It's a bike no wait it's a stroller no wait its a Taga

A friend of mine who is expecting recently asked my advice on what kind of stroller to buy. I had a feverish flashback of my own stroller shopping experience, recalling hours spent in front of the computer reading reviews on every known stroller. Fretting over every specification- is it easy to clean, lightweight, durable, comfortable, reasonably priced and well of course is it stylish.
In the end I trusted my gut and picked a stroller. it's nice, not perfect but it works for me and my children. So my advice is do a little research make sure there is a good return policy just in case your not satisfied and find that balance between your child comfort, your comfort and your wallet.
But If your adventurous I would recommend the Taga Bike/Stroller, came across this the other day and couldn't resist fantasising about taking my kids for a ride. While it's sold only in Europe right now I'm sure if you "Grease the right wheel" you may be able to finagle yourself a Taga.
http://www.taga.nl/default.asp

Taga will be available soon through selected nursery and bicycle stores in Europe.
The list of stores will be available soon

Taga B.V.Beurs - World Trade CenterBeursplein 37P.O. Box 302473001 DE Rotterdam,The Netherlands T: +31-10-4054370
28 Beit Hillel st.Tel-Aviv, Israel 67017
T: +972-3-6241578F: +972-3-6242136
info@taga.nl

Drool.Mmmm.more drool.

Smitten Kitchen's slow roasted tomatoes. Yummy. yum yum yummmy. My recent cravings have include tomatoes and this simple recipe looks delicious.

Game

The concept:

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.

b. Using only the first page, pick an image.

c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.

The Questions:

1. What is your first name?

2. What is your favorite food?

3. What high school did you go to?

4. What is your favorite color?

5. Who is your celebrity crush?

6. Favorite drink?

7. Dream vacation?

8. Favorite dessert?

9. What you want to be when you grow up?

10. What do you love most in life?

11. One Word to describe you.

12. Your flickr name.
I stole this from elise marley, but you should play along.

Wordle

Happy Birthday again and again and again

S, you had your birthday a couple weeks ago. Just about everyday since has also been your birthday. You sing Happy Birthday to yourself and build your blocks into the shape of a cake with candles on it and you run up to me and say "bwow candules!" or "Chwocowate Cake" so funny. The confusion may be from the trickling in of gifts from Great Aunts and second cousins. Since we live so far away the post sometimes takes awhile. So I understand the confusion when you have received a package with a birthday card and gifts every couple of days. It sure has been fun watching you enjoy it so much.

Love

Mom

Future Diaper Bag.

I have a great diaper bag right now. It's made by a Japanese handbag company called Hushhush. It's great, lots of pockets inside and out and adjustable shoulder strap. I'm able to carry enough essentials for two children and myself. But, *sigh, isn't it always greener.....

The bag below looks amazing. If my current bag should happen to meet some untimely end.. well, lets just say, I'd get this diaper bag, after allowing myself a short mourning period for my Hushhush, very short.

It's expensive but I can justify that by calling it an investment. right? It's being sold at Modern Tots, a tre' chic store for the modern baby.

I'm obsessed with miniature items. I'll bring home products of all kinds, items we don't even need, as long as it's small and compact and to me just adorable! It drives my husband batty. Miniature soda cans, soaps, shampoos, those cute little Tabasco bottles. If it's small I want it. I had this *ahem, problem well before my children were born but it has escalated well beyond anything healthy. I blame it on my diaper bag. The need to fit in every possible item that may help in any possible situation. It's got to be small, compact, and light. Am I the only one who thinks this way? It's true that you can find anything and I do mean A-N-Y-T-H-I-N-G, on the web. Look what I found. The mother load of minis.Company called Minimus caters to the compulsive mini shopper in all of us.

For all of you know-it-alls and even for the rest of us who want to be know-it-alls. Enjoy, Squidoo

J, my blond blue eyed doll.

Little J, you were 7 months old when this photo was taken. Your dad, your brother S, and I took you to the Okinawan Zoo. You loved it, you were so hard to hold, constantly wiggling in my arms to see all the animals you wanted so desperately to reach out and touch everything.
Your now 8 months old and you have mastered the combat crawl. Pulling with your arms and dragging you legs behind you, hey it's workin' for you. You enjoy Eskimo Kisses and when I rub your nose with mine you get very still and giggle softly. It warms my heart. Lately you have had a hard time of soothing yourself to sleep, so I sing to you, Amazing Grace usually does the trick and I rub your chest and when you are ready you roll onto your side and grab your doggy (which was a gift from your Great Aunt Lori). Your brother S is your hero and all you ever want is for him to come over and play with you. When he does you wiggly uncontrollably and reach out to him and yank on whatever you get a hold of be it hair or clothing or even an eye socket. S thinks you are kinda neat but occasionally he bonks you on the head with a truck or block and then looks shocked that you scream and cry. This brotherly love is a learning curve for the both of you. The cat, Law, is another wonder in your world. You spend most of your day chasing him about the living room and just as he gets within your reach he slyly moves another three feet out of your grasp. I'm still not sure what you plan to do with him once you catch him. Your dad is itching to start tossing you around and I may not be able to keep and bay very much longer, but I have feeling that your going to love rough housing with him. I'm just not prepared for the scraps and the bumps and the rushing to emergency rooms after one of you zigs while the other zags, and well, accidents do happen. I tell your father this all the time, he says I worry to much. true.
Love Mom.

