This actually came out a week or two ago, and I missed it because I was doing something impractical, like giving birth or something.

Anyhoo, I’d heard a lot of buzz about the collection, and decided to take a look for myself.

All right, I am seriously digging the Sgt. Pepper jacket.  I don’t know that I would actually buy it, but I am digging it nonetheless.

Not so enthralled with the leopard-screened sweater dress. 

The color palette you see in these photos is pretty indicative of the entire collection. Soft, soft, colors and soft, soft fabrics, including cashmere. 

All in all, there are very reasonably priced articles of clothing that I would certainly purchase for myself, and some great showstoppers, such as the Sgt. Pepper jacket and a fabulous trench coat that many adults would spring for if it came in their size.

2009 is a banner year for boys, it seems.  There are lots and lots of new products geared toward boys, and I’m here to show them to you!

Nintendo DSi A high-powered handheld video game system in a sleek, folding design-loaded with features designed to create a unique gaming experience. Features include the ability to snap photos with built-in cameras, edit and send them to friends, play back your music with Nintendo DSi Sound, or browse the Internet with the Nintendo DSi Browser.

Fisher Price Imaginext Dragon World Fortress  A great toy that will transport him back to the time of knights and dragons!  Features cool sound effects, secret trapdoors, and tons of interactive features.

Lego Track Turbo RC Take control of the Track Turbo RC racer, complete with spoiler, air intake, and oversized engine for blazing-fast remote-controlled speed. Drive forward, back, left and right using the LEGO Function IRC controller.

Battle Strikers Turbo It’s a battle of the tops!  Uses magnetically charged turbo tops which give you the power to control them.

Nanovor Nanoscope Digital Collectible Game Discover tiny silicon monsters that live inside your PC and everywhere, and unlock the offline world of Nanovor with the Nanoscope. Battle with up to 4 Nanoscope devices and connect your Nanoscope to your PC. Battle your friends where ever you are. Play Mini-Games exclusively on the Nanoscope to make you Nanovor more powerful.

D-Rex Interactive Dinosaur Ultra-fierce and unbelievably fun, the D-REX Interactive Dinosaur is a cool, prehistoric creature with a personality all his own. Designed to keep kids eight and up entertained for days, this robotic D-REX moves, roars, and responds to your child’s voice and touch. A bone-shaped controller even lets you “train” him as a guard dinosaur or an attack pet.

Nerf Raider Rapid Fire CS-35 Dart Blaster Value Pack This is the pinnacle of blaster performance! It gives you two blasting modes, a clear window to view ammo capacity, and a pump action handle gives you ultimate control!

Lego Bionicles Ever-popular toy has new versions out for the Christmas season.  Boys truly love building these!

Radica UCreate Music Ucreate Music is an easy-to-use digital music-making system that allows kids to mix music just like a music producer. Kids and teens can express themselves through creating their own songs, performances and re-mixes with the fun and innovative interface.

Want the latest and greatest gifts for that wonderful girl in your life? Look no further, I’ve got them right here.

Interested in other hot toys for Xmas 2009? Go here!

Barbie Twilight Bella Doll and Barbie Twilight Edward Doll.  Oh yes, as if she hasn’t got enough Twilight merchandise in her life!

Nintendo DSi A high-powered handheld video game system in a sleek, folding design-loaded with features designed to create a unique gaming experience. Features include the ability to snap photos with built-in cameras, edit and send them to friends, play back your music with Nintendo DSi Sound, or browse the Internet with the Nintendo DSi Browser.

Zhu Zhu Pets. These are simply flying off the shelves. They have their own personalities, can purr, and can scoot around the floor on their own. But the beauty is, there’s no mess to clean up!

Disney Just One Kiss Princess Tiana Doll  From the newest Disney motion picture release comes the lovely Princess Tiana.  Re-enact key scenes from the movie, and her beautiful dress even has firefly lights all over it!

Peg Perego Polaris Trail Princess  This is definitely an expensive item, but has room for two, high performance steering, four-wheel suspension and automatic brakes. it even has SmartPedal Technology, which means there’s a 3-position variable accelerator for a smooth ride and increased riding time.

Tamagotchi Music Star. There are lots of different “skins” and colors to choose from on this popular, tiny electronic toy. Children raise their tamagotchi to be music stars, where they can then be in their own band and play their own music!

