Cabins and Beaches

Here in Minnesota the weather isn't so great. It's the end of April and quite frankly, I'm sick of it. But I told myself I am going to start thinking summer anyway. Mentally, I'll be going up to our cabins and there are a few things I found in Pottery Barn Kids that would be perfect!

Adirondack Chairs - how dang cute are these with all those bright colors? Not only are they fun, they are "green". Made out of sustainable eucalyptus. Hmmm, interesting. Plus you can get a name printed on the chair. Perfect and only $69.

My kids are a little older (not toddlers anymore), so they can start hauling their own stuff around in these kids sized beach totes printed in whales or sharks. $34 (free shipping until May 22).

If your child is a sand-nut, she will absolutely love this oversized sandbox with it's own canopy for protection.

To spice up the mood and make sure everyone is having a blast, check out these games - the Beach Toss and SkeeBall (and really, who doesn't think SkeeBall is a hoot?)! $39 and $49 respectively.

Think summer. It is coming, I promise.

Anamalz Saving Animals

Even though Earth Day was two days ago, it's not too late to post about these cute little environmentally friendly guys called Anamalz. (Yes, that is how it is spelled.)

These wild anamalz, farm anamalz, and australian anamalz are one of the best toys I've seen in a long time. I love the fact they are "green" - made from renewable resources (like organic maple wood), non toxic glues and paints. Each piece is unique with it's own wood grain and markings. Not to mention they are all made by hand. Right, no machines involved, just people who give a damn about kids and the environment. Can you believe it? As their website says, "Give them the environment and the anamalz will roam." So true.

Anamalz Saving Animals is their giving back program: "anamalz has established its own trust fund committed to contributing funds to various wildlife organizations around the world." Tony.

I would be remiss not to point out that they spark the imagination of children of all sizes. Even adults find them fun to play with. Their legs are bendable, you can make most of them stand on one leg (see above pics), give them their own noises and voices, accidentally drop them from the counter (hey, they are wood), and now you can buy a CD to go along with them. The Anamalz music CD will get your kids grooving and moving. So, turn off SpongeBob (your kids have seen every episode 5 times anyway) and get your kids' imagination rolling with these "wild things"!

No batteries needed (even more environmentally friendly) and the price is right. For all this, each of these little anamalz costs only about $6 to $7 on Amazon. It just keeps getting better.

I think I could go on and on and on about this product. It is truly amazing and yet, so simple. After all you know the expression, Keep It Simple Stupid.

Anamalz. Go ahead, buy them all.

Laugh Much?

One of my favorite things in life is laughing... laughing so hard you almost pee your pants.

Christie Mellor does it to me every time. She is the author of The Three Martini Playdate and The Three Martini Family Vacation. If you enjoyed her books as much as I did, you will enjoy reading more of her on Mommy Track'd section The Three Martini Complaint Department where she writes about more hilarious situations. She is truly gifted, and last time I read the Three Martini Playdate, I swear a little pee came out!

Mommy Track'd has a few informative sections. In the upper left corner, click Features or Survival Guide. You will find tons of fun and practical information.

Want more Christie Mellor? She has a new book that just came out (literally, it was released April 8, 2008), Were You Raised By Wolves?: Clues To the Mysteries of Adulthood. Only $13.57 at Amazon. I'm looking forward to it, and I'm sure I'll love it enough to post about it.

Designer Diner

Admit it. There are only a few places you like taking your kids out for dinner. And you've been to those places so often, your kids could do their coloring placemats with their eyes closed. I mean, come on, spend the extra few dollars to mix up the maze once in awhile and make new copies. And who knows where those crayons have been if they aren't in a brand new box.

If this sounds like your story, you need the Designer Diner at Bella Tunno. It's a nice size portable placemat (18" x 11"). On one side you can wipe-clean the placement and on the other side there is a reusable chalk mat. "It’s a portable imagination station for little artists and a traveling table for little eaters! Includes a 12 piece box of non-toxic colored chalk and a detachable chalk pouch."

Have A Seat

If your child loves art projects or loves to build things (ok, that pretty much describes all children), check out the Elia Mini Chair at CreativeKidStuff. Your child will have a blast "building" and decorating their very own chair. Maybe just maybe they will actually sit during dinner if you let them use their new chair! What a novel idea.

