I've noticed a trend lately among the hundreds of children's books I receive for review : stellar new books for kids about the arts. We tend to promote a lot of STEM toys, books, and opportunities for kids because we're passionate about …
Whichever social media site is your guilty pleasure du jour, we’re there, making sure you don’t miss our favorite posts on parenting, fashion, apps, recipes, deals and discounts , and random awesomeness from around the web. Plus our favo…
We love it when two trusted favorites come together to make a product we believe in -- and that our kids think is super cool. Behold this rad collaboration between fashion icon Tokidoki and ZoLi, trusted makers of cool water bottles and …
I may be the only person I know who gets excited about daylight savings time because the earlier sunset gives me an excuse to slip into something soft and forgiving for many more hours of the day. Oh yeah, and being pregnant hasn't helpe…
I truly love spending autumn weekends doing fall crafts with my nieces, and now that we're done with pumpkins and ghosts, I'm looking into cool craft projects for Thanksgiving . I searched around and found some favorites from the harvest…
When you find a gift as adorable as these handknit animal hoodies and winter hats for babies from Oeuf (pronounced uh-f , it's French for "egg"), I think it's completely appropriate to ditch any baby gift registry suggestions and go rogu…
If you follow the magical baby portraits at Wengenn in Wonderland or the instagram glory of Laura Izumikawa , you know that naptime photography is no joke. I'm mesmerized by the way these moms create whimsical worlds for their babies and…
If you're anything like me, you could spend hours shopping for makeup. But, if you're like me, you don't even have those hours to shop for makeup. (I wish!) That's why I was so thrilled to team up with our newest sponsor, Sephora inside …
Graphic novels are so popular in children's literature these days and it's easy to see why. The long misunderstood genre ("comic books" no more) is finally receiving recognition as engaging literature that combines visual and compelling …
Kristen and I have never run this as a partisan or a political site, but that's not to say that our values aren't pretty clearly reflected on these pages. Our long-time readers know we are, and have always been, about inclusivity. Positi…
You might have heard, but there's this election coming up in the US on Tuesday, November 8 and it's kind of a big deal. Here are just a few links we've been reading to help you, enlighten you, stress you out, or de-stress you completely.…
With all the negative discourse going in the world right now (particularly right now), I've been on the lookout for positive things that make me and my children feel better. I try to take some time each day to find the good in the world:…
Whichever social media site is your guilty pleasure du jour, we’re there, making sure you don’t miss our favorite posts on parenting, fashion, apps, recipes, deals and discounts , and random awesomeness from around the web. Plus our favo…
My kids hate to see me cry, but there have been times when I'm following the Syrian refugee crisis that I can't help it. They've caught me looking at the haunting photo of Omran Daqneesh in the ambulance, seeing the tragic body of 3-year…
Finally escaping the morning sickness and extreme fatigue routine of the first trimester of my pregnancy has been a big reward in and of itself. And while I'm finding the second trimester and its nesting phase to be so much more enjoyabl…
In an effort to reduce screentime at home, especially with Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks around the bend, I've been stocking up on some arts and crafts-type activity books for kids. Instead of everyone sitting on the couch, looking a…
I can still vividly remember the playdate I had for my toddler the same week we laid new carpet in our house. You know where this is going, right? Within minutes, the mom's mega-venti-grande-whatever coffee was all over the place. And ye…
The last time I hosted an election night viewing party with friends was back in 2000 when our friends resignedly left around midnight, with no winner decided. (It's a good thing or they might have been camped out on our living room floor…
My daughter isn't what you'd typically call a "girly girl." Her favorite clothes are athletic wear and she can hold her own (and then some) with the neighborhood boys in a game of flag football. But she still loves to dress up and has a …
In a world where a quick Google search can answer even the toughest question in just seconds, we love the delicious act of waiting for a surprise in the mail. But while most subscription boxes give you a pretty good idea of what to expec…
I've been needing a new mattress for a while now, but the idea of spending $2,000 (or more, yeesh!) on a traditional box spring and mattress set has kept me from heading to the stores to try them out. Because with multiple kids at home, …
When Kristen and Liz started Cool Mom Picks, their desire was to highlight cool, indie shops that make innovative products with fresh ideas for kids and families. A decade later, that's still our driving passion, and the chic handmade ba…
Let's face it: women are rad. At everything -- from sports to science, and painting and political activism. And since so much of our history focuses on men, and the Eurocentric ones at that, we love books that introduce us to new heroine…
Recently, I had the joy of attending the annual Martha Stewart American Made event , or what I think of as Cool Mom Picks gift guide central. Truly, it's always a joy to discover amazing new makers and other small businesses (a few are o…
