Technology and the Toddler

My toddler asked for an iPad and a television for her room for her birthday this year!  What kind of three year old asks for her own iPad?  Apparently most of them do now.  I never thought I’d be one of those parents who said things like, “Back in my day…”  But back in my day, I didn’t get a computer and internet until 8^th grade.  I didn’t have a cell phone until I could drive and I didn’t have my first iPod until college!

On Zoey’s first international flight this summer, she spent most of the time watching Frozen and Sleeping Beauty on my husband’s iPad, which she refers to as her iPad.  She fell asleep at one point, so Brant (my husband, her Dad) “borrowed” his iPad back to read.  She woke up and was very upset that her iPad had disappeared.

I never cease to be amazed by the things she knows how to do with electronic technology.  My dad was babysitting her a few months back and I returned home to find her instructing him on how to turn on NetFlix on the iPad and then stream that to the ChromeCast hooked up to the television.  She doesn’t know all of the terminology, but she knows if you push the little squiggly button in the corner that it will start playing on the television.  Where has my baby gone?  Where have all the children gone?  My child is not the anomaly I have discovered.  Today’s culture is just different.  Children play with iPads and iPhones like we used to play with Barbie dolls and beanie babies.

On that international vacation I mentioned before, several nights we saw toddler’s watching Paw Patrol, Octonauts, Shimmer and Shine and other various cartoons on their iPads.  It kept the kids quiet, which was my reasoning for letting Zoey have one on the plane.  It made me start thinking though, what lengths will we go to just to keep our kids quiet and well behaved in public?  I don’t want my child to be glued to technology.  I don’t want that to be the only way I can get her to follow the rules and behave well.  Zoey is thankfully still a little chatter box and would rather be jabbering on to us about whatever she sees going on than playing a video game or watching an iPad when out at a restaurant, but I have a feeling those days may be numbered!

A few years ago, I probably would have told you I wouldn’t be one of those moms that lets her toddler play on an iPad, iPhone or whatever other gadget is handy.  But you know what, I would have been wrong!  As a parent, you do what it takes to make it in the current situation and do the best you can for your child.  I want to protect Zoey and educate her and help her grow into a wonderful little person.  A few years back, I would have probably been one of those judgey people that says I am not doing it right by letting her have so much time with technology, but now I understand that there is no one size fits all solution and in some situations handing a toddler an iPad on a plane is the very best solution possible at the time!  Parenthood has made me grow so much as a parent and learn that you should never utter the words, “I’d never do that!” because you know what, there’s a really good chance that someday you might!

The LuLaRoe Queue

When I first heard there was a direct sales company that was so popular that people would wait in line for weeks, maybe even months to join I didn’t really believe it.  I thought surely I am misunderstanding.  Who would do that?  Why would someone do that?  Well now I get it.  Now I’m doing it!  I’m in the LuLaRoe Queue.

Why?  Well because I fell in love with the brand.  I want all the leggings!  Oh and I want my 3 year old, Zoey, to have a pair to match all of mine too.  And I want pretty much all the Azures and several Maxis and some Nicoles.  Oh and did I mention I want the matching Azures and Maxis for my daughter too!  Clearly, you see I have developed quite the expensive wish list.  I decided I needed some extra “fun” money to support my habit of wanting to shop all the live shop the box events and weekly multi-consultant facebook parties.  And being the first to see what is in every new box of inventory, sounds a little like Christmas morning coming every few weeks!  So I am patiently, yea, okay not really patiently, anxiously waiting my turn for the call that says I can buy my inventory and start my own pop-up boutique business.

I also needed some me time.  I needed something fun that was just for me.  Something other than Brandy – the Accountant, Brandy – Zoey’s Mom, and Brandy – Brant’s wife.  I needed something to be passionate about again.  I wanted something else to be excited about in my daily life.  I love my day job as an Accountant and I am not looking to turn LuLaRoe into my full time job, but let’s be honest, accounting is not the most exciting profession.  Though it is an incredibly useful profession when deciding to open one’s own small business.  I know all the ins and outs of journal entries, bank reconciliations, balance sheets, income statements and cash flow statements.

