In the news...

So sorry I have not been very good about keeping this blog up-to-date. This has been a crazy week as always, but I have some fun news to report....

Jade Alexander (pictured at left) from CBS News 4, here in South Florida, paid a little visit to the RuffleButts office on Tuesday! She is obviously a fantastic reporter, but also an incredibly sweet person and extremely supportive of my whole business adventure. I was touched by her genuine interest in my story.

They first filmed our two adorable little RuffleButt babies (Hannah Hunter & Samantha Gibson) in their little outfits and interviewed Elena, Samantha's mom, & Scott, Hannah's dad. They were awesome! Hannah was just precious as she is a complete natural...she was even blowing kisses to the camera!! Samantha is just a perfect little baby and grinned her way into the hearts of many! Then the camera came to me and let's just say I am not really a "spotlight" kind of person - I was nervous about being the center of attention at my own wedding if that says anything! I wanted to use this opportunity to inspire other young women to go for a dream, but naturally, I also wanted to share my brand with the world. It was a little nerve-racking, but Jade was just so sweet, that I felt completely at ease. I know it sounds a little corny, but if one person could see this short little blurb on TV and get that kick that they need, it would be so extremely rewarding to me.

I always had a dream of starting my own business, but I knew that business just had to contribute something positive to world. Not that I believe that little ruffled baby bottoms aren't a positive contribution, but inspiring others in some small way would be a huge accomplishment for me. I always joke that my story is not the typical fairytale, multi-million dollar success story that you usually see on TV, but more a real-life comedy of errors. I am just an everyday person from an everyday upbringing in Louisville, KY. I may not be a millionaire, but I can finally say that I went for a dream, something everyone should do at one point in their lives.

They are expecting the segment to air sometime today or tomorrow, so I have the DVR set...now I just have to figure out how to get it in digital format to post online. Let's just hope that South Florida loves the little RuffleButts as much as I do!

Fall line already??

I am so excited to be moving forward with our Fall designs after the fabulous reception to our Spring debut line! I am also happy to say that we are oh-so-close to getting this whole manufacturing nightmare behind us. The products have arrived here in the states and are scheduled to clear customs tomorrow!! I am looking forward to moving forward and getting these products out to our incredibly understanding and patient retailers. The orders that we have been able to ship out have been so well received and are flying off the shelves!! I can not tell you how blessed I feel to be able to move forward and through this challenging learning experience.

So, on to Fall...

Designs - I am working on our long-sleeved ruffled tee and a few other coordinating pieces, but our standard RuffleButts and RuffleButt Crawlers will remain the same. They are the staple piece of the line and will continue to be available to our customers.

Colors - We will continue to offer the traditional RuffleButt white, pink, lavender, & fuchsia, but will be adding a few colors for the Fall. The aqua, coral, turquoise, & lime are limited edition for the Spring, so be sure to order soon! If we receive enough feedback on any one color, we may bring it back in the future. Lime was one of my favorites and pretty popular this season so far, so I am a little torn on that one! I have received a few requests for black and brown, but am a little hesitant - any thoughts???

The products that are available on our website currently are the Spring/Summer 2008 line, so Fall will be available sometime in August/September. I always love mommy feedback and suggestions, so please feel free to voice your opinion!!

Celebrity babies

Wow, what a whirlwind of a week!! My husband and I just returned home from Los Angeles on a red-eye flight early this morning after an amazing star-studded experience. As many of you know, RuffleButts received an exclusive invitation to participate in the 2008 Boom Boom Room. This celebrity gifting event is a pre-celebration to the Golden Globes for celebrities, socialites, media & other Hollywood well-knowns.

First, please let me say, that we were honored to be included with some of the amazing products that we spotted at the event, including the oh-so-adorable Baby Fabulous personalized blankets! Fashion insider Jayneoni Moore selects the hottest must haves for celebrity babies and organizes this fabulous event to showcase and share these products on an annual basis. RuffleButts was thrilled to be included in this exclusive list for 2008!

Of course the biggest question I have received from friends and family is the obvious "so who did you see...and which celebrity was the nicest?" Okay, well maybe they ask it the other way around, but I'm going to go with the polite version! So, here's my report...

