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As moms, we often take care of everyone else before we take care of ourselves.

If we get a little extra spending money in the budget, it’s more likely to go to something for the kids or something for the whole family.

But, we think every Smart Mom deserves to splurge on herself every once in a while!

Join us this Thursday, March 15th at 8pm ET/5pm PT for a Smart Moms Splurge twitter party! We’ll talk about your favorite ways to indulge yourself and give away prizes that will allow you to have a little luxury without feeling any guilt! Over $1,000 in prizes so you won’t want to miss this! Read more…

Thanksgiving is over – now it’s time to shop! As a busy mom it’s hard to spent tons of time combing through stores, but you still want yo look like you’ve endlessly toiled away finding the perfect gift. To that end, here are our top picks of presents this Holiday season.

Typically, we comb our past posts for gifts for moms but we are changing things up a bit. This year we think moms need help buying for all the important people in their life. We have gone through all the products we have reviewed on Smart Mom Picks as well as our sister sites Smart Mom Style and Modern Home Modern Baby to find the very best stuff. You can also check our our other site Smart Mom Deals for awesome savings on great products this holiday season.

Now, are those fingers ready to do some shopping? I hope this list makes you feel empowered and not overwhelmed. You’ll find a short description of each gift idea and a link to read more and find where to buy it.

We’ve created categories of gifts to make it easier to hone in on exactly what you need, so if you don’t want to read through the entire guide feel free to check out any of the sections: Read more…

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As part of a promotional campaign between Staples and Microsoft, I was sent on a mission to buy a Windows 7 PC at Staples this week to see what the computer purchasing experience was like.

I have Windows 7 on a laptop already and I have to say – I love it. It’s true. I haven’t cursed Microsoft once in the 10 months I’ve owned my laptop. It’s fast, easy to use, and most importantly, I’ve had no blue screens of death and my computer has NEVER ONCE locked up on Windows 7. I have never used Ctrl-Alt-Delete. So I’m a fan.

With Staples gift cards and my old PC in hand, I went to the local Staples store on William Cannon Drive in south Austin, Texas. I was told that Staples should offer me a free transfer of all of my files from my old computer to my new one.

I moseyed on over to the PC department. The techie person was tied up helping another customer. Within moments, the assistant store manager came over and asked if I needed help. I said I needed to buy a PC and exchange my old one. He said the tech person would be with me just as soon as he finished up with the other customer. Meanwhile, he took my heavy PC tower from me and put it at the customer service desk and offered me a bottle of water. Nice!

A few minutes later, Darron, the Staples Easy Tech guy, came over and asked what he could help me with. I told him I needed a desktop PC.

Darron was AWESOME in all respects. He asked me a bunch of really Read more…

What happens when you combine timeless stories like the Velveteen Rabbit and Johnny Appleseed with the latest mobile technology? A series of engaging new apps from Ruckus Mobile Media that infuse familiar tales with a touch of glitz.

Each application – available for download on iTunes – pairs a celebrity reader with a top notch illustrator and a hip musician to re-imagine the story through the spoken word, music and images.

The story of Pecos Bill is told by Robin Williams, illustrated by Read more…

At about this time of year, my husband and I start dreaming of a vacation. A time to sit under the sun soaking up some warm calmness. Then, a little voice reminds me “hi mommy hi mommy hi mommy!” Oh, yeah. The little ones. Summer vacations can be tons of fun with the kids, but relaxing they are not.

Not so, says Capella Pedregal, a resort in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

This exclusive Cabo San Lucas hideaway invites family travelers to experience its new, activity-packed Capella Kids Club for free throughout the months of July and August. Let me repeat that…free kiddy care ALL DAY LONG (or half day, too).

The Capella Kids Club gives your kids cool things to do while you, my frazzled parent friend, sit there doing nothing. Imagine that.

Kids can enjoy their own Club House, have beach walks and fly kites, build sand castles and play board game Olympics. Children can learn to cook Mexican specialties and even speak a little Spanish. There are arts and crafts, tennis and swimming, scavenger hunts and swimming with dolphins. Yes, dolphins. This might be a little too adventurous for some, but the idea is way cool.

And, on Thursday evenings, parents can enjoy a date night while youngsters gather for Movies Under the Stars, featuring the latest kids flick screened in the beachside Palapa, complete with snacks.

If you can’t make it before August, then Kids club is still available. The rates are $25 per child for a half day (9 a.m. – 12 noon or 12 noon – 3 p.m.) and $50 per child for a full day (9 a.m. – 3 p.m.). Both rates include lunch and the full-day rate includes a daily snack as well. Nanny service is also offered for $30 per hour for 1-2 children.

