Back to School, Back to Work

With the kids going back to school, the organization bug bites. Buying all those school supplies makes me want to buy a bunch of super chic supplies for myself - and no, not the things at OfficeMax. I'm talking See Jane Work. I've posted about this store before. I don't drool, but if I did, I definitely would drool over this site!

The picture above is from Bob's Your Uncle File Folders. Limbo... good one! Can I get one hundred of your Limbo folders please? One isn't going to cut it.

Did you show up to your staff meeting wearing bunny slippers - only to remember it was pajama day at little Katie's school today? You might need the Mom Agenda Kitchen Folio. "Keep contact info, cafeteria menus, class schedules, team lists and the never-ending barrage of hand-outs, forms and flyers your kids bring home from school all in one well-organized place with the Kitchen Folio from Mom Agenda."

I needed one of these when we moved. If you or someone you know is moving, buy this Moving Kit. I'm one of those people that when faced with a daunting task like moving, I start frantically making lists of what needs to be done. To save lots of time and brain power, it would be nice to have a checklist that a professional took the time to create.

Spice up that CD collection with the Mixit CD Stickers. A fun and bright way to label you CDs.

Why use an ordinary paperclip, when you can use the Clipiola? Make a statement about you and your style.

As always with this store, I could go on and on and on and on and on. Alas, I need to go make dinner...

007 Worthy

I love all of James Bond's gadgets. Here is a gadget that is James-Bond-worthy. It is not only cool but comes in handy daily. I mean, let's face it, you don't really need a watch with a built-in laser cutter and a remote detonator on a daily basis. But this gadget is for everyday use, the MATA BioTech M28 fingerprint door lock. You can throw away those keys to your house. Unless you've misplaced them for the umpteenth time. Then just don't bother spending the half hour it will take to find them, again. Instead, use your fingers as your "keys" - presuming you always have your fingers with you. Your fingerprint is your key. So, James-Bond-like! It will store up to ten fingerprints. Meaning your other household members can let themselves in and out. Or in case you are nervous you might lose that exact finger that holds your "key" to your house and you'll never be able to get into your house again, you can use two of your fingers for the prints - one from each hand. Chances of losing both fingers (or both hands) in a freak accident are slim to none, so you'll always have your keys with you! Genius.

Just in case you are thinking to yourself, "Oh remember that one 007 gadget that... how did that work again?" Here is a list of all his cool tools.

Parties Galore

Do you love throwing birthday parties but like to have fresh, new creative ideas on hand? Here are some places to check out.

I just finished planning and executing a birthday party for the "4-footer" in my household. My husband and I swore we wouldn't do another home party again. We swore we'd go off the premises no matter the cost! But when giving the almost 7 year old ideas for where we could go, he said, "I want one here again, like last year. That was so fun." I couldn't exactly say no. The chosen theme? Star Wars.

I pulled together my nifty resources from last year to start the research process. One source I have skimmed through for my kids' birthday parties is Birthday Party Ideas (appropriately named). They have tons of ideas for every traditional party you can think of from a Princess party to a Dinosaur party to a Fire truck party to a Spa party to a Space party to a Tea party... and about a hundred more in between. One great feature about this site is it shows the age the party was thrown for, for example under Curious George party it would say Curious George Party for 3 year old. They even show party ideas for Tweens and Adults.

Another source for your child's birthday party is Amazing Moms. They too have well over a hundred themes to choose from and each theme is also discussed in detail. They give ideas for decorations, games, arts & crafts, and food. Last year we did a pirate party and this year it's a Star Wars party. I have used both of these sites to get basically all of our ideas.

For last years Pirate Party and this years Star Wars party, I have used both of these sites to get basically all of our ideas.

HILARIOUS

If you need a good laugh, you must look at this ebay auction.

Warning: those of you who hate taking your kids to the grocery store - you just might wet your pants from laughing so hard.

Little Miracles

Miracles, are they real? I can bet almost any mom would answer, "Yes, miracles happen every day. Look at my children, look at those children over there, or go to the maternity ward in a hospital and you will see miracles - little miracles."

This Little Miracles picture frame from Catching Fireflies is adorable. You can pin an ultrasound picture up, a newborn pic, or even a 7 year old picture of your child! Whatever the age, they are still miracles, maybe just not so little when tweens.

