Best of: Finale!

It's been such a fun week. Thanks for all your suggestions and thoughts. Today we want to open it up to a Best of Free for All!

So, the comment thread is yours to ask for tips on whatever you desire. Or to give a great suggestion. For example:

I think you all should know that Pop Secret Home Style is the best kind of microwave popcorn I've ever tried. (You should get some for your movie party tonight.)

or maybe you want to ask for suggestions:


Emily:
I need new laundry detergent. I want clean clothes and a yummy smell -- suggestions?

Anne:
@ Emily - Tide w/ Febreze

Try to phrase your responses so that people reading the thread will know which question you are responding to - either by restating the question or by addressing your comment to the person who posed the question.


Have fun! Have a great weekend! And thanks again for all your comments this week. Fun, fun!

Best Of: Post Partum Tips

This 'best of' post is like the index card you're handed at a baby shower with the request to record some advice for the new mom.

Here's what my index card says:

*Breastfeed if you can. And don't let your baby snack. Get him good and full at each feeding so he will sleep properly. (This doesn't really apply to the first two weeks, when I think you should feed OFTEN and how ever much the baby wants so you can make him happy and build up your milk supply.)

*Speaking of nursing, I've tried every brand, and I really think Johnson nursing pads are the best. They are soft, absorbent, and the least lumpy through a t-shirt.

*Also speaking of nursing, you need lanolin for your sore little boosies. Try Lansinoh.

*Invest in an awesome, battery powered swing. IT IS THE GREATEST THING EVER! I love holding my babies, but sometimes you need to have a shower or get breakfast on the table...

*Gerber onesies are the best. They fit nice and snug. (They run on the small size, btw.)

*In the first few weeks postpartum, listen to your body. If you are tired, SIT DOWN. Sometimes I try to get right back out to the rice paddy, so to speak, and overdo it. Bodies need to heal. Nap whenever you can!

*Along those same lines, listen to your mind and heart. If you are starting to feel cooped up, melancholy, or lonely, call a friend! This time around I struggled with this more than usual, and when I felt it coming on I tried to reach out rather than get sucked further in (which is my typical inclination). There's nothing that cheered me like my friend popping by with an icy cold coke for me...

*In the end, never be afraid to throw out all the advice and listen to your mother heart.
--Anne


Em here...

It's been a while since I was "post-partum" - and even though it is soooo hard, and exhausting and all-around nuts in many ways, it is a state I would very much like to find myself in again soon. My advice is to look at that little babe and smell it and sing to it and hold it close and savor it all very mindfully. But I'm sure you already know and do that.

I don't really like to tell other moms what to do - everyone's patterns and habits evolve differently. And what one mom feels totally happy and content with might drive another mom crazy. All I can really say or recommend is what felt right to me. Something that is very important to me is honoring my baby's schedule; we all seem to be happier when we can do that. I know it gets harder as you add more children and life gets busier with each child. But as much as possible, after my babies are born, we lay low. We stay home. We let the baby sleep!
And schedules and sleep patterns don't always just materialize out of luck and thin air. Sometimes you have to work at them quite diligently. I say work at it. It might seem like a lot of work on the front end (it is) but the pay off is beautiful and so worth it.

My last bit of advice is, don't wait too long to remember you. For the first few weeks after I have a baby, I just let life happen. I don't try to impose any sort of order or schedule or normalcy on anything. But if that drags on too long, I start to feel out of sorts and unhappy. So, I try to figure out what I need, and act. I have a hard time feeling peaceful and happy if my house looks like Chernobyl. I'm not militant about it, but I make it a priority to get things back to some semblance of order every day, even with a small baby. If I can't do it by myself, I ask my husband to help. I recognize that mothering, especially of a new baby, requires a lot of sacrifice. But I think when it gets to a point of total self-sacrifice that stretches on and on we really start to feel lost and depressed. So don't wait too long to nurture yourself.
--Em

What does your index card say? What products do you think are the BEST? What advice would you give a new mom?

Best Of: Rundown & Mother's Day Wishes

Thanks for all your great suggestions so far this week. In case you missed anything, let's review:

we've talked about best blogs, trusted cookbooks/food blogs, essential toys for every playroom,
the Scholastic Video Collection, and must-have beauty products. If you'd like to weigh in on any of those topics, please feel free - we'd love to know what you think! And thanks a million for the tips you've already shared.

This morning, just for fun, we want to know:
What's the best thing you could imagine for Mother's Day this year? (It's coming up quick!!) Is there a special gift you're hoping to receive? Time alone? Some luxurious pampering? An evening away with your lover? What are you hoping for?

And! Stop back by this afternoon; we'll be discussing best post-partum survival tips - everything from best nursing pads to best advice. Having gone through it very recently Anne is our resident expert :) You won't want to miss it.
And we need your advice, too!

Best of: Beauty Products

I never thought it would happen to me, but lately I've been looking in the mirror and thinking, 'should I be using one of those regenerative eye creams?'

And ever since mineral make up came out I've been curious, but have never tried it.

Mostly I stick to my tried and true products...Clinique moisturizer, savex lip balm, It's a Ten hair serum, and whatever complimentary make up comes in my yearly Clinique bonus!

