Trend Watch

Arts and Crafts Innovation

If, like mine, your kids have ripped through the wrappings and trappings of every gift they received and are now lying around in a bloated state of boredom, you're probably desperate to find something to keep them occupied between now and January 5 (so that, like me, you can crack open the new novel that's been sitting waiting for you since you opened your stocking!). Enter some exciting new products from an old favourite, Crayola.

Crayola sent my family a few new products to test out, and they've been a hit with various age groups. First up, the Crayola Beginnings TaDoodles Scribble & Sing.

These cool little washable markers are especially designed for toddler hands. The marker colours are sung when they’re placed in the special slot on the art station. They're great for fine motor skills, teaching colours, shapes and patterns, and entertain for quite a while. My (very precocious) 19 month old niece loved the characters and her chubby little hands were quite adept at creating beautiful masterpieces.

The next product tested out by my seven and nine year old sons was the Crayola Glow Station. The company writes that it is "a magical light wand and a poster-sized canvas allow a child to experience the awe of glow-in-the-dark art on their own or with friends. With a built-in hanging feature, you can easily transform any wall into a masterpiece, and the reusable canvas means there are no limits to their creativity."

My boys are not big arts and crafty types. Given a choice, they'd always rather be playing mini sticks. I wasn't sure how they'd do with this product, but they chose to use it to invent a glow-in-the-dark hockey game, with this canvas as scoreboard. It kept them well entertained, but the only problem was that the image disappeared very quickly after the lights came back on.

Crayola's come out with some very innovative products that ensure moms will have a couple of new tricks up their sleeves on those last days of school vacation. Just remember the batteries for these ones.

Get in the Pink!

For the ultimate in pink accessories, as we close Breast Cancer Awareness month...

Toshiba and Best Buy are joining forces to support the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation with the launch of Toshiba’s stylish pink Portégé M800 laptop. For the next two months, $40 from the sale of each unit, available exclusively at Best Buy for $799, will be contributed to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation to help support relevant and innovative breast cancer research, and education and awareness programs.

The Portégé M800 laptop in sakura pink looks great and packs the features and performance that customers have come to expect from Toshiba. It features a 13.3-inch LCD screen, weighs only 4.6 lbs and is powered by the Pentium Dual-Core T3200 processor 2.0 GHz. It comes with 2 GB DDR2, 250 GB of Hard Disk Drive space, an Intel GMA 4500M graphics card, a DVD SuperMulti Double Layer drive, a bilingual keyboard, Bluetooth and wireless capabilities as well as an integrated 1.3MP web camera.

Shop Pink

As promised, during the month of October, if you send me your favourite "Pink" products, I'll share them with all urbanmoms.

Donna from Toronto sent me information on a few Pampered Chef products that I'd love to use.

How about this pink bar board and knife for $7.00?

Or these Simple Addition Squares (great for serving squares). The set of two is $29.00.

Finally, this pink Mini Measure-All cup is just $6.25 and would brighten up any recipe!

Check out Pampered Chef for ordering information, and even more pink products!

Think Pink

Some trends are good (think boomerang lunches at our kids' schools). Some trends are pure evil (think leggings on anyone older than six). My favourite type of trend is one that benefits the consumer and also benefits a good cause.

This is a great month for such trends. It's National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and marketers are pulling out all stops to not only tug at our proverbial heartstrings, but also open our wallets. The Pink Ribbon has become an international symbol of hope and awareness in the fight against breast cancer.

Certain manufacturers, organizations and corporations have joined in the fight to raise awareness and support on-going breast cancer research, by partnering with breast cancer organizations, and developing or marketing items that are specially designed to denote the color pink. Products vary from small appliances, kitchen gadgets, mugs, pins, caps and other various items.

From the sale of these items, a portion is donated to a breast cancer information and resource or research organization, or to a national or private cancer foundation. The main goal of the campaign is to continue the research with the hope of finding a cure for breast cancer.

My mother will buy almost anything with a pink ribbon on it. She's shopped for pink cashmere sweaters at Holt Renfew, bought my sisters and I matching Clinique Buttershine limited edition pink lipsticks and purchased t-shirts for herself.

One of my favourite pink ribbon items this season is Cashmere bathroom tissue's couture collection of gorgeous gowns designed by some of Canada's top designers and created out of toilet paper. This year's collection features Pink Cashmere, the first coloured toilet paper introduced in Canada in over a decade.

During the month of October, post a message about your favourite pink ribbon item, or e-mail me directly at jennifer.hicks@rogers.com to have me feature the product in a future column. Watch for more ways to make a cool purchase and help find a cure for cancer.

