These days it’s difficult to find a child’s toy that isn’t made of plastic. The number one problem is that plastic isn’t durable. As rough as kids are on things, it doesn’t take long to break even the best quality toys.
HaPe International, of Switzerland, designed a game called Pandabo for children ages 4+.
Pandabo is made [...]

My hair is just frizzy enough to need to be straightened with a hair dryer and flat iron. It is just straight enough to need some serious coaxing to be curly.
The beautiful cork screw curls that I would love to have only appear on the bottom layer of my excessively thick mop. Needless to [...]

If you are hunting for an iPod but would also like to save some money, check out Tech For Less.
When I was hunting around the ‘net for my son’s birthday, I stumbled onto their site and I am happy to report I had such a wonderful experience the first time around that I just [...]

Ever seen a product and thought why didn’t I think of that? That product for me was the Reynolds Slow Cooker Liners.
The geniuses behind this invention are the same folks who made the release aluminum non-stick foil, but took it one step further by creating this liner you place in your crock pot and when [...]

My three year old got this doll for her recent birthday, and it is far and away my favorite present she received, and possibly hers, too.
Dress Up Adventure Dora is a large doll, about 15” tall. She comes in denim shorts and a cute pink top, with a yellow flower watch and her ever [...]

by Izzy

The Dove SkinVitalizer is a handheld device that washes and/or exfoliates your face. I wouldn’t call it a brush because there are no bristles but it does use two-sided cleansing pads that attach securely to the device with a Velcro-like material on the handle.
One side of the pad is smooth for washing and the [...]

Milkscreen is a new product that helps a nursing mother figure out exactly when her breastmilk is alcohol-free after having a drink.
I was able to chat recently on the phone with Milkscreen co-founder Julie Jumonville, an engineer by trade and a 35-year-old Texas mother of two.
“We all have our Mommy guilt,” Jumonville said, explaining the [...]

(NOTE: This review has been amended here)
There were two surprises after my husband and I eloped last summer. The first was when I found his voter registration card, and we don’t need to talk about that here. That is what my 50 minute hour is for.
The second was when I discovered the horrific sleep [...]

As reward for the longest weekend on record, I watched the film Running with Scissors on Saturday night. I read the book ages ago but felt the movie version was so much more palatable and amusing.
The mother character, played brilliantly by Annette Benning, was a heap more sympathetic and familiar in film than in prose. [...]

Do you love free samples? I do. I’m the person who scours Sam’s Club on Saturday mornings and can make a meal out of the free food they hand out. It’s an art form, but you can put together all 5 food groups on a good day.
Even better, though, is that I have been using [...]

I don’t know if you’re anything like me, but when I find a product I absolutely love, especially cosmetics, I’ll go and buy a lot of it! You know, in case they’d quit making it all of a sudden (which seems to frequently happen to me). I doubt they’ll quit making this lip balm anytime [...]

When my Dyson Slim vacuum cleaner arrived, I couldn’t wait to try it out because the Dyson brand’s reputation led me to believe it would be an amazing piece of floor-cleaning technology. I wasn’t disappointed.
My husband put it together and he remarked on how well engineered it was and how well the parts fit together. [...]

The Props and Pans team members were sent samples of Nature Valley Crunchy Oats ‘N Honey Cereal. We all tried it but did we all like it? Keep reading to find out!

I was excited to receive my Nature Valley Cereal sample in the mail. I like their granola bars, though we don’t eat food [...]

Sharp Objects, just released in paperback, is the story of a Chicago reporter sent back to her hometown in Mississippi to cover the disappearances of two little girls. Because her editor is too cheap to spring for hotels, our heroine must stay with her fascinatingly flawed family.
Stephen King says he was unable [...]

There aren’t a lot of reasons to order mail order gourmet coffee other than to get something you can’t get anywhere else. I became acquainted with Boca Java a couple of years ago and have always been impressed by the quality of their roast (never bitter or over-roasted) and by their variety of flavors. [...]