Sophie + Kira Kids / March 16, 2016 by Kate Brightbill

Kira Kids launched Spring/Summer 2016 tonight! The brand is perfectly comfortable, in patterns and silhouettes that kids love wearing.

Kira asked Sophie to shoot with them for their lookbook, and they had the amazing Amber Mckee behind the camera, & styled by Lucia Tran (always fabulous), so we now have some incredible shots of my little seven-year-old (and that adorable gap in her teeth!!). Real smiles, real fun, and the shots show it.

The lovely lady behind Kira Kids is the ever so sweet Christine, and when we chatted, we realized we went to rival schools one year apart. This bay area of ours is such a small world... I love that a local has created such a fun brand for kids!

Bonus to the line is that everything is made in California, organic, and printed with non-toxic ink. :)

Thanks for the fun, Kira! xx.

Weekending + Sun Safety / July 20, 2015 by Kate Brightbill

This weekend we hit some seriously high temperatures in San Francisco. Saturday was what I would call "weather perfection," with 70's low 80's... Sunday was basically unbearable for this pregnant girl, and I spent most of the day inside with windows open, dividing my day between crunching cups of ice and eating popsicles. SF doesn't really know about that thing called air-conditioning, because frankly- we don't need it most of the year, but those few days of sun rays beating on us and we all wonder if we should have invested in AC regardless of the fact that 360 days of the year we do not need it.

We beached it up on Saturday for a couple hours. We were over by the bridge at sports basement on a hunt for the perfect backpack for my husband, and it only made sense to take ourselves to the beach if were were going to be out there anyway. My girls are beach bums... particularly Sophie. She would go all the way in the cold water if we let her, even on the chilly 50 degree days... she is a total fish! I love it.

*(though maybe not if I showed her the insane shark + surfer video from the weekend- did you see that??? SO glad he was safe!!! And another side-note: we debated at length whether the SF bay has sharks, and researched the answer- yes, small harmless bay sharks, not legit terrifying ones, phew)

We packed a bag of only the essentials. Water- (because the girls love to chant 2-4-6-8 everybody hydrate!), my favorite beach towel ever (monogrammed with my initials because it seems every mom should be allowed to take ownership of at least a few little things in their life that little hands can't claim, yes?), sundresses, shades, hats (SUN SAFETY), and got ourselves cooled and sandy until we were all losing our charm.... then we headed home for some nice afternoon naps. Ahh, perfect.

I'm going to be terribly honest and tell you that- though I'm super cautious with my girls and their hats and sunscreen, I can be a bit lax with my own application and other sun precautions. I don't burn (thank you, 50% Mexican blood for that!), so it doesn't seem quite so urgent to re-apply as often as I do for my family. I have, however, been humbled this pregnancy in more ways than simply adding numbers rapidly to the scale.... To my mortification, my skin has been getting some dark sun spots near the freckles on my cheeks. Aghhh! I know some of this will go away after the pregnancy, but it is SUCH an essential reminder to me: none of us are immune to skin damage and melanoma!!

Shortly after I noticed my new skin imperfections, LandsEnd reached out to me about spreading the word about MRA (Melanoma Research Alliance), and their summer sun safety awareness campaign... It was meant to be. I received the prettiest, extra-soft lightweight swim tee to protect my body- it can cover any swimsuit and be worn in-water or out. I love a good tan, but I love the idea of preventing splotchy skin spots and - for goodness sakes- melanoma- far more! The LandsEnd swim tees are recommended by the Skin Cancer Foundation as an effective UV protectant- they are a UPF 50 sun protectant.

I don't know if it's because I'm in my 30's now and thinking more responsibly, but this REALLY matters to me these days. I do not want to become a statistic- are you aware that skin cancer has increased 30% this year? YES. I know.

SO, what can you do?

First of all- cover up! Slather that sunscreen on your children AND yourselves! And USE SWIM TEES (right now is the best time to buy because they're all on sale!!).
Grab some sun UPF products for yourselves... I will literally be wearing mine all the hot days of the year.
Share pics of you being sun savvy in your swim tees and tag @LandsEnd on Instagram and Facebook... for every picture tagged with the hashtag #LandsEndSunSavvy, LandsEnd will be making a donation to the MRA!

Sun safety is kind of a big deal. Weekend away, vacation away, but be summer safe!!

Ps. LandsEnd swim tees are perfectly stretchy, so I recommend ordering exactly your size- no bigger, and if you're between sizes, size down! They're priced as low as $12.99. so it's seriously a no-brainer. :)

This post is sponsored by LandsEnd. All opinions are my own. Thanks for supporting the brands that support us! xx

GIVEAWAY: Hiip + StyleSmaller / May 4, 2014 by Kate Brightbill

*Giveaway is closed. Thanks to all who entered!! Congratulations to Di! She has been notified by email. xoxo

Mother's day is less than a week away, so it only seems fitting that a blog emphasizing parenting and kiddos and life should host a little Mother's Day Giveaway.

We love hiip for their hands-free bags that are seriously perfect for park visits, or quick shopping trips with little ones around the city. No other bag makes it quite so easy to navigate and tote the essentials at the same time. Hiip just launched a mama-and-me line. What does that mean, really? Lined bags that stand up to a lifestyle with unexpected variables, in my size and her size!

I'm thrilled with these pictures that Caroline took of my girls and me with our hiips around the city. You know that whole "mom stays in the picture" campaign? It's a good thought, but SO hard to make happen regularly. I find 8000 pictures of my children and a few of me, but rarely do I find any with the three of us together. These are treasures, I tell you. Thanks Nicole & Caroline.

So what does this have to do with you? WELL, why don't you do yourself a favor and win a set of the soon-to-be released mom/mini line? I'm adding a $25 gift code to my shop in the mix so you and your littles can fill your hiip bags with some goodies from me too!

Follow on hiip social media and StyleSmaller social media, then leave a comment here letting us know how & how many times you entered. Plenty of ways to win!! Here are your links to FOLLOW... so simple for you:

Hiip: instagram . facebook . pinterest . twitter

StyleSmaller: instagram . facebook . pinterest . twitter . shop instagram

Couer de La Photography: web . instagram . facebook