Spring is finally, finally in the air. It’s going to be in the 70’s here this week. Ah, visions of budding foliage and crocuses and flowers at the farmer’s market. Any day now, any day…
I found a few fun gadgets to could not make flower arranging any simpler. I’ll be ready.
The Perfect Arrangers are nifty little contraptions that nestle the stems of the flowers and decorative foliage in any position that you want. It’s then as easy to create a minimalist arrangement as a very plush one. The Perfect Arrangers come in three sizes and can be purchased here. There’s [...]

By Audrey van Petegem, Contributing Editor
Although you may not want your children to eat their crayons and taste the paper glue, you know that some of it will inevitably end up in their mouths.
A company called Clementine Art has come up with a whole art line for children that is all natural, certified non-toxic and environmentally friendly. It is the only company that lists the ingredients for each of its products. For example, its crayons are made with Kosher soy wax, mineral pigments, beeswax, carnauba wax, vegetable stearic acid, calcium carbonate (chalk), natural Brazilian rosin, and titanium [...]

My issues concerning my body size and all its various flaws? They have haunted me for years and have been the cause of sooooo much wasted energy. I look back on the photos of me in my mid-twenties when I thought then that I was “fat” (a size 4-6). What was I thinking? Why-o-why did I spend a single second torturing myself with those thoughts. And torture I did.
Now, that my beautiful daughter is thirteen, I’m hoping that she, somehow, miraculously, bypasses these issues. I tell her my “wasted energy” story all the time; I tell her that she should [...]

I must be showing my age, because it seems that I’m all about covering up of late. I wrote about the Hip-T a few months ago, the “t-shirt extenders” that help cover up unfortunate plumber’s crack sightings caused by low-rise jeans (I wear mine all the time, the Hip-T, that is). Now I’m all about Second Base, another half-breed of a camisole, but this one for the upper body.
It’s not that I’m that much of a prude, but I’m not so keen on having it all hang out. Much of fashion seems to be cut for the 20-something bodies, when [...]

By Kym Tolson, Guest Author
Hello everyone. Here I am today with my second installment (read the first one here) on the subject of hypnosis, this time to tell you about the practice of self-hypnosis. Self-hypnosis is a very powerful way to transform your life. With practice and consistency you can use this tool on a daily basis to make lasting changes in your life. To help my personal clients learn self-hypnosis, I developed a very simple self-hypnosis system called PREVAIL.  P.R.E.V.A.I.L takes a person through all the necessary steps to succeed at self-hypnosis.
(P)repare your surroundings.
For hypnosis to [...]

I bought the à la card chicago deck of cards at OneofaKind Chicago show this past December. It’s been the best $30 I’ve spent all year and I only regret not having mentioned it here earlier. The à la card chicago is a 52 card deck, each card a $10 coupon valid at the 52 chef-driven, owner-operated restaurants in Chicago. The à la card peeps explain it best:
We’ve basically created a consortium of 52 Chicago restaurants–and not just any restaurants, but the best in the city. The restaurants span 25 different neighborhoods, various cuisines and price points, but they have [...]

Last week Audrey told us about Whyzz.com so that we can all sound smart in front of our kids. How about sounding and being smart-er, just for ourselves? We exercise and nourish our body for optimal health, but what about our brain? If we are not lucky enough to work as quantum physicists or neuroscientists as our day job, it could just be that our brains are not quite as exercised and fit as we’d need them to be.
When I first started thinking about brain exercises, sudoku and crossword puzzles came to mind as the games recommended for the elderly [...]

I have a new crush. His name is Jamie Oliver. Not only is he cute and British, but he’s also on a mission. That’s pretty sexy. Actually, more like a mission to create a revolution. A Food Revolution.
“I believe that every child in America has the right to fresh, nutritious school meals, and that every family deserves real, honest, wholesome food. Too many people are being affected by what they eat. It’s time for a national revolution. America needs to stand up for better food!”

Jamie is – justifiably – outraged at the current quality of our food in general and [...]

By Audrey van Petegem, Contributing Editor

Have you ever noticed the younger the child the more questions they have?  My two young daughters are full of them. From the easy one like “why do I have to brush my teeth?” to more difficult ones “what is tapioca?”.  Uh…
I learned from my son, who is now a high school senior, that all questions are important, no matter what. It’s my answers that need some fine tuning. I discovered this great website called Whyzz.com.  It is simple to use and all answers are written so that they are perfectly understood by [...]

By Audrey van Petegem, Contributing Editor
I like to have creative alternatives to chocolate & candy for my kids’ Easter baskets. I have discovered a few different and fun things for this year’s baskets:
What child does not like to see something thrown on the ground and go splat? Splat Back! “the toy that goes splat but always comes back” has brought it to a whole new level with a variety of Splat toys to choose from. My favorites are the tomato and egg because who does not want to see a tomato or egg (fitting for the Easter theme) go [...]