Gifts for Mom

Just a little reminder that Mother's Day is this weekend. I'm a little late with my post this year, but if you have already taken care of a Mother's Day gift, you can tuck this idea away for another time. Even though you don't have time to get the finished necklace before Sunday, it would still make a wonderful gift as a kit or a gift certificate. I am glad that I was involved in the actual process, LP Dad gave me the kit and we did the cast together as a family. Everytime I look at my necklace I remember sitting with my husband and my daughter, laughing at our practice attempts.

I have had my fingerprint necklace from Tina Steinberg for over a year now and still receive compliments on it all the time. A little silver polish is all it takes to keep it looking brand new, and I love having a little bit of LP with me even when she's at school. I find myself feeling her tiny little print when she isn't with me, almost as a subsitute for holding her hand. She loves to put her finger back in the print to see how much she has grown.

One of the most common questions (after where it is from) is whether she has options for moms with more than one child. She now has many different options for multiple fingerprints, whether you want one charm with all the prints on it, or individual prints put together in one piece of jewelry.




She other has other types of mom jewelry now, my favorites is the round glass pendant with your children's names.



All photos in this post are the property of Tina Steinberg and are posted with permission.

My New Stove!

It's in and I love it. It was so nice to cook dinner tonight, the water boiled in half the time, I was able to slowly warm the oil, and the sauce simmered slowly until it thickened perfectly. Now I want to get a griddle and make pancakes tomorrow.

It's Official.

I'm an adult. You would think that I would have come to this conclusion when I bought my condo, got married, bought our house, or especially when I had a baby. Nope, it became official this week when I was so happy about the plumber coming to fix our shower, and then even more excited when we bought a new cooktop today. Yes, I am giddy about a kitchen appliance.

Now, really I shouldn't be quite this happy that I let Lilypad Dad talk me into purchasing one today. It wasn't quite at the top of our priority list, now that my shower is fixed the guest bathtub and getting the garbage disposal installed were the next two projects on the list. But when he wanted to go look I didn't say no. After all, I almost burned off all my hair and my eyelashes the other night trying to light the left burner. There is almost no control left, I can either have things at a full boil or off, there is no way to get a nice slow simmer anymore. And the burner I prefer to cook on is not always lighting right away, although the gas is flowing, which is how I almost ended up with a new hairstyle from the mini-fireball. Since he did 8.5 hours of OT yesterday which will cover 1/2 of the new stove, and we still have all of the OT coming from his US Open shifts to put towards the other bathroom, I let him place the order. I can't wait to pick it up on Wednesday!

My New Toy

Everyone needs to get a toy for your birthday, no matter how old you are. This weekend we finally got out to get my birthday present, my toy for this year. It is a Polar F6 Heart Rate Monitor. Now I can really make the most of my workouts. And as the weather gets nicer, I can turn my walks with Lilypad Princess into useful workouts as well by making sure that my heart rate reaches my target zone while pushing her on her bike.

Lilypad Loves: Fingerprint Necklace

It came, it came! My Fingerprint Necklace from Tina Steinberg came today and I love it. It is about the same size as a nickel, and LP's fingerprint is perfectly detailed. The fingerprint is very clear, all the ridge detail is captured, and the rest of the silver disk is smooth and shiny. LP's name and the date we made the fingerprint mold is engraved on the back.

The mold process was very easy, we did a few trial runs with playdough first, and wanting it perfect, I redid the actual print once. Tina Steinberg sends everything that you need to make the mold and ship it back to her, then about 2 weeks later she sends you a beautiful piece of keepsake jewelry. Lilypad Princess was excited to fit her finger right back into the silver print this morning. Here are a few detail photos, one for sizing and one so you can see the thickness of the disk. click on photos to enlarge

Just a little snack

I've been trying to eat as healthy as possible as well as going to the gym. But I haven't been able to curb my urge for a snack now and then. So my popcorn bowl has been getting quite a workout of its own lately.

The Nordic Ware Microwave Popcorn Popper produces up to 12 cups of fresh popcorn without any oil in less than 4 minutes. You just pour the kernels in the bowl, put the top on and stick it in the microwave. A couple sprays of a zero calorie butter spray, a little sprinkle of salt and you have a low calorie, no fat, whole grain, high fiber snack that is filling and satisfies that urge to snack.


photo from cooking.com

Lilypad Likes Part 2

I don't know if I ever mentioned it, but I found out at Christmas that Lilypad Dad does read The Lily Pad. He surprised me with the kit for the Round Up My Love fingerprint necklace that I posted about under Lilypad Likes back in December.

Tonight Lilypad Princess, Lilypad Dad and I took out the kit, rolled out the clay, and made the fingerprint mold. Tomorrow we will pack it all back up and mail it off. I cannot wait to see the finished product.

