Celebrating Mothers' Day: Night at the Movies

My first Mother's Day as a mom, my daughter was about 9 months old and my husband didn't realize that it was his responsibility to head to the jewelry and chocolate stores.

He came around, and my kids eventually stepped up to the plate, but in the past few years, I've been invited to some fun Mom's Night Out events, including a recent screening of the Garry Marshall movie, Mother's Day.

The show was at the Battery Park Cinemas, which are connected to the Conrad Hotel in Battery Park City. This is a part of downtown Manhattan where I think I'm on vacation - great water views, fabulous playgrounds, a suburban size Whole Foods and upscale food court.

Mother's Day (the movie) is larded with stars, including Jennifer Aniston, Timothy Elephant, Julia Roberts and Kate Hudson. Jen and Julia are 2 of my faves, and I can watch them in just about anything.

The night was hosted by Brianne, of Stroller in the City. Fandango provided the movie tickets and Lindt Chocolates sent us home with truffles.

Happy Mother's Day to all!

Mother's Day Brunch

Going out for brunch in NYC is a blood sport; going out on Mother's Day is exponentially worse. Every couple of years we make a mistake and go out for Mother's Day - inevitably, we wait forever, our order is screwed up, and no one is happy.

So this year, we are heading to the Hell's Kitchen Flea Market to combine a bike ride and brunch. On the 2nd Sunday of each month, the flea market hosts a Gourmet Food Truck Bazaar, from 11am - 5pm.

The trucks include: Rickshaw Dumplings (vegetarian edamame dumplings), Kimchi Taco Truck, (falafel and kimchee) Luke’s Lobster (lobster rools, duh), and best of all, the vegan Cinnamon Snail. They have tempeh sliders, spicy seitan and grilled tofu.

For dessert, The Cavity Shoppe. I will be avoiding Schnitzel & Things.