The creator of the Elia Mini Chair had this to say about his product, "The fact that cardboard is ubiquitous in consumer culture and is the most recycled of all consumer products makes it a great vehicle for helping kids understand issues about sustainability and the environment. I think corrugated cardboard is a really brilliant invention. It was developed as a less expensive and lighter alternative to wood and plywood as a packaging material at the end of the 19th century. It has enormous structural strength given its light weight and this, of course, is a result of the way it is made - layers of fluted liner (paper) sandwiched between flat liner. The flutes are like roman arches in that that they resist compression and transfer load efficiently. Cardboard also behaves like a structural column when it is edge-loaded. So the Elia Mini Chair is also a great way to teach young kids about basic engineering and geometric principles like the arch, the triangle, compression, tension, beams and columns. And hopefully children will come away with an understanding that good design is a marriage of art and engineering."
(From CreativeKidStuff.)

Ya, right... or maybe kids will just have fun building it and decorating it. I'd like to meet this guys' kids.

Bronze

I saw this in a Posh Cravings newsletter and wanted to pass it on.

American Bronzing is offering up to 50% off in order to bronze your child's first shoes - for a limited time. Parents used to do this all the time and then the trend kind of faded. But now it's back! And to bronze your child's first pair of shoes for only $39.95 - how great is that? You can also choose to have them mounted for a little extra cash. Those cute, oh-so-tiny shoes will be remembered for a lifetime. And how many times will you say, "I can't believe you used to fit into those shoes at one time"? Uh oh, here come the crocodile tears, open the flood gates.

Everyone Loves a Contest!

We have some copies of The Baby Gizmo Buying Guide (see yesterday's post) to give away!

The lucky winner(s) will also have their choice of an Emily Allyn:
onesie and burp cloth or
toddler shirt.

Click here for contest details.

Pregnancy Through Preschool

You are pregnant and so incredibly excited to meet this little one growing inside you. In fact, you are positively glowing. You have waited to start creating that baby registry for a long time, so you bounce on down to the nearest baby gear store. You walk into the store and stop dead in your tracks. Feeling a little overwhelmed you automatically start practicing your Lamaze breathing.

"Oh my God" you think to yourself, "Where the hell do I start?" Crib, bassinet, moses basket, co-sleeper ("what's that?" you wonder), portable crib, crib mattress, bumper pad and sheets, glider/rocker, dresser, changing table... and those are just the items on your left in the front half of the store.

You start to walk around in a daze when you spot the stroller section: jogging, double, single, pram, light-weight, umbrella, all-terrain, luxury. "This is ridiculous," you think, "I just want a stroller. I can’t even think about jogging right now."

Wait there’s more. You round the back of the store to find car seats (infant, convertible, booster), seats that vibrate, bouncers, swings, safety gates, play yards, baby carriers, high chairs, booster high chairs, potties ("I think I'm going to hyperventilate. There are ten different potties. Who needs that kind of selection for a gross potty?"), baby monitors, bathtubs, and ("oh geez, there it is, the dreaded milking machine") the breast pumps. "I'm outta here," you say to yourself.

However, in order to get out of the store you must work your way back to the front, walking past all the toys, DVDs, clothing, and diaper bags. As you are now in a full out sprint for the front door, you catch a glimpse of a bright-colored book. You halt in your tracks to look at it. You are out of breath. Let's face it, these days you can't run more than 15 steps without getting winded. So, you pick up the book, The Baby Gizmo Buying Guide. You open to the table of contents and see a list of absolutely everything you just passed in the store.

You skim a few pages in the book. This book is amazing. It discusses all these gizmos in detail, what you should look for, why you need it, why the authors like or dislike it, things to consider, safety issues, and more. You close the book and proclaim out loud "There is a God!" Just then another pregnant woman opens the front door, walks in, and freezes. You see the look of horror on her face and shove a copy of the book in to her hands, "Here, you just won the lottery. Look at this book and then go shopping."

Epilogue: You read and re-read The Baby Gizmo Buying Guide in three days. You took grueling notes, flagged pages, and felt prepared to hit the store again. You knew exactly what you wanted and why. You felt confident in your choices and didn't pick one out of the twelve high-chairs because it was pretty. For the car seat, not only did you understand all the lingo, you knew which one fit your needs best. You also knew the main features you wanted in a stroller, so when you reached the store you narrowed your selection down to four and "test drove" those four to find your fit. You had your baby. You had all the gizmos you needed. And your baby grew up to be the well-adjusted, self-confident, driven daughter you are incredibly proud of... all because you bought The Baby Gizmo Buying Guide. Amazing how that works!

