Heard of Silly Bandz? If you live in the Mid-west or the East Coast you have, no doubt.  All of us on the West Coast are just now catching up.  (I was just talking to a family from England who hadn't heard of them yet - YOU'RE NEXT, CHAPS!)  We heard about them earlier this year and brought them into the store, crossing our fingers that they'd find an audience.  Ummmm....the audience found them.  AND HOW.

It's totally taken off.  I've seen four year olds have melt downs in the store.  I've seen high-schoolers deliberate over which type to buy.  Vacationing parents loading up on souvenirs to take home, skeptical tourists buy them recluctantly.  I KNOW they are glad they did.

They are simply rubberbands.  In the shape of stuff.  On your wrist.  That's it.

Kids trade them and collect them, schools have banned them, the guy who invented them? A ba-jillionaire.

We've got them in the following themes (ranging from $4.95 to $6.95 a pack):

Snack Foods

Doggies

Princess

Beach

Zoo Animals

Sealife

Pirate

Glam

Glamour

Dinosaur

Tools

Vogue

Rock n Rebel

Africa 

I'm not sure which part of this new product I'm excited about most: the actual gorgeous earrings themselves, the fact that buying a pair means you're supporting a tree-plantin' Colorado artist, or the fact that he is working with cool, space-like biodomes that are planning on saving the Earth.

First, the earrings.  These are beautiful, lightweight wooden earrings that are handmade from furniture-grade wood veneers like cherry, mahongany, and maple.  They range from about 1 1/2" diameter circles to 2" long rectangles, they all dangle from sterling silver hooks.

                     

Then there's the fact that for every pair you purchase, the artist, John Murphree, will plant a tree.  Murphree works in Englewood, Colorado, and is inspired by "the organic shapes in nature, sacred geometry, popular icons and traditional design motifs such as Art Deco or Medieval."

Finally, he is planting all these trees in cooperation with the Eden Project in Cornwall, England.  This place was built in 2000 on top of an old china clay quarry.  It's mission is to educate people about our dependence on nature and different ways to save it.  They want us to realize that making environmental changes is both "believable and palatable."  They do this by experimenting in horticulture, natural pest & disease control, and controlled climate.  Put it this way: this place is so cool that it hosted "Live 8" in 2005.

Click on the photo above to see their site... 

These earrings are flying out of the store at $13.95 a pair. 

If anyone is looking for new "feel-cools" this summer, look no further.  Urban Girl carries several brands of sunglasses including Crush, Kreed, RayBan, and our newest brand: Suncloud.  Suncloud makes sunglasses with high-quality polarized lenses and a low price for the consumer. I interviewed myself about them this morning.

WHAT ARE POLARIZED LENSES?

Through advanced lens technology, Suncloud polarized lenses selectively filter horizontally reflected, visually interfering light waves know as 'glare'. The elimination of direct and ambient glare results in superior visual clarity, definition, color transmissions and optical comfort.

SO WHAT ELSE MAKES THEM SPECIAL?

Suncloud frames and lenses feature 8 base curvatures, enabling the frame and lens to wrap on the wearer's face. 8 base frames provide added protection from annoying side glare and environmental elements such as wind, dust and particulate matter.

 

ANYTHING ELSE?

The plastic-framed Sunclouds sell for $59.99, and the wire-rimmed styles sell for $69.99.  That price is pratically unheard of when purchasing polarized lenses.

REALLY, JANNA?  REALLY?

Yep.  I was a skeptic.  I liked my cheapies from Target just fine.  But the Suncloud rep gave me a pair to test and now I am a total convert.  I've been mistaking a dark lens for added protection, but not the case!  With polarized lenses, there is no glare from the bright sun.  Which means NO SQUINTING!!!  Which means MORE VISIBILTY!!!  And the frames are of great quality.  The screws are sturdy, the arms are strong, and they fit my face perfectly.

ANY DRAWBACKS?

Just one that I can think of: since my lenses aren't so dark, you can see my eyes through them.  Which means I need to stop being so shifty all the time.

ARE YOU KIDDING ABOUT THAT?

Yes...sorta.

I LIKE YOUR SHIRT.

Thanks.

A little while back, Urban Annie looked out her kitchen window and saw her neighbor pull up in a truck labelled: Spare Soles.  Upon further investigation, Annie learned that her new neighbor's company made a product that would be PERFECT in Urban Girl.  Et Voila!  We are proud to be carrying these glam little slippers that will save your feet.  Here's what their website says: 

High heels. Women love them, women hate them. Andrea Padilla, designer, is just like every other woman that wears heels. She doesn’t want to sacrifice fashion for comfort; yet, she and her friends had enough of the agony that comes from wearing high heels too long. There had to be a solution from the prolonged wear of heels that causes discomfort. The idea for Spare Soles came about because Andrea attended wedding after wedding where she ended up kicking off her heels and dancing barefoot. There were too many trips to Las Vegas where she was dying from her heels and would walk barefoot through hotels and parking lots. Upon realizing there was nothing available to solve her problem, she invented a solution and came up with a unique, compact, hygienic and fashionable solution.

