It’s that time of year again. School supplies and mini-me outfits are starting to take over our favorite shops—but we’re not complaining. A fresh wardrobe and new supplies can make for a successful start to the school year. So grab your shopping bags and get ready to deck your little ones in head-to-toe style with these on-trend pieces.

Rainbow Rex pin ($10) at B. Willow. Fight like a girl pin ($10.75) at Trohv. More Coffee Please ($10) at Brightside Boutique. JTbeezwax pin ($12.50) at Trohv. Heart candy pin ($10) at daniellesylvan.etsy.com. Rainbow pin (set of 3/$18) at Wee Chic. Vibes pin ($10) at Brightside Boutique. Pizza pin ($8) at Brightside Boutique. Boring pin ($10) at Brightside Boutique. Terrarium pin ($10) at B. Willow. No pin ($10) at daniellesylvan.etsy.com. Beer pin ($8) at Brightside Boutique. Green haired girl ($10) at Doubledutch Boutique. Vintage Elvis pin ($5) at Bottle of Bread. Vintage ram ($5) at Bottle of Bread. Roses pin ($10) at Trohv. Herbivore dinosaur pin ($10) at daniellesylvan.etsy.com.

With temperatures starting to dip, it’s officially time to dust off the slow cooker that has been hibernating at the bottom of your pantry. Whether you like its versatility—or are in it for the sheer convenience—there’s no denying that the trusty appliance is a home cook’s best friend this time of year.

If you’re looking to stray from your go-to soups and stews, we’ve got you covered. Here, four local foodies share scrumptious slow cooker recipes that will be sure to warm you up this season.

Adam May’s Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Former WBAL anchor Adam May is a Crock Pot connoisseur. He says that, given his hectic work schedule, slow cooker recipes are ideal time-savers: “It’s the best invention ever,” he says. “It’s like having a magic elf at home in your kitchen doing all of the work for you.” To enhance the recipe, May suggests throwing in a package of sliced mushrooms and half a cup of frozen peas during the final hour of cooking.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound diced chicken breast
• 2 cans chicken broth
• 1 can cream chicken soup
• 1 ½ cups uncooked wild rice
• ½ cup diced onion
• cup diced carrots
• 1 cup diced celery
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• Ground black pepper to taste

Cook in slow cooker 7-8 hours and serve with warm, toasted baguette.

David and Laura Alima’s Curry Turkey Stew

Though husband-and-wife duo David and Laura Alima are best known for churning out sweet treats at their ice cream shop, The Charmery, they play up their savory side at home. Laura describes this turkey stew as her go-to winter recipe, explaining that it’s best served alongside fresh-baked cornbread. (She says any mix will do, but recommends her favorite from Trader Joe’s.) “I usually drizzle honey on it and bake it in a cast-iron skillet that was passed on to us by David’s grandmother,” she says. “Crumbling the cornbread on top of your bowl creates the perfect combo of spicy and sweet.”

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon grapeseed oil
• 1 pound ground turkey
• 2 (10.75-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
• 1 (15-ounce) cans kidney beans
• 1 (15-ounce) can black beans
• 1 (15-ounce) can of chickpeas
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 tablespoons curry powder
• ½ tablespoon garlic powder
• ½ tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 pinch ground white pepper
• ½ teaspoon garlic salt
• 1 pinch of kosher salt

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Place turkey in the skillet, and cook until evenly brown. Coat the inside of a slow cooker with cooking spray, and mix in turkey, tomatoes, kidney beans, black beans, chickpeas and onion. Season with chili powder, curry powder, garlic powder, cumin, white pepper, garlic salt, and salt. Cover, and cook 8 hours on low, or 4 hours on high.

Bridget Quinn Stickline’s Slow Cooker Mongolian Beef

As a mom and the owner of Wee Chic boutique in Lutherville, Bridget Quinn Stickline is often on the go. “I joke that I have two kids—my 10-year-old daughter and Wee Chic,” she says. “My husband and I really enjoy cooking, but, most nights, efficiency wins out over creativity in the kitchen.” Stickline says that her Mongolian beef recipe is always a crowd-pleaser. She suggests tossing in steamed veggies and serving the beef over rice after cooking.

