Real Simple sent me a their special family issue which made my day a little brighter seeing as I’m a magazine junkie and have been a fan of their publication for a while. Their Back-to-School 101 Guide is full of great ideas.

I was out birthday shopping for my best friend last week and spotted an entire display of Vera Bradley stationery and office supplies. I cannot resist elegant and special paper products, which is a love I inherited from my mother. This cute paperback cover on sale at VeraBradley.com would be a fun gift and make your paperback choice more mysterious (and stylish.)

If you’re in the market for a new mama mobile, one that is resilient to a 2-year-old kicking it in the back of its seats and being pelted with Cheerios, you must check out Mother Proof. I was surfing for information on the Chrysler Pacifica and found Mother Proof, which is a fun car review site written (and well-written I might add) by moms for moms.

Do you have sad, broken crayons at your house? Recycle them into chubby crayons! I mentioned this yesterday, but we made these bad boys and they are a big hit.

Design Mom has the most amazing giveaways I want to keep them to myself. Check out this Twisted Silver beautiful jewelry giveaway. (Time’s up tomorrow night!)

And last, some shameless self promotion. Don’t forget about the 25% Thermaclear discount good through Sept. 3 if you use the super secret code BLONDEMOM when purchasing their acne treatment system. And there is always a 10 percent discount if you register with Sitter City through my blog (scroll down to see the spiffy ad at the bottom of my blog page.)

Visit me at the Colorado Grand Junction Haute Mamas where I praise the infinite wisdom of BTDT Mamas.

Have a great weekend!

p.s. If there are any car dealers who want a real soccer mom to test drive their luxury SUVs, uh…you know how to contact me (points over to the right.) The girls and I would look awesome cruising around in a Lincoln Navigator. (Pssst…Miss C wants mama to drive a blue car.)