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In honor of SXSW, the annual music, film and interactive conference in Austin, I’m gonna treat everyone to some balls. Okay, that sounds bad. I’m talking about the newest trend in baked goodness – Cake Balls and/or Cake Pops. It seems the cupcake may be tossed from its tiny throne and a sassy, smaller, chewier champion will be crowned.  Behold, the Cake Ball.

Even Starbucks is getting on the Cake Ball action as they recently introduced Cake Pops. They brag that this little chewy pop of yummy is under 200 calories too. Perfect for anyone with a sweet tooth who just wants a nosh.  So if you live in Austin, Texas, or you’re in town for SXSW, I urge you to stop by one of many hip trailers for a “Keeping it Weird” experience. And if you want a little cake orb, visit Holy Cacao.

My hubby surprised me with Cake Balls from this bakery for my B-Day. I must say, they were totally adorable. You’ve gotta keep ‘em refrigerated, so plan ahead. I don’t suggest eating one cold. And don’t expect a cake consistency when you bite into them. They’re much chewier like brownies. I was impressed with ‘s circular goodies and they’d be a HUGE hit at a kid’s party too. My boys went wacky for them. Cake on stick? Come on.

is a gourmet dessert trailer offering unusual items such as Cake Balls, as well as providing a true Austin experience.  The Cake Balls are available by the dozen and easily customized for special occasions.  Get a load of the names: Velvet Cake Balls (red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting), Brass Cake Balls (peanut butter cookies mixed with chunky peanut butter, then dipped in chocolate and topped with crushed peanuts), and my fave, Rabbit Cake Balls (carrot cake mixed with cream cheese, dipped in white chocolate and coated with crushed walnuts).

The Holy Cacao trailer is located at the iconic South Austin Trailer Park & Eatery, alongside Torchy’s Tacos (gourmet tacos) and Man Bites Dog (gourmet hot dogs). Eat on, SXSW friends. Eat on.

Images: Holy Cacao

It goes without saying, choosing a name for your child can be a difficult task. My husband and I came up with a bunch of great names for our first child, who turned out to be a boy. But when we found out we were having another boy, chaos ensued. It took us eight months to come up with a name for him. (You can read about our baby name adventure in the article, “One-of-a-Kind Baby Names” in Pregnancy Today.)

Like many parents my age, we were slightly obsessed with finding the perfect unique baby name. In our effort to be different, sometimes we make big mistakes. Well, the list of baby names below may make you feel better about yourself. Take a look at actual baby names given to real kiddos living in the United States (according to the US Census):

-Uranus Stukey
-Ghoul Nipple
-Acne Fountain
-Lust T. Castle
-Mary A. Jerk
-Ima Whore
-Mutton Bucker
-Hugh Jass
-Fanny Whiffer
-Tackle Feigenbutz
-Envy Burger
-Bum Snoddy
-Mule E. McCart
-Lard Mooney
-Good Hell
-Emma Royd
-Noble Butt
-Monday Monday
-Naught E. Bishop
-Stud Duck

I’m sure you’re thinking, “Come on, MommyQ. You can’t be serious?” Oh, but I am. And on this note, I would like to add my two cents about an awful baby name, Brain. You see, whenever I mistype the name ‘Brian’ as ‘Brain’ I have a complete laughter meltdown. I’m sure there is a kid out there somewhere who is actually named Brain. And if people ever see his name written down on a list, they always assume it’s a typo and call him ‘Brian.’

“Okay, next up is Brain.”
“Oh no, that’s not his name, That must be a typo.”
“No, it says so right here B-R-A-I-N.”
“Yes, but NOBODY is named Brain, that should be Brian.”

Omg! I have no idea why that cracks me up, but it does. Every time. So, what’s the WORST baby name you’ve ever heard? (Yes, I’m still giggling right now about the Brain thing….)

Kids do funny things. This is nothing new. But when it’s YOUR kid, it becomes even more hilarious. My 3-year-old son scratched his head at school last week and immediately requested a Band-Aid. You know how little kiddos love their Band-Aids. Anyway, that was almost a week ago and he refuses to take it off.

He doesn’t get to watch Mr. Squarepants because I’m not a big fan of the humor for a 3-year-old. But he has gotten a peak, so he knows that SpongeBob is a cartoon. My son also LOVES the color yellow. If he sees anything yellow, he wants it.

