Tropic of Mom050

Tropic of Mom: Life at Latitude 26 - winner of our 2009 Parents' Picks award for best local blog - is an apropos title for a blog that's as light and airy as an ocean breeze. Holly, mistress of Tropic of Mom, writes in a way that makes you feel as if you're kicked back on a beach with a frosty drink, swapping stories with a treasured friend, not hunched over a computer screen, grasping a mouse.

Holly blogs about her family's every day experiences, including South Florida spots she visits with her toddler, Man-cub. And she has an uncanny way of mixing entertaining insight with vital information, as she does in posts such as Things Pregnant Women Shouldn't Do. We also love her liberal use of the strike-though key, which is a sure sign that something amusing. And while we're not brave enough to photograph and post the contents of our purse for all to judge, as Holly does in Don't Let This Happen to You, we're happy to know that somewhere in South Florida there's a blogging mom who's fearless enough to prove that Clinique lipstick and Matchbox cars really can happily co-exist.