More coolness from recent weeks…
Sweet savings on Tea Collection and their stunning new clothes for kids
With the air already getting cooler, it's time to pack up our our kids' tank tops, shorts, and summer dresses and replace them with new warmer clothes. Fortunately, we have some awesome ideas in that department, as you might have guessed. Like so many moms, we've been...
Can you help your favorite crafter or small business owner win $10,000?
Recently we introduced you to the wonderful Martha Stewart American Made Awards which is offering crafters and other small business owners a chance to win $10,000 to support their dreams. Well, we are just thrilled to find out that some of our very own readers...
How do you put together a great kids’ birthday party without a design degree and 600 hours of free time?
I confess: I have a love-hate relationship with planning birthday parties for my kids. While picking a theme can be fun, I also find it a little exhausting to sift through website after website looking for cool activities for a superhero party or the perfect...
5 energy-boosting drink recipes, all coffee alternatives
I'd completely forgotten how much energy--and energy-boosting drinks--it takes to keep our school year routine running smoothly. Summer wiped away the evidence of our hectic September-May life, but, just like having a newborn again, back-to-school reality hit hard and...
Getting stylish to help support Baby Buggy
Even if you're nowhere near New York's Fashion Week, let alone teetering in a pair of too-high stilettos over New York's cobblestones this week (always good for a few giggles), you can help support one of my favorite organizations, Baby Buggy, the same way the...
Custom embroidery on just about any kids’ gifts you can imagine
We all know that personalized items make a baby's or kid's gift ten times more special. While many of the big catalog stores offer custom embroidery, they'll usually only personalize their own brand's items--which is kind of limiting. So I'm so happy to find a shop...
Gorgeous quilts that look great beyond the nursery
One of my most favorite items is a quilt made by my great-grandmother, handed down to me by my grandmother. There is something so special and meaningful about a handmade quilt, although quilting for most people seems like a talent reserved for other people. I feel...
Reach for the stars: galactic growth charts track rocketing kiddos
When I was a kid, instead of a growth chart, my parents measured us old-school style on the doorframe between the kitchen and the dining room. Quaint they were, but old-school doorway measurements had their drawbacks. Before my folks eventually painted over our...
Remembering 9/11 with charities and causes that make a difference
For many of us, this is a sobering and painful day, one that we will always remember. Whether we lived through the darkness in NYC and DC 11 years ago, or we watched the terrible events unfold from our homes and offices far away, 9/11 will never be far from our...
Good Food on a Tight Budget, EWG’s new shopping guide
The Cool Moms (me especially) always check EWG's Skin Deep Cosmetics Database before reviewing a product to make sure the ingredients meet a persnickety mom's health and safety needs. Now we're excited to announce that EWG is going further than Skin Deep--straight...
Our favorite fall baby clothes from Zutano
Don't miss an exclusive discount just for Cool Mom Picks readers, below!We can't help but get nostalgic seeing the wonderful new fall baby fashions for Zutano, since all of our older kids, now too big too fit them, wore so many of their amazing designs which were then...
The Sh*tty Mom book: you don’t even have to be sh*tty to love it
I admit, I'm a little over the "Yay, let's celebrate moms who suck!" thing that seems to have grown in popularity over the last few years. However, the hilarious new book Sh*tty Mom: The Parenting Guide for the Rest of Us may be one of the very excellent exceptions....
The biggest sale ever at one of our favorite shops ever
One of the awesome things about this job is getting to discover so many wonderful small businesses run by the most amazing people. One of the hard parts: hearing that they're closing shop to move onto new ventures. This is the case with one of our longtime favorite...
5 tech picks you won’t want to miss this week
From pretty clever to pretty washable to just plain pretty, here are a few of our favorite tech picks from the last week, in case you missed them. 1. Want to know about the big tech news this week? We've got the details on the upcoming iPhone 5 launch here. 2. Which...
Sachets that smell like fall
While we love tracking down hostess gifts for all those summer weekend invitations, it probably doesn't end with Labor Day. Especially with the holidays (eep!) coming up. So I love this fabulous, affordable gift that feels a little more fall than summer. The balsam...
10 tips for camping with children for the first time
We just returned from our third tent-camping excursion, and while I wouldn't call us back-country experts, I've learned a lot since that first trip when I was still nursing a toddler while trying to keep the other two from falling into the campfire. I think early fall...
Ralph Lauren Girls fall and holiday collection: gorgeous stuff
Last week, I was so thrilled to be invited to attend the fashion show for the Ralph Lauren Fall and Holiday Girls collection. I have to admit, I was surprised at how wearable and funky a lot of the fashions were, as opposed to the serious, preppy, classic equestrian...
Sports jerseys from a time when you could actually afford to see the game in person
All kids can rock their little league team uniforms but alas, my kids don't play traditional team sports and therefore don't get a complimentary skateboarding jersey (should there be such a thing). They want jerseys, but they want them to be unique and different....
Vintage Fisher-Price toys that you can actually put in your mouth
I'm not a huge cook but I do dabble in cookie-making. Even I know my way around a hand-mixer, and can manage cookie cutters without any major culinary trauma. However if I had mad fondant skills? I would totally be making these vintage toy cookies and handing them out...
Decorating takes (wicker) balls, but owning the book about it is easy
I love paging through home-furnishings catalogs and feeling that combination of envy and absolute astonishment. Have you ever looked through a spread and thought: "who the heck lives like that?" Of course you have. Well get ready to laugh. The new book, Catalog Living...
A first look at the adorable, affordable new baby line from UNIQLO (and a chance to win a shopping spree from us!)
Yesterday we introduced you to the fantastic new kids line of clothing at UNIQLO, the affordable styles, and the wonderful social good that this global company (and our newest awesome sponsor) is committed to. Oh, plus a chance to win a $100 shopping spree. Today...