Our baby girl - two years ago...

Most of you know my first born was two months premature...  I thought given we are supporting the Neonatal Trust this month, I would share a picture of her in NICU.  I was terrible at taking photos while she was in there - my hands were always shaky and most of the photos I did take were terribly blurry....  this one was taken at 4 days old, in her incubator, with the phototherapy lights on.

We ended up taking her home at '36 weeks gestation' weighing just over 2kg...  although it was only two years ago, in many ways it seems like a lifetime ago, and it's hard to believe she was ever that little!

Supporting the Neonatal Trust

For every order made until the end of May we are donating $5 to the Neonatal Trust - an organisation very close to our hearts...  as an added bonus for you, we've got up to 50% off storewide.  Great savings, great cause.  Need I say more?

Little Miss turns 2....

You may have noticed I have been a bit distracted over the last couple of weeks and haven't blogged as much as I should have (ok, not at all!).  The reason, my little girl turned 2 last week.  So I thought I would share a few photos with you - the theme was red and pink and the aim to create a kiddy version of the wedding style dessert buffet tables...

For those interested, here are the details of where I got everything!

• Invites and envelopes were designed and made by myself
• Alexis' party dress is the Gaia Paper Lantern dress from our friends over at Kiddy Couture
• I made the wraps for the take home noodle boxes and wrapped the Whittakers Sante chocolate bars in themed papers
• The funky Robert Gordon paper lanterns, cupcake tower, cupcake cases and chocolate cases were from a sweet little shop in Waikanae called Lovely Living
• The balloons and helium kit to fill them and the mini tongs were from The Warehouse
• The lollies came from Crazy Candies, our local Pak'n'Save and Kapiti Candies
• The little felt rabbit buckets were from our local 1 2 3 Dollar Shop

Mister Mista Limited Edition Rare-i-tees

NZ Press Release

13 April 2010

What do a rebellious lion, a dutch seal trainer, a ten eyed monster, and a soft serve residing abominable snowman have in common? They all feature in the Mister Mista Series 2 of limited edition tees for young masters.

Mister Mista (www.mistermista.com) is the brain child of creative couple Travis and Renee Price. In a prematurely maturing world Mister Mista is a throw-back to the days of old, meticulously illustrated, cheeky tees for the non-conservative boy. "With Mister Mista we wanted to create kooky characters for kids rather than resized adult graphics and it was just natural that each illustration has a back story. But we also wanted uniqueness, there's something nice about a limited edition tee, a collectors item I suppose." says Travis.

Referred to as "Rare-i-tees", Mister Mista t-shirts have been produced in a very limited run of prints with each swing tag having its own unique number.

Mister Mista t-shirts and hoodies will be available in New Zealand later this week from www.chocolateandchilli.co.nz

For images of the range please click here

For more information, please contact Jodi Mitchell at chocolatechilli@chocolateandchilli.co.nz

Here come... the boys in pink!

Ok, so first up, confession time.  One of my friends (who is the absolute style queen and whose two little men have to be the most fabulously dressed toddlers I've ever seen) was telling me the other day how hot pink is for boys.  To be honest, I wasn't sure she was serious.  Well, I'm due a big "I told you so" after seeing a group of teenage boys all wearing various shades and garments in PINK today, and seriously, they looked freakin' awesome!  Honestly, such a very cool look.

So to follow are my top three pick of pink for the boys...

The Minti Pink Pirate Hoodie

The Minti Red M Talk Tee (with pink print!)

The Baobab Red Cuff Pants 

By the way, pink was a color just for boys up until the 1940's (trust me, do a google!) because it was masculine and 'decided'!

World famous...

Well, in Kapiti anyway!!  Yesterday I was in the local paper.  Here I was thinking that people would be ringing, emailing to talk business...  oh no, they just wanted to know what my two little ones were wearing!!  So rather than share the article with you,  I will instead share what Alexis & Lucas were dressed in, as in reality they are the stars of the show :)

Lucas was pretty simply dressed, when the photo was taken the poor little fella had only just woken up from his nap and looks a bit like a stunned mullet!  It was Sooki Baby Superhero for him all the way with the tee and matching red leggings...

Miss Alexis was in her favorite tee, the black Minti Me+You=Happy print.  And on the bottom, the very cool Oishi-M skinny leg jeans.  And the outfit was completed with her ChilliKids Red Charlie Shoes.  She of course did announce that her shoes were "cool"!

Three Little Trees is on it's way...

Our first shipment of the gorgeous Three Little Trees winter range should arrive early next week, and I'm so excited, I just couldn't wait to tell everyone about it.  So here's a little sneak peek... 

We've been promising...

the ultimate in both style and comfort for little feet, and now we have delivered - Cheeky Little Soles are here!

Just one look (or touch!) of Cheeky Little Soles soft sole leather baby shoes will tell you how different they are to others on the market.  Their leather baby shoes are available in a range of designs and made from buttery soft cotton lined leather with black soft padded soles.  An extra wide fit, their fabulous elasticized design makes them amazingly easy to get on and stay on.  They are the ultimate in both style and comfort for little feet.

Also available are selected colors of the gorgeous range of Cheeky Little Soles baby ballet slippers.  A dainty design for little girls, these leather baby ballet shoes are guaranteed to have you being stopped in the street asking 'where did you get those?'!

With a name like ChilliKids...

how could we possibly not stock them??  Our initial ChilliKids order has arrived, and man, are they cool.  Top quality canvas uppers with a rubber sole, all ready for a bit of rough and tumble in the playground. 

They are suitable from around age 2 upwards, are all unisex, are really funky, and look great with the winter fashions.  Check out our range here. 