FAMPS starter kit What in the world is FAMPS? It stands for: feelings, attitudes, moods, personalities.  It is software for a PC that allows her to express herself through wallpaper, e-cards, avatars, and more!

Liv Girls Fashion Dolls Each Liv Doll comes with their own story and personality, and have 14 points of articulation for a more life-like look.  The dolls each come with a code to enter the online world of Liv Dolls as well.

Littlest Pet Shop Adoption Center The young pet lover in your home will be having plenty of fun with the Littlest Pet Shop Cozy Care Adoption Center, which teaches kids how to keep their pets well-fed, healthy, groomed, and happy in this multi-activity filled playset.

Mattel Dora Links Doll Plug the Dora Links doll into the computer and girls will have access to her online world. There, girls can help Dora and her friends solve mysteries through engaging game play that affects change in Dora’s world. Disguise Dora online by changing her hair length, eye color, jewelry, and more…and watch those changes magically appear on your Dora doll!

Little Mommy Baby Ah-Choo Doll Oh no, she’s sick!  Toddlers will love helping this cute doll feel all better!

Honestly, it’s never too early to shop for Christmas.  If you want to score some of the hottest toys, you’ve got to be on top of your game.  And I’m here to help.  I’ve got a list of some of the most-wanted toys for Christmas 2009, just for you!

Zhu Zhu Pets.  These are simply flying off the shelves.  They have their own personalities, can purr, and can scoot around the floor on their own.  But the beauty is, there’s no mess to clean up!

Wild Planet Crayon Town  This play set comes in many forms, from a zoo to a horse ranch. It combines the art with construction and imaginary play.  Kids can even use old and broken crayons to make more scenery.  This toy is getting fantastic reviews!

Tamagotchi Music Star. There are lots of different “skins” and colors to choose from on this popular, tiny electronic toy.  Children raise their tamagotchi to be music stars, where they can then be in their own band and play their own music!

PixOs Ultimate 3D Design Station  Kids are able to make 2D and 3D designs with movable parts and hinges, all with no ink and zero mess.  If you haven’t yet gotten in on the PixOs bandwagon, this might be the time.  Super fun!

Printies Design Studio Lots of different sets, from Ocean to Pets, allow your kids to design and stuff their own animals.  Sort of like Build-a-Bear, but without all the extra cost! Just print out the design on an inkjet printer, and up to six pets can be made with no sewing and no glue!

Lego 2009 Advent Calendar This one you have to get before Christmas! The Lego enthusiast in your life will love building a new piece of the set every day during Advent.

Bop ItA new game for the whole family.  It’s most comparable to “Simon Says” but in the most high-tech way possible!

VTech Bugsby Reading System & Pen Bundle
  The newest reading system from VTech helps to build reading skills through comprehension, phonics, word recognition, and more!  You can begin with the starter kit, and then add more popular character titles, from Dora to Max and Ruby.

Mindflex A new, fairly amazing game that actually reads your brain waves to levitate foam balls and sends them on different obstacle courses that progress in difficulty as you master the game.  Don’t believe it?  It does actually work!

Mickey’s Magic Choo-Choo Train  Just like on the show, this train lays its own tracks!  Music and different modes make for plenty of toddler fun!

Comes in pink or blue for even the youngest Grim Reaper fetishist.

(via Etsy seller beebles)

Since the Munchkin was a wee one, I have always found books about upcoming holidays to be really helpful. Not only can they help make sense of what can be somewhat confusing traditions (you mean I get to knock on people’s doors and ask them for candy!!??), but they also get everybody in the mood!

I’ve compiled a list of some of the best Halloween books for the whole family to read together!

Mommy? I’ve already touted the pop-up version of this book by Maurice Sendak, so of course I heartily recommend the regular version as well. A little boy searches through a creepy mansion in search of his mom, and even though the monsters he encounters try to scare him, he quickly shows them who is boss. And on the last page, Mommy!

Leonardo, the Terrible Monster Leonardo is a monster whose misfortune it is to be not all that scary. When he decides to find the easiest kid to scare and attempts to give it all he’s got, the kid starts to cry. But, it isn’t because of Leonardo.

Pumpkin Circle: The Story of a Garden This non-fiction book tells all about the development of a pumpkin seed into a plant, then a pumpkin, carving it into a jack-o-lantern, and then back to seed again, completing the circle. This is a great book to teach your kids about that ol’ “circle of life” thing and the color photographs are stunning. The text is sort of meh, but I think it affects adults much more than the kids.

