Board of Cheese

Looking for something fun and useful to gift a special friend this Chanukah? My Brooklyn Slate Co. cheese board just arrived last week (thank you Fab.com!!), and can't wait to put it to some party-hard use!! I couldn't even resist trying it out right after opening, and whipped out some soft cheese from the fridge to experiment the chalk use on the well-oiled slate. The effect was positively lovely, and it even brought about some Camembert taste-testing from my cheese-loving 3 year old!

Check out the Brooklyn Slate Co. lookbook for serious slate inspiration. Their boards lend just the right amount of rustic warmth to liven up any festivities via cheese, fruit, or anything at all! Perfect addition to a Chanukah latke layout - nothing like some specialty cheeses to really get the party started!

P.S. It's still available on Fab from $16 - $20!! Check it here.

Now I just need some of this to care for it, and one of these to really have fun with it. :)

Playing with Pie

Just wanted to drop a line to those of you heating up your kitchens in preparation for some Thanksgiving bounty!! I've been having deep pregnancy-craving dreams of fresh cranberry sauce dribbled over slices of juicy turkey...and sweet potato casserole topped with just-browned marshmallow...and oven-roasted brussel sprouts and fresh-herb-infused stuffing...mmm! Right now I'm feeling grateful that our Thanksgiving will be spent amongst family and friends (not to mention grateful that we got invited out to an old friend's legendary kid-free feast! Thanks Sariti - looking forward!!)

Freida came down with a bout of autumn cough/cold this week (I'm giving thanks that she held off on the illness until we were settled post-move and not in the interim of it all!), so we've got our own version of seasonal bounty cooking up on the stove. I'm all about attempting to "heal through foods", and I've got chunks of root vegetables (butternut squash, rutabaga, turnip, garlic, leeks, and parsnips) simmering in vegetable broth waiting to be processed into a velvety, sick-banishing, chock-full-of-vitamins soup!

Anyways, for those of you hosting Thanksgiving feasts, and planning on entertaining families with children (not to mention your own), I thought I'd share a little delicious tactile activity that is sure to keep tiny hands busy (for a little while, anyway). 3 words: pumpkin. pie. playdough. Yep, you read that right. And just wait til you actually try this stuff out - it's such an insanely yummy (not to mention stress-relieving!) activity - you will just want to keep some on you, available for relaxation and manipulation, all day long! Plus, making the stuff is easy as pie!

Use a general playdough recipe like the fool-proof one I posted here. While mixing it all up over low heat, add in:

- 2 Tablespoons Pumpkin Pie Spice

- 1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract

- 1 teaspoon Maple Syrup

- Drop of Red and Yellow Coloring

Just kneading this stuff (I made it the night before the Babyccino launch - the class was "pumpkin" themed, and this dough went into one of the sensory tables), had all my senses in overdrive. It was warm and fragrant, and I simply didn't want to put it down!!

Not that you need anything extra to cook, but if you make it around to this, you can set up a kids table with pumpkin pie playdough, cookie cutters, empty pie tins, tart dishes, cupcake liners etc. and let the kids mess around with this tactile and olfactory activity while the grownups get started on cocktails! :)

Also, in case your looking for some more kid-busying activities for tomorrow, I filled another sensory table with pumpkin seeds (still shelled), and left out some measuring cups and spoons to play around with. Another 15 minutes of happy occupation makes all the difference while entertaining! And don't forget last year's hit popcorn turkey kid tablescape!!

Happy holiday of thanks to you all!! Wishing you heaps and heaps to be grateful for...!

Butter: Free of the Dirty Three

Once you discover Butter, it will become a cosmetic staple - taking up permanent digs in your bathroom credenza. I bought my first bottle when I wanted to paint Freida's nails for the first time, and I've been hooked ever since. As an asthmatic I've come to appreciate when things are really "free" and "clear" (laundry detergents, air fresheners, carpet cleaning etc.), I just never thought I'd actually find a good quality nail laquer that could live up to the tagline of being "free"; painting my nails always involved holding my breathe for extended periods of time! :)

Butter London is free of the "dirty 3": Formaldehyde, Toluene, and DBP (plus free of all parabens)! And toxic-free nail color may not be a novelty to you; the quality of these varnishes are surely something to write home about - I'd take a bottle of this polish over a Chanel nail laquer any day!!

