Sandra Lee’s Worlds Largest Bake Sale #WorldsLargestBakeSale

NYC grand central stationRecently, my kiddo and I had the pleasure of being invited to Sandra Lee’s World’s Largest Bake Sale And by largest they weren’t kidding. This huge bake sale took place at the Vanderbilt Hall at Grand Central Station in New York City. Upon arriving at Grand Central Station, visitors are greeted by one of the most grandiose buildings in public transportation history. This was the first time for Little Man and he was struck by awe with the gorgeous vaulting ceilings filled with constellations. An interesting tidbit of information is the constellations in the sky depicted are backwards. There are a few schools of thought as to why this is, the most popular are this is the view of God from about the constellations common of Medieval paintings, two is it was a mistake made by the artists who transposed the image.

baked goodsThe Bake Sale itself was run to benefit the No Kid Hungry campaign and the Food Bank for New York. Some of the stars involved in the bake sale were: Martha Stewart, Mario Batali, Emeril Lagasse, Bobby Flay, Guy Fieri, Dylan Lauren, Buddy Valastro, Wendy Williams, and Ty Pennington. If you [Read more…]

Sandwich Showdown- New York Food and Wine with @udisglutenfree @I_LOVE_NY

Come one, come all to one of the most fun you can have with two slices of bread. This past Sunday The Whole Foods Market’s Sandwich Showdown was held with Jeff Mauro. Jeff Mauro is the sandwich king from Food Network, and can make one awesome sandwich. This event was held to help raise money for various charities. This event was all about the sandwiches. There were more then fifteen sandwiches to try, with just about every ingredient imaginable, from Turkey to Pastrami, to Porchetta and even gluten free cookies from Udi’s Gluten free, and three varieties of ice cream sandwiches, all of which were delicious.

Upon walking in, each guest is given a wooden chip to cast their vote for the best sandwich available. The only sad point was when realizing the event was over, not because of a timer running down, but because of a lack of space in your stomach. With all the sandwich crafters available, we could talk for hours about every sandwich available and the wonderful wine bar as well, but instead we will highlight some of the stand-out sandwiches.

The afternoon began with an incredible Kobe Patty Melt, by Marble Lane. These little beauties were absolutely mouth watering. A burger made of Kobe beef melting in your mouth with caramelized onions, mushrooms and cheese. Starting with this sandwich set [Read more…]

Boo at the Zoo at the Bronx Zoo


Boo at the Zoo Returns to the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Bronx Zoo

Boo at the Zoo Bronx Zoo

Celebrate a New York Halloween tradition at WCS’s Bronx Zoo

Safe, family-friendly activities include:

The Haunted Habitat Mansion

Creepy Hollows Hayride

Costume Parade

Music, Magic, and MORE

Master Carver Pumpkin carving demonstrations

kids haunted hayride

 

Boo at the Zoo festivities run FIVE weekends beginning this Saturday, Sept. 29!

Sept. 29-30; Oct. 6-8, 13-14, 20-21, 27-28

Boo at the Zoo returns to the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Bronx Zoo for five full weekends of Halloween-themed family entertainment and activities. Attractions and activities embrace the spirit of the season while highlighting wildlife and conservation.

Annual favorites including a haunted walk-through adventure – The Haunting at Habitat Mansion – and the spooky Hayride through Creepy Hollows headline the festivities and have been enhanced for this year’s Boo at the Zoo. Visitors will enjoy magic shows, musical performances, and costume parades in addition to traditional guest favorites including the hay maze, haunted extinct graveyard and special seasonal craft workshops.

Children 12 and under wearing a Halloween costume will receive free general admission with one paid adult general admission. All Boo at the Zoo activities are included with the price of general admission with the exception of the hayride and haunted mansion.. The Creepy Hollows Hayride and the Haunting at Habitat Mansion walk-through adventure are included with the purchase of a Total Experience Ticket.

From Monday, Sept. 17, guests that purchase four or more Total Experience Tickets online will receive a plush snake hat created in the spirit of Boo at the Zoo. Offer is good while supplies last.

Guests are encouraged to visit www.bronxzoo.com for a complete schedule of keeper chats, animal enrichment sessions, and family activities.

