3.24.2012

*Spring is in the Air*

Spring has Sprung at MOMI boutique!

Be sure to place your order by Monday, March 26 to ensure Easter delivery!

Use code: springchick for FREE shipping on orders of $50+
*domestic shipping only



NEW Spring/Summer 2012 designs

 



 
 






Child dress on SALE for $15
Matching MOM dress on SALE for $20
(coordinating dresses are all Ready to Ship!)



Quantities are always limited at MOMI boutique so be sure to stop by today to grab your favorite designs! You can keep up to date with MOMI boutique here:

Thank you to all of our loyal shoppers. We greatly appreciate your continued interest in MOMI boutique!

12.20.2011

**A Rockin' New Year*

Tunic SALE Today & Tomorrow only!
There will be no mistaken that your little beauty belongs with you when you show up to the New Year's party this year in coordinating Rockin MOMI tunics! Grab your favorite colors at 60% off retail price!

$16.80
Great for year round wear & gift giving!

$20.80

Great for year round wear & gift giving!
Happy Holidays from MOMI boutique!

11.23.2011

TURKEYTIME

Happy Thanksgiving to you & yours!

No need to battle the holiday rush & scramble for the stores! Cast your worries out the window because the giving has begun at MOMI boutique!

Thanksgiving SALE starts tonight at midnight EST!
11/24-11/26



20% off your entire order
use coupon code: TURKEYTIME at checkout


*FREE Gift with your purchase*


FREE Shipping on ALL orders 

Purchase either the "She's a MOMI" mom dress or "One Rockin' MOMI" mom tunic
and receive 25% off your entire order!
couponcode: TURKEYMOMI

 



**these offers can not be combined with any other MOMI offer and do not apply to previous purchases**
**FREE shipping & Discounts are applied toward etsy shop & website purchases only**
*All items are sold on a first come basis!*


*MOMI boutique.....a great gift idea*

8.30.2011

She got out of town...

Today I am bursting at the seams with excitement!!

I'm sure most of you had read on the Facebook Fan page about the mishap that we've had to endure this summer. It was about mid May & I started feeling very ill, I was going to bed early, waking up late, & could have slept all day if someone would have let me! Dave spent hours on the computer searching for parasites, he was convinced I had one, my sister tried to pin me with a heart condition, my best friend who is a nurse believed I had endometriosis, & I, once again, was certain that there was some type of cancer invading my body. My mother in law & mom questioned pregnancy a multitude of times but...no way, no how, not me!! I was defying the odds of the unplanned pregnancy, I had myself fully convinced that it was virtually impossible because in my past experiences, I was the Gucci, the Prada of pregnancy. Gain a couple pounds, work 16 hour days up until the day you give birth, breeze through with no symptoms, & come out skinnier on the other side. At times I had even thought about offering myself up as a surrogate mother because to me, it was that easy. To our surprise, for the 3rd time, yes the queen of the unplanned pregnancy speaking here, we were going to add a little more joy, a little more laughter, & a little more crying to our already hectic lives. I was on a daily search for a 5 bedroom house, we thought about larger vehicles, & our baby names were just about set in stone. Everyone joked that it had to be twins because I was just "TOO pregnant" this time....
and that is when we got another surprise! Low & behold, the good lord thought my stomach was noah's ark & he was bringing these babies in 2 by 2.  Twins it was & for 15 glorious minutes thoughts & images flashed through my mind as tears just streamed down my face. Some delightful, others quite frightening. Then I was blindsided and hit with the news that became the epicenter of my entire summer...they were 9.5 weeks and had no heartbeats..what did I want to do?  What I really wanted to do go grab Mr. Momi in the waiting room, run to the car, and let myself become an emotional wreck..and that was pretty much exactly what I did. Over the next 3 weeks we bounced back & forth between 3 different doctors & became more than emotionally taxed. Mr. Momi was convinced after the first doctor, it took me 2 more opinions & I still was uneasy about the situation because there wasn't even a hint of a sign that these babies weren't ok, except for what the doctors couldn't find on the radar. In my head I always worry that someone is going to steal our children out of their beds in the middle of the night, Dave is going to crash on the way to the grocery store & never return, I am going to get cancer & die at a young age, or one of the girls will end up on the face of a milk carton after their senior trip to Aruba. In my mind everything horrific in the world is going to happen to my family so, I don't know why I was so headstrung that there was no way, no how, that this could happen! 
I told Mr. Momi on the way to the 2nd opinion ultrasound that if "these babies" didn't have heartbeats, we are going to Hawaii. Well, techinically I said we are going to Hawaii in September, North Carolina in October, Floriday in November, & Vegas in December. :) It wasn't a celebration trip, more of a calm after the storm & something to look forward to if all hope should die. 

