Happy Healthy Hip Holiday Gift Guide 2010

All of the items below can be found at Uncommon Goods, one of my favorite online shopping sites.

For Him:

Pool Ball Wine Stoppers

Pipe Laptop Stand

Duct Tape Wallet

Cuft

For Her:

Colored Pencil Teardrop Necklace

 

Stretch Your Dollar Wallet

Purse Hanger

Agate Photo Frames

Wine-Tasting Chocolate Kit

For the Kids:

Cardboard Cottage Doll House

Create Your Own Puzzle

Whatchamadrawit

Modern Play Family

Animal Sandwich Cutters

For the Host with the Most:

Salt & Pepper Mill

Tasting Plate

Tic-Tac-Toe Plate

Rubber Coasters (6-pack)

Boat Buoy Candles

For new parents (hint, hint):

 

Teething Necklace

"I Was Worth the Wait"

Eco-Friendly Baby Booties

"Made with Love"

Baby Sacque & Hat Sets

Shopping through this link will help support our future diaper fund. Check out our previous Gift Guides for more  gift ideas:

2009 Holiday Gift Guide
2008 Holiday Gift Guide

Happy Shopping!

Happy Healthy Hip Parenting
Peace Begins in the Home

Bigfoot Sighting

Each year, there’s always one or two big toys that come out near the holiday season that are meant to entertain kids for hours on end. This year, Bigfoot the Monster uses over 80 actions and phrases to keep whomever it is behind the remote control laughing and imitating his life-sized moods.

From burping to laughing, eating to sleeping, this is one creature that will be great playmates for your little ones (at least until the batteries run out).

Learn more about this remote-controlled beast by visiting the official page on the Fisher-Price website. You can also share your mood using the Bigfoot Mood app on Facebook (now through Dec. 15th) and enter to win a Bigfoot of your very own.

Happy Healthy Hip Parenting
Peace Begins in the Home

Tiny Prints, Big Smiles

For the first time in years, I’m looking forward to the holiday season.

Our blended family will be celebrating our first Thanksgiving together, our first Christmas as a family and welcoming the newest member of our tribe as we get closer to 2011.

This year, I’m also excited to send out holiday cards, something I’ve dreaded in the past (single parents tend to have a hard time finding pictures of themselves with their children, so finding photos to use in past years was way more stressful than fun).

My husband and I recently spent one evening designing our 2010-2011 holiday cards on the Tiny Prints website. Even though I was getting a little frustrated with the process (picking a design that would work with the photos we wanted to include and finding the perfect font), it ended up being a fun experience as we pored over photos from this year (and laughing a lot). After a couple of hours (and a few drinks for my husband), we created a beautiful photo card that we’ll be sending out to family and friends.

I was introduced to Tiny Prints many years ago and have watched them grow through their use of social media and expanding of their product line and the many designs they offer. When we were given the opportunity to receive our holiday cards from them in exchange for a review, I jumped at the opportunity since I have admired their simplicity and style for years.

The hardest part of the process was picking out a design. There seem to be almost too many to choose from although I managed to dwindle down my top picks to about a dozen templates before my husband and I finally selected one that worked. We chose a tri-fold, double-sided design which allows room for four photos and personalized text.

We included a large close-up of my son, an ultrasound profile pic of baby (due to arrive January 2nd) and a few pictures from our summer wedding.

Even though we haven’t even sent out our cards yet, I’m already looking forward to start our next project – designing baby announcements from the Tiny Prints collection. We only have a few dozen or so designs saved in our account to choose from.

Tiny Prints provides simple, modern and unique stationery from Christmas cards to personalized greeting cards to thank you cards and even business cards. Offering exclusive designs from the nation’s top designers, easy card personalization, a powerful preview engine and top-notch customer service and paper quality, their designs have been lauded by numerous television networks, publications and celebrities.

Tiny Prints offer perfect party invitations for every occasion and memorable personalized photo-gifts like notebooks, photo-books and calendars.

Disclosure Statement: We received complimentary holiday cards in exchange for our honest review and mention of the Tiny Prints product line. If you have a blog, you can apply to review them too!

Happy Healthy Hip Parenting
Peace Begins in the Home

Diamonds are a Mom’s Best Friends

So, this is the post where I admit that I have never seen Breakfast at Tiffany’s, starring Audrey Hepburn. Of course, I am a lover of diamonds (what girl isn’t?) and all things food related, so, naturally, I jumped at the opportunity to have a real Breakfast at Tiffany’s experience of my own when I was invited to the Tiffany & Co. store here in San Diego to preview their latest line of handbags and designer jewelry last week.