But lately I've been wondering what better products might be out there that I'm missing out on.

What do you say? What are your MUST HAVE beauty products?

--anne

Best of: Scholastic Video Collection

Here is one of those product posts that I couldn't be more passionate about!

Have you seen the Scholastic Video Collection? Scholastic has made a bunch of DVDs from all of your favorite, classic children's story books.

Why I love them:

1. They make my kids even more excited to get out the books they're based on.

2. The animation is very simple and directly from the book--essentially you feel like someone is reading the book to your child and the picture is on the screen. Because of that, it's so much more simple and far less visually stimulating than most kids' movies, a quality I highly value.

I'm telling you, these are the BEST. My kids go crazy for them. When I need a few minutes to take a shower or when we're on a road trip, I'd so much rather put one of these in than any of our other movies.

You can check them out here.


Enjoy!

anne

Best Of: Toys

There aren't many things more discouraging than a playroom full of reject toys that got played with for twenty minutes on Christmas morning then tossed aside. But it's tough to predict what a child will really play with and love. It's so helpful to get input from other moms on things like this.

What are the most played-with toys in your playroom? What toys should every household with young children own?

Best Of: Cookbooks/Food Blogs

When you're looking for meal-time inspiration, where do you turn? Do you have a shelf full of cookbooks, or are you more inclined to peruse your favorite food blogs?

The cookbooks I use most are family compilations - the tried and trues. But I love owning a few beautiful cookbooks just to look through them and love them. I have a few favorite recipes (a lentil soup and a pumpkin muffin to name a couple) that I got from a well-loved Williams Sonoma cookbook, which I received for our wedding. Lately I've been doing a lot of recipe searching online; I find recipes in all kinds of places, from Smitten Kitchen to allrecipes.com to Rachael's food blog. Mel's Kitchen Cafe has yet to disappoint me. Our Best Bites looks like another great resource (I've never tried their recipes). I love Pioneer Woman's restaurant style salsa recipe, but most of her stuff has too much bacon grease and butter for everyday consumption.

See? Told ya I gather recipes from all over the ether.

What are your go-to cookbooks? Food blogs?

Bloom's Second Annual "Best Of" Week...

Last year's "Best Of" Week was so much fun we decided to make it an annual tradition. Remember all the great advice we shared? We covered topics ranging from essential kitchen gadgets to best deodorant brand (who knew that would elicit such a passionate response?!)

This year we have a great line-up of tips to share and questions to pose to help us all find better solutions to the situations that crop up in daily life. Do you have a product to recommend? A great bit of advice you'd like to share? A book you're in love with? A household tip every woman should know? Or maybe you've got something you'd like to get recommendations about from other Bloomers, (what is the best brand of shampoo you can buy at the grocery store?)

We'd love to share/discuss it this week -- e.mail us! (aplacetobloom at gmail dot com)

In the mean time, let's talk about Best Blogs. What are you reading and loving these days? What holds your interest? What makes a blog great? (Please include links so we can check out the blogs you recommend!)

I'll go first. I love Marta. I also love Jordan. Her new blog, Sweat Bread, is giving me all kinds of organic inspiration. And I am always happy to see a new post from Jane.
--Em


Your turn...

Best of: Finale

This has been such a fun (funny!) week. We find it rather hilarious that we drew 35 comments asking for deodorant suggestions. Who ever would have guessed that would be such a hot topic?!

Thank you for all of your suggestions and tips. Thank you! We hope some of this has been helpful to you; we can't wait to do it again.

Now the comment thread is yours to ask each other for suggestions, recommendations and tips about anything and everything.

Try to phrase your responses so that people reading the thread will know which question you are responding to - either by restating the question or by addressing your comment to the person who posed the question, i.e.:

Emily:
I need new laundry detergent. I want clean clothes and a yummy smell -- suggestions?

Anne:
@ Emily - Tide w/ Febreze

Easy enough, no?
Can't wait to see what comes up.

Pandora Preferences

Do you love Pandora?

So do we.

When I'm home with my kids, I create an Elizabeth Mitchell station and we have happy tunes all afternoon! When I'm working out, it's Roxette. When I'm cleaning the kitchen by myself in the quiet of the evening, it's Brandi Carlile.

What are your favorite stations?

Of All the Parenting Books...

There is a lot of literature out there for parents. Sometimes it's overwhelming to sift through it all to find what you really need. We have a few favorite parenting books that we'd like to share with you and then we'd like you to share yours with all of us...deal?

Emily:

*Your Child's Self Esteem - Dorothy Corkille Briggs

*How To Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk - Adele Faber & Elaine Mazlish (recommended to me by one of the mothers I adore most - hi Elizabeth! :)

*6 Point Plan for Raising Healthy & Happy Children - John Rosemond (this book really changed that way I think about TV, creative play, and saying "No").

Not a book, but definitely a fountain of wisdom, I am loving the Asking Jane blog - a series of questions about parenting answered by a very wise (and gentle) mother of 11 (!) -- she is wonderful.