Tonight we make our departure for paradise! It is a trip that I told Mr. Momi back in February that there was "no way, no how" we were going to be able to go...for a friend's wedding.  We are beyond thrilled to be getting away, childless, for our friend's wedding, for our anniversary, & to be taking it back to where our life together started, the girls were born, & the sun was always shining!  Hawaii to me is sacred ground & I really can't recall a bad memory from the years I lived there! My entire life fell into place while I lived there. I met Mr. MOMI, the girls were born, Momi boutique was started, & I got married.  Everything's perfect in paradise, right?!  Aside from coming home to the girls..it is going to be even MORE hard to leave Hawaii this time. The girls are aware that we are leaving tonight & this will be the first time we've ever left them for more than 24 hours...guilty mommy syndrome has set in!

We will be out of town until September 9th so all "MOMI event days" have been canceled through September 8th! There will be a new Friday Flirt skirt posted, mid day, on September 9th! I will be releasing new Halloween designs the second week of September! Please be aware that I will have limited internet access & the BEST way to reach me will be to email momi_boutique@hotmail.com.  My etsy shop is on vacation mode, however, orders can be placed through http://www.momiboutique.com/. Please just be aware that no orders will be processed, made, or shipped until after September 9th on a "first in" basis. If you are in need of an item for september delivery please be sure to place your order as soon as possible to ensure that yours is one of the first completed upon my return!

Have a great week! Aloha!

8.16.2011

*FREE Shipping through August 19th*

Fall has begun to appear at MOMI boutique

Be sure to visit www.momiboutique.com for all of the latest & receive FREE SHIPPING through Friday August 19th!

*Free shipping applies to US domestic orders including Hawaii, Alaska, & Puerto Rico.*

*Supply of most new designs is limited so do not miss out!*

6.15.2011

Heart & Soul

Hi there...it's me MOMI.  I always think to myself..if for some reason I was blessed with another baby..would I name her Momi? haha Probably not!

To say my blog has been neglected is an understatment, I feel like facebook has just taken over the reigns....it works alot better than sitting here typing up a novel! However, at times there are issues that need to be addressed in regards to this brand that take up more than 420 characters..especially when you are as wordy as me!
If you are a MOMI follower I am sure you are well aware that I have different limited edition days of the week and some are posted and purchased on facebook, one in particular is auctioned off on facebook...MOMI's Melting pot Monday...dun dun dun...

I hate being the bearer of bad news, I would much rather blog about something lighthearted & upbeat...however, when things are just fine and dandy I'm usually working on orders or trying to spend 10 seconds with my family...which I am sure all of you moms out there can understand.

Now onto the root of the topic...you may want to close your ears because as my mom gets shocked when she reads my blog posts saying that I am brutally honest..this post will be no different! Call my the Taylor Swift of the blog world...if something happens you better believe there is going to be a blog post about it!  I have nothing to hide, ever.

MOMI boutique has been in business for 4 years..it was not started because of my love for sewing, or because everyone in my neighborhood wanted to purchase my items, it was also not started completely out of boredom or to make me feel good about myself.  MOMI boutique was started as a means of survival. Yes, granted I LOVE what I do, I had always wanted to go to Philadelphia college of textile & design but, even the grant that I had received was not enough to make it affordable for my family and I ended up going to a state university for Marketing. Call it a miracle or a simple twist of fate that I am actually living out my dream! I feel blessed and thankful but, trust me...it did not just all fall in my lap. There has been ALOT of blood, sweat, and tears in this journey of building this business from the ground up.

Here is my rags to ridiculousness story since I know you all love a good story! ......Dave bought me a sewing machine for christmas, a month after Lily was born. When I was pregnant I wanted a $200 crib bedding set that we could not afford so I would sit in my bedroom at night and hand stitch ugly little pillows, I even painted circles on crib sheets..PAINTED...WHO paints on crib sheets!!?? Me who had no idea what she was doing! Here's the set and now it's on Sale..4 years too late!.. http://www.blanketmybaby.com/bubble-gum-4-piece-baby-bedding-set ...Darn it! Trust me, I won't have another baby even though it seems tempting :)


