Christmastime in New York City!! It really IS the Most Wonderful Time of the Year! I absolutely love the holiday season and I love being in the city to celebrate.
Without further ado, here are my favorite ways to get festive this winter in NYC! And expect further details on many of these activities as the holiday season continues.
Read MoreWe had so much fun at Boo at the Zoo! We usually visit the Bronx Zoo on the hottest, most humid summer days, so it really was a treat to finally be there on a crisp fall day - I think the cooler weather made the animals come out and about more, too. And adding in the Zoo’s adorable Halloween themed extras really made the visit even better. Coming to the Bronx Zoo in October for Boo at the Zoo is the ideal way to visit and an ideal way to celebrate the holiday!
Read MoreIf you have small children, odds are you’re taking them to a farm this fall to pick some form of fruit or vegetable (pumpkins are veggies, right?) But not all farms are created equal. Just like people, farms come in all shapes and sizes and offerings.
And one such farm offering is what I now refer to as the “Big Box Farms”. These are the farms that equate autumn with a party and come late September, turn their farm into a full fledged carnival of attractions. Sure these farms might be just as passionate about their product as the tiniest farm you’ve ever seen, but they want to make sure that, while you’re picking those products, you’re also getting your face painted, running through a corn maze and getting catapulted into the sky on a bungee cord.
I’m talking places like Harvest Moon Orchard, in Croton Falls, NY, Silverman’s Farm in Easton, CT and Long Island’s Harbes Family Farm. The girls and I visited Harvest Moon and Harbes back-to-back over the past two weekends and I’m here to tell you about what we saw.
Read MoreNow that I have kids, Halloween might be my favorite holiday. No, I'm not one of those old folks who still loves to get dressed up. But I think it is so much fun watching the kiddies get so excited to pick their costumes and later, to run around like crazy persons in pursuit of free candy. As they get a bit older, it'll be cool to add some haunted houses to our Halloween rotation. Gotta take it all in before they learn that Halloween means sexy costumes and keg stands.
On that note, here are some do not miss Halloween celebrations happening in the tri-state area!
Read MoreThe summer always flies by. One minute you’re drinking piña coladas by the pool, the next minute camp is over, "Back to School" merch is appearing in stores and your kids are telling you what they want to be for Halloween.
Then September hits and the temps are still high and the calendar still says it's summer, but you're also seeing apple picking and Pumpkin Spice Lattes in the mix. It's all so confusing!
Never fear! I’m here to help. Here are 5 cute ways to ring in early fall!
Read MoreHey fellow suburbanites who are intimidated by city driving!! A super cool new playground opened weeks ago in Chelsea, right off the West Side Highway. It's a straight shoot down from Connecticut or Westchester. Head out early on a weekend and you'll fly in!!
The Chelsea Waterside Play Area, located on West 23rd and the West Side Highway and part of the overall beautiful Hudson River Park, was recently gutted, redone and made AWESOME. Well worth the easy drive in from the 'burbs.
Read MoreMost of my visits to Astoria, Queens over the years have been solely for the purpose of getting good Greek food. This past weekend, we still came for Greek food, but decided to make a whole day of our visit. It was a low key, great day. And there's plenty other stuff worth coming back to Astoria for.
Read MoreIndustry City is a waterfront industrial complex in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn that’s home to an eclectic mix of shops, restaurants, artisans, offices and warehouses. What was once a long time ago a manufacturing and shipping complex called Bush Terminal (no relation to the Bush political family), Industry City has seen a full scale renovation and modernization in the past six years at the hands of the same developers who turned the Nabisco Factory into what is now Chelsea Market.
We didn’t know what to expect for our visit, particularly since Sunset Park is a bit past the parts of Brooklyn that have seen a huge influx of recent development. We were VERY pleasantly surprised - a summer Saturday spent at Industry City is a blast!
Read MoreOur friendly weather people told us it was going to rain last Sunday (it ended up being a nice day). So we suited the girls up in sneakers and jeans and visited the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum on 91st and Fifth. Right now, the Museum has several interactive exhibits appropriate for the younger set of museum goers.
Read MoreI'm a mom to two young girls. I’ve been to a few pop ups in my time. Some are unapologetic cash grabs (there was nothing immersive or thoughtful about the Happy Go Lucky pop up we did last month). Others are creative ways to market a product (we loved the FREE Candle Power by Yankee Candle pop up last winter - even included a few Yankee Candles in our holiday gift shopping that year). Still others become viral sensations, even if you’re not sure whether they earned that high status or not (The Museum of Ice Cream was cute but not that cute). The latest pop up to capitalize on the human desire for a killer Instagram selfie is the 21 and over Rosé Mansion opening tomorrow in NYC....
Only one pop up that I've done would make it into my personal “DO NOT MISS” category. And, my friends, that was the Color Factory.
Read MoreWe made it to Domino Park this weekend. It’s very cute and very new and very clean. It’s also very narrow and fairly small. Its location right on the East River is gorgeous and, on the day we were there, the waterfront breeze was incredible. I’m not sure that Domino Park is a destination in itself as much as a neighborhood hang out (it's not like the much larger, more elaborate Brooklyn Bridge Park), but it very much makes for a great kid friendly stop if you find yourself in Williamsburg, BK. The Park is also part of a larger waterfront development project for the area, so future visits will spawn new activities.
Read MoreThe Bronx is really close to Greenwich. There are days where it could take you almost as long to get from Glenville to Old Greenwich as it would to drive from Glenville to the Bronx. And there’s some cool stuff going on in the Bronx. One of our favorite combinations is the New York Botanical Garden followed by a meal on Arthur Avenue.
Read MoreI’m a mom. I’m a corporate lawyer. I really like to explore, eat and travel and I also like to plan where I’m going to eat, where I’m going to explore and where I’m going to travel. I hate the gym but also hate sitting still. I love NYC and try to get there often. My kids see me on my phone a lot looking at pictures of food, pop ups and dogs.
I started this blog because I was sending too many one-off emails to friends with suggestions on what to do and where to go. My posts are not intended to be full fledged reviews, but rather quick glimpses of what I've been up to. Hopefully posts will inspire you to check out some of those same things.
