NEW BLOG FEATURE! - Shopping With Care

In recent years I've become the go-to person among my friends and family for advice regarding all things pregnancy and baby. I get multiple emails and calls every week asking for product recommendations, baby shower gift ideas, and my general opinion on whether products are necessary or just plain garbage. In an age where there is a product or service available to do anything and everything, it can be hard to filter out the junk and choose what is truly worthy of your hard earned money, space & time.

So in order to help my friends, family, readers & clients I have decided to start a new feature on the blog called "Shopping With Care" where I will provide insight into some of my (Care's) favourite products and services & also focus on shopping mindfully. As a self proclaimed "Baby Product Expert" & Private Product Consultant I love helping families pick products that will really help them on their journey through the 57 months from pregnancy to preschool.

Shopping With Care will highlight new small local businesses, beautiful artisans, as well as tried tested and true products for young families. At times I may receive products at a discount or free of charge, but this does not guarantee inclusion and all content, copy & sentiment is 100% my own. Every product & service featured in Shopping With Care is something I truly love and would recommend or buy for my friends and family.  

Stay tuned for my first installment of Shopping With Care this week featuring Bridge The Bump, a must have product for our Canadian winters!

Don't forget! As a Registered Midwife, Heart & Stroke Foundation CPR Instructor & Babywearing Educator I offer classes & workshops for expectant parents & young families as well as: 

*Private Product Consultation

*Registry Assistance

*In-Home Safety Checks

*Babywearing Education

If you would like more information about my services or any of the products or services featured please don't hesitate to get in touch with me carolyn@fifty-seven.ca. 

I hope you enjoy Shopping With Care and please let me know if you have any incredible products you think I should feature. 

- Care

New Collaboration? Love Me Do!

It's been a busy few months around here and it feels like our little blog has been severely neglected. I can tell you that this busy-ness is a sign of lots of change & growth happening with Fifty-Seven, but you'll have to wait a few more weeks to see exactly what I'm talking about. In the meantime I am thrilled to announce an Exciting NEW Collaboration!

Starting this February, Fifty-Seven will be teaming up with Love Me Do Baby & Maternity Boutique in Liberty Village to offer in-store educational classes & workshops, as well as fun social events for expectant and new parents. 

Love Me Do is a beautiful shop in the heart of our amazing city. It offers tons of my favourite products for mom & baby, so it's the perfect spot to host some of our most popular workshops for parents. 

Join me to learn how to keep your little one safe at our Infant/Family CPR & Safety Workshops.

Or come to learn how to care for your new baby at our Baby Prep Class. 

Both classes are highly recommended for all expectant parents. *Space is very limited so don't wait to sign up. Upcoming Workshops at Love Me Do in Liberty Village:

- Baby Prep Class: Sunday February 1st, Register Here

- Infant/Family CPR & Safety Workshop: Wednesday February 18th,Register Here

Upcoming Workshops at Fifty-Seven in Bloor West Village: - Infant/Family CPR & Safety Workshop: Sunday February 8th, Register Here

- 4-Week Prenatal Class Series: Starts Tuesday February 24th, Register HereStay Tuned for more exciting events at Love Me Do this winter including an educational & social mixer for expectant parents with myself & Lactation Consultant Taya Griffin.

I'm really looking forward to meeting more of the Liberty Village Community!

As always don't hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions or would like help registering for any of our programs. 

Warmly, Carolyn 

Is Your Family Ready for Winter? Come Pillage In The Village!

It's that time of year again. Time to start thinking about switching over seasonal gear and going through your closets to see what fits & what needs to be replaced for your family this winter. I don't know about you, but I find it a stressful time of year as the cost of snowsuits, boots, skates & other seasonal gear really adds up. As always our family relies heavily on gently-used clothing & gear to get us through the changing seasons on budget.

If you're looking to save some money this season check out your local Community Parent-to-Parent sales. Our local sale in the Bloor West Village area Pillage In The Village is coming up at the beginning of October and is always a great event with tons of amazing deals. It's an absolute fav of mine and a sale that I try not to miss.

Where: Swansea Community Center, 15 Waller Ave

When: Saturday October 4th from 1pm-3:30pm. *50% off sale runs from 3pm-3:30pm.

*Most sales do not allow children, strollers or bags inside. So leave the kids at home & have fun shopping for some great deals with your laundry hamper!

