An Inspirational Read for Your Daughter

While trying to place a very tardy order on http://www.scholastic.com/ for my daughter today, I came across this cute book. "Grace for President" caught my attention for many reasons. First, I am developing a program for girls entering middle and high school and am working on exposing young girls to the political process. More on that later. Second, it's a book that I want to purchase for my daughter because how often do you find a book with a little girl of color on the cover of a book with a Presidential theme? Last, today's news is all about the college student who senselessly murdered six people while attending a public event hosted by Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Gifford. One of those murdered was nine year old Christina Taylor Green whose parents were supporting her new found interest in politics and took little Christina to meet Congresswoman Gifford. As Gayle King would say, special mommy and daddy hug to them for supporting their daughter's interests. With this support, Christina could very well have become one of America's finest Presidents, Congresswoman, U.S. Senator, you name it. I only hope parents across the country are working hard to support their children's dreams by exposing them to people, places, and things while expanding their horizons.

Click here to see background on the Warren, Michigan author who has also written, "Sandwich Swap," which encourages children to try different things such as cultural foods. We have this book which has been signed by Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan herself. Remind me to tell you about THAT experience. I was honored to have been a sitting Queen. My daughter? Apparently, not so much.

I think DiPucchio is my new favorite children's author.

Does THE Perfect Dollhouse Exist?

She wants a motorcycle and a scooter, both pink of course, but I want her to have a dollhouse. I'm trying to find the perfect one for my ever so curious and creative almost five year old. We have recently begun the transformation from toddler room to "Big Girl" room and I am constantly trying to update her boudoir. The color scheme is purple, pink, green, (grandma is a Delta so I had to mix it up a bit after I found myself buying too much pink and green. No offense AKA's) and white so we have plenty of colors to choose from. As both her birthday and Christmas nears, we are busy deciding what she will receive from us/Santa. I'm not sure if she truly believes in Santa only because she hears about the big guy on TV and at school. She does know that all but one of her Christmas gifts comes from family and one comes from Santa. We didn't start the belief in Santa but we aren't squashing it just yet either. I never believed in him and I don't think Daddy did either.

As for the dollhouses, I have narrowed it down to these below.

This KidKraft Savanna Dollhouse retails for $90.00 at Walmart.
I'm not sure why the designer put the bathroom on the ground floor
and the dining room on the 2nd floor. Maybe I can change this...





Kidcraft Chelsea Dollhouse retails for $80.97 on Amazon.com. I like it but
my daughter is pretty tall for her age and I don't want her scrunching down
while playing.

I think the elevator sold me on this one.

What girl doesn't want an elevator in her home?

Retails for $139.54 at Walmart.

If you have a dollhouse suggestion, please share it with me. Christmas is just 26 days away!

New Blog Discovery!

The next birthday in our home will be my daughter's and that's not for another five months. However, that's no excuse to not post this gorgeous birthday cupcake tower now is it? I LOVE this photo.

Amy Atlas Events and Blog.

Kids Cottage - Rockville Center

Yesterday, I decided to take a little time to scout locations in Rockville Center for a few events for my husband's campaign and what did I find? THE CUTEST CHILDREN'S STORE EVER!!! I found designers that I didn't know existed. They had an amazing clearance area that went on for days! They also had Fancy Nancy dolls, books, games, and misc. trinkets in her honor. They had Curious George items I had never seen before.

I stayed true to myself and didn't buy anything on impulse. I had one mission and that was to find a location for a fundraiser. However, I did tell the owner that I would definitely be back. I'm a woman of my word so I have to stay true to that as well.

Rockville Center is becoming a dangerous place financially for me. Not only is this where I feed my craving for Home Goods, but it's also where my daughter takes ballet during the summer. Now that I'm adding Kids Cottage to the list....oh boy!

Kids Cottage
14A S. Park Avenue
Rockville Center, NY
(516) 766-5333

My Saturday in All It's Fabulousness

If you're looking for a hip restaurant in lower Manhattan, keep reading. It seemed like all of NYC's beautiful and professional crowd all had the same idea this weekend which was to visit Fig & Olive in NY's Meatpacking district. For the second time in a week we found ourselves in Manhattan getting off the E/C train at 14th Street. A short walk down the street and around the corner, we crossed over cobble stone streets filled with limos making us wonder who in the world is down here? We didn't see anyone famous but we did find ourselves at one of the hippest restaurants in Manhattan on a Saturday night. Not only was the food good, but the dimly lit Mediterranean restaurant was electric especially when the DJ began spinning hits from the 80s and 90s. My meal included:

Pomegranite Martini ($12)

(Not on the web menu but very tasty!)

Crostini (3 selections for for $9.50)

Crushed Tomato, Olive Oil

Mushroom, Parmesan, Truffle Oil

Shrimp, Avocado, Cilantro,Tomato (sans Avocado)

(All were served on toasted bread)

(Not the actual selections I had but you get the idea)

Main Course ($26)

SHRIMP & SCALLOP PAELLA

Grilled shrimp and scallops marinated with pimenton served on saffron rice eggplant tapenade, bell pepper, tomato, garlic - Oregano Olive Oil

Dessert ($8.00)

WARM CHOCOLATE SOUFFLE

Vanilla Ice Cream & Orange Chutney

(hated the orange chutney so i skimmed the crusty top of the souffle and ice cream)

Our Saturday included a 9 a.m. soccer game, visit to Target, 3 p.m. bridal shower, 4:45 p.m. 1 year old birthday party, 8 p.m. dinner at Fig & Olive, and 11:42 p.m. train back to Long Island. No wonder we were too tired to attend church on Sunday. Funny, but we woke up at 6:30 a.m., showered, got dressed, curled my hair but never left for church. We were both so exhausted that after breakfast I went back to bed and slept until 11:30 a.m. It's been years since I've been able to do that. It felt so good. Really. Good.

Kiddy Humidifiers

Over the last few days my daughter has been a bit stuffy and congested. It could be a cold. It could be allergies. At her age of 4, over the counter meds aren't really suggested by medical professionals. So I brought out her Hello Kitty cool mist humidifier to help her breathe easier during the night. Okay, the truth is I brought it out for all of us to sleep better during the night. When one of the kids isn't feeling well, nobody sleeps. This is a great investment and it's eligible for reimbursement through your employer's FSA or Flexible Spending Account. We bought it from Drugstore.com for just $39.99 but is also available at Walmart.com for $39. My son has this cute little Dragon humidifier that retails at Walmart.com for $30 and is $34.99 at Drugstore.com. I guess we should go to Walmart next time, huh?