Friday Five: Welcome back, Summer

Today is officially the first day of Summer and there is so much to celebrate - longer days, no more school and plenty of outdoor activities. I plan on spending the entire weekend outdoors with hunny and CJ. I hope you enjoy the gorgeous weather in store for the New York area. Here are my five favorite things for this week. 

1. A Midsummer Night's Dream: This is truly my favorite of Shakespeare's plays. How could it not be? There are fairies, lovers tricked by fairies and an Amazonian Queen in love with a donkey. It is brilliant and very funny. This play is the perfect way to honor the summer solstice. If you do not have time to read it this evening or even watch a decent movie version (it is harder than you think to find a "decent" version), check out Midsummer Night's Dreaming ,  a digital theater project from the the Royal Shakespeare Company. 

James Cagney as "Bottom" in the 1935 movie adaptation

2. Smorgasburg: Every Saturday and Sunday during the summer, Brooklyn Flea hosts an open air food market featuring vendors from New York City and the greater New York region. Saturday's location is on the Williamsburg waterfront and Sunday's is at the Tobacco warehouse in Brooklyn Bridge park. From doughnuts to Thai food, Smorgasburg is a foodie's dream. Not only are the offerings delicious, but everything is created by locally and purchases support the regional economy! This weekend, Smorgasburg welcomes Kelso Barrel aged wheat beer. 

Kelso Beer

3. 2013 Mermaid Parade: Saturday is the 31st Coney Island Mermaid Parade. This annual parade marks the beginning of summer and always features colorful and adventurous parade goers, floats and costumes. The event is rain or shine, but tomorrow's weather calls for warmth and sunshine. This year's King Neptune is comedian Judah Friedlander. The Queen Mermaid is Carole Radziwill - princess, author, and Real Housewives of New York City cast member. This is an all age event, but be prepared for some risqué costumes. 

photo courtesy of coneyisland.com

4.  Haagen-Dazs Gelato: If you have not already tasted this, run to your local supermarket an get a pint of Haagen-Dazs sea salt caramel gelato. It is amazing. There are seven flavors of gelato, but to be honest, I liked this one so much I did not try any others. This is not going to take the place of home made gelato, but it is not so easy to find an actual gelateria.  For those of you on diets, just remember, gelato has less fat than ice cream!

5. Monster's University: After 12 years, fans finally have the long awaited prequel to the beloved Pixar film Monster's Inc. This film takes place while the monsters are in college before Mike and Sully became friends. Even though there is no Boo in this one, I am still excited to see the monsters learn to scare!

Friday Five

Happy Friday everyone. This weekend is the unofficial start to Summer. I am so looking forward to all the fun things NYC has to offer me this Summer. I hope everyone has a great weekend. Please remember what Memorial Day is actually about - not just BBQs and the beach, but the men and women who served our country. Here are my Friday favorites!

1. DisneyBound: DisneyBound is by far my favorite tumblr site to visit. The amazing Leslie Kay puts together adorable and fashionable outfits based on Disney characters, rides, experiences and movies. Leslie takes requests (she even put together an outfit for me for my birthday at Alice's Tea Cup) and manages to make dressing up like your favorite Disney character something every adult should do.

2. Pixar Movie Weekend: This weekend, AMC theaters will have 4 amazing Pixar movies in theaters once again. Wall-E, Up, Toy Story 3 and Ratatouille, will screen in select movie theaters nationwide. Wall-E is by far my favorite Pixar movie (possibly my favorite movie ever) and I never got to see it in theaters. This is a great time to experience it. While everyone will be clamoring for Men in Black 3, I get Wall-E on the big screen. Check out the AMC site. Most places are offering the Pixar fils for $6 a ticket.

3. R2 Fish School Training Kit: The R2 Fish School is a complete training kit that claims to include everything you need to teach your fish tricks. Does it work? I have no idea. Is it awesome? A fish that can do tricks - yes it is awesome! The videos on the site shoe fish doing some incredible things, so I might have to check this out. My beta fish, Barnabus, spends his days in the mouth of a ceramic shark. This is much more interesting.

4. Polaroid Z340: The Polaroid Z340 is a digital camera with instant printing capability - think  your cell phone camera merged with a 1980s polaroid. Digital images are instantly printed into 3"x4" photos. They can be printed with or without borders - that adorable white polaroid border can be omitted if you so choose. The rechargeable battery lasts thru 25 photos (a little low if you ask me, but this is still a great idea).

5. Fleet Week: From now until May 30, New York will be celebrating Fleet Week with plenty of events to honor the men and women of the United States Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard. This year there will be aerial demonstrations, a parade of ships and plenty of adorable men (and women) in uniform.

Friday Five: Disney Birthday Edition

1. Character Breakfasts: I love breakfast and I love characters - so this is a perfect combination. We had breakfast at 1900 Park Fare for the first time and it did not disappoint. Though the  food is the same at all of the breakfast buffets, I loved spending my morning with Alice and the Mad Hatter. Our awesome waitress brought me a Mickey Mouse cupcake and sang "Happy Birthday" to me. 

