Hellobee Boards

@Littlebit7: had to Google the Amazon coat. If that is trendy, I'm fine being an old lady.

@Littlebit7: ok thanks. Its hideous. Like layers of down jacket cut strangely. I mean...it looks warm. So do snuggies.

@SweetCaroline: hahaha! Yes!

For the letter boards, I really like their old school look and I got it to use mainly in photos (monthly baby pics, back to school, etc.). I figured then I was only buying one thing instead of buying or making different signs for different occasions (although I guess these types of photos are trends in themselves). But when I’m not using the letter board in a photo it’s in our hallway and I have been putting different Michael Scott quotes from the office on it and it makes me chuckle all of the time.

Everything you listed is definitely trendy amongst friends and acquaintances having babies.

I have loved "old lady floral" my whole life, so if I ever get a girl, you bet I'll have her in floral. It's nice that it's trendy now, because it's easier to come by

I love letter board pictures... But I barely remembered to take milestone pictures, let alone be crafty.

Otherwise, I feel I'm pretty traditional in what I like, but get excited & mad when it comes on trend. Excited because it's easily found, mad because everyone is doing my "thing"

@Littlebit7: I hadn't heard of that coat either (but I live in California.) I don't get it!

@Lindsay05: same.

I don’t mind letter boards but probably wouldn’t get one though I have thought about it for monthly pics. Otherwise non of those things listed interest me. I gravitate towards some colour schemes that are sometimes trendy, but that’s because I like those colours. Animal print and girly stuff aren’t things I like and I’m a very unstylish person. My kids are unlucky in that regard.

I like some of the trends but I'm too practical to buy into most of them.
- My kids have a full wardrobe ages 0-4 already due to hand-me-downs and gifts.
- My kids have baby accessories (Boppies, swaddles, etc) already due to hand-me-downs and gifts.
- I have a full wardrobe due to regular "clothing swaps" with friends.
- Most of the trend things I see have a limited life / function (like letter boards and number balloons).

I did miss out on the growth/milestone baby blanket and I AM annoyed by that because it seems practical!

I also missed out on Spectra's becoming more popular and effective, and I'm annoyed because maybe I could have gotten more milk that way!

@Mrsbells: Every January, one of my friends or I host the clothing swap party at one of our houses. I'm thinking of switching to March and October to coincide with the changing of the seasons, but January has been our tradition. We try to invite about 40 people, and we usually have about 15 show up. Invitees can bring guests. All of the rooms are cleaned and have mirrors, as "dressing rooms."Here is the event description we recently used:

"Start the new year with some new clothes! We've all got items in our closets and dressers that go untouched, thinking we'll wear them eventually... but we never do. Bring them to the party, lay them out on the tables organized by size, and then at 10:30 the clothing swap will begin. Pick out some clothes that catch your eye, feel free to try them on in the various rooms / bathrooms, and take home the ones you like the most. Mingle, chat, eat snacks while you "shop." All clothes left over at the end will be donated to a local charity.

- Snacks and drinks will be served.
- All clothing items and accessories welcome.
- Feel free to invite friends, but please just let us know."

This is so funny, I'm in NYC and saw someone wearing an Amazon coat but didn't know what it was, it is cute and now I want one lol!

I'm kind of all over the place with trends, partly because my social circle is really spread out geographically. Like, I'm in NYC so some people I know are far more stylish, but in ways I think are silly (like Balanciega "dad" shoes which are hideous imo). But for myself I tend to buy cheap/fast fashion, esp since I'm in a phase in life where my body is changing (pregnant or nursing for the last 5+years now straight!) and I don't want to spend a lot on clothes that might not fit for long.

For my girls, I'm also practical in how they dress--lo2 wears mostly hand-me-downs, and lo1 has her own opinions now about what she wears so I've ceded control I like to mix fun prints (Winter Water Factory is my favorite) with basics, like Primary, but she dresses herself. Even lo2 is choosing most her own outfits day to day now!

@Sams Mom: lol! winter water factory is SUCH high quality too! the fabric is really thick but soft. It's $ but they have great sales occasionally--they just had 40% off including stuff already on sale, so I just buy when there are coupon codes. They also have stuff in women sizes, I may or may not have a couple dresses of my own

@MrsADS: yeah usually we invite about 40 people - my friend is a SAHM with a bunch of mom groups (MOPS, etc), our church has a bunch of women ages 25-40, and I work at an elementary school so I have about 25 female coworkers ages 25-40ish.

It *is* hard to get a variety of sizes. This most recent one had a ton of smalls and some mediums. We had 3 larger ladies but none of them brought clothes, they just came for the socializing.

It used to be hosted by a friend that gained and lost over 80lbs, and she invited weight watchers friends too, so that helped.