Career Update: Published!

I was so excited to see my article published in New York Family! It's amazing to hold a glossy magazine in my hands and read my own words. Not only that, but I also got to sneak a picture of Ella into the article, too! I just reread it. I'm trying to play it cool, but come on, really. I'm thrilled!

Here's the first three paragraphs to get you started:

To Ballet or Not To Ballet?
By SHARON BEESLEY

A Stay-At-Home Mom Struggles With Whether To Enroll Her Daughter In A Popular Dance Class Or Hold Onto The Free Family Time They Love

Last week, I got an email about arranging a ballet class for my six-year-old daughter Ella and her friends. A bunch of moms wanted to form a class at a posh dance studio for the girls on Monday nights. I ignored the email at first because I rarely sign up my kids for classes. Planned events and organized activities that start at a specific time are not my strength. As a mother of three, I’ve learned that I’m much happier when my kids have an open schedule. I treasure the flexibility.

That’s not to say that my kids have empty schedules. It’s the exact opposite. We love being free to explore the city on a whim! On days off from school, we’ll run around the New York Botanical Garden or trek out to the Queens County Farm Museum. After school, we’ll take a stroll through Central Park. If we haven’t been to the Met in a while, we’ll take a cab over and roam the exhibits. If my kids are grouchy, we’ll hibernate, eat popcorn and watch movies together. As a stay-at-home mom, flexibility is the biggest perk of my job. As soon as my day gets too structured, the chance to be spontaneous is taken away.

But emails about ballet kept flooding my inbox. More and more of Ella’s friends were saying “yes” to the class. When the number of girls reached ten, my guilt started kicking in. I began to wonder if Ella would feel left out. Finally, when I read about the girls participating in a recital and being fitted for costumes, my heart sank. I imagined how much fun she would have performing on stage. I started doubting my praise about the joys of a flexible schedule. Should I be signing my daughter up instead?

Click here to read the entire article and find out what I decide to do! I share a little bit about my childhood and how it affected my decision. One of my favorite quotes the editors highlight from the text is: I always wanted to be just like [my mom]. That is, until I became a mother."

Signing my kids up for classes is one of the ways I am very different than my mother. While I avoid it, she signed me up for everything!

How are you parenting differently than you parents did? Do you feel guilty about it? I sometimes do!

Financial Friday (on Tuesday): February Splurges

Image from Ironic Sans

One of my favorite books is A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. It's a classic coming of age story about a young girl named Francie. I easily fell in love with her and her mother, Katie. And every character mentioned in the book. Ever her drunk father.

My favorite part of the book is when Francie, Katie, and Aunt Evy have just finished a meager dinner. Aunt Evy is appalled when Katie lets young Francie pour left over coffee down the drain. Katie defends herself by saying, "Francie is entitled to one cup each meal like the rest. If it makes her feel better to throw it way rather than to drink it, all right. I think it's good that people like us can waste something once in a while and get the feeling of how it would be have lots of money and not have to worry about scrounging."

Katie is one of the most practical, hard working, and likable mothers in any of the fiction books I've read. She knows how much money a cup of coffee costs and how much is wasted when poured down the drain. It's almost nothing, even for her bleak family finances.

So today, using Katie as my example, I'm showing ways that even though I'm cutting back, I'm still found ways to make me feel luxurious and slightly wasteful last February!

Toothpaste. Last month I splurged on Marvis Toothpaste in Jasmine Mint. A regular bottle of toothpaste from the store costs around $3.50. So I'm spending $6.50 more on my teeth and I'm loving ever minute of it. Honestly, I have found myself brushing more just because I love the mild minty floral flavor. It's like nothing out there. Perhaps if this continues it will help with dental bills? Who knows!



Cleaning Products: I'm tempted to make my own cleaning products and save a little. But I went ahead and splurged in this area too. I bought Method laundry detergent and all purpose cleaner. Love the idea of not putting on ton of weird chemicals on my body, and I like their reduction of plastic in some of the packaging. Beyond all of that eco nonsense, I think their products smell really good. It's as simple as that.

And lastly, my February wasteful splurges included a beautiful bouquet of flowers. I still can't stop thinking about them. I didn't tell you this, but I emailed both Rob's personal email accounts AND work account telling him specifically which store to buy them from. The pressure was on. Every time I see the vase I think of the moment Rob came home with them. It took my breath away.

So if I continue to buy these things over the course of the year, it would cost me a little less then $20 a month. $240 a year. Kind of makes me wonder if it's worth it.

Marionette Theatre in Central Park

We're so lucky to live within walking distance to a marionette theatre. It's such a simple, classic, and charming form of entertainment that I hope never dies away. It's also one of the cheapest things to do in the city, so this is the third time we've gone! Tickets are only $8/adult and $5/children under 12. The theatre is located within the charming Swedish Cottage in one of my favorite parts of Central Park.  After seeing a show, I love walking through the Shakespeare Gardens and then up to Belvedere Castle.