Back to the beginning...I had been working as a substitute teacher and a full time waitress up until the day before Lily was born. We lived in a tiny 2 bedroom apartment in Hawaii and someone managed to gamble all of their money away on sunday afternoon football games the week before Lily was born leaving me to pay all of the rent and in a terrible situation since I was about to go on maternity leave. I felt like we were in dire straights. Yes, we both have solid family foundations but, it's not something you call home to your parents about! My luck at the time, I ended up on extended maternity leave because my doctor cut me like a thanksgiving turkey and it was painful to walk for more than 5 minutes straight for about 6 months! TMI :)  I had to do something, I was scared to death of the sewing machine and it sat in its box for almost 2 months. My mom sewed as a hobby my whole life and I would always stand over her shoulder and watch so one day I thought..why not! I broke that baby out and went to town. In between Lily's colic crying I was teaching myself how to sew. Eventually I went back to my "real jobs" and I slowly I started selling on ebay.  My first dress sold for $5.25. I was over the moon. I thought it was the greatest thing in all of the world.  My heart was in it and I kept at it non stop.  I had alot of outward support and motivation from friends and some who thought I was crazy.  That christmas season I sold a "fancy" dress on ebay and it ended for $250. I think I walked into the restaurant to work that night on cloud nine & wore a smile the whole night, not because of the $, even though it was a nice motivation but, because I knew this was real, it was happening, my hard work was being noticed by many. I had no idea I was building a business or any idea what was to be in the future. As time went on I got better and I had repeat customers who would buy oodles of items from me. I really couldn't have been more lucky and fortunate. MOMI kept growing and 1.5 years later after Leah was born I quit my day jobs since we were moving off the island and half way across the world.  Dave got a good job when we moved home and I decided to put every ounce of my energy into MOMI. It was at that point that I pulled of ebay because I was tired of the weekly bidding. I streamlined alot and offered a larger variety of items. That is when things really started to boom.  The growth of MOMI has become exciting, yet scarey to me. It is not something that I asked for but, definately something that I hoped for & it is a reflection of my dedication and hard work toward my business. I do not just sit back and delegate duties to employees, I am in my sewing room, away from my children for the majority of the day, slaving away.  I do not have a factory overseas or even down the street. I wish I did! I do not have a customer service rep that sits and anwsers all of my emails..I wish I did, I am at the front line of EVERYTHING that happens with MOMI. In spite of that, I tend to keep my personal emotions out of it and try not to take anything personally. I have always tried to keep myself very seperated from other designers and their personal lives because I feel that I would rather not be involved in drama of any sort & it seems like the "boutique world" can become just that, drama. When people knock off my work, then it does become my business, and my problem, and you better believe I am going to say something diplomatically about it.
Regardless of that...the point of this post...it has/had become apparent to me that there is a situation that needs to be addressed in regards to the amount of money that people are willing to pay for my work. It seems as though my Melting pot designs have become a breeding ground for drama and unnecessary comments.  I have realized this for a few weeks now on chat forums where people are making comments about the "ridiculously high amounts" that people are bidding on my melting pot tops. I have deleted multiple comments over the past weeks on my fan page after the auctions ends such as... "are you ladies crazy?" "WOW", "don't you think that is a little high?".   I realize some people may say it all with a grain of salt and really put no thought into it or think that it will have an effect on anyone. If you don't think that I am blown away by the bids or sometimes feel half way guilty, your wrong because I do. However, I do also know the dynamics of supply and demand. From the outside looking in, there is no telling how many "followers"/"buyers" I have, how many different countries I ship to every week, or the magnitude of items MOMI sells on a weekly basis. There is more to all of this than what meets the eye. If my items were all made in a factory or I had multiple sewers, that would be a different story. Yes, there is a supply/demand factor and my prices are reflective of that. If I priced my items differently I would burn out and put myself out of business because I would NOT be able to keep up.  I am pretty sure that is has already all become too much because just the other day I had a 2 hour "fit" about how I'm not sure that this is even fun anymore for me and that I feel like a caged animal everyday shackled to a sewing chair with someone standing behind my back with a whip in their hand. haha I may have become melodramatic at some point in my life but, that is just how I felt at that moment. Trust me, I am not going anywhere but forward..regardless if I need a 2 day vacation from my sewing chair or not.  The reason I felt this way is becasue this business has once again become my means of survival after my emotions were thrown to the edge of the earth and I had to make my husband quick his job and work for me because of scanadlous situations at his work. Yes, I went through h*ll and back to earn my first employee. If some people consider me lucky because I get to spend 24 hours a day with my husband or because I have a "helper"..trust me, I would rather be in YOUR shoes. Yes, I love him to the end of the earth and back and he has the patience of a saint but, working with your husband is not all sunshine and rainbows.
When MOMI says it is a OOAK, it is not a joke. They are truly just that, One of a Kind. Sure, if I was really all in this for the money I could cut off my whole website and just sit here and sew melting pot swing tops and auction them off everyday. Obviously that is not happening and because of that, there is a high demand and a low supply. Now, granted I am not the inventor of a patchwork dress, nor did I EVER think/say I was but, for my OOAK spin offs of a patchwork dress there is a low supply & a high demand...people want what they want...and good luck changing their mind.  The fact is, unneccessary comments do have an effect on the bidders and it also is a slap to my business and degrading knowing in my mind how hard I have worked.  Maybe I do sew them with golden thread while my golden geese that lay golden eggs watch me sew!  Maybe I don't.  However, I am not worried about someone hurting my feelings but, it does matter when people are making MOMI customers, who buy from me on a weekly basis, the heart and soul of my brand,  feel like they need to feel that they are doing something wrong. It is not ok when I receive an email from a very loyal customer of mine saying that she has been awake since 2 am because she has received many emails from multiple people who have personally attacked her because of her high bid. Nor would it have been ok with me if it was ANY of my customers who said they have been attacked because of the amount they were willing to spend on this brand.  Everyone spends their money on something and everyone is entitled to do just that.  It is not something out of this world for people to have designer brands that they are "hooked" on or have a restaurant that they love and eat at every week. Some people have lavish homes, some have fancy cars, some gamble (AHHH!), some vacation, some throw amazing parties, some do it all, regardless...to each is own! I truly believe that everyone that follows MOMI comes from something great, I believe that you are all educated and smart women so please just use caution when commenting in regards to what people choose to spend their money on.  Everyone in this world is in a different financial situation and regardless if you have the money to spend on MOMI boutique or you buy your kids play clothes at Target like me, that shouldn't matter to anyone else.  I would personally never comment on someone elses spending unless it was my best friend who tried her hand at extreme couponing and spent a couple hundred dollars on cat food for a cat that she doesn't even have! Yeah, then I may voice my 2 sense!  Whether someone is bidding $500 dollars on a One of a Kind design from MOMI, a resell item of MJ's on ebay, or on a doll from Bambo over in her corner...it is no one else's business and so maybe this all swings back to being my own fault.  However, it took ebay how many years and probably 20 million complaints to realize that they need to disquise the usernames of bidders on their site, so I don't think that I have failed completely considering it has only taken me a few months!  I hadn't realized that it was going to come down to any of this so, maybe in the next weeks, if I can find 10 seconds to figure out how to set up a hyena cart account the melting pot auctions will be moved there. This will protect the identity of bidders.
On a lighter note, my in laws, who I adore, are in town for a week and my sister is moving home from Hawaii on Saturday!! ...and I just found my 3 year old who somehow lost her very last "paci" last night, laying in her room sucking on her toes. HAHA are we still in dire straights?....that is debatable!  I hope you all are enjoying your first bursts of summer and making alot of memories!