My Virtual Running Partner

When I got back into running just over a year ago and decided to tackle a 10k training program, I did it with a friend. Jen got injured before our big race, but we kept one another motivated during that clinic.

A few months later, my friend Heather convinced me to train for a half-marathon with her. Although Heather got a knee injury and couldn't compete in the May race, I know there's no way I would have made it through some of those longer winter runs without her.

This says a couple of things about me. First, I'm obviously very bad luck for my training partners. Second, I'm very weak-willed, and unlikely to maintain a regular running schedule all on my own.

A couple of months ago, a friend gave me a Nike+ SportBand and it has changed the way I run.

This amazing device lets me monitor my distance, pace, time and calories burned during my runs. With a sensor that I attach to my shoe and Nike+ SportBand on my wrist, I'm motivated to get out there and track my runs.

At the end of the run, I unplug the black part from the band and plug it into my computer, and it downloads all my data and keeps me honest. The Nike+ website is very cool if you like online motivation. There are all sorts of challenges you can join to push you out of the door and on August 31, I took part in a worldwide Nike+ only event. The sportband was a great way to gain entry to the event, and, at about $80, it's also got to be one of the least expensive speed and distance monitors on the market.

I miss the companionship and conversation of Jen and Heather on my longer runs, but at least I don't have to worry about my bad luck hurting my new running companion. It just needs to be recharged every once in a while!

Lovely to See You

"Men seldom make passes at girls who wear glasses."

So goes the old saying, but the sexy librarian look does have its fans, and so too do flasses. Don't know flasses?

According to the urban dictionary, the definition of flasses is as follows: Glasses that do not contain prescribed lenses, worn by women who want to look sophisticated or cop out of putting on make-up/doing hair.

They're all the rage this season, especially with twenty-somethings who want to add a little sophisticated intellectual air to their image.

See if you can weed out the flasses from the glasses.

Now what about you...would you wear this latest trend in eyewear? If you're interested, you can buy most any frame at your local optician without prescription lenses. For a cheaper alternative, check out these readers guaranteed to improve your looks, if not your eyesight from urban outfitters.

Let's Do Lunch

You've got the back-to-school haircuts taken care of, the first day of school outfits are laid out, and now you've got a couple of days left to plan for the dreaded packed lunch.

Between nut allergies banning peanuts from schools, e-coli conerns having us think twice about the fruit we're eating, and listeriosis turning us all off of coldcuts, I can't help you with what goes into those lunch boxes, but let me give you some ideas for what to pack it in!

The hottest trend in lunch boxes this year is reduce and reuse. At my sons' school, kids are asked to bring a litter-free lunch. Other schools are instituting "boomerang lunches", where anything not consumed goes back home. This means that the eco-friendly lunchbox is everywhere.

There's no need to beak the bank, but if you're interested in the Rolls-Royce of lunch boxes this season, take a look at the Laptop Lunch Kit.

It's functional, reusable and fun, and this lunch kit lets you pack a homemade, low-waste meals for your kids using a very cool setup that includes a thermal, zippered bag, a large snap-shut tray, five microwave safe food containers and a sport bottle. The whole kit and kaboodle runs just under $40 (including a recipe book with great school lunch ideas) and can be ordered online at Indigo.

LLBean's lunch box is a steal coming in under $15.

I love this one because of the great selection of fun colours and designs to choose from; your kid can personalize his or her look. The lunch box is sturdy enough to protect your fruit from bruising and cookies from crumbling. To keep everything cool, there's an internal mesh pocked sized to hold a cold pack (not included). It's large enough to accommodate even your hungry tween's lunch, but small enough to squeeze into a messenger bag.

The Lunch & Go Series by Aladdin is right in the middle price-wise.

It's about $20 and has a sleek and futuristic look. Following the eco-friendly trend, it is reusable. This one does come with its own removable icepack, snaptight latches which make it leak-resistant, and a crushproof design. This product made by Aladdin is available at hardware stores, Walmart and Kmart across the country.

Whichever lunch box you choose, be sure to label it well and wash it often. Bon appetit!

Water, water everywhere

We all know water's good for us, but there are so many trendy hot issues related to water...

what's in it?

what happens to the bottles?

how does it taste?

I grew up drinking good old-fashioned tap water. At the cottage we drank "town water" because you didn't want to drink what came out of the tap (something to do with that saying about not peeing in your own swimming pool).

About ten years ago, my husband and I got a water cooler as a gift and started drinking bottled water from our water cooler. We loved the taste and the temperature of our nice cold water. We didn't love the hassle of schlepping to the water store every other week to exchange our empty bottles for full ones.

