The Manhattan House That Feels Like Home

A couple of weeks ago, I traded in my usual evening attire (pajamas) for a more suitable outfit to attend the Tamsen Fadal and Project You Cocktail Party at the Manhattan House model residences. The brisk walk from the subway to the centrally located building at 200 East 66th Street on the Upper East Side was well worth it. I was greeted by a hospitable doorman and a very warm lobby. I proceeded up to the cocktail party in what looked like an apartment building from the hallway. The minute I walked into the apartment, I felt like I was in a home. Complete spaciousness. No clutter. I could breathe. I fell in love instantly!

Heather Zick, Beth Feldman, and Tamsen Fadal

Manhattan House was designed in 1950 by master architect Gordon Bunshaft Owings and Merrill and was designated a New York City Landmark in 2007. The building has since been impeccably re-engineered, and it is amazing. The residneces in this building go from one to five bedrooms; built to pre-war standards including concrete demising walls, solid core doors and custom plaster moldings. Everything from the balconies for residences above the Seventh Floor, to the master bathrooms with radiant floor heating and polished chrome fixtures, I wanted to move in.

The apartment was just incredible. As soon as I walked in, I was greeted by Beth Feldman, the talented woman behind Project You. She immediately directed me towards a modern kitchen, complete with modern appliances. There was a selection of wines and cheeses on the counter of what was the most beautiful kitchen I had seen in a very long time. You know the type of kitchen you would actually want to spend time in and cook. Everything was so nicely organized and the color scheme was a delight. After schmoozing with some of my friends from the blogosphere, I was invited to go on a tour of this apartment as well as some of the other model residences in the building. I also had the opportunity to meet Heather Zick, the woman behind the spectacular furniture arrangements and accompanying accents in the Manhattan House model residences.

Each and every room was so well decorated. The color schemes were just what I would love in my own home. Each couch had me reading a book or taking a rest. The dining room, living room, and kitchen had me thinking about inviting people over for Shabbos meal and Passover Seders. I could see my family and friends sitting around the living room after a hearty meal, telling stories and feeling comfortable. My dream, as I sit here typing from my living room with paint peeling off of the walls and curtains that are not doing their job because a certain four-year old boy pulled them down! Why dream, make things happen. I can put those curtains back-up and I can re-paint the walls. No matter what a room or house may look like at a certain time, there are design ideas and affordable solutions that can optimize space on a budget. Here are some helpful design tips that Heather Zick shared with me that evening:
Choose furniture styles and layout wisely:

• Stools and ottomans that can double as tables or additional seating
Art, Accessories and Area Rugs:
• Take your own photographs and have them printed on photo paper or Shop in the flower district for candle holders, trays, vases and silk
• If you see an expensive piece of art you like, commission a friend or local art student to create an interpretation of it
A big part of what makes me feel at home is the lighting. In the winter, this can be challenging. I love these lighting tips that Heather shared:
• Buy plain white paper lampshades which are the least expensive kind and sponge-paint them for a cool, textural finish and better ambience
I am so glad that I was able to spend the night in such great company and in such a beautiful environment. I learned a lot about how to maximize space without clutter, one of my own personal goals. As I sit here amongst scattered crayons, coloring pages, books, headbands, and toys, I see potential in making my home a place that I am proud to call home.
Disclaimer: This was not a paid post. I was provided a $25 gift card to put towards one of Heather Zick’s design ideas. card to put towards one of Heather Zick’s design ideas. I have put it towards some photographs that I will enlarge and put up in my home.

Learn more about Manhattan House at http://www.manhattanhouse.com. Read the most recent issue of Beth Feldman’s ProjectYou at http://www.projectyou.com.

Organized Religion With PrimeTimeRadiance

Oops our mistake! Getting Religiously Organized with PrimeTimeRadiance.

We know, we’re preaching to the choir.

We ALL intend to get our lives organized. It’s a very high spiritual practice.

Buuuuuuut, Who’s willing to shout it during services, “Getting Organized is not SEXY! We want sexy.”

You can be reborn! as an Organizista™.

Prime Time Radiance is armed with our dream team to re-create the repressed and stale image of Getting Organized to the glam-maniac it deserves to be.