3.12.2011

Carolina on my mind...

Just a little side note to say Happy Saturday.....& if you are interested in purchasing an item/items that have not been "relisted" on my etsy site, most likely you can find it on my website http://www.momiboutique.com/.  I have not been "relisting" sold items as frequently on my etsy site because I have been having large influxs of orders at http://www.momiboutique.com/ & the purchasing process seems to go alot smoother for all.  It is nicer for you as the MOMI addict because the layout of the page allows for easier searching & larger front images.  All "add ons" or modifications are "spelled out" under each item & unless an item is truly sold out, it is always available for purchase...you do not have to email me or wait for me to "relist" it!  It has really been nice for me on my end because just when I thought I was going to really have to consider hiring a customer service rep, http://www.momiboutique.com/ became the new found hit place to purchase MOMI (vs. my etsy site), my orders increased X's 3 & my emails decreased X's 3.  I certainly hadn't seen that one coming in my crystal ball!  Since you have to enter a size to purchase at http://www.momiboutique.com/, it cuts down on alot of time...& at the moment I need every spare second I can get!  It has also helped to eliminate most "private listings". I really couldn't be happier!

I also need to let you know that I am gearing up to go out of town on April first to shoot my summer line..which will be released near the begining of April. I do not have an exact date at the moment as I am relying on mother nature, who typically has a mind of her own! :) 
I will not return until April 8th or possibly a little longer depending on how much fun we are having! I am so fortunate that my in laws have an ocean front duplex rental property in Carolina that they so graciously let us stay at, pretty much whenever the mood strikes. I think it was the only thing that really saved our sanity moving from Hawaii to PA, knowing we had a place to escape to. We have such a great time down at the beach house, we are usually never ready to come ome!...but, we always do! Unfortunately for Mr. MOMI & the girls, I have to keep everyone pretty grounded in PA due to the workload of owning a business.  I have made promises though that one day we will head out of town for good & get our own place by the sea...in the 20 year plan :)

All items purchased from March 20th - March 31st have a potential 4 week turn around until shipment. I would strongly urge you to place your orders asap if you are hoping to have them for Easter. I know this seems quite strange & so very long to wait, especially since MOMI has become notorious for it's very fast turn around but, please do know that I am turning orders as fast as humanly possible at the moment with the amount of orders that I have coming in daily & the circumastance that I was only born with two hands! :) I believe I have been pulling "all nighters" now, more than I had in college!!

*I wish you all a wonderful weekend!*