I was wandering through Soho last month and passed a store I hadn’t see there before. With a big ice cream bar in the window, of course I went inside. This is the new Magnum seasonal store at 134 Prince Street. It opened in April.
It’s glitzy and fun and would please any child and adult. Here’s how it works. At the counter you choose your ice cream type (hormone-free chocolate or vanilla), chocolate dipping type (Belgian dark, milk or white chocolate) and three toppings (they have 20 to choose from).
Magnum’s pop-up store is in Soho through mid-August. Copyright Deborah Abrams Kaplan
Given all the kudos and (deserved) attention Hamilton on Broadway has received in the past six months alone (never mind the build-up to the Broadway opening), the big question is how to get tickets to Hamilton. I’m so glad I got mine already – I saw the show in September. My husband was horrified that I paid $120/seat for tickets in the second to last row of the balcony for a show he’d not yet heard of. I know, you’re shaking your head about how cheap $120 a ticket seems, even though the face value of the tickets was something like $46. No complaints. I’d love to see it again.
For some relatively local (to us) Pennsylvania skiing, we headed to Camelback Ski resort with kids this year. It’s funny to see the outdoor water park slides covered in snow, as this resort is also a summer destination.
Camelback is in the Poconos. Copyright Deborah Abrams Kaplan
Given all the crazy weather this season, we were happy to see a solid base. Plus, they make snow, and we got to experience that ourselves, with snow machines at the base and on some of the slopes. I never realized how loud they are. It’s like going past a jet engine. After one run where about 6 of them were blowing in a row, we had to go in and take a break, as our faces were so cold from the blowing snow.
This year, the Macy’s Holiday Windows feature the Peanuts gang. They tell the classic Peanuts Christmas story, with characters that move. Sometimes it’s their heads, sometimes the clouds float from the bottom to the top, and sometimes they cross from one side of the window to the other. You can also hear them narrating what’s written on the window. It’s kind of sad, but ultimately happy. And it’s ironic to see Charlie Brown lamenting Christmas being this big commercial thing – in the windows of the massive Macy’s store. See the 2015 Lord & Taylor windows here.
Macy’s Peanuts windows in their 2015 display. Copyright Deborah Abrams Kaplan
Our family is a big fan of Mad Libs. We play them a lot – on car trips, on plane trips, on line at the amusement park…But a Mad Libs Live show off-Broadway? How would that work? Well, we got to find out. Here’s our review of Mad Libs Live with kids!
Outside the theater, you can take pictures behind this oversized cut-out, and fill in the blanks. Copyright Deborah Abrams Kaplan
When I went to check out the new Discovery of King Tut exhibition at Premier Exhibitions for a press visit, they said we could also go to the Saturday Night Live exhibition. Woo hoo! I hadn’t realized that was even a thing (shame on me). It was like a super guilty pleasure that turned out to be fascinating as well. And so much fun I brought my family back the next week to get their take.
Saturday Night Live the Exhibition, at Premier Exhibitions on 5th Avenue. Copyright Deborah Abrams Kaplan
I saw the King Tut exhibit in the 1970s, traveling from Arizona to San Francisco just for the occasion. That exhibit brought 50 of King Tut’s tomb items around the country, causing mob scenes (well, a lot of people anyway) in the form of record attendance. I saw a fair amount of Tut goods in Cairo’s Egyptian Museum when traveling there in 1995. And then when another Tut exhibit came through in 2010 (with 50 moretomb items), and I saw it again in San Francisco AND New York (the advantage to living in both places during their run). Read more about that King Tut exhibit here.
Premier Exhibitions in NYC. Copyright Deborah Abrams Kaplan
So when I heard that King Tut was back in the Big Apple, with a new kind of exhibition, of course I jumped on the opportunity. I went for a press preview of the Discovery of King Tut, and then took the family back this past weekend. The big difference between the exhibits is that this exhibition focuses on the discovery of Tut’s tomb, and displays only replicas (more than 1,000 of them, versus the 50 genuine artifacts brought over previously). While it sounds a little disappointing that they’re reproductions, rest assured, you will not feel cheated. Here’s my review – King Tut exhibition with kids. Continue reading “Review King Tut Exhibition in NYC with Kids”
I got an early look at the Lord & Taylor windows last week, and wanted to share them with you! It’s easy to spot the store, with the greenery and lights.
Lord & Taylor’s holiday greenery. Copyright Deborah Abrams Kaplan.
Every year we talk about going to see the Rockettes Radio City Christmas Spectacular, and then we don’t get plan ahead and the tickets are too expensive. Or the reasonably priced tickets are at 9 a.m. or 10 p.m. – or on a weekday while the kids are in school. (Info on discount Rockettes tickets at the bottom). This year my husband’s company got a block of tickets and we scored with reasonably priced tickets to a weekend show, so we finally got to see the iconic Rockettes.
Radio City Music Hall Rockettes Christmas Spectacular. Copyright Deborah Abrams Kaplan
This review contains spoilers. It’s also the review of someone who did not research the show before seeing it and did not grow up in this area. Think of me as someone dropped into Manhattan from far away, for the Christmas show. It’s not part of our family history and the only thing I really know about them is that the dancers have a height requirement and they do precision dancing. That’s about it. Continue reading “Review: Rockettes Radio City Christmas Spectacular With Kids”
Given all the kudos and (deserved) attention 