And, if you don’t want to check your kids into the club, then you can select from a few fun activities throughout the day like the Swim Experience, featuring private swim or snorkeling lessons in an oceanside pool ($60 for 30 minutes and $100 for 60 minutes), Yoga for Kids with a certified yoga instructor ($30 for 60 minutes, offered three days a week) and Laughter Yoga ($30 for 60 minutes, offered two days a week).

Oh, and for the more go getter type of vaca…Capella Pedregal has arranged a special rate through National Car Rental that puts a full-size or premium car at guests’ disposal that starts at $70 per day. Though why you’d want to leave the resort is beyond me.

Sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? Well, Capella Pedregal is not cheap. Rooms start at $525 a night and go up – way up – from there. So while the Kids Club may be free for July and August, you’ll still be paying a lot to be there. But doesn’t it sound worth it?

I’m there in my head already…now, I just have to find the time and money to book it!

For more information and reservations, call (877) 247-6688 or visit www.capellapedregal.com.

photo credits: Capella Pedgregal

Here’s an important note if you own a drop side baby crib. As of earlier this week, the Consumaer Products Safety Commission is recommending that parents stop using all drop cribs immediately due to safety concerns.

This follows on a voluntary recall by Pottery Barn Kids of 82,000 cribs sold since 1999. You can see the complete list of recalled Pottery Barn Kids models here.

Drop cribs have one side that moves on rails to make getting your baby in and out easier. While that’s certainly a back-saving design, it turns out that drop cribs can trap the baby, causing potential strangulation or suffocation. When hardware on these types of cribs breaks it can detach the drop-side which creates a space into which the baby can become entrapped. When the drop-side detaches the wee one can also fall right out of the crib – another serious safety hazard.

It doesn’t take hardware breakage to cause problems like this. Age-related wear and tear as well as incorrect assembly have led to dozens of safety incidents.

While Pottery Barn Kids may be the highest profile crib manufacturer to recall drop-side cribs, they are not alone. Other similar recalls include LaJobi Inc., owned by Kid Brands Inc.; Bexco Enterprises Inc.’s Million Dollar Baby unit; Jardine Enterprise Ltd.; Simmons Juvenile Products, and Child Craft Industries Inc.

The Consumer Products Safety Commission is in the process of updating its overall safety standards for cribs which – unbelievably! – have not been updated since 1982. Meanwhile, be sure to follow the CPSC’s advice and stop using a drop-side crib if you have one.

It’s a table. No, it’s a shredder. No it’s just plain cool! This Papervore coffee table by Pigeontail Design helps to solve the problem of mounting junk mail. You know how it is – a piece of junk mail arrives and before you know it, that sucker has spawned a whole village of useless paper and you’re fighting them back with a stick. Unfortunately, they are winning.

Not any more! The design team at Pigeontail to the rescue with a table that devours printed leftovers.

Beware…plopping all that unwanted paper on your coffee table makes it mad. You wanna see what a mad coffee table can do? Check out this video to see the carnage:

The Papervore from Pigeontail Design on Vimeo.

(If you can’t see the video above, you can check it out here.)

No word on the pricing yet, but I want one!

Looking perfectly put together as a mom is virtually impossible. There are always gaping shirts because God only knows what size you actually are after your rubber band body is through with the pregnancy, hemlines that fall because you absolutely don’t have time to fix a hem, and so many other unsightly but oh-so-familiar clothing malfunctions.

How do Hollywood moms do it? Aside from having a personal stylist on call (how decadent would that be?!?), I bet they put some good old fashion Hollywood Fashion Tape to work.

What is Fashion Tape? Think of it as double-sided, good for your skin and clothes tape. Or toupee tape. Strong. Invisible. Gets the job done. Look like you’ve got your you-know-what together.

36 pre-cut, 3-inch disposable strips cost $8.99. That’s quite a bargain to keep your glam outfit together, don’t you think?

Just imagine – no more bra straps falling down, no more inadvertent peep shows, no more tripping over your unraveling hem. Just tape it. No one has to know that you’re being held together by tape. It’ll be our little secret.

If you like Smart Mom Picks for the unbiased, real-world product reviews we do, you’ll love our sister site Smart Mom Deals for the money you’ll save. Smart Mom Deals uncovers the very best sales online and off to save you and your family money.

