Month: September 2009

by Allison

recipe for yummy chocolate chip & craisin cookies.

Here are the ingredients for my special Chocolate Chip & Craisin Cookies. One of these things is not like the other; remember that from Sesame Street?


One of these things helps mommy get through the hour of baking cookies after a really, really long flight home from NYC.

Here’s what goes in, minus the Diet Dr. Pepper. That’s all for me thanks.

Chocolate Chip Craisin Cookies
{makes about 2 dozen}

3/4 C white sugar
3/4 C packed brown sugar
1 C butter or margarine {softened}
2 eggs
2 1/2 C flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
2 C chocolate chips
1 C Craisins


First, mix together your sugars. I like to blend mine pretty well before I get anything else in the mixing bowl, it helps me sleep better at night.


Once you have those blended just so, add the butter. Even though the recipe calls for margarine I go with butter. It’s better for you {no, really it is} and I figure if I’m eating cookies anyway, all bets are off.


It’s not pretty, but they’re not cookies without it.

Once you put the butter in and mix it up really … >> find out more…

Allison

I'm Allison, founder and editor of Petit Elefant. I run the gamut from granola to glamour and love everything in between. I think the beach is always a good idea, as is Diet Dr. Pepper; on ice. Sometimes I put out the fires and sometimes I start them. Sometimes I really do have it all together. Sometimes my children say otherwise. We just like to keep it real around here.

by Allison

dillon rogers giveaway {$125}.

UPDATED: You do NOT have to get the personalized jewelry if you win. You will have $125 to spend on whatever your heart desires, the initial pendants are merely an example.

Dillon Rogers was one of the lovely companies with swag in the SocialLuxe VIP swag bags. Their personalized jewelry is swoon-worthy.

Not all of you had the chance to come get primped at the SocialLuxe Lounge, but you all deserve to be treated like the VIP’s you are. Here’s your chance to win a $125 gift card to Dillon Rogers. Heaven. Giveaway details below:

Dillon Rogers Giveaway:

1. To enter the Dillon Rogers giveaway leave a comment on this post.

2. Leave ONE comment on this post between today and Wednesday October 7th Midnight, MST. A winner will be announced Thursday October 8th.

3. Link to this post on your own blog (include the url in your comment) and receive an extra entry.

4. Twitter about this giveaway with a link to this post for another entry.

5. Anonymous entries will be ignored, so please include email with comment.

6. If selected to win, you have 7 days … >> find out more…

Allison

I'm Allison, founder and editor of Petit Elefant. I run the gamut from granola to glamour and love everything in between. I think the beach is always a good idea, as is Diet Dr. Pepper; on ice. Sometimes I put out the fires and sometimes I start them. Sometimes I really do have it all together. Sometimes my children say otherwise. We just like to keep it real around here.

by Allison

what to do in new york city.

I’m back and I’m exhausted. I had such a great time in New York though, and I have such fun things to share. I didn’t do much touristy stuff {no Statue of Liberty trip, no Broadway show} but I saw everything I wanted to see, ate everything I wanted to eat {and then some}, and generally spent way too much money at NYC thrift stores. I thought I’d compose a list of my personal favorite Top 10 list of things to do in New York City. In no particular order:

1. Sephora
2. Pinkberry
3. Canal Street
4. Pearl River Mart
5. Ghandi Cafe
6. H & M
7. Rice to Riches
8. East Village Thrift Shop
9. Kate’s Paperie
10.Housing Works Thrift Shops

Was that too predictable?

Have you ever played in a Sephora store? It’s a mega playground for make-up loving {addicted} women like myself. Me being in Sephora is what I imagine an alcoholic feels like in a liquor store. Overwhelmed, overjoyed, where to start?!

{wrinkles, what wrinkles?}


A conglomerate of my New York City photos.


{every single time I’m in NYC I see a celebrity. last time it was Scott Speedman and … >> find out more…

Allison

I'm Allison, founder and editor of Petit Elefant. I run the gamut from granola to glamour and love everything in between. I think the beach is always a good idea, as is Diet Dr. Pepper; on ice. Sometimes I put out the fires and sometimes I start them. Sometimes I really do have it all together. Sometimes my children say otherwise. We just like to keep it real around here.

by Kimberly

safe jewelry for kids.

Goodness my baby is orally fixated. Happiest when chewing, sucking, gnawing. On anything his little hands can reach. He’s especially fond of teething rings but I hate to carry them in my tote because, well, who knows what lurks in the depths of the diaper bag? So what’s a mommy to do at the post office/restaurant/doctor/church/grocery store with a fussy, teething babe/
Roundhouse Design Collaborative, the creators of the oh, plah! bracelet (guess what, they are moms) wondered the same things and came up with a wearable solution. Turns out my baby loves this multitasking jewelry/toy for it’s, um, chew-ability.
I kind-of like the cool shape and the brown masculine option. Other pluses: it’s non-toxic, completely void of all those nasty chemicals in other plastics, and it’s bacteria resistant, it’s totally flexible-bendy, twisty, yank-able and practically indestructible. This made-in-the-USA accessory has even won some big time awards, like Dr. Toy’s Best Green Product Award. Let’s hear it for clever moms.
Oh Plah! Bracelet, $19.99
(Oh plah! is French for “Here you go!”)
It gets better: the bracelet is recyclable, and the company will even do the recycling for you!