The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything Beautiful illustrations help tell the story of a woman who finds a clever way to deal with the things that are trying to scare her. A just-scary-enough book.

Big Pumpkin A green-faced witch grows a pumpkin to bake into a pie for Halloween. But the pumpkin is too big! She needs help, and she gets it from various passersby, including a ghost, vampire, mummy, and little bat. A very cute story!

Room on the Broom When a friendly witch loses her hat, she manages to pick up a lot of friends on her way to look for it! With lessons of friendship and cooperation, this modern folktale is sure to be a big hit.

Scary, Scary Halloween This book is certainly designed to give children a a bit of a scare, but in a good way! The unseen narrator (a mother cat) describes all the spooky things she sees, which just happen to be children in Halloween costumes. With some great verse and wonderful illustrations, kids of all ages will love this book.

The Night Before Halloween What do monsters and mummies do before Halloween? Using lighthearted verse inspired by “Twas the Night Before Christmas” we find out what they do to prepare for the big day when the kids will be knocking at their door.

Scratch and Sniff: Halloween There aren’t a whole lot of scratch and sniff books anymore, but kids sure do love them. There is a vile (not really!) witch’s brew, a lollipop, pumpkins, bats and ghosts featured in all their olfactory goodness. Uh, well, maybe it doesn’t really smell like a bat, but that’s probably a good thing!

The Ghost’s Dinner Read as Henry the Ghost fixes dinner for his friends, and watch as they turn the color of each dish! But then, they mysteriously disappear after dessert, and Henry must save the day.

Ghosts in the House! This visually stunning book is an unorthodox tale of a young witch who goes to live in a house. Except one thing, there is a ghost already there! But never fear, the clever witch has a plan.

I know, it’s only September.  But hey, all the stores have their Halloween stuff out, so I consider the holiday to be fair game. But, if you need to order a movie, it takes a while to ship and all that, so before you know it, Halloween is almost upon you!

Besides, Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, and it doesn’t take much for me to get into the, uh, spirit.  So sorry, couldn’t resist.

But as with all “scary” movies, buy with caution and forethought into how your little viewer will be likely to handle it.

The Nightmare Before Christmas This movie is really two movies in one, because not only does it work for Halloween, it works equally well for Christmas. I’m all about the value, you know. This is a new re-release, and you’d better snap it up quick, because once they are gone, it’s unlikely Disney will do another for a while. Take it from the woman who lost her DVD oh, eight years ago and wasn’t able to buy another until this month.

It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown Can this 1981 gem be any more classic? Can Linus be any cuter? And Lucy any more endearing than when she collects her brother from the pumpkin patch to put him into bed? Can Glinda just be done with the questions?

Casper Debate abounds about this movie, actually. Some people think it is horrible, while others see it as light and fluffy bit of entertainment. There are no Oscar noms here, but the kids will probably really like it.

Clifford’s Big Halloween Clifford is just one of those enduring, endearing creations that will be loved until the end of time. Trust me, you can never go wrong with Clifford.

Mickey’s House of Villains Not a movie but a collection of animated shorts held together by an admittedly thin plot device. It is a mixture of old and new shorts, along with a sing-a-long by all the Disney villains.

Bedknobs and Broomsticks Who doesn’t love Angela Lansbury in a live-action/animated movie about a magic bed? The young Ms. Lansbury plays an apprentice witch who goes on adventures with three adventurous orphans. This is old-skool Disney, and what’s not to like?

Something Wicked This Way Comes The scariest, thematically, of all the movies on this list. And it technically isn’t really about Halloween. But, this movie adapted from an excellent Ray Bradbury novel will leave you with tingles.

Corpse Bride All right, another movie not truly about Halloween. But with the underworld, ghosts and ghouls, it is sure to get you into a Halloween frame of mind. Victor Van Dort is already engaged, but somehow finds himself accidentally married to the Corpse Bride. Which bride will he pick, the one that’s alive, or the one that’s dead?

The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad This DVD has both a version of Wind in the Willows (one of my favorite in children’s literature) and Sleepy Hollow. Both are definitely worth owning, and the vision of the Headless Horseman is enough to send almost everyone in the family hiding under the table.

Because of patrons like Roger Stephens up there, who take it upon themselves to slap other people’s crying children to “shut them up.”

Also, possibly this.