Emily's Note: This book is well worth the $11.55 at Amazon.com. You will finish it feeling like a confident, well-informed consumer. For those of you who like to read editorial comments and reviews on specific brands and products, have no fear. Although they are not found in the book (the book would be outdated before it was published), they are found on the BabyGizmo website. For example, if you want find out their Editor's Pick for Top 5 Strollers, click gear, click strollers, click the type of stroller you are interested in, and the Top 5 are on the right.

The best part: I have 4 copies to give away of this fabulous book! Check back later today or tomorrow for details. I'll give 2 away in April and 2 in May.

Food Fight

"That boy is a P-I-G, pig." Can you guess what movie that quote is from?
Answer, Animal House. Babs, the sorority girl, said this when John Belushi sat down at her cafeteria table and proceeded to inhale (that's a nice way of saying it) is food.

Maybe Babs would have been more impressed if John Belushi would have been using some fun construction utensils. Pictured above is the "Fork Lift" Fork, the "Front Loader" Spoon, and the "Bulldozer" Pusher found on Amazon. Belushi could have bulldozed his mashed potatoes around the plate before shoving them into his mouth and pretending to be a zit. I realize, if you've never seen the movie you are probably completely grossed out by now. So... go watch Animal House. You'll thank me for it.

Who's There?

Are you in need of a hilarious gift? If not, think of your best friend and just buy something from Knock Knock. It is a riot! No pun intended... then again who ever heard of a knock knock joke that was actually funny.

You might find these Psycho notepads more funny than your recipient; unless your recipient has a great sense of humor, that is.

Sex Flashcards. These will catch someone's attention. Site claims you can "move from 'vanilla' to 'tantric' in mere days!"

For the hypochondriac in your life there is the Things That Might Kill You book.

You might enjoy these files for your file drawer:
Do/Ponder File

Useless/Nothing Nosy File

Total Crap File
Daily Mood Tracker

Then there is the almighty My Top Secret Passwords pad. Feel free to leave this lying around right next to your computer so the kids can hack into your all your sites.

For the friend in corporate America who will receive this and think, "Why didn't I think of this? I could have done this!" The Corporate Flashcards, an explanation to those mind-boggling corporate jargon words.
I wonder if these are in there:
Seagull Manager - Definition: A manager who flies in, makes a lot of noise, craps on everything, and then leaves.
Blamestorming - Definition: Sitting around in a group, discussing why a deadline was missed or a project failed, and who was responsible.
Salmon Day - Definition: The experience of spending an entire day swimming up stream only to get screwed and die in the end.
Assmosis - Definition: The process by which some people seem to absorb success and advancement by kissing up to the boss rather than working hard.
Percussive maintenance - Definition: The art of smashing, whacking, kicking or punching a machine to get it to work.
-- these funny definitions are taken from this site.

My favorite buzz-word comes from my days at American Express Financial Advisors (now Ameriprise). Prairie-dogging. Any guesses? Definition: A phenomenon that occurs in cubicle-filled office buildings. [Workers] pop up to look over the walls to see what's happening. Co-worker conversations and team meetings may also take place via prairie dogging as an alternative to the water cooler or conference room. What makes this funny is it was actually listed in one of our handbooks, "there will be no prairie-dogging". The jokes were flying.

There, you can't say you didn't laugh at least once while reading this blog! Happy Hump Day.

Note to anyone who cares: I will be off until Monday.

Super-saurus!

What kid doesn't like dinosaurs? And what kid doesn't need the book How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? Chasing Fireflies sells a dinosaur book and PJ set. Slip on the PJs, snuggle in tight, and read the book to your child. The same dinos from the book are printed on the colorful pajamas. (The PJs are for the kids, of course. Not you, silly.)

If your child is so into dinosaurs, all his gifts include T-Rex this and Stegosaurus that, try one of these other fun gifts from Chasing Fireflies.
There is the dino clock with a friendly (yes, friendly) roar for a wakeup call.
Another good buy is the terrysaurus towel.
Puddles are a given this time of year and these crazy dinosaur boots will keep those little toes dry.
Lastly, my favorite are these fossil flip-flops (shown above). Check out the bottom of the soles. Your child will leave dino footprints where ever she goes - awesome! Just don't call her bigfoot, she might get offended.

Teaching Kids About Money

Here is an article from MSN.com, Can you teach your kids to be rich?
I thought it was interesting. We all want the best for our kids. For the record, I'm not saying your kids need to be rich in order to be happy.

The main belief of the article is summed up in the last paragraph, however the whole article is an interesting read.

For her part, Dr. Cora believes the best thing a parent can do to teach kids about wealth is to expose them to the habits of mind that lead to success.
"Teach them to think like an entrepreneur -- to create new opportunities, rather than to just think about money," she says.