Each morning our intrepid dealmeister Stacie pores over the latest discounts and savings and picks the three or four very best sales. Some of the deals featured on the site recently include:

• 60% off gorgeous e.l.f. Cosmetics – but only for 6 hours!
• Up to 90% Off in the Borders Marketplace
• 31% off a Graco Element Pack N Play at Target – but only for one day

That’s just a taste of the savings you’ve been missing. Many of the deals we discover are for a very limited time, so you’ll want to visit Smart Mom Deals daily to take advantage of these special sales.

Check out Smart Mom Deals today to start saving money.

Most times, especially when sleep deprived, the edit function in my brain fails to go off so that the unsavory thought in my head comes tumbling out of my mouth, with me unaware until the words leave my tongue and bite the person I’m talking to. It’s not pretty.

But, honestly, sometimes it’s kinda fun (does that make me a bad person?). I mean, I’m being honest, right? Now, watch out, there are cards from Set Editions without an edit function, too.

OK, so sending a card that is snarky takes a little more forethought than letting your tongue fly around your mouth unsupervised. If you’re just fed up and want to tell someone to just stop talking…there’s a card for that. Or to never, ever bring it up again.

Of course there is a “you’re right and I’m wrong” card, but how about a “I’m right and you’re wrong” card. Wouldn’t you just love to say that sometime?

[via Daily Candy]

Blackberries with a hint of chocolate. Hidden notes of tobacco and manure. Flabby mouthfeel. Lightly tinged with Leechee nut. What the hell am I talking about? Wine!

Well, no, more like stuffy wine writers and the bull crap they spew when tasting wines. OK – they do actually know what they are talking about but they refuse to speak English that a regular Joe momma can understand. It’s frustrating and then it leaves me dumbfounded when I go to the store and choose a wine. I tend to stick to what I know, which is predictable if not a bit boring. Enter Carolyn Evans Hammond and her book Good, Better, Best Wines: A No-Nonsense Guide to Popular Wines.

This book takes the mystery out of buying perfectly good (or better or best) wines for dinner, dinner parties or just plain old get-togethers. It’s short, sweet and to the point. Her motto is “I sample, you drink.” Done!

Now, I love a good wine and I especially love a good wine that is effortless to buy. Add to that buying it at the regular grocery store (or ABC store is that is the alcohol arrangement in your state), and I’m delirious. Unlike some wine guides that talk about rare vintages that you’ll never been able to locate, let alone afford, Hammond’s book is all about wines that you can easily find in most stores for under $15

She breaks wines down by grape, explains a little about the grape and tells you how to consider the wine. Take, for instance, Merlot. She describes the essence of Merlot (chocolate covered cherries) and explains that while super expensive Merlots are the stuff of legend, there are some great affordable ones as well.

Only beware, cheap Merlot is usually not all that good, so stay above the $10 price point and you should be happy. Now, that’s good solid information! Then, she goes on to describe a ton of options that you are likely to find where you typically shop.

Makes a momma feel downright confident about choosing a good pairing of wine and food.

photo credit: delphaber

C’mon…an iPhone app that helps with UV protection? I know, that was my first reaction too. But, upon further investigation, Coppertone’s iPhone app (called MyUV Alert) may just have some use after all.

It will look up the UV forecast for your local area so you know just how hot the sun is burning. What is probably the best feature is the reminder alert so that you know just when to reapply.

Reapply? Yes, reapply. I usually forget, too.

The application supposedly will give you personalized suncare recommendations for your family, though I find that part a little less appealing. I mean, doesn’t everyone need sunscreen?

So, for the mom who has everything covered for the beach vacation, try it out and tell us what you think of it! You can download it from the App Store here. Best of all, it’s free!

Made from recycled burlap and T-shirt material, Fair Trade Pillows by Melange Collection add just a little pop of interest into your couch cushions. There are coffee sacks, flower sacks and grain sacks to choose from, all with interesting designs showcased.

One favorite is this neutral stripe pillow made from a coffee sack and a t-shirt. The jersey softens the burlap and the selection of printed words hints at its former life, but doesn’t shout it.

Then, for the more whimsical, there are chickens and pheasants on the front of some pillows along with other cool designs.

So, if you’ve got a bug for recycling but also appreciate good design, check these out! Oh, and mention Smart Mom Picks in the notes section of your order and get 20% off.

It’s hot. It’s summer. It’s JULY 4th. Where are you headed? Hopefully the beach or somewhere equally sunny for some fun. The warm sun and cool waves are certainly calling me and my family.

If you do find yourself somewhere sunny and warm, be sure to pack all sorts of goodies and don’t forget the sunglasses. Oh, and if you find yourself in front of a computer, Kushies has as deal for you. Just this weekend, all orders will receive 15% off! And, they have a pretty good sale going on right now, too.

Enjoy and happy 4th!