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Friday, March 27, 2015

Bay Area Easter Events 2015

If you're looking for some fun things to do to celebrate Easter with the family in the San Francisco Bay Area, here's the place to start.

Please add your favorites in the comments section!

SAN FRANCISCO 
What: Spring Eggstravaganza (egg hunt, inflatables, carnival rides, entertainment, carnival rides, food for sale)
Where: Sharon Meadow at Golden Gate Park
When: Saturday, April 4, 2015 from 11-3 Cost: $8/person

What: Union Street Easter Parade (and festival with face painting, climbing wall, activities, characters)
Where: Union Street in Cow Hollow, San Francisco
When: April 5, 2015 from 10-5, parade at 2
Cost: Free

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Get 'Yer Tickets: Laurie Berkner You and Me Tour

Laurie Berkner will be performing at the Palace of Fine Arts on the You and Me Tour. We love Laurie Berkner, whose fun and catchy tunes still stick in my mind years later. I'm sure it will be a great concert!

When: Saturday, April 18 at 3 p.m.
Where: Palace of Fine Arts
Tickets:  $25-100 - get Laurie Berkner tickets here

Friday, March 20, 2015

International Day of Happiness

Did you know that today is the International Day of Happiness?

In honor of the day, Coit Tower in San Francisco and the Empire State Building in New York will both be lit up in yellow to celebrate this new universal holiday and to support the building of a healthier, happier planet. "Our hope is that lighting the Empire State Building and Coit Tower becomes an annual tradition in which other cities around the globe can participate, sharing in the belief that happiness is a cause and a universal right, one which must become a priority for governments everywhere if we are to evolve into a brighter world."

If this warms your heart and you want to participate, do something yellow (I know, I can't help but be a littler snarky in the face of this happy holiday). They suggest you wear yellow, light up something in yellow etc. You can even share a happy photo using the hashtag #happyday or #internationaldayofhappiness. Or not.

Thursday, March 19, 2015

Coming Up: San Francisco Flower and Garden Show - in San Mateo

If you love gardening and flowers, you might already know about the San Francisco Flower and Garden Show. It's happening now, through this Sunday. This is the 30th annual event - and it's at the San Mateo County Event Center.

What will you find? 
-gardens
-flowers
-interactive kids features in the Pollinator Pavilion 
-hands-on floral arrangement workshops and botanic photography (extra fee)
-plants for sale
-how-to and other seminars on five stages, on things like backyard beekeeping, growing your own food, composting, creating plant dyes and more.

When: now through Sunday, March 22
Where: San Mateo County Event Center, 1346 Saratoga Drive, San Mateo
Tickets: starting at $22 here

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

A weird meal to make: pasta dogs

One of my friend's mothers posted a picture of this food idea on Facebook. I thought it was the weirdest looking thing, and realized that my kids would eat it up (literally and figuratively).  


All you need is spaghetti and hot dogs (I'm guessing that sausage or veggie dogs would work fine too). Poke about 6 uncooked spaghetti pieces through the hot dog pieces so they extend out equally on both sides. I thought it would be easy to make them go straight through, but I couldn't get them to do that (not that I tried that hard). They made it through the other side without breaking, but were at angles.

Sunday, March 15, 2015

How to make marzipan objects

I love marzipan, and am always amazed by how they it can be shaped into different objects. I recently bought a jar of marzipan (you can get it in the baking aisle of your grocery store) and my daughter and I spent an hour making things from it.


While I have some pictures blown up below, you can see most of what we made during our marzipan session above.

Saturday, March 7, 2015

Are you unbreakable?

I am very excited to watch the new Netflix show Unbreakable Kimmy Schmitdt which just premiered on Friday. The show, which NBC for some reason decided not to run (I don't know the whole story and didn't spend much time researching), was quickly picked up by Netflix, which seems like a smart move. I heard they already ordered a second season.



