Spree for all

Photograph: David Rosenzweig

Like many freshly minted parents, Upper East Sider Joanna Dreifus found herself awake in the middle of the night, tending to a fussy infant. But instead of dreaming about elusive shut-eye, the 35-year-old mother of two (daughter Rachel is four, son Sam is 18 months) decided to fire up her computer and launch mymomshops.blogspot.com, a virtual journal dedicated to well-designed and affordable products for kids and parents, which receives hits from as far away as South Africa. “It was one of those 3am hazes where I thought, I’m going to start a blog because it’s free and easy to do,” recalls Dreifus of her online epiphany.

The self-proclaimed “fanatical online shopper” was already a seasoned World Wide Web spinner when she started the project. In 2000, Dreifus cofounded quirky advice site bridesmaidaid.com to help women deal with being in multiple friends’ weddings, and the following year she started marriedforgood.com, which doled out tips on how the betrothed can incorporate charity into their nuptials. Her current online venture, which just celebrated its first blogiversary, reflects her passion for art history (she used to work at the Whitney Museum) and the booming children’s-gear industry. “My daughter was born in 2003—the year Bugaboos came onto the scene. And they were so unbelievably out-there at the time. Today you’re behind the curve if you don’t have one,” she says.

Dreifus typically writes about products she’s personally stumbled on; most are from small companies and websites that parents might not otherwise know about. Her favorites include New York City indie designer Liliputians (“I purchased both of my children’s birthday outfits there”) and Mahardrygoods.com (“The shop sells artisan-crafted playthings including amazing felt play food”).

While Dreifus appreciates good design, she’s in no way a style snob. “So many other shopping blogs seem dismissive of anything remotely mainstream,” she says. “I don’t care about an item’s price. If my kid likes a Fisher-Price toy more than anything, I have no problem posting about it.”

Check out mymomshops.blogspot.com for daily updates.