The current show is Little Miss Muffet’s Monster-Sitting Service. It's about a little girl, her spider babysitter, and all the mischief that happens when she opens a monster baby sitting company. Wild times!

The kids really liked the performance. I measure likability by whether or not my kids can sit through an entire show. They did! While I thought the sets and puppets were eye catching and thoughtfully made, I would have loved to see a more classic aesthetic and storyline. But maybe I'm just old fashioned. Ella loved everything, particularly the spider. She kept saying it was "so unbelievable, mom! Wow!"

One of my favorite parts was the quick demonstration at the end of the show explaining how puppets work. Isn't that little puppet with the red tie the cutest?

Thanks to the Swedish Cottage Marionette Theater for sending me tickets to review this show. We can't wait to go back!

My Overnight Trip ALONE!

View of the Brooklyn Bridge from the boat

Ever since I had twins, I started taking trips by myself once a year. I'm not ashamed to admit that I need a break from motherhood sometimes. Every trip is different. Once I stayed in a hostel twenty minutes from my house for two nights, another time I crashed at my friend's apartment in Paris for six nights. Just depends on our mood and financial situation. A few weeks ago, NYCVP offered to send me on an overnight trip here in the city. Of course I said yes! I toyed with the idea of going with Rob, but thought naww. An alone trip is long overdue. I booked it through their website for Tuesday, February 28th.

While I could have taken my overnight trip on the weekend, I decided to take it midweek due to our schedules. This way we wouldn't need a baby sitter. All Rob had to do was put the kids down for bed and walk them to school the next day. Then, I could pick them up from school after I checked out from the hotel. Simple and easy. Taking it midweek also had its advantages. I felt like I got an extra Saturday this week (really trying to take advantage of leap year!)

Included in every trip booked through NYCVP is free admissions to some of my favorite NYC attractions. I got to choose between tickets to the top of the Empire State Building, Museum of the City of New York, or a NY Water Taxi's Statue of Liberty Flex Pass. Since I've never taken a cruise on a NY Water Taxi, I chose that! NYCVP also offers free tickets to either the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The American Museum of Natural History or Top of the Rock. Isn't that a fabulous bonus? I adore the view from Top of the Rock, so I chose that.

I had a perfect plan for my trip. I knew just what to do:

After Rob got home from work on Tuesday, I would take the New York Water Taxi’s Statue by Night Cruise. It leaves at 7:45pm and arrives back 1.5 hours later. From there, head uptown, to view the city from Top of the Rock. I loved the idea of seeing the city from completely different perspectives in one night. After that, I would check into The Manhattan Times Square Hotel. It's located only a few blocks away from Rockefeller Center so it felt super convenient. Then, I would relax, sleep in, and do NOTHING until I had to pick up my kids from school at 2pm the next day!

I was shocked that my trip went exactly as planned. Well, except for one small deviation . . .

I arrived early at South Street Seaport for the cruise, and people watched before boarding the boat. A couple a students where filming a movie. A group of girls asked me to take their picture. It was one of the girl’s birthdays. A mother and daughter talked about the weather. And of course there was a bunch of lovey-dovey couples waiting for the boat. I began second guessing my decision to take this cruise alone. I should be with Rob. Or at least one of my kids. Or a girl friend. I forged ahead regardless and walked on the cruise ship. Just call me Miss Independence! :)

There I was greeted by Jimbo, the director of the ship. He was one of those rare people I meet who seems to really love their job. He asked where everyone was from, said jokes, and made everyone on the boat feel welcome. From my experience, customer service is lacking big time in NYC. But not here! Whenever possible, Jimbo offered to take pictures for everyone on the ship. He took his time to pose the people just right and even had props sometimes. I couldn't say no to his cheesy photo ideas!

Photos by the very talented Jimbo.

Oh! If you happen to take this cruise, don't forget to bring some cash for tips at the end. Jimbo and his team work hard. I'm so glad I had some cash on me. I never usually do!

After the cruise, I headed uptown to see The Top of the Rock. The air was crisp. The sky was clear. A perfect February night. I've gone to the Top of the Rock plenty of times, but never alone. It was nice to take it in at my own pace. I read every poster that sparked my interest, watched a 12 minutes video about the history of building, and took as many pictures I wanted without feeling like I was holding anyone back. I truly am in love with this building! I found a window seat and stared out into the city for awhile. What would it be like to have a view like this from your office or home? I'm sure some people do. I imagined I was one of them.

view from my window seat on Top of the Rock.

Finally, at 10:30pm, I checked into The Manhattan Times Square Hotel. The people at the front desk were so nice. I dropped my bag off and for the first time broke away from my perfect plan. I was starving! I slipped into cafe down the street and in true NY fashion, ordered a Reuben sandwich. And then a slice of cheesecake to go. When I got back into my hotel room, I watched Letterman (an old favorite from my single days) while eating that huge slice of cheesecake in bed. I took a long shower and fell asleep. I had the whole king size bed to myself. Heaven.

