Year: 2016

The Moleskine Challenge

My Moleskine collection is pretty extensive, at least for me.  From the first time my dad bought me one at a Barnes and a Nobles in Metro Detroit to the mini mini ones I carried around during Grad School in New York City, observing the people and things in the city I love so much.  Notebooks have always been my thing.  There is never one very far away.


When figuring out the summer and realizing that camps may not be an immediate possibility at the frequency I wished, I decided that an old fashioned planner would have to be the thing in order to have a good go at daily activities for my little crew!


Following my daughter’s pre-school graduation, I set-out to find a Moleskine.  With at least 1 town bookstore in my surrounding towns, I imagined I’d stumble into a quaint space, be filled with enchantment, find the perfect 18-month Moleskine planner and be done with it.
No such luck – I called about 5 bookstores in the area (not Barnes and Nobles) and no one carried my coveted planner.  I’m definitely the person who if she has her mind set, I’ll stubbornly do what I can.  I may have tamed my am urges with age, but this was something I wasn’t going to let go.
My second to last call was to Manhattnville College, who did not carry the books, but did suggest the bookstore at S.U.N.Y. Purchase which wasn’t too far away.
The distance to the nearest Barnes and Nobles vs. Purchase was the same, so I set off for Purchase, someplace new, where I imagined I wouldn’t have to pay for parking.
Maybe because there was always a free parking option in the city, but around here, the parking lot life is still not something I have gotten used to :/
 


Purchase turned out to be a pleasant surprise – the grounds were full of large art installations and many people stopping to take photographs.  It felt like such a welcoming place.  We will definitely add the Neuberger to our Camp Garlia activities!
 
The bookstore was empty with school out and summer session not yet begun.  We searched the racks and debated between the larger or smaller notebook, chose the latter and voilà!
Now for the planning!
What do you use to plan out your summer with the kids?

School’s Out for Summer… And Camp Garlia is in!

On Friday, my 4year old “graduated” from Pre-school, and as this is our first summer as Westchester residents, I have decided to really give the county a chance.  That and the $400-$500 a week for day camps is currently not in the budget.

So what is better than “Camp Mommy” as my friend, Alissa calls it.  We’ll call this “Camp Garlia”.

One of the first publications I picked up when we moved here was both a  “Westchester Parent” and a “Westchester Family“
There was even a copy of each in my daughter’s backpack from school.  So this summer I will truly take them up on their bucket lists adding my own finds around the county.
Many of the events and activities are in the city and we have some serious museum mileage to make, so I’m looking forward this exciting adventure and hope I can figure out a few camps in between “Camp Garlia”, so I can get a little more done. If not, as always I’ll figure it out because as my friend, Rosalind says, I’m “scrappy”!  
What are your summer plans?  Do you find camps to be overpriced or about right?  Are you doing your own “Camp Mommy”?

Why I’m #dyeingtomatch…

I know what you’re going to say…

I don’t even know how long it’s been since my last blog post… but here’s another.  No promises on frequency (which hopefully means I’ll be back more frequently).

Anyway…

After my Washington Post “On Parenting” article last month, I was floored by the response from dancers, especially dancers of color and former dancers who related to my words.

One of the people who contacted me was Denise from The International Association of Blacks in Dance (IABD).  IABD was interested in my taking part in #dyeingtomatch, their campaign to raise awareness around the lack of appropriately colored dance wear for dancers of color.

http://www.iabdassociation.org

So this week, I am behind the scenes on their social media and the most exciting part is that I have been interviewing dancers and black dance wear companies for the last two weeks.  There wasn’t as much time as I hoped, but I have a good feeling that this could expand… who knows.

I am giddy doing this work because I am doing what I have always done – I am telling stories.  This time, a visual story and doing work that makes you feel good and helps others is vital in my book.

Follow the campaign on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter @iabdinc or using #dyeingtomatch.

My first intro clip is below: 

I feel proud of this work and hope you enjoy it. Thanks for stopping by and spread the word if you feel so inclined! 🙂