Lots of kids young people have been dropped off at college already. Yikes. In mid-August? That’s early. Thank goodness, we still have another 10 days before our own drop-off. My son and I have still not crossed off most items on the door-room-basics shopping list.

I feel wholly unprepared for this stage in his life. As our oldest, he’s the first one to head to college and away from home. Though missing him will be the (my) largest issue ( I never expected to have a teenager I’d want to be around), getting him prepared for dorm life is a whole other matter. My husband and I both went to college in our hometown and lived at home, so we can’t even rely on our personal experience to tell him what to expect, and more immediately pressing, what might be needed to furnish his dorm room comfortably.

In the – likely? – event that, like me, you still have dorm room shopping left to do, I thought that I’d share some of the more useful dorm room checklists that I have found online.  Why reinvent the wheel. These two checklists, picked from dozens, are the winners. They are thorough… (and more legible than our chicken-scratch version):

• The Off-to-College Checklist from the College Board website.
• A Dorm Room Supply List from Claremont Colleges

We are editing these lists, of course. I know that my son’s dorm room, to be shared with another freshman, will be a tiny 84 sq. ft. and that surface space will be at a premium. So looking for multi-tasking pieces is a must. For example, he won’t be bringing an alarm clock (why consume 10 square inches?) when his phone can be used as such. The classic storage ottoman will serve, indeed, as storage, as seating and as the occasional table with a tray resting on top. The Ikea Dave laptop table mentioned by Audrey last week is a must too. And, we won’t be including items that he’ll just have to borrow from other kids, like an iron, for the couple of times when he might need one. He’ll have to find the tidy floormate that has one. And, we’re definitely getting the 3M Command wall hooks (the walls are cinder blocks, nothing being nailed in there…) for him to hang whatever can be hung to save space.

Only the young can live like this. In pulling a Tim Gunn, I say we’ll just have to make it work!

Just add water.

We might be a tad too old for the water paint coloring books but we can now get the same kick from walking in the rain with the mood-lifting Squidarella Umbrella. The umbrella, designed in London by Squiderella, is printed with a design that is then covered with a special ink. When the ink gets wet, it reveals the colors beneath it.

See it in action here:

I never thought I would ever look forward to heading out in the rain, but now…

You can buy the Squidarella umbrella online here. Works well for those who hate the rain and those who love it. Seems like an infallible gift idea.

By Audrey van Petegem, Senior Editor

My girlfriend Lisa wanted me to head to IKEA with her to shop for dorm room necessities for her college bound son. As expected, we found some great items, all of them incredibly well priced. Here are some of our favorites:

	DAVE computer table – This portable table adjusts at different angles and is great to use while lying on the bed  or sitting on the couch and working on the laptop. $17.99
	JANSJO clamp-on LED lamp – Versatile lamp that can clamp on wherever you need it. Among other things, it’s  perfect for the DAVE computer table or for kids, umm, we mean students on the high bunk. $29.99 Read the full story »

By Audrey van Petegem, Senior Editor

Are we all counting the days when our youngins’ head back to school? I am already thinking about the 160 lunches I will have to prepare for my daughter throughout the year. Yikes! Plus this little 6 year old has been a vegetarian since she started eating solid foods. Thank goodness I discovered these Pure Organics bars. Veroncia Bosgraaf created these bars when her 6 year old daughter made a conscious decision not to eat meat again. They are raw, organic, gluten-free, kosher and full of fruits and nuts with no refined sugars, no chemicals, no genetically-modified stuff. They are packed full of antioxidants, vitamins, and omega-3 fats, fiber and protein.

I bought one of each; Apple Cinnamon, Cherry-Cashew, Chocolate Brownie, Cranberry-Orange, Trail Mix and Wild Blueberry, to see which one my daughter liked, thinking that the only one she will go for is the chocolate one. To my surprise she liked them all! And so did her 4 year old sister.

I feel that I found the perfect solution to make those lunches just a little easier for me. I just need to add a (reusable) bottle of water, a few (whole grain) crackers and a cookie and she is good to go. Her lunch box will surely come home empty this year!

Go to ThePureBar.com to purchase online or to locate a store near you (Trader Joe’s & Whole Foods carry them).

I love Groupon. I wrote about it earlier this year: Groupon is the online deal-of-the-day buying collective that offers substantial discounts to various types of local businesses.  I have since made lots of nicely discounted purchases through it. In fact, Groupon has helped me get acquainted with the new city that I’ve moved to, as I discovered cool restaurants in yet unexplored neighborhoods, got great deals on activities like paintball battles (for my son’s birthday), architecture cruise (to take visiting family along) and golf (for the husband).

Since Groupon’s inception, there have been a dozens of copycats that have crept up which can only be a good thing for us consumers(I like YouSwoop and LivingSocial that I’ve bought from as well, for services dog boarding and sushi making classes). I’ve signed up for a few of them and the assault on my inbox has been overwhelming.

Which is why I thought that this new site is soooooooo smart: Dealradar.com aggregates the feed from all of these daily-deals providers and sends one – ONE – convenient email that lists the deal-of-the-day by category. They cover over 60 different cities plus some in Canada, the UK and Australia. Since I’m visiting my sister in NYC next month, I have subscribedg to the New York page as well to see what dinner deals I can score for my visit there.

It’s easy. It’s free. Love.

By Audrey van Petegem, Senior Editor

I recently went camping for five days  with my sister, her daughter and my two daughters. On the third day, it rained so heavily, with no sign of letting up, that we decided to head to town. We ended up in a Wal-Mart Superstore, in the pharmacy department. My niece, Alex, discovered these great Nail Color Pens by Sally Hansen. We grabbed a bunch of colors with some of the Nail Art Pens and headed back to the campground for an impromptu Mani-Pedi party.

The pens were so easy to use. My 4 and 6 year olds had no problem managing them. Plus there was absolutely no mess. I was impressed with the staying power even without a top coat (we forgot to buy some). I loved how easy the polish was applied and the quality look of the finished product. The Art Pens were fun to use and we loved creating different designs and patterns. The Mani-Pedi-Paint project saved the day and we had cute toenails to look at for the remainder of the week.

To view all Sally Hansen products go to sallyhansen.com and of course, you would know that these are available in any drugstore and big box store.

Great idea for a tween girls slumber party activity too.

Seems like someone got a new marketing team… Mention “Waterpik” and I used to get visions of the water-spurting funny, tickly contraption that sat on the bathroom counter in the 1970’s (exactly like the one seen here). And then, as far as I was concerned, the company fell off the radar (no dentist ever recommended it again)… that is until they announced the SinuSense (wrote about that here).

And now, they are “rebranding” the Waterpik as the instrument for the “Evolution of floss”. I always thought that was exactly what the Waterpik was, a water flosser, but perhaps the company was never so clear on that? Or I just never paid attention? Anyhoo, smart move, given that that – gasp –  80% of Americans don’t floss and might now have more incentive to do so with a new, fun gadget like the new cordless water flosser: “The Waterpik® Water Flosser is clinically proven to be twice as effective as traditional string floss for improving gum health, plus it’s easy and pleasant to use.”

With two models with MSRP of $34.99 and $49.99, it sure seems like it would be a good investment. We found them for much less on Amazon, and Target, Kohl’s and Drugstore.com also carry the Waterpik brand. And, I think the kids might like it.