Yummy custom made cupcakes

We are a little Sesame Street crazy in our house. And it goes without saying that since cupcakes are the new doughnuts, we happily oblige the cupcake trend and try to grab them where we can. So imagine our excitement when we happened upon Ruthy's at the Chelsea Markt. They had pretty much every cupcake character available...Big Bird, Zoe, Abby Cadabby, Bert, Ernie, Oscar the grouch and Elmo. We settled for a Cookie Monster cupcake. Ruthy's delivers anywhere in the US in special temperature controlled shipping, so give them a ring if you have cupcake Sesame Street addicts like we have at home or just pop on over to Chelsea Market yourself. Would be great for a 'chic ones' birthday too!

Tommee Tippee is in America!

Tommee Tippee baby feeding products are THE brand in England. It is basically comparable to our version of Playtex or First Years products in the USA. After having lived in London, our house if full of their products and they are very good and BPA free. They are available at Toys R Us exclusively at the moment...which quite frankly, Toys R Us is really impressing me with a few of their exclusivity agreements with some 'cutting edge brands', such as Tommee Tippee and Handysitt, lately.

Organic first foods

I love that there are now organic first finger foods that melt in your mouth from Happy Baby. It's nice to see alternatives come to the market, plus I like this company's other products. Their whole concept is pretty nouveau as well and being much needed...so welcome Happy Baby Organics to the baby world!

Styling...in a bib kinda way

Having just returned from abroad, I was reminded of the baby kerchief or bandana bibs that many a European tot,sports around their neck. European parents have been using these for ages because they are a multifuctioning accessory. They can be used as a bib, a drool or spit catcher, a scarf or just a stylish splash of color to liven up an outfit. So, I decided to scour the web to see if it has arrived stateside and voila!

Eco Modern Baby has some kerchief bibs that are made from cool mod fabrics with plush backing and a snap closure at the neck. It is made in the USA from organic fabric. $18.

Bazzle Baby has a wide selection of cotton stylish prints on their bandabibs. They feature a velcro close and have a flannel backing. $12.

My article is in the newest magazine, The Observer Playground!

Just to let my readers know, I was delighted to be an official 'momtributer' to the 2nd edition of NY's newest family magazine from the NY Observer, called Playground.

A couple of the things I wrote about ( on pages 26 &27) in the NY Observer Playground, are the personalized melamine plates from LaPlates.com...with these amazing plates, transitioning from bottles to solids has never been easier. There are 19 designs, different colors to choose from and tons of fonts available, which makes the design possibities endless. $22.

The other item I wrote about is the personalized wooden train. The blocks spell out your child's name ( up to 7 letters). The same blocks come out of the train, so your 'chic one' can stack and play with them, making it a double functioning toy. Available at Good-byes on the UES (E 78th) or at the manufacturer's website Tag Toys. $ 42.95.

Last but not least, the wonderful, multi tasking Editor of Observer Playground, Lyss Stern, has cowritten a wonderful book for moms, called 'If You Give A Mom A Martini'. It is a great read and a fabulous gift for either yourself or any mom you may know this holiday season. Available at Amazon.com

Personalizing your chocolate!

Personalized chocolate bars for all the different seasons this holiday. At Personal Creations, you can choose from chocolate candy bar wrappers for Hanukkah, Christmas or the all inclusive "Season's greetings". They start at $14.95 for 24 wrappers, plus a one time personalization fee of $3.50 whether you order 1 or more products. So get out your chocolate bars to make the holiday sweet.

PS. When the wrappers arrive, make the holidays a little more family festive and sit down to wrap them with your 'chic baby', if they are old enough to try. And then let them distribute to everyone on your list!

Bring on the Holiday gifts!

I received the Uncommon Goods catalogue at home and went looking through it. They have some really cute gifts for the holidays. The puzzle above hit me right away because as most parents, we are told so many conflicting things about teaching our 'chic ones' the alphabet...start teaching only lower case, start with caps only, don't teach the names of the letters instead just teach how to sound it out, etc.... Well I have taught the caps approach and it is so hard to find puzzles with cap letters only...enter the Animal Spelling Puzzle from Eeboo for $15( one of my favorite toy companies).

The construction plate and utensils set, makes eating fun and creative. The plate is $15 and the utensils are $18.

Every parents knows that a mistletoe is indeed never needed to give your 'chic baby' a big kiss. This 'no mistletoe needed' onesie is $25 and made from 100% organic bamboo, limited quantities available.

Cutting or serving in style.

Great personalized cutting board that makes a wonderful hostess gift or even a present for yourself. In this very room, an online shop, is offering many different sizes and shapes available. This one is $75 and measures 12"x 18".

Cereal on the go!

How have I missed this convenient little Cheerios pack? Apparently its been around for at least a year or 2 and available at Duane Reade and other stores.