It's cold in here!

Well, it's official, winter is here! Last week I was complaining that it didn't feel like Christmas to me because there was no snow... I should of kept my mouth shot! Because of the snow, we ended up staying home instead of driving to St.Louis for Christmas :-(

Over the years, I heard a lot of "you're Canadian, you shouldn't have a problem driving in the snow, you shouldn't be cold, etc..." and my answer is always the same: "we just know how to deal with it, we're prepared!" I had the perfect example Saturday. My husband and I were wondering if we should drive to St.Louis or not. The Canadian part of me was saying; I've seen worst, and I've made it alive! But just the little bit that we drove made me change my mind. Back home, everybody have snow tires on their cars (it's the law), and the snow trucks get on the road as soon as one snow flake hits the road. That is what I'm talking about when I say "prepared".

And now that we have snow on the ground, I want to show my daughter how to make a snowman and angels. But all of my winter apparel is back home... I'm not prepared!!! That's why I decided to let my hair grow and do like the picture above, what do you think? That should help me keep me warm...

What is "social bookmarking"?

If you are anything like me, when you here the words “social media”, your eyes glaze over and your mind begins to turn off. This term has been so abused as a buzz word in the news that it’s meaning has become diluted and almost impossible to define without being specific; Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn. With that being said, another term that I’ve heard many times before, and often ignored, recently caught my attention. That term is social bookmarking.

For those of you that are familiar with this idea already, please ignore my ignorance. For many years now, I’ve been one of those gals that simply bookmarks (adds to my favorite links in internet explorer) any site that I plan to go back and see again. Hence, every time I get a new computer (every couple of years), I usually lose a majority of those links and start all over again. Of course, forget about accessing my email from another computer that doesn’t have my favorites on it, because it just isn’t going to happen.

So, what is social bookmarking and what does it have to do with the problems I’m whining about above? Social bookmarking is a way of sharing, organizing, and managing your favorite links, using a website like Delicious, so that you always have access to them, no matter where you are or what computer you are on. I know, it doesn’t sound as sexy as Tweeting, but it really is helpful and extremely easy to setup.


Unlike the social aspect of Facebook, there really isn’t that much socializing going on here. What you really have is a tool to keep your links up to date and always accessible. I know what you are thinking, I don’t want to have to input all of my links into some stupid website; just don’t have the time. That’s what’s great about this, sites like Delicious will automatically import your favorites from your browser like Internet Explorer or Firefox. Just as convenient, when you add a new site to your favorites, it will ask if you want to update your account right then and there.

The social aspect of social bookmarking is really the collective of bookmarks that these sites host. With over 5 million users and 150 million sites bookmarked, you can easily begin to see that some serious statistics can be applied regarding site popularity and relevance1. As users begin to share their bookmarks with other users, a certain synergy begins to happen when you get to see what peeks your friends’ interests. Let me tell you that I recently shared mine with my husband and it was an intimate experience, to say the least. Taking this a step further is sharing bookmarks with networks of people, so you begin to get a whole new experience on the web by seeing the best of the best.

One last note is the importance that sites like delicious will play in the future for search engines like google. Because of how search engines rank sites by their votes (links from other sites), social bookmarking has become one of the most honest ways to determine whether or not a site is popular and relevant to the search criteria it correlates with. As social bookmarking evolves, there is no doubt that this will play an important role in quality search results.

Now, if you want to look for a social bookmarking site for yourself, just type it into google and check out the 46 million sites that come back. However, two of the most popular social bookmarking sites are Delicious.com & Stumbleupon.com. Although, I personally prefer Delicious and have had great results with this site!

If, of course you decide to join the realm of social bookmarking, please don’t forget to add your favorite New Mother Gift site, Champagne Baby;
Delicious Bookmark for Champagne Baby.

I hate Mondays!!!

I got up late, the house is a mess, AND I have a bad hair day!!!

I don't know if you are like me, but I feel like Monday set the week up! If I get up late on Monday, my history shows that I will get up late almost every day that week. I NEED to break that cycle.

There is only 10 days before Christmas. I already feel fatter that I ever been, and I know that going in toward the Holiday, it won't get better! My husband and I have been trying for so long to "get back on track" and we keep failing. Yesterday, after our normal small group "feast", we decided, again, that this week was the week! We don't have anything major in our calendar, that we know of, so we have NO excuses! We need to eat good and exercise, it's not that complicated! We've done it before, we can do it again. I just need to get that "Monday blues" out of my head, because I know that it's just in my head. I just need to flip that switch, in my brain, that makes me do all the right things. The problem is... I just need to find that switch! It's bared somewhere, I don't remember where! I just know it's there, somewhere!

So think about me this week, as I struggle finding my switch. I just need to be in that state of mind. I know that it makes me feel good when I eat right and I exercise. I know it, you know it! So, I'm up for it! This week, I will prove myself wrong! Monday will NOT set up my week! I will break this stupid cycle, I can do this, and I will!

Wish me good luck!

Not a good start!

It's only been a few days since I'm "officially" home, and like I predicted, it's harder on the baby that it is on me! The poor kid LOVES to go bye-bye! Normally, after a whole day of staying home, she gets up in the next morning and the first words out of her mouth are: "Go bye-bye, Mamma?" So I knew that coming home for good would be a challenge!

After Saturday, our last day at the store, we didn't get out of the house until Wednesday. So I quickly realized that staying at home and trying to find a balance between take care of the baby (I know she's 2, but she's still my baby:-) & my hubby, do some house shores, AND launch the online business has been a bigger challenge than expected.

To help get some work done, we have been trying to teach Syd to play by herself, in her room, like a big girl. She didn't really liked that. So to let us know, she started to cry and then at one point she stopped and screamed as load as she could (which is very load, by the way). She only did it twice in one day, hopefully she understood that we don't do that! That was Monday, and that was NOT a good start! Then Tuesday night, she slapped her Dad in the face... GREAT!!! What am I going to do??? This is NOT how I envisioned everything.

Thank God we had the Downtown Lees Summit Main Street Holiday Reception on Wednesday night. That was enough to brake the cycle. You can see for yourself... She just need people who want to hold her all the time and some food that she normally doesn't get, like M&Ms! Then she will be the happiest little girl you'll ever seen! Well, sorry, but I am NOT doing that all day at home. I am determine to find a balance, a healthy one, no M&Ms included ;-)

Wish me good luck!

Few more days!

It's coming! It's almost here! Nope! I'm not talking about the Holidays! I'm talking about our move! This Saturday, December 5th is our last day at our current location; 5 SW 4th Street Downtown Lees Summit. Champagne Baby is moving out! We are coming home!

We are planning to re-group and concentrate on our website while we also focus on a more diverse inventory as well as a more convenient downtown location. Once we are ready to come back as a brick and mortar store we will be bigger & stronger, with more products than ever! Until then, please come to the store to take part in our "Moving Out Sale" (we will be pricing items to move; as much as %50 off). There is a few days left, don't wait anymore!

We would like to Thank You once again for your support, it has been a pleasure meeting you in person this past year! We hope that you will keep shopping with us online as we modify and improve our website to respond to your needs. You will be among the first to know, once we have completed our transition and are ready to re-open.

Until then, you have until Tomorrow to come in and see our specials, don't wait!