http://www.shopbabyboo.ca/index.htmlThe latest news from www.shopbabyboo.caenolga.carlson@mac.comCopyright 2009 BabyBoo2010-04-30T13:00:53-07:00 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 Fri, 11 Jun 2010 13:02:36 -0700olga.carlson@mac.comNone2010-04-30T13:00:53-07:00http://www.shopbabyboo.ca/blog/files/April.html#unique-entry-id-9http://www.shopbabyboo.ca/blog/files/April.html#unique-entry-id-9  April has been a month of change.  My little baby turned 2 this month.  2!!!!  Where did the time go?  I remember her as a newborn as if it was just yesterday.  I am so proud of the little girl she's becoming.  Of course we have our challenging days sometimes but I can truly say (I may be a little biased) that she is the sweetest, most thoughtful and grateful little girl I know!  It's been such a privilege and sheer pleasure to be her mommy.  I love you Izabelle!
  Our new exchange student (Yuri) has arrived from Japan.  She's a sweetheart and we look forward to getting to know her over the next year.
Even with lots of positives, I have to say I've been dreading this month .... my husband, Justin (http://www.carlsonmedia.ca) left for Africa (Zambia and Kenya) for a whole month to do some filming over there.  I am so proud of the work he's doing and fully support him it's just that being 8 months pregnant, hormonal, and home alone with a 2-year-old for a whole month could get challenging.  Hopefully hubby comes back before baby decides to arrive.   

          ~ O
]]>olga.carlson@mac.comNone2010-03-31T12:34:28-07:00http://www.shopbabyboo.ca/blog/files/march.html#unique-entry-id-8http://www.shopbabyboo.ca/blog/files/march.html#unique-entry-id-8  So March has been an interesting month over here ... aside from staying really busy with hat orders, I also got to do a little celebrating as I turned the big 3-0!  It wasn't as difficult as I had imagined.  My bestest friend, Gemma, is exactly a week younger than me and so we decided to celebrate together.  Since neither of us is the party type, our husbands took us for a lovely day trip to Bellevue.  We shopped, we ate, we laughed, and had a wonderful time! I think I'm going to enjoy my 30's more than my 20's (and my 20's were great!) I am more confident in who I am.  I have a wonderful husband, a beautiful daughter and a baby on the way.  I am so blessed to have such amazing family and friends.  BabyBoo is growing and expanding. I truly am so grateful for all that I have and I can't wait to see what this next decade has in store.
          ~ O
]]>olga.carlson@mac.comNone2010-02-28T12:23:29-08:00http://www.shopbabyboo.ca/blog/files/february.html#unique-entry-id-7http://www.shopbabyboo.ca/blog/files/february.html#unique-entry-id-7  So February has come and almost gone.  This February has definitely been an unforgettable one with the Winter Olympics right in our own city!  Wow, how exciting it's been!  I just love seeing all the patriotism AND seeing all the different nationalities.  We spent a few days in Whistler during the Olympics (I know, how lucky are we?), and let me tell you, that was a BLAST!  Just being in the middle of it all - seeing the athletes, hearing all the different languages, Olympic stuff EVERYWHERE paired with the mountain air - incredible!  And I think my midwife will be proud with how much walking I did ... I think I've 'credited' enough exercise for the next two weeks! :)  If only it worked like that. 

  On the business end ... I have completed the fall collection.  I am really excited about it.  I think we've got a little something for everyone.  At least that was the plan. :)
The lovely and talented Carly Currie of Pink Plum Photography did an amazing photo shoot of the new collection.  It was a beautiful sunny, crisp day.  The kiddos were all angels!!! And Carly ... she is amazing - from how she handles the kids to her eye for a great shot to her incredible images!!!  Thank you, Carly!!!!!
Here are a few sneak peeks...



]]>olga.carlson@mac.comNone2010-01-30T22:29:40-08:00http://www.shopbabyboo.ca/blog/files/9b768e2679c0d2d6c5f210644cc216b5-6.html#unique-entry-id-6http://www.shopbabyboo.ca/blog/files/9b768e2679c0d2d6c5f210644cc216b5-6.html#unique-entry-id-6I always enjoy the transition from "old to new" year.  It kind of makes me feel like I'm getting a fresh start.  I always ponder the plans that have already been made for the new year and wonder about what exciting surprises lie ahead.  This year will definitely be another exciting one for us.  My "baby" girl will turn TWO in April!  My wonderful husband will travel to Africa for another filming project in May.  Our new baby is due to arrive in June.  And that's just the first half of the year!!!  wow!
On the business end, things are very exciting also ... apparently (you) people really like my hats because they keep selling like mad! :)  A huge shout out to our retailers:  Babycheeks in South Surrey, Pinky Blue in Richmond, Obviously Chic in Saskatchewan, and Off to Bed in Fort Langley.  A special THANK YOU to Off to Bed, who is featuring our product for the month of February.  If you've never been to this amazing little boutique ... and you live in the Greater Vancouver area .... YOU HAVE TO GO!!!   They have the most incredible collection of baby/child furniture, decor, and accessories.  I have THE hardest time leaving that store empty-handed when I go.  It's almost impossible.  They really never disappoint.  :)  If you go, please say hello to the friendliest ladies around ... Rebekah, Louise & Trish from me! 

