San Diego is home but New York has a piece of my heart

When I met my husband 7 years ago I lived in Manhattan and could not even fathom the idea of living elsewhere, forget 2500 miles away in San Diego which is precisely where I reside today.  There is something completely indescribable about New York that makes it like no other place in the world.  For me it's the sheer randomness about the city that keeps it mysterious and exciting even if it's the backdrop for day to day life.

Bloomingdales 59th & Lex Flagship - The only REAL Bloomingdales if you ask me!

You can walk the exact same route to work every single day for years and continually see new people, bump into someone you knew when you were 12 years old or find yourself on nearly the same schedule as another commuter and pass them a hundred times a year always wondering what their life is like beyond your street in common.

The love/hate relationship that all New Yorkers experience with their city is a funny one and certainly a bonding point.  How amazing is it to walk to dinner and drinks with friends while popping into boutiques along the way and enjoying the sheer variety of options for where your night will take you?  How awful is it when you find yourself toting a suitcase and trying to hail a cab in a downpour, knowing you've been set out to fail?

The pinnacle of luxury shopping and home to all things fashionably awesome

One very important factor in my making the cross country move was the ability to go back and forth frequently to see friends and family, so generally speaking only a few months maximum will go by without my making a trip back.  Recently, I dashed back for less than 48 hours just to see a few loved ones for the holidays and thought I'd share some places and things that always stand out when I'm visiting New York, no matter how much of a rush I am in.

The famous ceiling and cause of many tourist collisions in Grand Central Station 

There are so many things that New Yorkers take for granted because they seem ordinary when you live there.   Like the amazingness that is Grand Central station for one.  Where else can you pick up a birthday present for a child, meet a friend for an after work cocktail, choose from dozens of delicious options for ready to eat gourmet meals to bring home or to visit a friend, grab a last minute birthday cake or my personal favorite, a box of Magnolia Bakery cupcakes and then board a train, all in a matter of minutes?

The Grand Central Station Magnolia Bakery - sugary goodness to go!

I know because I've done it with my little sisters in what we call "sister olympics" where one of us gets tickets from the machines, another heads to Zaro's bakery to pick out a cake and the other one grabs dinner to bring home to mom and dad from Grand Central Market with just a few minutes left to board our train.

We wind up running down to the track together and collapse in the first set of open seats while gasping for air, convulsing with giggles and making strained declarations of "we made it!"  Sure there are a few sideways glances cast from the serial commuters behind their Kindles but oh well, moments like those are priceless to me.

Which brings me to my next point of why I #LoveThisCity and a little part of me is still incredibly jealous of my little sisters who continue to reside in New York...there are a bunch of pretty amazing experiences to be had through Mastercard's priceless experiences in New York that are happening right now.

The most famous Christmas tree in the world - Rockefeller Center Christmas tree.

I know Kayla would go absolutely bonkers for the early access tour of FAO Schwarz which allows you to visit the store before it opens to the public, take a private tour of the store and raid FAO Schweetz.  Okay, I'll be honest, I would probably be more excited than Kayla if we went to that one.

My foodie friends would be all over the cooking demo and dinner at Bouley Test Kitchen later in January where a group of 20 will participate in a hands on cooking demo with Daniel Bouley himself and then get to indulge in a sit down dinner with wine pairings.  Seriously?  I'd actually consider flying back just to take my sisters to that event.

So if you have a Mastercard and will be in New York this coming month I'd take a minute and browse the Priceless.com experiences.  Many of them are free to Mastercard holders and would make for a fantastic gift, date night or girls bonding day.   I'll be green as the Grinch with envy from 2500 miles away as I plan my next trip back in the Spring.  Sigh.

Just so you know, I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias®  and MasterCard #CBias #SocialFabric #LoveThisCity everything you see is my personal, picky/madly in love with New York opinion.

Made your snowflakes? How about an adorable snowman?

