Play with your Food: Roundup!

Freida's first play kitchen should arrive any day now... I've got some high hopes for the entertainment-factor this kitchen will bring her, and I'm so looking forward to the long hours she'll spend playing mom/chef (whishful thinking, right??). Now that my little bugger is joining the jr. culinary world, all my play-food browsing/testing is bound to come in handy... gotta fill those little cupboards with plenty of nutritional basics & goodies! Here's a little roundup of my current play food favorites (not that you need more grocery shopping...)! Haba Biofino: (Almost) eatible food for the little dude - Haba has an incredible line of realistic looking and versatile play food options. By far, my favorite kid-kitchen collection.

Yellow Label: Whimsical and charming - hand-knit play food with rattles inside makes for a great toy from birth onward. Plus, they look super cute! I posted more about them here.

Mellisa & Dough: Can't go wrong with this classic! Beautifully painted wooden toys + the added bonus of fine motor skills development through their fun "cutting" factor. I also love their "food group" sets - wonderful for teaching early nutrition basics.

Ikea Duktig: Fresh food is on the market! New to Ikea, this line of felted play food seems wonderfully practical as well as totally affordable!

Take a Peek!

A friend of mine (thanks Briendy!!) introduced me to one of my new favorite childrens clothing stores - Peek... aren't you curious? is a fabulous little collection of both classic and hip childrens goods. Whoever does thier interior is seriously talented - the store is simple and chic with the perfect amount of charming little touches throughout the displays. They have the "peek" element subtly running through every aspect of the store; even their shopping bags and gift cards have a small cutout hole, enabling a sneak peek! They just launched their fantastic fall collection, and I'm smitten.

Their summer lines are all on serious clearance now - get fabulous threads for the price of your AM coffee! Check it out here.

My favorite thing about this company is their baby line Little Peanut - it's baby basics at their best, featuring pre-shrunk, pre-faded 100% cotton newborn essentials in vintage-style shades. This line makes for a perfect baby gift!! (That $12 tank quickly became my new go-to top for Freida.)

Here's a shot of Freida in her oh-so-sweet Olivia bloomer. Stike a pose. : )

On the Bed-post

Found this quirky-gone-cool bedroom decor idea while browsing for a "novelty" duvet cover for my mom (Hi, Mom!), at Urban Outfitters. Great for newlyweds who start out with mattresses on the floor, teeny-tiny apartments, or neglected guest bedrooms. You're either gonna go for it, or you won't. Thought I'd give a bit of a decor intervention - something like this can do feng shui wonders... especially when the alternative is nothing at all. Olivia Headboard Wall Decal $55.00

Mod Graphics for Lunch!

I'm sure most of you have already started doing at least some minimal school supplies shopping... Camp is soon to culminate, leaving you with a week of at-home entertainment with the kids; not giving you that much time to spend on shopping around for new year goodies. As I said before, I have an infatuation with lunch bags/boxes. As a kid I loved the "fresh start" feeling it gave me carrying a spankin' new lunch tote to the cafateria... Here's my latest favorite: the Dante Beatrix lunch box collection. Made of durable and insulated heavy-duty nylon, these charming animated bags are 100% machine washable, making mom's after hours job 100% easier. I adore the modern prints, and find the colors and bag design totally kid-minded and imaginative. Any little dude would be totally stoked to carry his sustenance 'round in that hip little robot bag! Makes lunch even more lovable...

They have a super cute jr. backpack line out as well. How great are these little guys??

Nix the Jet Blues

Well, our Skokie Summer has come to a close... we'll be jetting out before dinner-time today. We'll sure miss the family, and Freida will definitely miss all the suburban nature, but I must admit - we're ready. We miss our man way too much!! Can't wait to see you, Mr. Levy!! I got some last minute scavenging to do around the house (baby sock matches, neglected finger puppets, Goodnight Gorilla etc.), and got to pack up some dinner-to-go (Bagel Country, anyone??).  I'm figuring since it's a evening flight, the Froo should fall asleep shortly... but I'm probably being unrealistic. Too bad JetBlue doesn't air NickJr, some YoGabbaGabba would surely do the trick! Just in case my slumber plan fails, I packed along some goodies and gimmicks to entertain my little onel in flight. For the many of you traveling with kids this season, check out this post on some of my in-flight favorites. I also wanted to share a newfound favorite toy, Puzzibits from Manhattan Toy. This is a completely awesome activity for a middle school kid! I couldn't stop playing around with them... It's basically flexible 3D puzzle art, allowing kids (or kids at heart!) to construct and create whatever their little heads want. Available for purchase as a megamix bucket, or as single design series (garden, circus, princess, jungle etc.) - great for keeping a little boy/girl super busy at 30,000 feet!