It’s become a cliche to say that blogs are about one’s passions – or at least the successful ones generally are. And I was using that line one day, when someone asked me about Cool Mom Picks: So, are you passionate about shopping then?

I said no.

I like shoppping. Hell to the yeah. I make no bones about that. But Cool Mom Picks doesn’t reflect our passion for shopping – it reflects our passion for supporting small businesses, great design, responsible consumerism, and our love of connecting moms to helpful resources–and to one another.

(Also being able to write fun copy about products without a client telling me to make the logo bigger or take out the expression “hell to the yeah.” I admit I like that part a whoooole lot. Maybe too much.)

So this year as we were weeding through literally thousands of pitches and ideas to put together our fourth (wow) Holiday Gift Guide, we really thought what would really be helpful to parents, is suggesting relatively affordable items that are still cool. In other words, you don’t have to sell your soul at the store rhyming with ball-fart to get a gift a kid will adore for $6.95, or a custom piece of keepsake jewelry for under $30, or a personalized piece of original art for the grandparents that should probably cost ten times the price it does.

So I’m just going to go ahead and say that I’m extra proud of the Holiday Gift Guide this year. If you click over (please click over? Please? Please?) you’ll find more than 100 gift ideas for everyone from the eco fashionista, to your Twilight-obsessed niece, to teachers and nannies, and the stay-at-home dad who’s earned a little time to himself. And spurred by the economy (grrrr economy) we’ve included one pick under $20 in every category and a ton of kids gifts under $12. Plus a whole section of charitable giving ideas that are extra awesome in their own right.

The same way we’re working hard trying to support mom-run businesses in a brutal economy, we hope that you’ll be so kind as to support ours by putting one of our lovely buttons on your blog or website. In return, we will think many good things about you.

Also, we’ll enter you to win a truly awesome $450 (hello!) prize package from our two delicious sponsors, The Fine Art of Family and Chronicle Books. Details are all on the guide.

Thanks mamas. Happy shopping. And thanks for supporting something that means so much to me, to Kristen, and to the rest of our incredible team.