Cameron Station Festival in the Park – This Saturday – June 19th!

Main Street, Cameron Station  - Alexandria, VA


Just wanted to let you all know about Cameron Station’s Festival in the Park this Saturday from 9am-4pm.More than 52 Vendors will be at the festival selling jewelry, handbags, clothing, makeup, stationary, flowers, food, kids clothing, accessories, toys and more!


Expecting Inside the Beltway will have a booth near the Cameron Club along with Bean & Banana, and Body, Mind & Sole! We’ll have hand knit baby blankets and hand knit hats and scarves for children.  Body, Mind & Sole will of course be offering chair massages and introducing Sozo, a new functional beverage with anti-oxidants, immune system support, anti-inflammation, adrenal & endocrine system support,  and phytonutrinets from 8 veggies & 9 fruits! Oh, and 529 Kids Consign will be right next door!  My Three Cuties (adorable burp cloths, blankets, and accessories) will be there as well! Come see us!

Come early! Beat the crowd and the heat!

Ok so the link I included didn't give much info! Sorry! Here's a list of vendors:

1. Armine’s Designs (Ribbon Base Hand Knitted Scarves & Beaded Accessories)

2. Pam Glascock (Mary Kay Cosmetics)

3. Mystic Lines (Beaded Jewelry)

4. Bijouterie RL (Handcrafted Native Jewelry)

5. My Three Cuties, LLC (Baby Items and Displays)

6. Lily Dog and Wolf Run Studios (Breed RelatedGifts/Note Cards&

Collars & Leads)

 7. Hemstitching forYou (Hemstitched Baby & Doll Blankets)

8. Crafted Elegance (Holiday/Seasonal Wreaths & Decorations)

 9.Lisas Pieces (Handmade Jewelry & Magnets)

10. Silpada Designs (Sterling Silver Jewelry)

11. Yelling Moon Designs (Children’s Clothing)

12. C. Rainey’s Jewelry (Hand-made Jewelry)

13. As if Bags (Handmade Cotton Tote bags, & Cosmetic Bags)

14. Sovereign Treasures (Hand PaintedGlass, Wood, Leather, & Silver Jewelry)

15. Amy Joseph (Photography-Black & White and Color Event &Portrait)

16. Close to My Heart (Paper Crafting Supplies& Handmade Crafts)

17. Baubles and Bottles (Jewelry & Bottle Lamps)

18. Crepe Deli Catering (Crepes & Lemonade; German Food)

19. Zenpawz.LLC (Aromatherapy Pet Products)

20. Sideways Lady (Hairclips & etc.)/Dove Chocolate (Chocolates)

21. Guata Java, LLC (Coffee, Coffee Gift Baskets)

22. J*Lux “The Mobile Boutique” (Jewelry/Accessories)

23. Arbonne International (Skin Care, Cosmetics, & Treating Wellness)

24. My Daddy Puzzles (Handcrafted Wooden Puzzles)

25. Premier Designs (Jewelry)

26.Classic Caters (Chicken and Veggie Wraps & CookieBags)

27.Pebbles (Flowers & Limited Fresh Vegetables)

28. Fast Snail (Fine Stationary, Greeting Cards, Prints, & Pillows)

29. Fun Flower (Handmade Flowers, Butterflies, & Small Accessories)

30. Beading Buddies (Handmade Beaded Jewelry)

31. Scentsy (WicklessCandles, Ceramic Warmers & Home-Fragrance Products)

32.Jockey Person to Person of Jockey Int. (Women’s Clothing)

33. Flamboyan Designs

34. Beijo Handbags

35. Up Town Bakery (Fresh Pastries and Breads)

36. Old Smokey &Hole Schmear  (BBQ)

37. Pearl Fine Teas (Organic Teas& Honey)

38. Wayqi Craft Peruvian Arts (Peruvian Handicraft)

39. Usborne Booksand More (Children’s Educational Books)

40. Ceramic Crafts (Hanging Lanterns, Wind Chimes, Goblets, & Night Lights)

41. Avon (Bath & Body Fragrances

42. Kayvee International, Inc. (Scarves & Tunics)

43. Lydibug Designs (Baby Bibs, Wallets, Lanyards, & Scrabble Tile Pendants)

44. Peruvian trend Co. (Handcrafted Accessories)

45. Soul Cakes by Tanya (Cakes)

46. 529 Kids Consign (Kids Clothing)

47. Kalyan (Fashion Accessories for all Ages (Children’s Shoes/Dresses)

48. Bliss Jewelry and Gifts (Mobil Showroom) Bliss-to-you.com & Bliss-

49. Expecting inside the Beltway/Kristi’s Creations/Bean & Banana/Body, Mind & Sole (Hand knit baby blankets, massage)

50. Woof 4 Walks (Dog Walking & Pet Sitting Service)

51. Democrats

Hope to see you there!