I’m also hoping LuLaRoe will help me to meet more like-minded women in my local area.  I am hoping that my role in this new business will help me to be more comfortable meeting and getting to know new people.  Right now I think I am a good public speaker with people that I know, but when I am put in a new group, I tend to become shy.  I want to work on this and want to help others develop and become more comfortable in groups as well.  I’m really looking forward to hosting LuLaRoe pop-up shops and stepping outside of my comfort zone!

 

Zoey's Frozen Birthday Bash

Zoey's third birthday party was so different from the first two birthday parties.  I called all the shots on the first two parties.  This year I was in for a big surprise.  Little Miss Zoey had an opinion on everything.  From the invitations to the cake to the outfit. 


She first picked an Octonauts theme for the party.  We did some searching on Etsy and found a few cute items, but nothing was very girly.  I was a bit disappointed, but I rolled with it.  Then Nana came to visit and they watched Frozen about a thousand times in one weekend!  By the time Nana left, she had Zoey convinced that she must have a Frozen party.  I must admit this Mommy was happy!  I would have thrown the best Octonauts party around if that's what she wanted, but I was so much happier to plan a Frozen party.

We started with the perfect invitation search.  I narrowed it down to a top 3 and then let Zoey pick.  She was surprisingly very decisive.  The instant the second option popped up, she said that one!  I don't think the third contender ever had a chance.  Next up, was the Etsy search for the perfect Frozen birthday outfit.  Zoey picked out just about the frilliest one!!  I'm not sure how she was able to do any flips in all that tulle, but she managed!

 

 

Zoey decided back in February that her party was going to be at The Little Gym, where she attends a weekly gymnastics class.  We had so much fun.  We had about 10 little kids at the party and they all had a blast running and playing in the gym.

 



 I found a little bake shop called Beth's Sweet Shoppe in Nicholasville.  Beth is amazing!  The cake was not only gorgeous, but it also tasted fabulous.  Zoey was so thrilled with it.  She didn't want to cut it at first, but then decided she really wanted to eat it!  The strawberry top layer was amazing.  The bottom layer was chocolate.  It was also very good, but strawberry was hands down the crowd favorite!
I highly recommend www.thesweetshoppebybeth.com if you are looking for a reasonably priced masterpiece of a cake like we had for our Frozen birthday bash.  A few of the places I called here in Lexington wanted nearly double what Beth charged.  Our beautiful Frozen cake was the crowning moment of this excellent birthday adventure!

LuLaRoe: The Girl Club that I Instantly Knew I Wanted to Join

I am not a joiner.  I don’t tend to make girl-friends easily.  I really never have.  I had a few close friends in high school and college, but as adulthood set in it became harder and harder to make and maintain close friendships.  I really want to have close girl-friends, but it just doesn’t come as naturally for me as seems to for some others. 

When I first had my daughter, Zoey, I joined some babywearing groups online and made some close friends through those activities.  Babywearing helped me through post-partum depression and really changed my life.  Babywearing is a bit hard to get from the outside looking in.  It seems like large groups of new moms collecting and trading pieces of long woven fabric.  This is not entirely off, but there is so much more to it than that!  Babywearing instilled in me a love of fine textiles and a love of searching for that special “Unicorn ISO” (i.e. a special pattern wrap that I fell in love with and was immediately in search of until it came up for sell in my size).  Babywearing was also a very special way to bond with Zoey.  She loved napping in wraps when she was little and then going for walks in wraps as she got a little older.  Even now that she is 3, we still wrap up sometimes.  I treasure the moments that she will still go uppy for me!

 

But my babywearing days are basically over and I miss them so much!  I miss searching on Buy Sell Trade groups for that next special wrap.  Heck, I even miss posting mine for sell or trade when it’s time to fund something new!  Woven wraps are very limited and finding that perfect size and pattern combination can be very difficult.  Hmmmm, does that remind anyone of anything?  LuLaRoe, maybe?  Yes!!!  As soon as I was introduced to the amazing world of LuLaRoe, it instantly reminded me of the Babywearing world that my toddler and I had recently outgrown.  LuLaRoe features several styles of dresses, tops, skirts and leggings in various patterns.  Each print is only used to make between 2,500 and 3,000 items.  These could vary between maxi skirts and leggings to Irma tops and Nicole dresses.  So if you see something you love, in your size, you’d be wise to go ahead and quickly comment “Sold”!  For me, LuLaRoe isn’t just about beautiful clothes that are very flattering, but it is also about matching moments with my baby girl.  She absolutely loves the kids line.  She is thrilled every time I get us new matching dresses or matching leggings.  It is also about a sense of community.  There is truly a facebook community of women who love LuLaRoe.