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ pounds flank steak
• ¼ cups cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• ½ teaspoons minced garlic
• ¾ cups soy sauce
• ¾ cups water
• ¾ cups brown sugar
• 1 cup grated carrots
• Red pepper flakes to taste
• Green onions and sesame seeds, for garnish

Cut the steak into thin strips and coat in cornstarch. Add the olive oil, brown sugar, carrots, garlic, soy, pepper flakes, and water to slow cooker and stir. Cook on low four-five hours until cooked through and tender. Garnish with green onions and sesame seeds.

Reagan Warfield’s Vegetarian Chili

Mix 106.5’s Reagan Warfield likes the versatility of this wholesome chili recipe. “You can skip out on just about any of the ingredients besides the tomatoes, and it will still work,” he says. And although some might be skeptical about the outcome of a meatless chili, Warfield assures that his recipe doesn’t disappoint. “Some people might say vegetarian chili is an oxymoron,” he adds. “But this one has a lot of depth and flavor.” Warfield suggests sautéing the onions beforehand to make the dish more complex. “Of course, you can skip this step for time and ease,” he says. “But I think the reward pays off.”

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 tablespoons dried oregano
• 2 28-ounce can tomatoes (diced, crushed or whole tomatoes that you tear apart yourself)
• 1 15-ounce can black beans, drained
• 1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans, drained
• 1 15-ounce can red kidney beans, drained
• 1 cup frozen lima beans and/or corn
• 1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 to 2 teaspoons hot sauce
• 1 cup couscous (can also substitute quinoa)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in a pot over medium heat. Stir in the onion, and season with cumin, oregano, and salt. Cook and stir until onion is tender, about 6 to 8 minutes. Add onion and remaining ingredients, except the couscous, salt, and pepper, to slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or on high for 3 to 4 hours. About 15 minutes before serving, add couscous. Cover and cook until the couscous is tender. Season to taste with salt and pepper or hot sauce. Top each serving with shredded cheese, sour cream and/or cilantro.

Looking for a simple way to elevate your wardrobe? The tassel is this season’s go-to embellishment, effortlessly taking any outfit from bleak to chic. Long gone are the days of only seeing tassels on graduation caps or your grandmother’s curtains. This fun fashion add-on is hanging—literally—on everything from handbags and apparel to jewelry and footwear.

Animals ecofriendly backpack ($37) at Trohv.

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WAFF creative journal kit ($30) at Wee Chic.

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Letters to My Future Self ($14.95) at Becket Hitch.

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Zoo Lunchie ($14) at GreenBerries.

Original Prankster tank ($15) at Wire and Honey.

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ban.do Gel Yeah pens ($13) at Becket Hitch.

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Say Something pouch ($10) at Wee Chic.

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Mustard Cosmo puzzle eraser ($8) at Wee Chic.

This post was initially meant to serve as a stroller-buying guide. I had a vision of a cool infographic with tiered pricing and flashy shots of cute babies in their tiny whips. But then I actually began researching strollers, and determined that I am in no way qualified to espouse real information on the matter until I’ve actually pushed my kid through the streets. I also determined that, like a lot of pregnancy topics, strollers can be highly divisive. I expected passionate responses to conversations about breast feeding, circumcision, co-sleeping, and names, but not about how to stroll your kid from A to B. I’ve talked to moms of one kid, moms of two kids, city moms, suburban moms, moms who own stores that sell strollers—and everyone’s take on the subject is totally different.

From what I can tell, the two biggest factors in making the all-important stroller decision seem to be budget and lifestyle, which, sure, but the sub-categories are subjective and endless. Because the price range of strollers can start at $20 and rocket into the low four-figures, it’s difficult to determine what the true “mid-range” options are. I’m a consumer who likes to start from the middle and work my way out, and I found myself tripped up as I tried to find the true median. Is an UPPABaby Cruz, at $460, a reasonable mid-range stroller? Or am I an aspirational fool who needs to be knocked down a few pegs to a Mamas and Papas Armadillo City Stroller, which retails for $270?