Candy Cane Lane

Oh no! I just had to open another box of my new obsession, Candy Cane Lane tea by Celestial Seasonings. That means I only have one unopened box left, and it isn't in my store anymore. I'm not going to be able to make it until next Christmas, I thought I had more time to stick up, January isn't even over yet!

I discovered Candy Cane Lane for the first time this past Christmas. It is a decaffinated green tea with an irresistible blend of peppermint, creamy vanilla and just a touch of cinnamon and sweet blackberry leaves. It is excellent hot or cold (unfortunately how I end up drinking most of my tea by the time I get to it). It has taken care of any dessert cravings, even my cravings for peppermint ice cream.

If anyone happens to see this while you're out shopping, please let me know so I can stock up for the rest of the year, otherwise all my hard work at the gym will be wasted when I run out and have nothing to subsitute for sweet cravings but peppermint ice cream each night.

Lilypad Likes

Children are unique and so are their fingerprints. So what a great idea to create a piece of jewelry featuring their fingerprint. What a wonderful gift for a parent, grandparent or even a godparent.

I've found some wonderful fingerprint jewelry by Tina Steinberg. You have your child make an impression of their finger or thumb in the clay kit, then Tina Steinberg will preserve it forever in silver or gold in the style of your choice. She can even put multiple impressions on the same piece.

My favorite style is the Round Up My Love pendant which holds the entire fingerprint.

Bring on the snow!

Blue House Mom mentioned this morning that there is the possibility of snow coming this weekend. Lilypad Princess has completely outgrown her boots, snowpants and jacket from last year so if we want to go play in the snow we needed something new. Lilypad Dad, LP and I hit the mall today to see what we could find.

We really lucked out today, not only is LP ready to play in the snow, but now I'm ready to go play with her. We found a 3-in-1 jacket and matching snowpants for LP at The Children's Place for $28 with my discount.

Then at Target we found a pair of boots that are a pretty good match, are easy to get on and off, and seem really comfortable (she didn't want to take them off) for $19.99. The fur is hidden by the snowpants.

While checking out the boots for LP, I found a pair for myself. They are very similar to the Land's End Trello that I posted about here. They are a little heavier (I was so surprised by how light the Trellos are!) but they are more waterproof and will be much easier to clean. They only came in white, but they also had the matching jacket, and the jacket and boots together were $25 less than just the jacket I was looking at from Land's End.
So Lilypad Princess and I are ready to build a snowman and go sledding, and I know Lilypad Dad is ready to try out his new snowblower, thanks to Nana and Pop Steve!

Blurb.com

A friend of mine just told me about another site that will turn your blog into a book. This one is called Blurb.com. You can choose a hardcover or softcover book, up to 440 pages long (enough for thousands of blog posts). You download the software and it imports your text, images, links and comments. You can then edit and customize the pages as much or as little as your want.

I just played with it for a minute, but it seems like a great option to turn your blog into a physical memory. Thanks Michelle!

If anyone has used this site, please let me know what you thought of the process and the book, thanks!

Bright White Teeth

It's the week of the teeth I guess. I just got another package from BzzAgent* today (go here for my last BzzAgent posting). This one is for Listerine Whitening Quick Dissolve Strips. They are advertised as whitening strip that dissolves completely in 10 minutes, leaving nothing on your teeth so they can be used anywhere. They also say that they are virtually unnoticeable, again so you can use them anywhere and no one will know, during your commute, at work, while shopping etc. I have four days worth to try myself, so I'll give you my initial review now and an update after using them all. I'll also be brave and post before and after pictures so you can see for yourself if they work.

My Initial Review

After some initial struggles opening the package (hint: open the foil packet on 3 sides, don't try to pull the strip out just through the top)it was pretty easy to get the strips on. I wasn't completely even on both sides though, so the next time I use them I'll have to remember to put it a little further over on the left side of my mouth so everything is even! Other than that, they are easy to fold over and feel just like a little bit of padding if you bite your front teeth together. I like that you don't need to do anything special to put them on, other strips I had used in the past made you have to completely dry your teeth or they wouldn't stick.

When the strips are on, they are a little sticky, and there is a slight tingling sensation as they dissolve, but I was able to talk normally with them, Lilypad Dad didn't even know I had them on when I was talking to him. They are pretty much invisible when you first put them on, but as they dissolve they form bubbles around your teeth. They have a slightly minty, slightly chlorine taste to them, not the nicest thing but not completely unpleasant either. It's almost like jumping into a pool after having just used mouthwash.

It has been about 15 or 20 minutes now and there are still spots that I can feel something sticky but the majority of the strip had dissolved in about 8-10 minutes. I am going to go brush my teeth to get rid of the taste since I'm home and can, but if I needed to use them and couldn't brush I could live with the taste. Actually, now that it's about 5 minutes later, everything has completely dissolved and my mouth feels and tastes like I just used mouthwash.

