Tweet CONTEST CLOSED!!! Congratulations Melissa! I was invited to take a look at an Ultra Diamonds, a store that specializes in diamonds at an affordable price. I was picturing a wholesale type environment assuming that the decor would probably be compromised due to it. I was more than pleasantly surprised at how the store looked as enchanting as any jewelry store.  It...

Tweet I am a very fussy shopper. I am. I think, ponder, research and then feel I got to have it and then discuss it with hubby and before you know it he has taken the wind from my sails and I am convinced I don’t need it. Since I decided I won’t be offering Amazon.com any of my hard earned money (trust me that is pretty tough since Amazon has been my goto...

Tweet CONTEST CLOSED! Congratulations Holly! You know how some movies are just an essence of Christmas? Somehow we never ever planned to watch any at my home. On the other hand seeing Christmas in 90 degree temperatures felt much different, than the snowy holidays I see out in Boston. The one show though that I did manage to see every year, not by choice – but...

Tweet I was at an event in the Linden Square Mall recently to a night of fun where the tenants of the mall, based in Wellseley- MA, displayed their wares. The mall was certainly on the upper scale featuring more stylish, trendy and non chain like stores. I was lucky enough to take a tour of them with a few bloggers. My favorite has got to be the Magic Beans children’s...

Tweet I got to meet the wonderful folks from Ruckus Media a few weeks ago at a launch party – which was held at Fablevision in Boston. Now marry together great technology + illustrations to make any artist proud + voiced over by famous actors + classic stories and you can’t have anything else but a smashing hit. Since I was already familiar with some works...

Tweet Thanks to American Express for sponsoring my writing today about small businesses.  American Express is presenting Small Business Saturday, a way to honor the local merchants who are the backbone of the economy, this Saturday, November 27.  They’re offering statement credits to people who shop at small businesses, advertising for small-business...

Tweet CONTEST CLOSED! Congratulations Paige! I have a love-hate relationship with jewelry. I love buying it (mostly with not my money) but don’t enjoy wearing it. I can hear you saying “What?”. Now remember I am also a mom who hardly dons makeup, and the reasons are the same –  I find it hard to get something simplistic (ok, so I am lazy too)....

Tweet I have been in awe of Karen (also known as Chookooloonks) for a long time. I finally managed to get up close and chat to her while at Evo Conference. Somebody was whispering that Karen is the one person to take your picture as she captures the essence perfectly.  I spied her taking someone’s pictures and I tried to take her picture and the next thing I knew...

Tweet I am a sucker for all things charity, really I am. I seldom say no to be part of a campaign if it involves a charity. Somehow it all makes sense in the whole reason I love blogging. Anyway I will be adding more details about this later but I just wanted to let you know I will be a Heart Of Haiti Ambassador. I will be sharing more details about the entire program...

Tweet CONTEST CLOSED! Congratulations Sheila! There are many products that are symbolic in the USA that I cannot claim affinity to growing up, since I grew up in South Africa. Pledge is not one of them. My mom loved furniture, good furniture. In fact she loved ensuring that all furniture was made from imbuia. I personally did not like the darkness of it and hated more...

Tweet While I was at the Time To Play event in New York I got to meet Victoria Kann. Anyone who has girls (and some who don’t) may have heard of Victoria Kann, author of the famous Pinkalicious book and several more in the series. The other books pale in comparison to her fabulous book about the girl who eats pink cupcakes and becomes pink – the solution...

Tweet CONTEST CLOSED! Congratulations Brooke! What color do you think my home is flooded in? Well no prizes for guessing. It is undoubtedly PINK! I already spoke about how we are fans of the Pinkalicious book (can’t wait until Silverlicious hits the stands) but did you know there was a whole slew of toys and dress-up clothing too? I love dress-up and I love that...

Tweet Some exciting news, for the next few months I will be an Activator on the community website “Well, Then!” which is part of Harvard Pilgrim. Why do I love this gig? Except for the fact that I am getting paid for it, I love that I get to be, well, me! I am not promoting anything (which is rare when you are getting paid). I am not sticking links all over...

Tweet CONTEST CLOSED! Congratulations Sarah and Victoria! My kids love crafts. Any crafts. I am not saying that they are great at them, but they love them. I am an avid believer in a child doing their own crafts – even if they look like something the dog dragged in. I do not want masterpieces of art in my home – I want my children’s art pieces. I love...

Tweet This Saturday, November 13th is Neighborhood Toy Store Day. I don’t know about you but I love the local toy stores. They are quaint and have less of that mass produced-wholesaler-like feeling. Also if you noticed the feel is less plasticky and though they may have electronics, it is not the not so predominant. You know how it seems like everyone has that...

Tweet Dear Amazon, It is time we parted ways. I have known you, and trusted you, from the shores of South Africa but the time has come to bid you farewell. I wish it was on sweeter terms of our parting but every time I look at my children I and recall what you promoted it makes me want to vomit. Speaking about vomit, I meant to put this post up last night but my sick...

Tweet CONTEST CLOSED! Congratulations Susan! Something which many guys delude themselves into believing is that we dress for to impress guys. While that may be true on occasion, women often dress with their girlfriends in mind. Wondering what the girlfriends would have to say about their outfit and giving much more weight to that opinion.  So when the timing of a review...