Great for giving even the littlest of divas manis and pedis - sans all that chemical guilt (I previously blogged about Hopscotch Kids toxin-free polish for little fingers and toes). And even more importantly, for mamas-to-be (DBP has been controversially linked to birth defects in animal testing) who should be steering clear of all hazardous chemicals for at least 9 months, and may not necessarily think of a weekly manicure as hazardous. Or may think there's no alternative... here you have it ladies!

Also, for those of you living in the Los Angeles area, a friend of mine (thanks Dini!!) recently tipped me off about a new toxin-free, baby-friendly wax and nail spa on Santa Monica blvd! Plush Beauty Bar  was created with moms in mind, featuring a children's play area, stroller parking, low-fume products and services, comfy armchairs for nursing in, bathrooms with changing tables, staff to help out on baby-watch, and fast services for those short attention spans! I never brought Freida with me to salons and spas when she was a baby, and I'm sure my girly glamour suffered as a result.  I seriously can't wait to check this place out - so glad to know about this before baby #2 arrives and steals my beauty routine! :)

Nix the Nausea

While I'm not quite certain where the term "morning sickness" came from, I genuinely despise the b*tch who came to make us believe that pregnancy nausea is something that dwindles as the noon hour approaches. It should simply be called "sickness" as it can last all day and well into the night! Thought I'd let you ladies in on 8 little things (specifically properties of citrus and ginger) that really seemed to work-it and quell my perpetual nausea:

1. Cranberry Juice Spritzer - Natural cranberry juice + sparkling water = best sunrise to sunset tonic ever. Plus, with no cocktails in long sight, there's no denying what a bright glass of fresh pink sparkle can do for mood swings! :)

2. Tangerines - I must have consumed tress full of these natural sweets! You can always be sure to find one or two of them at the bottom of my day bag; waiting for a their after-meal moment.

3. Diet Hansen's Ginger Ale - a God-sent blessing! This all-natural soda pop features ginger brewed to such an intensity that it actually burns - in the best of ways! Ice cold, with a straw - instant relief.

4. Hubert's Lemonade - this all natural citrus infused refresher is sure to expel the queasiness - specifically the pink raspberry flavor. Plus, it's just another way to stay hydrated.

5. Yogi Ginger Tea - steep one of these glorious bags in a teacup full of hot water, add some honey, and melt away as this intense remedy helps ease your stomach back to pre-pregnancy normalcy.

6. Ice - can't say enough about it's magical prowess. Suck on some to ease an unsettled meal, and add lots of it to everything you drink - the ice-cold factor seems to dispel all feelings of uneasiness.

7. S.Pellegrino Limonata - while this little can of lemony goodness is way too chock-full of sugar to consume on a normal basis, the sheer tartness of this fizzy citrus concoction is extremely helpful in a dire moment on-the-go: you can find this little number in most coffee shops across the country!

8. Grapefruit - nothing helped me more than tearing open and sectioning a mid-morning, perfectly pink citrus fruit!

Hope this little list helps even one of mamas-to-be out there!! Best of luck getting through your next meal! :)

Jr. Yoga: Sun Salutation

Some of you girls have been asking me about what video I use when doing Yoga with Freida, and while she's been joining in my AM Yoga routines since she was a wee little thing, we are currently really loving getting our morning stretch on to the "Sundance" by the Bari Koral rock band. My favorite thing about this specific video is that it is fast paced enough for me to join right along with her and actually get a good enough stretch. Also, the animal imitations and sounds make this super fun for her to keep up and moving - she has me put the video clip on repeat at least 3 times.

I love Yoga for kids because I find all the stretching and breathing relaxes and energizes little kids in a way that other exercises seem to tire them out (which is great too!) or rile them up. Freida reacts really well to these positions, and always seems happily mellowed out after each routine. If you have younger children and long for the benefits of a quiet stretching hour, there are heaps of "mommy & me" Yoga classes all about your town - a simple Google search is bound to yield plenty of Yoga Studio finds offering these mom + baby classes. Also, these little mats are wonderful to have on hand for any sort of mom/baby studio class.

Enjoy!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6B_OaTQm2I]