Sep
19
For the last couple of months I’ve been doing some community management work for Cherokee USA, which is a fancy way of saying I’m in charge of the stuff that appears on their Facebook page. For all my complaining about Facebook (seriously, would it KILL them to add an edit function? Does this not exist because of the fear that someone will post “I LOVE puppies, don’t you?” and 10,000 likes later, swap out puppies for “child pornography”? Because okay, that WOULD be sort of funny, not that there’s anything funny about—anyway, all I’m saying is I hate that I can’t fix a typo without deleting the whole thing and starting over), I’ve really been enjoying the gig. I’m basically just there to try and make the page a non-sucky place for parents to visit, so it’s pretty low-key and conversational—much more fun than the sort of corporate brand-bot weirdness where the writer attempts to pretend they actually ARE the product, not that I’m pointing fingers, BIZARRO-LAND MIRACLE WHIP TWITTER ACCOUNT.
Cherokee and Cozi have teamed up to offer up some Target gift cards to blog readers, and today I’m jumping on the giveaway bandwagon. I’ll get to that part in a minute, but just so everything’s all up front and tidy: not only is this a sponsored post, it’s sponsored by a client of mine. I’m just saying, if I was selling out any harder right now I’d have to launch an eponymously-named fragrance.
The general topic for the giveaway is back to school clothes—specifically, first day of school outfits, and how parents choose to capture the moment. This isn’t a subject I’m much of an expert on, frankly. On Riley’s first day I mostly looked for an outfit that wasn’t wrinkled or stained, and while I’ve seen plenty of inspiration for first day of school photos, I sort of phoned it in with a last-minute printed speech bubble:
So I didn’t exactly knock it out of the park creativity-wise for his first day photo, but I think I’ll try this idea from Kim (aka Miss Zoot): I’ll take the exact same photo—same outfit and all—on his last day, too. Check out how Kim’s first day/last day photo of her daughter turned out:
Cool, right? I would love to have a photo like that to see how Riley changed over the year.
I’m not super fussy about what he wears to school, but I do set out Riley’s outfit the night before. It makes things easier in the mornings, and also ensures that he’s not heading out the door in a pair of swim shorts with a Spiderman pajama top. My standards may be low, but they do exist.
Here’s my question for you, if you’ve got an opinion on the subject: what do you care about more, your kid’s outfit for the first day of school, or their first school picture day? I see by our calendar that our picture day is on October 21st, and I suspect I’ll be in a tizzy the night before trying to find a photogenic outfit for his FIRST PICTURE DAY OMG. Hopefully they have a different backdrop than the Infamous PenisTurtle Theme of ’07.
And with that unsavory image, on to the giveaway! The prize is a $100 gift card for Target, which you can of course use to buy a stack of new Cherokee clothes—or, you know, whatever else captures your fancy. To enter, leave a comment on this post (any comment will do, just be sure and include your email address). Contest ends . . . let’s say Wednesday morning, okay? Two days from now on the 21st.
Good luck!
PS: there’s another big giveaway going on where you can win a $1000 shopping spree from Cherokee and a $300 smart phone from Cozi. Contest info is here.
PS part deux: if you’re a Facebook user, I’d be super honored if you would visit Cherokee’s page and maybe even hit that Like button—only if you want to! No pressure!—if you’d like to see my updates appear in your, uh, stream-hole.
*** Contest now closed, winner to be announced soon ***
Comments
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Oh, how I love Target, and Cherokee. I also love when you whip out the 2007 penis-scape photos. We have those as well–though I think ours were done in 2006. I should scan them and send them to you. Photo GOLD!!
I am always overly concerned about what my girls wear on the first day of school. My son? Gets a polo and some jeans and a stern talking to about not bugging the girls and to just let me take a nice photo.
i miss the excitement of the first day of school!
I kind of love BAD school photos. My family cracks up over one of mine from a day that my dad was in charge of getting us out the door (mom must have been working) and he sent me off with a pitiful bumpy side ponytail and horribly mismatched clothes.
Turtle picture? OMG. Lucas is wearing uniforms this year which means we need to stock up on some great Cherokee polos and pants (it’s a required color on top and bottom, not a specific type/brand). Preschool pictures were almost Ellen-worthy so I can’t wait to see what we get back on his kindergarten photo!
First day of school outfits are easy in our house – uniforms! And I’m unfortunately not that creative with the pictures either. I’m just happy if I can capture all 3 kids with a smile on their face. (My standards are low, I know.)
I’m pretty fussy about both the first day of school and school picture day. But if I’m forced to choose, I’m gonna say first day of school. There are just too many rogues that cannot be accounted for on school picture day, (I believe you are familiar, penis turtle?) so I don’t get too worked up. On the first day of school, I take the pictures!
Love the picture with the infamous turtle! And would love that gift card to Target! jacellett@gmail.com
This school picture is CLASSIC. Who thought that was a good idea? Good God — the mushrooms are worse than the penis turtle.
jenndawnwade@gmail.com
I try to pick outfits the night before, but when the 3-y-o changes her mind, it doesn’t matter if I point out that SHE picked out that very outfit. I can still pick out clothes for the younger ones because they CAN’T TALK.
Thanks for the giveaway!
No clue. Right now my biggest struggle with clothes is trying to keep up with how quickly my almost-six-month old is growing out of his new clothes! A gift card would definitely help with that!
Oh I love that picture of Riley, I had forgotten about the turtle!
oooh, screw kids clothes for my two – if the Missoni dresses ever come back in stock i’m getting some new duds for me me meeee!
Since my eldest is in pre-k and wears uniforms, I go for picture day. Only way to show off his little personality!
