Life in a Venti Cup and Life in a Sippy Cup are sister blogs for, as you might have guessed, the stylish adult and kid set. Blogger Franki Durban finds bits of style and inspiration around the web and posts them here. "I feel it is my duty to free the rest of you from tacky baby apparel, crappy baby shower gifts and trite design ideas," she writes. Recent kid-related posts covered cute food on a stick, handmade baby blankets, and scooters with storage, while adults might like office space inspirations and visual-based e-mail applications. Durban is generous about promoting the work of other bloggers and sells her own prints in her store.

Need a little pickup? It's hard not to get bogged down by endless depressing headlines, but even this blog's title gives a small lift. Things Are Good aims "to make positive news easy to find," and while the site's not oblivious to the bad stuff, think of it as a little internet corner of good news. Many posts revolve around the earth and sustainability (pennies can clean the air, wind power shelters sea life), and there's news about art, body and mind (naps help learning!) , and more. Or click "Random Good" for a random pick-me-up.

Since we're major animal lovers, we love Dolittler, "a veterinary blog for pet lovers, pet voyeurs, and the medically curious," written by real-live vet Dr. Patty Khuly. Some posts answer curious pet owners' questions ("Why do dogs eat grass?" "How cold is too cold for animals?"), while "Vet P.O.V." posts cover topics in the news like debarking and microchips, and "Vetcetera" posts look at random topics like pet poop and best pet presents. The regularly posted entries are fun tidbits to get in your Google Reader and might inspire you to look at your pet (or your vet) with new eyes.

Describing itself as a "minimalist home cooking" site, stonesoup is "about reducing the number of ingredients, the amount of equipment, the number of steps involved and the time we spend in the kitchen to a minimum so we can focus what's important." stonesoup is written and photographed by an Australian food scientist and writer named Jules Clancy (her day job, until recently: "chocolate biscuit designer for Australia's largest biscuit company"). Newcomers to the site should begin with the aptly titled Start Here, where there's a recipe index and list of most popular posts, which run the gamut from "secret single behavior--how to get excited about cooking for one" to "an ode to bacon--the secret hangover cure." Plus, if it's dinner time and you're strapped for ingredients, make sure to check out "when the cupboard is bare--how to make dinner out of (almost) nothing."

A great children's books and reading blog, The Diamond in the Window is written by a mom with help and suggestions from her daughters. In the ongoing "We Recommend" feature, readers can write in to ask about reading recommendations for their kids ("I'm writing about my 8 1/2 year old son, who is an excellent reader but has been slow to make the leap to chapter books...") The site covers all kinds of kids' books, from baby to teen, and is especially good about parent-child experiences like reading together.

Alice.com, the useful household product shopping website, now has a very useful blog focusing on "easy home management through interesting finds and practical advice for your life." Posts cover how-tos (Food: Waste Not, Want Not; How to clean out your fridge), product reviews (the best household products of 2009), checklists, organization (60 minutes to get organized after the holidays), and more. There are also giveaways and chances to win Alice.com giftcards. We think this blog is a great example of how a shopping site can also provide useful information and create a community.

SuperCook is a recipe search engine that helps you decide what to cook based on the ingredients you already have at home. To start, just enter the ingredients you've got in stock, and get back your results, divided into Starters, Entrees, and Desserts. SuperCook has a database of over 300,000 recipes, so you're bound to find something you want to make, and you'll save money by using up what you already have in the cupboard.

Books on the Nightstand suggests great reading recommendations (in blog and podcast form) from two publishing colleagues. Recent podcasts covered anthologies and buying books for people you don't know well. Books on the Nightstand also features book clubs from around the country and has a kids/YA section. It's a great place to find out about the next book to buy for yourself, your book club, or someone else.

So your mother-in-law gave you a tropical bath-and-body set--the trouble is, you hate the smell of coconut. Can you pass it on to your beach babe best friend? Find out at Regiftable.com, which is the ultimate holiday re-gifting etiquette guide. "Regifting has gained in popularity since comedian Jerry Seinfeld first coined the term a decade ago," the site explains, and "[e]ven the etiquette experts at the Emily Post Institute approve of the practice in some circumstances." They lay out the info you have to have before you regift ("Some gifts that are good candidates for regifting include good (unopened!) bottles of wine, new household items and inexpensive jewelry") and explain what's absolutely not okay to pass along to someone else ("Do you have to be told not to regift free promotional items?") Send in your own regifting stories, and vote for your favorites. And make sure to play "Guess the Regift"!

At Cool Mom Picks, real-life moms "track down cool stuff so you can stay busy being fabulous. We know cool stuff doesn't make the mom, but it certainly helps make life a little better." The moms aren't compensated for their reviews and "have a soft spot for non-mainstream products and services, particularly those from indie or emerging designers and mom/women-run companies." This year's holiday gift guide includes quirky kids' presents like a personalized rock star coloring book and a furnished green dollhouse with recycling bins and solar panels--plus gifts in other categories like "Your Tween Nephew Who's Hipper Than You'll Ever Hope to Be" and "Your Sister and Best Friend Who's a Million Miles Away." They also do an annual baby shower guide. And throughout the site, items are tagged with categories like "For the menfolk" and "Strollers and stroller-y things." You'll definitely come away with inspiration for great gifts, plus a few things to pick up for yourself.

Talk about magic bullets: Gift Hero is a website, shop, and blog founded by two moms who've "spent too much time staring at the overwhelming, yet unsatisfying selection of toys in our local stores and at big online retailers trying to find that perfect gift...a gift we felt good about giving and the birthday child (and her mom) would love. We felt there had to be a better, easier, more convenient way." At the site, you can search for a gift by age, gender, and price, then buy it directly; all the items sold on the site are tested by kids and parents. The Gift Hero blog covers some favorite toys (recently: wood-like soft blocks, top holiday picks, and gifts for 2-year-olds). And Gift Hero is also involved with local charities, getting toys to kids whose families can't afford them.

Casual Kitchen isn't one of those rapturous food blogs with misty photos of fancy desserts - it's a great day-to-day resource for practical home cooks. If focuses on "food philosophy, money-saving ideas and easy and inexpensive recipes," and many posts are broken down into useful tips. We love the "laughably cheap" recipe series, including dishes like Smoky Black Bean Brazilian Soup and Creole-Style Coffee; interesting food science articles (if you eat too many appetizers, you can blame evolution); and useful lists like "15 Creative Ways to Avoid Holiday Overeating," "How to Apply the 80/20 Rule to Cooking" (people do 80% of their cooking with only 20% of the kitchen gadgets they own), and "Ten Tips to Save Money on Spice and Seasonings" (start in the Latin American foods aisle). The blog's matter-of-fact nature makes it a great read for people who enjoy cooking but aren't necessarily into shopping for rare vinegars and exotic new types of salt.

A blog about the intersection of design and family, Design Mom is written by a designer/art director and mother of five, so she knows what she's talking about. Not surprisingly, her kids' Halloween costumes were amazing. Her recent Ask-Design-Mom-Week series tackles stylish stroller recommendations and unique Christmas card sources. The "Pimp My Ride: Family Edition" post is a wishlist for a car that's every parent's dream ("nowhere for apple cores to hide and no hard-to-reach places to clean. Streamline"). And her teacher gifts on a budget are trendy and useful without breaking the bank.