If you made your snowflakes for Sandy Hook then you might like this little idea of what to do with all of those tiny paper scraps left over. Since Kayla and I used coffee filters for ours we were left with a pile of fluffy white paper that reminded me of shredded coconut on a cupcake.

I was about to toss it all in the trash when Kayla asked if we could make a snowman.  Well hello good idea that mom didn't think of.  Those trimmings would make for the perfect fuzzy snow covered snowman!

I sent Kayla off on a little scavenger hunt to find 3 objects that would make different sized circles.  We traced them together and then I handed her one of her most favorite things in the world - a bottle of glue while I cut out some construction paper arms, a nose and a top hat for our snowman.  We had some extra googly eyes in our little art box so I gave her those to use for eyes but we could have easily drawn them on or used construction paper.

If you don't have colored construction paper in the house (it's one of my few craft staples) then you can just cut out white shapes and color them with crayons or markers.  Kayla filled in the bottom 2 circles of the snowman with glue and I spread it around a bit to make sure it was even enough to have the "snow" stick.

After that Kayla sprinkled all the trimmings from our snowflake making all over the glue and we were left with a fuzzy feeling 3D snowman.  I know, nothing revolutionary but a good way to turn one project into two and make a little piece of art to send off to a long distance relative or give to a great neighbor who is sweet to your child.

Kayla watched me fill out a fair amount of gift tags  this season so I wasn't surprised to see her write her name first and then a "to" but I was pleasantly surprised to see that she planned to give her snowman to her parents!  It was nice to get a little love and credit especially since Santa has been looking like the hero in our home this week.  

Winter Break Activity- Snowflakes For Sandy Hook

I have to be honest and say that a few weeks ago I knew Winter break was approaching and there was a part of me, like most parents (who are willing to admit it) that was dreading the extra long break from school.

I only have one child so on the house-full-of-craziness meter I know I should really shut my mouth and not complain, my mom had 4 of us running amok for two weeks straight growing up and quite frankly I'm not sure how she didn't lose her mind, but do now understand her extra selective hearing during those long breaks from school.  It was a defense mechanism.  

After the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary (and I don't think tragedy is a strong enough word)  It's fair to say that every parent felt a change of heart about rapidly approaching break from school.  I personally felt like a giant word-I-won't-write-here for having that negative perspective on extra time with my child.

Through the online grapevine I had heard that the Connecticut PTA was collecting snowflakes for the students of Sandy Hook to create a winter wonderland.   Immediately there was no question as to whether Kayla and I would be making snowflakes as one of our many crafty distractions.

I did tell Kayla that we were going to make snowflakes for some children who need cheering up.  I didn't get into the details of why since she is only at the brink of 4.  If Kayla was a few years older I'm not quite sure what I would have said but I think explaining how the magic of knowing that other people care can change how someone feels would have been included.

While checking out a post by a blogger I interact with a lot on Twitter - Heather from  Living On Love and Cents I saw she used coffee filters to make snowflakes with her kids because they are already round and have a floaty, snowy texture to them from the start.  Great idea, right?

Kayla definitely needed some help making the tiny cutouts to produce an intricate snowflake but I helped her by turning the paper and letting her cut with some safety scissors.  I wound up making the majority of our snowflakes because I hadn't done this paper snow flake making since grade school and it was actually pretty exciting to see what my adult scissor skills could result in.

We'll be sending off our snowflakes today to the students of Sandy Hook.  If you'd like to do the same thing you can send them to the address below to arrive before January 12th.

Connecticut PTSA

60 Connolly Parkway

Building 12, Suite 103

Hamden, CT 06514

Obviously we couldn't stop at snowflakes.  Inspired by Kayla I had an easy little art project to use all the little trimmings from our snowflakes which I'll share with you tomorrow!

I'm Married to The Grinch. But I've got an idea...

