Coast 2 Coast Mom

Still Gleeful After Seeing Glee Live Tour

c2cDad and I celebrated my birthday by attending the Friday night showing of the sold-out Glee Tour 2010 at Radio City Music Hall. Yay! Glee Live was a high-energy show and the atmosphere around our seats in the orchestra section was electrifying. Seriously! Everyone stood for nearly the entire show . . . I think we sat for part of one slow song. We were surprised - though not shocked - to see so many tween-age girls there with their moms. Admittedly, we seriously aged-up our section of the orchestra level. ;-) I think that attending the concert with so... Read more →

Volunteerism On The Rise: Yay! We're a Part of a Movement

This post is inspired by the Yahoo! Motherboard's topic of the month: volunteerism. Evidence points to an increase in volunteerism this past year, and while I can only guess as to why that is, I can say definitively that our family is a part of that upswing. Check out the site to read more posts by other Motherboard bloggers. Our frequent moves have made me hyper-sensitive about raising our son with a connection to his family and community. It's important to me that he knows where he comes from, and feels a part of the world around him. So we... Read more →

Notes from The Sandbox Summit: For Today's Kids, the Medium Is As Important as the Message

Last Monday afternoon I hopped on the Acela and headed up to Boston (Cambridge) to attend The Sandbox Summit, iPlay, YouPlay, WiiPlay, a conference focused on "how play is changing media and media is changing play." It was one of the best conferences I've attended in that it lined up fascinating speakers, offered hands-on workshops, and was intimate in that it was a smaller summit and provided plenty of time for follow-up discussions and networking amongst academics, toy developers, researchers, publishers, marketers and media. It was a summit to share research, discussion, ideas and predictions. I'll touch upon some of... Read more →

Join me at The Mommybites Summit in NYC tomorrow night!

While traveling home from the Sandbox Summit in Boston (I'll post about some of my fantastic learnings soon!), what got me through the train ride home, was picturing Babybites' Mommybites Summit: The Ultimate Moms Night Out coming up later in the week. I'm excited for some socializing and shopping tomorrow night! The Mommybites Summit is an evening of parenting discussions led by some local parenting experts, shopping from some of the fabulous vendors and sponsors in attendance (I'm eager to check out several things for my pregnant sister, and did you see that Totsy is a sponsor?), and of course... Read more →

When Mom's Away, Spooky Tigers Come Out To Play

So . . .yeah. This is what happens when daddy watches the kid while Mom's away. Yesterday was a busy day in the city starting off with the annual AIDS Walk New York with around 45,000 in Central Park, followed by a BMS afterparty at the Central Park Zoo. Li'l Boo wanted to actually see all of the animals first - not as interested in the food or activities, but then upon return to the party tent, he himself requested a "spooky" face. Now let me stop you right there becaue if I'd have been with Li'l Boo we would... Read more →

Having a Ball Playing Atari's New Sandlot Sluggers

Last week we were treated to an amazing baseball wonderland at Atari's headquarters in celebration of the upcoming launch of their Backyard Sports Sandlot Sluggers video game. They really outdid themselves bringing in Astroturf, a hot dog vendor, popcorn stand, t-ball equipment - thanks to Franklin for the backstop tents that saved me from spending my entire time chasing down baseballs to keep placing atop the t-ball stand for Li'l Boo to hit ;-) Oh yes, there were lots of video game systems set up for us and the kiddos to play Sandlot Sluggers. Li'l Boo had a fantastic time... Read more →

We Figured Out How To Make Dinosaur Cupcakes

We did it! After days of searching for online patterns or samples, or locating a nearby bakery to make them, we came up with our own 3D dinosaur cupcakes for Li'l Boo to take into school to celebrate his summer birthday earlier this week. I kept asking him, are you sure they have to be dinosaur cupcakes? How about dogs or baseball cupcakes? Oh no, they have to be dinosaurs mom. I want dinosaur cupcakes. Gah! (I did find that YouCake has a dinosaur design, but alas they're made in Brooklyn and I didn't have a way to get them... Read more →

When Worlds Collide: the Launch Party for GetHatched.com

Last night was a rare instance when c2cDad's world and my world collided. Both of us attended the launch party for GetHatched.com, a Disneyfamily.com site featuring celeb mom Teri Hatcher. While we used to run into each other at related work events quite a bit before Lil Boo entered our lives, this was actually only the first or second time it's happened in the four and a half years since. These days when I attend events like last night with him, I attend merely as "the wife," so it was great for my psyche to have a reason for myself... Read more →

Spend Mother's Day with Us and Kids Club Thirteen at the Prospect Park Zoo

Here’s an idea for spending Mother’s Day with the family - and with Li'l Boo and me! PBS THIRTEEN is hosting its inaugural Kids Club Thirteen event on Sunday, May 9th at the Prospect Park Zoo Fleece Festival. Admission will be free on Sunday for Kids Club Thirteen members and you'll get the chance to meet and get a photo with Ruff Ruffman from FETCH! and some other zoo animals. This is the first of many year-round benefits for Kids Club Thirteen members that includes free admission and discounts to NYC-area museums, parks, festivals, etc., and on-air mentions of your... Read more →

Help Share Our Strength with the Bread Art Project

I took our budding little artist along with me into the city recently to learn more about the Bread Art Project, a program created by the non-profit Grain Foods Foundation and launching in 2010 with Food Network host Melissa d'Arabian and Share Our Strength, working toward the goal of ending childhood hunger in America by 2015. (Food Network fans may remember Melissa as the winner of season five of The Next Food Network Star and now host of her own series, "Ten Dollar Dinners.") We listened to Melissa speak about why feeding hungry kids is so important to her and... Read more →