All posts by lindsay-bell

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Your Holiday Gift Guide

Looking for just the right gift this year for your friend, family member, or significant other? Well, you’re in luck thanks to Issuu – an online publication that posts thousands of digital articles that are all available to active readers.

Their 2016 Holiday Gift Guide is helping to make this the easiest shopping year yet. Below you can find some suggestions to get you started.

Top toys for 2016:
Hatchimal Hatching Egg
Cosmo Robot
Think & Learn Code-A-Pillar

Build and create toys:
Shape Mags Advance Starter Kit
Wonderhood Grand Hotel
Meccanoid 2.0

Wheels that wow:
Micro Kickboards
Penny Skateboard
PlayWheels Trolls Glitter Skates

Gifs for mom:
Josie Maran Argan Sugar Scrub
Madewell Tote
Duckfeet Arhus Boot

For the full 2016 Holiday Gift Guide, read through the online magazine here!

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Holiday Camps for Kids

Looking for some fun activities for the lil’ ones this winter break? Kidz Central Station is offering some great classes to keep them active and your hands free!

From December 19th-30th, you can check out these classes:

1. Holiday Camp Snowflakes
Age: 3-4 years
Time: Weekdays 9am-Noon or 12:30pm-3:30pm
Cost: $15-$75

2. Holiday Camp Full Day (Peppermints)
Age: 4-5 years
Time: Weekdays 9am-3pm
Cost: $15-$125

3. Holiday Camp Full Day (Gingerbreads)
Age: 5-8 years
Time: Weekdays 9am-3pm
Cost: $15-$125

4. Holiday Cookie Wars
Age: 4-8 years or 9-13 years
Time: Weekdays 9am-Noon or 1pm-4pm
Cost: $100+

For the full list of semester holiday classes and additional event details, click here!

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Written by our Marketing & Social Media Coordinator, Taylor Bell

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Ride-Sharing Tips with Lyft and Uber

Trips with Tykes released an article a few months ago that highlighted some great tips to keep in mind if your kids are traveling with Lyft or Uber.

If you’ve never used either of these services, first download either the Lyft or Uber app to your smartphone and set up an account with your credit card information. You will be prompted what to do next once you’ve completed this step. At the end of your ride, the app allows you to rate the driver, and the driver can also rate you as a passenger. You’ve been warned not to throw a ragging party in the back seat. The app will then charge the linked credit card on the account. No need to rustle in your bag to find buried cash or your credit card anymore!

Now that you are comfortable with how it works, let’s hear about some great tips if you are using either of these services to travel with kids.

1. Lyft and Uber will save you money.
Perk: both car services regularly offer promotions to entice new members to join and try them out.

2. They’ll keep you from being ripped off.
Technology tracks Lyft and Uber drivers and charges by the mile, so it keeps the drivers honest.

3. Make sure to select the right vehicle size.
The bigger the car you request, the more you’ll pay with ride-sharing services. My family of four (including two small kids) has never had an issue squeezing into a regular Lyft or a standard Uber (called UberX).

4. Plan for carseats.
Many Lyft and Uber drivers in the US will deny you a ride if you don’t have a car seat for a child of an age that requires one. Uber offers UberFamily in a few cities that includes a single car seat for an additional charge (usually $10).

5. Know about surge pricing.
Both services implement surge pricing when cars are in short supply (Lyft calls it Prime Time).

For the complete list of tips, read the article, here.

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Written by our Marketing & Social Media Coordinator, Taylor Bell 

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Cardamom Event Recap

Our Founder & CEO, Lindsay Bell, recently attended CARDAMOM’S event that took place last week in NYC. Here is what Lindsay had to say about the “Girlfriends, Glam, & Giving” event (full details on the event can be found in our blog).

The event was well attended at a local salon in Flatiron; where moms were welcomed with complimentary blow-outs… wow! Then h’orderves and vino were passed around, and Project Playdate presented on behalf of Founder, Amanda Raposo. Project Playdate is an award winning alternative to babysitting that helps women and children in need. There was a silent auction on site where 100% proceeds of the auction went to Project Playdate. It was truly a great event all around!

To learn more about CARDAMOM read the release below.

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CARDAMOM app launches to connect moms with one easy “wave”.

They say it takes a village. But modern motherhood can be an isolating experience, without ready-made friends to lean on, laugh with or talk with. Many women, disconnected from their “pre-mom” lives, struggle to find and make connections that are in sync with their new lifestyles.

