With Mother’s Day upon us, there are so many fun mom-centric events on the horizon. If you’re in the City this weekend, my beautiful friend, Vera Sweeney of Lady and the Blog and TLC’s “What She Said” fame, is hosting a fun event on Saturday with Trollbeads.
Join Trollbeads for a Mother & Daughter Event hosted by Vera Sweeney from Lady & the Blog and TLC’s “What She Said.” Guests will receive a custom flower crown designed by Rachel Cho with every purchase (while supplies last).
“What She Said” is set to air on May 10th and features some of the country’s foremost female comics commiserating, venting, and speaking the truth about being mothers during these crazy modern times.
When: Saturday, May 2nd 1-4PM 226 Columbus Ave, NYC 646.692.3113
Project Nursery, one of the preeminent style resources for nursery design and beyond, has just welcomed a new addition to their budding media empire: their e-commerce shop for nursery decor and gifts. The new online shop features timeless designs and well-recommended pieces and products often featured on their site.
Co-Founders, Melisa Fluhr and Pam Ginocchio have been showcasing stylish nurseries with thoughtful design on Project Nursery for over six years, the online shop reflects the curated products and exclusive collaborations synonymous with the site’s panache for elegance and design.
Having covered new and notable kid gear over the years, I’ve had the pleasure of meeting one of the co-founders at baby-centric media events. I’ve personally been a fan of Project Nursery and am always drawn to their beautiful booths whenever they exhibit at Big City Mom’s Biggest Baby Shower.
Their new online shop is simple to navigate and encompasses the same modern yet timeless aesthetic in nursery design that we’ve grown to love. I love the tassel garland in the party section, the Belabumbum pjs for mom and the gorgeous crib bedding sets. If you’re expecting, have a new babe or on the hunt for a truly stylish baby gift, make sure you check out Project Nursery’s Shop!
After a day of exploring fabulous toys, last night I had the chance to indulge in an evening of pampering at the Hot Mom to Be Handbook book signing event held at Paul Labrecque Salon and Spa in NYC. Written by Jessica Denay with a foreword by Trista Sutter, The Hot Mom to Be Handbook is described as being a fun, tongue-in-cheek guide to maintaining style and fabulousness while defying the stereotype that often goes hand in hand with motherhood.
I love getting dressed up just as much as the next girl, but as a mom who embraces working in yoga pants all day and opts for ponytails in lieu of fancy up dos, I could have used this book during my pregnancy as a reminder to keep the balance.
Opening Day might be two weeks away, but this past weekend, our family enjoyed an afternoon at the ball field.
On Saturday, together with Vera from INOmommy, Alicia from Today’s Moms, NYC Single Mom and Suzanne of Mom Confessionals, our families were invited to participate in Citi Field’s Kids Day to take in some kiddie activities, as well as enjoy a behind the scenes tour of the Mets’ new stadium. The husband, who is a lifelong Mets fan, was as giddy as a school girl. The kid, well, as usual, he was filled with excitement…and all for good reason.
In line with its community outreach efforts that started last year, Citibank, the namesake and sponsor of the Mets’ new ball field, invited three hundred children from Boys and Girls Clubs of America and local YMCAs to attend the private event. Though players were in Florida for spring training, Citi Field, Citibank and the Mets staff created a “game day” atmosphere for the kids. With all the dancing, endless supply of hot dogs, hamburgers, face painting, balloons, ice cream and baseball fun, to see the pure joy on these kids’ faces throughout the day was priceless.
Children’s laughter filled the Caesar Club all afternoon, which overlooked the parking lot and where beloved Shea used to stand. Our families, along with all the invited kids enjoyed photos with Mr. Met and private tours of Citi Field. After all the tours, the kids held their own dance party to the tunes played by the Radio Disney AM 1560 New York Road Crew who were on hand.
