There’s something special about the first time you get together with a gal pal after she’s announced her pregnancy. What to bring? A good belly cream (like L’Occitane’s Mom & Baby Balm), a box of gender-neutral Trumpette baby socks, Smythson’s Baby Notes organizer, or a book of baby names (the hot one right now is “Beyond Ava & Aiden”).

The last time we checked, there were 214,339 items listed under the “Children” category on Etsy.com. We have our favorites (see below), but seriously: who has the time to sift through? Not us. So we asked Etsy shop owner and design blogger Abbey Nova for some tips on weeding through the rubbish.

“Green” baby showers have officially replaced diaper cakes as the trendlet du jour. And that’s a good thing (on many levels). But to be perfectly honest, too much eco-friendly this and naturally that can be oppressive. So we asked our “sexy, sustainable style” experts over at Ecofabulous for some ideas on how to incorporate touches of Green into a shower without making it feel like part of a Greenpeace campaign.

Let’s take a minute to celebrate our Independence before we jump into what this weekend is really all about: BBQ Season Kick-Off! To get things started, we asked Bobby Flay how to grill a perfect hamburger. We also hunted down a nontoxic bug repellant, found the perfect gift for the BBQ host, and discovered an easy way to remember which beer is yours.