Catching Fireflies (love the name) carries a wide range of gifts for yourself or a friend. Beyond baby items, they also carry things for the kitchen, paper goods, gifts for little fido, handbags, jewelry, and even little wedding gifts. If you are in a rut and have no clue for a gift, surf Catching Fireflies. You are sure to find something within it's "doors".

Look Mom, No Hands

I can't tell you how many times I have gone to throw something away and see the trashcan lid covered in fingerprints and drops of food (mostly yogurt). Then I open it up to find more food particles in places they just shouldn't be. I'm sick of wiping the dang thing clean. I have a foot lever on the trashcan, but that doesn't stop my kids from using their hands. So, I think this invention could be quite handy. The touchless trashcan senses an object a few inches from the lid, automatically opens the lid, and automatically closes the lid 3 seconds after you move away. Of course the kids would probably play with it for a few days, then get bored and use it as it's supposed to be used (hopefully).

Think germ-free environment!

Diaper Bag 911

Need a diaper bag? I don't, but I wish I did when I saw The Trendy Tote. With a ton of adorable styles and prints to chose from, this is diaper bag heaven. If you can't find a diaper bag within this store, you need to see a therapist.

If backpacks are your thing, check out the Mia Convertible Backpack by Caden Lane. It's the one pictured above - simple and classic with the trendy colors of brown and pink (or brown and blue).

Are totes more your style? Get a load of these in what I will call "tote city". Can you believe all the styles? It's a tad mind-boggling and I don't even know where to begin in listing a few because they are all worthy of a link. So, I'll let you browse.

As if that wasn't enough to choose from, they also carry a load of messenger diaper bags, purse diaper bags, and a slew of more styles.

Gone are the days of my first plain, black, chunky diaper bag - and thank god!

I Heart My Home So Much...

...I want it replicated into a doll house.
If you love your house, beach home, ski chalet, etc so much you want a miniture one, look no further! FAO Schwartz offers this exclusive service. How do they do it, you ask? (Straight from FAO Schwartz:)

"The design team makes an appointment to come to your home. Then it's back to
the studio, where highly skilled artisans recreate every inch of your home in
1-inch-to-1-foot scale. This includes the wallpaper, paint color, lighting -
even the actual fabric of your furniture through real swatches or recreated
fabric! Appointments begin in January. Allow 24 weeks for design, fabrication
and delivery."

If you would like to preserve the look of your home, here's your chance. Just make sure you have a sense of humor 20 years down the road when you see the paint colors, wallpaper, or fabric choices you chose. Oh the horror!

Yet Another Recall

Mattel is not having a good year when it comes to relations with their Chinese manufacturers. This is their second recall within a month that involves products coming out of China. Both recalls involve lead-based paint, however they are from two different Chinese manufacturers. This recall also involves some products with magnets.

Mattel is not taking this situation lightly. They even have their CEO, Bob Eckert, giving an explanation, apologizing, and asking for the consumers trust via video on their web site.

For detailed information straight from Mattel, visit here.

The products associated with the recall are:
"CARS" Sarge Character (2 products) - lead paint
Polly Pocket™ Play Sets (multiple products) - magnet
Batman™ Magna Play Sets (4 products) - magnet
Barbie® and Tanner™ Accessory (1 product) - magnet
Doggie Daycare™ Play Sets (multiple products) - magnet
Shonen Jump's One Piece™ (1 product) - magnet

Who Knew?

You have to love Williams-Sonoma. There's always something you could buy when you shop there. But who knew Williams-Sonoma now sold party invitations for kids? And they are super cute!

For boys, they have adorable Pirate Hat Invites. It's a wearable paper pirate hat. The invite is tucked into the hat. Now, being practical, the hat will last about 2 minutes before a child wears it. But who wants to be practical when planning their child's party?!? It's a nice change from the typical Star Wars folded invite!

For girls, check out the Purse With Chain Invitations. It's a flowered purse with an actual metal chain. The invite is tucked into the purse. Again, I'm not sure the quality is top-notch, but the point is to make a point, right? You are doing something different! So long to the days when sending out a Dora invite was good enough.