In the first week after I was introduced to LuLaRoe, I probably joined 50 facebook groups to shop for the perfect matching sets for me and Zoey.  I quickly discovered that not all that many consultants carry the kid’s line.  Or they carry a few of the kid’s styles, but not many.  This made me start thinking, I could do this.  I could cater to those toddler moms like me that want to dress their kiddos in adorable clothes and hey if we happen to match, all the better!  So I contacted my friend who had introduced me to LuLaRoe in the first place and started doing my research about joining the company.  Fast forward a few weeks and I am in the queue, anxiously awaiting my inventory!  I hope to become that go to shop on facebook for Mommy and Me looks.  I am also going to carry lots of women’s and kid’s styles other than Mommy and Me looks, so no worries if you don’t have a child or aren’t into matching, you might still love shopping in my group.  If you are interested in checking out LuLaRoe and my Mommy and Me looks, please join my facebook group at www.facebook.com/groups/LuLaRoeMommyandMeBrandy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reflections on Babywearing

My Introduction to Babywearing

I am amazed by what a huge part of my life babywearing has been over the past two years.  I had a difficult pregnancy, which ended with a month of bed rest followed by delivering six weeks early via an unplanned c-section due to severe pre-eclampsia.  My amazing little premie, Zoey, was in the NICU for just under two weeks.  This was actually a much shorter stay than the doctors had predicted when she was born.  We were very blessed with how well she did, how quickly she was able to come off oxygen and how quickly she was able to start eating on her own.  Still the trials of having a baby born and whisked straight away to the NICU can be a very emotional and difficult thing to deal with.  In the moment, I didn’t realize quite how much I was struggling with it all.  I was still having my own health issues as well, while Zoey was being treated in the NICU.  For most moms, delivering stops the pre-eclampsia symptoms.  I was one of the minority who continued to have issues for several days after delivery.

Looking back on it, I can easily see that I was becoming depressed from a combination of my health issues, going home without Zoey, dealing with the daily stress of the NICU and postpartum hormones.  At the time, I continued to insist I was fine.  I eventually listened to my husband’s concerns about my frequent crying spells and I talked with my doctor.  She was able to put me on a medicine that helped me.  When Zoey was about two months old, I discovered babywearing through a small facebook group of new mom’s.  The babies looked so happy in the wraps and it looked so convenient for the moms.  I ordered my first wrap off of Amazon within a few days of learning about babywearing.

My first wrap was a hot pink Boba, which is a stretchy wrap (similar to a Moby).  I loved my Boba and how close it helped me to feel to Zoey.  I hadn’t admitted it to myself, but I had been struggling to bond with her.  I’m not saying that wrapping her up and snuggling her suddenly made everything perfect, but it was certainly a step in the right direction for us. 

I am so grateful for all of the wonderful babywearing moms I have met both in person and through facebook groups.  My first few attempts at wrapping were not the best, but with constructive criticism I improved my technique and we enjoyed hours of safe snuggles in our Boba.  We have since moved on to woven wraps and soft-structured carriers (SSCs), but the Boba will always have a special place in my heart for leading me to an activity that has brought so much joy to my life.   

My First Woven Wrap 

After a few days of wrapping with my stretchy wrap, I was able to attend a local babywearing group meeting and learned about woven wraps.  As babies get bigger, woven wraps are a great option.  Wovens are more supportive than the stretchy wraps and can be used safely for back carries, unlike the stretchy wraps.  So shortly after the babywearing meeting, I found myself on the hunt for my first woven wrap.  There are so many choices out there!

The first question I had was what size wrap should I buy for my first woven wrap.  Woven wraps come in a variety of sizes, typically ranging from size 2 – size 7.  A size 2 is 2.7 meters, size 3 is 3.1 meters, size 4 is 3.6 meters, size 5 is 4.2 meters, size 6 is 4.6 meters and a size 7 is 5.2 meters.  I asked on my local babywearing group’s facebook page and in a very helpful, large facebook group called Babywearing 102.  The general consensus was that for my body build I should start with either a size 5 or 6, which would be my base size.  The majority recommended a 6, so that’s what I decided to search for.

