Posts filed under 'hip mama'
I like vintage shopping, so I’m kinda digging the fashions at ModCloth, which sells, yep, vintage, plus indie designers’ cleverly named vintage-inspired pieces. Online. Awesome. Now I don’t have to go dig through musty over-stuffed racks of clothing, and can just sip a Sidecar while browsing the Internet from home.
Their selections and styles seem to span the eras. Besides clothing, they’ve got shoes, accessories (who doesn’t need a great cloché for fun?), fun (and funny ha-ha) knick-knacky stuff and books, etc., for the “apartment.”
I can see myself now, outfitted head to toe, as I hop a vaporetto in Venice to head over to Peggy Guggenheim’s for a party. They’ve got some techie geek job openings in their San Fran offices. Maybe I’ll implore my husband to apply so I can enjoy the staff discount.
— Mama Kate
June 10th, 2010
Tot rock hits the High Noon Saloon this weekend!
Little Miss Ann and her Chicago band make their Madison debut. She’s 5′2″ (hence the name) and tall on fun. My kids are groupies — they love her latest CD, “Clap for Love.” Her style: overall fun and engaging, a little bit folk infused with some lilting melodies, rocking-out songs, world tunes, and even indie aspects, too, for parents to love. You can listen to some of her tunes on Land of Nod’s web site. To learn more about Little Miss Ann, check out our September 2009 blog (or search for Little Miss Ann). Or visit Little Miss Ann’s web site.
The cool thing about these daytime shows at the High Noon is that:
A) Thus, because it’s really a kid gig, you don’t need a babysitter,
B) We parents actually feel like we’re hitting the town, in part because
C) The gig is at a bar, and the bar is open — hello Bloody Marys!
D) It’s a blast to watch a whole gaggle of kids get down to some great music.
Showtime is 11 am. Cover: $10 grownups, $5 kids.
See you there!
— Mama Kate
May 18th, 2010
Mamas!
Add this to your must-do list for Mother’s Day (uh, if it’s not already on your calendar, that’s Sunday, May 9):
After brunching it with the fam, grab your partner, favorite mommy pals, and maybe even your own mom, and head to “Listen to Your Mother.” It’ll be an afternoon of readings from some of “us”—12 Madison-area writerly “moms in the trenches” who read about the “beauty, the beast, and the barely rested that is motherhood” as we know and know and usually love it.
“Listen to Your Mother” kicks off at 3 pm at the Barrymore Theater on Atwood Avenue in Madison. Tickets are $10, available at the door, via phone, or online. Given the nature of some of the readings (aka “the beast” of motherhood), this is a perfect opp to line up a sitter and enjoy a little mommy time sans kiddos. A portion of the proceeds will go to “The Road Home,” a Dane County organization that finds solutions for homeless families.
Event sponsor Happy Bambino is hosting a giveaway—worth $300—that includes brunch for two, tickets to the show, a Happy Bambino gift certificate, and other goodies. Check out Happy Bambino’s blog for more details.
—Mama Kate
May 3rd, 2010
Mamas-
Check out this cool new event … think about submitting/auditioning if you’re a writerly type. There’ll be humor, poignant moments, and just motherly comaraderie. Ann Imig, a cool mommy/writer pal is organizing it. She’s HILARIOUS by the way, and if you don’t yet read her blog, you should! Check it out: www.annsrants.com.
Hope to see you there! Wear your corsage!
—Mama Kate
Dear Friends, Loved ones, and People who may/may not be interested:
I’m directing and producing a show on Mother’s Day: LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER will be an afternoon of readings by Madison writers on Motherhood at 3:00 pm, Sunday 5/9/10 at The Barrymore.
Auditions are scheduled for Saturday April 10th by appointment, and full details can be found here.http://www.listentoyourmothershow.blogspot.com
I am so excited about creating a new Mother’s Day Madison tradition. After brunch and seeing the lilacs, why not celebrate yourself or your Mom, Grandma, Aunt, Sister, Best Friend, or hamster by listening to authentic voices from women who know the beauty, beast and the barely-rested that is MOTHERHOOD.
Thank you for your help and I really hope you’ll come. Now, back to your regularly scheduled screen-time.