Lo and behold, Cuisinart has come up with just the product for me. Cuisinart Clean Water's countertop water filtration system dispenses hot (instant oatmeal...instantly!!), cold (enough for me after a run) and room-temperature water (for my picky three year old who complains when water's too cold).

No more schlepping huge bottles around, since I just fill the 2-gallon removable water tank with tap water. Cha-ching!

The filter is expected to last a couple of months, and removes chlorine, mercury, benzene and copper from our tap water (leaving the fluoride which I think is good!)

Here's me showing you my new water cooler.

As a bonus today (because I'm feeling generous and because it's on the same memory card and I can't stop giggling when I look at it!) I'm also including a little helpful hint for those of you suffering from puffy eyes as a result of seasonal allergies.

On the Radio

It all started simply enough...in early May my husband brought home a new family car. Bill works for Volkswagen, and we're a VW family. My last three cars have all been Passat wagons, and while I LOVE them, one has pretty much been a replica of the other. This latest was a little different. There are always fun bells and whistles with a new car, but this one came with something to which I took an immediate shine...satellite radio and a three-month free trial subscription.

Satellite radio's not something I'd ever looked into, or even considered. It seemed like it would be one more unnecessary expense every month. However, once it was there in my car, I wondered quickly how I ever lived without it. Driving downtown became much more enjoyable when I could listen to new singers and songwriters on the Coffee House (channel 30), or relive my youth with some Classic Alternative on channel 22. There are even channels devoted just to kids. Whatever my mood, I could find a station that catered to me at that moment. The bonus? No dj chatter and no commercials.

Our first road trip with satellite radio was a treat. Hours and hours in the car, and the boys couldn't get enough of the sports talk on ESPN Radio, while I enjoyed listening to an entire Springsteen concert from 1985...the summer I discovered him myself! I wondered why Bill was offering to run errands on weekends, until I got into my car after one of those errands, and found my satellite radio tuned to Howard Stern.

This summer we've brought satellite radio into our home, with the SIRIUS Stiletto 2. It combines satellite radio with an MP3 player in a portable unit. This little baby lets me store all sorts of content in a number of ways. My favourite is when I hear a song I "LOVE", I can hit a single button to store it, and listen to it later (again and again). I can also set up scheduled recordings to capture up to 100 hours of favourite SIRIUS shows or programs. Since SIRIUS is the official satellite radio partner of the CFL, NFL, NASCAR and NBA, chances are there's some live sporting event to listen to at any given time!

Cruising around cottage country last weekend (ever try to get radio reception driving through the precambrian shield??) I was feeling smug as I enjoyed my music...until it stopped. Turns out my three-month trial subscription had ended very abruptly. Now that I'm hooked on SIRIUS, that $14.99 a month seems like such a bargain!

Green Green Grass of Home

So, how's your lawn looking? I don't know about the rest of the country, but for those of us in Southern Ontario enduring the soggiest summer on record, the only silver lining is the state of our lawns. My backyard has never looked better! During a normal summer, around this time, my backyard looks very much like a baseball diamond; complete with pitcher's mound covered in mud, dirty baselines and dusty dugout. My front lawn's greener, but usually overrun by clover at this point in the season.

However, this year, my friends Dan and Sue are truly the envy of the neighbourhood. Back in May, they contracted a company to put down new turf in their back and front yards. Not so unusual, you say? Imagine never having to water, fertilize or mow your lawn again! If you're thinking of a low-maintenance backyard, you might want to explore the newest trend in landscaping...synthetic grass.

Synthetic grass is different from astroturf or indoor grass; it truly resembles the real thing. It looks and feels like natural grass. (I can attest to this...I climbed down in bare feet expecting prickly or plastic feel. This feels soft and grass-like!)

Synthetic grass drains directly from the top, and can withstand snow, ice, rain and intense sun and heat. Companies that install the synthetic grass can often incorporate a putting green into your lawn, and most reputable companies provide an 8-10 year warranty on your lawn. I've even heard about playgrounds and school yards that are exploring this option.

There is a downside to synthetic grass. While the rest of us are struggling with lawnmowers, weed whackers and whipper snippers, Dan's been out with his vacuum cleaner trying to pick up the little leaves and seedlings falling from the trees (the company suggests a leaf blower or push broom). When the gas company came by and spraypainted all of our lawns, the rest of us just have to wait for that grass to grown out. Sue talked about having to get out the turpentine to remove the paint marks.