I love my husband but he can be a little bit of a Grinch when this time of year rolls around.  Perhaps it's because he grew up with Hanukkah only whereas I grew up with both.  Perhaps it's because his wife has the Christmas music station on the radio playing 24/7.  Which I realize is similar to a military torture tactic if you didn't grow up in a home where your mom baked and decorated while playing the same 20 songs on repeat.  

Regardless, I'm determined to have Kayla grow up in a home that doesn't necessarily push one religion over the other but is incredibly festive throughout the year.  I do know the way to my husband's heart (which hopefully is not 3 sizes too small after reading this) and it's generally through food and beer.

So when I spotted these beverage sweaters with incredibly obnoxious yet adorable patterns and even more ridiculous pom-poms attached to them I immediately grabbed a handful off the shelf at Target like a reflex.  They reminded me of the ugly Christmas sweater parties I used to attend back in NY.

I know attending one here is not even a possibility because Frosty my husband would absolutely refuse.    I don't think I could get him to one kicking, screaming and jingling all the way so this year I'm attempting to woo him to the world of kitschy decor with these beverage sweaters.  Baby steps, right?

And just because these will be outfitting a lot of Bud Light Platinum over the next week or so doesn't mean you can't use them on more wholesome beverages....like a sippy cup of milk.  I know I'm in for a great big Kayla smile when she see's her Santa suit cup tonight!

Merry Christmas to you and your family from our crazy one!

The Best Post Holiday Gift - Makedo

**Yes friends, you can still order these in time for Christmas through Amazon but I think this is the perfect item to have arrive a few days after Christmas when you're running out of things to do with your kids!**

Remember my cardboard Cinderella carriage?  The small child in me still loves taking the giant cardboard boxes that our UPS man is frequently seen hauling to the front door and turning them into play things.

That old rule still stands true for most kids so by the end of Christmas Day they will almost certainly be playing with the box the toy you decided to splurge on came inside of.  Therefore I feel it's my duty to share with you the wonderful world of Makedo.

Makedo is a company that sells kits of tools to expand upon the possibilities of what your child can create with a box and other things floating around your recycling bin.  Do you remember my very fancy toy market I showed you in our tailgating post? As much as Kayla loves it, she also thoroughly enjoys an afternoon of make believe in a box, just like her mommy.

So I thought I'd show you what comes in a Makedo package so you could see for yourself.  You get quite a bit of materials, each with a special purpose.  If your child is around Kayla's age (4) you'll need to help piece together the body of your creation.

If you have an older child like a few of my friends who have children in the 7-8 year old range they can pretty much tackle this on their own and you can go back to gloating about how much more maintenance free your life is as a parent than mine.

What I love about the Makedo kits is that they are built for open ended play.  Makedo sent us the Market kit which includes pretty specific instructions on how to construct your market.  You can also go off on your own and decide how you'd like to piece one together yourself - which is the route I chose.

The only thing I didn't love about our Makedo kit was the safe-saw.  It was pretty difficult to cut with. Part of that is probably because I'm used to using an X-Acto knife which cuts very easily and of course is not nearly safe enough to allow a child to use.  The safe-saw will actually cut the box, though it will take quite a while to make the cuts needed.  Of course I love that it's available as a safe option if you do have an older child working alone or want to let a younger child feel more involved. 

Here are a few pictures from our market creating experience.  Kayla was all to eager to help attach some pieces and transform our box into her market.  Did I mention that mis-matched pajamas are her new look?  She literally refuses to wear a top and a bottom that coordinate.

It was nice that with a little bit of help she was able to fit the parts together.  For the most part they work like zipties so you just push the nail looking piece into the hole on the re-clips and they hold together quite well.  There are no dangerous or overly sharp parts and things stay in place much better than using packing tape which was my old method for making things out of cardboard boxes.

Our market was assembled in about 10 minutes.  We could have spent hours collecting lots of extra items to add shelves, creating a cash register or decorating it but Kayla just wanted to get down to business and sell me some expensive play food and Christmas ornaments.  I do think if you have older kids this is the most perfect way to kill an afternoon that would otherwise be spent playing video games or watching TV.