We’re not preaching but if you donate 10% of your time to organizing you can expect a MIRACLE… you may finally get rid of clothes that will NEVER fit, become awakened to the size of your living space… and you might even find your cat.

Join Prime Time Radiance for our Getting Religiously Organized twitter party Sunday March 20, 9:30pm ET, as we aim to discover the sex appeal of getting and staying organized.

Our spiritual leader in this matter, the Glamorganizer ™, Natalie Schrier, of http://www.cut-the-clutter.com/ ; www.facebook.com/CutTheClutter  http://www.twitter.com/CutTheClutter

Our giveaway provider on this journey is from Rubbermaid, who will send 4 winners each a Large Drawer. Designed for wire and wood shelving, the Rubbermaid Large Drawer mounts under shelves and slides out and down so you can easily access stored items like spices, packets or even linens. It can hold four standard sized packages of wraps such as aluminum or plastic wraps. This is the perfect product to maximize space in your pantry as it creates storage in the unused space under your shelves.

This contest is open to US Residents.

In order to win some of the prizes during the #PrimeTimeRADIANCE twitter party, you must leave a comment below. Please remember to Include: twitter name, and blog url if you have one.

INCREASE your chances of winning and leave additional comments below with your twitter name.

1. Send this tweet PLS RT Join @primetimeparent @givememilk 4 #primetimeRADIANCE Twtr party SunMar 20 9:30pET RSVP http://bit.ly/gn8ifG
2. Check out http://cut-the-clutter.com/index.html and leave a comment with a service you would like to try.
3. “Like” the CutTheClutter fan page on facebook and leave a comment at primetimeparenting.com.
4. Check out www.rubbermaid.com and leave a comment with a product that would help you feel more organized and leave a comment at primetimeparenting.com.
5. “Like” the Rubbermaid fan page on facebook and leave a comment at primetimeparenting.com.
6. Check out the new PrimeTimeRADIANCE blog and let us know what you think. Leave a comment at primetimeparenting.com.
7. On Twitter, “follow” @primetimeparent, @givememilk, and @CutTheClutter, @Rubbermaid or @RubbermaidErin and leave a comment at primetimeparenting.com.

We look forward to tweeting with you on Sunday night!! www.PrimeTimeParenting.com @primetimeparent & www.GiveMeMilk.com @GiveMeMilk

The In-Laws Are Coming!The In-Laws Are Coming!

(by primetimeparenting contributor, Audrey M.)

Scrubbing Bubbles interviewed 1,500 women of different age groups to study how we feel about the cleanliness of our homes. Scrubbing Bubbles The results show the #1 reason women deep clean is because the In-laws are coming! It’s one thing tidying up for a drive-by friend but is it clean enough for mom’s surprise visit?

Colleen Padilla, known for her parenting blog, classymommy.com, hosted the Scrubbing Bubbles “Dirty Work” event in Rockefeller center cafe for some of New York’s social media moms to reveal the results of the Scrubbing Bubbles study like…
Women are more likely to clean if they’re having a party.

And even though our family fully assist in making the mess, they barely assist in the cleaning of it. Donna Erickson brought us a remedy. As Exec Producer, host of Donna’s Day, and author of Fabulous Funstuff for Families, she planted the idea that we should make cleaning a family bonding time experience. Family + cleaning = close relationships???
Sounds good to me.

Please Mr. Clean

We took a wonderful vacation this summer with the kids and when we left our home clean and sparkling, we thought that we would come back to a clean and sparkling home. This could have happened, but, we left out some fruits and vegetables and that could only mean one thing. Yes, we had a swarm of fruit flies and black head flies in our kitchen. Keep in mind that we arrived home at midnight and I was on schedule to host 7 children in our home for a round robin playgroup that morning. I screamed. I complained. I decided to get over it and start cleaning up the mess.

How Social Media Made My Passover Preperations Easier This Year

Passover Made Easier

Who knew? Social Media really helped me “kick-tush” this year in my Passover preparations. From Twitter Parties with @koshereye and shmooz sessions on Blog Talk Radio with Jamie Geller author and mom, Koshereye, and Elizabeth Kurtz from gourmetpassovercooking.com, I can go into Passover this year without being a sleep deprived and a muscle aching mommy.