When all is said and done, synthetic grass is not an inexpensive option, but once it's in you too could be the envy of your neighbourhood...if the rest of us ever dry out!!!

Skirting the Issue

There's a revolution going on in the running world and it's about who wears the pants...or rather who doesn't. I first noticed it at the start line of my first 10K race last fall...women running in skirts. I looked at those first skirt-clad runners with disdain. As a newbie suffering from a little insecurity, I felt they couldn't be serious runners if they were more concerned with fashion than athleticism.

Boy, was I wrong. Skirts first came onto the sporting scene in early 2005, when pro triathlete Nicole DeBoom launched SkirtSports. "Skirts are an attitude and emotional trend," says DeBoom. Not to mention big business...SkirtSports sales were $1.4 million last year. All the big athletic apparel companies now have running skirts in their line. New Balance's topselling women's "bottom" is a skirt (above any of their shorts capris and pants).

Running skirts now have events of their own, including the Skirt Chaser 5K at cities across the United States (though I haven't seen one north of the border yet).

When considering whether to jump on this trend, be clear that while running skirts are definitely cool, their cousin the skort (a loose pair of shorts with a panel of fabric over the front) is the much less cool fashion relative and should be left to the six-year old set.

With a few more races under my belt, I felt more confident and decided to try a running skirt on for size. I've bought two now and absolutely love them. Running skirts offer the best of both worlds; comfortable short shorts underneath for easy movement (and the elimination of much crotch bunching-up) and the modesty afforded by the skirt. Speaking of modesty, that's not me on the right, but an example of what's under some skirts.

I sincerely feel that a woman is more powerful when she feels pretty, whether at home, in the office or on the trails. I'm not ready to throw out all my tried and true running shorts and capris, but I do find myself reaching for my running skirt more and more.

Talk to the Palm

We're just days away from the launch of the iPhone in Canada, and the media buzz may have you thinking that it's the only smartphone in town. However, I've spent the last couple of weeks playing with the Palm Centro, which launched to much less fanfare last month in Canada, and I'm willing to say you'd get more bang for your buck with this baby.

The Centro is Palm’s smallest and lightest smartphone and has sold more than one million units worldwide. It will fit into the smallest clutch, but has a complete (and useable!) keyboard.

I have used a Palm PDA in the past, and always appreciated how it kept my life organized with contacts, calendar and to-do lists all together. The Centro does all this, hot syncs to my home computer, but also allows me voice, email, text and web capabilities.

Picture me...sitting in my hairdresser's chair, checking e-mails, drafting a list of things to pack for our long weekend road trip, and playing solitaire. Talk about multitasking!!

Said road trip was much more enjoyable with the Centro. The built-in camera (1.3 megapixels with 2x digital zoom) gave my three-year old daughter something to do while her brothers played on their Nintendo DS. The photo on the left shows her view of the roadtrip.Then she found the stylus and the photo below shows her creativity on a photo of her brother...

I've used the Palm Centro to send a grocery list to my husband by e-mail, to record the name and artist of a song I heard on the radio, to search for the closest Starbucks while driving through Quebec, and to get play-by-play instant messaging from my sister on history's longest Wimbledon final (while enduring history's longest drive home). Every day that I've used my Palm Centro, I've come up with another idea of how it can help me. They don't call it a smartphone for nothing!

The cobalt blue Palm Centro smartphone is available now for $199.99 with any three-year voice and data plan renewal with minimum $45 monthly service fee for existing Rogers Wireless customers. New customers can purchase the Palm Centro for $299.99 with any three-year voice and data plan activation.

Going Green

Going green hardly constitutes a trend these days...concern for the environment is everywhere, in everything we buy. Most of us are trying to make our kitchens more environmentally-friendly by looking into energy-efficient appliances, recycled materials and fluorescent light bulbs. How many of us have given any thought to our cookware?

This week I test drove a new GreenPan, the first environmentally-friendly, PTFE-free non-stick cookware. The GreenPan is constructed with Thermolon, a non-stick, ceramic-based coating, which releases 60 per cent fewer greenhouse gases during production than conventional non-stick products and contains no toxic substances that can be released at high temperatures. It also uses only non-toxic raw materials which are recyclable and biodegradable.

What I see as a trend is the fact that we’re moving towards making decision about all of our household purchases with a consideration for the environment. It’s not just the big ticket items which in the past have had obvious environmental impacts, but we as consumers are now wanting “green” in everything we buy.

So how did the GreenPan do? I loved it...and so did my omelette-loving kids. It cooked well and evenly, and cleaned up like a dream. Two (green) thumbs up.