The best part (if you ask me) is that when you're ready to rid yourself of the hulking cardboard creation your child has made you can undo a bunch of the parts are re-use them for another project....like seeing how big a wall you can make out of all the boxes from your holiday gifts!

If you want to check out the Makedo kits available for super quick delivery you can here and if you happen to create something awesome please send it my way so Kayla and I can check it out and share it with our Facebook friends!

Confession - I am a Style Snob Who Just Scored at Sears!

Did you read that twice?  It's actually not a typo, I did mean to write Sears. Now I'm going to admit a few things you might not know about me.  

-I've worked in the fashion industry for the last 10 years

-I tend to buy a new, amazing designer handbag every year

-I own way too many J.Crew silk blouses, cashmere sweaters and Tory Burch shoes

-I mix high and low, but am about as picky as they come when you're talking clothes

Let's be honest, given the above information I might not seem like the kind of girl you would find checking out the racks at Sears.  But recently one of my blogger besties posted some pictures of herself in a super cute dress and I kind of got the urge to check it out myself.   Little did I know, I was in for a real surprise when I walked into Sears and immediately saw their new Kardashian Kollection clothing. 

Though I indulge in the guilty pleasure of watching them on TV, the Kardashian girls and I don't have a lot in common except for long dark hair and Southern California residency.  However, I must say that nearly all of their designs were adorable, fun and surprisingly well made!

Normally I shy away from collections where celebrities or high end designers do a line for a department store because the designs are often watered down and the fabrication looks cheap. But I had a jaw-drop moment while raiding perusing the Kardashian line at Sears.  I decided I was going to try on a bunch of clothes and to make things extra interesting I put together a few looks and let my Instagram followers vote for their favorites.  

The first thing that caught my eye was this bright color blocked tuxedo style jacket.  Why?  Because I bought one not that long ago that cost about $280.  Gulp. Yes, guilty as charged.  Now obviously there were differences between the two when it came to fabrics, but not $230 worth because this Kardashian Kollection one only cost about $50 and as much as it pains me to say it,  I think I like it more than my break-the-bank version.

I immediately fell in love with this cheeky print that came on both a shell with a Peter Pan collar and a tie-front blouse.  I tend to choose mostly solids and layer them up with fun jewelry and contrasting colors but something about this print just made me smile.  I liked that it worked with a bold jacket for cocktail hour with friends or a more serious pencil skirt for a meeting.

The last look I went for at Sears was this metallic cocktail dress.  It was pretty cute, comfortable and "floaty" feeling but probably something I would save for a weekend in Cabo or a Summer night out.  While it wasn't my personal favorite for right now, I did learn that there is some Justin Beiber looking boy in Australia who loves it on Instagram.  Wonder what the husband would say :)  

Curious about which look I took home?  In the end I went for a happy marriage of outfits 1 and 2 which were the Instagram favorites.  Sorry Australian Justin Bieber!  I like the idea of being able to switch back and forth between a more polished looking skirt and my skinny jeans.  I've even got some coated black denim pants at home that would work with the jacket for an awesome New Years Eve outfit.  Now all I need is a babysitter!  

Before I left Sears I grabbed a pair of those Kardashian Kollection tortoise sunglasses because they look exactly like my $180 Tory Burch ones only I won't have to cry when Kayla gets her hands on them, which she has a tendency to do.  All together I left with the top, the tuxedo jacket, the skirt and the sunglasses for right around $100.  

I was expecting it to be more but I had printed this fabulous little coupon which was good for apparel and accessories - thanks Sears Santa for my #styleSurprise!  So I'm actually thinking about heading back and grabbing that metallic dress.  I now have a good excuse to do so because with my purchase I got 10,000 reward points from the Shop Your Way rewards program which means I get $10 toward any purchase I make.