EITB is now on Twitter

Follow me on Twitter at ExpctingBeltway!

The Skinny On: Baby Wipes

If you’ve got a baby in diapers, you no doubt need baby wipes (or a whole lot of wash cloths).  If you have a baby shower, you will inevitably get some wipes, which will help you in your quest for the perfect paper to touch your baby’s tushy.  It shouldn’t be this confusing to choose wipes, but alas, it is.  Both Pampers and Huggies offer at least four different types of wipes with a few variations in name/ingredients (Sensitive, Fresh Scent, Refreshing, and Extra Thick/Soft).  Luvs (god love em) only offers one. 

I would recommend using a sensitive non-scented wipe for the first few months until you’ve figured out whether baby has allergies.  I preferred the Pampers Sensitive wipes because they were very soft/gentle and unscented.  But they are definitely not the cheapest.  I have used the Huggies non-scented before but I found them to be very rough and wound up using them as hand wipes and kept them in the car for emergency blow outs.  But to be fair to Huggies, there’s a good chance they were just regular unscented Huggies wipes and not the sensitive kind. 

Once your little one is a couple months old and you know he/she isn’t allergic to the scented kind, there are a plethora of options based on scent and soothing ingredient (aloe, shea, baby fresh scent, etc).  You’ll also notice that some wipes are bigger than others.  Size mattered to me more than scent . Basically you want to find one that works on baby’s bottom and doesn’t make you gag or leave your hand covered in poo.  I have become fond of Luvs wipes.  They are big, they work well and they don’t have an overpowering scent. Oh, and they are a great price!  My husband recently bought Pampers Swipers when we were at the beach and while they were big, I found the smell way overpowering and sweet. (I didn’t include in the chart b/c they aren’t sold everywhere and are for older babies…I think). 

So I checked out the cost of wipes at 7 local stores – 3 wholesale clubs (BJs, Costco, & Sams Club), 2 Baby superstores (Babies R Us and Buy Buy Baby), and 2 discount stores (Target, Walmart).  In addition, I also looked at the cost of wipes online at Diapers.com and Amazon.com. I tried to compare apples to apples as often as I could, but you know how hard the companies make it to do this.  I highlighted the best-priced wipe in each category. 

Baby Wipe Comparison Chart

(Again if this doesn't open for you just e-mail me at momblogva@gmail.com and I will e-mail you the spreadsheet)

Best prices overall: BJs & Target

Is it better to purchase wipes at the store or online?

Wholesale Clubs (BJ’s*, Costco, Sam’s Club)

Well if you have the time to do the shopping then buying in bulk from a wholesale club, like BJ’s is very cost effective for wipes as well.  I say BJ’s because they definitely have the largest and best priced selection in Northern VA.  Costco’s selection was awful- they had two types of Huggies wipes in addition to their brand.  However, you have to decide if it’s cost effective for you to join a wholesale club.  Annual fees range from $35-$50 so if you are just buying diapers there – it might not be cost effective.  I get my diapers, wipes, formula, coffee, paper products, etc there so it works out for me.  The wholesale clubs also offer $3-$4 wipes coupons every few months.

Babies R Us & Buy Buy Baby

I really don’t like buying my wipes here. They don’t have the best prices and they only occasionally have coupons that make it worthwhile.  Buy Buy Baby doesn’t even really try to corner the market on wipes—they too have very few offerings.  Babies R Us does have sales and offers coupons pretty regularly, but in general the cost less elsewhere.

Target* & Walmart

Target and Walmart also have good prices, but the Target’s in our area had a larger selection.  Target’s wipes came out to be a great value (comparable to BJs prices) Target also puts their wipes/diapers on sale pretty frequently and offer coupons every 3 or so months.

Online (Diapers.com/Amazon.com)

I’d usually say that if you’re working and totally pinched for time, it’s probably easier and more cost effective for you to order online--BUT not when it comes to wipes.  Diapers.com and Amazon.com prices were awful compared to the other stores.  For example, Pampers 770 count wipes cost $17 at BJs and $26 on Amazon.  Huggies Soft Skin 600 count wipes cost $15 at BJs and $30 on Amazon! 

However, both Diapers.com & Amazon.com deliver to your door and you can set up an automatic delivery schedule.  Very convenient.  Diapers.com often has an offer going on and has free delivery on orders over $49 (so just order your wipes and diapers together).  I’ve found that the prices and selection on Amazon are not as stable as Diapers.com, however if you subscribe you save 15% on your orders and get free delivery—which would make their prices a bit better. 