So now I knew what size I was going to buy, the next big question was what brand.  There is no right or wrong answer to this question.  I was given several pieces of advice on this, but one that has really stuck with me and that I now share with beginners is find a wrap you love.  If it is beautiful to you and you absolutely love it, you will learn to use it.  I considered several brands such as Natibaby, Girasol, Kokadi, and Oscha.  I ended up going with a Kokadi Erna Im Wunderland.  It was beautiful turquoise and pink colors and had a whimsical pattern that I loved.

After deciding what I wanted to buy, the next step was to figure out how exactly to buy it.  There are several facebook groups called Babywearing Swaps, where you can buy, sell or trade wraps.  I perused some of these, but at the time this seemed really overwhelming (more on buy, sell and trading in the swaps in later posts).  So while lots of people recommended buying a used wrap for your first woven wrap, since it would already be broken in, I decided this wasn’t the right choice to for me.  Luckily, Erna was still in production by Kokadi and I could purchase it new from a vendor.  It took a bit of searching to find a vendor with a size 6 in stock, but I finally did.  Then I ordered it and anxiously awaited the arrival of my beautiful new woven wrap.

My first wrap job was a little sloppy.  See first picture below, but I posted this picture to the babywearing facebook groups and was given helpful critiques to help me improve my wrap job.  The second picture was taken just hours after the first.  I improved dramatically between these two attempts, if I do say so myself!  I am so grateful for the kind women in the babywearing community who have answered the “How does this wrap job look?”  “Did I do this right?”  “What should I buy for my first wrap?”  and “What size should I get for my first wrap?” questions of us beginners dozens of times.  I hope this article may help to answer those questions for some future newbies to babywearing!

The carry in these pictures is called Front Wrap Cross Carry (abbreviated FWCC).  This is one of the easiest carries to learn and a great place for a beginner to start.  In fact, it was my go to carry for the first few months of my babywearing journey.  It is still one of my two year old's favorite carries, though I now prefer back carries.

My rails are not properly tightened here in my first attempt and Zoey was too low.  She should be high enough that I can easily kiss the top of her head while she is wrapped.

In the next picture, my rails are much tighter and she is much more secure.  She could have still been a little higher, but overall this was a much better more comfortable carry.

The Sentimental Side of A Babywearing Wrap Collector

I love babywearing and woven wraps.  Handwoven wraps take things to a whole new level of awesomeness!  And custom handwoven wraps up the ante even more.

There are several woven wrap makers that I follow on Facebook.  A few of my favorites are Zatgebo, KHR, Stewed Rhubarb, ETLA and Uppymama.  Well a year or so ago Zatgebo announced a wrap inspiration contest on her Facebook page.  You could submit a photo along with the style of wrap you would like made from the photo.  Her fourteen year old daughter would be selecting the winner.  So, I tried to think, what did I like when I was fourteen?  What would I have found inspiration worthy all those years ago?  For me, one of the most inspirational scenes in the world both then and now is a beautiful sunset by the ocean.  I looked through lots of beach sunset pictures, until I found the perfect one.  It is from a beach that my husband and I visited on a trip to Kauai several years ago called Poipu.  When I sent in my email for the contest, I explained how much I loved the ocean and how I hoped to return to this beach with my daughter, Zoey, and would love to have a wrap inspired by this beach to wear her in on that return trip.  Imagine my surprise a few days later, when Wendi (the owner of Zatgebo) posted my picture on her page!  I was the winner!  I was going to get my first Zatgebo and it was going to be my very own custom designed wrap!

The process of working with Wendi was awesome.  She mocked up the wrap from my inspiration photo.  She did a few different versions and I selected my favorite.  This was difficult because they were all gorgeous!  She helped explain the differences that the different weft colors would make in the appearance of the wrap.  Wendi made five pieces of my custom wrap.  I purchased three pieces of it.  I originally selected a 4.8 meter piece with a black cottolin weft in plain weave.  The warp is Egyptian cotton and amazingly soft.  Wendi selected the other weft colors and she did a great job.  I also had a 4.3 meter piece in twill weave with navy American mercerized cotton weft and a 3.4 meter piece in twill weave with pink Egyptian cotton weft.  Wendi also made a piece with periwinkle weft for her personal stash and a  ring sling piece with a gray weft.  To say that I love these wraps would be a bit of an understatement.

