maria handles motherhood unlike no one else I have ever met and is really an inspiration to me by continually laughing through her day with four children!"



Name: Maria Barnes

Occupation: Stay at home mom of 4. When I finish my training here, I will be qualified for a job as a taxi driver, cook, housekeeper, tutor, accountant, hostage negotiator, or peacekeeper with the United Nations.

Maria's children and what they're into:
Quentin, age 14 years: Involved in wrestling and track. He never leaves home without his iPod. We both have a love of music and spend a lot of time talking about new bands and songs. Single-handedly making Verizon rethink their unlimited texting plan. The hero of his younger siblings, he is wonderful with them. He has a great sense of humor, very quick-witted: to be with him is to be laughing.

Aidan, age 5 years: Plays soccer (go Little Sting!) and takes gymnastics. He has the most amazing smile: his whole face gets involved. He is very sweet, sensitive and kind. He loves to build with Tinker Toys and Legos, has a need to know how everything works and questions everything. He eats blocks of brie like they're apples, just like his dad. He snores like a jackhammer, again, just like his dad.

Wyatt, age 3 years: Loves to color and do art projects. He has his own catch phrase, "That's what I do" (closely related to "That's how I roll" in the urban dictionary). Tells me the food I cook "makes his eyeballs burn". Sometimes he sleeps inside his pillowcase with only his feet hanging out and sleeps with a picture of himself. He almost never wakes up in the same clothes he falls asleep in: he re-dresses in the middle of the night, sometimes putting on 3 or 4 shirts. He is funny without trying.

Tatum, age 2 years: Just started taking gymnastics. She loves her baby dolls, purses, and anything "Fancy Nancy". A great mix of sweet and tough, she's a perfect little sister to three older brothers. Her brothers don't let her act like a princess, which I think is great. She has a great, deep laugh. She brings a great energy to our family. I couldn't have picked a more perfect daughter.


Hometown:

Fort Thomas, KY

Other cities where Maria has lived:
Walton, KY; Chicago, IL and Naperville, IL

Maria's favorite Itzy Ritzy fabrics:
Central Park West, Rocket Man and Perfect Princess

Maria's one piece of advice for someone about to become a first time parent:
Even on the toughest of days, try to find the humor in parenthood. Don't be afraid to make mistakes and laugh at yourself. Tell people about your mistakes, because we want to laugh too.
Also, under no circumstances do you let your kids in on any secrets you don't want friends, family, teachers, and strangers to know. It brings toddlers great joy to hear people laugh at their parents. If you forget this rule, refer back to my advice on learning to laugh at yourself.

Maria's go-to quick and easy meal for her kids:
Chicken and cheese quesadilla with salsa on the side and fresh fruit.


Maria's parenting trick:

Let the little stuff go, pick your battles. Find a good balance of friend and parent with each of your children. Be willing to adjust your approach to parenting based on your child's individual needs.
Let your kids play with rolls of tape, sometimes they'll tape their mouths shut without you even needing to ask.
Quentin's advice: When you're upset with one child, don't take it out on the others. Be consistent in your parenting.

Maria's favorite guilty pleasure magazine and TV show:
US Magazine (although I call it U.S. Magazine so it sounds like I'm reading important, hard-hitting news and not celebrity gossip).
"Keeping up with the Kardashians", "The Hills", "The Real Desperate Housewives", "Giuliana & Bill"

The one fashion item Maria cannot live without:
I would say the one fashion accessory I can't live without is jewelry. It's amazing how just throwing a necklace, cute bracelet or earrings on can make you feel so much more pulled together. My husband would say the one accessory I couldn't live without is a Starbuck's Carmel Frappuccino in my hand.

If Maria could go anywhere tomorrow on an all expense paid vacation, where would she go and with whom?
I would love to go to sit on a beach with no one around but my husband for a few days. We haven't been on a real vacation in 6 years, so it's long overdue. It'd be great to miss our kids while sipping margaritas.

Anything else we should know about Maria:

1. After dating my husband for 6 months, he told me how much he loved my blue eyes.
2. I don't have blue eyes.
3. I have a Starbucks addiction. I've been put on a budget, but am currently researching things I can sell (kidney, anyone?) to support my addiction.
4. I like doing push-ups so much; my whole body shakes when I do them.
5. I do not enjoy exercising. I have a gym membership, but can't seem to make it past the delicious café in their lobby. They also have a spa in the lobby. It's like they don't want me to work out.
6. Growing up in Kentucky, I had a pet pig named Lenetta who would watch T.V. with us. When she got fat, we ate her. It's one of the most vivid, scarring memories of my childhood. Helpful tip to parents: Don't make your kids eat their pets.

Thank you, Maria for your great advice and for making us laugh!

Social Media Marketing -- Everybody’s Doing It!

Social media is not a fad, it is a fundamental shift in the way we communicate. That means new rules, new opportunities, and new challenges – and businesses must understand this. Social media is a necessity for promoting your business, and it is a powerful strategy that will get you attention, word-of-mouth hype, and massive amounts of traffic to your website and brick-and-mortar store.

What’s There to Lose? There is no other low-cost promotional method out there that will easily give you large numbers of customers, some of whom may come back to your store again and again.

Where to Start? Facebook is your best bet. The online community now has over 300 million users and offers a very powerful platform on which to build a presence. If you are not already active on Facebook, you should get started right away.

How to Get Started: Set up an effective Facebook Fan Page. This not only attracts fans but is sticky, meaning fans keep coming back and may share the content on your page with their friends. Start adding fans to your page by identifying contacts from your profile that are either business connections, people working in a field related to your business, or who would otherwise benefit from the information your company provides, and invite them to become a fan of the Page. Email a short note explaining what you want to offer through your Facebook page, and include a link to the site.

Get the Word Out: Start promoting your Facebook page everywhere: put a Facebook page button on your website, spread the word on Twitter, send an email notification to your newsletter members and place a link on your business cards. Do whatever it takes to help people know that your company is on Facebook and want them to become a part of your community.

Maintaining Fans: In order to stay relevant on Facebook, you need to continually update your page and use the site. The more actions you take uploading pictures, sharing videos or posting notes, the more you appear on fans’ News Feed (the page a Facebook member first sees when logged in). This keeps your brand in their minds.

Encourage interactions with fans, asking them to vote on their favorite new products and what community activities they would like your boutique to host. When fans post comments on your Facebook page, the posts show up on their friend’s News Feeds further promoting your brand to potential customers.

Updating content on your Facebook page also encourages fans to remain supporters and visit your page for unique information that is beneficial to them. Examples include exclusive content, secret contests, special sales or insider access revealed to Facebook fans before revealed to non-fans.

GET STARTED TODAY!!!

Jon Biancardi is a marketing intern with Itzy Ritzy. He is a senior at North Central College studying Entrepreneurship & Small Business Management and Marketing.