Tell me these aren't the most cute babies in the cutest new baby shirts ever?
Los Pollitos Dicen (The Little Chicks Say) now has a page on Facebook.
We welcome "Fans'' and pictures of your beautiful little ones in their Spanish baby tees and onesies.
Also, keep an eye here and there for news about new products.
We are so 2.0, aren't we?
I keep getting coupons and sale codes in the mail and on-line.
One particular sale is entitled: "The Economy Sucks Sale."
It made me laugh and appreciate them more. (Maria has a couple of their great designs)
So, doing our part:
Use the code PACHANGA (all uppercase) to receive 20% off your Los Pollitos Dicen order.
Your country thanks you.
Last night, while I watched Lost in the Boonies, a few hundred Miamians, (Maiamenses?) partied at Cuba Nostalgia. I thought of them all and wished we were there, as we were the last two years.
Curious about the goings-on this weekend? Watch it via Babalu Blog. Que rico. I can hear the music from here.
If you're in Miami and you're looking for Los Pollitos, you can find them at Sentir Cubano.
edited Friday afternoon: Coming back to say that if you are Cuba Nostalgia and you see something that looks like a Pollito, but isn't a Pollito, well, it isn't a Pollito. Accept no imitations, my friends. No imitations.
When Oscar, my Pollitos partner, and I worked together in the newsroom we cracked each other up with the silliest of things – cubanisms, stuff our padres said, things non-Latin Southern friends said to us about Latins. We were, for a time, the only Latins in the editorial department, and perhaps the entire building of 2,000 people. Of course, we bonded.
When he moved to
We love this. We love what we do. We love that we produce a sweet gift, a colorful slice of culture, available to all Latins and the people who love them and la cultura. (That’s a lot of people, despite what the news says about long walls and raids.)
So, my days are made especially joyful when a customer writes and shows us their pollitos in Pollitos. (Makes us realize we’re not just giddy, crazy people.)
This came last week from my
This week another customer wrote to share what she posted on her blog about her three children in Los Pollitos Dicen t-shirts. What I found was not only a lovely tribute, but a gifted writer whose work I will be reading regularly.
Meet Violeta Garcia-Mendoza, who writes at Multi-Culti Mami and whose new column will launch Sunday May 11 at Literary Mama. Here is a beautiful and moving column she wrote last year about adopting her babies.
The latest baby picture e-mailed to
A baby chick cookie cutter from CopperGifts.com.
Beautiful little hair pins by siiri.
Mother Hen and baby chicks picnic and tea set.
It was, to say the least, a long night. The tornado warnings were close enough to keep us up, but far enough that we were safe last night. Friends and family called and e-mailed us today. They know we still have some post-traumatic episodes from the hit in 1998, which demolished much of our then-neighborhood and damaged our home. If I never have to hear the sound of a tarp flapping against a roof top, I will be very happy.
Now then, meet my little friend, El Gordito Mas Fabulous in the Whole World. His mother, a generous and delightful woman, was kind enough to let me dress him up and torture him for a few minutes.
"Can I have my maraca back?"
"I mean, seriously lady, give me back my maraca.''
"One day, I am going to blow out my diaper all over this woman."
Dear Amigos,
Thank you so much for the wonderful notes and e-mails. It has meant a lot.
Still unable to post at length, but from here all looks good and promising. Surgery will be soon.
My family met last week at Disney World. The trip already was planned and my mom's doctor told her to go and enjoy her family. She did. We did. I had not been to the Magic Kingdom in 22 years. It had changed a lot and it had changed little. It was great to see my 4-year-old daughter and 18-month-old niece take it all in. Oh, and thank goodness neither one of them knows about collecting character autographs. The lines were outrageous. Pictures to come, and if I get the courage, one of me in a pink princess tiara.
For your kindness, we at Los Pollitos Dicen are offering a discount code for blog readers: Enter blog07 and receive a 20% discount.
At this point, can't guarantee a Christmas delivery, but we'll certainly try.
As I sit here, I am wearing a size Large T-shirt and feeling very much like a sausage, or Pamela Anderson, not sure which. This Large is tiny on me and I'm generally a small. So, this one just won't work, despite the delicious color.
The T-shirt is a sample as we hunt down the perfecta/o tee for the adult line. Some are too short. Some are too long. Some are too thick. Some have huge arms. Some have thick neck binding. Feos! The ones we used for the Cuba Nostalgia show this year are absolutely wonderful, but run very small. Not ideal for Latina curves -- or anybody other than las flacas Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen.
Some of you responded to our recent poll (or sent e-mail) and asked for Made in the U.S.A. Amores, I am so trying. The options are limited. Very limited. I recently spoke to a T-shirt distributor who had some tees made locally. It is an expensive nightmare, he said. I told him I had a bit of a nightmare talking to a local manufacturer too. Maybe even the same one. There aren't that many, though Tennessee used to have a lot of fabric mills. We laughed about it and agreed that perhaps there is a reason practically everything apparel-related is done overseas.
Of course, the right cut, fit, color and price is out there. We found it for Los Pollitos and we'll find it again. It'll just mean trying on a whole lot of T-shirts. (Lots for the yard sale pile later!)
In the meantime, if you have a favorite T-shirt brand, feel free to let me know.
The latest chicks from Los Pollitos Dicen have hatched.