S, The Gremlin 9 Months old

Mouth Watering

Never surf food blogs when your hungry.

Here are a couple of my favorite food blogs.

Steamy Kitchen by Jaden

She not only has excellent recipes that make your mouth water but she's funny too, very funny. If you live in her area and want to attend a cooking class click on the photo to the left. This women continues to floor me, she raises two young boys, writes cookbooks and magazine articles, host cooking shows, teaches cooking classes and still finds time to share with the rest of us all her amazing asian inspired dishes. Wow.

Also.. Smitten Kitchen (the ever popular) You can't be foodie and not be part of the Smitten Kitchen foodnewsletter.

Finally...

TasteSpotting which is an all encompassing foodblog, it is a collabrative effort to collect recipes posted throughout the web. Find a recipe on someones blog that needs to be shared or share one of your own. The layout is divine and the photos are works of art and edible at that. Yumm. Drool. I gotta go raid the fridge.

This is another favorite fashion site of mine I am Fashion. There are two contributors for this fashion site and they keep their posts simple and to the point with fashion photos and plenty of pictures. This is a great trend site. I log in once or twice a month and catch-up on fashion trends and fashion tips. Check it out.

Speak your mind

Interested in free products want to voice your opinion on how business run or how they should improve an existing product. Sign up for a membership to Shespeaks.com create a profile and wait for an invite to test and keep all sorts of stuff. I have been a member for almost a year and have had the opportunity to test lipgloss, electronic toothbrush, new online site and sculpting hair cream. But almost better than the free stuff is the online forums where women voice thier opinions about children, money, fashion, politics, and products of all types.

Time for tea.

Here are the tea packages for the Swap-bot tea swap. I really hope my recipients enjoy them I put alot into them. I even made an extra pack for my Mom for her Birthday.

Blog, blog,blog........

So I'm blogging about a blogger who blogs about other bloggers, still with me? Kim over at Today's Creative blog has a gorgeous site that does just what it says, every day she showcases a blog that has caught her eye. Looking for something new interested in finding a gem, then her site will get you there in style. Have I mentioned how visually appealing her site is? Gorgeous.

Blogging cartoons

I ran across How About Orange's recent post and it made me laugh, she has a cartoon by Dave Walker and it's pretty funny. I have had this one in my cartoon file for sometime, the side c's gapingvoid.com , and after going to the site I found the artist is Hugh MacLeod. His site has other very witty cartoons that it seems he scribbles on the back of business cards. Clever, huh.

Flygirls

What attracts me to a particular site?
Content, well written, site design and graphic layout, organization, unique communication venues, reliable updates and the need and success to inspire or educate others.
Flygirls has hit the proverbial nail on the head with all of it. Andrea is a 29 year old designer living in Philly; her site was recently awarded Best Niche Blog by 2007 Black Weblog Awards. Her site though primarily about fashion design hits on many other creative arenas such as textiles, architecture, art, photography, and beauty. I also recommend watching the Webisodes.
Below is the latest Webisode, if not viewable please got to her Youtube site.

Flygirls also has a link of the day in which she simply leads her readers to a blog or site that has caught her eye.

Yet another neat feature is Fly girl of the week in which she interviews fly women in the creative industry and finds out what inspires them.

If you are fly material nominate yourself here, and if picked you’ll not only be featured on her blog but also receive a “Fly and be inspired” tote. It’s a win-win, right?
I hope you enjoy Flygirls as much as I do. Happy Blogging.

Tea swap.

I'm working on 5 packages of tea to send out to those participating in a tea swap from swap-bot.com. I'll update this site once I have some photos downloaded. If you have yet to visit Swap-bot.com I suggest you get on over and see what it is all about. I was thrilled to have found it, since I love sending mail and really, really, love to recieve mail I think this site has helped immensely.

I swap with Swap-bot!

Get your blog listed! Blog Directory

I had to add this before signing off for the day. I came across Delightful Blogs and think it is fantastic. What a plethora of blogs to get lost in, and such a quick way to find the blogging community that interests you most. The sites boast at having 2013 blogs listed and I'm sure they are adding more each day. My fingers are just tingling to be let loose to flip through all 2,013 sites. I have to make my husband a big fat turkey sandwich, just load him up on all that sleep inducing tryptophan, that way I can get some quality surfing done with out having to battle him for the computer. I highly recommend adding your blog to the site they have a registration form and you have to meet certain criteria, like...you have to have been up and running for at least three months (that takes me out right there) but if you fit the bill why not add your site so that your message can be showcased for others to find. I'm counting my three months down till I can add my blog.

Inspiration: Artsy Momma

Okay I'm only on my, what, third post and I am inspired by Artsymomma.blogspot.com who has reached and surpassed her 200th blog. Amazing, her posts are clever and witty, her daughter is adorable and she writes to her posts as if she is talking with family. Allowing each of us to feel comfortable and accepted into her blogging world. I highly recommend adding Artsy Momma to your repertoire.

Just for fun.

Many of my posts won't have much writing. I believe in just getting to the point. So here we go.
I recently stumbled across http://www.polyvore.om/ It is one part fashion one part design shake well and you will have a new vice. Expect to spend the next three days building sets and forgetting to comb your hair or go to work.
http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/profile?id=119839