So guess what happens when my son got this bright, yellow, SpongeBob Band-Aid? He fell in love. He refuses to take it off. (It’s also stuck to his eyebrow, so I’m guessing that will be a tad painful to remove.) Now it has become part of his wardrobe and we keep picking outfits that coordinate with his new BFF, his bandage.

He has given us compelling reasons for keeping the Band-Aid:

“My SpongeBob Band-Aid is my friend.”

“This yellow keeps my head warm.”

“But it’s my friend on my head, mommy. I need it!”

You can see the video below to hear him vow to keep it on “forever & ever & ever” and I happen to believe him. He’s quite tenacious.

On the heels of my serious posts about great gift ideas (for boys and for her), comes this post about bad ones. I think we’ve all seen commercials for some of the these products and thought, “Seriously!?!” Like I get the idea, but it just doesn’t hit the mark. From Booty Pop to Bango Hair to the most horrific X-Mas sweaters ever, I truly hope none of these items are under your tree:

#1 – Booty Pop
Nothing says classy like a push up bra for your butt. I double-dog-dare someone to give these as a gift this year. I can see it being the gag gift of the century, but that’s about it. I bought a pair for my Kim Kardashian costume, because I needed more junk in the trunk, but the padding is totally wrong. It’s an absurd concept, even for a gag gift. Three cheers for pancake butts and Booty Pop!

#2 – Pajama Jeans
Omg! How insane are these faux jeans meets faux pants? It is really that much of a struggle to fit into normal jeans. Maybe if your jeans are two sizes too small. If you buy regular jeans in the correct size, the buttons seems to work. Also, what’s with the pocket placement? In some of the pics, they look like ‘mom jeans’ with high small pockets. No, no, no. The secret to a good butt is bigger pockets that sit lower on your butt. I can see them working if you’re pregnant or just had a baby. Lord knows anything comfy without zippers is heavenly. Aside from that, these jeans say, “I’ve given up on life.” Yeah, that’s sexy.

#3 – Shake Weights
I really can’t say anything about this product, because this is a G-rated website. My thoughts are best described by this hilarious parody Saturday Night Live did about them. And my thoughts about the Shake Weights for men is exactly the same. Ditto.

#4 – Bango Hair
I’ve had bangs for most of my life and I seriously doubt this product works. I can see how it might rip your bangs out of your head evenly, but that’s about it. “More bangs for less bucks.” What does that even mean? Most salons do a FREE bang trim. I had no idea bangs were so costly. What in the world? Do yourself a big favor and buy a pair of scissors. Scary!

# 5 – Ugly Christmas Sweaters
My favorite bad gift is an easy one – the ugly Christmas sweater. Sadly, me and my friends wore sweaters like this in middle school. <Sigh!> It’s refreshing to see people who understand the beauty of the ugly X-Mas sweater like the STL_Vintage store on eBay. Oh, behold the hilarity of the male model and the hideous sweaters.  They call this one the Cute Teddy Bear Varicose Vein Sweater. The ultimate bad gift. Thanks for the holiday chuckle, guys.

Top Image: STL_Vintage on eBay

This post is dedicated to the weirdos who put costumes on their cars. Thank you for the chuckles. I would never put one on my car, but it really is funny to see them on the road. I was stuck in traffic yesterday, and an older distinguished guy next to me had antlers and a red nose on his 2010 Range Rover. It’s the equivalent of trying to look hip with car Elmo seats in the back seat.  Not really gonna happen…

If you want this festive costume, you can grab one here. You can also dress your car up like a bat. If your car gets a boo boo, slap on a huge Bandaid. Thanks to the bozo who rear-ended us on I-35, we actually need a few of those for my hubby’s SUV.  As Spring approaches, you can do the bunny thing for your car with floppy ears and a pink nose. And for the hunter in your life, how about a pair of deer antlers for your truck. Now that’s classy!

Do you dress up your car for the holidays? If so, why did you start doing it and what kind of response do you get from passersby?

I must weigh in on the jeggings phenomena, because it’s starting to bug me. The other day I was in a boutique when an annoying saleswomen with far too much Botox asked me if I had “experienced” jeggings. “They are ah-maze-ing,” she smiled. Really? Have I experienced them? It’s not like lobster chip ice cream or a trip to see the pyramids in Egypt. Experienced? Hmm.  Aren’t they just fancy leggings pretending to be jeans?

Sure, I like leggings and I like some styles of jeggings, but things are happening with the trend that are starting to bother me.  I’m seeing lots of jeans with elastic waistbands that look like maternity jeans, but they aren’t. Are jeans really so incredibly uncomfortable that we have to eliminate the snaps and zippers entirely? Will real denim jeans becomes a thing of the past, replaced by jeggings, stretchy faux denim and those crazy Kymaro jeans on TV that look like an SNL skit?

