All Thumbs Reviews

The Keen Grobag Egg

2009-11-15T08:30:00.004-07:00

One of the things I think I'm most afraid of in these first few months I'm going to have an infant at home, is SIDS. And while I know this is just the first of many MANY worries I'm going to have over the next 18+ years with this kid, SIDS is the immediate worry - the worry I won't let CONSUME me, but the worry that is definitely THERE, in the back of my mind, creeping in every so often. And so

C is for Cookie -- that's yummy enough for me

2009-11-07T18:15:00.001-07:00

If you don't already know the witty and entertaining Kym, you should. Not only for her writing, but also for her husband, Frank. Whom I wish to steal.You see, Frank has Big Ones. And by "big" I don't really mean big. I mean HUGE. I mean GINORMOUS. You should see them. You should taste them. You will love them.Frank has recently started a cookie business, thereby turning me into an addict for his

You Too Should go to U2

2009-11-01T08:16:00.004-07:00

I don't know if we've done a concert review before, but I gotta say, after what I saw Wednesday night, you HAVE to go to U2 if they're coming to your city. Oh, and if you're a fan of course.Wednesday night, at 37.5 weeks pregnant, we went to U2. For my first EVER U2 concert. To see a band who many many MANY times before I'd WISHED I'd gone, but many many MANY times before I'd cheaped out

Parents: Your Family Constitution (with giveaway)

2009-10-25T20:00:00.023-06:00

When I was a new mom, a friend who had teenagers told me, unsympathetically, after I complained about yet another sleepless night: Little children, little problems. Big children, big problems.It scared the peawadden out of me. You mean parenting would get harder?Eight years later, I know it's true, and it's not true. I mean, everything is difficult when you're not sleeping. But also, as

Tums Are My Best Friend

2009-10-18T13:27:00.006-06:00

I, chicklet, am 36 weeks pregnant. And I, chicklet, have been suffering from ENDLESS heartburn for the last two months. While I've had a SUPER easy pregnancy overall - with heartburn as my biggest complaint, so yes, I know, "woe is me" - the thing that's been driving me out of my MIND lately, has been the heartburn.I get it from eating, from NOT eating, from drinking, from NOT drinking, from

Give up the Ghost by Brandi Carlile

2009-10-13T16:30:00.003-06:00

She defies classification. She rocks, she rolls, she countries. She's a strong alto, but does lilting soprano. She evokes Patsy Cline (lyrically, yodelly), the Indigo Girls (gorgeous harmonies with her band), and Pink (in timbre).Yet Brandi Carlile is wholly unique as well.Sheryl Crow says this about her: "She has the most amazing voice I may have ever heard. Soulful. Country. Perfect in every

Once in a Blue Moon: Book review and giveaway

2009-10-10T20:00:00.044-06:00

**Winner announced below**Two sisters. Two extreme personalities, separated by 27 years, come together to moderate each other.Those are the Cliff Notes.** Upfront disclaimer: Through the One2One Network, I received a copy of Once in a Blue Moon ($17 value) for purposes of sharing my honest opinion.**A detailed plot synopsis of this just-released book? Twelve year-old Lindsay and 3 year-old

You Can Do It, We Can Help

2009-10-04T08:58:00.004-06:00

"You can do it, we can help" - that's the tagline my beloved Home Depot uses. And while it's true - they CAN help - they often DON'T help.Anyone who knows me, knows that right now I am trying to survive the reno from hell. Through no fault of my contractors, we've had a series of mishaps that are beyond what I believe goes on in MOST renos. Yes, I know, renos are NEVER fun, renos SUCK, and things

A Croc Cornucopia

2009-09-27T20:00:00.013-06:00

I liked Crocs even in the early days when they were, well, ooogly. I bought two pairs, a navy and an orange, and switched their straps. I then had tribute shoes to the Denver Broncos. I love 'em and still wear 'em on game day. Since then, Crocs styles have become more numerous and stylish. My family received 5 pairs of Crocs (value $175) from the very generous @GeorgeGSmithJr to take for test

The Wishpot Roundup

2009-09-20T08:26:00.012-06:00

It's been awhile since we did a roundup, so I thought it was about time to PILE up a bunch of gift-giving ideas, and give you a quick little snippet on why *I* think they're great gifts. Whether you're already thinking about Christmas (ugh!), or you're still stuck on Halloween costumes, the pile's explained below. It's also neatly piled up (with a few extras NOT mentioned here) over at Wishpot

Got uni-boob? Run instead with two thumbs (and two ta-tas) up

2009-09-13T20:00:00.017-06:00

Lori, here. I got SO sick and tired of hearing my sister rave about her sports bra that I forced asked her to write it up. It may be of special interest to those of you who are more buxom than I.*****From Tami DePalma:If you've gotten this far, you must know what uni-boob is. That sad, stuffy, sticky situation to which sports bras subject your ta-tas.Have you ever sported a sports bra that

Kings of Leon

2009-09-06T14:00:00.003-06:00

It's not often that I pick music as the thing I want to review, and while part of the reason is that there's just SOOOOO much out there to choose from, the other part is it's just plain hard to find an album/CD I'd actually RECOMMEND people buy.Because while yes, there IS a tonne of good music out there, what there's NOT a tonne of is good CD's. Meaning, I download a lot of music off iTunes, but

