JBF Marysville Mount Vernon

Did you know that The Pierogie Mama is moving to Skagit County? It's true! I am so excited to be moving back to the part of the state where my husband and I first met and fell in love. We have been working to get back up north for almost 9 years and the time has finally come!

And I know if you ask Sheila, the owner of Just Between Friends Marysville-Mount Vernon, she may have a different answer, but I'm kind of feeling like the upcoming Spring 2016 sale is kind of a "Welcome Home" party for me. Am I right? Ok, maybe I'm just dreaming ;)

If you've been following along with The Pierogie Mama over the years, you'll know how much I really really love the Just Between Friends Sales. It hits all of my major categories - saving money, saving the environment, supporting local families. Let me tell you how:

By shopping at Just Between Friends Sales you are saving upwards of 50% off gently used children's and maternity clothes, toys and gear. For the last 4 years I have adapted my shopping style to saving the bulk of my kids clothing purchases to happen at JBF sales, which usually occur in Spring, Summer, Fall and Christmas. Just Between Friends of Marysville - Mount Vernon is the newest JBF franchise and already ramping up for their second event, from April 29-May 1, and it's already a really exciting event! Consignors from Snohomish, Skagit and Whatcom counties are all bringing in their gently used items to sell at this crossroads event and you will not believe what amazing deals you'll find.

Purchasing pre-loved clothes and gear not only saves you moolah, it also saves the environment. When you reuse clothes and gear, you are lessening the impact on the environment. Those clothes are being saved from the landfill and you're also lessening the demand for new textiles to be created.  This creates a smaller carbon footprint for your whole family!

You support local families when you shop at a Just Between Friends Sale. Sheila and her family are based in the area and she loves connecting with families! Each of the consignors, like I mentioned before, are coming from about a 50 mile range area to bring these clothes to the event. When you buy a toy, pack of books, Ergo carrier or a super cute outfit at JBF event, you are putting money right back into our community!

The JBF Marysville - Mount Vernon 

April 29 - May 1, 2016 

Skagit County Fairgrounds in Mount Vernon, WA

Full sale schedule here

Also! Did you know that you can Meet and Greet with Batman and Queen Elsa 

(from Enchanting Events; whom I really love!)

I'm also really excited to give away --4-- Presale Passes and JBF bucks to 4 lucky winners! Will it be you?

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Disclosure:  Thank you, JBF Marysville - Mount Vernon for sponsoring this post.  All opinions expressed are my own. The Pierogie Mama is not responsible for prize fulfillment. Confirmed prizes will be saved at  the"will call" table at the JBF  Marysville - Mount Vernon Spring 2016 event. 

WIN MOMMYCON TICKETS!

If you are going to any of the MommyCon events this year, save $5 with promocode PIEROGIEMAMA16

The MommyCon 2016 season has already ramped up and I am so excited for the Seattle event! After attending the first Seattle MommyCon event in November I knew that I had to be come back again for the 2016 date.

Sign here... #mommyconseattle #mommyconsea

A photo posted by Bianca @ The Pierogie Mama (@thepierogiemama) on Nov 21, 2015 at 11:31am PST

The MommyCon events are always star-studded with amazing speakers; including blogger The Leaky Boob, BabyGuy NYC and Jennifer Labit (owner of Cotton Babies cloth diapers).

Meeting Jennifer Labit, owner of Cotton Babies. #tmgpierogie #mommyconseattle #mommyconsea #bloggerbesties

A photo posted by Bianca @ The Pierogie Mama (@thepierogiemama) on Nov 21, 2015 at 9:36am PST

Last November my blogging bestie and real life friend That Mama Gretchen and I took the night out to have some much needed catch up time and a girls night before her little man Reid was born. We had a late night snack at the hotel bar, and retired to our room to chat about what we were excited to see the following morning.

Not only were there great speakers in the main room, but the smaller break out rooms had great sessions as well. I really enjoyed the Wrapping 101 class with Ergo Baby and a cosleeping consultation (which gave me the umph I needed to help begin Ruby's transition to sleeping with her older sister Penny!). The seminars include topics on babywearing, parenting, breastfeeding, cloth diapering, car seat safety, babygear and so much more!

