From the moment that I found out that I was pregnant I started searching for the perfect bedding. I saw so many that I thought I liked for a "Vintage" theme in a girls' room, that I didn't even worry about nailing down exactly which one, and instead focused my search on a modern boy's room (which would've had a TOTALLY different look... think West Elm if you're familiar with that store). Before too long, I'd found the perfect boys bedding (from Dwell Baby, in case you're interested) so I didn't think too much more about it until we found out that we were having an Annabelle.
After that I attempted to nail down exactly which bedding I wanted for Annabelle's room, and found that everything that I'd thought was "perfect" in the past was either too pink, too bright, too non-Vintage looking, or too something else. I found that bedding/fabric looks TOTALLY different in person than it does on the websites on the computer so that also slowed my search. Then, the happy day came when I happened to take a ride up to a baby store in Merritt Island where they carried a line of bedding that I liked the feel of, New Arrivals. When we got there, I fell in love with the "Forget Me Knot" bedding (note: as I said earlier, the colors on the web look very different from the true colors in person and this particular bedding is not nearly as pastel as it seems online) and spent quite some time writing up and pricing the pieces that I wanted and customizing the fabric choices. The key part of the whole thing was the bumper, which incorporated my "perfect pink", not too much green, a perfectly vintage blue, and many other perfect colors/patterns. I didn't place an order that day, but left my address so that they could send me swatches of the bedding and I could decide whether to buy it myself or just register for it.
Over the next 2 weeks I anxiously awaited the arrival of the swatches so that I could start my shopping/registering for other nursery items. Then, the bad news arrived... I got a letter from the baby store saying that they were sorry, but that the floral patch fabric had been discontinued and they wouldn't be able to order the swatch or the bedding. I immediately called the manufacturer to see if they happened to have any in stock, and they sure didn't because they custom-make each piece as it's ordered. Out of despiration I emailed every distributor that I could find online who carried Forget Me Knot... and nothing. So then, I called about 30 of the stores listed as New Arrivals' distributors, and no luck there either. Broken-hearted, I started preparing for Plan B and went back to the baby store to look at more swatches.
I found a pattern that I liked, but couldn't forget about "Forget Me Knot" (kinda ironic name; huh? ). Saturday afternoon, I decided to go ahead and call a few more of the distributor stores. The converstations went like this:
Keri: Hello, Do you by any chance carry "New Arrivals' Forget Me Knot crib bedding in your store and have it in stock?
Store: No, but we can order it from the manufacturer for you. They have custom bedding and make it when you order it.
Keri: Unfortunately they've discontinued that line, so I am trying to find someone who has it actually in their store.
Store: Oh, I didn't know it was discountinued. I'm sorry, we don't have it, but good luck!
Keri: (A little more broken-hearted each time) Thank you.
There were some variations, but that was the basic script on both ends. I continued to go through the Baby Stores list making call after call, when it finally happened... The script changed! I said my first line, but instead of the usual "we can order it response", I got a "Yes, we have one on the floor right now." My response was a very shocked "Seriously!?!?"
So... now I've placed the order for the Perfect Annabelle Nursery Bedding, and it should be here on Thursday or Friday of this week! I had to order the packaged set designed by the manufacturer rather than being able to order the custom pieces that I wanted, but it's worth it to me! Now I can continue with Annabelle's nursery planning including painting, registering, and all other things decorating-related! And I can't tell you how excited this has made me!
Update...(Nov 18, 2005 6:06pm) The bedding has arrived at it's everything I hoped it would be!!!
Let the decorating and registering begin!
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