Health & Beauty
Meet Melissa!
Westport Mom of six and co-founder of the world famous Melissa & Doug Toys, Melissa (and her husband Doug) followed their dreams in their early twenties to build something that made them want to get out of bed each morning. Decades later, this superstar mom has founded a different, yet equally life-changing company, Lifelines, to help those facing anxiety and depression have a community to be part of. After coming to terms with her own existential depression in recent years, she has dedicated her life to supporting others in need. Melissa loves time with her family, in another life may have been an R&B singer, and is terrified of cocktail parties, although she can speak in front of thousands without flinching! While Melissa has changed the world of children for the better for years, she is invigorated by now helping grown adults find their way. Thank you Melissa; your bravery knows no bounds.
Meet Jess!!
While the last year has made some people want to run away from the kitchen, Jess Larit – mom to three girls here in Westport – has found the kitchen, cooking, and sharing her beloved recipes – a safe haven during this time. Whether It was cooking an easy dinner her family looked forward to, a sweet treat, or a yummy cocktail, Jess loved creating in the kitchen, and finally launched A Sprinkle of Sweet as a way to share her recipes with her friends, community, and whoever might be interested! Some fun facts – Jess was born in Holland, was a D1 tennis player in college, reads two books a week, and has her masters in school counseling. She can’t live without pizza, and is currently spending a lot of time creating other can’t live without recipes you may want to try! Check It out – we promise you will not be disappointed!
A Return To Sports After The Pandemic
As we all anxiously await the end of this dreadful pandemic, we look forward to what 2021 will bring us. Hear from Dr. Joshua Frank at OrthoConnecticut what he has learned over the many years in sports medicine about a sudden change in activity in terms of increasing the risk of injury!
Meet Wynter
If this last year has taught us anything, it’s that spending excess time with family can be HARD (while simultaneously wonderful), and also that we owe It to ourselves to pursue work that fulfills us. A lifelong actress and mom of two, Wynter’s newest movie, G-D Committee (featuring Julia Stiles and Kelsey Grammar) comes out soon, and most recently, she has also decided to pursue a long-time interest to become a family and marriage therapist and will start school this fall! Wynter left LA 12 years ago to join her husband in CT, and hasn’t looked back. She has loved the lazy mornings of this past year and enjoying her husband’s cooking, though longs for the days of travel and time with girlfriends! Thank you Wynter for reminding us all to take care of us; while it’s not always easy, it’s more important than ever!
The 2021 WestportMoms Day Camp Guide is HERE!!!
At long last, the 2021 Summer Day Camp Guide is HERE! To make things easier for you, we have broken the guide down into three sections: 1) FEATURED CAMPS, 2) ALL AROUND CAMPS, and 3) SPECIALTY CAMPS! HAPPY CAMPING! **If you run a camp program and would like It to be included, please email us anytime at [email protected]!
Important Event on How Divorce Impacts Children THIS Wednesday!
40% of children who live in the United States will experience parental divorce before they reach the age of 18. This is a sad and staggering statistic. For those of you who may be going through a divorce or thinking about one, please join Ferro & Battey LLC & Hayvn Coworking on Wednesday, February 24th, 2021 at 730pm for an interesting panel discussion via zoom on How Divorce Impacts Children. Hear from a lawyer, marriage therapist and someone who can share what she learned from her own divorce and what mistakes NOT to make. Register HERE!
Ready for gorgeous hair? Madison Reed Hair Color Bar is now open in Westport!
Say goodbye to harsh ingredients, and hello to beautiful hair color. Madison Reed Hair Color Bar is now open in the heart of downtown Westport! The Hair Color Bar concept is designed to deliver stunning salon-quality hair color, that is both affordable and convenient for time-pressed individuals, with ingredients they can feel good about. Get 20% off when you book with code “WESTPORTMOMS!” Check them out today!
Let’s Light up Westport Together!
We LOVE Westport, and that’s why we are thrilled to launch our first ever “Light Up Westport!” We partnered with Ali Dorfman of Purpose 2 Purchase (@purpose2purchase) to create “The Light Up Westport Appreciation Project,” a fundraising initiative where members of our community can send luminaries and personalized notes of gratitude and friendship to friends, local businesses and first responders. We have all been through so much in the past year and even small gestures of appreciation can have a huge impact on community pride. On February 4th at 7PM, all participants will be asked to place the luminary in front of their homes, stores or headquarters so we can light up this incredible town TOGETHER. 100% of proceeds will go to Filling in the Blanks, a local non-profit that helps fight childhood hunger by providing weekend meal bags to local children in need.
Feel Instantly Happier
January and February aren’t the easiest months under normal circumstances. In most parts of the country, it’s cold, the days are shorter, and by the end of January the luster of New Year’s resolutions has worn off. Of course, these aren’t normal circumstances at all. We’ve emerged from 2020 into a new year that doesn’t look all that different from the last one. But we’re committed to staying as positive as we can, and are looking towards the future when things are finally closer to normal. In the meantime, we scoured the research and picked 9 easy ways to feel better—today.
Introducing Our FIRST Westport Whisperer!