… >> find out more…

Kimberly

...by day, making a home where the buffalo roam. By night, pretty much the same thing, punctuated by the occasional fantasies of sunny beaches, italian movies and sparkling lemonade.

by Allison

home at last.

I love traveling more than I love a lot of things-chocolate included-which is really saying something.

But what I love more than travel, more than several days in a row partying it up in New York City, is coming home to this:


Being a wife and mother are my two favorite things, I’m not even lying.


… >> find out more…

Allison

I'm Allison, founder and editor of Petit Elefant. I run the gamut from granola to glamour and love everything in between. I think the beach is always a good idea, as is Diet Dr. Pepper; on ice. Sometimes I put out the fires and sometimes I start them. Sometimes I really do have it all together. Sometimes my children say otherwise. We just like to keep it real around here.

by Alma

Sleep Training


So several weeks ago, or maybe even a month ago, we put Little O on a sleep schedule for the first time. There of course are different schools of thought on how and what to do about your baby’s sleep. Ultimately, we decided that a schedule was in order because O was up with us until midnight (and often later) every night. Then he’d wake up between 8:30 and 10:30. During the day, he was unpredictable. Maybe he’d take a 2 or 3 hour nap. Maybe he wouldn’t take a nap at all. And the only way I could ever get him to sleep was to nurse him. We realized that many days, he was going on only 7 or 8 hours of sleep a day. So we decided that we needed a schedule.

I had already read much of Dr. Weissbluth’s book, Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. So I read a little more and specifically focused on the section of the book that applied to babies who were 7 or 8 months old, like O. He basically says to sleep at night from 7:30-7:00, nap at 9, nap in the early afternoon, and then to bed at 7:30 … >> find out more…

Alma

by Allison

update from new york city.

I’m hanging in New York City today. Sometimes I wonder why I don’t live here. Cold Diet Dr. Pepper on every corner, girls handing out Maybelline mascara by the bucket in Times Square…

wait.

WHAT?

I was in a cab yesterday, headed to the Upper East Side with my cabbie talking a mile a minute about Kadafi’s U.N. debut when we passed by Times Square, where I saw a human mascara walking around. Hordes of girls followed the mascara costume around handing out Maybelline’s. Come on, that’s MY mascara. I leaned out the window and yelled

*Over Here! Over heeeere! I’m out of mascara! I love you Maybelline, I’ll follow you to the ends of the earth!*

The sweet little interns just smiled and waved. For a minute or two I literally debated leaving my luggage in the taxi and making a run for the mascara. And then my senses returned and I realized that leaving my luggage, filled to the brim with hundreds and hundreds of dollars worth of M.A.C. makeup in the car with the cabbie to make a grab for $5 mascara? Not a good idea.

In other news I’m having an amazing time. … >> find out more…

Allison

I'm Allison, founder and editor of Petit Elefant. I run the gamut from granola to glamour and love everything in between. I think the beach is always a good idea, as is Diet Dr. Pepper; on ice. Sometimes I put out the fires and sometimes I start them. Sometimes I really do have it all together. Sometimes my children say otherwise. We just like to keep it real around here.

by Kimberly

mommy school

My first baby recently turned 3. I just shed a little tear. Many of the other toddlers in our neighborhood are attending pre-school this year but I just couldn’t pull the trigger. Three seems so little and tender still, but he needed something. I came up with a solution, totally off the cuff, and called it “Mommy School.” I know it’s a lame name, but I was under pressure and now it’s stuck.

Here’s how it works: once baby goes down for his morning nap, Piglet and I meet at the kid-table. On the chalkboard is the daily letter with corresponding drawings. He doesn’t care if they are perfect or not. On the table is a coloring page (that I’ve simply printed off the internet) also corresponding with the daily letter. For example: apple and anchor for A, zebra for Z.
We talk about the letter sounds and objects while he colors. Sometimes we do a puzzle or sing a song, sometimes we read a book, like Wiggle for W. Perhaps we do a special project, like noodle necklaces for N. For D we had a wildly successful dance party. Sometimes, when I’m really on

… >> find out more…

Kimberly

...by day, making a home where the buffalo roam. By night, pretty much the same thing, punctuated by the occasional fantasies of sunny beaches, italian movies and sparkling lemonade.

by Allison

e.l.f. makeup party.



I hosted an e.l.f. makeup party for some of my nearest and dearest over the weekend. Oh, the good times we had. Mix together some cupcakes from Cupcake Chic {to die for}, flavored sparkling water {oh my!}, strawberries, a whole lot of makeup, & some of my best friends. Good, good times.

I broke it up into several stations: eyes, lips, face {get it, get it?}, nails, and eyebrows. It’s imperative to have an eyebrow station if you’re doing makeup; you don’t want to look like the missing link when you’re getting hot for the night.

Look at these gorgeous women. Some before & after shots for your viewing pleasure:






I have really hot family and friends. It’s a fact.


Thank you e.l.f., for the makeup; I don’t think these girls will need any more for the rest of the year. And to Melissa for styling the event, props. Cupcake Chic? My hips would like a word.

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Allison

I'm Allison, founder and editor of Petit Elefant. I run the gamut from granola to glamour and love everything in between. I think the beach is always a good idea, as is Diet Dr. Pepper; on ice. Sometimes I put out the fires and sometimes I start them. Sometimes I really do have it all together. Sometimes my children say otherwise. We just like to keep it real around here.