2013 Holiday Gift Guide: For Everyone.

 Since the holidays are all about giving, why not take the opportunity to really give back this year? Let's be honest, if you are reading this on any type of electric device, and you aren't hungry, and you have clothes and fresh water, and aren't in fear of your life, than really, you, like me, don't need anything. The perfect gift for anyone in your life is most definitely a donation in their name to a cause that will continue to give throughout 2014. That candle or scarf you were eyeing for your sister… probably won't last through January.

Here are 5 great ways to give to those who are really in need. No wrapping required.

Kiva is an incredible site that allows you make microloans to people in developing countries. You are able to chose a recipient, track their progress, and when they repay the loan, you can re-donate it to someone else. How cool is that? The concept is so incredibly simple, and I hope it catches on! This is perfect for those office or family gifts with a 25$ limit, or even as a hostess gift with a beautiful card. 

I was turned on to Skateistan though my son's skate network, and I have continued to follow this amazing school throughout the past year. It provides education and sports (the central theme is skateboarding) to young women in Afghanistan and Cambodia. Watch this video and you too will be blown away!!! 

This one is important to me for obvious reasons, and I am so impressed with the way that the country has come together to help all the victims after the April bombing in my beautiful city. My Dad was at an event in California, where some of those injured were receiving new limbs, and that story has stayed with me almost as intensely as my memories from the day of the explosion. So many people were affected that day, and many will need support for the rest of their lives. This central fund makes sure that no person is forgotten. 

I still think about those kids every day. For almost a year they have been one of the first things I think of when I wake up in the morning. I am so incredibly frustrated that the anniversary of this massacre is upon us, and we as a nation have done so little to make our kids any safer. Politics and anger aside, this fund is set up to directly help those in the Newtown community and I can't think of a better war to honor those beautiful children, then to continue to give services and aid to all of the families affected by that preventable tragedy. 

We all have seen the devastating aftermath from the Typhoon in the Philippines, and this beautiful country needs so much help right now. My kids and I talk a lot about how much need there is out there, and this is one place that needs the whole world's help right now.

If you have a cause or charity that is important to you, please feel free to leave a link in the comments section!

The Bully Project.

A friend of mine sent me a link to this project. I find this topic to be so heartbreaking and in the wake of recent events, so unbelievably relevant. This movie, once completed, seems like a phenomenal way to open the dialog with your children regarding just how destructive bullying can be. The synopsis is as follows, and there is a link to the trailer below.

This year, over 18 million American kids will be bullied at school, online, on the bus, at home, through their cell phones and on the streets of their towns, making it the most common form of violence young people in this country experience.
The Bully Project is the first feature documentary film to show how we’ve all been affected by bullying, whether we’ve been victims, perpetrators or stood silent witness. The world we inhabit as adults begins on the playground. The Bully Project opens on the first day of school. For the more than 5 million kids who’ll be bullied this year in the United States, it’s a day filled with more anxiety and foreboding than excitement. As the sun rises and school busses across the country overflow with backpacks, brass instruments and the rambunctious sounds of raging hormones, this is a ride into the unknown. For a lot of kids, the only thing that’s certain is that this year, like every other, bullying will be a big part of whatever meets them at their school’s front doors.


Every school in the U.S. is grappling with bullying—each day more than 160,000 kids across the country are absent because they’re afraid of being bullied—but for many districts it’s just one more problem that gets swept under the rug. With unprecedented access to elementary, middle and high schools across Sioux City, Iowa, The Bully Project will follow from the first day of school through the last, as students, teachers, coaches, principles and parents battle bullying in their district. In hallways, classrooms, busses, football practice and band rehearsals we’ll see where prevention programs end and the tough work of leadership begins. At West High, where no one is left on the sidelines during dances and the homecoming royalty challenge stereotypes of popularity, insisting, “Here, it’s cool to be nice,” we’ll show how a school’s culture can be transformed into a place where bullying isn’t tolerated, offering hope and a real model of change to schools who say it cannot be surmounted.


The Bully Project is a character-driven film. At its heart are those with the most at stake and whose stories each represent a different facet of this crisis. From the first day of school through the last, The Bully Project will intimately explore the lives of a few of the many courageous people bullying will touch this year.

I can't even imagine my perfect little boy being treated like that, or worse, treating someone else that way. I just hope that as adults we can put an end to this problem. From where I stand it starts with leading by example.

We Love Liam!

We all know that I have a soft spot in my heart for little boys, and even more so for little boys named Liam. A few days ago a friend of mine stumbled upon this blog, and ever since I have been telling everyone I know to enter this giveaway to help this sweet little boy to get a new bathroom. Liam will be turning 6 at the end of April and he has a neuromuscular disorder called Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 2. His amazing family has created this website to help them raise money to remodel a bathroom for him this summer. There are some wonderful and generous artists who have donated thier services, and they have a great raffle set up to help raise the funds needed. I encourage you to go check out their website.