The rooms at the Manhattan Times Square Hotel are very basic, yet comfortable enough. Great location. Has a swimming pool!

The next morning I woke up still full from my late night dinner. Plus it was raining really hard. That made it all the easier stay in bed until 1pm! I splurged on an On Demand movie from the hotel's TV: The Descendants. I bawled my eyes out the entire movie. It was so cathartic! Partly because it brought back memories of my mother's death, partly because it brought back memories of living in Hawaii for 3 years. After the movie, I wrote Rob a bunch of overly sentimental text messages like, "I'm so lucky to be a mom and a wife!" To which he responded: "What r u talking about?" Ha!

I then decided to lighten my mood by splurging on another On Demand movie: Young Adult. Loved this movie too. The characters development is so wonderful because they all felt so relatable. When it was over, Rob received no sentimental texts. Although I was tempted to defriend all my past boyfriends from Facebook after watching it. All 2 of them. bahahaha.

By then it was 12pm, and check out was 1pm. So I sat at the desk in my hotel room for a good 25 minutes just looking out the window. Watching the rain fall. Taking a few pictures of the pigeons on the building. Watching the people with their umbrellas. A mom with a stroller.

The view from my hotel room. 

Then I took a long shower, packed up my things, checked out, and headed uptown to pick my kids up from school. My vacation was over. It was just what I needed!

Thanks NYCVP for sponsoring my vacation! You are so easy to work with!

Have you ever taken a vacation by yourself? I love that vacations by myself don't have to be overly planned or fussy. I set the pace and go for it. I recommend it!

Say Yes To Puddles

Last Friday puddles were everywhere in Central Park. It was still drizzling and bitter cold when I took Ella out to test the shell jacket and zip trousers Polarn O. Pyret sent her.

At first, she avoided the puddles. I had to convince her that it was ok to jump into the water. Then, I promised she would stay warm and dry. Finally, after a few test jumps, she believed me. And that's when she discovered the joy of playing in the rain without the uncomfortable consequences of being wet, soggy, and cold. This spring, she's free to play anywhere. Probably while singing a crazy made-up song.

Totally random: Doesn't Ella completely transform into a new person with these clothes on? Suddenly I was looking at a young Gretchen Bleiler. All tough, sporty, yet still girly! Somebody get this girl a halfpipe and a snowboard. She's got the look.

The best part about these clothes to me? Not only are they waterproof and wind proof, but they also are water repellant. Even after jumping in muddy puddles, the pants stayed clean! Why can't all children's clothes be water repellant? Magic.

Thanks Polarn O. Pyret for outfitting Ella for spring and beyond!

You can find her jacket here, the trousers here, and also the brown striped hat here (organic cotton!). Receive 15% off all full priced items with code: STRIPEPOP, in-store or online. Also, find major sales going on PO.P's outerwear here! 

Love this store. Other posts with my kids wearing PO.P's clothes are here (cords!) and here (striped bathing suit!).  

Christmas Cupcake Fail. Meh.

I made this "meh" cupcake (inspired by this ornament), trying to be sooo clever during the holiday season. But all I could find was capital fondant letters, so it ended up looking like a lame acronym. MEH. More Eating Ham. My Envious Hamster. Or some one's initials. Basically, I realized capslock made it lose it's mehness. So I never did anything with the cupcake except eat it before the kids got home. It was goooood. Funfetti cake mix and frosting! At least it wasn't a complete failure.

In the future, I promise not to hoard my project failures for so long. MEH :)

Times Square: The Truth

 Yesterday while in Times Square, we spent a ton of time outside on our scooters. But really, we spent most of the day at Toys R Us. I wanted to poke my eye balls out.

But then again, twice (twice!) Owen told me he was having the best day ever. Once while he gazed into the T-Rex eyes in the Jurassic Park section of Toys R Us. And another time when he was looking at the Lego sculptors. Ella had her moment as she road a display bike around the store. With the wind blowing in her hair, she exclaimed, "Oh, I want to live in the country!" Oscar didn't want to get out of this display Cadillac Escalade Power Wheels car. He kept opening and slamming the door shut like a tough guy.

We were there so long, we used the restrooms twice. All I can say is that I absolutely surrendered to my kid's demands to play in a cheesy toy store all day long. I didn't take any pictures because I was sure that there was noway I was writing about this on the blog. Nothing looked photogenic. Just a lot of plastic molded to look like different things. I was planning on taking pictures when we went outside to the large red staircase in the middle of Times Square. I tried to build it up: Look at the view kids! The lights?! All the people! But all I got were bored eyes and Owen's constant demand to check out the massive Disney Store.

So we walked down the stairs that I thought were relatively cool and headed to the Disney Store. 

But this time I took pictures while I wrote this post in my head.