Warm up the cold snap...

20% off mokopuna merino until Sunday 21 March.  With this weather, need we say more?  Shop mokopuna here.

As with all of our brands, if we don't have what you are looking for, why don't you drop us a note and see if we can get it for you (note, special orders are generally excluded from sales and discount promos).

And while we're on the mokopuna buzz, check out this little write up on babybites...

Minti goodness

Check out the Minti Winter 2010 write up on babybites...  Minti goodness, yes we have it...

By the way, if we don't have something you want, just send us an email - we'll either try and source it for you, or point you in the direction of someone else who does have it!

To check out our Minti range, click here.

You're right, Flirty Bird is fabulous!!

Our lovely Flirty Bird hair accessories have been featured on MiniStyleHive, a blog that is all about modern kids style and design from Australia and New Zealand.

They've called them "fun, frivolous and totally fabulous" and we have to agree!!

Check out their full write up here: http://ministylehive.com/accessories/2010/03/fabulous-flirty-bird/

Thank you MiniStyleHive!

Do you spit?

I remember cringing as a kid when my mum spat on her hand or hankie and promptly wiped it across my face to clean off whatever I had managed to get on myself...  So, in a bid to help prevent those cringe worthy moments, and to celebrate the site going live, we're giving away a bottle of MomSpit worth $20 with every purchase over $75!

Easy to use and easier to install than plumbing, MomSpit is about immediate gratification with style in the elimination of dirt, wherever you are and whenever you need it most. It contains no alcohol, mousses brilliantly, moisturizes gently, absorbs quickly and feels great. It's not gel. It's not sanitizer. It's MomSpit - the universal no-rinse cleanser for hands and face. Works like magic, smells like heaven, cleans like soap and water without the sink.

This is an only while stocks last offer, so get in while the going is good! Head over to the store to start shopping now.

How cool is this little fella?

He's dressed in the new Snoffs Ice Bear design, and lucky us, our Snoffs (and Skummis) stock arrived today!

Swedish brand Snoffs has made their mark as the playful and fun clothing and accessory label, that puts the child’s interests and needs first. Comfortable and humorous, with cool retro prints on classic designs, makes for an unbeatable combination in modern childrens wear. Their entire collection is made of 100% Oeko-tex cotton which means that the clothes do not contain any harmful substances and are allergy friendly.

We have to get the clothing labelling updated to meet NZ fire labelling standards, but fingers crossed, all of our Snoffs & Skummis items should be available in store when we go live!

Are you nervous?

It's a question I'm asked on a daily basis at the moment...  so, am I nervous? To be honest I'm more excited than nervous - with bits of stock turning up almost daily now, it's very cool opening up the boxes to see what's in them, almost like having Christmas every day!

But that's not to say there's nothing to be nervous about - with our launch only a couple of weeks away we're having to deal with delayed stock, customs clearances, final website testing and loading of products...  and of course, the renovations.  You see, even an online store needs somewhere to store the stock, pack orders, do the paperwork...  the above photos speak for themselves in regards to how we're going...

Hmmmm, maybe I should be nervous!

Good things come in small packages...

Like these pint sized messenger bags for toddlers from Mee a Bee.

Designed and handmade by New Zealander Jacqui who now lives in Japan, Mee a Bee toddler messenger bags are made from quality cottons and hemp linen, and have uniquely retro designs.  Each one is made in limited quantities, and some are complete one-offs.

We have worked with Jacqui and chosen 6 designs for the chocolate+chilli shop - 3 for the boys and 3 for the girls (we believe in evens stevens in our little world!).  And we'll continue to work with Jacqui to source future designs as she discovers treasures in the Japanese fabric markets.

You'll have to wait until our store opens to see them all, but trust me, they're well worth the wait!

Sneak peek: Sooki Baby

Different bits and pieces of stock have been arriving every day this week, it's very exciting! And we've just received word that our Sooki Baby order is on it's way!

Will your little one be a Superhero this winter?

Wanna win something good?

Like a voucher to spend on super stylish clothing for the little one in your life?

Winning with chocolate+chilli is easy. At the end of every second month, we will enter all of our newsletter subscribers and all of our facebook fans into a draw. The winner will get a $100 voucher to spend on goods of their choice in our online store.

With funky brands like Minti, Mokopuna, Sooki Baby, ChilliKids, Oobi and many, many more on the menu, who wouldn’t want to be in to win? We’ll even have some accessories, toys and décor items in store to make sure no one misses out.

So, get yourself in the draw now…

- Become a fan on facebook
- Sign up to our newsletter

The first winner will be drawn 31st March 2010. Good luck, and don’t forget to spread the word, who knows, if your friend wins, they might just remember you when doing their shopping!

The usual small print applies - we'll keep running this until further notice (via our blog and/or our website). Yay.

Sneek peek: Oishi-M

Oishi-m [Oy-shee-em] design and produce limited edition garments that splash kimono, vintage and retro fabrics together with denim and cotton to create funky unique clothing for newborn babies and busy little people.

Their skinny jeans are very cloth nappy accommodating and their 'tummy toastie' waistband keeps little bums and bellies nice and covered.

The shrugs are on my personal hitlist for winter - the Oishi-M take on the sleeveless hoodie, these are easy to get on and off and look very funky!

Sneak peek: Knuffle Kid

From Melbourne Australia, Knuffle Kid is a boutique childrenswear brand designed by the fabulous Emma Strybosch. A truly unique brand, Emma incorporates vintage fabrics into elegant, stand out from the crowd designs. We're going to be stocking some fabulous limited edition reversible dresses, along with some great winter warmers for the boys - gorgeous!!