BlogHer '12 Find: Heading Back to School with Lands' End

Back to school is looming. Before we know it, the kids will be flinging backpacks over their shoulders and heading to the big yellow buses to go return to the land of homework assignments, tests and classroom learning. This summer has been a fabulous one, filled with crafting, lots of beach time and happy days at our family’s beach cottage. It’s hard to believe that in mere weeks, we will say goodbye to the beach and return to our little house in the country. I’m not ready. And I have every intention of spending as many moments with my toes dug in the sand as I possibly can.

But I also can’t deny that it’s time to start thinking about back to school and filling the kids drawers and backpacks with fresh new supplies. This year brings a big change for my family as my kids are leaving their private school. That means that in addition to the usual pencils and crayons, we need to think about school clothes too (there’s no uniforms at their new school!). So I was pretty happy to be invited to a Lands’ End Back to School event put on by MomTrends while I was in New York for the BlogHer 2012 Conference.

The well-designed event gave attendees a full overview of what Lands’ End has to offer.

Jeans after washings. And an embroidery machine (I think). I think photographing with my iPhone was a mistake though. It doesn't do this justice. — Jeans after washings. And an embroidery machine (I think). I think photographing with my iPhone was a mistake though. It doesn’t do this justice.

I was interested to hear about Lands’ End’s new Iron Knee pants technology (no, there isn’t any actual iron in it). It’s designed to stand up to kids who are really rough on the knees of their pants, which my son definitely is. I can’t tell you how many knees have gotten holes in them over the years. Lands’ End employees actually tested the pants for durability on their own kids (in addition to other ways). Sounds like these could be the pants Will needs.

One of my favorite parts of the event was getting to style my own back to school look. I went with a boy look that included Yacht Blue (plaid) Iron Knee Pants, a Mountain Sky Stripe Long Sleeve Rugby Hoodie, the Red Clay Long Sleeve Henley, Boys’ Boat Shoes and a Wolves backpack. I could definitely see Will in this — especially with the laid back, easy, beachy feel of the outfit. I can’t wait to see the photo (a pro was styling and photographing them!).

I was also really psyched to see the new line of Lands’ End backpacks up-close and personal. Will has a sturdy LE backpack that we bought when he started kindergarten, but I have been considering buying a new one this year and letting him use the old one for travel and outings. And with Paige starting school, she needs one for kindergarten. Lands’ End has done a good job of incorporating new features (like those front buckles) that make attaching a lunch box or helping the backpack fit snugly on a child easier. They were also kind enough to send everyone home with one (yay! Paige loves the one I came home with, so it’s all hers).

Chef Sam Talbot (remember him from Top Chef?) also gave a lunch demo showing some fab new ideas for what to pack for lunch for the kids. The avocado salad (he gave me a forkful!) was delicious.

Thank you to Lands’ End and MomTrends for the great event. This was just what I needed to get my head in the game about getting my kids back to school ready.

Have you done your back to school shopping yet?

Disclosure: I was invited by Lands’ End and MomTrends to attend this event. However I wasn’t obligated or compensated to write about it. Lands’ End did provide me with a backpack and other goodies for attending the event though. None of this impacted my opinions in this post, which are all my own.