2. Fireworks Dessert Party: This is one of my favorite Disney experiences. Not only do you get an amazing view of the "Wishes" fireworks spectacular, but this party is filled with amazing desserts. The banana mini pie is amazing. If anyone is going to Disney World, I strongly suggest making reservations. This is an all you can eat dessert buffet and in true Disney style, everything is delicious.

3. Avengers Monorail: Just in time for the movie, Disney unveiled its Avengers' monorail.

4. Minnie Ears with a Special Birthday Hat: I knew I was going to wear my Minnie ears during this trip, but I wanted to add something special to it in honor of my birthday. The amazing Danielle at RedDhaliaDreams made me this fantastic Minnie Mouse birthday party hat to pin on my ears. I love it. It comes with a pin and a clip so I can wear it on my ears or on my shirt.

5. Being Here with my Hunny: Thank you to my hunny for this wonderful birthday present. I love being here with you.

 


 

Friday Five

1. May The Fourth Be With You:  Happy Star Wars Day! I hope the force is strong in all of you.

2. Art Fair Weekend: If you live in New York, there are several art fairs happening around the city, fresh off the heels of this week's auctions. For those of you looking to combine your passion for food and art, head to Frieze New York on Randall's Island. It is a little out of the way and a bit too pricey for my taste, but it is sure to draw big crowds and have some great art. Verge New York will be showcasing "Tomorrow Stars" and if you are hoping to be one of 2013's picks for Tomorrow Stars, you can apply on the site now. I will be attending the Pulse New York fair. I am excited to learn about some new artists and to see the work of Bronx born artist Fred Wilson.

Fred Wilson, Reign 2011

3.Fred Segal: This week it was announced the New York firm, Sandow Media, bought the worldwide rights to Fred Segal. For the last 50 years, Fred Segal has been a California-only shopping staple, leaving all of us East Coasters a little bit jealous, but that is about to change. With this purchase, Fred Segal stores could be opening in New York, Miami and Las Vegas in the next few years.

4.Anna Dello Russo for H&M: Anna Dello Russo, the creative consultant and editor-at-large for Vogue Japan and fashionista extraordinaire, has announced an accessories collection for H&M. In true ADR style, expect glamorous accessories with lots of gold - think extravagant at an affordable price. The line will include shoes, bags, sunglasses and jewelry and will be available in October.

5.Vogue Magazine Intends to Promote Healthy Body Images: Vogue Magazine editors across the globe have united to take a stand against too-skinny and too-young models. They have agreed to no longer work with models under the age of 16 or who appear to have eating disorders. Casting directors are now required to ask for identification to show proof of the model's age. This announcement is inspiring. Many young girls have a negative body image and fashion magazines that showcase stick thin models are partly to blame. Vogue is the ultimate fashion magazine, so maybe other magazines will follow suit and normal sized models will begin to grace the pages of every glossy!

Friday Five

1. National Princess Week: This week marked National Princess Week - a collaboration between Disney, Target and Julie Andrews that aims to get every girl (young and old) to celebrate the "sparkle and wonder of every princess - real or imagined." From April 22 - 28, Target is celebrating Princess week with special edition toys, books and videos. There are many ways to celebrate National Princess Week - I myself will be participating in Leslie of DisneyBound's Princess challenge. learn about it here. You still have a few days left to participate.

2. DV by Dolce Vita Damala Tassel Loafer:  The shoes are amazing. I wore them this week and got about 50 compliments. A woman on the street even stopped me to take a photo of them and ask where to buy them. I love the different elements of this shoe - the nautical rope pattern, the black white and brown color combo and the tassel on the front. These shoes are not as structured as a traditional loafer and remind me more of ballet flats. When the weather gets warmer, they will go great with shorts and sundresses. Buy them here.

3. DEESIGNS by Dee Ocleppo: Dee Ocleppo, also known as Mrs. Tommy Hilfiger, has designed a very interesting and possibly game changing line of handbags. There are four styles of bags, each of which comes with a removable and reversible cover to give the wearer various styling options. You can change from leather to canvas, floral to plain. I like the Monaco tote bag best. It looks large enough to carry my regular bag contents plus some school stuff. The bags and additional covers are sold exclusively through HSN.

4. No Other Medicine : Last night, I attended the opening party for the F.I.T Art Market graduating class's exhibit, No Other Medicine. I am proud to be part of this F.I.T. graduate program, which is the only one that includes an exhibit practicum, and I was proud to support the graduating class. The class found the space, the artists and picked a theme for the exhibit. In addition, they created a website and catalog, along with any other materials a gallery would produce for a show. The exhibit deals with hope, as well as the problems we are faced with in life and how we deal with them. The show runs through May 19.

                                       

5. Smash Journals: Smash journals are made by K&Company and they are amazing! Scrap booking has come a long way. People are not scrapping or journaling on the fly - it has become very rigid and more about perfection than expression. Smash is bringing the expression back to journaling and scrapping. Each journal comes with a pen/glue stick combo that is attached to your journal. There are pages to doodle, draw, write, and glue down your mementos. There are folders to stuff and accessories such as rubber bands, date stamps and top ten lists. I bought the large and travel size and I am so happy with them. Three days and I have already done so much. The pages have colorful graphics that inspire your creativity and give you ideas. See some examples here.