The inspiration picture.

The mock-up

Okay, so now that I have went on and on about how gorgeous these wraps are, you’d probably like to hear something about the wrapping qualities right?  Well, okay, I can do that because these wraps do not disappoint on that front either.  Zatgebos do not have tapered ends.  This was my first experience with a wrap with blunt ends.  I think this does make it wrap a touch shorter, but this is something that I have quickly gotten used to.  The 100% Egyptian cotton shorty with the pink weft is the softest wrap that I have ever felt, yet it is still a very solid wrap.  I have mainly used it for a ruck tied in front and various hip carries.  The ruck stays in place even with just a single knot in the front.  It is very cushy on my shoulders and very supportive.  The long wrap with the black cottolin weft is just amazing.  This wrap makes the most comfortable double hammock of any of my current wraps.  It is very cushy on my shoulders and has just the right amount of grip for me.  I find it easy to wrap with, my passes will glide into place, but it has enough grip that it holds even if I tie off with a single knot.  I wore my 19 pound, 9 month old for over an hour on a hike with our two dogs and she felt weightless.  I'm definitely smitten with this wrap!  I just recently parted with the gorgeous navy twill weft in a trade to another awesome handwoven wrap.  Before I let it leave, my husband did a photo shoot of me and Zoey in it.  I mainly wore her in a FWCC for the shoot.  This wrap is truly amazing.  This is the thickest of the pieces that I owned and is extremely cushy.  I wore my daughter for over an hour in a FWCC and we were both happy in it.  By the end of the photo shoot, she had settled in for a nap.  This rarely ever happens for us in front carries anymore.  

Double hammock in black weft, plain weave

FWCC in navy weft, twill

Ruck tied in front in pink weft, twill

Winding down of my Babywearing Days

I am slowly accepting that my babywearing days are coming to an end.  After all, I don't have a baby anymore, I have a very independent toddler.  She still occasionally wants wrap snuggles and I greatly enjoy each and every one of those opportunities.  I have started to sell off some of my wraps on the babywearing swaps, but it is so hard because I am sentimental and have emotional attachments to several of them.  Plus, I am now down to my favorites.  A person can have 12 favorites of something, right?  Other babywearing mommas will understand!  I hope Zoey will continue to occasionally go up for another year or two, so I can justify keeping just my favorite wraps!

Happy Babywearing, Sparkly Mommies!

Why I Love Consignment Sale Shopping

I really dislike consignment shops, but I love the pop-up one week (or some even less than that) sales.  There are a few great ones in my local area.  I participate in Rhea Lana's.  And I also shop at Little Lamb's Closet.

Before I had my baby, I went to a few consignment stores to see what kind of deals I could find.  I left overwhelmed, discouraged and empty-handed.  The clothing racks were so crammed into the tiny space that a normal person could barely move around.  Now imagine being six months pregnant with swollen feet and trying to move around in this tiny space.  So that was strike one.  Next, the clothing itself did not look like something I would want to take home to my newborn.  It looked like they accepted every piece of clothing brought in the door.  Some of it was stained, very wrinkled or even smelled bad.  That was strike two.  And finally, the prices.  While they were obviously much cheaper than retail, they really weren't that much better than what a savvy shopper could do with Carter's coupons and shopping the Saturday morning doorbuster specials.  So that was strike three.  And with that I thought I was done with consignment shopping.

Then when my baby was a couple months old a friend shared a facebook page called Rhea Lana's.  They were a special pre-sale to their consignment event for new moms and people who liked them on facebook.  A few of friends said they were going, so I figured it was worth checking out.  The racks were spread out nicely and the big ticket items were set up in a separate room to make browsing simple.  I immediately felt more comfortable here than I had at the consignment shop.  The prices were better here too.  Toddler jeans were priced $3 a pair, infant pajamas were bundled together in sets of 2 for $3, onesies were bundled in sets of 3 or more for $3.  It was great.  I was all set to start loading up and then I saw the check out line.  It wrapped around the room!  It was like Black Friday just for new mommies.  And with that I left again empty-handed, but intrigued.

That was at the fall sale for Rhea Lana's.  I did some research and learned that they had one every spring and fall.  I did a little more research and learned that if you consigned items then you got to shop early and if you volunteered with set-up, check out, etc. you got to shop even earlier.  So I decided I would give consigning a go in the spring.

