More coolness from recent weeks…
Fancy pants kids clothes for up to 70% off.
When one of my favorite local shops is having a 20-70% off clearance sale, I'd be remiss if I didn't drop everything I'm doing, head to the website, and click on every single category immediately. You know, just to see. In this case it's Estella NYC. The great thing...
Argh, Pirate’s Booty goes New York
As the New York City taxpayer amongst us, I felt it my sworn duty (so help me Bloomberg) to try the New York Pizza flavor Pirate's Booty recently introduced by Robert's Gourmet. You know, the beloved makers of all-natural treats for parents looking to justify the...
Baby clothes as cute as the baby (or maybe even cuter)
I'm a total sucker for baby clothes -- so tiny! so cute! -- but my standards are pretty high. When I saw what San Francisco-based Speesees had to offer, I started wishing I were still in the baby-making business.Speesees pieces (fun to say) are everything you want for...
Parenting tips from the (cool, funny) mom next door
I used to love reading parenting guides. My oldest child was an overachiever from the start, and the guides served as affirmation that she was a prodigy and I was a model parent.Then my middle child - my obstinate, tantrum-throwing, speech-delayed middle child - was...
Loloko is Japanese for oh-so-cute
I confessed my serious addiction to Japanese cute when I told you about Momiji dolls, so please cut me some slack if I seem a little gushy when talking about Loloko Shop. This little Northern California shop does cute right with little trinkets, home items and office...
A pocket full of books
Games on the iPhone are nice, having books on hand make you feel a little less guilty about trying to keep the kid occupied on mile-long supermarket checkout lines. Now you can always have books on hand without carting around pounds of hardbacks: PicPocket Books...
Project Night Night helps a homeless child sleep a little better
My sons are 7 and 9, but every night, the snuggle up in bed with their favorite stuffed friends. Those "stufties," as my little son calls them, are just one more layer of familiarity and comfort in their lives.Not every child has that though -- that warm bed in a safe...
Heart shaped box
I am an advocate of the notion that great gift wrap can make everything more special, and poking around 1000 Markets, I was happy to stumble upon the Valentines Heart Favor Box from designer Jennifer Jermantowicz of Pasaii Design Studio. The set comes with the crimson...
The pendant with real heart
How do I love this anatomical heart necklace? Let me count the ways: Let's start with the hand-cut sterling silver. Continue on to the fact that it's, you know, a pretty darn realistic rendering of a real heart without being gross or macabre. In fact, I'd argue it has...
A glider that has beauty and brains
I remember waddling over to the glider section of the baby mega-store. I eased myself onto one of the basic floor models. It wasn't much to look at (which is a nice way of saying, butt ugly), but I felt like I had discovered heaven in chair form. Well, if that was the...
Our Valentine’s Day Card Contest entries are making our hearts go thump thump
We are so excited by the phenomenal entries flying in for our Valentine's Day color-your-own card design contest in partnership with Etsy to support the Children's Heart Foundation.Competition is getting so tough we may just have to let our kids call...
Hot diggity, that’s comfortable
It started with two brothers complaining that their booster seats were uncomfortable; five years later, their parents run Diggity Kids, proud purveyor of American-made comfort travel systems for kids who need more cushy digs in the car. All three pieces--seat belt...
Makes kids out of the bath as cute as they are in it.
My daughter has a crazy affection for her little bathrobe, especially now while the mornings are cold. She throws it on over her pajamas for breakfast, and there's something so sweet about it to me - as if a bathrobe makes every morning feel like a lazy Sunday, even...
Your old soles could help Haiti
Haiti has been on our minds nonstop since the devastating earthquake last week, but now that donations have been made to some worthy charities, we are stuck with what else can we do?What else? Donate shoes.Soles4Souls has partnered with Foot Solutions to try to get as...
Fight germs without becoming “that mom”
I've got a bottle of hand sanitizer in my purse, as I'm sure all of you do, too. It feels like an imperative, even though I'll pick actual soap-and-water hand washing over hand sanitizer whenever I can. So when I first heard about "a new hand sanitizer" I may not have...
Down with manilla! (The folders, not the town in New South Wales)
I just had a discussion with a friend about how beautiful file folders can make an instant difference in your mood when you sit down at your desk, whether that desk is in a cozy nook of your bedroom or in the midst of white cubicle hell. The first place I think to...
Guess it was the way the Flaming Lips segued into that Ella Fitzgerald live bootleg track
Not every relationship is sappy and sentimental and traditional. If I were to get my sigOth some kind of flowery Hallmark card for Valentine's Day and a bottle of cologne I think he'd wonder who'd replaced me with the fembot. But the custom cross stitch and embroidery...
Music for kids with two mommies, two daddies, or even one of each.
When I first discovered the show last year, I didn't think I could be any more impressed with Dottie's Magic Pockets as cool kid entertainment. But they've gone and done it again with their newly-released CD, The Super Secret Seashell Cave, which is chock-full of...
Sweet dreams are a good gift for moms, too
My parents can't help it - they see something cute for the kids and they buy it. I suppose that's The Prerogative Of The Grandparent. My only hope is that their version of cute is my version of cute (and that it doesn't happen to be loaded up with cadmium). Well...
Baby Banz Swim Goggles: Essential eye protection goes underwater
If you're a longtime Cool Mom Picks reader, then you already know Baby Banz as the quintessential purveyor of eye protection for little ones in the sun--plus we were excited when they started making Baby Banz sun protection beachwear. But now, right in time for winter...
Time for Lunch to slow down and get real
Next month Congress is going to be revisiting school meal program guidelines, and the more parents and kids they hear from before they do so, the greater the chance that our schools will have real food (what a concept) to offer our children. That includes my own...