With all the changes happening at home, I've realized that I will need to move things to the next level in business.  So that means getting the hats manufactured to keep up with the demand.  It sounds pretty simple, doesn't it?  Well, I've quickly realized how much detailed work needs to go into this step ... I'm just working on a "collection" of hats for the manufacturer to follow.  This has certainly been much harder than I expected ... I really love every hat that I make and having to narrow them down to a "collection" has been really hard.  But I do think I'm almost there. :)  Stay posted to see the new line soon! 

Cheers!

          ~ Olga]]>olga.carlson@mac.comNone2009-12-15T11:59:42-08:00http://www.shopbabyboo.ca/blog/files/ecfa6bcf46e13bcf3a821b4a7b18edaa-5.html#unique-entry-id-5http://www.shopbabyboo.ca/blog/files/ecfa6bcf46e13bcf3a821b4a7b18edaa-5.html#unique-entry-id-5So it is apparent in my lack of consistency that I'm not very good at blogging.  BUT I am certainly very consistent with making new hats and forever coming up with new ideas and designs.  Which I'm sure most of you would prefer over my writing anyway.  Right?  :)  
I will give you all (if there's anyone out there that actually reads my rambles), a little update on the last few months.  SOOOO much has happened, but I'll try to keep it short.  After my vacation to Poland, BabyBoo just started booming!  Retailers took interest in the hats and before I knew it, we were selling in four stores:  Babycheeks in South Surrey, Off to Bed in Fort Langley, Pinky Blue in Richmond, and Obviously Chic in Saskatchewan!  
In September, we found out that we will have a little addition to our family ... we are expecting a baby in June 2010!!!  We are thrilled!  Unfortunately, the first trimester was very challenging for me this time AND I ended up catching H1N1 during it all.  I'm only telling you this to encourage those of you who (like me) are slightly paranoid about the virus.  Yes, it was really tough, and gross, and extremely unpleasant BUT  my baby and I survived it AND without any drugs!  Moral of the story:  it's survivable!  :)
So now with Christmas approaching fast, there don't seem to be enough hours in a day to do all the things I need/want to do.  I love Christmas, it's my favourite time of year and decorating the house, baking, entertaining etc, is a must for me.  And then of course BabyBoo has been needing me lots too .... from filling out all the Christmas orders to working on some BIG exciting changes .... can't tell you about them all yet, but it sure is exciting!  I CAN tell you though that we have some great new colours of fabrics ... we will have them available on our website soon!

