2017 NYC Holiday Window

Our annual NYC holiday windows post! Enjoy.

Bloomingdale’s 2017 holiday windows

Bloomingdale’s NYC holiday windows holiday windows are inspired by the Greatest Showman, the new movie coming out about PT Barnum. You’ll find circus performers galore, and some windows with magical elements. You’ll also find a fortune teller, where you can get your own fortune. Here are Bloomingdale’s holiday windows from 2016.

Bloomingdales’ 2017 Holiday window

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Review: Chihuly at New York Botanical Gardens

You’ve probably seen glass artist Dale Chihuly’s work before. But it’s lovely to see it in the garden settings of the New York Botanical Garden, where it will be through October.

An exploding star, or something. Fire and ice? Ice and ocean? I can’t remember. Copyright Deborah Abrams Kaplan

For this exhibition, there are plenty of his older works, and a few made for this show. We went over to see it on a beautiful summer day. It was my first time at the NYBG as well, so I didn’t know what to expect. We spent four hours there, and still didn’t see all the gardens (though we saw all the Chihulys, I think). Continue reading “Review: Chihuly at New York Botanical Gardens”

Review: iFly Indoor Skydiving

My kids have been wanting to try indoor skydiving for quite awhile. My mother surprised us all with a session at iFly when we were visiting them in Phoenix. While there is an iFly in Westchester, there is currently none in NJ, though they told us that one or two were opening up here in the next year. Here’s our iFly review.

Look, ma, I’m flying! Copyright Deborah Abrams Kaplan

What was surprising to me is Continue reading “Review: iFly Indoor Skydiving”

What You Will Learn on a Maple Sugar Tour

Every winter we see listings for maple sugaring tours, and every year we seem to be busy or forget to go. This year we finally went. What will you learn on a maple sugaring tour? A lot!

We went to the Great Swamp in New Jersey for our education. They were offering two sessions on a weekend afternoon – for $3/person (though no one asked for or collected money – and we checked in at the outdoor education center desk).

Follow the maple sugar leaf signs to the sugar shack at the Great Swamp. Copyright Deborah Abrams Kaplan

While there’s no way to know for sure who discovered maple sugar, Continue reading “What You Will Learn on a Maple Sugar Tour”

Visiting Corning New York and the Rockwell Museum

We visited Corning NY on a beautiful fall day. While it rained in the morning, these were the sunny skies we got later. Most people visit Corning to see the Corning Museum of Glass (our review here) and even to make their own glass.

 

Corning's well-known tower with a picture of a gaffer on top. In the foreground is the corporate office for Corning Glass.
Corning’s well-known tower with a picture of a gaffer on top. In the foreground is the corporate office for Corning Glass.

If you have time to visit the Gaffer’s District downtown (gaffer being a term used for a glassblower), check it out. You can walk from the Corning Museum of Glass – it takes probably 15 minutes at a good pace. There is parking downtown, though. Continue reading “Visiting Corning New York and the Rockwell Museum”