*I strongly encourage you to make note of your kid’s shoe & clothing sizes & what you need most, so you can go directly to those areas of the sale first. These sales are extremely busy & not for the faint of heart!

If you want to know more about local parent to parent sales and other ways to save money while dressing your family, check out this 3-part blog series from last spring about 3 Ways to Save Money & The Environment While Dressing Your Kids. 

Upcoming Toronto Parent to Parent Sales:

• The Parent Bazaar(Sept 13, 2014)
• TPOMBA Fall/Winter Clothing Sale (Sept 20, 2014)
• South Etobicoke Mommy Market (Oct 18, 2014)
• (Oct 18, 2014) Great Kids Stuff Sale (Oct 25, 2014)
• Mom to Mom Sale Markham & Stouffville (Oct 25, 2014)
• Toronto Mom to Mom Fall Sale Event (Nov 1, 2014)

Good luck getting some great deals for your family this fall!

- Care

Back to School AKA Happy Halloween!?!

One day into the school year and Halloween stuff is already lining the shelves at most big stores around the city. Don't panic! The stores like to pretend that Halloween is just around the corner so you stock up on treats (that you inevitably eat in the weeks preceding halloween & then have to replace), but really we still have 8 full weeks to prepare. Totally doable, and yet I know I will blink and it will actually be Halloween. Time flies these days.

I try not to go too overboard with the refined sugary treats with my little ones (3 years & 11 months), but I love to make homemade treats & find great costumes for our whole family to have fun with. This week Benny asked if he could be a Lion for Halloween and it made me realize that I better start thinking about what I need to prepare for this year. We usually have a family costume (DIY) for parties, as well as individual costumes for trick or treating & kid's parties. This year is Benny's first year at nursery school so he's pretty pumped for his own kid's costume party. 

Buying costumes, especially for a whole family, can be down right expensive and when they're only worn once our environment pays the real cost. That's why I'm proud to partner with Eco-Outfitters Online for The 3rd Annual Toronto West Costume Swap! 

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The Details:

1. Drop off your clean, gently-used costumes at Eco Outfitters Office between Sept 2, 2014 & Oct 2, 2014. Be sure to pin your name & email address to your costume so they can confirm your trade in.

2. Return to Eco Outfitters Online on Saturday Oct 4th 10am-6pm and shop for a FREE gently-used costume for your little one. 

*If you don't have a costume to trade in you can still shop the costume swap from 12pm-6pm with a minimum $5 donation to The New Mom Project. 

While looking through our past Halloween pictures I realized that Ben has been a lion several times...maybe time to trade in some lions for a new animal. Can't wait to see what we find!

Trick or Treating 2012 - Roar!

Trick or Treating 2013 - Roar The Sequel!

So grab your gently-used costumes & drop them by Eco Outfitters anytime this month to save money and the environment while still getting your kid an awesome Halloween costume. 

Have any questions? Contact Rebecca at Eco Outfitters Online via email  for more details.

Travelling with Tots - Part 1/3

We're heading to Edmonton for one of my longtime BFF's weddings later this week. Our first plane trip as a family of 4! Ahhh...!!! I'm super excited to see my friend marry her amazing partner, but in the back of my mind is the never-ending to-do list that accompanies any major outing or trip with small children. 

Travelling with little ones can be extremely daunting, but if you know how to prepare for your big trip you'll be sure to enjoy your vacation rather than spend your time worrying about not having the right stuff to keep them happy. 

Over the next week I'll give you some of my "Top Tips for Travelling with Tots". Today’s topic: Gear rental!

I don’t know about you, but our house is littered with baby gear. A bouncy chair, exersaucer, jolly jumper, bumbo seat, baby bath, car seat, crib, high chair, stroller…plus toys toys toys!! When travelling by plane you can’t possibly pack everything your little one uses at home, but you also don’t want to miss out on having a key piece of gear that makes caring for your baby easier.

At the babytime show this spring I met Sheree Wells owner of Travel Bug Baby a local Toronto company that specializes in helping families enjoy hassle free travel by providing baby gear rentals. Until meeting Sheree I didn’t know about the availability of rental baby gear. Such a great idea! 

Travel Bug Baby has an amazing selection of high-end baby gear for you to browse on their user friendly website.   

They offers rentals on individual items or in pre-set packages with great discounts when you rent several items together. 