Let me end by wishing you all a wonderful Holiday Season.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!]]>olga.carlson@mac.comNone2009-07-13T07:42:27-07:00http://www.shopbabyboo.ca/blog/files/a_polish_vacation.html#unique-entry-id-4http://www.shopbabyboo.ca/blog/files/a_polish_vacation.html#unique-entry-id-4I really am a lousy blogger. I seriously have to work on that because when I don't blog I'm always sub-consciously stressed that I should be blogging. So here I am, on vacation in Europe and still can't seem to free myself of the guilt of not blogging. Well, I suppose it's only a semi-vacation since I brought a full suitcase of supplies for sewing hats! And I'm blogging.
I was very anxious about traveling with my almost-15-month-old but really should have know better: that child of mine really is heaven-sent ... she is just the easiest baby EVER ... and I have babysat/nannied/watched more than my fair share of children, so I should know. :) During our 9 hour flight she slept about 6 1/2 hours! And the rest of the time she was happy to sit either on my lap or in her little bassinet chair. Of the following hour and a half flight, she slept an hour and then about 3 hours of our 4 hour drive! (I have a feeling some of you reading this will be tempted to use some interesting words towards me right about now - it's okay, I won't be offended, I suppose I can't have it all. *smile* ... and no, I did not drug her - at all!)
It has been so wonderful to visit with family and have them all meet my little Izabelle. I just really wish that this 'birth land' of mine wasn't so far from my 'home land'. Everytime I come here I am reminded how much I really miss it here. I miss the small towns, the beautiful rolling hills covered with colorful wildflowers, the amazing taste of dairy products, the country roads, and of course, family. But for now, I will cherish each day and enjoy every moment that I have here right now.]]>olga.carlson@mac.comNone2009-06-17T17:35:32-07:00http://www.shopbabyboo.ca/blog/files/i_kinda_feel_like_superwoman.html#unique-entry-id-3http://www.shopbabyboo.ca/blog/files/i_kinda_feel_like_superwoman.html#unique-entry-id-3It's been a little while since I blogged.  For one, I'm not a blogger by nature so I'm really working at it.  And then I've been super busy ... and I mean busy, busy!  My talented and amazing husband took a little trip to Guatemala for a filming job which left me in charge of holding down the fort.  And I don't just "hold down the fort" I usually go overboard on improving and re-doing whatever I can get my hands on.  This time I think I might have out-done myself:  I decided to clean out our garage (yeah, you say, no big deal).  Right, that part wasn't that big of a deal, it took me a couple of hours during my daughter's nap time to transform the chaotic mess into a neatly organized space.  It's all that newly acquired space that got me into trouble.   We had a room of boxed stuff (and I mean floor to ceiling) and I had decided to turn that into my sewing room.  Sooo... with all this space in our garage now, I thought that maybe I'd move a couple of boxes to get things started for when my husband got home.  Well, four hours later, I moved all but ONE box!  I still don't know how I did it but I did.  So of course I couldn't stop at that.  I really started a domino effect with cleaning the garage.  I now had this nearly empty room that just needed a little TLC.  So I got out some tools, put together some furniture and a few hours later, had my own, beautiful, inspiring, sewing room all set up.  
On Tuesday night I was very happy to welcome my husband home but unfortunately he was joined by a bad case of food poisoning (which didn't clear until three days later!).  So now instead of gaining an extra hand, I gained another "baby" to take care of.  No complaints, but it sure didn't leave much time for anything.  And then on Saturday I had a baby and toddler fair to attend.  So, yeah, I have been keeping busy.  :)  Whew .... I was very happy to welcome Monday and all it's normality .... well, almost ... it's a busy social week but I'm sure I'll manage to squeeze in a few new hats.  ]]>olga.carlson@mac.comNone2009-06-01T12:05:42-07:00http://www.shopbabyboo.ca/blog/files/what_a_lovely_weekend.html#unique-entry-id-2http://www.shopbabyboo.ca/blog/files/what_a_lovely_weekend.html#unique-entry-id-2We have had amazing weather over the last few days.  Blue skies, sunny, warm ... after a long, rainy and cold west-coast winter the warmth and sun feels heavenly!  On Saturday my husband and I went to a BEAUTIFUL wedding.  The reception took place in amazing Minter Gardens where we got married.  That was our first time back in four years and it's amazing what a rush of excitement I got from just being there!  And seeing all the beautiful flowers everywhere (including the wedding flowers ... they were peonys, hydrangeas and roses in soft pinks - stunning!) had me constantly thinking of my hats!  The ideas were flowing faster than I could even really process them!  So naturally I had to go do a little "flower shopping" for the hats on Sunday.  I could hardly wait to start sewing and designing again.  For the last week and half I don't think I have done any sewing at all as most of my time was focused on getting the website going.  So it was a real treat for me to sit down and sew a few hats.

]]>olga.carlson@mac.comNone2009-05-29T00:03:29-07:00http://www.shopbabyboo.ca/blog/files/unbelievable.html#unique-entry-id-1http://www.shopbabyboo.ca/blog/files/unbelievable.html#unique-entry-id-1Well, I feel a little bit like I'm living a dream.  Not one of those floaty-fuzzy, don't-know-what's-happening kind of dreams where things just happen.  I'm definitely feeling the "work" part of things.  But it's dreamy in the sense that this "dream" is all coming to a reality.  Tonight my website is LIVE!!!  I had a dream, an idea, an inspiration and now I have my own company, own website, own FANS!  What an amazing feeling it is to have someone else appreciate MY ART enough to buy it!  
This dream did not come to be a reality all on it's own.  I had so much love, support and help... from my beautiful little girl, Izabelle, who has been my inspiration and drive for this adventure!   ....My wonderful husband who is talented and wonderful beyond words (and who put this website together for me!)  ...My mom and sister who would babysit all spare moments of their time to allow me to make this dream a reality.  ....The lovely and talented Jamie Delaine who so graciously photographed our sweet little baby models (all 15 of them at once - no small task at all!)  ....All the parents of the baby models for taking the time to come out.  ... My stunning sister-in-law, Bria for designing my delightful business cards.   ...And countless family and friends who encouraged and guided me.  Thank you!!!]]>olga.carlson@mac.comNews2009-05-16T12:17:17-07:00http://www.shopbabyboo.ca/blog/files/we_have_launched.html#unique-entry-id-0http://www.shopbabyboo.ca/blog/files/we_have_launched.html#unique-entry-id-0After 2 months of planning, designing, stressing and sewing, we’re finally launching our website! I had planned to do it several months ago, but since I started this line of bamboo hats, I haven’t had a long enough break to focus on my website; so I had to ask my husband for a little help. Thankfully, he had a bit of time that we could sit down and plan this out together.]]>