Wrapping 101. On my to do list to learn this year. #ergobaby #lovecarrieson #mommyconseattle #mommyconsea

A photo posted by Bianca @ The Pierogie Mama (@thepierogiemama) on Nov 21, 2015 at 12:50pm PST

Truth be told, that Wrapping 101 class did me some good because Cassiope Wovens was doing a super fun instagram giveaway of a MommyCon exclusive wrap and guess who won? THIS GIRL! Her very first wrap!!

Big WOOOHOOO for joy! Thanks @cassiopewoven and @drbabywearingdad for the awesome prize of a #mommycon edition of your beautiful wraps. I spent all day thinking about them and really wasn't sure if I could leave the event without one. Can't wait to start wrapping. #mommyconseattle #mommyconsea #cassiopewoven #castaliacotinga #wovenwrap #wearallthebabies #cassiopewovenscavengerhunt

A photo posted by Bianca @ The Pierogie Mama (@thepierogiemama) on Nov 21, 2015 at 6:37pm PST

So if that doesn't give you the push to visit MommyCon this year, here's the schedule for the upcoming Seattle event.

In addition to all of these "grown up" talks, there are tons of kid friendly activities too! There's a toddler play area, crafting, a quiet room for nursing or napping and usually a food vendor for kid snacks and more. Don't be afraid to bring your child, co-parent, or anyone else who is interested.

Now- the super fun part-

ENTER TO WIN A PAIR OF MOMMYCON TICKETS TO ANY OF THE UPCOMING 2016 MOMMYCON EVENTS!!!

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MommyCon Seattle - Saturday April 2

MommyCon WEAR Chicago Friday May 27

MommyCon Austin Saturday June 26

MommyCon DC Saturday July 23

MommyCon Orange County Saturday August 20

MommyCon Orlando Saturday Sept 3

MommyCon San Jose Saturday Oct 29

More details here

@mommycon Seattle was this past weekend, in case you couldn't tell from my IG feed, and it was AMAZE-BALLS. @thatmamagretchen and I took a much needed mama's night out and took the conference by storm. Were you at any of the MommyCon events? What was your favorite part? My review on the blog - link in my profile. #mommycon #mommyconsea #mommyconseattle #tmgpierogie

A photo posted by Bianca @ The Pierogie Mama (@thepierogiemama) on Nov 25, 2015 at 2:33pm PST

MommyCon came to Seattle...and I went!

Get your ticket for Mommy Con 2016 early! They always sell out, and here's a $5 code to get you started!

For the last few years my blogging bestie, That Mama Gretchen, and I have been pining away for a conference that we can attend together and to piggyback a mom's night out on. It's not easy, you know, when you've got two mamas who are on alternating years for pregnancies and birthing babies! But the fates aligned; MommyCon was coming to Seattle and even though Gretchen was in the final stages of her pregnancy with Baby #3 and I had not yet taken a night away from Ruby, we did it. We did it!

We split a hotel room at Motif, where the conference was to be held the following morning. After battling Friday evening Seattle traffic we checked and quickly made our way down to Frolick for an evening snack and a drink for me. There's something about a friendship that allows you to pick up and catch up with each other's lives, without missing a beat, even though it's been almost a year since we last saw each other in person. Well, keeping up with each other's blogs and social media kind of helps that.

Neither of us knew what to expect from MommyCon, even though we had heard great reviews. We stayed up late, talking about woven wraps, birth stories (one of our favorite repeat conversations), blogging life and real life. It was well after 1am before I shut my eyes and I couldn't wait for the following morning.

So what can I say about MommyCon? I was completely unprepared for exactly how great of a day that I would have. All of the vendors - spot on. I loved chatting with each business and met some people I had chatted with online and met new favorites. The brands ranged from cloth diapers, breast feeding support, babywearing, mama cloth, natural products for children and mama and so much more.