It makes me wonder if jeggings are for the fashion-forward who like a touch of comfort now and then, or do we all really dislike the feel of real denim on our bodies? Denim can be cumbersome and scratchy and yes, the whole waistband versus ‘muffin top’ issue is annoying. I have certain jeans I can only wear with certain shirts because the waist is either too high or too low or too loose or too tight. Is elastic the magic solution? I’m undecided right now, but if I start seeing men’s jeans with elastic waistbands, I’m going to be extremely worried.

Now I wonder if the saleswomen was excited about the actual jeggings or the idea that her muffin top will be forever vanished. Maybe it is an experience after all? What do you think?

It’s been a hectic few weeks, thanks to my extremely unattractive cough. I sounded like an 80-year-old woman who smokes two packs of Virginia Slims per day. No, I don’t smoke and I’m not 80 yet. The cough hit me out of nowhere and lingered. I knew it had to be bad if my husband told me to go to the doctor. Well, my kiddos were under the weather too, so I figured it was allergies. I ended up taking them to the pediatrician and we got antibiotics, so they were good to go. I woke up the very next day and felt like my lungs were full of fluid. The cough that seemed to be getting better got 10x worse overnight. I finally caved and took myself to the doctor.

As you know if you’ve taken your children to the doctor with you, it’s not fun. They think the visit is for them and I was trying to trick them by saying it was for me. When they finally realized I was telling the truth, they were cool. And then they were BORED. We were stuck in a tiny room with zero toys. It was 4:00 p.m. so they were tired. Not fun. The kiddos were wreaking havoc with two bouncy balls the nurse (who obviously doesn’t have young boys) gave them. They were bouncing them off the ceiling – literally. When the doctor asked me if I could stay longer for a chest x-ray, I came so close to declining. Then I thought, how much crazier can it get? She diagnosed me with bronchitis and a sinus infection. The next day, I got a call. They sent my x-rays to a radiologist who spotted pneumonia in my left lung. Whoopsy!

I’m feeling better, as you can tell by the fact that I’m actually sitting at a computer and writing semi-coherent thoughts. I’ve been knee-high in dirty clothes because if mommy doesn’t do the laundry, a magical fairy (called a maid) doesn’t show up and do it for me. Today I opened the dryer and removed a few shirts. I instantly noticed something sticky on them. Hmmm. Gum in the dryer! Collapsing on the floor into a pile of mucus and tears seemed like a great idea. I felt totally defeated and mortified. I grabbed some cleaner and started scrubbing. My husband appeared. I took my head out of the dryer to see he was holding a piece of paper. It had instructions for getting gum out of the dryer. Wet dryer sheets. Wet them, let them sit on the gum residue for about 20 minutes and it comes off like a charm.

To answer my own question, thanks to my hubby’s Google expertise, walking pneumonia is worse than gum in the dryer.

If you didn’t know, musician Katy Perry was booted from Sesame Street. Her segment was taped and it was going to air as part of the show’s 41 st season. She did a spoof of her ‘Hot ‘N Cold’ hit with Elmo. Thanks to a bunch of parents griping about her cleavage, her performance got yanked.

I’m personally so tired of parents acting like Oscar the Grouch about everything. Sure, as parents we have concerns about what our children see, especially on a television show catered to youngsters. But is this really necessary? It seems most of the negative buzz is about Katy’s dress and her cleavage. I’ve seen the video and the outfit in question. You can see it here.

I think Katy’s dress is just  fine and kids wouldn’t even notice her outfit.  I have two young boys and they wouldn’t care about her dress. They would be looking at her face and listening to her sing. If kids are noticing her cleavage, they are too old to be watching Sesame Street anyway. After all, women have boobs. What is she supposed to wear?  A turtle neck with a bulky cable knit sweater? A Big Love-inspired librarian frock? Come on, people. Why can’t Sesame Street have a little fun. I’m sure Katy’s outfit wouldn’t have caused a stir at all had she done the same thing on Yo Gabba Gabba!

And is it really Katy’s fault? I’m assuming a show as huge as Sesame Street has wardrobe professionals on hand. Why didn’t a wardrobe person question the dress? If it was at all questionable, wouldn’t someone have said something? I think so.  I hope Sesame Street offers Katy a sincere apology, because I think they’re guilty of bad manners here.