First up this week, Nena from A Happy Life Studio sent in these adorable pictures of her darling daughter Hendrix and best friend Emma in clothes that Nena created. We LOVE them!! Nena has been sewing for Hendrix since she was born, and now she’s sewing for her Best Friend too! Thanks for sharing

Kylee (our beautiful mermaid) is wearing an original design by her mom Tina of Pixie Petal Creations. Tina designs custom tutu’s, handmade flowers, boutique style clothing and more. You can also check out Pixie Petal Creations on Facebook here>>

Keep sending in pics of your children wearing boutique clothing and accessories in real life. We love when you share, and you’re most welcome to “toot your own horn” if you are a designer! Keep those fashions and adorable pics rolling in, and let’s show the world how wearable and beautiful boutique fashions can be. – xoxo Daria

** Readers: Don’t forget to leave some sweet comments for our featured children – they would love it!

I’d say my children are pretty well balanced but that doesn’t mean there’s no room for improvement. Take their diet. Though they don’t drink a lot of sugary drinks (hey, I’m doing something right), they sure don’t drink enough water. That’s why they were the perfect reviewers for Balance for Children, a non-flavored, homeopathic beverage containing spring water and Australian flower essences.

I’m familiar with spring water but flower essences? Apparently the use of flower essences dates back centuries across various cultures. More specific to Balance Water, Australian wildflowers are “particularly interesting and unique in their properties given their diversity, beauty, remote growing locales and the harsh conditions they typically have to endure.” Who knew? It’s actually quite interesting. I almost included info about the specific flowers used in Balance but it would have made the review too long. I highly recommend reading it; it’s extremely interesting!

Balance for Children contains four flower essences: Bush Fuchsia for creativity; Crowea for calming and centering; Black-Eyed Susan for focus and concentration; and Paw-Paw for digestion. These essences promote calm and focus while helping restore balance, all without affecting a child’s natural energy. (So maybe I wish it removed just a titch of their energy…) This enhanced natural spring water doesn’t have any flavors, colors, preservatives, artificial additives, sugar or calories. So what did my kids think?

Here you go:

• my oldest thought it tasted funny and didn’t finish her bottle


• my next oldest didn’t say much at all but downed hers


• my three-year-old sipped his while carrying it around the house thinking he was pretty cool to have his own water bottle


• my youngest (though below the suggested age of 2 to 9) enjoyed taking a swig from everyone’s bottle.

My opinion? My oldest must have been smoking something (no, not literally) because that water doesn’t have one tiny little ounce of taste to it. Yes, I had my own bottle while working out at the gym. I absolutely LOVED it. Sounds crazy but I loved that Balance for Children didn’t have an aftertaste. I swear Dasani and Arrowhead both have a funny aftertaste. It was crisp, clean and truly refreshing…and I’m not saying that just because I was hot and sweaty. I would really love my second oldest to drink a bit more and see if it does help her to focus. She is my “free spirit” and could use a little calming. We have a few bottles left so it’s worth a shot!

I will say I’m intrigued enough by the concept of flower essences to try Balance for Women, which is infused with eight flower essences including Peach Flowered Tea Tree for mood stabilization and Bush Iris for circadian rhythms. Heaven knows I could use more balance in those areas! They also have a Balance for the Mind and Balance for Traveling (helps combat the stresses of traveling, i.e. physical and emotional fatigue).

A six-pack of Balance for Children retails for around $7, which is on the higher end of bottled waters, but this isn’t your typical bottled water and it’s a heck of a lot better for your kids than the other ,strike>crap beverages you usually find them drinking. I say a little more balance in your child’s life is worth it!—Emily

*** Giveaway Balance is giving away one six-pack of their fabulous flower-essence-enhanced Balance for Children. Please leave a comment with a valid email address for our drawing. We’ll draw the winner from the comments and contact her via email. Deadline: February 12, 2009 (midnight). The winner will have 24 hours to claim her prize or a new winner will be chosen.