Between checking out the booths I attended several great talks - Cloth Diapering led by Jennifer Labit (owner of Cotton Babies), Wrapping 101, Co-sleeping and Beyond (so my life right now), Sex After Baby and Boobs and Bottles (both by Jessica Martin-Weber, AKA The Leaky Boob). I was so thankful that they were spaced out throughout the day because if I had to choose between any of those I'm sure my heart would have broken. Each of the vendors were so helpful and not pushy at all, which just makes everything so much better. I also was the lucky winner of a Cassiope Woven wrap that was a MommyCon exclusive - more about that later - but the excitement of their scavenger hunt was a fun addition to the day.

MommyCon is more than just a conference; it was a rejuvenation of what it means to be a mama. There were so many examples of a mother there, whether they breastfeed, bottlefeed, wore their baby in a soft structured carrier, wrapped them methodically, pushed them in a stroller or what was covering their bottom. It didn't matter if she had spikey rainbow hair or wore her business casual suit to attend. We were all there for the same reason - to gain community in this great journey of life and to better ourselves. For the first time in a very long time I was in a room with hundreds of other women and rather than worrying about the Mommy Wars, we all came together as we are.

Get $5 off your 2016 ticket by using promocode PierogieMama16!

Did you go to any of the MommyCon conferences?

Tell me about your favorite part!

Don't miss That Mama Gretchen's 7 favorite things about MommyCon post too!

Disclosure: I attended MommyCon Seattle 2015 as a media member and received a complimentary ticket. But seriously, I am so glad that I went and I plan on going any other time that this awesome event comes to my local area. And you should too!

MCS Touch A Truck Recap!

Holy cow I am behind on a lot of posts. Seriously. So today I'm just going to limit this post to mostly pictures, because there's little needed beyond that.

Last week was MCS's Touch a Truck event. Without sounding overly gushy, this was hands down the best way to spend $20 for a day of fun for a family of 8. Not kidding. Let me begin...

Firstly, Touch a Truck was hosted at Monroe Christian School and coordinated by my lovely friend, Molly. See her? Powerhouse woman who is the definition of go-getter. Deserves an award, this woman.

Follow me on instagram! @Thepierogiemama

It all started in the morning when my husband was picked up at our house by the Kenworth Mariner's truck. We got 2 Kenworth big rigs represented at this year's MCS Touch a Truck and it was pretty cool to see the look of amazement in Penny's eyes when this big truck rolled up to our house and dad climbed in.

We followed shortly after and here's a snippet of our day.

In addition to the 50+ trucks that were there, there were a ton of free activities included:
Face Painting, Caricature Drawings, Bubble Soccer, Agility Training, Kindermusik Mini Classes, Storytime, Bubble Blowing, Craft Tables, Balloon Animals, YMCA Activity booth, live music, petting and feeding ponies & bunnies, juggling lessons, nail art, toddler zone, meeting Blitz the offical Seahawk mascot, the Reptile Man and sooooooo much more. 

Over 2,500 people came and there are tons more pictures on their facebook page.

Keep in touch for next year!

Website Facebook

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by MCS Touch A Truck. All opinions are my own.

Saving Money & Time on Children's Clothing with Just Between Friends

According to Baby Center, children's clothes can cost on average $20-50 per month. Isn't that incredible? I don't know about you, but $480-$1200 in just clothes in the first two years is not in my budget!

Luckily I am a deal hound and have zero qualms about buying used children's clothes, toys and accessories. Let's face it, most of the clothes that our children wear will not be used for a very long because kids grow so quickly! I love to shop around to find the best deals and I've found be best bargains and quality of used children's items at Just Between Friends sales.

Just Between Friends is a nationwide consignment sales event that features children and maternity clothes and gear. Each event is a local franchise and the items that are consigned come from families in the area. In the last 3 years that I've been shopping at these events I've spent less than $1,000 on clothes and toys for both of my girls! Because the wide range of sizes are available at these sales I am able to shop ahead for what I'll be needing in the near future - so I'm also saving a lot of time by having it all available in one spot!

The JBF consignment sales events focuses on selling items that are in great shape and are gently used. This round of sales will be my third time consigning and they really do a great job in picking out the clothes that are in the best quality. Stains on kids clothes is a part of life, but at least you can rest assured that when you buy them at a JBF sale, they'll be almost brand new.

