More coolness from recent weeks…
Randy Kaplan is the thinking kids’ musician
Super storyteller/singer Randy Kaplan is no ordinary kids' music performer. Oh, sure, he may sing about monkeys, bears and queen bees, but on his latest CD he also has my kids asking me to explain Freud, the definition of Hebrew terms, and even why someone might be...
Clearance sales abound! Avast ye bargain shoppers!
It's probably pretty clear that my favorite time for shopping is anytime, but I do so love the end of season sales - and what a doozy we found over at Parasols Kids Boutique. If you act fast, you can grab designer duds for your kids ranging in price from $5 to $25,...
Stop me! Before I buy another pair of kids mary janes!
If there were ever a Fall/Winter collection I've been waiting for, it's the one from one of my favorite kid's shoe designers, See Kai Run. And while my kids will probably be in sandals for a few more months down here in the Deep South, that doesn't mean I can't be...
As close to being Harry Potter we’ll ever get
My children would give just about anything to apparate inside The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando Resort. The early reviews (and word from CMP Editor Liz who worked with Universal early on in the development) make it look so cool, it almost makes...
Technology is getting smaller; your chance of winning some, kind of big.
In case you missed it, you've still got until tomorrow, Sunday, to enter to win the super fabulous new HP Mini 210 netbook and the utterly adorable HP V5040u Camcorder.No, seriously. You can win both of them. Would we kid? (Well, maybe. But not about this.)For all the...
Safe and yummy treats, now homemade
We first raved about Divvies Bakery almost four years ago, when we discovered that nut-free, dairy-free, and egg-free didn't have to mean yummy-free. There's nothing not to love about vegan, kosher, most-common-allergen-free bakery treats that actually taste the way...
Let’s get a million books to the kids who need them most
I've read to my kids since they were wee little things and have never felt like they were lacking in books. Especially since birthdays, holidays and frequent trips to the book store insure they always have new titles to enjoy. But, then again, I've never had to...
Trading Cradles – It’s like Twitter and Craigslist had a really well-behaved baby
Honestly, the number of hoops you have to jump through to sell on eBay these days is crazy (who has the patience?), and I'm sure I'm not the only person who feels like Craigslist is overrun with scammers, cheapskates and crazy people.So what's a mama with limited time...
Velocity Girl – all grown up but no less rocking.
When Seattle's The Not-Its! blasted onto the kids music scene last year with their debut We Are The Not-Its!, I took a lot of notice. It wasn't just that the songs were great indie rock tunes. It was that their sound was so tight and authentic, they sounded like...
Little blog of big party dreams
My daughter's fourth birthday is coming up, and I spend a good bit of time daydreaming of mastering fondant, hand calligraphing creamy envelopes, and crafting a birthday banner in lovely watercolor washes over newspaper. Ha freakin' ha. Instead, we're booked for the...
Cool Mom Picks loves the Today Show!
If you missed Cool Mom Picks editor Liz Gumbinner on the Today Show this morning, fear not: We've got the clip right here. Catch Liz chatting with Meredith Viera (who was wearing seriously killer shoes!) and sharing some of our favorite back to school picks from our...
One thing that gets smaller on a mom – her technology
I love small things. I do. Crazy about little things. So when HP offered up the new HP Mini 210 and the utterly adorable HP V5040u Camcorder to review, we leaped at the chance to see if they were as fabulous as they looked.The answer: Yes! The purse-sized HP Mini 210...
Wallpaper gets unbelievably cool. No really. Why are you laughing?
In the '70's my mom went absolutely berserk with wallpaper. It was everywhere; the walls, the ceilings, even the inside of our kitchen cabinets. Then, for a long time, wallpaper was considered very dated. Well guess what, baby, it's back with a vengeance! And it's...
At last, photo tips just for those of us who take a million photos a year. In other words, moms.
One of my favorite gifts from my baby shower was the lovely DSLR camera I received. Having spent years taking out-of-focus pictures of my cats, I'd hoped having a high quality digital camera would prevent me from taking the same out-of-focus pictures of my kid. Well,...
Catch Cool Mom Picks on NBC’s Today Show Thursday!
We're so excited that Cool Mom Picks editor Liz Gumbinner will be joining The Today Show tomorrow to talk about some of the cool back to school picks in our Back to School Shopping Guide. The best part might be that Liz gets to share the green room with one of our...
The Okee Dokee Brothers take us along for the ride
It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of super-fun kids' musicians The Okee Dokee Brothers: I gave their debut CD Kids with Beards a gushing review, and it's still one of my kids' most-played CDs two years later. And now they have a brand new kids' music CD, and...
A castle of one’s own
Almost every day, we drive by a castle. No, really-- it's in a field near our house, and the moat is a swimming pool, and the iron fence is guarded by concrete dwarves painted in garish colors. I can't make stuff like that up."Mommy, can we be friends with them and go...
The 2010 Cool Mom Picks Back-To-School Guide is here!
It's 104 degrees outside, and you know what that means: back to school and our annual Back to School Shopping Guide! We know-- it doesn't make much sense. But we also know that the next few ultra-sunny weeks will require new clothes, shoes, backpacks, and lunch gear....
Little Packrats – Now for your big, er, packrats
We've long adored the cute, unique little kid backpacks from Little Packrats (now PVC-free, by the way!), but now that some of our little kids are turning into big kids, we're glad that they've added some new bags just for them. The new bigger bags fit all the bigger...
TOMS Wedges – Now for Fall
It seems like just yesterday I was proclaiming my love for the new TOMS wedges for summer. And I pretty much was, actually, but now that fall is around the corner, wouldn't you know TOMS launched a new line just in time for me to make the switch. These shoes are as...
Our top 5 nursing picks for World Breastfeeding Week
I've breastfed my kids for a combined 53 months, and as you might imagine, I've collected my fair share of nursing gear. So in honor of World Breastfeeding Week, I'm sharing my personal top 5 nursing picks. Hooray boobs![Awesome giveaway after the jump!] Breast...