Weight of Silence and giveaway

2009-08-30T14:00:00.006-06:00

How do you measure absence? Both weight and silence figure prominently for first-time author Heather Gudenkauf. Weight as the presence of pressure, a pulling toward the earth; silence as simple absence. The Weight of Silence came out just a month ago. Through MotherTalk, I received a complimentary copy and was offered a $20 gift certificate to Amazon.com. This book tells, from multiple

Practical Parenting Books

2009-08-23T07:30:00.000-06:00

As a knocked up chick who doesn't know SHIT about babies, I figured as I'm only a few months away from HAVING a baby, I should probably learn some basics about them. You know, things like how much they eat, what to do if they're colicky (what the hell colic even IS!), when they move to solids, and all that kind of stuff that I truthfully have NO FREAKING CLUE about.The problem though, has been

Send your kids back to school with PakNaks

2009-08-16T20:00:00.012-06:00

Next week, Tessa and Reed will head off to school with some new friends on their backpacks.Reed chose Ralph the dog, Earth, the planet, and Tabby the penguin.Tessa chose Damsel the dragonfly, Squishes, the dolphins, and Minty the pair of hearts.(Upfront disclaimer: we received these 6 PakNaks (value $24) for porpoises of sharing our honest opinions.)What exactly are PakNaks? From the PakNak

C'mon Feel the Noise (with your big ol' 80s hair)

2009-08-08T07:00:00.000-06:00

Riddle me this.What new Broadway musical soundtrack...Has a cadence so much like Rent that I had to check the libretto to see if Mark, Roger and Mimi were singing?Is like MammaMia!, in that the story was written around a collection of songs, rather than the other way around?Is like Footloose in that The Mayor is trying to take away something edgy (rock vs dancing) from the youth of the city?

Shopping for Girth

2009-08-02T09:00:00.001-06:00

Yup, I'm pregnant. And like most women, I'm big enough during TWO seasons that I have to SHOP for two seasons. And while I can't complain re the summer wardrobe - I got a couple pairs of capri maternity pants on sale, and I've been small enough to wear 99% non-maternity shirts (just longer ones, or unbuttoned ones), I CAN and WILL however complain about the upcoming winter season. Or at least

Is it better to give or to receive? With giveaway!

2009-07-26T20:00:00.014-06:00

++ UPDATED WITH WINNER AT BOTTOM ++I really don't like shopping for gifts. Perhaps it's the perfectionist in me. It's really not the thought that counts; it's the perfectly executed plan that counts. Which I can rarely achieve when left to my own devices.So I consider myself very lucky to have found Dez of Personalized Parcels.com.Dez offered me a gift-giving experience valued at $50 for purposes

Pregnant Runners - This is For You!

2009-07-19T08:03:00.004-06:00

Pregnant? Currently a runner? Worried you won't be ABLE to run when you're FIVE months, SIX months, or even SEVEN months pregnant? Well have no fear, the Mom-EZ is here! And it works!As someone who has been running on and off (mostly on) for the last 10 years, and someone who did her VERY FIRST half marathon at 12 weeks pregnant, I'm someone who quite obviously, would like to maintain my running

Moms of Daughters: You Need This Book

2009-07-12T20:02:00.000-06:00

No Barbie dolls -- check.No disparaging of my own body -- check.Frequent reminders that what's inside matter more than what's outside -- check.Daughter without self-esteem issues -- out of checks.I naively thought, when Tessa was an infant, that doing these checked items would go a long way to helping her develop healthy self-esteem. After all, she would have her own obvious inner light and

The "H" Word

2009-07-09T20:44:00.003-06:00

When you're pregnant, there's a lot of things to be afraid of. There's those BIG things like "will my baby be healthy", there's those middle-size things like "how will I ever AFFORD this", and then there's those small things... those things nobody really wants to talk about but everyone is probably thinking about anyway? Yes, I'm talking about the dreaded "h" word - HEMORRHOIDS. As someone who

The Registry Made Easy

2009-07-05T08:55:00.002-06:00

One of the few things I've dreaded about being pregnant, has been creating my registry - the wishlist of all the things we want and need. Not because it's not fun to look around at all that cool stuff, and not because it's not fun to think about all the FREE stuff we might get, but because there is no SINGLE store that has everything *I* want and need - there's many MANY stores. And between

Time for a Roundup!

2009-06-28T10:28:00.002-06:00

It's been awhile since I looked around at what other people are recommending, so I figured it's time to steal a few ideas from people smarter than me - people with great taste - and pass them onto you in case you missed them. While it's an older post (she's been busy with a new baby recently), ever since Dooce posted it, I haven't stopped thinking about this damn pink iPhone cover. The weirdest

A Gift for One of THOSE Days

2009-06-21T20:00:00.013-06:00

It was that common dilemma: what to get for a woman who has everything, including me as a daughter? (Hehe. Some would stay an all-expense paid trip to rehab.)My parents celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary this summer. They were married in 1959 -- 1 state and 8 presidents ago. Before color TV, cell phones, personal computing and permanent press; back in the time of Happy Days, 7-digit

Yoga Roundup #2 (with Giveaway)

2009-06-14T08:00:00.008-06:00

**UPDATED WITH WINNERS, BELOW**This is aNOTHER jam-packed yoga post (see previous one) with 3 reviews and a giveaway. Read or at least scan all the way to the bottom.Upfront disclaimer: I received a free sample of the first two products for purposes of sharing my honest opinions.#1: RescueGirlHypothetical question:What would I do if I had (1) keen artistic talent, (2) a wicked sense of humor,