 
Each pair of Spare Soles come in a little carrying pouch that unfolds into a small tote that can carry your offending pair of shoes.  They sell for $26.95 and come in S, M, and L.   Choose from the following colors (black, gold, silver, copper):

Oilcloth has been around for a long time, originally used for utilitarian things like waterproof tents and tablecloths.  Originally, in the early 1900s, it was made from a heavy cotton or linen cloth with a linseed oil coating.  After the 50s, however, it was made from a flannel material with a vinyl coating.  With the creation of other waterproof products, the use of old-fashioned oilcloth subsided just like Grandma's recipe for homemade brownies.  However, in 1995, woman-owned Oilcloth International, Inc. started in Los Angeles.  It imports oilcloth from Mexico and contracts with local manufacturers to make the products that we know and love all over again (just ask Martha Stewart!).

To celebrate the arrival of Spring, as well as our newest shipment of oilcloth, there is a cheery display waiting for you at the front door of Urban Girl.

Small pouch: $8.95

Lunch bags: $12.95

Pocket Tote: $16.95

Medium Tote: $19.95

Large Tote: $24.95

These bags are perfect for the beach, the park, kid stuff, traveling, art supplies, lunches, picnics, even purses!  Give us a call, or drop us a note on Facebook if we can send any to you!  (619) 231.8845

See below for some of the awesome patterns!

It seems that a lot of my cool music finds have been coming from TV lately.  I have found great new music on the shows "NUMB3RS" and "Parenthood", as well as in commercials for companies like Kia, Apple, and Subaru.  In on-screen scenes and in commericals especially, producers only have seconds to grab your attention.  The tunes needs to be upbeat and cheerful (or in dramatic cases like in "NUMB3RS," the music needs send a clear emotional message).  Here are some songs I have added to the Urban Girl playlist this month:

Eliza - Will Daily (from "NUMB3RS")

Forever Young - Bob Dylan (from "Parenthood")

Before I Knew - Basia Bulat (Subaru)

Pata Pata - Mirriam Makeba (Honda)

Lieutenant - The Happy Hallows ("Parenthood")

There Goes My Love - The Blue Van (Apple) 

Hey, Won't Somebody Come and Play - The Little Ones (Yo! Gabba Gabba)

How You Like Me Now - The Heavy (Kia)  <-- You know the one, when the sock monkey is jet skiing?  

For the record, The Heavy has quickly become one of my favorite bands.  They are definitely worth a listen.  Also for the record?  No, I don't watch Yo! Gabba Gabba, but I know a few super-cool people who do.

And, as usual, I am always so excited when customers ask about what's playing in the store.  I love to share new stuff, and am ALWAYS looking for great suggestions...

  (click here to buy your own sock monkey from Urban Girl!)

The only thing better than Ben & Jerry's ice cream is FREE Ben & Jerry's ice cream.

Today, on the way back from lunch, Annie determined that this cold, blustery day was the perfect day for ice cream (huh?).  Turns out she was right.  We tried samples of all the new flavors:  Milk & Cookies, Pumpkin Cheesecake, and Hannah Teter's Maple Blondie.  They were all so good.  The maple ice cream, named after snowboarder Hanna Teter, has a maple caramel swirl and blond brownie chunks.  Annie was sold on that one.  I went for a scoop of "Half Baked," a low-fat mix of vanilla and chocolate yogurts with pieces of cookie dough and brownie bits. 

We paused long enough to take a picture, but our scoops were not long for this world.

But most importantly: FREE SCOOP DAY IS MARCH 23.  Extra bonus: The first guest scooper at the Ben & Jerry's at Seaport Village will be none other than San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders! 

(taken from www.annetaintor.com)

In 1985, Anne Taintor glued the words “intellectuals gone bad” onto an advertisement clipped from a vintage magazine and featuring a pair of proper and glamorous women. Twenty-five years later, what began as one woman’s attempt to make a living working from home while caring for her young daughter has become a thriving and wholly original business based on giving voice to modern women’s secretly subversive thoughts.

(click on the bag to buy one from Urban Girl!) 

Among the new products to be introduced in 2010 is the 25th Anniversary Shopper, a commemorative 15.7” x 15. 5” shopping bag made of 100-percent
recycled materials and featuring images of dozens of the most popular Anne Taintor illustrations from the past 25 years. A perfect gift for anyone who’s had
trouble choosing just one image—now they’re there in a single product. Best of all, 100 percent of the profits from sales of the 25th Anniversary Shopper will be donated to the Global Fund for Women, an organization that shares Anne Taintor’s drive to give voice to and improve opportunities for women everywhere.

I know it's only February, and half of the country is still buried under storm clouds and snow (dude, bummer)...but it feels pretty springy in Urban Girl.  Spring is the season of new beginnings - and we've got lots of NEW going on here.  One of my favorite new things we have is a NEW line of roller-ball perfumes from Royal Apothic.  Here's the super-cool story of where this company came from:

There are 7 fragrances in the line: Fig (MY FAVORITE OMG), Orange Blossom, Iris, Marigold, Hydrangea, Violette Pastille, and Green Tea.  These are meant to wear either as a single note (by themselves) or blended together.  I can't get enough of the Fig/Orange Blossom combo.  Michelle likes Iris/Green Tea.  Jenny likes Marigold/Iris.  Azia likes Orange Blossom/Iris.    The glass roller-ball tube contains .33 ounces of a light oil - perfect for your purse and can be taken on the plane.  Each item (bottles and packaging) is hand finished.

I haven't put them on our website yet, because they are selling too fast to keep the on-line store current.  We are expecting a new shipment soon (already!), and I'll get them up.  Want one now?  Give us a call - we'll be happy to ship one to you.