Boo at the Zoo activities include:

The Haunting at Habitat Mansion

The Habitat Mansion, once owned by wildlife conservationist Dr. Benton Broome, is said to be the most haunted landmark in the Bronx Zoo. Dr. Broome left his legacy of preserving animal wildlife, habitats and conserving the earth’s precious ecological resources to his son, Dusty. But Dusty is not up for the challenge and the ghost of his father wants to ensure the memory of all endangered species is not forgotten. In the Haunted Habitat mansion, ghosts of the past, visions of extinct animals, and the messages of Dr. Broome’s ghostly house servants encourage guests to remember the importance of protecting wildlife from the threat of extinction. Mansion admission is included with Total Experience Tickets.

Location; By Somba Village

Time; 11:00am- 5:00pm

Creepy Hollows Hayride

Enjoy a thrilling hay ride beneath a canopy of beautiful fall foliage past the Birds of Prey exhibit and through the animated town of “Creepy [Read more…]

Ascarium: A Pirate Adventure at the NY Aquarium

Ascarium: A Pirate Adventure, brings a new thematic to the NY Aquarium as a part of this season’s Halloween celebration. A range of pirate themed, kid-friendly, not so scary experiences will be part of this year’s festivities to continue the tradition of providing Brooklyn and area families with a great destination for their Halloween celebration.

Ascarium combines the fun of this iconic holiday with the NY Aquarium’s mission of connecting people to wildlife. Ascarium will run the last three weekends in October (October 13-14, 20-21 and 27-28).

This year’s activities will include:

Haunted Seafari; The Tragic Tale of Captain Paul Looter

This year’s seafari adventure takes guests into the sunken ship of Captain Paul Looter, an awful pirate captain and a deep-sea criminal. Guests will enter the quarters of Captain Looter, where he still guards his gold coins, gold objects and scores of treasures from beyond his watery grave.

Our ship explorers then head into the Briny Brig, where our deteriorating devil crew are paying the cost for their pirating as well as their overfishing the waters and poaching some of the seas most magnificent, and endangered species. They are egged on to exit the ship and have a few choices…will they WALK THE PLANK to their doom Or will they head ON DECK?

Walking thru the Brig Portal…our treasure hunters will find the deck of the ship. Finally finding their way, our explorers are dumped onto the seashore, where all is NOT well. The effects of Looter & his slimy crew have polluted this craggy-rocked landscape. But it seems that Captain Looter has learned his lesson. His ghostly image speaks to us to let us know that he realizes now – that treasures are not in gems or gold, but the greatest treasure of all is the marine life and clean water that support our planet and it inhabitants.

Location: Explore the Shore

Timing: 11:30am – 4:30pm

Pirate School!

Pirate School! is a madcap, swashbuckling one-man family vaudeville show created and performed by veteran New York physical comedian and actor David Engel. During Pirate School! the bumbling professor Billy Bones teaches youngsters how to be good pirates with zany lessons on how to stand, talk, sing and laugh like Buccaneers, skulls talk, cutlasses drop and pets run amok. And there’s marine conservation information incorporate as part of the programming. Ultimately Pirate School! aims to satisfy children’s universal curiosity about the briny Buccaneers of yore while subtly boosting their self-esteem and pro-social skills by prompting them to be more empathetic, responsible, courageous Corsairs.

Location; Seaside Pavilion

Timing; October 13,14,27,28

11:00am, 1:00pm, 3:00pm

Musical Performance

The Brigands, a four piece musical group performing period pirate and nautical related music, will be the featured musicians. Their performances will include songs, ballads and fiddle tunes from roughly 1680 onwards, from the Golden Age of Piracy, thru the Tall Ships era right up to modern day with [Read more…]

Rookie USA Kids SportsWear Store Moves into Manhattan #RookieUSA #CBias

I recently went to the newly opened Rookie USA store, located at 808 Columbus on the Upper West Side. Rookie USA was in a super convenient location, with lots of other stores and shopping nearby, on street parking and parking garages available. It was a beautiful day, on a beautiful street- AND I even found a parking space, and successfully parallel parked 🙂 Hey- sometimes it’s the little things!

I know- But I was so proud of myself- I am the worst parallel parker!

Rookie USA is beautifully set up, with wide open spaces (easy for pushing strollers in) and racks that are not overcrowded with clothes. The employees were friendly, and the store itself was clean and had a nice atmosphere- no loud music or flashing lights that make me want to run out as fast as I can, LOL.

The store sells clothing and accessories such as backpacks and baseball hats for infants through teenagers. They carry brands like Nike, Levi’s, Converse and Air Jordan, and even have very small jerseys. There is an entire wall of sneakers as well.

There [Read more…]