I'm not the best vintage shopper. At flea markets, I never seem to find the gems that everyone else does. Also, it smells weird.

So I was overjoyed to discover a growing collection of vintage shops on etsy marketplace. (Like eBay, but better.) The sellers scour flea markets around the world and sell the loveliest items.

My favorites are...

Ma Petite Amy, a Vancouver-based shop offering sundresses, 1970's secretary dresses and blouse-y tops. (She also uses belts to great effect.)

ShopGoodGrace, a shop from South Dakota that feels very 1970's Americana meets Parisian chic. (Not bad for $50 or less.)

Santoki Vintage, a Houston-based shop featuring dresses and tons and tons of boots.

Oh, Leoluca, run by Berlin-based artist Teresa Hu, who has a great eye for quirky-chic European vintage. (She also has an awesome star tattoo.)

Happy shopping!

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Last year, I bought the MBT sneaker, which is supposed to tone your butt while you trot around town all day. Unfortunately, I wasn't coordinated enough for the curved wedge. On day 2, I stepped off a curb, fell on my face and broke my foot (as my children watched in awe.)  So much for a toned arse.

When my foot was better, I embraced ballet flats. Lovely, yes, but support-wise, they're pretty lousy. Now, I have become devotee of Hogan's "Interactive" sneakers -- so popular among NY's Upper East Side women that I've dubbed them "chic-ers."  I opt for gold or bronze and wear them only with bootleg jeans. Truly the most comfortable shoe I've ever worn. Too bad my husband thinks they're hideous.

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Lauren Norris | Murfreesboro, TN

Much of our family lives seven hours away, and with no airport nearby, we have to make the drive several times a year. To keep our 5-year-old son occupied we play the superhero matchup game, which consists of us taking turns throwing out two superheroes and debating which one would win in a match and why. It can get quite technical debating whose powers would win, which means less time asking, "Are we there yet?"

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As a Cookie editor, the pressure to come bringing the coolest gift to a baby shower or kid's birthday party can be paralyzing. Do I drop a load of cash on some cute outfit that the child will wear for a second? Or on a toy more beautifully crafted than most of what I have in my own home? Fortunately, Target's in-house company makes amazing wooden toys that even my adult friends covet (and don't bankrupt me). Unfortunately, the selection online is limited, but go to the store and look for the Play Wonder brand. My favorites are the bowling set ($19.99) and any of the kitchenware and play food combos (all about $14.99). I've bought plastic versions of the bowling game, but Play Wonder's superior version has a heft and color palette that speaks not only to its quality but the brand's sensitivity to persnickety adults. My grownup friends also love the cookie baking kit, less for its look (which is still great) and more for its ability to occupy the kids just long enough to get dinner on the table.

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Gigi Schwartz  | Whippany, NJ

My kids love peanut butter sandwiches for lunch. Unfortunately, their nursery school doesn't allow peanuts or other nuts school because of food allergies. Trader Joe's Sunflower Seed Butter is the best alternative. It looks like peanut butter and tastes even better, plus it's low in fat and high in fiber. It makes both my kids and me very happy!

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My son Dash (3 1/2 years old) has become something of a picky eater of late, but he's also possessive about what's "his." So when he won't eat something I know he really likes, I just threaten to eat it myself. He takes it back and eats it immediately. I have a feeling I have mere weeks or days before he catches on and calls my bluff, but for the time being it's working nicely...

Here's what happens: He'll be refusing to eat something that's a favorite of his-say, grilled cheese-and I'll recognize this as simply an attempt to exert some authority over his situation, rather than a recently developed dislike. I'll say, "Dash, that grilled cheese [or whatever] looks really good-if you don't eat it really soon, I may have to eat it myself...." He tends to get a wary look at this point, and usually I have to follow up by actually grabbing for it-at which point he grabs it himself and takes a bite, looking triumphant and victorious over Daddy.

I usually feel bad, momentarily, about manipulating him in this way, but then I remember that he's been manipulating me since birth and will continue to do so...oh, forever. So I'm really just getting a bit of my own back.

I have not yet tried the classic "You gonna eat that?" line, but perhaps that's the next step.

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Like every girl, I am obsessed with shoes. After a recent closet clean out, I am slightly embarrassed to admit that I own more than 60 pairs of shoes in my NYC apartment (not counting the less popular pairs that I keep at my parents' home in California). How do I fit these in my walk-in closet-less bedroom? First, I took a digital picture of each pair and created a shoes file so I can scroll through the thumbnails to remember what I have. I keep shoes that are out of the current season (like boots in the summer or sandals/flip flops in the winter) packed away in stacked shoe boxes inside my tiny closet until the appropriate season. I also have a shoe organizer hanging on my door that holds a surprising number of my shoes that I like to wear year-round. With a little organization, I can guarantee that I'll be well-heeled all the time!

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Newspaper serves dual purpose in my house...before recycling the Sunday New York Times, my son and I create swords, hats, oversize oragami, and tents from the paper, rather than just playing with just the usual board games or toys. It's a great outlet for our imaginations!

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Joelle Dowe | Austin, TX

A week from today we are taking a nine- hour roadtrip to El Paso, Texas. My four-year-old is obsessed with "potty words" (PooPoo, Pottyhead, PeePee Mommie, etc.), so our game that really helps curb the potty words is that we say ALL the grossest (age appropriate potty words) and have a huge laugh! They get three miles to get them ALL out of their system and not get in trouble. So they say the grossest things a two-year-old and a four-year-old can say. Our cats constantly have hairballs so they say "hairball catbox stinky" or "throwup yuckie." Usually after all that potty talk we can go on to change the subject onto "I Spy" or some other more "mainstream" roadtrip game.

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When I was little I was obsessed with fairies. Probably because my mother taught me how to make fairy rings, which are a special places for fairies to dance and feast. Making a fairy ring is an easy and fun thing to do with a child: the idea is simply to put flower petals in a circle outside, preferably near moss, which my mom always said was "fairy grass." Then you add a snack to lure the fairies into your ring (breadcrumbs are perfect fairy food), and you leave the ring alone overnight. Important: you can't check to see if the fairies have come until the next morning. If they have come (and of course, they always do) the petals will be strewn in a haphazard fashion from all the dancing they got up to and the breadcrumbs will be gone.

Most important of all to any child, the fairies will leave a token of thanks: it's usually something as tiny as a single candy placed in the center of the ring under a petal or leaf. Frankly it doesn't matter what the fairies leave: anything looks wondrous when you've been anticipating it all night.

I made many fairy rings as a kid. Now that I have my own little girl I have an excuse to make them again. Granted ours are hardly ever nearly as elaborate as the fancy one pictured here (since I don't usually photograph them for Cookie!), but you can get as basic or as carried away as you want. For this one, we collected acorn caps for breadcrumb bowls and added tiny ceramic bonsai houses (for fairies to sleep in after all that partying). My daughter also placed a marble in the middle to make things extra-magical. Morning of course brought a fairy gift: a single strawberry Mentos in tin foil.

Even if you don't have a garden you can still make a fairy ring: I've made them on decks in deep winter (snow fairies also like to dance and feast); I've made them out of pine cones and stones...Not only do fairy rings play to kids' imaginations, but they also show that even the smallest present can be a treasure.

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