Cold out? Kids off from school? Valentines Day around the corner? I have an idea for you. Bring them to Chocolate Works, where they can make and decorate their own adorable chocolate molds. It’ll be fun AND you can call it their Valentines Day gift!
Note: This post is about Chocolate Works in Darien, CT. Chocolate Works is a national chain and some or all of the below may apply globally but I have only visited the Darien location.
Read MoreAs a food obsessed parent living in the suburbs, I am ALWAYS lamenting the lack of really good food in casual settings around here. In NYC there is plenty of ethnic food, street food and even killer slice joints that you can quickly pop into or take out from for a great meal. With some notable exceptions, in the suburbs, your choices are often limited to chain spots like Chipotle, forgettable pizzerias or hunkering down in a waiter service restaurant for a full service meal. Spoiler alert: Kiddies don’t always love sitting still at a table for awhile.
For this reason and several others that I’ll get into, I was super excited when I learned that Jeff Gordinier, Food and Drinks Editor for Esquire Magazine, included Nyack’s casual Filipino newcomer, Karenderya, in his rundown of Esquire’s Best New Restaurants In America, 2018.
Read MoreI only learned recently that PEZ Candies are made less than an hour from my house! Not only that, but there’s a PEZ Visitor Center with fun goings on less than an hour from my house! The good news for me is that I don’t eat candies that aren’t made of chocolate. The bad news for me is that the same does not apply to my kids. They love PEZ and so, off we went recently to check out the PEZ Visitor Center in Orange, CT.
Read MoreLast summer I wrote a post about our family’s day in Astoria, Queens. The post mentioned our “signature” move of combining a kid-friendly activity with nearby adult-friendly eats or drinks. This weekend we took that same move to neighboring Long Island City, Queens and had a colder, but equally awesome day in Queens with our kids.
Read MoreI don’t ski but I’ve been to Stratton Mountain the past few winters as the guests of friends who have a ski house there. The area in winter is very much ski-centric and I wouldn’t recommend a visit if no one in your group skies - it’s cold and it’s not incredibly built up outside the ski mountain area. But having been a few times now, I’ve learned some solid things to do off the slopes while the skiers in my group ski.
Read MoreBeacon, NY makes for a very solid day trip from pretty much anywhere in the tri-state area. From our house, it was about an hour drive. There’s also a Metro North stop right in town. The main reason to go to Beacon (besides strolling its quaint downtown area) is Dia: Beacon, a beautiful contemporary art museum overlooking the Hudson River. The museum is made up of fairly large spaces and it contains a bunch of fairly large scale pieces - factors that make Dia: Beacon a fairly appealing place for child sized guests, at least as far as art museums go.
Read MoreIf you’re living in the Northeast suburbs, what better way is there to experience winter than to Tap-A-Tree? Several places in the area celebrate the delicious maple syrup season but my personal favorite happens at Wilton, CT’s Ambler Farm. This months long event is adorable and popular. Find out all the details below and be sure to sign up on January 17th.
Read MoreI follow a TON of food and restaurant related accounts on my personal Instagram. Over the past year or so, I’d noticed several of those accounts, including NYC based food folks, pimping out a fairly new Chinese food restaurant in Hartsdale, NY. As this is sadly not a usual occurrence, I took notice and put O Mandarin high on my to do list. With a good amount of delay, we finally made it there last summer. And now we keep going back. Find out below why this spot is a great addition to the suburbs.
Read MoreI love the Children’s Museum of the Arts. I think it’s my favorite child oriented museum in the area. It’s not huge and it’s not somewhere you’d aim to visit monthly, but it’s such a special little place. It makes me happy whenever we visit. Art is such an important part of childhood, so having a place that dedicates itself to celebrating childhood art is just fantastic.
The CMA is located on Charlton Street on the west side of Lower Manhattan (West SoHo). I’ve been taking my girls since my older one was a wee toddler. It’s been awesome getting to see how she experiences the museum’s offerings as she grows.
Read MorePizzeria La Rosa has been in a small corner of New Rochelle’s South End for a little over a year. It only came onto my radar recently, when I found myself drooling over its feature on an episode of Restaurant Hunter. We got a chance to visit over the long holiday break and, while I’d normally be hesitant to write a blog post based on just one visit, that’s not the case here. Pizzeria La Rosa was delicious, affordable and kid friendly, and its chef and co-owner, Matt DiGesu was so super warm and friendly on our visit, that it’s just love at first sight for me.
You may be saying to yourself, “Eh I live in CT. This sounds too far.” But that’s not really the case because Pizzeria La Rosa is about half a mile from Exit 15 on I-95 and there’s NO ONE in Westchester or Fairfield counties that hasn’t found himself hungry while driving on I-95 before, amirite??
Read MoreThe Bridgeport Sound Tigers play minor league hockey at the Webster Bank Arena, which is literally steps from Exit 27 on I-95. Their games are easy to get to and a lot of fun for all ages. AND, if you read on, I have a few little extra perks for you.
Read MoreThe holidays are over. The presents unwrapped. The new toys are already feeling old to the kids. And school doesn’t start up again until January. What do we do NOW?
This post is for the folks who can no longer make it up past midnight on New Years Eve because they’ve BEEN UP since 6am catering to their little ones’ every need. Here are FIVE ways to entertain your youngins this New Years!
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.
