Nothing is more important than your stuff

There is nothing more important than your stuff. No matter your age, your destination, your goal for the day, your place in time, or your hopes and dreams for the day, you have to bring the right stuff with you. Get caught without the right stuff and suddenly life becomes much more cumbersome and frustrating.



For parents, the drive to insure the right stuff is on hand at all times is as important as any the world’s most demanding job will offer. If you are the proud parents of newborn infants, you carry extra clothes, diapers, formula and/or milk, and various tools of the trade that must be on hand at a moments notice. If you children are a bit older, you carry books, clothes, coats, snacks, medications, or any one of a million other assets your child considers crucial for daily living. At the same time, you hope to achieve organization, you hope to find room for our own belongings, and if at all possible, it would be nice to be fashionable along the way.

This is where Loom hits the scene

Loom, a wonderful company centered in Mill Valley, California, has developed a line of highly-functional bags aimed at meeting all of those needs and more. Founded in 2003 by Johanna Leestma LaFleur, Loom comes from a storied past with a multitude of influences used to create the design. Johanna spent the early part of her life in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of the City with Big Shoulders, also known as Chicago, Illinois. Her childhood years brought international experiences as she lived in Senegal, Sweden, Thailand, and Hong Kong during those formative years. Growing up, Johanna always found interest in fabric and style, and her experiences living amongst a wide variety of cultures and people allowed her to understand the value of those textiles and the vast land of potential those fabrics could offer.



As she matured, Johanna continued to take interest in fashion and found a calling in her own creation known as the Loom. Loom bags are the product of a many cultural influences that center around one central theme: A functional life on the go careful measured with the importance of style and comfort. The result is a wonderful line of bags that will please the eye and insure your life moves with you.



The folks at Loom offer a wide variety of styles, all in colors that are sure to meet you on the road for the fashionably conscience. The Marsupial is a great diaper bag designed for ease in use while staying durable in construction, made of ballistic nylon and loaded with well-organized compartments that will allow you to keep all of those baby instruments in check and easy to find. The Bandicoot is a convertible backpack that includes a separate but attachable purse-style bag, combining the functionality of the Marsupial with the fashion of the Joey. The Joey is a modern version of the sleek clutch purse, made of water and stain resistant nylon with nickel buckles.



All of these bags are great, but the gift I was lucky enough to garner tops them all. The Loom GO Tote is labeled as the “essential urban hauler,” and nothing could be more true. Significantly larger than the other Loom bags, the GO Tote is loaded with room and all of the space and organization you’ll find necessary to make a trip away from home as enjoyable and casual as possible. The bag is extremely sturdy, double stitched with padded handles. External pockets give me all of the space I need to keep my own belongings on hand yet separate, making it easy to get to those items in times of need, including lined areas for delicate items (think digital camera or iPod) and an attached key clip. The bag is water resistant, made out of 840 denier nylon, and is, for lack of a better word, humongous (16” wide, 7” deep, 12.5” tall).

As a mother of two kids growing into larger sizes, this bag has proven to be a gift that keeps giving. I can pack plenty of clothes and the necessary personal items for overnight trips and still have room to spare. I can load up my work files, keep them organized, and find room for my daughter’s karate outfit and a book to help me kill the waiting moments at the dojo. It is a wonderful asset and I have been more than pleased with the experience.



The GO Tote also comes in a multitude of colors. I carry the red and brown version, providing an easy match for many of my outfits. Other choices include eggshell blue and avocado, pink and khaki, orange and moss, and pacific blue and brown. The bag can also be purchased in different fabrics, namely in canvas (a more rugged option for consideration), and in a slightly larger size known as the Weekend edition.



They are products that will leave you wondering how you got along without them, and as such, Loom earns a hearty vote of gratitude and thanks from Mom In The Know.



Visit LoomLife.com today and see how to make your life a little easier.

Labels: back pack, backpack, bag, bags, canvas bag, clutch, diaper bag, durable, Loom, purse, review, tote, water resistant

Canvas-ing for the right bag

I could not even do my grocery shopping for days in anticipation for my Skeeda Bag. I was like most people I know, paper or plastic. Sure I saw the canvas bags at the store and thought that’s a great idea but when shopping for a family of four is it really feasible? I mean how much can I fit in that bag? Well if you are creative, a lot.



So, off to the local grocer I go with two Skeeda Bags in hand. Now, I’ll admit it wasn’t my monthly $200.00 shopping spree but it was pretty immense, enough of the staples and necessities in my six and seven year olds eyes (fruit snacks, granola). I wasn’t used to this but I was ready.

First I was asked more than once where I got my bags, was I buying them in the store, had I purchased them locally? No to both but I did direct them to the site. Not a hard name to forget, and there may be a question about that later. The feel of a Skeeda Bag was phenomenal as it was both soft and sturdy. Did you know that in 1999, the American Forest and Paper Association reported that Americans used 10 billion paper shopping bags, consuming 14 million trees? Using my new bag made that a little more special right there.



Okay, so now I’m at check out. Will all of my groceries fit? I have fruits, veggies, cheese, yogurt, granola, chicken broth, rice, meat, fruit snacks, feminine products and a book. Okay, yeah I had frozen fries in there don’t tell anyone I gave in to them. But was it all going to fit? I handed them to the checker how also commented on the look and said they were by far the most attractive bags she had ever seen. Could she have mine? I laughed and said no, but if she was really nice to me I’d write down the site for her.



$57.92 later all of my goodies were in both bags with room to spare. Really, cans, boxes, fresh stuff, meat and a frozen bag with my book on top. The canvas held it all so well and storing it in my *sigh* mini-van was so much easier then 5-7 paper or plastic bags. Even better I had two bags to carry into the house as my bulldog and black lab were adorning me with attention.

It held up to the grocery test now, would it hold up to the washer and dryer? You know how sometimes you wash canvas and it gets all wrinkled up and never gets its shape back? I was in fear of that happening. I would have been so disappointed if anything happened to my Skeeda Bag. It happens though. My solution, no dryer (better for our environment anyway) and it washed like a dream no colors ran and it was still soft as my labs coat (he eats organic so it’s pretty soft).



What else could I use it for? I had to go to the library. Yep, hounded even by a cute little older man who thought a “blue one would be nice for all his daily errands”. It held eleven thick hardcover books and my wallet, my daily planner, cell phone (yes, it was off I was in the library! and car keys). It was also used for school events, classroom volunteering, trips to the zoo, PTA meetings that I had to hold a TON of stuff, held snacks for a plethora of kids and yes, regular old shopping. Even for shoes, pretty things and a new purse. However, my Skeeda Bag held it all.

Man, woman, child, teen they have all styles for you. Contact them at http://skeeda.com/index.html for your bag today and just in time for the holidays you can bestow them upon everyone you know.

The ladies at Skeeda want to give you a bag free. The first person to email Mom in the Know with the answer to this question wins his or her own Skeeda bag!

How was Skeeda Named?

We already have a winner! Please comment here at Mom in the Know anyway!!!

Labels: bag, canvas bag, review, skeeda