In the spirit of finding bright light during this dark time, we would like to introduce “Westport Whisperers,” a NEW initiative focused on featuring amazing humans in our community who are doing something special for our community or the world around them behind the scenes. We would love YOU as our community to help NOMINATE these people simply by emailing us anytime at info@westportmoms to let us know who you think is a Westport Whisperer, and why they should be featured! This month we are featuring Annette Norton of Saavy + Grace Westport, owner of the cool, funky place with unique gift items at all prices points tucked under the old Tavern on Main on Main St. Thank you Annette for all you do for Westport!
Superbowl Recipes – TOUCHDOWN!!!
Calling all CHEFS! With Super Bowl 2021 coming up next weekend, we all are looking for some fun new recipes given those Superbowl Parties are likely not happening in the traditional way this year! Thanks to Robin Barrie (@robinbarrie) for some new, healthy takes on the traditional GUACAMOLE and CHILI!
25 Tips and Activities to make Being Home (or Quarantine) Fun For Kids!
As winter is truly here with subzero temperatures, we are all looking for fun indoor activities to keep our kids busy! Huge thanks to Big Life Journal for some great ideas to get us through these long weekends and days! You can do this!!!
Meet Lauren Barnett
For any parent out there who has ever tried to find the right therapist, specialist, or plan for meeting one of their children’s needs, you can likely attest it can be overwhelming, scary and incredibly expensive. Enter Lauren Barnett, Westport mom of two girls who spent her career as a school counselor and Camp Director, fiercely dedicated to helping tweens and adolescents find self-confidence in this challenging world we live in. Most recently, she launched Family Consultants of Westport, an elevated mental health support service, to help expedite and streamline emotional and behavioral health care access by generating a roadmap of treatment options and viable providers for each family’s unique needs. Essentially, Lauren is there to help hold a parent’s hand through the process of figuring out what their child needs – and how to access It. Some fun facts about Lauren – she has written a novel in the voice of a 12 year old girl that remains unpublished on her bookshelf, she loves pizza and Schitt’s Creek deeply, and she has never even considered a different life path than the one she’s on – it’s always been her calling. Now more than ever, we could all use a little extra help navigating the world our children are living in, and knowing Lauren is there is a true gift to us all.
January Mocktails!
If you’ve committed to Dry January, you might be in the market for a good mocktail right about now. Sure, a sparkling water with dinner or an herbal tea post-bedtime can do the trick, but these 12 options will help mix things up. We’ve rounded up options for whatever you’re in the mood for—sweet, spicy, refreshing or warming.
2021 Health & Wellness Guide is HERE!!
The WestportMoms 2021 Health & Wellness guide is here!! Though this year may not be quite what we expected, it is undoubtedly time to think about YOU! Whether you need new ideas for what to cook each night, some CBD to help you sleep, or even someone to help you organize that closet or garage, we have you covered! We all spent 2020 making sure everyone else was feeling ok- now it’s your turn!!!
Meet Ilana
Motivated to eat healthy foods after losing her mom at a young age, Ilana, mom of two girls, started experimenting with recipes for delicious feel-good treats in her kitchen as a new mom! When she somewhat accidentally sold over 250 orders of her famous OatMEAL cups, she decided to take things to the next level. Three years ago, she left her job in the legal world and founded Stylish Spoon, a company that makes “feel-good” treats that are gluten-free, dairy free, soy free and full of plant-based ingredients you can pronounce! Ilana moved to Westport during the pandemic and never looked back, loving beach nights at Compo, driving outside the city, and long outdoor power walks. In another life she might have been a private investigator, but for now she is loving devoting time to growing her business, and being a mom in the suburbs! You will be blown away by how delicious – and filling – these treats are; we are so thrilled to have Ilana in our hood!! Ps. Use code “Westportmoms” for 15% off any online order AND visit The Granola Bar to try Ilana’s OatMEAL cups sold individually starting this month!
Getting Divorced During Covid
If you are thinking about divorce, ready to start, or frustrated that your divorce case is not proceeding in ways you would like, you should know that It is possible to initiate, work through, and finalize a divorce during COVID. And you will not even have to go to Court. Hear from Divorce and Family Lawyer, Carole Orland, how her office – CT Family Law – is handling these cases regularly, and with positive results! You are not in this alone.
Winter Recipes that are easy – and delicious!!
As we all need new recipes to get us through the long winter ahead, we turned to local mom and nutrition expert, Robin Barrie Kaiden for some of her best! See below for two favorites for right now! For more from Robin, visit her website, and follow her on Instagram (@robinbarrie)!
Fun “Staycation” ideas to get you through the Winter!
Bummed about being home so much this winter? We hear you. So many of our us are feeling pretty isolated right now, skipping ski weekends, not visiting family and friends, and with limited to no travel planned anytime in the near future. We hope these “stay-cation” ideas give you inspiration for the weekend and weeks ahead, and the rest of the winter.
Coastal Orthopedics Reopens Darien Office
Coastal Orthopedics is bringing high-quality orthopedic care back to the Darien area! We are pleased to announce the reopening of our Darien location on Mondays and Tuesdays at 36 Old Kings Highway South. Get evaluated by our fellowship-trained board certified specialists, including Dr. Bast, Dr. Soojian and Dr. Lynch!