I count myself as lucky because even though there are 9 locations for JBF sales in the Seattle area, the one closest to home right in my town at the Evergreen State Fairgrounds in Monroe, WA.
For the general public, these are the days and times you can shop for the JBF Everett Spring Sale:

Wednesday April 15, 2015

4p-7p PRIME TIME SHOPPING $15 Buy Tickets

5p-7p PreSale for First Time Parents/Grandparents, Expectant Moms, Foster/Military Parents & Teachers Get a Free Admit Pass

Thursday April 16, 2015

11a-7p Early & Free Entry with donation of NEW Socks/Underwear (size 4T to Teen) to our Charity Drive. Donations accepted throughout event.

12p-7p Public Sale Day 1, $2 Admission Fee or Get a Free Admit Pass

Friday April 17, 2015

10a-6p Public Sale Day 2, NEW ITEMS have arrived, FREE Admission 

Saturday April 18, 2015

9a-5p Public Sale Day 3, FREE Admission

530p-7p HALF PRICE EARLY BIRD SHOPPING $2 Open to Public, items w/o a star are 50% OFF: Buy Tickets

Sunday April 19, 2015

8a-1p Half Price Public Sale, FREE Admission 

Plus, if you consign or volunteer there are several time slots that will get you shopping before the general public times, so I highly encourage you to learn more about how to consign with JBF. Also, if you have never shopped at a JBF event before, here are tips on how to shop at JBF.

JBF Everett and I have put together 4 fabulous prize packs that 4 Pierogie Mama readers will get to win!

Winner 1: Prime Time Shopping Pass (good for April 15, 4p-7p) + $10 JBF Bucks

Winner 2: Prime Time Shopping Pass (good for April 15, 4p-7p) + $10 JBF Bucks

Winner 3: PreSale Pass (good for April 15, 5p-7p) + $5 JBF Bucks

Winner 4:  PreSale Pass (good for April 15, 5p-7p) + $5 JBF Bucks

(JBF Bucks are good only for the JBF Everett Spring 2015 Event)

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What are you looking for at the next JBF sale?

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Just Between Friends of Everett. All opinions are my own.

The Great Cloth Diaper Change 2015: Grow With Me Boutique

I am so excited to share this exciting event with my local ladies! If you are in the Seattle or North South area check this out!

Have you heard of the Great Cloth Diaper Change? It's an event curated by the Real Diaper Association and it is in it's 5th year! It is an annual Guinness World Record attempt (and broken each time!) where the goal is to get as many cloth diapers changed simultaneously Hosts have registered around the world provide a Guinness qualified location where participants can be a part of an amazing record breaking attempt. Penny and I have participated twice, in 2012 and 2013. In those years the records were 8,251 and 8,301 diapers changed (respectively). Last year there wasn't a location within driving distance to us, but this year I have partnered with Grow With Me Boutique in Monroe, WA to host for our local area families!

The goal of the GCDC is to raise awareness of cloth diapering in our local communities. Cloth diapers has certainly become a buzz word and may be viewed as "the cool thing to do." While cloth diapering certainly has created it's own community of parents, there is a vast price range of cloth diapers that can make diapering affordable for every family. I had two children in diapers for a 10 month period, and my oldest officially potty trained at 31 months. I can't imagine the cost that many families pay to diaper their children for that period of time. I was so thankful to have learned about cloth diapering, find resources and grow a stash that fits my budget and comfort level. Read more about all my cloth diapering tips and journey.

Cloth diapering is cool, but the biggest perk is truly the cost savings. A standard cloth diaper stash that will last from birth to potty training and washing every 3 days is typically in the $250-300 range. But cloth diapering doesn't have to be an all or nothing change. It can be a diaper a day or only at home. Any amount of cloth diapering that you do will save you money, all that changes is how quickly you will break that initial investment cost. 

So if you're in my neck of the woods, head out to Monroe and change your baby's diaper at Grow With Me Boutique on April 18, 2015 at 10:30a.