Mets games stream from our tv beginning in April until October, which is both good and bad. Through all the injuries, disappointment and of course, sometimes stellar ball playing, we’re Mets fans through and through. The exclusive tour, (including a peek into the visitor’s clubhouse and learning tidbits like, players often spend their downtime playing Rockband and the Wii), taking photos with Mr. Met, and get this–walking onto the actual field–made for a pretty memorable day at the ballpark.
A huge thanks to Citibank, Citi Field, the Mets organization and of course, my blogging buddies for such a lovely day! Our trip to Citi Field was one of my favorite events that my boys were able to experience as well!
I usually keep my musings on motherhood on my personal blog, Babyrific, but I think the event that I attended today is one that so many moms would find of interest. So, here’s a re-post of my latest entry from Babyrific:
Lots of cool stuff going on today–actually all of this week. As I’ve mentioned and tweeted about frequently, as a blogger and writer, I’m often asked to attend cool events. Today’s event is a rather cool one, and one that I’ve spoken about candidly, but have treaded lightly for reasons I’ll explain below. Read More
October 20 was a sunny day for me. In fact, the clouds—yeah—-they were swept away, too.
Oh yeah, I found the way to Sesame Street.
By way of a shuttle bus, along with several other NYC parent and family-oriented bloggers, I had the unique opportunity to visit Kaufman Astoria studios, home to one of the most beloved streets in history. After we made our way over the Queensboro Bridge, we found ourselves in Astoria, Queens, which is where the studio is located. The white exterior of the studio was a definite contrast to the color and character that resides inside.
In the room where we gathered, we were greeted by some vintage Sesame Street photos, along with a few plush versions of our favorite muppets. But in addition to the familiar pictoral renderings of Sesame Street’s past, there was a blown up screenshot of a new CGI segment that features the cutest fairy in training, Abby Cadabby, as well as a few promotional posters. But it was the exclusive behind the scenes tour of THE Street that made my heart skip a beat.
Sesame Street which celebrates its 40th anniversary this month, quite simply, is an institution. The characters, storylines, songs, special guests—they’ve all moved us for generations (figuratively and literally!)
Considering they don’t offer tours to the public, to receive an invitation to see Sesame Street in action can definitely be grouped in my “awesome” life experiences.
What goes on behind the scenes at Sesame Street transcends the word, “amazing!”
To gather a group of people that talented and passionate, it’s really no wonder why the show has been around for FORTY YEARS.
The upcoming season, which premiers on PBS on November 10, will feature guest appearances by Cameron Diaz, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jeff Gordon, Adam Sandler, Jimmy Fallon, Ricky Gervais, Jason Mraz, Judah Friedlander and many others. I learned that one of my faves, Jason Mraz was extremely excited about his Sesame Street experience and seemed borderline stalkerish. haha. Cute! (For the record, I probably seemed full-on stalkerish)
Beyond being loved by so many generations, what’s so fabulous about Sesame Street is, they do what they can to stay ahead of the curve. For example, inviting NYC-area bloggers and engaging with us to create that important dialogue was huge. Even further, one of the reasons Sesame Street invited bloggers was to share their latest developments, so that we, in turn, could share with our readers/followers/whom ever will listen.
A chance to hang out with Abby Cadabby and sit in Big Bird’s Nest? Um, yes, please!
To emphasize its 40th year of awesomeness in children’s media, Sesame Street upped its ante with its digital presence. In particular, their website, Sesamestreet.org, became even more child-friendly, in terms of navigation, lively graphics and interactive features. When you first log on, you’re greeted by a familiar-faced Muppet, which is sure to lure in the kidlets. You, or shall I say the kids, can create a “My Street” option to personalize their Sesamestreet.org page. But it’s the new games that stand out to me…er, I mean, the kid.
All the games are, once again, extremely child-friendly and interactive. The games can be navigated by character (so hard to choose!), theme (the fall ones are so fun and timely) and subject (we’re fans of the art games.) They can also be added to the My Street option, which gives you easy access to those games that you know and love. What I love most about the new games is that some of them are perfect for the littlest kids who don’t quite have a grasp on keyboard functionality, but show an interest in say, animals.