We had the pleasure of meeting so many fabulously supportive and gracious people...truly! Carnie Wilson walked into the room clapping and exclaimed: "The fact that you have 'butt' in your name is genius. I love that!" She was a huge fan of the little ruffled diaper covers and took one home for her daughter Lola, 2 1/2. She was amazingly supportive and could not have been nicer!

It was so great to hear all of the celebrities reminiscing about their childhoods, growing up in their own little ruffled diaper covers, which seem to have disappeared over the years. They were all so excited to see us bringing back this staple wardrobe piece from the past. Jodi Sweetin was super sweet and told me about her first Christmas when she wore her little red dress and matching ruffled diaper cover. Now she'll have one for her little girl, which she is expecting with husband Cody Herpin. Kelly Hu shared a very humerous story about her childhood in Hawaii, growing up poor and a tomboy. She told me of a girl, an only child with her little ruffled bottom. Kelly was so jealous of the little girl that she remembers clearly chasing her around and snapping her 'ruffle butts'. Kelly was incredibly sweet and quite funny sharing this childhood memory!

Ali Landry loved the aqua RuffleButt diaper cover so much that she requested the matching swing top on the spot! She also shared her fondness for fancy pants explaining: "I love the ruffles! Growing up in Louisiana, I was always in my ruffles. My daughter wears them all of the time, but doesn't have all of these great colors...yet."

Salli Richardson Whitfield (I.am.legend) was a huge fan of the "So Blessed" Tee and coordinating fuchsia RuffleButt, requesting the set for her little angel Parker! Angela Bassett was also such a fan of the "So Blessed" Tee and coordinating Crawlers, she requested one at first sight for her daughter Bronwyn. Caroline Kunitz loved her daughter Chloe's new RuffleButts so much that she replaced her pants with the new lavender ruffled diaper cover just minutes after leaving the suite.

Kim Porter exclaimed as she saw our big RuffleButt sign, "Oh my gosh, we need some RuffleButts. I just can't get over the name, so cute." Giuliana DePandi picked up a pair for her sister and wished me much success with the business. She always seems to pleasant on E! (which is one of my favorite guilty pleasures), but it was so nice to see her genuine sincerity. And the top of my list for pure graciousness...Matt Samson (Days of Our Lives) & his lovely wife. They were two of the most sincere and gracious people I have ever met, celebrity or not! It was truly my pleasure to share the RuffleButt brand with their adorable daughter.

Other celebrities that picked up a RuffleButt Bloomer include Denise Richards, Jason Priestly, Tori Spelling, Scott Baio, Sasha Alexander (NCIS & Mission Impossible 3), Rena Sopher (Heroes & 24), Kevin Weisman (Alias), Sam Samson (Days of Our Lives), Denise Richards, Christie Lynn Smith (Boston Legal), Terri Vaughn (The Steve Harvey Show), & Alicia Coppola (Jericho). Check out our website to see more celebrity photos!

Jayneoni and staff, job well done! It was a fabulous event and we were honored to be included. I am incredibly blessed that the RuffleButts brand has been so well received since our August 2007 debut, but to see the amazing reactions of these celebrities, I just can't wait to see what this exciting year will bring!

Hannah Montana

Who would have thought that Hannah Montana actress Miley Cyrus and her dad, Billy Ray would have been my inspiration for the day??!

When I returned from visiting my in-laws in South Carolina, I sat down to catch-up on my missed Oprah...turns out there was only one episode that was not a re-run, so I tuned in. The episode happened to be a visit with Hannah Montana and her dad. Although I don't have children of my own, I am well aware of the Hannah Montana craze that has taken over all of the pre-teen gals of the world. Her success is astronomical and I am so happy for someone achieving a dream.

It was something her dad said on the Oprah episode that really struck me though. He was telling a story about how he always reminded Miley as a child about Thomas Edison. He said that every small obstacle, every failure, just helped him to get closer to success because it ruled out one more way not to do it. He also told of his and Miley's many rejections that they had to face prior to hitting it big time with the Hannah Montana gig. I don't know why, but this really struck me. I know so many of us struggle with failure and this gave me the reminder that I needed that we ALL face failure in some sense. It is those of us that give-up that never achieve the success.