More coolness from recent weeks…
The Cool Mom Picks guide to a cooler Orlando vacation: Part 3 – New stuff! New stuff!
This is the third post in a three-part series on Orlando vacation tips from Cool Mom Picks. We know that for some parents, an Orlando trip is something you do once in a lifetime. But for some, it's something you do once in a while. Or maybe even once a year. (Unless...
Because no one ever compliments you on that cute Ziploc.
My job as a parent has always been playing defense, which is why I'm the one who slathers the family in SPF 50, sorts the recycling, and saves fifty cents on black beans with a coupon. My favorite strategy these days is reusing bags, and my favorite reusable bags as...
Birthday gifts for 5 year old boy? – Reader Q&A
Danielle asked us on Twitter for the best birthday gift ideas for a 5 year old boy, since her son is about to hit the big number five. She says he likes "things that go" but already has 400 cars. He also likes art projects and writing notes. We have some...
Fred’s XYZ Blocks FTW!
CMP loves to turn ABC into ROFL, and we are totally digging on these XYZ Blocks by Fred & Friends. They stack, tumble, and teach letters just as well as more traditional blocks, but they're beautiful, unusual, and entertaining, too. E is for Earthworm, Q is for...
Bob Dylan, children’s author
I admit, I feel just a little bit cool when my little girls walk into a store or a friend's house, hear the radio, and immediately say, Hey! It's Bob Dylan! So when I learned that one of his old tunes had been made into a brand new children's book, I of course...
These will make your lunch
Packing kid lunches is one of my least favorite things; rummaging for useable plastic food containers and matching them to lids that have migrated between several shelves (yes, plural. In my house, it's an Issue) is a misery. And I'm about to start rinsing out...
From nature to your ever-changing skin, with love
Pregnancy. Nursing. Postpartum. Pregnant again. Getting my first crow's foot. Freaking out. My skin's undergone more changes in the last five years than the cast of Saturday Night Live. I wanted a skincare product that was natural and safe, so I hopped on Google and...
Turns out Keith Haring’s art can teach kids about more than just art
I can't tell you how much I admire teachers. My son has had some good ones and some great ones and what separates the two are that great teachers don't just instruct, they inspire. Haring Kids, a website based on the amazing artwork of Keith Haring, contains a...
Happy Women’s Equality Day!
It's official: Today, President Obama officially proclaimed August 26 Women's Equality Day, 90 years after we were given the right to vote.While we've currently got three women on the Supreme Court, 17 in the Senate, and a whole bunch running fantastic...
Bow knows
The simple bow is clearly the new design icon of 2010. (Wait, is it even possible that owls have gone by the wayside?) I'm seeing it on accessories, on stationery, even kids clothes. A British stylist I worked with recently was obsessed with bows, so I wasn't too...
First baby shoes by First Nations women
Sure, we've all had elasticized slippers for our babies, but when was the last time your baby went out in hand-made, hand-beaded leather stay-on moccasins made by First Nations women in Canada? Not recently, I'm willing to bet. These little moccasins from Quemeez...
Planting the seeds of greatness (and also tomatoes)
Right now, I'm looking at the wilted, brown leaves of my dying container garden and ruing the white-hot Atlanta sun. I'm pretty sure we spent $30 on supplies that produced four very small tomatoes and one hideous cucumber. But the joy on my kid's face as we sprouted,...
Home decor for a steel
At the NY Gift Show last week, there were so many fabulous things I couldn't wait to run back and tell you all about. (These blisters? All for you, dahlings.) One of the very first booths I stumbled into featured the simply wonderful home and garden decor from These...
Notebooks that help trees, kids, monkeys, pandas, and probably teachers
It's hard not to want to incorporate EcoJot products into your back to school shopping, which is why they nearly always end up in our back to school shopping guides. Their notebooks are 100% recycled, the designs are adorable, and they donate money to various causes...
The reinvention of the sippy cup
Last summer I tried my hand at canning. Let's just say the results were less than spectacular. Fast forward to today when I'm watching my kids drink out of a pair of EIO Kids Cups. Abundance of empty, unused canning jars problem solved. In case I'm seeming a little...
Lunch punch to the school lunch rescue!
It's only a week into school around here in the deep south, and already I hear a lot of my mom friends complaining that they've exhausted their lunchmaking tricks. Well, thanks to the new lunch punch styles, there's no need to throw in the towel just yet. Whether your...
This keepsake baby gift will hang around for good
I don't know about you, but my friends have been popping out babies pretty regularly for the last few years and it's getting tricky to always think of an original new baby gift. (They expect a lot from a Cool Mom Picks reviewer, let me tell you!)[don't miss a fab...
Tennis, anyone?
The US Open has always been one of the coolest thing about living and parenting in New York. It's one of the few sporting events that doesn't cost your family six hundred gazillion dollars, you're pretty much guaranteed not to have a drunken, obscenity-spewing fan...
The video baby monitor that just may turn you into a video baby monitor fan.
In my now six year tenure as a parent, I've learned you should never say never. Because there's a good chance, especially if you have more than one kid, that your never will come back to bite you in the butt. So while I can say with confidence that I will never...
Last season’s kids clothes mean this season’s score
Though I'm definitely smitten with some of the pricier kids designer clothes, I'd much rather pay last season's prices. Or less. So, if you're like me and aren't so concerned with what season your kids' clothes are from, then I've got a boutique you're going to love....
Art you can wear. Thanks Erica Rosenfeld.
People who know me live and in person tell me they often think of me in terms of my jewelry - big, chunky, interesting, often made of glass. Yes, glass. And when they ask where I got it, I find myself saying, more often than not, "It's Erica Rosenfeld's." Erica...