While I’m not one to park a teeny tiny kid in front of a computer for hours at a time, every once in awhile, it’s fun to let my 2-year old do a little click clacking for a change. With the Old McDonald game, the kid can just peck away at the keys and animals appear with each strike of the keyboard—it’s like magic!
In addition to all the games, the site has tabs for other interactive features such as Playlists and Video. We’re a dancing and singing kind of family, so I love playing the different songs to dance along with the kid. The video features are so fantastic for parents to share their love of Sesame Street with their kids. Alongside of the newer segments [Neil Patrick Harris as the Shoe Fairy is my favorite modern guest appearance video] of the shows are awesome classics, like ones with Kermit, Bert and Ernie and Cookie Monster. Just like the games, the videos and playlists can be navigated by character, theme and subject.
But Sesame Street hasn’t forgotten about the parents. On the parents tab, I love how there’s a different media for milestones [we just watched “cookie is a sometime food” under the 2 years tab] and links to all the goings on at Sesame Street. One of the newer features, however, is the inclusion of B is for Blog: Sesame Family Robinson. It’s written by Marty Robinson who plays Telly Monster and Snuffleupagus and Annie Evans, a writer for Sesame Street.
Their blog gives parents an insider’s look of a true Sesame Street family. Recently married on set, they are now the proud parents of twins, Lyra and Ripley. After meeting Marty and Annie (and their cutie twins, too) on the set, as well as during lunch, suffice it to say, Sesame Street is a family show—in more ways than one. Not only has the show spent the past four decades of making us laugh, sing and dance while talking about family-related topics, the people who make the show happen ARE one giant family. And thanks for the kind shout out, too! [Babyrific is my mama blog]
And from the bottom of my heart, it really, truly was an honor to experience the deep family bond on THE actual Sesame Street. It’s my hope that my kid will go on to share the same love of The Street with HIS kids one day.
Happy 40th Sesame Street, thanks for all the laughs, dancing, singing and Muppet fun!
“It surprises most people to learn that pneumonia kills more children than any other disease – taking more than 2 million young lives annually,” former U.S. Senate Majority Leader and Save the Children Board member Bill Frist, MD and co-author Dr. Richard Sezibera, Rwanda`s Minister of Health, said in this week’s edition of The Lancet.
Image courtesy of Save the Children
Pneumonia takes the lives of more children under 5 than measles, malaria, and AIDS combined. The disease takes the life of one child every 15 seconds, and accounts for 20% of all deaths of children under 5 worldwide.
To be quite honest, I can be included in the ‘surprised’ contingent.
Instead of the usual posts focusing on material goods, today I will be focusing on a much more serious issue. If I can help it, I’m hoping to challenge my naivety and help spread the word by taking part in the Global Pneumonia Summit on the First Annual World Pneumonia Day today, November 2. Nearly 100 leading global health organizations from around the world are convening in NYC to recognize World Pneumonia Day to urge policymakers to help prevent and treat pneumonia.
I was recently tapped as one of the 5 top tier bloggers to attend this event on behalf of Vicks, and I couldn’t be more honored to be a part of this fight. Vicks is an official member of the Global Coalition Against Childhood Pneumonia and has partnered with Save the Children to help and deliver treatment to children stricken with pneumonia all over the world. As part of this effort, I hope to absorb and share as much as I can, as part of this incredibly important outreach.
Join me as I live tweet and blog from the event to help educate and change the way the world responds to childhood pneumonia.
In the meantime, please feel free to read more about World Pneumonia Day, follow World Pneumonia Day on Twitter and if you can, wear blue jeans.
Instead of the usual posts focusing on material goods, today I will be focusing on a much more serious issue. If I can help it, I’m hoping to challenge my naivety and help spread the word by taking part in the 