Gear can be rented by the day, the week or as long as you require. Travel Bug Baby recommends that you contact them for rentals as soon as you know your travel plans and what you will require, but they will accept rental requests with as little as 48 hours notice, if gear is still available. Delivery is very reasonable at $25 within the city of Toronto and a slight premium in the surrounding areas. A great resource for family and friends visiting our city. 

If you have a trip planned with your little one and you know you’ll need some extra gear at your destination, I encourage you to explore the option of renting. All over the world there are amazing companies that deal in high-end baby gear rentals for travelling families. You can find a full list of rental companies organized by country on the amazing blog Have Baby Will Travel!

Stay tuned later this week for more Tips for Travelling with Tots including: “8 Essential Items to Pack in Your Carry On When Travelling With a Baby” & “8 Essential Items to Pack in Your Carry On When Travelling With a Toddler.”

- Carolyn

Top 3 Ways to Save Money & The Environment While Dressing Your Kids - Part 3/3

From my last 2 posts you can probably tell that I am a huge fan of buying gently used clothes and gear for myself & my family. You just can’t beat the savings for the environment & your wallet! Having said that, there will always be times when you need to buy something new, an outfit for a special occasion, or something specific to fill a need in your kiddos wardrobe. So let’s discuss how to get the most for your money and the environment when buying new.

1. Support ethical & environmentally conscious companies. Fast fashion has some pretty serious costs, so I try to do my part to reduce our family’s impact as much as I can. It’s not always feasible to buy local fashion, as the cost can be higher, but you can still make mindful choices about your consumption.

2. Buy clothing and gear that is built to last. I don't know about you, but I want pieces that will stand up to being washed hundreds of times while 2, 3 or 4 kids enjoy wearing them, not something that is going to be thrown into a dumpster in just a few weeks or months. 

3. Focus on gender neutral clothing. This goes a long way toward the items longevity, because it makes it easier to be passed along to other kiddies. Which in turn means more bang for your buck. This is especially important for big ticket items like snowsuits & boots.   

Some of My Favourite Companies:

My personal fav for great outdoor gear is Mountain Equipment Co-op. They sell high quality products that are made to last and have a strong commitment to sustainability efforts around the world. They offer many of their kids' products in great primary colours, so you don’t always need to choose pink or blue. Go with red, green or yellow!

I also love to find small local businesses like Ollie Jones, a Toronto based company that makes swoon worthy leggings & accessories for kids that are ethical, environmental & feature awesome gender neutral designs. Not to mention being budget friendly. Check them out, but be warned, you may become addicted! They're currently having a model search on Instagram, so if you have an adorable little one aged 6 months - 6 years send along a pic for a chance to win!

One of my new favorite clothing companies is a local start-up from Toronto called Jill & Jack Kids. They totally fit the bill for me. All of their clothes are designed, woven & sewn locally in Canada. They focus on awesome gender neutral play clothes for kids and feature great graphic prints on bold fun colours that go beyond pink and blue. My little guy Benny modelled some shirts for them, so we got to see the product first hand. I can tell you they are beautiful! The material was super soft and the shirt had a great slim cut. No more terrible square t-shirts!

What I love most about Jill & Jack Kids is that they’re not just trying to make cute clothes. They’re trying to change the way that we gender stereotype children at such a young age with the clothes we dress them in.

Offering gender neutral clothing with no boys or girls department means that kids can feel free to be who they want to be. I absolutely love their message, which is why I was happy to support their Kickstarter Campaign and help spread the word.

Please go online and check it out. They only have 3 more days, until June 5th, to reach their goal of $15,000 and they're already over $11,000. They need your support! If they don't reach their goal Jill & Jack Kids won't become a reality :( ...and I wont get my awesome "Half of all T.rexes were girls" shirt. Which would suck!

If you want to learn more about "How Gender Stereotypes Affect Kids" join Jill & Jack Kids for an online discussion with a panel of experts on Tuesday June 3rd at 8pm (EST). Should be an interesting discussion, so don't miss out!

I hope that you've found this 3 part series helpful in saving money and the environment while dressing your kids. 

