A Girl Named PJ

The best toddler play kitchens

December 11, 2012

If Levi’s toy preferences as a toddler are any indication of his future hobbies, he may just grow up to become quite the chef. My little guy loves play kitchens. When we visited family friends over Thanksgiving, Levi made a beeline for the Educo kitchen play set in their den, and he always enjoys the pretend grocery and kitchen exhibits at the Omaha Children’s Museum.

I think what Levi likes best about play kitchens is that they offer so much to do. (It’s not actually pretend play when they’re only 16 months old, is it?) There’s food to remove from cabinets and shelves, and there are pots and pans to bang and stir. And, of course, there are doors to open and close.

And open.

And close.

So I’m adding a toddler play kitchen to Levi’s wishlist. My preference is for something wooden, although I’m having a hard time deciding. Which do you like best?

Clockwise from top left: Hape Gourmet Kitchen // IKEA Duktig Mini-Kitchen // Guidecraft Kitchenette Center // Wonderworld Cooking Center Play Kitchen // Educo My Creative Cookery Club // KidKraft Espresso Toddler Play Kitchen

Or maybe all he needs is something small, just a couple of burners and some pots and pans. Here are a few wooden portable kitchens that caught my eye:

Clockwise from top left: Haba Wooden Play Cooker // Alex Wooden Cook Top Playstove // Haba Chef Stovetop Set // Order Up! Portable Kitchen // Wonderworld My Portable Cooker

What type of pretend play does your little one enjoy the most? Do you have a future chef at home?

Scenes from Chanukah

December 10, 2012

We kicked off Chanukah Saturday night with a party at the Omaha Children’s Museum. The under-8 crowd had free reign of the museum for the evening, and dinner was an assortment of tasty treats from a kid-friendly buffet. Naturally, my picky eater only wanted to eat a brownie. Walking/crawling around the museum for an hour must have made him very thirsty, though, because he chugged two juice boxes.

Now, except for Gatorade and Pedialyte when he’s been sick, Levi has never drank juice before. It’s either milk or nothing. But he finished his milk in the car before he arrived, and I could tell he was desperate to drink something. I probably should have rinsed out his sippy cup and filled it with water, but I didn’t think of that. I say should have because I’m pretty sure that drinking all of that juice is the reason why Levi projectile vomited at the table in front of our rabbi and his family.

Side note: Our rabbi is around my age, and I’m actually good friends with his wife. They have a little one who plays with Levi. So it wasn’t as horrifying as it could have been had they been strangers. Or old and stodgy. But it was still pretty miserable.

Lucky for you, I don’t have any photographs from our experience at the museum. But here are some photos of how we celebrated the second night Chanukah yesterday:

Levi loved playing with the Jewish star window clings my mom sent last year
JB made his grandma’s latkes (we’re gonna smell like fried onions until the holiday ends!)
Levi devoured most of his latke
Our menorah–I love the ombre-style candles
Opening presents

To all those celebrating… Happy Chanukah!

PS: Levi’s first Chanukah–he was so small!

Toddler Girl Style

December 7, 2012

I’m guest blogging over at A Denver Home Companion today, sharing my fashion picks for stylish toddler girls like Emily’s sweet little Ramona. Go check it out!

A Royal Baby & Some Friday Links

December 7, 2012

By now you’ve surely heard the exciting news from across the pond: The Duchess of Cambridge is pregnant! Twitter exploded with chatter about the #royalbaby when the story broke. Poor Kate, outed by morning sickness!

As happy as I am for Kate (well, as happy as one can be for a stranger), I’m not sure I’m all that interested in listening to royal baby babble for the next six months. What does interest me, though, are these photographs of royal babies through the years, from Queen Elizabeth II to Princes William and Harry. I’m a sucker for old photos.

What exciting activities do you have planned for the weekend? After two days of feeling inexplicably blue, I’ll be spending some time with my goLITE, which I’ve used a couple of times last year but probably not consistently enough for it to really work. Has anybody had a positive experience with light therapy?

Here are a few things that captured my attention this week:

Proof that pale really is beautiful, especially in the winter. (Putting “Buy argan oil-infused pressed powder” on my to-do list right now.)

My 97-year-old grandma grew up in Coney Island. Isn’t that neat? This book by photographer Harold Feinstein (no relation!) captures the spirit of the beach and boardwalk in the 50s. (See, I love old photographs!)

Good advice for bloggers and designers alike from Jen Serafini.

Sarah from Note from Self knocked it out of the park with her Holiday Gift Guide for Kids.

And a kitchen gift guide for all you insert name of popular chef-types out there!

Paper or electronic? What type of calendar do you use? I just can’t make up my mind, but these lovely 2013 paper calendars are pulling me in a certain direction…

And in case you missed it…

Which New Year card is your favorite?

Enter to win a knit rattle from our friends at blabla!

How do you display holiday cards?

{images via Vanity Fair}

My favorite iPhone photo editing apps

December 6, 2012

I have a sneaking suspicion that my digital camera is jealous of my iPhone. Why? Because lately I’ve been using my iPhone to capture my son’s adorable moments, like this one of him coloring at the library.

I love my DSLR camera, but it’s too bulky and heavy to carry with me all day long. It’s also too time consuming to upload the images on its memory card to my computer so that I can edit them using Photoshop.

My iPhone, on the other hand, easily slips in and out of my back pocket or diaper bag, and whether I’m playing with my son in the basement or taking him to music class, I always have my phone—and its camera—on me. Using a variety of apps, I can quickly color correct or artistically enhance the photos I take with it before sharing them on Instagram, Facebook, or with family and friends via email.

Here are my top 5 photo editing apps guaranteed to improve the look of your iPhone photos.

Cross Process ($1.99)
Why I love it: Cross Process gives your photos the unique washed-out look of real cross processed film with one click of a button. You can take a new photo using the app or edit a photo already in your camera roll. Of the four filter choices emulating different film stock, I’m partial to the green filter (used above).

VSCO CAM ($0.99)
Why I love it: VSCO CAM offers the option of using preset filters or individual fine-tuning buttons to achieve your desired effect. The interface is minimalist and streamlined, and the app allows you to share with major social media outlets. For the photo above, I used Preset #4 and Vignette #2.

Snapseed ($4.99)
Why I love it: Although more expensive than the rest, Snapseed boasts comprehensive yet easy-to-use photo editing software that offers stunning results. Fix your photos with the one-touch Auto Correct button or tweak to your heart’s content with Tune Image and Selective Adjust. The feature I like best, though, is Tilt Shift, which adds blur to your photo. Above I used Vintage #7 and Tilt Shift.

Afterglow ($0.99)–
Why I love it: The newest photo editing app in my iPhone photography folder, Afterglow features 32 filters and 21 textures, or light leaks. I’m obsessed with light leaks! With its beautiful yet straight-forward interface, Afterglow is not only fun but intuitive. I used the Coral filter and Texture 2 for the above image.

Phonto (free)
Why I love it: Phonto is an easy way to add font to your photo (and if you know what you’re doing, you can install additional fonts from your computer!). Everything is changeable, including the text size, color and position.

Here are a few things that captured my attention this week:

And in case you missed it…

This post originally appeared on Lifetime Moms