Want some rewards points for yourself?  Feeling lucky? Sears is giving away a $5000 shopping spree through their Shop Your Way rewards program so you can find your own #styleSurprise.  If you win please let me know and I'll take you with me to buy some lottery tickets :)

Just so you know, I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias® and Sears. #CBias #ad #searsStyle everything you see is my personal and incredibly picky opinion and I am still shocked at what I found at Sears!

The Best Personalized Christmas Book for Kids - Marblespark

I don't often declare things "the best" but a few weeks ago I was told a customized book from Marblespark was on its way and I'll be honest I was a little skeptical.  I only like to show you things I think are amazing and my past experience with personalized books was only OK.  

Last year one of my sisters was so sweet and ordered Kayla a couple of personalized books.  Don't get me wrong, they were nice and it was neat for Kayla to hear her name being read throughout the story, but the publisher was doing nothing other than changing some names around in the text, declaring it personalized and custom and shipping them out at about $20 a pop.

So when 'Twas The Mouse Who Saved Christmas showed up at my front door I expected it to be the same sort of not-that-personal personalization that I had seen in the past...and boy was I wrong!

It's one thing for your child to see their name inserted into a paragraph of black text.  It's an entirely different thing for them to see their name inserted into the illustrations of the book.  I bet you can guess which is more engaging and exciting for little ones!  I was actually excited and in total disbelief when I saw this image below where Pipp the mouse tried to write Kayla's name but it didn't quite come out.

The thing that gets me about most personalized books is that they tend to take a not-so-awesome story, toss your child's name in there and then guess who gets stuck reading it?  My sister will have to forgive me but the honest truth is that while Kayla thought it was neat hearing her name in that Dora book, it was one of those books that my husband and I  would call "not it" when it came time to read the story.

What sells me on 'Twas the Mouse Who Saved Christmas is that it's actually an adorable story that I enjoyed reading to Kayla and that Kayla seemed to really react to.  I wish I had a picture of the look on her face when she saw the little mouse Pipp holding onto her name.  Followed by the furrowed brow at the idea of her name being left off of Santa's list.  Rest assured, Pip gets the whole thing figured out.

And the story ends with the sweetest note from Santa and a reminder of what Christmas is really all about!  I'm going to fess up and say that I got a little bit emotional reading this part of the book to Kayla before dropping her off at school the other day because they are just such perfect words to tell your child right now.

You can check out the Marblespark books right here I can't wait to see what other books they come out with soon!

Because there are just no words.

Christmas just got sweeter! Smarties Christmas Garlands

It's the most wonderful time of the year!  I say that because I am DONE with my holiday prep and ready to whip up some hot chocolate, curl up with Kayla and watch Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer with my Rudolph obsessed child.  Last week I showed you this Smarties menorah for Hanukkah and promised a fun and easy Christmas craft this week.

While I was cruising the aisles of Target a few days ago I saw these red beaded garlands and had a nostalgic moment because my parents always had red beaded garlands on our tree growing up.  The difference was theirs were glass, delicate and I'm fairly certain they cost a small fortune.  

However, these were just $2 a tube and would stand up to being touched by small and not-so-gentle hands.  So I decided to sweeten up our Christmas tree with these Smarties Christmas Garlands.  

 What is awesome about these garlands is they just need a bag of Smarties, some thin ribbon, those $2 beaded garlands or an equivalent and a pair of scissors.  

They're easy enough you can make them with a grade school age child or put them together yourself while you watch your favorite holiday movie.  I put mine together while in fits of laughter during Elf.  

Here is a step-by-step tutorial on these Smarties Christmas Garlands:

Want to keep your friends and family from eating your Smarties garland?  I found that a death stare and a strategically placed bowl of Smarties did the trick :) #IAmASmartie

I know I told you last week about how Smarties are a great safe alternative for people with food allergies but did you know that they are vegan, gluten free,  fat free and only 25 calories a roll?

