I’m not normally a hat-wearer. I’ll pull on my gorgeous Girl32 beanie and my LL Bean puffy jacket for the sake of warmth, and I look about as cute as anyone wearing a beanie and a puffy jacket can look. But when I’m going out and want to look chic and pulled together, I forego the hat and just shiver.

So I was admittedly skeptical when I heard from the folks at Wallaroo Hat Company. They’re located here in Colorado (up in Boulder), so I figured their hats would be sporty or jaunty. I definitely didn’t expect them to be elegant - or for me to look elegant wearing one.

What a pleasant surprise! They sent me a Tamworth hat in black tweed, and I love it. It looks great with my black leather jacket and my black wool coat, and it really does make a difference in warmth. Plus it doesn’t mess up my hair (and my hair doesn’t look stupid under this hat, like it does when I wear any other hat).

My Tamworth hat has a light blue satin lining, and there’s actually touches of that same light blue in the black and cream herringbone pattern. It’s also got an inner drawstring that helps customize the fit. It’s light and comfortable, and it stays put even when I’m buckling squirming kids into the car on a windy day. Plus, it’s UPF 50+, which is a pro for us bottle-blondes who live at high elevations.

The Tamworth is part of the W Collection, and it retails for $40. I’m also partial to the Bella (a newsboy style in angora), and the Hampton for summer (way more attractive than the grungy baseball caps I see on moms at the pool).

Even if you don’t normally wear a hat, you ought to check these out. At the very least, your colorist will thank you.

Last year for Christmas, Tacy received a pink Nintendo DS Lite. It’s one of her most prized possessions, and I’m truly impressed by how well she cares for it. I haven’t even had to break out the spare stylus (although I’m sure I totally jinxed myself simply by typing that).

She and CJ have both asked for a pet. While I’m sure they’d love a pet dearly - even more than Tacy loves her DS - I’m not confident that they’d care for a pet as faithfully as they should. Of course they’d give it plenty of love (perhaps too much, based on how much CJ carried around my aunt’s cat last summer), but I can’t envision either of them willingly scooping poop.

So I thought a copy of Littlest Pet Shop for the DS would be a nice indoctrination to pet ownership for them. Because not only do the Littlest Pet Shop pets require love and attention, they are pretty darned cute too - even if you can’t pet their soft fur and carry them all over the house.

Me: Tacy, what do you like about playing Littlest Pet Shop?

Tacy: Well, it’s sort of um fun because it has um well it’s just um you know you can make characters um why do you keep putting um? Mama… (giggle giggle)

Me: Okay, what else?

Tacy: And the characters are cute and um you get to play games at the arcade um and it just is really fun.

Me: What do you not like about the game?

Tacy: Um…if you mess up you can’t get the stuff back.

Me: What stuff?

Tacy: Like um, I um, well the stuff is (stares up at ceiling) well it’s just that if you send them to another place if you send too much of them then you don’t get them back.

Me: What don’t you get back?

Tacy: Your littlest pet shops that you sent there.

Me: Meaning, the pets?

Tacy: Yes. Because um the pets um you can send them to different places so when you send them to different places sometimes if you send too many of them you can’t get them back, you have to switch pets, and sometimes you want lots of pets to go back to the places they want.

Me: Did you help your sister play the game?

Tacy: Well, I did. A little bit. But usually she doesn’t play it.

Me: Why not?

Tacy: Cause um she um she’s usually doing something else.

Me: Like asking for another cup of milk?

Tacy: Yeah.

So there you have it. The only drawback to Littlest Pet Shop is that sometimes the pets don’t come back. Which I suppose means that there isn’t a Littlest Pet Shop Pet Sematary yet.

Honestly, I like Littlest Pet Shop because it’s not World of Warcraft. And because it will likely buy me another few months before I have to succumb to actual pet ownership.

Check out other blogger reviews of Littlest Pet Shop over at PBN, and if you’re so moved by Tacy’s assessment of the game that you must purchase one yourself, you can buy Littlest Pet Shop at Amazon.

I’ve never been so excited to mail my holiday cards. Truly, I’m itching for Thanksgiving to be over just so that I can pop them in the mail.

I’ve had some nice holiday cards before, but ones from Minted that are sitting idly in my kitchen cabinet, waiting for December 1, are nicer than nice. These cards are absolutely beautiful.

I chose the Snowflake Tree style. It actually wasn’t a difficult decision, in spite of how many other gorgeous designs they have. This one leaped off the page at me. It was love at first sight.

You might think that’s a strange way to feel about a holiday card, but that’s because you haven’t clicked through to Minted yet. Go on, click. See which design jumps out at you; I can almost guarantee that one of them will.

Another reason I knew instantly that I wanted to get holiday cards from Minted was the Yearline option offered with many of their designs. It’s an ideal way to include tidbits of information without inundating recipients with too many boring details (single-spaced, full page, headache-inducing letters, anyone?).. It doesn’t have to be a timeline either; on ours, each child got a blurb (adjacent to his/her picture) and the family got one too.