Once you get a handle on the price, you have to evaluate how you live. We’re Downtown folk who much prefer to walk rather than drive. I’ve lived in the city for nearly 10 years, and it’s turned me into such a fast, impatient walker that a very large man once stopped and threw his hands up because he thought I was trying to mug him. So the baby and I will need something agile and compact to get around in, but with enough storage to properly conceal our mugging booty. It would also be nice to be able to duck into coffee shops or meet a friend for a glass of wine, which means the stroller has to be space-conscious. (Read: it can’t piss off any waiters or baby-hating patrons.)

Since this is one of our (if not the) biggest purchases for our baby, and since I, like, respect his opinion or whatever, I asked my husband, Rob, to take a look at my uncharacteristically organized Google spreadsheet. I figured he’d spend five minutes reading Amazon reviews and then point to one. I did not expect him to attempt a full-fledged doctorate on the subject.

Dads, it turns out, get really into strollers. Maybe it’s because the stroller is baby’s first set of wheels, or maybe it’s because strollers are the most industrious and mechanical item on the registry, but something about this purchase is appealing to them. Rob got so absorbed in my stroller search that he left his friend (who had flown in from San Diego to spend the weekend with us) in another room of our house while he ransacked the stroller section of the Internet. His buddy actually fell asleep while Rob compared vlogs of women showcasing features of various stroller brands from their living rooms. When Rob finally came up for air, he was surprised and sheepish, but had narrowed our search down considerably.

After consulting my husband and the sage saleswomen at both Wee Chic in Greenspring Station and Corduroy Button in Kenilworth (they recommend the Stokke Xplory and the Bugaboo Donkey, respectively), I asked my small-but-lovely group of mom friends for their take. One friend, who has two kids under two and lives in the county, said I’m a fool to think I’ll only need one stroller. She listed brands such as BOB, McLaren, Chicco, and Kinder Wagon among her arsenal, and had truly reasonable applications for each one. Another friend, who lives in the city and has one baby, raved about her BOB Revolution jogging stroller. Among its shining attributes, she listed its durability on city streets, its smooth ride, and that you can pop a six-pack in the storage area. This last bit of advice was not pointed out in any of Rob’s mommy blogger videos, so I’m happy to be able to share it with you.

What I’ve learned in my research is that choosing a stroller has proven to be the most complicated pre-birth decision we’ve made. I had sincerely hoped to ramble my way into solid advice by the end of this article, but from what I’ve cobbled together, this is the magic equation for stroller purchasing:

Budget + lifestyle + opinion of spouse + opinion of moms you know + opinion of Amazon reviewers + opinion of knowledgeable stroller salespeople + your own sliding scale of “stroller coolness” = a good start to picking the thing in which you’ll wheel your kid around—that will soon become a moveable pile of crumbs and assorted detritus.

Happy shopping.

The 35-year-old Green Spring Station seems to be aging quite well, thank you, embracing new ideas and stores, like Wee Chic’s recent move/expansion and the introduction of trendy gift and home store Becket Hitch. 

“While we continue to service a mature market, we also are actively inviting a younger person to the Station,” says Tom Peddy, co-owner of Foxleigh Enterprises, the family-run development entity that manages Green Spring Station. “The new stores we are adding are specifically targeting a younger, fashion-conscious market.” 

Kohli Flick, owner of Becket Hitch, which opened in April, says that the Station has always been on her radar. “When I was looking for retail space, I wanted an established shopping center, a sense of community. It’s an exciting time to be here,” she says. 

The Station rarely has openings for new stores, so when it happens, Peddy looks for “youthful enthusiasm with experience,” and saw that in Flick. “Many of our stores are [run by] first-time owners, but they all came to us with a vision,” he says. “Kohli Flick had been a buyer for a successful store [Hampden’s Trohv], and it was her turn for ownership.”

“The Peddys have been big supporters from the beginning, and when this space came up, they were really encouraging,” says Bridget Stickline, owner of Wee Chic. “We are really excited about the move—we’re trying to do something that no one else is doing.” 

Stickline explains that the larger space will allow for more clothing, as well as the introduction of kids’ furniture, a “candy bar,” and “The Room,” which holds parenting-themed events and classes. “This is a lot of change at once for Green Spring,” Stickline says, “but it’s all very positive change.”