From one mother of a Liam to another, I wish you guys the best of luck!

The Girl Effect.

I saw this the other day and can't get it out of my head. If you have a daughter or are a woman I imagine that this will resonate the same with you. It's time to stand up together for women around the world. Who will join me?

For most of my family and friends you are getting a chance for Christmas this year. Actually you are giving one, in your name we are giving a girl out there a chance to succeed. Sorry I didn't wrap it first.

For more information click here.

Home Should Be a Safe Place.

I consider myself to be very lucky. I am in a loving, committed relationship with a man who I know will always protect me. I never have to fear for my safety and I know that if something were to happen in my relationship I am fortunate to have a loving family who would take care of me and my children. Sadly for many women around the country abuse is a reality that they have to deal with on a daily basis. Women are often faced with the choice of staying in a violent and destructive relationship or living on the streets in fear for their safety. As a women and a mother, my heart breaks thinking of having to make such a decision. It is time to take a stand. A good friend of mine is sponsoring a petition for safe housing for victims of domestic violence in the District of Columbia. I cannot urge you enough to take 2 minutes our of your day to support this cause. The petition reads as follows:

Join our collaborative, community-based effort to ensure that victims of domestic violence and their children in the District of Columbia have adequate safe housing and housing support services. Our goal is to secure a Fiscal Year 2011 federal appropriation for the District of Columbia to sustain and increase capacity to meet the dire safe housing needs of victims and children.

Because the District is not a state, local officials do not have access to alternate, sustainable revenue that their counterparts in states rely upon to fund safe housing and victim services. 38 states have access to alternate, sustainable revenue. Federal lawmakers are in a position to dedicate gap funding to stabilize and increase these services in DC. This funding would reform a broken system and save lives.

Please, please, please take the time to click here and sign. Signatures are needed from all over the country.

For more information about how to support the District Alliance for Safe Housing (DASH) plase visit their website.

If Everyone Gave Just a Dollar.

I know the economy is pretty tough right now, but tonight I am asking all my daily readers to contribute what you can, even if it's just a dollar, to a very close friend of mine who is walking for an extremely important cause; the fight against retinal degenerative disease. Believe me, a little goes along way. If everyone contributed a dollar that would be almost 2,ooo dollars in one day!

I know I take for granted every day my ability to see. Can you imagine how much your life would change if you lost that? Please visit this site to learn more and to view Kristy's story. There's only 48 hours left so please act fast!

Go team Kristy!

Designer Bag Giveaway!

It's our first give away here at Yummy Mummy, and trust me, this one is well worth the wait! One of you lucky readers will be receiving your very own Debbie Brooks handbag (valued around $300 dollars) just for reading this blog, and for supporting a very important cause.

On June 26th and 27th Debbie Brooks will be hosting an auction in Lexington, Mass at Bonafine Jewelers on 319 Woburn Street. All proceeds from the auction will be going to the Alzheimer's Association, and 10% of all profits made from the store over the two days will also be donated. Debbie Brooks, who is one one of the most beloved American artists and hand bag designers will be unveiling her latest  creation "Forget Me Not" to benefit the local chapter of the Alzheimer's Association at Bonafine Jewelers. 

Debbie Brooks will be at Bonafine Jewelers for those two days. For those of you who do not know Debbie, she's a handbag designer from New York.  Her bags were featured in the Oscar and Tony award gift baskets. She's been featured on Extra, CNN, Inside Edition, Today Show, ABC, and People Magazine. She has created exclusive bags for the Tony Awards, Oscars, Olympics, Elton John, Pattie Label, Inman, The Wynn Hotel, The Four Seasons, and the Avon Foundation to raise money for breast cancer.

Each bag is created by hand, and no two bags are identical. Debbie will be creating a bag for the Alzheimer's Association one of which will be raffled off. Tickets are $20.00 for a $300.00 bag with the entire proceeds going to the association.  Also, 10% of all profits from anything sold in the entire store these two days will be donated to the Alzheimer Association. Really, can you beat that?

Debbie Brooks has successfully transcended her beautiful pop artwork into one the Nation's most sought after handbags. Celebrities including Miley Cyrus, Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson, Nicole Kidman, Sarah Jessica Parker, Mariah Carey,Renee Zellweger, Michelle Pfeiffer, Patti LaBelle, Iman, and Katie Couric all own a Debbie Brooks hand bag. And now so can one of you!

Here at Yummy Mummy we will be giving away her "charm bracelet" bag (the one in the top left corner.) All you have to do is leave your email in the comments section and we will be holding a random drawing on Sunday morning. If you can, please come out to support this very worthy cause, and don't forget to tell your friends and family.