 If you want to know what I learned from my kosher foodie friends in the blogosphere this year, listen in and see the “chi-lights”, you’ll want to tune in before every major Jewish holiday!

Happy Passover and may all of your recipes come out right! I just hope that matzo is easier to clean out of my keyboard than chometz!

Passover Shmooz On Blog Talk Radio

Hashtag, You’re It! Passover Twitter Party Tonight!

My friends over at koshereye.com are hosting a twitter party tonight and Chef Jeff Nathan will be their guest co-host. You can catch the stream tonight, Monday, March 15th from 8:00 – 9:30 PM, EST. To follow the Tweets and participate, use the tag #Passoverpty. Koshereye will be “chatting” about Passover tips, recipes, ingredients, menus, Abigael’s restaurant and Passover friendly recipes from Jeff’s books. 

If you can’t make it to the #Passoverpty tonight, you can still catch some excellent Passover tips. Check out Jewish Shmooz Network on Blog Talk Radio.

Kitchen gloves on your hands, no problem. You can listen while you clean, cook, or take a break.

A Passover Prep Shmooz With Koshereye.com

Join me today, I have a great show all about Passover. I will be discussing what food items to purchase so your kitchen will be well stocked. We will also be sharing some of our favorite Passover recipes as well as some from Pam Reiss Passover – Kosher Collection cook book author. During the second half of our show, we will be speaking to Michael Altman, founder of Tumbador Chocolate,you can find the online at http://www.tumbadorchocolate.com, located in Brooklyn NY). Tumbador Chocolate is  hand-made, kosher (dairy & parve), kosher for Passover items). Michael will also share with us how Tumbador Chocolate was started,and what they have kosher for Passover. If you would like to call-in to the show and ask us a question, you can call (347) 327-9892 or you can send us a tweet on twitter to @koshereye and/or @primetimeparent.

Snow Day, Now What?

When my husband left this house this morning, my initial reaction was one of, snow day, now what? Yes, people are in his office today because they use public transportation. So, here I was, looking at last night’s dishes in the sink and today’s cancellation of school and playgroup. I have no problem being in the house all day, there is more than enough to converse about online via twitter and facebook. A four year old, three year old, and two year old do not feel the same way about these things. I do as much as sit down at the computer and the requests come flying at me. Today, those requests would be a priority and a fun one at that. So, we started off the day with my very own version of Snow Day Pancakes. This is so easy to do and they cleaned the entire plate.

This recipe is easy. All you have to do is put enough olive oil on your pan and warm it up while you mix the following ingredients:

2 cups of whole wheat flour

2 eggs

3/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup of canola oil

1/4 cup of water (you may need to add a little more if mixture is too thick)

1 tspn salt

Nestle Tollhouse Chocolate Chips

add on: Domino Confectioners Sugar

Mix all the ingredients together, put in the warmed pan and wait until bubbly. Flip over, and wait until bubbly again and add chocolate chips on top. When the pancake looks crispy brown around the edge, take off the stove. Let sit on plate and then sprinkle with confectioners sugar. Serve slightly warm, kids will eat them all!

Once the tummies have been filled, we put on the winter gear and took a few minutes outside in the snow (all I could handle). Some of the kids did not want to come back in and started kicking and screaming. It turns out that the issue was really about a much needed nap.

How is your snow day going? Next up, a big, hearty pot of chili!

Swiffer 360 Dusters Giveaway To Keep The Dustmites Away And Kids In School

Swiffer brand put on an educational and entertaining event at Appleseeds NYC, a 2,500 square foot indoor playground in Manhattan.  Our kids were well entertained while an intimate group of us mom bloggers listened to Dr. Paul Ehrlich, doctor for Beth Israel Medical Center in New York, NY, discuss the indoor allergens from cats, dogs and dust mites that are lurking in our child’s classroom – and in our homes – this fall season. I will never look at a pile of books or stuffed animals the same way again!