Consigning was really simple.  I loaded my item descriptions and prices in online.  I didn't know what to expect, as far as how much of my stuff would sale.  I tried to price it really reasonably and bundle some good items together to make them more likely to sell.  The drop off process went smoothly and I learned one of the reasons why the clothes looked so much nicer at Rhea Lana's than a regular consignment shop.  The check-in ladies are very picky!  One of my onesies had a very tiny stain that I hadn't even noticed at home, but under the store's fluorescent lights you could just see it.  The check-in lady made me remove it.  At the time, I was slightly annoyed, but in retrospect I understand that this is truly a service they are providing to all of the shoppers.  It's no fun wading through the stained, smelly items to try to find that awesome deal.  So I get it now.

When the consignor pre-sale time arrived, I prayed that it wouldn't be as crowded as the new mom and facebook pre-sale I had attended the prior year.  I was so thankful to see that there was probably only 75 to 100 other shoppers entering the store with me.  I was able to browse, though I would recommend browsing quickly to snatch up all those great deals.  I bought my daughter tons of footie pajamas at great prices.  Those seemed to be one of the first items to go.  Also, toddler jeans went fast and shoes that were priced right.  Some people seem to think they can still get half of what they paid out of their used shoes.  They just aren't going to sell at that price.  But the ones priced $10 or so, those move quickly.  I spent about $120, but I had my daughter's next season daycare wardrobe.  We also found an amazing deal on a walker that turned into one of Zoey's favorite play things. I felt like super-mom!

I was also excited about the online tracking.  It updates live online as people shop, so you can log in to your account and find out how much you have made throughout the sale.  I might have become a little obsessed with checking to see if something new had sold!  What can I say, it was exciting to see those numbers continue to go up.  I ended up making about $115.  So yes, I spent more than I made, but basically I traded in my daughter's outgrown clothes for next season's wardrobe, plus a few toys.  Now I think that is a win!

Tips and Tricks

• Get there right on time for your pre-sale group's shopping time!
• Take a tote bag or something else large with a shoulder strap to carry around your finds.
• If at all possible, leave your child at home!!
• Know your shopping list in advance - such as I want 5 pairs of footie pajamas, 5 pairs of jeans, 1 coat, etc.  Look for your wish list items first!  The best stuff moves fast!
• Check your sales online!  It's fun!
• If you have time, iron your items!  They will sell faster!
• Bundle items together:  if you have one plain skirt and one really adorable skirt, bundle them to help add value to the deal!

Good luck, Sparkly Mommies!  Happy shopping!

*I am in no way affiliated with Rhea Lana's other than being a happy shopper and consignor.

Touchstone Crystal: My Launch Party

So when you first join a Touchstone Crystal team, your first goal is to have a $500 Launch Party.  My personal goal was to have a $600 Launch Party because at $600 you are eligible for the monthly host special.  In my first month, the host special just happened to be double host credit!!  I was so excited when I found that out.  What a great way to help me build up my display case quickly!

I created a facebook event, which I have learned is not the best way to reach most of my group.  A few people accepted that invitation, but text messages and actual hard copy invites seemed to work better for me.  I think this will vary from group to group.  Amie, my mentor, recommended that I invite everyone in two different ways.  I had 8 people attend my party and two people who couldn't make it to the party, but saw the catalog before the party, loved the jewelry and placed an order.  So do you think I met my $600 Launch Party goal?  Not only did I meet it, I doubled it!  My party had over $1,200 in sales.  I knew how much I loved this jewelry, but it was very encouraging to my new business venture to see how much all of my friends loved it too!  I received over $700 in free jewelry, plus I met a new consultant incentive goal for reaching my first $1,000 in sales.  I received a $200 product certificate for meeting this goal and I also received a coupon to purchase products at 70%!  What a great start to building my business!

My successful launch party has left me so ready to get out and concur the world!  Everyone needs some sparkle in their wardrobe and I think I'm just the Sparkly Mommy to bring them that sparkle.  Touchstone Crystal has such a great incentive plan to start new consultants out in this business.  I haven't felt this passionate about anything in years.  I am so excited about the jewelry, the opportunity and the wonderful friends that I have made in this new venture!

Here are a few of my favorite pieces that I have earned for FREE with either hostess or consultant rewards so far!