I'm not really up to speed on the new stuff but what you want is a bluetooth radio and you can stream music from your playlist, pandora, or any radio station in the world. Amazon has a ton of them. You don't want to juggle CDs while you are in the kitchen.
All In One CD Player and Speakers
Wife has a birthday coming up. Would like to get her something to sit on the kitchen counter that plays CDs and has good sound but not a boom box. We have a Tivolio radio and she likes the retro look of that--they made what I am describing but the reviews on SQ are not so good. If it had the ability to stream or play digital files that would be OK but not necessary. She just wants to drop a CD in while she is cooking without having to fire up my rig. The idea of her not firing up my rig appeals so help me out here folks!