Introducing "Despertador'' or "Alarm Clock'' and "Ni Un Pio!'' or "Not a Peep,'' our version of "See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil" and otherwise known as the thing my Abuela said most commonly to her grandchildren: "No quiero oir ni un pio!'' The perfect toddler tee!
These funny Spanish T-shirts and onesies are our holiday 2007 offerings. They will be sold solo -- no box -- and each will include a card with the lyrics to Los Pollitos Dicen, the traditional lullaby we take our name from.
Despertador is available in 0 to 6 months and 6 to 12 months; Ni Un Pio is available in 2T and 4T. Both are 100% cotton and made in the U.S.A. $18.
Buy them here.
And finally, we've added "Fo!" in white with a chocolate brown image to our regular line-up. I personally, adore this funny, stinky, little chick.
We hope you like them, we hope they make you laugh, and of course, we hope you'll buy them for the bebes and children in your lives.
This is George. He is 1. George belongs to a lovely woman in my mom's group. I love George. George is the kind of baby who makes you want to have more babies. George makes you believe the Universe is kind and grand and generous. George is absolute fabulousness. And, his last name happens to have the word "fire'' in it, so the Candela tee fits him in more ways than one.
I am looking at T-shirt samples for the upcoming adult line. I'm a little dizzy, to tell the truth. There is so much variety in color, fit, cost, material, origin. But, I love looking at the colors. Like candy, they are.
I know what I want: A bright, fitted, soft cotton, preferably made in the United States. I'm OK with paying more for it if it is going to last. It would be a bonus if it were organic or bamboo, but those are some serious bucks. (Sadly, there's a huge difference in wholesale cost for organics and bamboo.)
What about you? Tell me about your favorite T-shirt. What does it feel like? Has it shrunk? Faded? Do you care? Is it an inexpensive T? Is it a fabulously luxurious one? What color is it?
Help us give you the best T-shirt possible. Please, take a moment to answer the Poll to the right and give me whatever feedback you like here or via e-mail. (You can select more than one choice in the poll.)
It wasn't very difficult to pick the Pollito tee manufacturer. Hands-down the best private-label manufacturer we found out there. And, we custom dye the chick tees, so picking colors from a selection -- and overloading my brain -- isn't an issue.
By the way, my favorite T-shirt all summer long has been the Tocororo we sold at Cuba Nostalgia this past May. That pajaro tropical is definitely going to be a regular in the new line-up.
Thanks for your help!
In the fall of 2004, I called Oscar and asked him if he wanted to design some T-shirts. It'll be easy. Simple, I said.
We laugh about that conversation a lot, as in "Remember when you said "easy?'''
Here's what I do -- and sometimes it feels like it is all done at once:
Accounting, Customer Service, Sales, Marketing, Public Relations, Purchasing, Contractor relations, Shipping and Receiving, Inventory-taker, Filler-outer of business paperwork, Seamstress, Sales show hawker. Several of these have sub-categories.
And there are a few other things that I have no title for, like cutting and placing designs on blank tees to figure out placement . Staff semi-crafter? Oh yeah, and critic. "Can you make that bigger?''
Oscar designs the Pollitos and all the art that it takes to run this business, including: Logo, letterhead, wholesale forms, business cards, banners, flyers. He also manages our Website and acts as critic for me. "Spice up that newsletter!''
I have a 3-year-old and a husband. I scrub my own toilets and sometimes I write freelance. Oscar has a full-time job and a hopping social life. He scrubs his own toilets too.
We both get tendinitis from too much computer and we both work hard at things we never dreamt we would be doing.
We're also both a little crazy.
We just bought a new URL to launch more Spanish T-shirts and gifts into the world.
Stay tuned for details.
But first, I just dropped the holiday exclusives at the screen printer. They'll be ready soon and I'll publish pictures when they hatch. They are the cutest, funniest, sweetest little Spanish T-shirts and we think you will love them.
So tell me, you want to start your own business?
Seriously, tendinitis be damned.
We're having fun.
You can too.
When the house was quiet last night, I grabbed the laptop and zoomed into research mode: looking for new suppliers, researching hot colors, reading business inspiration.
All good and worthy ways to spend a Saturday night. Ahem. When you're 40.
The problem was that my research was done in front of the TV and there was a Pants-Off Dance -Off marathon. It was like watching a train wreck. Repelled, but yet not. Ashamed, but here I am admitting it.
Maybe I need to get rid of the cable.
Keep an eye here for news about the Los Pollitos Dicen limited-edition Spanish Holiday onesies and t-shirts. (Hence, color research)
No elves, no ornaments.
Just chicken.
Pants-less chickens.
These photographs and a note arrived a few days ago. Their cool mama and I exchanged a few lovely e-mails about tees, work, and babies before she ordered. Here are three of the pictures of her sweet little chickies in their Pio Pio Pio tees.
See why I love my job?
"I tried so hard to get a great picture of the girls together in their shirts for you. As you can see, all I ended up with is hilarity. The first couple are what happens now when I say 'smile for the camera.' The last one is the best I could manage. But I swear they really love the shirts and they walk around saying "pio pio pio!" Thanks for making such awesome shirts. I love the little boxes, too - just the right size for crayons and stuff!''
Proud parents often send us photos of their beautiful children wearing Pollito t-shirts. Here is the latest one, sent by the Mami of these gorgeous 4-month-old twins.
Pictures like these, and the lovely notes, make the hard work worth every second.
Estan para comerselo!
Los Pollitos Dicen (The Little Chicks Say) now has a page on Facebook. Become a Fan!