With fondest regards and appreciation,
Ann
March 18th, 2010
Hot off the griddle!
I just nabbed a copy of Bean Appétit: Hip and Healthy Ways to Have Fun with Food, and can’t wait to put it to work in the kitchen with my kiddos.
Dynamic duo Shannon Payette Seip and Kelly Parthen—co-owners of Bean Sprouts Cafe and Cooking School, a kid friendly restaurant serving healthy fare to Madison, WI, families—have filled their book with fun, fun, fun. What grown-up cookbook has instructions that tell you to spin in a circle three times before beginning or to waddle like a penguin around the table or shake your hips while the blender’s a whirling?
The book’s design is bright and colorful, filled with a mix of illustration and engaging “food as art” photography kids will love perusing. The recipe instructions are easy for families to follow together, and feature ingredients lists that are reasonable in length and with easily attainable items. Though they run the gamut from breakfast to snacks to outdoor eats and sweet bites, recipes are organized in clever new ways—food fun for a wintry day, book-themed eats, making music and munchies.
The book’s overriding philosophy: Encourage kids to “play” with their food, and you’ll instill a lifelong interest in preparing delicious healthy foods. It’s good for kid giggles, and frustrated parents. Because they’re engaged in the process and having so much fun prepping food in the kitchen, that should translate to fun at the table for mom and dad, as the kids gobble up the new yummy recipes they’ve helped make—perhaps out of foods their tastebuds had previously rejected. Amen to that.
I also dig the cookbook’s fun extras: questions to inspire table talk, games, crafts, and factoids, like favorite pizza toppings, birthday treats, and table manners from around the world. It’s also got handy conversion charts and tips, on top of its just plain good ideas.
So, get cookin’ with your kids. Pick up your copy at a bookstore near you, or order online.
Our Mom Appeal kudos go out to these two busy and creative mompreneurs, who have got the mojo thing going on! Successful cafe and cooking classes, now the fab cookbook, and also a cooking show that’s in the works! Whew! I don’t know how they do it!
—Mama Kate
March 3rd, 2010
As spring edges closer, the snow will begin to melt, the ground will thaw and plants and trees will suddenly spring to life again. But, that doesn’t mean cold weather is behind us. For those chilly mid-winter days, or cool spring nights, Nowali is making sure little feet are protected with four new styles of their award-winning Swedish moccasins.
The four new styles are inspired by spring and include a flower, frog, dot and boat style. Each traditional Swedish moccasin is hand-stitched, and made with yarn and foxing materials that meet the Öko-Tex Standard 100, an ‘eco’ standard which ensures they contain no harmful dyes or substances—AND they are washable!! No worries if your tot trots outside…
We have the adorable blue frog style that is pictured above(alongside the brown frog style), and they are sooooo soft and sweet on our little man’s feet! The flexible soles that are non-slip keep him steady as he learns to take his first steps!!
I just love these moccasins and the fun designs they come in.
Nowali is offering one lucky MomAppeal reader a pair of moccasins for their little one! Perfect while cozy-ing up and watching the Olympics! To enter to win, you need to visit www.nowali.com and choose your favorite design of the four new styles released (flower, frog, dot or boat styles) and email mamajen@momappeal.com with your favorite and we will randomly choose a winner!
Good luck!!
Mama Jen
February 24th, 2010
Families!
Get your taste buds out and get ready for some good eats—and play a little game in the process. Bean Sprouts Cafe is looking for VIPea Taste Testers to test out the online recipes that with the cafe’s Bean-GO game!
This healthy twist on Bingo is a great way to get kids to try to new taste (read: fruits and veggies). To play, get out your Bean-go card and let the kids pick a food to try. Together with your kids, follow the provided recipe to make the delicious eats. Cross off each new food after your kids try it, until they get five in a row. Or, play “blackout,” in which each square must get crossed off. Winner gets a reward! (Perfect reward: Make an entire meal or snack of their favorite tastes or recipes! I think my kids will get an extra few Ring-a-Bing-Bing Cherry + Chocolate Chip Cookies washed down with a double-sized Super Star Fruit Smoothie!)