Creating the card was a snap, and the order turnaround was surprisingly quick. Of course, it probably helped that I approved my proof within ten minutes of receiving it. What can I say - I spend too much time on the computer.

I was surprised by the packaging - both pleasantly and not-so-pleasantly. I loved how the cards were personally wrapped with great care. But the box was enormous compared to the size of the package of cards. I’m guessing that they use the same size box for most of their orders, and I’m also guessing that they want to be sure each order is well-padded to ensure that none of the corners get bent. And I give them credit for using shredded paper as packing material instead of those god-awful packing peanuts.

A few bloggers at PBN have commented negatively on the pricing. I actually think the price is perfectly reasonable - starting at $67 for 25 personalized photo cards. Considering that I don’t send paper cards to anyone at any other time during the year - no Valentines, no birthday cards, no anniversary cards - I’m willing to shell out for high-end holiday cards. And I’m also a stationery junkie.

But I think the greatest recommendation in favor of Minted is how my husband reacted to the cards. He loves them. Now tell me, when was the last time you heard of a (most definitely straight) man who was that impressed by stationery? Yeah, I thought so.

Go check out Minted. They’ve got a 10% off deal going on now. Plus, you’ll get your cards out in the first half of December, which is pretty impressive in itself.

I’m unequivocally on the record as not being a fan of parenting books.  They give me a complex, and really, who needs any more neuroses than they’ve already got?

When I received Amazing Baby in the mail, I thought it would merely be a book of gorgeous photography with a few factoids thrown in for good measure.  But it’s so much more!  This book - and all babies - really are amazing.

The photography IS gorgeous.  Absolutely stunning.  This book could make even a childless menopausal woman’s ovaries ache.  All that clear, smooth baby skin and those bright baby eyes and wide gummy grins - these are some beautiful shots.  Perfect for perusing during the witching hour when you’re convinced your sweet baby has turned into a demon child.

I also love the translucent overlay pages that show bones and internal organs and other anatomical features.  The science geek in me thinks that is totally cool.  It also helps less scientifically-inclined readers visualize the complexity of this tiny little person’s body.  Amazing to think that this tremendously complex being grew INSIDE you from two tiny components.

But what was really unexpected was the tone of the book.  It’s matter-of-fact when discussing anatomical and physiological concepts, and discoveries based on scientific studies.  But it inspires wonderment in the sections on what babies and toddlers can do, and what parents can do to encourage and facilitate development.  It’s not at all preachy or self-righteous or opinionated - it’s “hey, check this out!” or “give this a try!”  Unlike parenting books that advocate the “right” and “wrong” things to do, Amazing Baby is amazing in both its objectivity and its positivity.

I’m watching my third baby approach toddlerhood (sob!), and this book was still a revelation to me.  I’d highly recommend it for all parents, and it would make a stunning shower gift for a first-time mother in particular.  Especially juxtaposed with that pregnancy and parenting tome we all love to hate.

Amazing Baby is published by Firefly Books.  Hear from the author, Desmond Morris, himself in this video, and check out more Amazing Baby reviews on PBN!

It’s a rare DVD that engages (and is appropriate for) all three of my children at once. My Baby A to Z - Come Explore Shapes with Me - is that rare DVD.

CJ was my intended target audience for this DVD; it’s perfect for her. She knows her shapes, can draw them shakily, and can identify them in objects around her. She talks back to programs that ask her questions. And one of the little girls on this DVD is named Catherine. Score!

I figure Oliver would be mildly entertained. Obviously he’s nowhere near grasping the concept of shapes, but he’s a baby and babies dig puppets. Clowns, not so much - but puppets? Oh yeah.

So it was Tacy who was the big surprise. I never expected her to sit down and happily watch, and I really never expected her to get up off the sofa and make round shapes and angular shapes with her body. I didn’t expect CJ to do that either - she never obliges when Dora exhorts her to “Stand up, please!” - but she did.

Speaking of angular - and no, I’m not going to make a Sprockets joke - I love that they introduced that concept in this DVD. Angles aren’t a difficult concept in and of themselves, but kids usually learn about angles along with a whole host of other concepts and terminology - right angles, acute angles, obtuse angles - and how they relate to geometry. It’s a lot to take in at once. At least now the concept of angles will be familiar to my kids, thanks to this DVD.

The music is appealing to children, yet not at all childish, and although the visuals are a bit much for a mom who prefers to look at the inside of her eyelids while relaxing, they aren’t over the top. And again, those puppets are darned cute.

Check out the series of PBN reviews of My Baby A to Z - Come Explore Shapes with Me - and use my extra-special coupon code (SWNXHTUR) to get 20% off for yourself when you purchase through the My Baby A to Z site. Whoo!