LOVE Target. :)
My ‘lil man is a 1st grader this year, and through preschool up to this year, he’s worn his ‘first day of school’ outfit on picture day too!
I would say picture day, but then I always forget to order the damn pictures, so we’re left with the one tiny “preview” copy with the photographers stamp over the bottom… Oh well.
School photo day for sure. Although, I usually wait until the night before at 9pm, and the kids are in bed and I’m like “aww crap. Did it again” yeah, I’m overly prepared. not. :)
First day of school, for sure. Let’s face it, school pictures are awkward- the turtle picture proves it! Love the first/last day picture, thanks for the idea!
I say both too. I remember as a girl growing up, the First Day outfit was SO HUGE! But our school pictures were headshots only, so the shirt only needed to look decent. Now I have a 1 year old boy, so I guess we shall see! I’m still in the non-wrinkled non-stained camp at this point, and even that is iffy!
It sounds like a nice new gig you’ve got with Cherokee. Congratulations!
I would say both. My kid starts school next year and I am pretty sure I will freak out about both outfits.
I’m all about picture day. First day of school I even forgot to lay out her outfit so she was in a mishmash of clothes that day.
We have school pictures coming up, too. T-minus one week,and I have no idea what my son will wear. I usually go for some kind of collared shirt and don’t put it on him until he’s physically out the door, thereby reducing the possibility that he will wipe his sticky fingers on it or spill juice down the front. The bigger question: to get a haircut, or to skip it and capture the messy-headed look that is more representative of his true self at this age.
As the mother of preteen/teen girls, I will tell you that from my perspective, school photo day is more important, but THEY will tell you that the outfit you wear on the first day of school sets the tone for the entire school year. Now there’s pressure.
Awesome! I can ALWAYS use a Target gift card.
That school photo of Riley is priceless. I have had quite a few that are just as bad come through this house.
Oh man, school picture day is rough! Can’t wait to see what they come up with by the time my little one has first picture day. Probably get a hologram instead of an actual picture…
For all the work I put into picking an outfit for my 2 year old’s school picture, the daycare changed her into a bathing suit for the pictures. Um, WTF?
I like the first/last day of school idea!
School photo day – we’re going to be looking at those pictures for a long time!
Picture clothes! I even volunteered to help with retakes in kindergarten (as both my kids needed retakes of course) so I knew the would be better than the original non-smile. With all the digital stuff, what photographer doesn’t take a better pic when they don’t smile for the first???
Target gift card sounds great!
1st day of school for sure! The excitement is still mostly there, unlike 8 weeks later when kids are asking about summer break already.
Our first day of school was also picture day – added pressure!
And yes, Target gift card would be fantastic, since I’m there almost weekly!
definitely picture day: there will inevitably be a hair disaster, lopsided smile or only the “UCK” of Buckingham showing up on the picture to look back on for years to come. plus i have boys. they don’t care what the hell they wear on day 1 or 47 or 175.
Linda, if you’d sell perfume I’d probably buy that too, anything to help you get towards your dream in Oregon.
But a Target giftcard for my rapidly spiralling upward toddler, busting out the knees in her pants? Yes please.
Last year, all hell broke loose on my oldest’s first school picture day and I had a full-on tizzy thinking that it was the end of the world and how could it be so hard to get a damn picture? So yeah, I’m going with first school picture day being more important.
Man, that Riley picture with the penis turtle cracks me up every time I see it. Also, I can remember every first day of school outfit from 2nd grade on. Because I am a nerd.
I’ve told my 1st grader that I get input (or rather, I decide) what he wears on the first day of school and on picture day. Any other day is a free for all! (And boy has he come up with some interesting looks.)
I am really not that fussy about either. I let him wear whatever he wants to wear. I want him to feel confident and comfortable.
I did a little pre-planning clothes wise for the first day of kindergarten (basically making sure the clothes I wanted my daughter to wear were clean!), but I’m sure I’ll be more like you and have a bigger freak out when picture day rolls around!
Thank hell for things like blogs and Pinterest because now I have a first day photo plan a whole three years in advance. That’s awesome right there.
We already had our first picture day. I barely remembered to comb my son’s hair!
First day outfit definitely matters more. The kids are so excited about wearing their new clothes and we always make them wait when they get them in the summer before wearing them, so the outfit is still brand new and fun on that first day. Plus, the photos never turn out anyway. Never…ever…ever!!
thanks for the chance! :)
(kgcraven@yahoo.com)
I love that scary turtle picture. It’s the funniest thing ever. My first day pictures were terrible this year b/c I got mad at my son for being a jerk to his sister and made him cry then he freaked out (nerves!) and pouted and refused to smile for the pictures. Love first day…
Ooh! I bet school pictures are coming up for us soon too. I did manage one of those “holding a sign” first day of first grade school pictures. Super idea to grab one last day of school too, although the kid is growing at such a rate right now we might be hard pressed to use the same outfit. Thanks for the giveaway!
Can’t wait for those first days with my future children :)
My 7 yr old is currently refusing to wear jeans. And will only wear warm up pants. Drives me ape shit. At least he has on clean underwear. Right?!
I worry more about 1st day clothes – they are the subject of MY photos. The school photos are taken by someone else and sure to suck. not that the school photographers are BAD, per se – just that they are getting shot per kid all damn day – I’d reach the I don’t give a shit threshold, too.
I totally forgot about the backdrop from ’07, that was awesome! As a past first grade teacher, I have seen some HILARIOUS pictures, primarily because a few parents gave their kids free reign to wear what they want, and do their own hair. It was great. Now that my own son is Kdg age, I’m guessing that won’t quite be how I go about it either. Have you seen the website awkwardfamilyphotos.com ?? HI.LAR.I.OUS