Are you a Smarties lover?  I know, silly question!  Here is a Smarties giveaway to make your holiday a little more merry.  You'll  get a whole bunch of different Smarties products including Classic Smarties, Tropical Smarties and X-Treme Sour Smarties to name a few so enter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Just so you know, I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and Smarties. #CBias #SocialFabric everything you see is my own quite picky opinion and seriously, who doesn't love Smarties??

Picky eater? Christmas lover? These nuggets are for you!

Last weekend I had a lot of time to chat with some moms from preschool while we attended back to back 4 year old birthday parties.  As most of us were coaxing our kids to take a break from the bouncy castles and eat something the topic of picky eaters naturally reared its head.

In some regards I consider myself lucky because Kayla will actually eat foods like salmon, broccoli and mango.  However, try to get her to eat a cherry tomato and she'll act as if you're asking her to eat an octopus....yep, she's dramatic!  This all got me thinking about how to get kids to try new foods and in particular vegetables.

A While back I showed you my veggie fish and while it did the trick in our house of getting Kayla to eat her vegetables without any fuss, I had a few readers comment that it might take more than that to motivate their kids.  What I figure makes for a happy middle ground is a food that's familiar and kids love along with some new ones to try presented in a very fun and festive way.

So this week I took something that nearly all kids love - chicken nuggets and added some veggies to make some holiday food art that didn't involve marshmallows, chocolate and all things unhealthy for a change.

I started out with a trip to Sam's Club because I signed up to bring the chicken nuggets for Kayla's class party next week.   Between you and me,  I wanted to make sure the kids wound up eating the good one, like the all white meat ones from Tyson.  Shocking discovery at Sam's Club too...they now have organic raspberries.  I bought a huge container for under $5. I'm used to paying about $6 in my local grocery store for a teeny container so it looks like the warehouse clubs are getting with the times on the healthy eating movement!

Back at home I baked my chicken nuggets for about 12 minutes and got to work with the veggies.  The first thing that popped into my head was this broccoli Christmas tree.  I just cut up some broccoli and added ornaments with baby carrots and cherry tomatoes.  The star at the top?  It's a yellow bell pepper.  Then underneath the tree are some chicken nugget presents wrapped up with ketchup bows.

If you happen to follow me on Instagram then you'd know we're having a total Rudolph obsession in our home. And by we, I mean Kayla.  The other night I threatened to put all her Disney Princess shoes in time out if she didn't get back in bed and stay in bed.  It was useless.  Then my husband threatened to put her stuffed animal Rudolph in time out and instantly she was in bed and we didn't hear a peep for the rest of the evening.  Rudolph has power!

That got me thinking that a cherry tomato nosed Rudolph might just be the way to her heart and her belly.  I added some cauliflower snow and thinly sliced some carrot antlers.  Then I realized she needed some ketchup to dip those nuggets in so I wrote in ketchup.

I wouldn't mislead you so I'll cop to the fact that I didn't just squeeze ketchup out of the bottle to look like that. Don't even try it, it'll look spooky at best.  I actually stuck some ketchup in a plastic baggy, cut the corner and wrote like I was using an icing bag.

So, what did Kayla think?  She didn't say much more than "RUDOLPH!!" Before plucking his nose off, stuffing it in her mouth and then swiping the chicken nugget through the ketchup and downing it.  Score, 1 for mom in the cherry tomato eating department.  It just goes to show that if you have a picky eater it pays to strategize with #Mealstogether and figure out what will get them to at least consider trying some new and healthier foods.

Want to check out these chicken nuggets yourself?  There is a Tyson demonstration going on in all Sam's Club locations 12/13 and 12/14 from 10am-2pm.  Just don't tell my husband or he might get there first, block the display with his cart and eat them all before you get a chance to try one!

Just so you know, I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for CollectiveBias® and  Tyson #CBias #SocialFabric, everything you see here is my personal and terribly picky opinion!