My daughter has known the meaning of a good babyccino since she was able to hold a spoon. I have known the meaning of a good babyccino since I discovered that it could keep a toddler entertained for at least 10 minutes at a lunch table. If one orders a second one (disregarding the occasional babyccino spilled all over the table) that’s 20 minutes of valuable, uninterrupted mummy time! What a great invention is that?!

While our children were happily messing about with their babyccinos, I think my girlfriends and I spent hours discussing topics like: the best baby/toddler products, fashion, recipes, films, websites, beauty products, shopping, expositions, restaurants, travel, practical matters, the occasional gossip (think Sienna Miller & Jude Law, Kate Moss & Pete Doherty), raising our kids, raising our husbands -and anything else that would interest us, (urban mothers).

Now my daughter, being the spoiled little brat she is, asks for her own coffee as soon as we dare to set foot in a coffee bar. In Amsterdam however, the concept of a babyccino has not yet been introduced. Over and over again we have to explain to the waiter: a babyccino is an espresso-cup filled with just the frothed milk, a sprinkle of chocolate on top. Of course it should come with the saucer, a coffee spoon and the accompanying cookie. Until now it has been met with a face of disbelief and humour, but slowly I’m working toward creating a new trend here in the low-lands.

About two months ago – a couple of weeks before we would move from London to Amsterdam – I had the idea of creating a blog. It would be an online conversation between a handful of girlfriends now living in different hip (European) cities; like we used to have in one of the many coffee-bars in London! We would tell each other about products proven to be the best, new finds, cool venues and other things we would want to share with each other – and the rest of the world!

When I first told my husband of the idea, he instantly came up with an ingenious name for the blog: BABYCCINO. It was perfect!

Courtney (London), Michela (Milan), Emilie (Paris) and I (Amsterdam) have been building this site from scratch (a big thanks to Courtney’s arty husband for creating our cool portraits!). We still miss seeing each other ‘live’ on a daily basis, but writing to each other on Babyccino and working together on making the site better makes up for a lot. (And of course we still travel to each other on a regular basis)!

-Esther