This is a Tina Fey and Robert Carlock's new comedy series starring Ellie Kemper (who I love in the Office), Jane Krakowski (30 Rock - and can we forget Allie McBeal?) and Tituss Burgess (30 Rock), about a woman who escapes from a doomsday cult and starts life over again in New York City - after not living in society for 15 years. What could go wrong?

As you can probably tell from the title, the lead character is labeled as unbreakable. Why? She's optimistic and resilient - kind of like parents! How else are you going to make it through late night feeding sessions, potty training, difficulty in school, puberty, kids separating from you and being mean to you and then sending them off to college...only to have them return to live with you again? I'm being optimistic that the job scene will improve by then. I don't want my kid moving back in! What if they can't get jobs and support themselves?

Okay, now I'm getting stressed out. While this show is rated for ages 14+, there are plenty of movies with the theme of resilience and reinventing yourself that you can show your kids, like Jimmy Neutron and Turbo for the little ones, and Freaks and Geeks and School of Rock for the older kids. We recently finished all the Freaks and Geeks episodes and were sad to be done. Funny to see actors like James Franco, Seth Rogan and Jason Segal in slightly younger days (though still looking older than high school!), and there were some awesome lessons for my kids - who are not in high school yet.


I am a Netflix Stream Team member.

Friday, March 6, 2015

Coming Up: B of A Museums on Us program - free

Bank of America's Museums on Us program runs this weekend, giving B of A cardholders and Merrill Lynch card holders (credit or debit) one free admission per card at participating museums. We've used this program and love it!

It's this weekend, March 7-8 (some museums are only one day). The website won't let me give you an individual list of cities to click, so just check the main website and look for California in the pull-down menu.

Participating museums in San Francisco and San Jose area:
· The Tech Museum of Innovation The San Jose Museum of Art
· Chabot Space and Science Center
· Contemporary Jewish Museum
· de Young Museum
· Legion of Honor


Thursday, March 5, 2015

Coming Up: Sunday Streets in the Embarcadero

The next San Francisco's Sunday Streets is on the Embarcadero, between Fisherman's Wharf and AT&T Park (yes, it's big!). They'll be closing off the northbound lanes to traffic, so you can walk, skate, bike, etc. Are you going?

It's Sunday, March 8 between 11 and 4 (beware of the time change - spring!)

You'll can take advantage of Pier 39 discounts for locals, and at the Exploratorium too.  Sunday Streets is a "a safe, fun, car-free place for people to get out and get active in San Francisco neighborhoods." In addition to the regular fun stuff (dance performances, climbing wall, live music, free bike rentals, yoga, pilates, arts/crafts) too.  Sunday Streets details and map here.

Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Top 7 Things to do with Kids in the Hong Kong International Airport

I recently spent some time in Asia, including 4 hour layovers in the Hong Kong International Airport. While my kids weren't with me, I looked around to figure out what I would do with my kids if they were. Fortunately, they would not have been bored! Here are my top 7 things to do with kids in the Hong Kong International Airport.

1. Kids Workshop - They had a cute area set up for art programs with the kids. These are limited to weekends (Saturdays/Sundays) and you have to sign up because as you can see, space is limited. The workshops are free. This was in the main concourse - I don't know which gate.  

Kids workshops at the Hong Kong International Airport
2. Kids' play areas -

Monday, March 2, 2015

Coming Up: San Francisco International Chocolate Salon

You can start drooling now. The 9th annual San Francisco International Chocolate Salon is coming up - and that means lots of gourmet chocolate eating. Plus demonstrations, celebrity chef and author talks and wine pairing. There's a chocolate art gallery, games and more.

photo copyright Deborah Abrams Kaplan. No reprinting without permission

When: Sunday, March 15, 2015 from 10-6
Where: Fort Mason, SF
Tickets: $20/advanced purchase, $25/early entry, $30/at the door. Children ages 6-12 are $10. Children 6 and under are free (maximum 2 kids per adult or they'll charge $10 for each additional child). Tickets include chocolate and wine tastings and demonstrations.