We are starting the new year by trying new things and learning! Every first Saturday of the month, Home Depot holds a free workshop for kids. This month, the workshop focused on building a tow truck. Staff provide you with everything you need to make it, including all the tools.
I wasn’t sure if my daughter would enjoy this activity, but she absolutely loved it. The instructions are easy to follow, and upon completion, they leave you with a sense of accomplishment. Each packet also includes a certificate of achievement and a pin to collect. The activity goes from 9 am – 12 pm while supplies last. I arrived around 9:10 am, and the area was already packed.
Next month, the project will be making a penguin mailbox.
Before today’s solar eclipse, I wanted to share my Astra Lumina experience from last month.
Astra Lumina is a unique traveling light show. In New York, it was held in the Queens Botanical Garden. Stargazers enjoyed walking around the garden and got interpretations of ‘stardust rays’, ‘falling stars’, ‘cosmic choir’ ‘celestial trail’, and ‘stellar visions’.
I got to play tourist again but in a different capacity.
I volunteer with the New York Junior League, an organization of women whose mission is to advance women’s leadership for meaningful community impact through volunteer action, collaboration, and training.
I’ve been a volunteer for nine years and have had many roles.
This year, I’ve had the pleasure of being part of the Personal Advancement and Leadership Committee (PAL), which focuses on mentoring young women (ages 14-18) on continuing education opportunities, broad career aspirations, and life skills.
One of the workshops was a tour of Radio City Music Hall. We were able to tour the whole venue and got to meet a Radio City Rockette. It was an excellent opportunity for the young women to see the space and hear from various employees on how they got their jobs and what their roles and responsibilities are.
It was an inspiring and fun workshop. Here are some pictures of the tour.
Hidden within the carpet are 6 instruments The room that really makes the magic happen Artwork in the women’s bathroomArtwork in the Men’s bathroomStage time!Selfie momentRockette pic with my fellow PAL members
Earlier this month, I celebrated my friend Adrienne’s birthday in true Adrienne style with an immersive adventure. This time we got ourselves locked up in jail for the Shawshankd cocktail experience. The show is inspired by the movie and was fun and laid back. Our group had a blast because we all embraced the role-playing aspect of the night. The strong drinks were a bonus.
Easter was a two-day adventure this year. My family and I dyed and decorated some eggs, had two yummy feasts, creative Easter basket ideas, and egg hunts.
Dying and decorating the eggs was a family affair! My mom was in charge of the dye, but we all pitched in decorating the eggs with stickers.
Dying some eggsFinished product
Saturday night we had our big feast.
Leg of lambLamb, potatoes, mixed vegetables, and sweet potatoes
I got my daughter a Slumberkins Unicorn basket, and I got my husband and me a little planter that Maxine could also enjoy. She could watch the veggies grow before her eyes. She is still small, but I think she’ll still enjoy it.
Lastly, and my favorite, the egg hunts. I did two, one indoors at my Mom and Dad’s place on Saturday and another outside at my in-laws. Maxine had a blast!
Valentine’s Day is tomorrow, but I’ve been celebrating all week.
On Wednesday, I took part in a chocolate-making class with my parents. It was a lot of fun and very hands-on. We learned how to temper chocolate and made jumbo peanut butter cups, pecan turtles, almond bear paws, dipped Oreos, and strawberries. It was messy yet yummy!
Getting everything ready!Rolled up caramel and peanut butter and chocolate chunks.I put Dad to work.A bit messy but it still tasted fantastic.
On Friday, Andrew, my parents, and I did a Valentine’s Day-themed chocolate tasting. The tasting was packed with chocolate facts and insight on how they make the chocolate. We also tasted five different chocolate pieces, milk chocolate peanut butter heart, milk chocolate sea salt caramel, pecan toffee crisp, dark chocolate truffle, and dark chocolate lemon satin crème heart. Mom loved the peanut butter piece, I loved the dark chocolate truffle, Dad loved the truffle and lemon satin crème, and Andrew loved them all.
Halloween this year was pretty amazing. It was just the right amount of activities for the entire family.
As a Halloween/Fall activity, I like to carve or decorate pumpkins. This year I didn’t get around to carving myself but we made it an activity for my husband’s niece and nephew.
I also decorated some pumpkins with some stickers.
One was focused on cats and one with bats and ghosts.
The night before Halloween, as a date night, my husband and I did a virtual Halloween Scavenger Hunt with Watson Adventures. It was pretty tough! The hunt had a haunted theme and we visited various websites with some kind of scary involved. What made it tricky was some of the questions involved us navigating links with virtual tours and 360 views that can be difficult to find and figure out on a laptop. Our daughter was also still awake and would not fall asleep. We had the lowest score of the night but it was still fun.
We were Team 8- Haunted Pumpkins. We didn’t really open our video because our daughter was all over the place.
The best part of Halloween was dressing up Maxine. She was the cutest baby leopard. I also had her in pumpkin pjs the night before Halloween.
On Halloween, instead of trick or treating, we did a virtual experience instead, and enjoyed a bubble show from Bubbledad. Maxine had no idea what was going on but it was cute to see all the kids who zoomed in participate in the interactive portion of the show. The kids got to make their own bubbles by using a cardboard tube, straws, and socks.
Bubbledad working his magic.
To cap the night off, I had myself a delicious treat from Pecking House.
Chili fried chicken and cauliflower with squash and candied pepitas, roasted brussels sprouts, and heirloom bean salad. Everything was delicious.
Next year, I want to aim to dress up as a family and enjoy trick or treating or attend a party.
I can’t believe it’s already the end of August. This summer just flew by. Date nights are hard to come by these days, with Covid and having an eight-month-old, but Andrew and I recently hit up the Van Gogh experience in the city and then had dinner at DiWine in Astoria.
The Van Gogh experience was mesmerizing. There were three rooms that looped the same material, but each room was different, and I experienced the footage differently each time.
Here are some of my fav pics…
Before we headed home to our lovely baby, we had a fantastic dinner at DiWine. Not only is the restaurant conveniently close to my apartment, but they have great food.
Last week, Andrew and I accompanied my Aunt and Uncle to the Winter Lantern Festival at Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden in Staten Island. The holiday light show had over 1000 lanterns of various figures – mostly animals and flowers.
The Casual Explorer 