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In case you need a little push in the holiday cheer direction, I just found out about Slacker’s updated holiday stations. Slacker is a cool service that lets you listen to a myriad of Internet radio stations.

I like the classics, so I’ve been listening to Burl and Bing. But the R&B Christmas station is great, too. It appeals to my New Orleans side. Oh, and the Jazz station. Gotta love a little Nat King Cole, and, let’s not forget Billie Holiday!

Anyway, here’s a list of the stations on Slacker that are playing great holiday music right now: Read more…

Because they are awesome! Although their reputation is falling a bit, don’t you think? I mean, what with all those dolled-up apps, the video cool crowd and fancy toys that actually DO things, books might seem, well, boring. NOT SO. But don’t just take my word for it. Mo Willems – one of the best authors out there for children (and adults who read to children) – has a lot to say about why books.

Now, I know this information might reach you a little late. If you’ve already gathered all of your gifts, then telling you to give books as a present isn’t very helpful now is it? BUT. In case you haven’t completed your shopping list and still have a few things to pick up, then think on giving books.

The reason I find books one of the best things ever – for everyone – is that books tickle you. Only they need a little help to get up off the shelf. From you.

I never used to read outside of homework. Oh, the occasional Read more…

Why oh why do we do such Christmas nonsense?

This is why advent calendars are a terrible idea for toddlers: impulse control. Or lack of it!

So I scoured the web to find a lovely advent calendar idea. I found oh so many! Have you noticed how many moms out there are johnny on the spot with crafting gorgeous homemade things? The pressure!

But my favorite, actually, came from my daughter’s preschool teacher. Hers is less a calendar and more of a treasure surprise. It’s fairly easy, too. You take a walnut, crack it in half and empty out the shell (yummy to eat in the process!). Then you hide a treasure inside and hot glue it down on a fat ribbon (that’s a picture of it up top). You do one shell for each day and the kiddos open them up and get a little treat.

I painted my walnut shells gold. To figure out what to hide, I have a poem that talks about the 4 candles of advent (for the 4 weeks leading up to Christmas) with a corresponding wonder or Read more…

I think whoever said that idle hands were the devil’s workshop must have had toddlers! Oh, what can happen.

While you can put toddlers to work whenever you need to busy them, I can think of no better time than the holidays, with the possibility of being stuck inside with adults who are busy themselves, to have a “busy bag” for a toddler (or any aged kid for that matter – it just depends on what you fill it with). A busy bag is simply a toy or game that can keep little hands busy that is stored in a gallon Ziploc bag and whipped out when needed.

I love these bag ideas from The Rigneys. So many options for little hands to get down to some focused work. The felt board is especially great and can transform into oh so many things: Read more…

Seeing as I’m ancient, I still like writing down on a calendar my daily appointments. Yes, I know there is something out there called Google Calendars not to mention the myriad smart phone calendar options. But I haven’t figured a way to make those my habit like writing in a planner. How about you? Do you use hand written or electronic versions of calendars?

There is a new planner I’m trying out, thanks to Stephanie O’Dea, called Totally Together. She is a mom who created a calendar that is akin to a personal assistant / tinkerbell whispering in her ear when to do all those important things that running a household entails like dental appointments, cleaning bathrooms and taking (gasp) personal time. It’s all there in the planner, laid out on a daily basis to remind you.

I love the premise. Seriously. It’s all easy stuff, but lumped together remembering all those details becomes Read more…

That’s right. Channel your inner teen and text your heart away. You can even add fun/crazy/glam icons thanks to Zlango. Of course, if you actually were a teen, you’d already know about texting with attitude and icons and all that. You would have learned it by osmosis and be able to magically have your thoughts appear in a text without perceptibly moving any body part.

And yet, as a mom of a teen, here’s more of what you might send: Read more…

I’m blown over by how many of my friends got their Christmas tree up the day after Thanksgiving. Update after update on Facebook I saw feet lounging in front of a lighted tree, a few coffee cups held up to ‘cheers’ the camera too. Complete with wrapped presents underneath because, well, of course!

After turkey day I was nowhere near ready to put a tree up much less wrap presents. C’mon guys, you’re making me look bad!

