Read a Book.

I'm totally smitten by this campaign for reading!! Fantastically (in the literal sense of the word!) genius!!

Here's their point:

"When one reads books, he/she starts living it and identifies (or not) with main hero. These print ads for the Mint Vinetu bookstore, which sells lots of classics, focuses on the idea of becoming someone else. And provokes people to try on different personas."

Awesome.

P.S. I just started the novel Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer (Everything is Illuminated - if you haven't seen that film - do so this weekend!!), and I'm totally stoked to get good and into it!! Don't you just love being involved with a novel??

Banana Wraps

My mom used to make these for us when we were little, and Freida goes nuts for them!! Some people call these "banana dogs" or "banana bites", but Freida pretty much dubbed it the "banana wrap" - which works. :)

This yummy little treat is quite actually a full and well balanced meal for a little one (or a big one, for that matter). It's anatomy is rather basic: tortilla, peanut butter, honey, banana. Bingo.

(Obviously, the point of this is a healthy on-the-go snack/meal i.e. go with whole wheat wraps and natural peanut butter!!)

Just spread the PB...

Drizzle some honey...

Add a ripe banana and wrap it up!

If you pinch/fold the bottom end, you can give it to them like this (banana dog-style):

Or you can then slice it into chunks (banana bites), and bump up the fun with some chopsticks!

This nutrient-rich line-up makes it a full meal due to the soluble fiber in the whole wheat wrap, abundant protein + fat in the peanut butter, vitamin/mineral-laden honey, plus the carbs/fiber/vitamin C/potassium of the banana.

Especially in the summer, when the activity level (and consequently, the exhaustion) is cranked up a notch, a well-fed child equals a well-behaved child. And that, my dears, equals a happy mama!

Meet Tom

The Los Angeles Times featured an interesting article interviewing the legendary guru behind TOMS Shoes, Blake Mycoskie. While the article touches upon some of the core values of the whole "one for one" concept behind TOMS, I couldn't help but notice these neon green crocheted version of the buttery canvas kicks! Apparently these are his next steps, available next month as part of the Summer collection. I could totally live in these all summer (neon slip-ons, little white-washed jean skirts, white tees + a cruiser bike)!! It's summer bliss meets granny-chic! :)

You can learn some more about Blake and the fantabulous things he does on his blog "Start Something That Matters".

"Bugnoculars"

While still dawdling in the bug's life unit, we crafted some binoculars in search of the winged varieties. We used two toilet paper rolls, some printed paper, stickers to decorate, glue stick, paper clips to hold the rolls together, a hole puncher, and some ribbon.

She refused to call them anything but "bugnoculars", so we had to revisit this little Sesame Street clip (who doesn't love Julie Bowen??):

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvT4Hgsg2K8]

Crabby Little Art Critic

These are equal parts adorable and hilarious!! Kids and honesty - gotta love it!