If they pick it...they will eat it...mostly...

We are very new to the whole gardening thing...i am not proclaiming to be any type of expert...my husband is probably laughing at me writing this post since he is the real person behind the success of everything grown. He has quite the green thumb and willing attitude, for which i am ever grateful because i love the idea of a garden and not so much all the work...although i do help out...just not as invested as my husband. Is that a fair disclaimer, dear? okay then...so the other day bryson took a field trip with his first grade class to Tanaka Farms - cute place...a bit pricey...but what do you expect for a farm in O.C.? and anyway - they got to pick a pumpkin and also other vegetables out of the ground. Bryson was so excited because apparently they told him he could only pick 4 carrots, but one that he pulled out had like 5 fingers...you would have thought he won the lottery the way he described how it all went down...love that kid and his enthusiasm!

okay...back to my point. sorry - i am so tangential today...you are just going to have to roll with it...i doubt its going to get better...look i did it again. okay, right, so anyway - my point in it all is that when you get kiddos involved with the whole process they begin to see food differently. bryson has his own garden this past year for the first time and our only stipulation was that he could only grow foods he would eat and that he had to eat anything he picked. to my surprise he planted a bunch of peppers...and ate them all! So when he came home from the field trip with onions and radishes and carrots - i told him...you know what this means? you have to eat them! "oh man, mom...i didn't want the radishes...they told me i had to pick them. i don't really like radishes" Too bad! was my gentle mothering reply.

making a long story a little longer...last night i made a really special dinner for the fam bam...i lit candles and made dessert - the whole deal. part of the dinner was roasted veggies - and all of the veggies he picked were in it. He ate a whole radish and liked it...but loved the onion even more! Now - can i just tell you that Bryson did not start out an adventurous eater? This is only in the last 2 or 3 years (he is 7) that he is eating all this stuff - like spicy things and peppers and onions, etc. and a large part of it is the whole garden experience.


I know many of you may live in apartments or places that are hard to grow food, but even just one plant can open them up to the experience of seeing food grown. It is magical to them and so fun to see Bryson now plan his next year's garden alongside his dad. Even starting with something like this could open it up to them! Happy growing!

P.S. Sorry for the cruddy photos...its all my phone (and me) were capable of at the moment

Grown Ups Love Zoodies Too!

Although they do not have a distinct spot in my new shop - I still do make the zoodies for adults too! Above are some that I managed to get pics of, but there have been more! Every year I get a handful of big kids wanting one too. Such a fun way to have an easy costume, but also functional enough to wear throughout the year (my niece has out-worn her kitty zoodie to the max). If you are interested - just email me: carlee (at) zoodies (dot) com for pricing and availability!

New Zoodie - Purple/Hot Pink Dino

Yay! isnt she a doll? this is a friend's daughter who is totally more into dinos than butterflies or unicorns, so i thought it would be fitting for her to model. There are these girls - i like these girls...i was sort of one...i was the type of girl who could totally keep up with the boys, but also loved dressing up...i guess not much has changed, has it :) So i have been getting more requests for girl dinos and now American Apparel is offering this wonderful purple color, so there you go. 

one of the changes i made when switching to my new store - zoodies.com - is that I took out "girls" and "boys" and changed it to "popular girl styles" and "popular boy styles" - i know it doesnt seem like a huge change, but it made me feel instantly better. I made ladybugs for little boys and pink mice for boys and dinos for girls - i think it is so silly that we make animals gender-fied. bryson LOVED the butterfly when i made it...he knew that if he wore it out it might be weird (which is sad), but he lived in it in our backyard for a week! Anyway - that is my little society/gender dilemma within zoodies. I am just all about pretend play and make believe and dressing up and you know what? childhood is such a short span - why not be a butterfly every day if you can? boy or girl...

I just put this little dino up in the shop - i currently only have size 2 and 18 months available, but email me if you are interested in a different size - carlee (at) zoodies (dot) com

Yay for gender neutral animals!

silly copy cats

the dino and shark by old navy (china)

the original dino zoodie from 3 years ago

the original shark

so several people have been emailing/texting/calling to tell me about the old navy animal hoodies...yes - i know! and no...i am not mad...in fact, this is great! i am going to completely try to get on the curtails of this enterprise, because i personally believe there are consumers who want more than the apparel that is manufactured in a different county - who care about handmade - who like that my product is wear-able in the every day and not just the holiday - so go on old navy! i will pick up your slack :) 

if you support home made, american made products - check us out! www.zoodies.com