Summer is here ! Pregnancy & Newborn Magazine!

We are so excited to see Vivique in the June 2010 edition of Pregnancy & Newborn magazine - featuring one of our best sellers - our suiting pants.

Thank you all for your great response.  We too LOVE these pants and find them super comfy.  The all weather fabric makes them a great staple to go from winter to summer to fall.

Yummy !

Have a great weekend and pick up a copy of Pregnancy & Newborn to read at the beach!

xo

Conceive Magazine

It is official!  We are in Conceive magazine!  We have seen it with our own two eyes and are over the moon!

Thanks Conceive !!!!

Rockin' and Rollin'

WOW! What a month we have had!

Tuesday, April 27 Vivique was featured in a fashion show at the book signing for The Hot Mom To Be Handbook with Jessica Denay and Trista Sutter. What a fun event in my old stomping grounds on the upper East side in NYC!  Our gorgeous model, Robin, showed her stuff in our classic indigo straight leg jeans and we LOVED finally meeting Liza from Expecting Models and so excited she invited us!  

A great girly event for moms-to-be!

Then Friday we were off to sunny LA for the launch event for this year's Pregnancy Awareness Month.  Let me just say, we are not leading crazy jet set lives right now but when the occasion arises, we are game!  So we kissed our cuties good-bye (sniff sniff) and left for a girls weekend where we once again met up with Liza and her beautiful pregnant moms-to-be again!  Pregnancy Awareness Month is aimed at educating women about options during pregnancy - an event we wish we could've attended when we were pregnant!  We loved our models Katie and Jane - they flaunted our patent pending waistband with style and grace and really represented Vivique well.  Of course the one of the highlights was hearing Scott Stapp sing "Arms Wide Open" - amazing!!!  His wife, Jaclyn is beautiful, genuine and sweet and we had a great time chatting about our kiddies - she is 8 months pregnant and looks AMAZING! (http://www.jaclyn-s.com/home.php). We also met Shari from the Birth Boutique in Denville - right in our backyard (http://www.birthboutique.com/).

We want to thank Liza from Expecting Models for inviting us to these events.  She has been such a tremendous support since we started the business and we can't thank her enough (xo to Liza!) http://www.expectingmodels.com/

Well, now we are back in New Jersey and just having meetings that will hopefully lead to something HUGE!!

Thanks for everyone's support - especially our husbands and moms who held down the fort while we were having our adventures !!

xo

Grateful

Last week I had one of those weeks where you just can't wait for the weekend to come so you could finally catch a break and some sleep.  Where you brain is so fried that you don't even remember what you said 2 minutes ago!

Just as I was about to collapse into tears onto my keyboard on Friday, my inner voice said - is your family healthy and happy ? (thank God! knock wood) - Then it will all be ok.

I know this is true every day and am so grateful for the love of my family.

I also try to remember other challenging situations and often I can't as vividly as I do in the moment and I remember this too shall pass and time heals all.

Have a great day and appreciate the love that surrounds you.

xo
Deborah

Love the Web!

I just had to share with you how much I love the Internet.  I really don't know how I would survive without it (ah - a TV show - "Mother Survivor"  - No internet for a week!  eek!). 

Of course I work using the Internet but just managing my house alone would be virtually impossible without the Internet.  I finally have some "time" in my day around 10pm so that is when I shop for my daughter, register her for classes, by birthday presents, make invitations to parties, work... and the list could go on!  What did moms do before the Internet?

I can't even think about it.  So to help you on your Internet journey, here are some coupons that I loved receiving in the past week.  Enjoy !

Starbucks - Free Danish!
American Girl - Free Shipping - Code SHIP032810

xo Deborah

A big smooch for Momtrends!

Momtrends review of Vivique

The other day we met with Momtrends and showed them the Vivique line.  Momtrends was started by a super smart and ambitious mom, Nicole Feliciano.  She used to work at Ralph Lauren and, like all of us when we become moms, knew there had to be some changes in work life to maximize the precious time with her children.  She began to do freelance writing which eventually led to Momtrends. Nicole launched Momtrends in 2007 and Momtrends continues to provide the latest news on things trendy and cool for families -  packed with practical information and shopping tips aimed to help busy, style-starved parents find the best gear for their family.


When we met with Nicole, she loved the Vivique line!  It is always so wonderful to meet with a fellow mom who gets our line and recognizes the revolutionary approach from a fashion, fit and quality perspective.

So, Friday late at night, when mommies get to work again after the evening kiddie activities, I was trying to recover from a crazy day and wrapping up emails when I received an email from Nicole - her review of Vivique was going up that night!  How could I go to sleep after that news !!!  So in between washing my face and brushing my teeth I ran up and down the stairs refreshing my computer, when it happened !  The review was posted....

Momtrends review of Vivique

We are thrilled with the review and it was so wonderful to meet Nicole.  She is such an amazing dynamo (not sure how she does it all!)

THANKS MOMTRENDS!