What about you? When do you typically decorate and is it a family thing or a solo thing? In our house, we have a tradition of decorating on December 12th, my Dad’s birthday. Only he passed away 2 years ago on December 13th, so it’s a tradition I look forward to, but with a heavy heart.

This year, all of our ornaments are locked up in storage still, but I needed to create that Christmas cheer lest I really look (and feel) bad! Yet I don’t want to break the bank or Read more…

Don’t let drunk oversharing happen to you! Not that I’m saying it will, just saying. Got your fingers deep into Twitter, thinking that you’ve just got to share that you think brother’s new chickie is a piece of work? Maybe you’ll want to take Webroot’s new Holiday Party Sobriety Test before you do. I don’t know. Just a thought.

Here’s to safe texting this holiday season!

OMG. Fairies! When did fairies take over my children? Fairies are like crack. You get one taste and you gotta have more, more, more. Not that I know beans about crack, it’s just that, well, you know.

Both my girls are wild about fairies, especially the older one. Oh, how I did her wrong!

See, my friends over at I See Me thought my girls would like a fairy tale made just about them. And I did a bad thing. I over-thought it.

I thought that I could get one book, for the younger daughter, and let her feel like the princess for a change. She’d be the ‘chosen one.’ And my older daughter would see that her sister was, in fact, pretty damn cool because she had a fairy tale written about her!

Ok. Ok. Ok. I, myself, am the younger of 2 sisters. It’s possible that I was thinking of my childhood. My sister. Possible. Oh alright. Yes.

So I got the ONE book about the YOUNGER daughter. It’s incredible. It’s Read more…

Last year I discovered Hint water. Discovered is a strong word. I’m not claiming to be Columbus or anything, Hint water was around before I discovered it! But this year I re-discovered Hint water…Hint Sparkling water. It’s like pop rocks for your mouth.

No, really, it’s not like pop rocks. It’s sparkling water, so it tastes like fizzy water. But, not Pledge-infused water, or weirdly sweet water.

Hint sparkling water is like you’ve squeezed a drop of watermelon into Read more…

Well alright! I gotta tell you about this Retro Kitchen from Pottery Barn Kids. Seriously. My girls LOVE it.

But first. Pottery Barn Kids. Honestly, I burned myself out on Pottery Barn with my first house. I had a few hand me downs that I loved, but every time I bought furniture – any furniture – it was from Pottery Barn. And then, I looked around and I lived in a catalog. So I stopped perusing their things for a long time. And stopped buying.

Until I discovered Pottery Barn Kids. Same thing happened. I looked. I loved. I bought. And then I thought, “this is getting ridiculous!”

So I’ve been on a self imposed fast from them. And you know what happens when you fast…the first bite of food tastes delicious.

The folks at Pottery Barn Kids asked me and my girls if they wanted to test drive the Read more…

For this holiday party last week I had the dress, the shoes and even the Spanx! But to look in the mirror. Urgh. My make-up was just leaving me flat. Maybe you can relate? I was going to just run into Walgreens again and find a mascara. I seem to do this every time I don’t like my make up. I buy crappy mascara and think that’ll do it.

It doesn’t. It never does and yet I do it anyway.

But this time I went to Benefit, a local cosmetics boutique. They have a store right near me and the music was playing and everyone looked happy so I went in. And met Joseph. Ahh, to be in the hands of a master.

Joseph, the make up artist, sat me down in the chair and started talking while he looked at my skin, my eyes and my brows. Now, I don’t wear much make up to begin with but also, I don’t have time to fuss in the morning. So a little has to go a long way.

Did you know that the number one mistake women make is Read more…

All of a sudden, people around me have been talking about running. Like marathon running. I’m in awe. One friend I know (hi Susan!) seriously completed 2 half marathons in November and aside from pulling her hamstring trying to save a falling bowl in the kitchen, is training for more. So when I heard of skin care for athletes, I was totally excited to give them a try.

Yes, I’m living vicariously through my friends. I am NOT training for a marathon. Or doing anything else more strenuous than the occasional elliptical or yoga routine. Emphasis on the occasional. Also, as a good friend, I thought I could recommend a good after work out treat. Read more…