Supermarkets/Convenience Stores

While both put diapers/wipes on sale from time to time, the packages are very small and usually don’t compare to the savings you get at the discount and wholesale stores. Only buy diapers, wipes and formula at the supermarket if you are in a pinch or if they go on great sale—otherwise you are wasting your money.  You’ll pay a lot more  

Where to buy wipes in the DC area:

BJ’s Locations

Alexandria, Fairfax, Woodbridge, Fredricksburg

Waldorf, Columbia, Bowie

http://www.bjs.com/general/locator/search?new_zip=22304&radius=50&lat=38.8167099&lng=-77.1082444

Costco Locations

Arlington, Springfield, Fairfax, Potomac Mills, Chantilly, Manassas

Beltsville, Gaithersburg

http://www.costco.com/warehouse/locator.aspx

Target Locations

Columbia Heights

Alexandria (2), Falls Church, Skyline, Springfield, Fairfax, Manassas, and a whole lotta other places

http://sites.target.com/site/en/spot/state_results.jsp?state=VA

Rockville, Columbia, Gaithersburg, etc

http://sites.target.com/site/en/spot/state_results.jsp?state=MD

Babies R Us

Alexandria, Falls Church, Woodbridge, Waldorf, Chantilly, Silver Spring, Sterling

http://www2.toysrus.com/store/index.cfm?bru=1&sa_referral=http://www.toysrusinc.com/bstorelocator

Buy Buy Baby

Rockville, MD

Springfield, VA

http://www.buybuybaby.com/store_loc.asp#lnkVA

Walmart

Alexandria, Burke, Fairfax, Woodbridge, Manassas

Waldorf, Columbia, Germantown, Landover Hills, and more

http://www.walmart.com/storeLocator/ca_storefinder_results.do?sfsearch_zip=22304&sfsearch_city=&sfsearch_state=--&x=15&y=18&serviceName=ALL&sfatt=ALL&rx_title=&rx_dest=%2Findex.gsp

Sam’s Club

Woodbridge, Sterling

Waldorf, Gaithersburg, Laurel, etc

http://www2.samsclub.com/clublocator/club_listing.aspx?mySearch=zip&myZip=22304

On Vaca With My Family...

...I've got nothing good for you today.  


Just a couple of random thoughts:


1- If you're pregnant with your first -- enjoy what alone time you have left with your husband --  Things really do change with kids.  Read a book, go for a walk, have a nice dinner together, go on a long weekend, etc.  Do something for yourselves before the baby comes.   


2-Entered my third trimester this week and I am officially uncomfortable.  Baby girl has been kicking me non-stop for the past few days as well.  I should probably also cut back on the Dot's Donuts and Shriver's fudge.  My eating tour of the Jersey Shore isn't helping the situation.


Will be back next week with a post on Wipe comparisons in the area, and a  new Yummy/Yucky.

Yummy/Yucky Pregnancy Side Effect #5: Nails

Yummy

My nails grow fast and I actually have adult looking nails.

Yucky

My nails grow fast and if I don’t cut them constantly I look like Wolverine.

A few other issues with nails – they sometimes break/split easily and sometimes your nail bed changes. Oh and manis and pedis don't last but a week or two because your nails grow so fast!

Past Yummy/Yuckys:

Yummy/Yucky Pregnancy Side Effect # 4: Skin Changes
http://expectinginsidethebeltway.blogspot.com/2010/06/yummyyucky-pregnancy-side-effect-4-skin.html

Yummy/Yucky Pregnancy Side Effects #2 & #3: Boobs & Back

http://expectinginsidethebeltway.blogspot.com/2010/05/yummyyucky-pregnancy-side-effects-2-3.html

Yummy/Yucky Pregnancy Side Effect #1: Hair

http://expectinginsidethebeltway.blogspot.com/search/label/Yummy%2FYucky%20Side%20Effect%20%231%3A%20Hair

Last day to book discount maternity photo session with Kelly Smith Photography

Exclusively for Expecting Inside the Beltway Fans/Followers *

$150 Maternity Photo Session (value: $375) 

Kelly Smith Photogrpahy

Package Includes:

30 minute maternity session 

5 hi-res images of their choice on a CD (printable up to 8x10)

Online password protected gallery of images (approx 25) to view & purchase from

Sneak peek on blog 

Must mention Expecting Inside The Beltway when booking session

Must book by June 8^th to receive this offer (reminder-Kelly is not available in July)

Website: http://www.kellysmithphotography.net/index2.php?v=v1

E-mail: Kelly@kellysmithphotography.net

(979) 574-0303

*cannot be combined with any other discount or package

20% discount at Spa on the Hill for EITB subscribers/followers!!!

New Preggiepon!

Spa on the Hill has been kind enough to offer EITB followers/subscribers 20% off any massage service!


For more info and to book online go to:  www.spaonthehill.com
(if you book online you must use the above link to get the discount!)
E-mail:  info@spaonthehill.com

Tel: (202) 543-5950

Remember to subscribe and mention EITB when booking your service!


Thank you Spa on the Hill!