Mir, Author at Cool Mom Picks

LEGO storage that kids won’t forget to use

LEGO is, in my mind, the quintessential building toy of childhood. I played with it when I was little; both of my kids–their ages in double digits–still love to build with it. The problem, of course, is that no matter what LEGO storage solutions I come up...

The best cupcakes are wrapped in cooties

by Mir | Party Ideas

I can’t stop giggling over these printable cupcake wrappers available from the Spaceships and Laser Beams Etsy shop. The description says it’s so hard to find anything for Valentine’s Day that appeals to little boys… and sure, I can see the...

24 Shades of pint-sized fabulous

by Mir | Kid Fashion

Having both a boychild and a girlchild, I can assure you that–despite both being wonderful and having their respective proclivities and attributes–dressing girls is just more fun. I’m sorry, but it is. Especially when there are these gorgeous...

Look yoga-fit, with or without yoga

by Mir | Health, Fitness + Wellbeing

Let me be absolutely clear, here: While I don’t necessarily agree that yoga pants can only be worn for yoga, I do believe that they’re closer to sweatpants than to jeans. That is to say, I don’t condone the wearing of yoga pants on date night, mamas....

The Beauty of Different – both different and beautiful

by Mir | Books for Adults

As a longtime reader of Karen Walrond’s blog Chookooloonks, I expected her first book, The Beauty of Different: Observations of a Confident Misfit, to be gorgeous. I’m familiar enough with her pictures to expect the photography to be stunning; I’m...

Gluten-free gourmet cookie mix for those of us who’d given up on cookies

by Mir | Uncategorized

I’ve been gluten-free for coming up on a couple of years, now, and while I’ve learned to bake a few essentials, I’ve mostly given up on cookies. Because gluten-free cookies–by and large–suck. And I love to bake, but I’m certainly...

Saving the world, one cup of delicious gourmet coffee at a time

by Mir | Food + Recipes

We’ve all heard the standard wisdom that if we each gave up one daily luxury–say, your morning latte–you could put that money towards charity and really make a difference. And I happily gave up my frou-frou coffeeshop runs for brewing at home to save...

The final goodbye to plastic bags

by Mir | Living

I switched over to reusable grocery bags at the supermarket a long time before I managed to break the plastic produce bag habit, I confess. Because back then, the only “produce” options seemed to be bulky cotton bags that added weight (and therefore cost)....

Eat better, live healthier: ChopChop

by Mir | Books for Kids

I’m not going to bore you with facts and figures about childhood obesity in America, because we’ve all heard it before. What I will tell you is that there is little my kids enjoy more than receiving their own mail, and in particular, magazines addressed to...

Fun first aid, always on hand

by Mir | Health, Fitness + Wellbeing

Woe betide the mother who doesn’t have a Band-Aid in her purse when the need arises. And the thing is, I’ve gotten the hint over the years, and sure, there’s usually a bandage or two smashed down in the bottom of my bag somewhere.But do I have...