• Congratulations to Melissa B., the winner of the Balance giveaway! Thank you to everyone who took the time to read the review and add a comment. Keep reading the Daily Dish for your chance to participate in more giveaways!

...all while soothing the senses. No karts, no alien creatures, no spastic background music. The Game Factory has debuted two new Nintendo DS games designed for the growing number of female “casual gamers”—women just like me who aren’t serious gamers but enjoy a little break from reality once in a while.

The two new games are Zenses Ocean and Zenses Rainforest, which allow players to “escape from the stress of daily life while challenging the mind, body and spirit through relaxing puzzle games, soothing ambient sounds and authentic rainforest and oceanic visuals.” Sounds pretty soothing already, doesn’t it? Well, my girls and I have tested both Zenses Ocean and Zenses Rainforest and the verdict is in: we love them!

Okay, I was only able to play Zenses Ocean. My daughter started playing Rainforest, her favorite of the two, when the battery ran out on her DS. We couldn’t find the charger so Rainforest has sat in the DS waiting anxiously for someone to play it—and I’m anxious! I enjoyed pretty much every game on Ocean and the crashing waves in the background were rather soothing. I had a little trouble with one of the games, and I will admit, a couple truly tested my brainpower, but a little cerebral exercise is a good thing especially when you have sand between your toes!

I can’t wait to charge up the DS and check out the Rainforest game. It’s already a favorite of my daughter’s and if it’s even better than Ocean I know I’ll love it. I’ll never be a hardcore gamer—not enough time and not enough interest—but I do enjoy a little reprieve from the daily grind and The Game Factory’s new line of Zenses games is perfect for the casual gamer like me.—Emily

Our first big family vacation to California proved to be 100% FANTASTIC!! I can’t wait to share it with you. I’ve started to blog about it on my personal blog with pictures, and will continue to keep adding to it (including our visit to Disneyland). Our video footage from Disney will be released soon as a video podcast as well. Keep watchin’ for it! – Daria

Our dreams are coming true, Boutique Cafe is heading to California!! We’re going to be taping a Video podcast for Boutique Cafe at Disneyland next week!

I’ll be at the park next Tues, Wed, Thursday. If you’re going to be there with your kids, dress them in Boutique, we’ll be watching for you – I’d love to get them into the segment! If you’re a designer this would be a great way to showcase your designs in the happiest place on earth!

We hope to meet several of our Boutique Moms there, and your Disney-kids too!! If you’re going to be in the area, please leave me a comment below and I’ll email you my cell number so we can hook up at the Disneyland park.

See you there! – Daria

***Shhh Don’t tell my kids, they don’t know we’re going there yet!! hee hee

Everything you need to create magical memories with your child, is jam packed into The Playful Chef Kit available on Chocolate Cake Club’s website. This spectacular kit knocked my socks off, everything is included and is child sized to make their baking experience a joyous one.

The Playful Chef kit comes in a clear backpack that can be easily toted over to Grandma’s house, or simply hung up in your pantry for co-baking with your child. Inside you’ll find an apron for your little chef along with handy spatula, wisk, small bow, measuring cups and much much more – 10 cooking tools to be exact! You also receive several handy recipes to make with your child, these are so well planned out on laminated cards. They include shopping lists, planning, prep work required and even safety. The recipe for Chocolate Mountain Lava Cake was of course the hit with my son (and me too).

What I loved most is the time I was able to spend with my son Brigs, he loves to mix and pour, and his big smile was well worth the effort and clean up afterwards. You can pick up your own Playful Chef Baking Kit at Chocolate Cake Club’s website, be sure to search around as they offer so many unique and fun products for your kids. I loved their site! They also break down product suggestions by whatever your need might be (ie: traveling with kids, helping baby sleep, family fun actives etc.).

Cooking with your children can be so much fun and a great learning experince. They get to see first hand how to measure, how to plan, how to make a shopping list, and how to clean up and enjoy the fruits of their labor. Happy Baking! – Daria