Hank’s school had an auction benefit a little while ago, and I asked some Internet friends for donations. As a thank you to the folks who donated, I thought I’d do some giveaways here as well.

Wee Wood of the Month Club from Little Alouette

These pretty wooden toys and teethers feel good in the hand, encourage imaginative play, and aren’t finished with paint or varnish that will make your baby ill. Bonus. Some toys are unfinished, others finished only with a light coat of organic flax seed oil, so all the toys are utterly chewable.

Strongman from Dria Peterson

Dria Peterson’s handmade strongman protects your little one from nightmares, and encourages him or her to hang out with carnies.

Happy Trails Felt Doll Journal from Suzy Ultman

If you kept a journal as a kid, you know the pleasure of paging back through your gift wishlists, childhood heartbreaks, and lemonade stand earnings. This diary doesn’t have a lock, which saves parents the trouble of picking it.

Hand-Knit Pony from Woolies

This tiny hand-knit pony is just right for chubby little fists. Twice the appeal of My Little Pony, with none of the offgassing.

Play Scarves from Birch Leaf Designs

Simple play scarves to use as capes, forts, or baby doll blankets.

A Leaf Puzzle from Just Hatched

This handmade wooden puzzle has the names of the tree behind each corresponding leaf. Yeah. Your kid is gonna be smarter than you.

Letter Flashcards from Pollywog Learning Products

Tactile letter flashcards are made to help little ones trace the letters with their fingers. The letters are fashioned from sandpaper with a starting-point dot on each. Literacy! Hells yes.

Please leave a comment with your favorite childhood memory to enter, and please only enter once. I’ll announce the winner on Monday. Tune in next week for a science toys giveaway, and big thanks to all the artists and merchants for their donations.

When I got the key to my first San Francisco apartment, I did a keychain audit and realized all my other keys were defunct. I threw away the bike lock key for the bike that had been stolen, removed keys to the offices at my college newspaper, and did the same with about ten more, until I was left with only one. The key to my new front door.

Something about the symbolism of that that single key thrilled me. I felt the burden of all that ownership and responsibility lift off me. That solo key was the start of a new life in a new place, with all my options open.

I thought of that feeling this morning when I pulled my keys out of my clutch. It was like watching a clown car unload.

It may be time to reassess.

National Geographic lifted a house with weather balloons. That was someone’s job, y’all. (via Say Yes to Hoboken).

For more touching Internet, clear your mind for ten minutes and watch Ten Things I Have Learned About the Sea. (via BB-Blog)

Sometimes I want to kiss the Internet on the mouth.

Did you ever want to be a natural at something pointless? Like, bongos, or opening bottles with random household objects? Last weekend, I found myself at a bar with a mechanical bull and was surprised to find that I cared about that. Some part of me saw that metal bull and decided I wanted to win at bull riding, I wanted to go on the dive-bar bull riding circuit, I wanted to be the Tri-State Mechanical Bull Rodeo Queen.

So I held on.

And held on.

And held on.

I won’t be able to wear a miniskirt again this fiscal year.

Worth it.

Lodekka Boutique photo via The New York Times by Andrea Fuentes-Diaz.

When I first heard about these mobile stores modeled on food trucks, my jaw dropped at the simple genius of it all. I want to drive one across country for a month and fill it with thrift store treasures.

Wanderlust mobile shop.

Inside Wanderlust.

The Mobile Manners Giveaway winner is Kendra Portnova who said, “My pet peeve is when I’m trying to have a convo with my husband and I’m interrupted with a text (on his phone) and he sits there halfway listening to me… then gets a phone call (out in public) a proceeds to use his megaphone voice to talk! I have to tell him to lower his voice, because I know it’s annoying to everyone! Even me!”

Take that, Kendra’s husband! Let it be a consolation that your megaphone voice won your wife a sweet gift bag. Thanks to everyone for entering and sharing your peeves. Kendra, look for an email from me in your inbox.

Hello, team. I’m in Nashville this weekend with a group of very fine girlfriends and many bottles of wine. These are my latest picks from your suggestions for our sobbing/dancing mix. You guys are good at this.

Cry Into Your Beer

Woke Up New from The Mountain Goats

They Won’t Go When I Go from Stevie Wonder

Plane from Jason Mraz

Smile from Nat King Cole

Shake It ‘Til You Break It

Americanarama from Hollerado

Something Good Can Work from Two Door Cinema Club

Seven Nation Army by the White Stripes

Just a Little Bit from Kids of 88

First, apologies about the title, but wow. Don’t get me wrong, I’m certainly still buying, but does anyone else feel like American Apparel is going off the rails?

Floral Double-Layered Full Length Skirt
“Has anyone seen my third grade class?”

Mad Andy T-Shirt
“My boobs are watching you.”

Butt T-Shirt
“It’s right here. In my left hand.”

Punctuation Tights
“Interrobang me?!”

While we were at SxSW, Laura and I threw a Mobile Manners brunch with Intel. We gathered a group of very smart women to eat quiche and text one other about the irritating things people do with their gadgets.

Genevieve Bell, an Intel Fellow who studies how different cultures use technology, presented some of their mobile etiquette research.

During Genevieve’s presentation, I tweeted while she was talking (event hashtag, FTW), checked in to Foursquare, and texted with a person sitting two tables away from me. Afterward, I drove around town looking for a funeral parlor, because I’ve heard those are nice quiet places to make phone calls.

Everyone else was the picture of civility, even when the gift bags came out.

Now that’s some good home training.

The bags were a team effort amongst attendees, and as always we saved one for you. Maile brought her gorgeous Epiphanie Bags, and I set aside the Clover Laptop and Camera Bag in grey, which is the one I carry. Everywhere. And sometimes I spoon with it. It looks like this:

Elizabeth works for Twitter, but also has a letterpress business called Paperwheel Press. She brought everyone a couple of geeky letterpress thank you notes:

And finally, Intel threw in a copy of Emily Post’s Great Get Togethers:

To win, please leave your pinky out when you sip your tea, and leave your most profound mobile etiquette peeve in comments.

Please only enter once; I’ll leave comments open until Monday when I’ll announce the winner. I hope it’s you.