Here is the before picture (please don't mind the bad smile and picture, it's really hard to take a self-portrait of your teeth!)


*BzzAgent is an online word of mouth community. They give you the opportunity to try new products that interest you, then you pass along the bzzz about them to people you know that you think would be interested. I also have a bunch of samples of the Listerine Whitening Strips for anyone who is interested, just let me know and I'll get them to you.

Germs on my toothbrush

Did you know that your toothbrush is home to millions of bacteria and viruses and that bacteria can double in just 20 minutes? Yuck!

I got a new package in the mail today, and I can't believe that I am this excited about it. It is the new UV Sanitizer from Sonicare. Lilypad dad and I each have a Sonicare toothbrush and love them, you can really feel the difference from a regular toothbrush. Lilypad Dad couldn't believe it when his first dentist appointment after getting the Sonicare toothbrush was the first appointment he didn't have a cavity.

This new sanitizer uses UV light to kill 99% of the bacteria and viruses that can live and multiply on your toothbrush. The thought of all those things living on my toothbrush that goes back into my mouth each day makes me queasy. But now all we have to do is put the brush heads in, close the door and push the button. Ten minutes later I have a nice clean brush that stays clean in the sanitizer until I'm ready to use it again.

So far I really like it. There was no set up other than plugging it in. The magnets in the base hold the brush heads in place well, and it looks like it will be easy to clean. The only thing that I don't like, although it doesn't really matter now, is that it only holds 2 brush heads. If you want to store your brush in it to keep it clean in between brushings, you would have to have more than one of sanitizer if there are more than 2 people in your family. Right now that isn't a problem because Lilypad Princess is too young for a Sonicare, but as soon as she's old enough we are going to get her a Sonicare toothbrush as well. I'll post a follow-up report in a couple of weeks to let you know if I still like the UV Sanitizer after daily use.

I got the sanitizer through BzzAgent. BzzAgent is an online word of mouth community. They send you products to try out, then you pass along the bzzz about them to people you know that you think would be interested. They have also given me coupons (or maybe they are rebate forms, I don't have it in frontof me right now), so if anyone has a Sonicare (or is getting one which I highly recommend!) or certain Oral-B brushes and is interested in the sanitizer, let me know and I'll mail you a coupon for it!

Also, if anyone is interested in joining BzzAgent, just click here to sign up. It's free to join and they will give you options of campaigns to sign up for based on your preferences. So far I've gotten to try Take5 candybars, Royal Velvet towels, Pledge Multi-Use Wipes, the Sonicare toothbrush and now the sanitizer, among other things. It's fun to get to be among the first to get to try new things and tell your family and friends about them when you really like them.

Through the Slush and Snow

The 44 degree weather today has made me face facts, winter is really coming. So now it's time to start a hunt for some boots and a coat that I will actually want to wear. I should live in a warmer climate, I hate winter outerwear. I will go as long as I possibly can before putting on a coat, and it isn't unusual to see me trying to hop over snowdrifts and slush in my sneakers.

But Lilypad Princess likes to meander in her own sweet time these days, no rushing from the house to the car. And I know she's going to want to play in the snowdrifts, so I need to find something to keep me warm too. The new Lands End catalog came today, and so far I like these two. The boots look easy to pull on and pretty comfortable, I think I'm going to have to take a trip to Sears to see if I can try them on.

Clothes Envy

My new favorite site to drool over clothes that I will never be able to afford is Hanna Andersson. During my search for comfy, winter dresses I came across their site, and can't stop going back to look. I love the playdresses with the matching tights like the one above. I even found a sweater that I would love for myself. some of my favorites
sweater for me

Blog Book

Blue House Mom and I were chatting the other day about how nice it would be to have our blogs printed out as books for the kids when they are older. I just came across the site Blog2Print that apparently does this exact thing. I've never seen one so I have no idea how they come out, but I love the idea!

Lilypad Necklace

I just came across this lilypad necklace on Etsy. It's so different from anything that I own, but I think that's one of the reasons I really like it. I think it would look good with v-neck sweaters and shirts, it's a little bigger and would grab your attention.

Lily Box

How cute are these little handmade lily box! I love all things lily of the valley, and I'd have a hard time deciding whether it was meant for me or LP. I could keep her tiny barrettes in it, or use it as a safe place for my rings. Actually that would be nice, considering my flowers for my wedding were lily of the valley.

Blue House Mom has a couple of these and I know she really likes them. You can see more at Hand Painted Love Boxes and enter the giveaway to win your choice of 3 adorable Halloween boxes. I think I would have to go with the black cat, but I love the face on the pumpkin as well.