GreenPan prices range from $29.99 - $100.00 and are sold at The Bay,Home Outfitters, Home Hardware and gourmet cooking shops across Canada.

What's in Your Bottle?

I'm not quite sure how I could write about trends these days without mentioning Bisphenol A...it's all over the news and everyone's talking about it. Is it really a health risk? Any tips for living a BPA-free life?

First, some background. Bisphenol A (BPA) is a central component in polycarbonate plastics that has been used for ages in the linings of canned products, in plastic water and baby bottles and in other plastic products. Now scientific experts have warned that unsafe levels of BPA, leaching into our canned foods and bottled drinks, pose a significant health hazard.

The problem arises in that BPA is a class of chemicals known as endocrine-disruptors, which mimic estrogen. These chemicals can duplicate, block or exaggerate hormonal responses that control development of the brain, the reproductive system and other functions.  Recently, experts have come out to say that BPA may alter genes and turn them on and off at  inappropriate times. 

I started to take notice when I began to hear on the news and read in the papers that BPA may be linked to the contemporary increases in breast cancer, prostate cancer, Type 2 diabetes, early onset of puberty in girls, obesity, and neuro-behavioural problems such as attention deficit and hyperactivity disorders. Scary enough for you?

The Canadian government has recently weighed in, and our country is the first in the world to complete a risk assessment of BPA in consultation with industry and other stakeholders, and to initiate a 60 day public comment period on whether to ban the importation, sale and advertising of polycarbonate baby bottles which contain BPA.

All well and good, but in the meantime, what can you do to lessen your family's exposure to BPA? Here are a few tips to get you started...

Use a metal or glass water bottle

I recently purchased SIGG water bottles for my two-year old daughter and I, to replace the plastic water bottles we were both sipping from all day long.  SIGG's a Swiss company that has been making aluminum bottles for a hundred years. They started with a simple hiker's bottle, and today you can buy all sorts of great products . I love mine because I know it's a safer alternative and my daughter loves hers because it's bright and has Dora dancing around on it.

Find out where to buy SIGG products near you at www.northern-spirit.ca.

Tweeze and Thank You

Have you ever come across something so amazingly, mind-blowingly awesome that you want to tell everyone about it? Have you dished with the woman who gives you a manicure about the fantastic fat-free cookies you've just found? Have you told all the moms in the schoolyard about the new cleaning product that's saving you precious minutes every morning?

This column's all about the tips and trends that we as urban moms share over coffee, when out for drinks, waiting in the pediatrician's office or while we're stretching in our yoga classes.

I'll write about the hottest new consumer products I can find, and offer advice on whether this new trend is something you can't live without...or something you can leave on the shelf. I'll also write about societal fads or crazes I've observed and how they may impact our daily lives.

First off, a little glimpse into my week. My days are a little nutty as I work full-time outside my home and have three young children. I am very fortunate to have supportive family and friends, and great childcare and schools, so most of my days run fairly smoothly. Every now and then, the smallest thing can crop out from out of nowhere and life's not so smooth anymore. Sometimes it's the smallest thing in the form of a splinter.

I got a call on Monday around lunchtime (I was in a store change room trying on a suit for a work function that I needed to attend the following evening...I do love a shopping challenge!). My six year-old son was sitting in the principal's office with a very large splinter in his right thumb. The poor school secretary was very sympathetic; she thought she could get it out, but School Board policy deemed the removal of splinters an "invasive procedure" that could not be carried out without parental presence (as an aside, let me just say that the School Board's definition of invasive procedures and my own differ spectacularly).

You might think I'd be upset by this turn of events, but in fact I was quite excited to try out one of my latest acquisitions, my Tweezerman point tweezers. I've been a fan of Tweezerman slant tweezers for a while...you can't beat a product that offers not only a lifetime guarantee, but also free sharpening for life! A friend had given me a pair of the point tweezers a couple of months ago, but I hadn't had an occasion to use them yet.

Very carefully, I pulled them out of their protective cap (these babies are sharp!) and went to work. Before my son could finish his sentence (which, incidentally was, "Mommy, it's going to hurt...can't we wait until tomorrow?") the splinter was out. 

Sometimes all it takes is the right tool to make you feel like Supermom! It doesn't hurt when said tool comes in fun fashion colours and patterns. I've got my eye on the limited edition Swarovski crystal decorated tweezers that Tweezerman's just come out with, but in the meantime, I feel very well-prepared for any brow or splinter emergency!

Buy your own Tweezerman products at most department and drugstores or online at www.tweezerman.com.