Grow With Me Boutique and I have already gotten a ton of fluffy prizes for those who attend!  Keep up with all the details by joining the facebook event:

GCDC @ Grow With Me Boutique

and most importantly reserve your free ticket now! Space is limited and you will need to pre-register in order to participate in the event. We will be doing a prize drawing before the actual change so be sure that you are there at 10:30a! But don't worry, there will be special sales and other goodies following the event!

Have you participated in the Great Cloth Diaper Change?

These are the rules laid down by the GCDC for all eligible participants and locations:

• Each location must have a minimum of 25 participants (each participant must be 18 years of age, or older). You must bring a partner to help witness your changing buy taking photographic evidence.

• Baby being diapered must be 39” tall or shorter.

• The clean diaper must be 100% reusable and commercially available.

• The event location must be accessible to the public.

• The diaper change must take place in an area that is only accessible to the participants, the babies being diapered and the witnesses. This area must have a closely monitored, and clearly defined, entrance and exit.

• The The Great Cloth Diaper Change must take place promptly at 11:00am, local time. 

• Photographic documentation of the event is required, and all photographs submitted as evidence become the property of Guinness. 

Off Roading and Sledding up Foss River Road

We live right in the corridor of a lot of great snow just north of Seattle. Within an hour we have access to a ski resort and if we go a little further east we can visit Leavenworth, a quaint little Bavarian replica town (where we took our babymoon last year!). Even though we're so close to the mountains, our town is only about 70 feet above sea level and don't get very much snow (if any at all). So a little bit of a road trip is in order when we want to go sledding!

Our family tradition has been to go sledding at the start of the new year and the last two years we've kind of struck out with our sledding locations. The first year we checked out Stevens Pass, but there isn't a designated sledding area and the parking lot isn't that much fun. Leavenworth reportedly has one for older kids, but I think there is a height requirement. Last month we drove up Foss River Road outside of Skykomish to chop down our Christmas tree and we knew it would be a great sledding location within a few weeks!

A word of advice - this was mild off-roading conditions. Vehicles with street tires are not recommended to go up this road when it's snowy!  During snowy conditions as a bare minimum we recommend an AWD/4 wheel drive vehicle, with all terrain or mud terrain tires. Bring a set of chains (and any other recovery gear you might have) in case you get stuck, because we did! Thankfully this was considered "fun" for the husbands, so the mamas and kids started sledding while the dads put their off road recovery skills to use. Always travel with a secondary vehicle in case yours get stuck. There's no cell service up there.

My husband's new hobby is quickly becoming off roading in our 3/4 ton Duramax Suburban. This past summer we took our first family-of-four camping trip and teamed up with friends to drive the WADBR (which is an off roading trail that runs from southern Washington to northern Washington) and this month he was excited to get to take our rig out into to snow. Our Suburban has mud terrains and our friends joined us with their 2006 Ram 2500, with a Cummins Turbo Diesel and All Terrain tires. 

Not too long after switching to the gravel road it became very icy and both vehicles started to slip and slide. We threw down some gravel to gain traction and headed up a little more. The trail quickly becomes switch backs and soon you will see a short cut that connects two switch backs and is the perfect sledding hill. That's where we stopped. A few weeks ago when we had come up this same road it was still mud and rocks we had driven up that short cut. This weekend it was packed snow and was a perfect sled run. So we decided to chain up the trucks to make life a little easier for us and played in the snow for a couple hours. 

PS, did you notice that Penny is wearing a tutu? This girl cracks me up!  She lives in tutus! I got her dressed in her snowsuit, got started on Ruby and found that Penny had somehow procured a tutu - in the car. This girl will always make me laugh!

The snow condition was perfect for making snowmen, angels and sledding. The two toddlers, both aged 2 years 9 months, had a blast and absolutely loved the sled hill. Even Ruby loved snowflakes on her nose and eyelashes (one of her favorite things!) and enjoyed a ride in the infant sled. At first we thought the sled hill might be too long and fast for the toddlers, but even when they took a tumble half way down they got back on the disc and finished up!