Being Williams-Sonoma, they have many other invitations as well - like a Pizza box, a bear, and a cupcake. They also sell personalized wrapping paper, personalized birthday cake cookies, and much more.

Like I said, who knew Williams-Sonoma had all these ideas tucked into their website?

When Labeling is a Good Thing

Labeling can sometimes be good. For example, labeling your children's clothes with their name is a good thing. Labeling your children's toys with their name, another good thing. Mabel's Labels is the perfect solution for all your labeling needs:

clothing labels

household labels

stationery products (return address labels)

and more.

When taking your extended weekend trip to Europe, grab these bag tags to quickly decipher your kid's bags among all the other luggage.

Are you a neat freak? Admit it, you are or you definitely can be or you were until those kids came along and now you yearn for the organization in your life again. Try these neat freak labels and get your life back in order.

Do your kids attend day care? Or do have so many shoes in your mud room, you can't keep them all straight? Check out the shoe labels and stop guessing which shoe belongs to which kid.

Look behind your computer or your Television. Are you scared? Which cord goes with which electronic piece? Mabel's Labels has the cord control solution.

We could all use some more labeling in our lives. Note: this does not refer to stereotypical labeling! That is not good.

What's Your Baby's Sign?

I can't imagine a pregnant woman sitting in a bar (ok, restaurant) with her girlfriends and having some strange guy hitting on her and her baby by asking, "So, what's your baby's sign?" But I guess that's not really the purpose of the tee. I think these horoscope maternity tees by Love My Belly Maternity are refreshing. The designs are very original with metallic and colors. And each shirt reveals expressive characteristics of that sign. For example, the above Leo says loyal, passionate, leader, and loving.

And maybe, just maybe, it will be one less question you have to answer daily, "When are you due?" Hopefully, the 4 week window of the astrological sign will be a good enough answer.

Laughter, the Best Medicine

I have an acquaintance who two years ago was diagnosed with Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML). She has been an inspiration to many, fighting like mad against this disease. This extroidanary person and her family have been through more than I can even imagine. She has been through the ringer and she deserves every bit of happiness that life can bring to her and her family. That's why I love the picture above. The laughter says it all. She is having the time of her life!

The story behind the picture is this. She and her husband went to the Sting concert and they were able to get VIP passes to the sound check Sting was doing before the show. When Sting asked if anyone wanted to come up on stage and sing, her hand shot right up! Her husband couldn't believe his eyes, she never would have done anything like that before. She would have hesitated until it was too late. Her reply is classic, “When am I ever going to get this chance again?” Possibly one silver lining to having cancer is that you live life to it's fullest and don't take your days for granted.

In case you are wondering she is singing the lead vocals to Roxanne. After the concert and because of the VIP status, they were able to meet Sting. He said, "I remember you. You’re a good singer!”

This is a bit of a stray from my posts where I usually find products, but this is truly an amazing person! And of course Sting is an amazing find... for his wife Trudy anyway.

Another Recall

Fisher-Price announced a recall yesterday on many, many of it's toys manufactured in China.

From the Associated Press:

WASHINGTON - Toy-maker Fisher-Price is recalling 83 types of toys — including the popular Big Bird, Elmo, Dora and Diego characters — because their paint contains excessive amounts of lead.

Included in the recall is some 967,000 plastic preschool toys made by a Chinese vendor and sold in the United States between May and August.
For a complete list of recalled toys, click here.

For a more detailed story, reported by MSNBC, click here.

If you believe you bought a product between May and August, click here, to start your proceedings.

Disaster Strikes Minneapolis

I arrived home last night from vacation about 5:30. Soon after we heard the reports. An eight-lane main bridge in Minneapolis just collapsed, out of nowhere, during rush hour. The news has been plastered all over the nation, taking precedent on the morning news shows, front pages of newspapers, and the nightly news. How does a bridge just collapse? I live in a suburb of Minneapolis and St. Paul and have traveled over that bridge hundreds of times. It hits home.

As many have expressed concern and sympathy for those affected by this tragedy, I would like to as well. Our thoughts and prayers go out to those who have been a part of this - however big or small. We have already heard about individual fatal stories and I'm sure more are to come. It could be a year before the NTSB releases their report regarding the cause. For some, one long year.

No posts today. Our thoughts are in other places.