There were several San Diego Bloggers present, which was another reason why I was excited to visit Fashion Valley Mall in the wee hours of the morning. It wasn’t that early, but getting there before any of the stores open is something I normally don’t do, not even during the holiday season.

After greeting some friends and grabbing a mimosa by mistake (quickly replaced by a “real” orange juice), I browsed the jewelry counters to drool over the finest pieces designed by Paloma Picasso and Tiffany & Co.’s new Leather Goods collection designed by Richard Lambertson and John Truex. They also revealed their new collection of Yellow Diamonds, featuring rare diamonds mined in Western Australia and exclusively found at Tiffany & Co.

As much as I love looking at jewelry, and trying pieces on, I felt a little uneasy touching some of the items that were worth more than everything else I own (all together). I did, however, try on a bracelet that was $49,000 and a few other pieces that made me feel like a princess, at least for the few minutes I was allowed to wear them.

The entire staff treated us like queens while we were there, encouraging us to try on everything and get our hands on the items that were a little beyond our reach (literally and figuratively). Some bloggers left the store that morning with a blue bag of their own, but all of us left with a little sparkle in our eye and much excitement for the coming holiday season.

Thanks to my friends and the highly knowledgeable staff members at Tiffany & Co.,  I learned about Push Presents and made sure to share this idea with my husband later that same day.

I haven’t bookmarked all of the pages in the Tiffany & Co. catalogs, but I have certainly spent quite a bit of time looking through them (while sipping coffee from this beautiful mug). I especially enjoy purusing the catalog featuring their new Leather Goods line which include beautiful clutches, totes, handbags, wallets, gloves and briefcases both for professionals and those looking for a glamorous accessory for a night on the town.

If you haven’t taken a look at the Tiffany collections lately,  or at all, I highly encourage you to visit their website and discover all the beautiful items they offer, including their stemware, baby gifts, and items that fit within most gift-giving budgets.

Don’t miss our tribute to the fine folks at Tiffany & Co. as we sing about the little blue box we’d all love under our tree this year (or any year).

Happy Shopping!

Happy Healthy Hip Parenting
Peace Begins in the Home

Non-Raw Sushi Menu for Mamas-to-Be

Giving up certain foods during pregnancy is not easy. I gave up caffeine – for a short while – but I haven’t been able to give up soft cheeses, entirely, and giving up sushi has been a real challenge, especially when my 6 1/2 year old son asks if we can have sushi for dinner.

I asked the people over at Harney Sushi my favorite sushi venues in all of San Diego) if they could put together a safe list of menu items that pregnant women can enjoy and they happily obliged.

“Since there hasn’t been any outside research on this, we prefer not to call it the “pregnancy safe list” but rather the ‘Non Raw Sushi List,’ says Harney Sushi chef, Ian Kadane.

• Hippie Roll (vegetarian) – Tempura sweet potato, shitake mushroom, avocado, cucumber and topped with tempura flakes.
• Emily Roll (vegetarian) – Cucumber, yama gobo, sprouts and topped with avo.
• Veggie Roll (vegetarian) – Fresh cucumber, avocado, radish sprouts and yama gobo.
• Cucumber or Avocado Maki (vegetarian)
• California Roll – Crab salad, cucumber and fresh avocado.
• Flaming Lip Roll – Tempura cali roll with cream cheese. Topped with spicy mayo and jalapeno slices.
• Tater Todds – Halibut wrapped around rice balls, topped with spicy mayo. Baked until golden and topped with eel sauce.
• Miso Harney Roll – Eel, cream cheese and avocado. Then tempura fried perfection. Covered in eel sauce and sesame seeds.
• Shrimp Tempura Roll – Two jumpo tempura Tiger shrimp, avocado, cucumber, crab salad. Topped with eel sauce. (Ask for no masago)
• Soft Shell Crab Roll - Soft shell crab, crab salad, fresh avocado, cucumber. Topped with ponzu sauce. (Ask for no masago)

For those who want to play it safe, Kadane recommends strict vegetarian items. Items containing cooked fish or tempura also make great alternatives. “For pregnant women who miss the taste of sushi, this craving can often be satiated with the flavors of rice, seaweed, ginger, wasabi and various condiments rather than raw fish. Even something simple like a cucumber maki can satisfy the sushi craving.”

Kadane also encourages customers to sit at the sushi bar, especially if they have special needs. He personally likes to make baked rolls (which do not appear on the regular menu) for pregnant women.

While I haven’t had a chance to check out this special menu just yet, I cannot wait to sample each and every one of the suggested items.

What is/was the hardest thing for you to give up during pregnancy? Be honest. I’m also really looking forward to enjoying a cold beer with my sushi rolls.

Good things come to those who wait.

Happy Healthy Hip Parenting
Peace Begins in the Home