Big smooches !

xo

(check out @Momtrends on Twitter !)

Thanks CafeMom !

We just wanted to say thanks to CafeMom for the great review the other week!

http://www.cafemom.com/dailybuzz/pregnancy/9494/Stylish_Comfy_Maternity_Clothes


Thanks CafeMom !!!!!!!


xo Maria & Deborah

One of those days...

Did you ever have one of those days? Well, I had one of those mornings the other day and have to share as I laugh out loud as I tell the story...


It was early and the house was crazy with everyone running around to get out - I was getting ready to run to an important meeting and trying not to use mascara as lip gloss and visa versa, my husband was looking for the videos to return and the kids were running around -pretty much par for the course. Then... I took my daughter to school. We were talking to one of her teachers, and as kids do, she was hiding behind, under, around my legs. Suddenly she decided to give me a little pinch at which I jumped up and proceeded to put my heel through my pants, fell flat on my back and my pant leg ripped off from the knee down! It was one of those things where you are glad you aren't hurt and then laugh and briskly run to your house to change for round two of your day. I figured it was a good omen for the rest of my day - got the crazies out of the way to have a productive, successful meeting and day - which I did.

I tell this story because as Moms we run around and try to make everything perfect and sometimes things happen that we have no control over and you just have to laugh.

Have a good laugh and smile today... and think of me ripping my pants in front of teachers... :)

xo Maria

Random Acts of Kindness

I went to the mailbox the other day and amongst all the catalogs and bills, I saw a real stamp shining in the pile and it was a good old fashioned letter from a high school friend.  When's the last time you received a letter!?  (well, except the ones from my Grandma which I love). 

Anyway, I opened it up and it was a note with an article that they thought would be helpful for our new business and it is!  I was truly touched that they took the time to think about us, print out an article, find my address, write a nice note, and send it to me! Now, this isn't a friend who I see all the time; I just came back in touch with them at my high school reunion. Would you do that for someone you hadn't spoken with in over 20 years? 

Not only did she take the time to send the note and article, but also thought of other business opportunities for us which I was excited to read as we had been thinking about them as well.

Every day, we should do one random act of kindness - whether it is putting lemon in your husband's water because you know they like it and will be excite you remembered, or thanking your child's teacher for being loving and kind.

It IS the thought that counts...

xo

Vivique posted on TPE - Toiletpaper Entrepreneur by Michael Michalowicz

One of our favorite entrepreneurs is Michael Michalowicz of the Toiletpaper Entrepreneur (oh yes, you read correctly!).  We had seen him on The Big Idea and then saw him speak at the Entrepreneur Expose in New Jersey last fall.  Such amazing energy and tremendous ideas - and he is smart and hysterically funny.

Aside from successfully starting up businesses, he helps entrepreneurs like ourselves.  He thinks of great blog ideas and then businesses can weigh in and give advise.  Of course we have to chime in. 

Check it out... We are #66 in the blog - How to brainstorm business ideas


http://www.toiletpaperentrepreneur.com/blog/how-to-brainstorm-business-ideas
 
 

Live! www.ViviqueApparel.com

To say we have been planning for this would be an understatement. It has consumed us! The online store is live! http://www.viviqueapparel.com/ .

We were on the phone together as we pushed the button to let all our friends know - we were so excited to finally get the word out.

We can't wait for women to start wearing our clothes and experiencing the comfort they deserve at this special time of their life.  No more itchy scratchy clothes - no big elastic covering your belly - just say no!  We wear the clothes all the time and can't believe how fortunate we are to have found such amazing fabrics - not to mention the versatility the patent pending waistband gives.  We have had the same size 8 pants on a 9 month pregnant woman and then put them on a size 8 non-pregnant woman and we love how the clothes adapt.  We are always so excited when we see it!

Right now we are mainly featuring our suiting collection on the site - pants, skirt, dress, jacket, chinos - and some delicious soft sweaters.  In the coming weeks we will have our bootleg and slim jeans as well as our cargo pants.  You are going to LOVE them!
Let us know what you think of the clothes, the site, the waistband and most of all...enjoy living in our V's!

xo
Maria & Deborah

http://www.viviqueapparel.com/

UK Bound !

Today we shipped our order to the UK!  If you are in the UK, stop into the Blossom Mother & Child boutique - http://www.blossommotherandchild.com/stores/

Working on hooking up the store for release.  Super busy but it's all good!

xo

Taking Stock!

Last week we started to receive our inventory - the first shipment being from China. We thought perhaps 7-8 boxes would arrive - nope - 16! Wow! So exciting to unpack it but a lot of hard work. Luckily we had some friends on hand to help us as we persuaded them with food!

The black suiting collection looks AMAZING! We can't wait for you to wear these clothes. They are super comfortable. We have always disliked the stiff suit feeling so it was our goal to make the suiting fabulously cumfy -and we did it! So delish we want to just hang out in them!

Also - we worked on the Web site over the holidays and are looking forward to going live soon. More to come... !