More coolness from recent weeks…
See your name in lights. Or snow.
Okay, so I've found a new app for my iPhone. It's pretty simple. And pretty inexpensive. And pretty much entertaining my entire extended family because they keep getting random e-mails from me that feature their names written in some unexpected place. Pixyme is a new...
The White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood
If you've had a baby, you probably know what I mean when I say that during all four births for me, there was always a point when I thought I might die. You've used all your physical strength breathing and having contractions and back pain. You've used all your...
Make your picture worth more than a thousand words
It's all well and good when I shoot a picture or two off to my parents from my phone while the kids are at an event, but then sometimes I forget (or don't have time) to type in a complete explanation. Later, my dad calls me up and says, That was great, but what the...
We built this city on nouns and verbs
The first thing I thought when I checked out the Grammaropolis website is that it's like Grammar Rock and the Mr. Men books had an adorable love child. You've got the catchy music, the little cartoon parts of speech (the verb is a superhero ready for action, and the...
Eco-friendly play gym? Reader Q&A
I am in the market for a cool, eco-friendly baby play gym for my 5-month-old boy. Let me know if you have any suggestions. I am willing to spend around $100. Thanks much. -Jennifer C. Finding what we would call a cool play gym takes a little searching---most of them...
Get sentenced to family wordplay
Family game night getting a little stale? Gather round for a whole new game of speed, literacy, and I'd say, hilarity with this dandy little game I've found right here for you mamas of older kids.You've Been Sentenced! is deceptively simple; each player draws ten...
Time to make my yoga pants proud
I'm pretty sure I'm not the only mom who has seen a marked decline in the amount of exercise I get since having children. Relaxing moments seem to have taken a steady dive, too. But suddenly, thanks to a wonderful new family exercise DVD called TOT YOGA, there's a...
Girls of substance and style, rejoice!
Oh, Kiki magazine, where have you been all my daughter's life?Where are the scantily clad waifs in thousand-dollar outfits? Where are all the advertisements for more stuff that no one needs? Where are the tips and tricks about how to land boys, kiss boys, think...
Children’s party invitations – now a piece of cake
Is it strange to be excited that an online correspondence site has just introduced children's invitations? Because I am. Downright giddy, in fact. I've professed my love of Paperless Post before and now that there's a whole new set of designs available (it's their new...
Brass meets sterling, circle meets rectangle
I have delicate, dainty necklaces and I have chunky, rustic necklaces, and sometimes I wish I had something that was more, I don't know, both. (Why yes--I am that person who always gets twist when we go for soft serve. How did you guess?)The love necklace by ripegoods...
Charity starts at home, on the computer, in the KidzStore
YesKidzCan! is about co-founders Lisa Novick and Julie Chapman's dream of making it easier for even busy families to participate in giving back to their communities. Which is great. So when I had the opportunity to chat with them last week, I told them right up front...
Cooking for dummies (and smarties, too)
Put down that take-out menu--I'm here to tell you that yes, you can cook a complete meal without pulling out your hair. Sure, there are a million recipe sites out there, and some of them are fantastic, but what if you want instructions on a whole meal, from what to...
Blockhead! And I mean that totally in the best possible way
I'm not very good at math, so I can't tell you precisely how many different forms and figures your child can create out of 25 wooden blocks, but I'm going to say it's approximately a gazillionthousand. The ShapeMaker wooden block set by Miller Goodman is made of...
Babywearing, now a nice new shade of green
Belle is now extra verte. That's, Belle as in Belle Baby Carrier, and verte as in French for green, and green as in super-duper-eco-friendly-organic-awesomeness.The new Belle Organic Earth, like their original model, is crafted by artisans in Boulder, CO, only this...
Crumpler does kids’ backpacks and cool moms everywhere go Yay!
You probably already know Crumpler for their sturdy, stylish bags for adults. Or at least you should. But now they've gone and shrunk two of their favorites down to kid-size and it's definitely worth a look.The Baby Pea preschool backpack is for the 2-4 set, and...
This Sesame Street contest is brought to you by the letter A and the number $50,000
Question: Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street? Answer: 1. Be a puppet.2. Be Ricky Gervais.3. Win the 4th Annual Aniboom Awards 4 Sesame Street Competition.It's that easy, animators. We've just learned that Sesame Street has teamed up with Aniboom Virtual...
The iCandy stroller – A new luxury stroller for growing families, if not shrinking budgets
It's been a while since I saw a stroller that made me go oooh, or at least until this weekend when I got an in-person demo of the new-to-the US iCandy stroller. And oooh I did. The first thing you'll notice is that this popular British stroller is designed very much...
Welcome to the Jungle House Pillow
My kids (probably like yours) aren't lacking for stuffed animals. But when I saw the amazingly adorable Jungle House Pillow from Toronto's So Chic Gifts I knew I could totally justify getting them this handmade pillow-and-stuffed-animal combo. Made from...
Charity and the JAMband know that sometimes you feel like a nut and sometimes you don’t
My kids are at the age where watching Mommy boogie across the kitchen floor is met with groans. And I'm hearing groans from them a lot now that I've got Charity and the JAMband's danceworthy double kids' music CD, Party Like a Twinkle Star. Sure, it's a CD for kids,...
Cool Mom Picks readers have a heart
Valentine's Day has come and gone and now, a week later, we just want to say thank you thank you thank you for your absolutely overwhelming support for our artist-created color-your-own Valentine's Day cards we put together with Etsy.The numbers are in and more than...
Wallpaper is back, baby
When I hear the word wallpaper, it conjures up really bad images of this odd looking flower pattern that completely covered my bathroom wall growing up. It a nutshell - it scares me. But thanks to advances in technology and design, wallpaper is again becoming a pretty...