Toys

The other day I read this post. I love Amber Dusick's blog. She frequently has me in tears from laughing so hard. But that particular post sort of captures how much fun it is for me to gather all the toys for our store. Maybe you never really grow out of liking toys, (or maybe I never did, and that's why I've got such a passion for play cafes!). Anyway, I've got a master spreadsheet going and am trying to get the best stuff sourced for the best prices, so we can have more to play with. I am feeling a little bit of pressure since I know all you other parents out there are also looking for the best toys at the best prices to put under your Christmas trees. If anybody buys anything awesome on amazon and leaves only one more item in stock, let me know! I'm living in fear a bit. ; ) But I do have tricks other than amazon up my sleeve too just so you know.

I thought it might be fun to feature some of the toys I'm picking up to give you a little preview of what we will have in the store. Today I'll show two of our infant toys. This is the Wonderworld Peek-a-boo ball. I think it's really cute and can't wait to see your little crawlers chasing it around the baby area.


Also from Wonderworld are these stacking rings.



What baby does't love stacking rings right? I did opt for the nontoxic painted wooden version for us. It's just so much prettier, still cleanable, and green too. Win, win, win.

More toy profiles will be coming up soon. Don't forget to put your two cents in if you think there's something we really need to have. I'm all ears!

Home sweet home

We signed our lease for our store today! It was a long time coming, but I am really happy about where we landed. Our new home is 405A East Chapel Hill Street in downtown Durham. It is a really nice space with a layout that will be perfect for cordoning off our play areas. It has a lot of what we need in terms of kitchen equipment already there, which makes our buildout less expensive, and faster as well. And the bathroom has such pretty tile! You'll love it.

It is SO exciting to stand there and see the actual shape of what we've been thinking about and planning for for so long. Having the location nailed down allows all the really fun details to begin to come together as well. A general layout will soon lead to specific toys and furniture that will be the stuff of relaxation and third space escape for us and our kids. And the extra exciting thing is that our  construction timeline has actual dates in it! (I superstitiously feel like I shouldn't reveal them over the interwebs. You never know how long things are going to take, ahem. --Lesson learned from lease negotiation.) It should be very soon that we can invite you to our grand opening! And our preview party for our super-supporters from kickstarter! Get excited folks! This is for real!

Now that things are rolling with our physical location, you can expect much more frequent updates over here about what is happening. But for now mark this address as our new home (and yours!)!