Enter Cardamom, a game-changing new app for moms. Launched for iOS last week, Cardamom utilizes profile-matching technology to introduce moms by neighborhood, kids’ ages, availability, interests, and even niche factors such as language and career choices. Users create a customized profile Card, then digitally “wave” hello to each other to explore a friendship. Cardamom makes it easy to connect and chat with other women in real time.

“Before motherhood, we made friends organically through decades of life,” says Cardamom cofounder Sonal Patel, a New York City-based mother of two, “When you have a child, it can feel like starting all over. So, women expend a tremendous amount of time and effort in meeting other moms, through meet-ups, mommy-and-me classes, playgrounds, moms’ groups, events and more. But it can be overwhelming, exhausting and uncertain.”

The Cardamom app is an easy solution for moms to quickly find and connect with each other. “It’s all done from the comfort of your phone, with no planning and no pressure,” offers Patel. “And it’s not just about play dates. We connect women who just want to chat with other moms in their local areas or someone to grab coffee, or even build professional networks.”

Now available in New York City and the surrounding areas, Cardamom will be building out networks in the coming months, with a nationwide expansion planned by early 2017.

The Cardamom app is available for free download at the iTunes store. It is compatible with iPhone, and an Android-compatible version will be released in the coming weeks.

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A Radio City Rockette Newbie

I have visited New York City countless times and even lived there for about five months for a summer internship. It’s easy to rack up the visits when you have two sisters that move there by the time you are 10 years old.

Given all of my visits, I’ve done my fair share of activities – the top of the Empire State Building, walks through Central Park, Broadway shows, golf at Chelsea Pier, games at Yankee Stadium – the list goes on and on. However, there was one thing that remained on my NYC bucket list, and that was to see the Radio City Rockettes.

A few weeks ago my dream came true and I found myself inside Radio City Music Hall (thanks Mom)! The entire experience was like no other. It all started with a preshow drink with my mom and big sis, Lindsay, at Del Frisco’s. My sister considers this move a preshow staple each time she sees it. An hour later I found myself stepping into the grand lobby with two story Christmas trees and decorations to my left and right. We soon made our way to our seats and the show started right then. Cue the orchestra, dim the lights, and here comes Santa Clause.

Each act throughout the show was a show stopper. There were shopping scenes, toys that came to life, a tour through NYC, fireworks, snowfall, and the conclusion gave you a reminder of the true meaning of Christmas (tears might have been shed). If you sat near me you would often see my jaw dropped, eyes sparkling, or constantly poking my mom who sat next to me saying, “WOW!” I’ve been to many Broadway shows and musicals, and I can honestly say that nothing has compared to the experience I felt while inside this grand music hall.

We exited out of the gold doors and onto 6th Ave, when I felt as if I should be skipping down the street and singing Christmas carols. It was like I was ten again and believing in all things Santa.

If you haven’t seen the show… go! It’s great entertainment for all ages. Take it from the toddlers to the grandparents that were seen in the audience at the show I went to. If you can’t make it to Radio City, pull up your Netflix app. Believe it or not, you can watch the Christmas Spectacular right at home! You won’t have the live fireworks or snowfall (unless your are seriously invested), but you can appreciate the story just the same.

I’ll leave you with a photo I took of my favorite act in the show. The synchronicity of these girls was INSANE!

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Written by our Marketing & Social Media Coordinator, Taylor Bell!

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Choking Hazards for Kids

In a recent article published by Lucie’s List, they talk about the most common choking hazards amongst children. Now that you are up to date with the CPR procedures from our last blog (read here), we wanted to highlight some of the items to look out for in the case you need to perform CPR.

Choking is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality among children, especially those aged three years or younger. More than 60% of childhood deaths due to choking occur in the first year of life.

Of 17,500 incidences of non-fatal choking here are the items kids most often choke on:

Food: 41%
Candy and gum: 19%
Other non-foods: 17%
Coins: 13%
Unknown: 10%

In the breakdown of these categories, here are some specific items to pay special caution to:

1. Balloons (other) – latex balloons were associated with 29% of deaths overall, making it the most dangerous hazard for kids. TIP: Use the Mylar balloons instead (the shiny foil ones).
2. Hot dogs (food) – about 17% of choking deaths are form hot dogs alone. TIP: Cut hot dogs length-wise before serving.
3. Grapes, carrots, and bananas (food) – the pediatrician of the article writer said that bananas are the number one choking hazard based on his personal experience. TIP: Never give your child a whole item; cut them into halves or quarters.
4. Water bottle tops (other) – bottle tops are everywhere and often ignored. TIP: Make sure the tops are always tightly sealed and/or out of the reach of children.
5. Coins – these aren’t high on the “deadly stuff” list, but coins are around everywhere especially on the ground (a kid’s favorite place to be). Pennies and nickels are the highest risk. TIP: Shiny coins often attract kids. To be safe, don’t let them play with them. Plus, they are dirty and germ-infested. Yuck!