Anne:

*Kids are Worth It!: Giving Your Child the Gift of Inner Discipline -Barbara Coloroso
(My sister (a mother of 5) swears by this book. She gave it to me and it revolutionized the way I look at incentives and completely changed (i.e. improved) the way I managed my second grade classroom.)

*The Creative Family -Amanda Blake Soule
(You've likely seen this book or at least know her blog-soulemama.com. She is wonderful.)

Your turn, please...

Road Trip

Did anyone not roadtrip in a station wagon that looked like this sometime in their childhood? Ours was white.

It's the day before a big road trip. On my mind: car snacks.
I venture out to the store. I stand in the snack aisle in a dizzy haze wondering what of all that packaged fare will sound good at mile 357?? Tell me you've been there!

So, blog pals, what are your favorite snacks for a road trip?

(p.s. there is no such thing as a wrong answer to this question - normal conventions of nutrition do not apply on road trips (ie: corn nuts).

xo,
em

Leak-proof Sippies

Finding a sippy cup that's truly leak-proof is a tough proposition.

May we recommend:
Tummy Ticklers

image via Tummy Tickler's Website

The juice is totally overpriced, but what you're really buying are the wonderful little bottles that do not leak. I just toss them in my dishwasher after my kids use them and they're ready for another day of use. Best ever.

Plain White T

OK my friends. If you can help me solve this one, you can be my BFF. I need a good white T-shirt.

Here is what I'm looking for:
-Thick enough that I could wear it all by itself and you wouldn't see my bra underneath
-Stretchy enough to have good shape
-Long enough that I don't have to constantly pull it down

Here is what I've tried, that I'm not really satisfied with:
-Shade Clothing (the last one I got was floppy, plus I'm bored with their necklines and capped sleeves)
-Layers Clothing (didn't love the fabric)
-Down East Basics (not thick enough)
-Gap (not enough stretch)
-Mossimo for Target (terrible fit)

My mother is probably laughing right now, because she has had to deal with this for years--she thinks I am terribly fussy about clothes. I'm just convinced that there is a better white T out there, and I bet one of you can tell me where to find it...

xo
anne

Cleaning Playlist

When I'm deep cleaning, I need music. And today, I need some suggestions for my cleaning soundtrack.

What's your favorite song/music to clean to?

Salsa (!)

When it comes to salsa, we all know that homemade is hard to beat. (Impossible?) For my personal favorite canned-tomato recipe, which I've been making all winter, see HERE. But sometimes we find ourselves in a pinch -- in the salsa aisle, wondering which of the assortment of pureed tomato products will deliver for our imminent Mexican fiesta ? ? ?

Our question for you is:

What's your favorite store-bought salsa?
In case you're wondering, I like Herdez (medium).

amor,
em


**for those of you just dropping by, we're in the middle of "Best of/Tip/We Recommend Week" here at Bloom. Scroll back through the last few posts to see what we've been dishing about and weigh in.**

Generic?

I have no problem buying generic, as long as it's comparable in quality to the name brand, I'll keep the $.89 price difference thankyouverymuch. My experience with generics has been hit and miss, though. Some generics are virtually indiscernable from their pricier counterparts, while others are noticeably inferior. Target's generic (the Up & Up brand) is yet to disappoint me. I use their diapers, wipes, diaper rash ointment, mouthwash...the list goes on. I love it.

What I want to know from you is:

What generic brands do you trust?
What products do you buy generic?
What things do you insist on buying name brand?

thanks,
em

Best deodorant??

I can't tell you how many times I've sat cross-legged on the floor of the toiletrees aisle at Target, scouring the deodorant section. I've sniffed and sniffed, and am never satisfied. All those baby powder smells make me want to gag. And so many times I've paid $4 for one, only to wear it for 2 days and hate it! I just can't take it. Help a sister out, Bloomers! What's the best deodorant?

Forever grateful,

anne

Best Crayons

Problem #1. My boys are both eager to color, but lack the dexterity necessary to color without snapping the crayons into little nubs.

Problem #2. Roger, my ever particular two-year-old, refuses to color with crayons unless they're 'nakey' (i.e. have the paper torn off). Don't ask me why. But I have done a lot of paper peeling.

Thus, we are left with boxes and boxes of nakey, stubby crayons, that drive my kids nuts.

My saving grace? Crayola Twistables. First of all, in my humble opinion, no other crayon company holds a candle to Crayola. Second, these Twistables are ingenious, especially for the toddler sector. They don't break, you don't mess with paper or sharpening or anything else. My boys love them. I love them. They eliminate stress. Ahhh...

"Best Of/Tip/We Recommend" Week

What are blogs for if not to swap tips and share wisdom? We're devoting this week to tip sharing - trying to help each other discover the perfect brand of deodorant, the best song to clean to, and when it's okay to sub a generic for the pricier name brand.

Is there something you're dying to ask this little community? Jot down your questions/suggestions and save them for Friday when the Bloom comment thread will turn into a "Best Of" free-for-all where you can ask each other for tips on everything under the sun!

To start things off, we ask you:

What are some of the best tools/gadgets in your kitchen? Which ones would you hate to cook/clean-up without?