More coolness from recent weeks…
Gourmet chocolate for Mother’s Day that says I love you, provided you don’t eat them all first. (That would say something else entirely.)
I dare anyone to tell me that Mother's Day chocolates are cliché, especially if you're giving the kinds of gourmet chocolate that a mom might not buy for herself every day. (With all due respect to the good folks of Hershey.) I will happily accept any fancy chocolate...
Sponsored Post: National Thank a Police Dog Week
This is a sponsored message from PetArmor. Police dogs are cool. Fact. But it's easy to take for granted those four-legged officers that are so essential to helping our men and women in uniform do their jobs and keep us all safe. In fact, most law enforcement...
Pretty herb labels that help you tell your sorrel from your sage
It's the time of year that I can go for a nice, beautiful little indoor herb garden on my urban windowsill. I love the idea of always having fresh basil for pesto, and fresh mint for lemonade or iced tea. A Click and Grow Smart Herb Garden is a great way to start,...
Plated’s home meal delivery service. Delicious, but is it worth it?
When you're feeling frazzled, winding down at the end of a busy day, the last thing you want to do is dig through the freezer to figure out what to fix everyone for dinner. Or worse, make a trip to the grocery with kids in tow. That's what makes the new Plated home...
10 colorful bags for spring. Hold onto your credit cards, mamas.
With warmer temperatures finally here, I can toss my beloved black bag to the back of my closet and brighten up my wardrobe with bolder, more colorful bags for spring. So pull out those flip flops and take a peek at my ten personal favorite bags in every price range....
Plants vs. Zombies, now on your windowsill
There's a zombie on your la-awn… and on your windowsill, thanks to this fun new Zombie Plant Growing Kit from our pals at TickleMe Plants. Since I kill most of the plants I try to grow, I'm intrigued by the idea of a plant that is actually supposed to die when I touch...
The eyes have it.
Thanks to the wonders of Photoshop and plastic surgery, I have become highly skeptical of ads touting any sort of miracle that comes in a bottle. With the combo of my mid-thirties and a perpetual sleep deficit, I've just come to label those purple bags under my eyes...
5 healthy chicken nugget recipes. Because sometimes you’ve got to go there, and not just for the kids.
As an outspoken proponent of healthy, homemade family food, I often find myself dispelling the myth that my family and I live on quinoa and kale alone. Though we're fans of both (well, most of us), we also love burgers, pizza, and, like plenty of American families,...
Unique personalized jewelry for moms: Say I love you in Morse code.
I've seen my fair share of personalized jewelry for moms, and I tend to lean towards more unique pieces that don't have me wearing my kids' engraved names, birth dates, and shoe sizes around my neck. (Well, maybe one, but not all three together.) That's why think...
My new favorite product? Caffeinated chocolate. Caffeinated chocolate, people!
The only downside to my newfound coffee geekery is that some mornings I just don't have time to grind, brew, and enjoy the amazing cup of coffee that I need so badly to function. Quick, crappy coffee just won't do anymore. But the substitute I've found is almost as...
7 celebrity diaper bags we’re drooling over from affordable to whoa.
We have to admit: sometimes it's fun to spy into the lives of the rich and famous to see what baby gear they use. So this week we thought we'd check out a few celebrity diaper bags, should you need Halle Berry's or Brad Pitt's style guidance. Yes, cool dads carry...
One Simple Change: a book of healthy living tips that actually work.
I've never been one for new year's resolutions, but every spring you'll find me looking to clean up in more ways than one. There's something about the budding plants, fresh green veggies, and warming weather that inspires me to recommit to healthier living. And still...
Pretty, handmade jewelry for mom at prices that leave room for flowers too.
There's nothing like jewelry hand crafted by an artist who's passionate about her art, but the prices can often be really—well, splurgey. So in time for Mother's Day, I'm so happy to find Freshie and Zero handmade jewelry that's perfect for any mom, featuring...
Felted wool bowls full of love. Or better, jewelry for Mother’s Day.
I bought a few felted wool bowls a long time ago and while they seemed a bit of a frivolous purchase at the time, they turned out to be really useful. They sat on my dresser to catch all my rings, dainty bracelets, and tiny necklaces just perfectly--that is, until my...
Born Free Africa: Designer Mother’s Day shopping for a very important cause.
As you can tell, we're gearing up for Mother's Day around here (our gift guide will be up soon, promise!) and just in time, we got wind of this exclusive collaboration between Shopbop and the fashion elite to support a brilliant cause. Born Free has a very specific...
PhotoPlay! The cool coloring book gets bigger and better.
When I first got my hands on the open-ended coloring book Fotoplay! back in 2012, I fell in love with the way photographer M. J. Bronstein used her snapshots as prompts, encouraging kids to draw all over them to create their own personal masterpiece. Her new coloring...
Splurge or steal: Cool ombre scarves for spring and how to wear them
When I saw this Chan Luu ombre scarf on Net-a-Porter I nearly died with envy. I want to eat it it's so gorgeous. Or at least wrap myself in the gorgeous cashmere-silk blend fabric and never take it off. If you're wondering how to wear a scarf when winter is a memory...
Earth Day Pick: 7 of our favorite natural skin care brands that you might not know.
We get to try a lot of amazing beauty products, and you can rest assured that one of the first things we do is read all the ingredients to see just how safe they are for our skin and yours. But of course, natural doesn't always mean better (and to be fair, in some...
Earth Day pick: Green Toys to help keep our oceans clean
I often talk to the kids about why it's so important to keep our neighborhood and parks clean by recycling or picking up trash we find on the sidewalk. And this Earth Day, I love that Cool Mom Picks favorite Green Toys is reminding us how important it is to take care...
The Family Cooks: In which Laurie David helps make kids crave kale. For real.
Parents, don't we all secretly dream our kids will someday request kale over cookies? Laurie David and Kirstin Uhrenholdt, authors of the wonderful Family Dinner are out with a new cookbook, The Family Cooks. They are hoping the recipes and tips they've gathered will...
Earth Day pick: Your PlanetBox lunch box just got even cooler
The wonderful PlanetBox eco-friendly stainless steel lunch boxes are a favorite for my kids -- and for me. Now, through an Earth Day partnership with kid-friendly folk musician Jack Johnson, they're making school environmental education better too, and I love that so...