Tweet I aim to be healthy – but unfortunately have not been as successful as I would have liked for myself. For my kids, on the other hand, I try much harder. I do believe kids trust us with their nutrition – and abusing that trust is tantamount to abuse. From birth they don’t have a choice of what is put in their bodies or to develop their taste for...

Tweet As I watch my 3 year old act out pulling her 5 year old sister’s hair for the 100th time instinctively I wanted to punish her by taking some favorite toy or at the very least a timeout. The only issue is I would have doled several of those in a day for all the hitting or throwing stuff already. To an onlooker it may sound like a open and shut case of an undisciplined...

Tweet Contest Closed! Congratulations Corina Toy Story was such a hit that when Toy Story 2 came out it was a tall act to follow. Apparently it did not disappoint.  But when Toy Story 3 was announced, one might have been forgiven for assuming that maybe they were pushing it. Trilogies are hard. Good ones even harder. Somehow if they disappoint then they kind of mess...

Tweet Living in New England we are not only pelted with snow, but we are also witness to one of the most beautiful places to be in Fall. It truly is breath taking to be able to see it for yourself. Simple drives to drop off your kid to school become a spectacle on its own. In fact it has been difficult to not stop the car and take pictures all the way. So whether you...

Tweet CONTEST CLOSED! Congratulations  Cyrus – Order’s Up and Lucas – Take The Cake We love board games. I would love dedicating more time to play them. So would my older kid. While I am at wishing, I wish my 3 year old had a longer attention span not to trash board games when it does not go her way. That being said I was keen to try out the games...

Tweet HAPPY HALLOWEEN from Mommy Niri

Tweet Previously only held in Long Island for the past 5 years, this time the Spin-A-Thon will be held this Saturday in Manhattan. On October 30th 25 cyclists will face the challenge of completing four consecutive 35-minute spin classes and one Pilates class at four separate New York Sports Club fitness centers throughout Soho and Greenwich Village.   To take the cycling...

Tweet Some time earlier we got to interview Holly R. Peete for the launch of her book My Brother Charlie. That book and her interview had subsequently led me to start a few projects that I am proud of and are close to my heart. I was invited to a round table discussion with her and the other hosts of the talk show The Talk but sadly decided against as I had been traveling...

Tweet I’m a pumpkin girl. I have always loved pumpkins and all its relatives from the gem squash to butternut squash and everything in between. The fact that Halloween is around the corner and pumpkins are adorning all porches makes me excited…. at eating them. Now  I am a color freak, I love food with color – natural color. I start getting images...

Tweet CONTEST CLOSED! Congratulations Laura E! I know, I know – you were just getting excited about the $25 Gift Card to Osh Kosh B’Gosh and I decided to sweeten the pot.  Well an offer to give my readers a $50 gift card is not something I would sneeze at (even if I wish I had one too). Anyway Carter’s is holding a big contest for a mega prize. The...

Tweet Good things take time. Like wine. People look for shortcuts all the time, because they “claim” they have no time – or as I would put it, won’t make the time. You see people do crazy things like buy followers on twitter, since actually talking to people and making people want to follow them might take too much darn effort. You see people...

Tweet I have drooled over the books covers by Barefoot Books before but sadly never got to read or buy any. It may just be because I am too lazy to go out of the norm to buy books – I usually get books from Borders, BN, Amazon and the school’s Scholastic lists. Anyway as chance would have it being a blogger means I get to explore things I may not approach...

Tweet You know how you have that one special place that your family goes to every year? Davis Farm has been that summer tradition for us. This year I felt ready, I had already passes I had bought for half price from one of those radio sites. Only thing was Summer decided to zip past me and I was feeling anxious to get there in the one of 2 free weekends that I had no...

Tweet CONTEST CLOSED!!! Congratulations Annette! Previously I had only heard of OshKosh B’Gosh twice, once someone gave my little girl an outfit from them (which I loved) and the second being the coupon for them attached with the Carter’s coupon – where I was already a frequent shopper. When I was invited, along with other Boston mom bloggers, to check...

Tweet Live shows are always a treat. Musical shows guarantees that my kids will be enthralled. Well I should correct that to say kid’s shows. Currently both are rampant on a stage of enchantment and amazing enough are more excited than scared at some parts.  Anyway, this October Strega Nona the Musical is coming to Boston. Based on the popular children’s...

Tweet You would have to be living under a rock to not know that October is Breast Cancer Month. Everyone knows at least someone who has suffered from Breast Cancer.  Hanes created a new Design and Buy program that allows people to design their own shirts embellished with messages of hope, love and support.  Custom made shirts are always a rave but here it is for a...

Tweet Guess who is coming to town? The awesome Rockettes that the holiday season would be incomplete without are coming to a city near you. I am pretty excited as I have never seen the Rockettes, other than on television. Timing could not be more perfect, and I don’t just mean the holiday season, I mean that my girls are so interested in dance these days. The...

Tweet CONTEST CLOSED! Congratulations Amy, Karen and Jessica! Hopefully you would have read the interview with Lynn from Bob Books earlier today.  Now 3 lucky winners have a chance to win the Bob Books Sight words Kindergarten and Grade 1 kit along with a lunch box. Want it? Want to win The Bob Books for Kindergarten and Grade 1 along with the lunch box? To win...