“Understanding that children spend more than six hours a day in their classrooms, it is inevitable that with all of the dust-collecting hot spots, such as bookshelves, planters and stuffed animals, allergens from cats, dogs and dust mites are lurking,” said Dr. Ehrlich. “I’m glad to be a part of Swiffer’s Allergen Reduction Campaign because most parents don’t realize that there are simple ways to reduce a child’s exposure to allergens from cats, dogs and dust mites and that it should be a topic of discussion inside and outside the classroom.”

As part of this campaign, Swiffer has also partnered with School Family Media and PTO Today to share tips and information from Dr. Ehrlich with over 6,600 PTO/PTA mom leaders across America. These leaders are encouraged to share the information from Dr. Ehrlich with the parents and teachers in their community to help raise awareness and take steps to reduce indoor allergens from cats, dogs and dust mites in their schools and homes.

“Since Swiffer 360 Degree Dusters fit almost anywhere to help clean large items, like tables and electronics, and easily get into tight spaces, like blinds and spindles, they are a great tool to help teachers reduce allergens from cats, dogs and dust mites in the classroom,” said Dewayne Guy, external relations manager, Swiffer. “This Campaign allows us to interact with Swiffer’s loyal following and give them the information they need to keep their families informed during this busy back-to-school season.”

To educate parents and teachers on how to reduce allergens from cats, dogs and dust mites this back-to-school season, Dr. Ehrlich has provided the five key tips below:

1. Remove piles of unused books from common spaces, as they can be a cause for in-door allergens from cats, dogs and dust mites.
2. Keep an electrostatic duster handy to swipe over desks, chairs and windowsills to trap and lock dust. The Swiffer 360 Degree Dusters help reduce up to 90 percent of common household allergens from cats, dogs, and dust mites.
3. Thoroughly clean your child’s cubby or toy storage bin weekly, as it can be a collector of dust and pet dander.

If you don’t have a Swiffer 360 Duster, which can help to reduce up to 90 percent of allergens from cats, dogs and dust mites, you could win one right here.

All you have to do is leave a comment with what Swiffer Dusters is great for from the  Swiffer Dusters Feature Page. For example, my comment would be “Swiffer Dusters Is Great For Plants”. If you have a twitter account, please leave your twitter name as well.

To earn extra entries, after you have left a comment, do one of the following, but make sure you leave a separate comment entry for each extra thing you do. This gives you additional ways to win the contest:

• Follow @primetimeparent on twitter and tweet about this giveaway with hashtag #swiffer360win and leave a comment (this is another entry). For example: @primetimeparent Win A Swiffer 360 Duster at primetimeparenting.com #swiffer360win http://tinyurl.com/qzxyhp

This giveaway will end by 11:59pm, October 28^th, 2009. I received the Swiffer 360 Duster from MS&L (Swiffer’s PR agency) and these opinions are my own.

I really loved this event and I want to thank the organizers for treating us mom bloggers and our kids with care. Not only did the organizers provide a car service that brought us and our children safely into Manhattan, there were babysitters that played with our kids during Dr. Ehrlich’s presentation. After all, these precious gems are what make us mom bloggers, it’s a package deal! Thank you!

Primetime Parenting And Ford Are Taking A Drive

  

It is already past 1:00 am and I am still twittering, copying, pasting, while reviewing my relationship with my mini-van. This is all for the good, as I get to test drive  the 2010 Ford Fusion, America’s most fuel-efficient midsize sedan and learn Eco-driving techniques. It’s also taking me down a road well traveled as I remember the variety of automobiles I have driven.  I’ve concluded that what I want now in a car is drastically different from what I wanted pre-mommy. After I became a mom for the first time at 37 years young (I am a 20 year old trapped in a 41 year old body), it wasn’t just about me and my husband anymore. In fact, my husband is a serious Volvo fan and won’t ever sell his car. It is 15 years old now and he still loves it as much as the first time he drove it off the lot. I asked why he loved this car so much and he replied promptly and proudly, “miles per gallon, seat warmers, trunk size, stereo sound, and acceleration”. That is great, but when we had a second, and than a third baby, the Volvo had to take a back seat to our main mode of transportation. Enter, Honda Odyssey. When I was single, a safe and affordable car was the solution to traveling back and forth from Columbia, Missouri to Chicago, Illinois. Once I graduated and I was employed, the priorities hadn’t changed except for my personal need for a convertible. That relationship ended shortly, as I traded it in for a year of traveling and working in Israel.