For additional items to look out for, read the full article here.

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Fussy Babies at Night

Just when you think it’s safe to relax and catch up on your DVR shows, the baby gets fussy and the struggles of putting him/her down to bed begin.

Have you ever wondered why babies freak out at night? Well, thanks to a great article by The Bump, we can start to solve this mysterious question.

Here are some of the reasons the article highlights as to why the baby is acting fussy. And for the full article, click here.

1. Baby is overtired – Just like how you get cranky when you’re tired, so does the baby. To prevent overtiredness, the baby needs to sleep a lot during the day — he/she should have a nap every two to two-and-a-half hours.

2. Baby needs to nurse – Some breastfed babies seem to want to feed constantly in the evenings. It’s okay to nurse the baby in what seems like back-to-back-to-back sessions; breastfed babies are virtually impossible to overfeed. The same can’t be said for formula feeding, so if you’ve just fed the baby a bottle, don’t try to “top him up” to prevent him from fussing.

3. Baby is hypersensitive – Here’s the main reason for the witching hour; the baby is hypersensitive to noises, sensations and activities going on around him/her.

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Written by our Marketing & Social Media Coordinator, Taylor Bell

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Boss Moms NYC

A fellow mom and I decided we would both take on reading an entrepreneur mom book and then report back to each other on how good it was. As we don’t have time to read two books each!

There are a lot of self help and motivational books out there. And there are the boring business 101 guides. But this is the first easy to read, motivational, practical how-to-start a business book I’ve seen-all geared towards moms!

Mom Boss.

I’m still reading, but here are the fast points I like so far:

I can relate to the self proclaimed workhorses she describes in her book. If you are passionate about it, it’s more like a hobby.

The one thing she said she had that her competition didn’t was the hustle. I agree, that characteristic will get you through!

The author, Nicole said, “I want this brand to be around for decades to come.” It’s important for start-ups to determine do you want to start a fast and furious brand and sell or grow gradually and be around for a long time.

She goes on to say, “Authenticity and trust mean more than fast and furious growth.” Balance isn’t easy. No one is going to tell you to shut the lap top and go to bed. The word balance is annoying. Just do what you have to do. If you don’t, it won’t get done.

We’ve got to manage ourselves and our expectations. I think this is really important as a woman and mom. If we sit around and worry all the time about what people are thinking, we will get no where!

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Written by our Founder & CEO, Lindsay Bell!

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Girlfriends, Glam, and Giving!

Our friends at CARDAMOM are hosting a great event in New York City on Tuesday, December 6th with the help of RPZL! Bring yourself and all of your friends to a fundraiser benefiting POWERHOUSE, a non-profit that empowers young NYC moms for career success and financial independence.

At the event you can enjoy a silent auction, cocktail reception, giveaways, and even blowouts and hair services (upon request)!

And if you show your CARDAMOM profile (download the app here), you can receive a 20% off discount at RPZL!

Event details:
RPZL at 27 West 20th Street, NYC 10011
Tuesday, December 6th
6PM-9PM
To RSVP, reply to [email protected].

We hope you all attend the event and donate to a great organization!

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Written by our Marketing & Social Media Coordinator, Taylor Bell

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Cookies for Kids’ Cancer Event

A family fun day is right around the corner for all of those around New York City! On Saturday, December 3rd, it’s time to give back and help raise awareness for childhood cancer.

In 2007, the parents of a young boy who was diagnosed with cancer helped to launch Cookies for Kids’s Cancer by baking a total of 96,000 cookies with the help of 250 volunteers. Cookies for Kids’ Cancer now stands tall as a nonprofit committed to raising funds for research to develop new, improved treatments for pediatric cancer (the #1 disease killer of children in the US).

On Saturday, December 3rd, you can help support this wonderful organization at their next event! Meet amazing pastry chefs and munch on delicious treats, or make holiday gifts with food magazine experts for everyone on your shopping list (even Fido!), while mingling with friends. There will be a lot of fun activities for all family members and it’ll be a sweet way to kick off the holiday season!

The location of the event is at The Metropolitan Pavilion, 123 West 18th Street, 2nd floor (Between 6th & 7th Ave)

Additional information and ticket information can be found here.

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Written by our Marketing & Social Media Coordinator, Taylor Bell!