Cool Charms for your Crocs

We just found one of this summer's coolest trends: flashing charms for your Crocs! These little doo-dads come in cute shapes (ladybugs, dolphins, peace symbols, flowers, butterflies, soccer balls, tennis balls and more!) and colors and flash at night. They are perfect for a summer's night stroll and will attract even the shyest firefly. Imagine them on your toes during Fourth of July fireworks! We loved them so much that we ordered every shape for the shop. Just email us at info@shoptwixt.com if you'd like to get your own.

Women's Health Bill in Congress Needs Your Suport Now

While this is not necessarily a 'tween issue, this topic is about an urgent women's health issue that merits your attention. And, as we all know, health issue awareness and activism needs to start early.
The bipartisan Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act is now before the House. Championed by Representative DeLauro (D-CT) and Senators Snowe (R-ME) and Landrieu (D-LA), this bill would eliminate the practice of "drive-through" mastectomies, when women are forced to leave the hospital following their physically and emotionally difficult breast cancer surgeries before they and their doctors may feel they are ready to go home. For the millions of women and families who have shared their horrific stories of "drive-through" mastectomies on myLifetime.com, this hearing — an important first step toward the passage of this bill — is 12 years too late. But for the nearly 200,000 women who will face breast cancer this year, it is about time. This is just the first step. There is still a long way to go. You can help. Sign the petition today and urge Congress to continue to take steps to pass this bill.
You can go the MyLifetime site to lend your support. All that is required is your name, email, city and zipcode, and none of this information will be used for marketing purposes. Please take 2 minutes out of your day to view this petition and lend your support. Your daughters will thank you for it.

Cooler Than Camp Rock

Ok - so you thought Camp Rock was cool? Think you could do as well as Mitchie? Well, here's your chance: Girls Rock DC is arriving this August!!

GR!DC is a week-long camp for girls ages 8-18. During the camp, girls will receive coaching on electric guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, turntables, and vocals. Campers will form bands, collaborate to write an original song and then perform in a GR!DC Showcase at DC’s 9:30 Club. There will also be workshops on gender and cultural identity, band merchandising and promotion, conflict resolution, and other skills young women need to take over (the world of rock)!

Ms. Twixt thinks that this organization is seriously cool and urges you to check it out and support GR!DC.

A Healthier Chocolate Milk?

All of us in the Twixt household have been grooving on these cool, lower-sugar chocolate milk straws from Sipahh. They're called "milk flavoring straws" and come in chocolate, strawberry, cookies-n-cream & banana. Our faves are the chocolate and cookies-n-cream. They're basically a straw with flavored sugar pellets INSIDE the straw - so you drink much less sugar (only 2 grams of sugar per straw!) than if you were to mix a syrup into milk. Not health food, certainly, but definitely a fun and healthier option (and it has no gluten, for those of you with such allergies).

As always, please note that any and all product info/recs/postings are all strictly editorial in nature and NOT paid for/sponsored in anyway.

An Artist Who Works in "Play"

You never know whom you'll meet on any given day. I am blessed to be in such a vibrant city as DC and in such an interesting neighborhood as Georgetown where people from all walks of life converge. Today at the boutique an artist came in, and we started chatting. Her name is Malia Stenerson, and she does the most amazing work in all manner of medium about "play". Her work is colorful and striking and HAPPY! Check it out on her site: MaliaPlay. I feel giddy just viewing her work - it looks like a Willy Wonka set. Let me know if you're interested in her next show - I plan to go with the kids!

GIANT Edible Gummi Bears?!?

OMG - how sweet is this: GIANT edible gummi bears!!! We found someone who creates these treats in lemon, cherry, lime and Astro (a layered version with all three flavors, like those Astro Pops you used to get). Too cool. These would make an awesome centerpiece for a party, or grand prize for party games. What a fantastic complement to our Gummi Bear Nite Lites (to order a Gummi lite, please email us at: info@shoptwixt.com).

So, will our kids really live online?

Turns out that's not the case - that teens (what our 'tweens will soon become) prefer live interaction to virtual interaction. A report due to be released tomorrow by OTX Research of 750 teens nationwide finds that while teens spend about eleven and half hours online each week (this includes surfing, text messaging, social networking, etc), they don't necessarily prefer to do everything online. They prefer spending time with friends (91%) to chatting with friends online, and prefer to head to the mall (82%) than shop online (18%). When given the choice between IM-ing a friend versus calling a friend, it's split (54 vs. 46%).
I don't know about you, but I was heartened to read this piece of research. So much of what we hear today in the media is about how dis-associated the youth of today have become and that kids are growing up devoid of social skills. It's nice to get external reinforcement that we are not raising a generation of cyber-punks.
While we are doing our darndest to ensure that our kids DO have appropriate social skills, we are also teaching them the skills to navigate online - after all, there is an etiquette to email and to other online behaviour. It turns out that rather than online interaction REPLACING live interaction, they are actually COMPLEMENTING each other. And that is a positive trend.