More from Boden

I think I should start asking Boden for a little share of their profits for all the great finds I do on my blog! However, I will admit they do make it easy with their super cute clothes and right now don't forget they are offering free shipping and returns, plus 10% off your purchase.

If you want to put that great offer to use, here are some fabulous picks. (And you will have to follow this link to Boden when you finally find your goods, Boden.)

Knot Front Dress - $98.00 (shown above in green)

Washed Down Shirt Dress - $108.00 (this is quite the popular one, many colors are on backorder, big time)

Scallop Applique Top - $58.00

Chambray Pintuck Top - $58.00

Slinky Printed Henley - $58.00

Washed Skirt - $38.00
Washed Hoody - $68.00

Fancy Long Applique Skirt - $108.00

Canvas and Denim Skirt - $58.00

It's My Party...

Another site gushes over our little democrat and little republican shirts! These guys are just getting recognized everywhere.

Pinks and Blues loves our tees for toddlers so much they gave us their Pinks and Blues Approval Stamp next to their review, It's My Party at Emily Allyn.

Every election is important because it is our consititutional responsiblity and we have the freedom to vote. However, this 2008 election seems to be extra special to many people. So get out and show your support for your party!

Week Off?

Did I mean to take a week off from my blogging duties? Not exactly. However, like many, Easter completely snuck up on me. Before I knew it I still had to buy Easter baskets, goodies and gifts, think about Easter day food, do a ton of laundry, and pack us up to head to Wisconsin on Friday. Funny, when writing that, it doesn't seem like much. But when doing it, trust me, it took all week (on top of all my other Mom and Emily Allyn duties)!

We are back...

Crewmutts

I'm not one to dress up a dog, but there are plenty of people out there who do. So many in fact, I have played with the idea of starting a line of dog shirts with my characters on them. But enough about me.

J.Crew has started a new line, crewmutts. You have to check out these pictures at J.Crew. At the moment, I don't even own a dog, but I would consider buying one of these just because the pictures are so dang scrumptious. This deserves an OMG!

And the sherpa dog hoodie... you could wear your own J.Crew Sherpa hoodie out for walks with your dog. Kind of like how some moms buy mom and daughter outfits.

They have more items arriving in April, so be sure to check back then. I think I could stare at these dog pictures for hours.

Boden Find #2

Another Boden find. Adorable Coat.
Everyone needs a new, chic coat for the Spring. Here's your ticket. The black with white trim is delicious too.

Remember follow this specific link to Boden and receive 10% off your order along with free shipping and free returns. The offer expires June 20th, 2008 at 11:59 pm EST (for more details see post below).

But here is my question. How did they take this picture?

Kideo

Like Brangelina, Kideo is a combination of kids and video. Clever? Not really anymore. Despite the name, every child will absolutely love their products. Is your child fascinated with Spider-Man (mine is)? Dora? Arthur? (And there's more.) You can send Kideo.com a picture of your child and voila your child will become a movie star. His name will be in lights and he will be an instant star on the small screen. What the hell am I talking about you ask?

Kideo.com takes the head of your child's picture and incorporates it into a short Spider-Man video (or what ever character of theirs you choose). It's personalization at its peak. My neighbor had this done for their son. It is pretty funny to see your own son's face with a Spider-Man body swinging from building to building. And the kids relish it. They become a little narcissistic because all they want to do is watch themselves on T.V. But hey, who wouldn't!

Now that would make for a great gag gift... say a 40th or 50th birthday. You could put your spouses (or friends) head on a really old movie star or an absolutely gorgeous star. Now, that would be funny!

Bag it, Lady

While I would probably never actually say this to someone ("Bag it, Lady"), I am very interested in this bag for ladies by Boden. Isn't it fantastic? I love the green. The orange is fun too, but I think the green is fabulous. And check out the lining in the green bag, super fun.

Follow this specific link to Boden (not the one above) and receive 10% off your order along with free shipping and free returns. The offer expires June 20th, 2008 at 11:59 pm EST.

Here is some of the fine print from Boden: This offer is not valid in conjunction with any other Boden, Mini Boden or Internet offer. Boden sale items are excluded from this offer. This offer can be used once only. Free shipping and free returns apply only to deliveries within the USA.

J.Crew

J.Crew is actually offering real free shipping. Usually they say free shipping with purchase of $175. But if you use code SPRING08 during your checkout by Wednesday, March 12 at 11:59 pm EST, you will actually get free shipping on any amount! Go crazy, it doesn't happen often with J.Crew.