A Bean-go card activated with a recipe for each taste is available on the Bean Sprouts web site. Be sure to rate the recipes—you and your bitty bakers can pass along your expert taste bud and prep chef advice for Bean Sprouts’ new book “Bean Appetit: Hip & Healthy Ways to Have Fun With Food.”
Food IS fun!
—Mama Kate
February 10th, 2010
LOVE THIS BUMPER MAGNET!
It’s produced by The Save the Ta-tas Foundation, a private not-for-profit corporation dedicated to the advancement of breast cancer awareness, education, prevention, and research—and laughter as good medicine.
You can, in fact, clad your entire family in shirts and accessories to proclaim support. Don’t miss the all-natural Boob Loob, to help make breast self-exams easier. With each purchase, 5% of the price is donated to the foundation, to fund its efforts. You also can make a tax-deductible contribution via the foundation’s website. Be sure to check out the “Show Us Yours” link.
For those of you brave enough to permanently affix something to your bumper, the foundation also makes stickers you can attached to your rockin’ kid-hauler.
Heck, “the girls” proceed us all anyway, so why not?
— Mama Kate
January 25th, 2010
A little bird, who is in the know, alerted me to the amazing Adorable Kinders. Handmade in the US, these classic rag dolls are also culturally diverse - available in a wide variety of nationalities. My husband and I recently adopted an amazing little 11 month old boy from Ethiopia, so representation of other races and cultures in our household just became even more important than it already was.When I saw Adorable Kinders, I got excited. And I was right to be… Zachary arrived under our tree this year, and is a welcome addition! The craftsmanship of this handmade doll is awe-inspiring. Its sure to be an heirloom passed down through generations.This fantastic mom-owned business is absolutely amazing and has been a long time in the making. Originally, Aranza, the mother who makes the dolls, began the company and it’s vision with her son Ivan after he graduated highschool. Unfortunately, Ivan passed away unexpectedly. Understandably, Aranza ceased to work on the handmade dolls.Years later, Aranza decided to make Adorable Kinders Ivan’s legacy while creating local jobs and helping the US economy.The rag dolls are vintage looking and absolutely beautiful. It doesn’t end there…part of Ivan and Aranza’s vison to have the dolls be educational has also come to fruition. Your child can take their new doll to “eSchool” with the unique code that comes with your doll. The eSchool is fantastic!!!!Education, imagination, handmade and local? Perfect.Mama Jen
January 4th, 2010
Move over Laurie Berkner… there’s a new gal in town at our place. My tinies are loving the tunes of Little Miss Ann, aka Ann Torralba, a hip 5′2″ mama from Chicagoland who makes great music for kids and plays live shows. (She’s also a former Chicago public school teacher and current Old Town School of Folk Music instructor.)
We’ve been digging her latest CD “Clap for Love”—it’s her second—on the dance floor at home and as we travel to and fro in our hot set of wheels (read: minivan). Her style: overall fun and engaging, a little bit folk infused with some lilting melodies, rocking-out songs, world tunes, and even indie aspects, too, for parents to love (I swear I feel some Wilco, my fav, chaneling on one song). She’s reworked some traditional songs, and also has several originals, and many songs are more than just fun: they feature great messages for kids (be your own bird—i.e., be an individual!) My 4-year-old loves the “Counting by Fives” song, and my 3-year-old loves “Around the Kitchen” (cockadoodle-doodle-do). And, they’re both smitten with “Good Morning,” featuring a call and answer with Torralba’s daughter, Olivia. Pretty much, my kids are just smitten with the whole album. Me, too.
You can listen to some of her tunes on Land of Nod’s web site (and purchase both albums there). Be sure to visit Little Miss Ann’s web site directly to purchase either of her CDs or check in on her performance schedule (Chicagoland and Wisconsin gigs) and read-up on the hot, thumbs-up reviews she’s gotten in the music press.
—Mama Kate
September 26th, 2009
Previous Posts
I like vintage shopping, so I’m kinda digging the fashions at ModCloth, which sells, yep, vintage, plus indie designers’ cleverly named vintage-inspired pieces. Online. Awesome. Now I don’t have to go dig through musty over-stuffed racks of clothing, and can just sip a Sidecar while browsing the Internet from home.
