Some people enjoy fine wine, but that’s an expensive hobby. Gourmet tea is an affordable luxury. You can travel the world through your tea cup by sampling teas from China, India, Africa and South America as well as unique herbal teas (tisanes). When I lived in Boston, I was a regular customer at TeaLuxe, and I frequently shop at Teavana.  Recently I’ve become a fan of the Language of the Leaf’s gourmet teas after meeting their owner Neeta Khanna who sent me a wide variety of her teas to sample. Neeta gave me some free samples, but I’ve since become a paying customer.

My son got a special treat for his birthday in April: the Shuttle Imagination from KidsCraft Playhouses.  That’s him in the photo right after he first spotted his new “spaceship.”

Since then, we’ve had lots of fun decorating his spaceship with stickers and crayons, and it has held up for many hours of
“make believe” play. My son enjoys peeking out from the shuttle windows and opening and closing the doors.  Since he loves the Toy Story movie and books about space travel, we’ve had many happy hours playing astronauts or Buzz Lightyear.

Earth Day Sale at Nurtured Family — Three Days Only — Thursday through Saturday!

Pick up 10-40% discounts on some of your favorite eco-friendly, natural parenting gear.

The sale includes popular cloth diaper brands like Rump-a-rooz and Fuzzi Bunz, reusable stainless steel water bottles by Safe Sippy and Klean Kanteen, and more!

RosieHippo.com , one of my favorite sources for green toys, is giving away a $100 gift certificate. To enter the giveaway, share your favorite imaginary play or pretend play story by sending a tweet to @rosiehippo or by entering the discussion on Rosie Hippo’s Facebook page. One winner will be picked at random on May 1st to receive a $100 RosieHippo.com gift certificate.

I spotted this beautiful and educational wooden leaf shape puzzle over at Just Hatched’s Etsy Shop…

We just love Rosie Hippo and mom, owner Kim.

An amazing survivor and dedicated mom, Kim left the corporate world to pursue a dream of offering beautiful toys that inspire imaginative exploration.

So, we are delighted to share a Shop Rosie Hippo for Organic, Earth Friendly Toys. Use Rosie Hippo Discount Code MAMA10 for 10% off until end of April 2010.

Easter was one of my favorite celebrations when I was little, although I was not a huge fan of the itchy tights. Now that I am a mama, I like to look for longer-lasting, eco-friendly goodies to share along with the giant chocolate bunnies.

Whether you celebrate Easter or not, we hope you have a great start to the Spring season with your family! Enjoy!

Traditionally consumers had to choose between scratch-resistant (SR) and anti-reflective (AR) coatings for their lenses, since each has to be on the top layer to be effective. In fact some AR coatings seem to highlight even the tiniest smudges. But the newest coating on the market manages to combine both features: Sold as “Crizal Avance with Scotchgard Protector,” this is a remarkable product that combines anti-reflective, scratch-resistant, and dirt repellent properties all on the same lens.

I had the opportunity to try a pair of Essilor’s Airwear polycarbonate lenses with this new coating. They are less than half the weight of my glass lenses, and their coating really works as advertised.  Ask your eye care provider about Airwear lenses or visit LighterSaferGreener.com for more information.

One of my favorite stores is donating 25% of all Valentine’s Day purchases to Haiti. Click here to visit Rosie Hippo and to donate 25% of your purchase to Haiti use coupon code: HELPHAITI.

RosieHippo.com is the place to shop for hip, eco-friendly toys. Many of their toys are on-sale right now, so you can get a great deal and make a donation to Haiti at the same time.