- Care

Top 3 Ways to Save Money & The Environment While Dressing Your Kids - Part 2/3

Last week on the blog I told you about one of my top 3 ways to save money and the environment while shopping for our kids - Local Parent to Parent Sales. These sales are such a great resource for families, but since most are held only once or twice a year it can be difficult to get to them. Plus sometimes it's nice to be able to shop on your own schedule in a less chaotic environment. Not that I ever shy away from a good sale ;) 

As a regular go-to for gently used clothing and gear I rely on kids consignment stores. These are an excellent way to get name brand items that still have lots of life left in them. Sometimes you'll even score brand new items with the tags on! The only draw back is that consignment shopping can be time consuming, and as a busy parent and business owner I don't have a ton of time to go out and browse the stores for deals. That's why I was so excited to find a new local online kids consignment store called Eco Outfitters Online. 

Last week I had the pleasure of sitting down to chat with Rebecca Saha the Owner of Eco Outfitters Online, who specializes in high-end, gently used, baby & kids clothing & accessories. In addition to owning her own new business Rebecca is a wife, a mom of 3 kids, and a kindergarten teacher. What a woman! She is also a proud environmentalist and loves to help families learn how to make more green decisions in their daily lives, including purchasing clothing.

Eco Outfitters Online provides families with 2 great options for purchasing their hand-curated line of high-end gently used clothing.

1. Buy online via their easy to use website

Low flat fee shipping, or even the option of free pick up if you live locally.

2. Book a Personal Shopping Appointment online

Meet with Rebecca & check out the goods in person at the Eco Outfitters Boutique located in her West Toronto home. It's a great space with lots of beautiful stuff to browse & choose from. 

I couldn't help myself and ended up buying a few items for our little Lucy :)

Luckily our toddler Ben is still living off of massive piles of hand-me-downs thanks to our extremely generous friends and family, so no need to buy him anything. (Huge shout out to Auntie Meagan, Auntie AnaBela & Auntie Margaret for clothing him for the last 3 years!)

Check out Eco Outfitters Online website for full details and to view some of their adorable clothes currently available www.ecooutfittersonline.ca. Enjoy shopping from the comfort of your own home or book an appointment to visit the boutique in person to find some great stuff for your little ones.

*Eco Outfitters Online offers Full Refund Or Exchange on all purchases (tags still attached). Plus a great Referral Rewards Program & Trade In Trade Up Program. 

Stay tuned for the final instalment in this 3 part series next week to learn how to save money and the environment when choosing to buy New. 

- Care

Top 3 Ways To Save Money & The Environment While Dressing Your Kids - Part 1/3

Constantly buying new kids clothing & gear is really expensive and harmful to the environment. Keeping up with the seasons, your kid's ever changing body, and their personal preferences can put a big dent in your family's budget, and often means that parents rely on cheap disposable clothing in order to get by. The consequences of such fast fashion include human rights violations for labourers, as well as serious environmental damage. (Important topics for another post)

In an effort to save money and decrease our impact we buy a lot of gently used clothing and gear for our little ones, and also think a lot about what we purchase new. Friends and clients often ask how we save money and where we get our best deals, so in this 3 part series I'll lay out my 3 favourite ways to save money & help the environment while dressing our kids. (besides free hand-me-downs...they are obviously the best!)

Local Community Parent to Parent Sales

These sales are a great way to get amazing deals on kids clothing, gear & toys. Every year I hit up a few of these sales to stock up on our most pressing needs.

In our area of the city, Bloor West Village, there is a semi-annual sale called "Children's Pillage in the Village" put on by community families which is happening TOMORROW!

Sat. May 24th from 1pm-3:30pm at Swansea Community Center (15 Waller Ave)

I can't wait! Last fall I managed to get baby Lucy a very gently used Mountain Equipment Co-op fleece snow suit for only $5!! As well as an almost new Maya Wrap Ring Sling for only $12!! So many amazing deals to be had on clothes, accessories, gear and toys.  

*Most sales do not allow children or strollers inside. So leave the kids at home & have fun shopping for some great deals with your laundry hamper!

*I strongly encourage you to make note of your kid's shoe & clothing sizes & what you need most, so you can go directly to those areas of the sale first. These sales are extremely busy & not for the faint of heart!

Below you'll find links to some of the sales that happen around the city each spring & fall. Hope you check some of them out, so you and your family can save some moola and stay green while dressing your little ones.

Stay tuned for Part 2 next week to learn more about dressing your kids on a budget with the environment in mind. 

- Carolyn

Local Parent to Parent Sales

• Children's Pillage In the Village
• Great Kids Stuff Sale
• TPOMBA Clothing & Equipment Sale
• Mom to Mom Sale Markham