Directions: Head east on highway 2 towards Skykomish (about 45 minutes). Stop at the Skykomish Ranger Station (74920 Stevens Pass Highway, Skykomish, WA 98288) to get a map. Continue headed east and turn right on Foss River Road. Follow the signs to Tonga ridge, FS 6830. Keep headed up until you find a decent sledding hill!

Follow along on my 365 photo challenge on instagram!

The Enchanting Fall Ball

Imagine, if you will, a room full of little girls singing "Let it go" all at the same time. It was so unbelievably precious that it marked the roughly 10th time that I teared up (thanks residual postpartum hormones) at the Enchanting Fall Ball that Adam and I took our girls to this past Saturday. Penny was dressed as Elsa (thanks to Great Pretenders for providing her dress for this occasion!) and Ruby was a very chubby, squishy and delightful Snow White.

Enchanting Princess Events, whom I introduced to you back in August, hosted their 3rd annual Fall Ball at the Marysville Opera House and just like my first impression of the great group of women who run this business, I was blown away at the authenticity and detail of their work for this event. Enchanting Princess Events isn't just a dress-up / rent-a-princess gig. Each of the actresses embodies her character and really puts on a show for the kids. When you meet Beauty, Rapunzel or either of the Ice Sisters, it's truly like you've met the character in real life. Watching the magic happen in Penny's and my 7 year old niece's eyes was something that I'll never forget. 

Before I get going, I wanted to take a moment tell you about a part of Enchanting Princess Events that I'm not sure everyone knows about. Lianna (owner and who plays Beauty) makes it her main focus for her business to give back to the community.  In addition to regularly visiting the Seattle Children's Hospital, and participating in Make a Wish events, all of the proceeds from the Fall Ball benefit the Children’s Museum of Skagit County and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Snohomish County. You can book these lovely ladies for parties too, but I think that their charity work is definitely worth highlighting!

So let me get the show on the road and tell you all about the fun that we had!

Upon arrival, the princesses are escorted down the aisle by a few charming princes. The first part of the event is a meet and greet with each of the nine princesses. Each princess is set in her own environment - so Sleeping Beauty was near a spinning wheel and served crown cookies, Snow White had a mirror and served mini cupcakes that looked like apples, the Mermaid served goldfish and Rapunzel was accompanied by her handy cast iron skillet, of course! Elsa and Anna took over the entire downstairs of the Opera House and turned it into Arendelle. 

The second half of the event was dancing. Each of the princesses took over the dance floor and the kids got to dance with her to her signature song. When I was Penny's age, The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast were the two big princess movies of the time. Nowadays, little girls seem to know these songs but what really got the screams going was when Rapunzel's song came on... and true to form, the Ice Sisters made a dramatic entrance with a singing match of "For the First Time in Forever." 

The event ended with the singalong of Let It Go. 

This picture is what made it worth it. In Penny's eyes, she literally got to meet Anna, Elsa and all of her other princess role models. That is true belief in her eyes. It's really hard not to go on and gush about how realistic this event was, even for an adult. I suppose one of the best compliments came from my father in law, who has been to Disneyland at least 100 times (I'm not joking). Taking in all in, he simply said "This is the real thing. These women look more like princesses than anyone else I've ever seen."

So there you have it! Fall Ball 2014, under our belts. Can't wait for next year! If you're in the Seattle area, this should definitely be on your calendar. 

Check out more about Enchanting Princess Events:

Online  Facebook Twitter instagram Blog 

{New} Ice Sister's Royal Blog!

See more pictures from the event..

Enchanting Princess Events on facebook

JW Photography, official Fall Ball Photographer

Becka's Cupcake Boutique created Sleeping Beauty's crown cookies 

Mandy's Custom {cup}cakes created Snow White's apple cupcakes - which my little Ruby thoroughly enjoyed.

Disclosure: Our family was invited to the Enchanting Fall Ball in exchange for sharing about my experience on the blog, no other compensation was provided. As always, I wouldn't share about this if I didn't absolutely love everything about it! Thank you so much, Enchanting Princess Events!