Life experience and three kids later, I am the proud parent of a Honda Odyssey and I love it! My DH and I joke about how we love our mini-van and still jam out to tunes (most of them are kid songs, but they sound great). My DH still drives the Volvo, but I take our precious cargo (our 3 kids) on many excursions. In order to be in Chicago in time for BlogHer, we drove 14 hour straight, from Queens, NY, to Chicago, IL. I felt less stressed because we didn’t have to rush and catch a flight. This journey was an excellent experience and I drove more than my husband for the first time. He was basically along for the ride and had to be on a plane back to NY just hours after we arrived in Chicago. He wasn’t complaining at all, in fact, he kept commenting on how comfortable he was in the back seat (in between catching some much needed sleep). He actually drove the most difficult leg of the trip, the 1:00 am-6:00 am shift. I am not such a fan of night driving, especially on a long stretch of highway. Thankfully, there was no traffic and he made really good time. I also learned the value of cruise control on long trips. I never knew that beside convenience, it also reduces the amount of gas used (I really never knew that). Our road trip experience was a very positive experience for me and my family. This road trip definitely has me prepped for a very exciting FordBlogHer event that I will be a part of this coming Thursday, July 23. I know you’ve already heard of Ford, but if you haven’t heard about BlogHer, you should check out blogher.com. What is it? My personal description of BlogHer is that it is an opportunity for women bloggers and the brands that want to reach them and everything else in between (parties, SWAG, technology, primping). It is no secret why a major corporation like Ford would be hosting a FordBlogHer event. According to “Marketing to Women” author Marti Barletta, women seek more advice from an auto authority (57 percent) before buying a new car; they spend more time in the purchasing process than men (17 weeks versus 15) and women shop at an average of three dealerships for best price and treatment. Thanks to Ford, I will be sharing “what women want” in an automobile with the people that can make it happen! Whether you drive a Ford or a Honda, there are certain things that you just don’t skimp on when it comes to the family cruising vessel. I’d like to include some of mine in this post, but I would also love to hear from you as a fellow mini-van maven. 

What is important to me in a car?

Gas mileage – With three kids and tuition fees, we need to save money on everything.

Comfortable seats – Our passengers range from kids to grandparents, everybody deserves a comfortable ride.

Cleans easy – Don’t even look and the damage from our road trip, I need something that cleans easy and easy to get in the nooks and crannies full of crumbs and juice box remains

Cup holders – Mommy needs her coffee just as bad as the kiddies need there sippy cups

Built in Car Seats – Is this possible? While were on the topic, how about self-buckling so I don’t have to get back there and do it.

Safety – Overall plus reliable windshield washers (I hate when the window gets schmutzy and I have to spray the cleaner constantly to see the road ahead).

Seamless pick-up – A smooth accelerator is critical when changing lanes, especially in Manhattan.

Entertainment – Built in cell phone holders, DVD in the back for the kids, and a CD player that can hold up to 20 (I should probably just upload everything to the IPOD already).

SYNC Technology – I don’t want to be bothered with headsets, dangling ear pieces, and sliding cell phones. Also, I want a built in GPS that will take directions from my mouth rather than pushing buttons.

So, what do you want? I am very interested in promoting child safety and will be joining a Ford safety expert and certified child passenger safety (CPS) technician who will demonstrate proper child seat installation and point out common errors that lead to an alarming 70 percent of seats not being installed correctly. 70 percent, that’s so not safe! I’m also very interested in learning about SYNC, Ford’s fully integrated in-car communications and entertainment system that allows customers to operate mobile phones music players by voice commands. Keep up with the conversation and link to Ford all over the web. If you are on Twitter, I will be tweeting, as will @ScottMonty and @Ford. You can also follow the conversation by using #FordBlogHer and by keeping up with @primetimeparent or @sheitelstroll.