February 2013 - The Culture Mom

27Feb

Girls on HBO – A Lesson on Life’s Disappointments

My favorite show on TV right now is Girls on HBO. I've been watching it since season 1, episode 1 and while some people are questioning whether it's as good as last year, I'm relishing every moment. I watch each episode over and over, capturing lines that I missed the first time around. Each episode is brilliantly written and takes me back to not only my life in NYC as a 20-something getting started in this thing we call "adulthood" but also to the feelings of muddling through the waters on my own for the first time in my life. I think of Read More

27Feb

Skiing at Windham Mountain with the Family

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Last weekend we were faced with ten days ahead of us of no school for the kids, so we decided to pack our bags and head north for a few days of skiing. We headed to Windham Mountain, just 200 miles from NYC (2 hours and 45 minutes by car), in the Catskills. My kids were psyched as we don't ski as a family all that often. My husband and son go regularly, but my daughter and I are lesser skilled and I knew we would require a warm-up before taking off on the slopes. Windham is a very popular slope for New Yorkers, but we were still surprised to see as Read More

24Feb

My Thoughts on Marissa Mayer’s Decree On Working from Home

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I've written a lot about my quest for the perfect situation to enable me to both work and take care of my children often on this blog. A few years ago, I posted over on ScaryMommy about the dilemma I faced when I went back to work fulltime after my daughter was born. Faced with a long commute across state lines to the office and raging hormones after just having given birth a few months earlier, I made the decision to leave when my flexible schedule to ease my return to work (3 days in the office, 2 at home) went out the window. I left a job Read More

21Feb

A Day at The Museum of the City of New York

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I wasn’t born in NYC but I became an official New Yorker on 9/11. I was in the city when the towers fell and from that day on, I was no longer an ex-pat. My accent got thicker, my roots got tighter and I set down my fort and never left. Just a few years later, I would bring two children into this world and they would inherit my fierce patriotism to the city we live in. Our passion for the city is universal and I never have to struggle to get my kids in for a dose of culture. So, during the February break, I decided it was time to visit the Museum Read More

21Feb

Giveaway: Orphans on Broadway with Alec Baldwin

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One of the most talked about shows coming to Broadway this season is Orphans, starring Alec Baldwin and and Tom Sturridge. After seven seasons playing network executive Jack Donaghy on the NBC comedy “30 Rock,” Baldwin is returning to Broadway. The play is directed by the Tony Award winner Daniel Sullivan (“The Columnist,” “Proof”), who directed "Glengarry Glen Ross” last year. This is the story: Two orphaned brothers live in their decrepit North Philadelphia row house. They survive by petty thievery and a steady diet of tuna fish and daytime Read More

19Feb

A Perfect Day in My Perfect City: New York City

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When I first moved to New York City, I knew I had a whole city to explore. But I don't think I ever realized the magnitude and size of this city and just how much it has to offer a culture vulture like me. In my first eight years here before having children, I took advantage of every waking moment and explored every nook and cranny of this city and became quite attached to it. Life has changed somewhat since those days but every now and then, I grab my friend or my husband, or I venture back into the big lights on my own for a dose of NYC. It's true. Read More

18Feb

Exploring Vietnamese Street Food in Hanoi

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Tucked away in the heart of Hanoi lies the Hanoi Cooking Centre. Located in 44 Chau Long Street, nestled on the edge of Hanoi's old quarter and close to Truc Bach and West Lake, Hanoi Cooking Centre is a cooking school, and cafe. The centre offers hands-on cooking classes and short courses in a relaxed atmosphere, designed by chef Tracey Lister, co-author of KOTO - A Culinary Journey Through Vietnam and Vietnamese Street Food. We were lucky to discover the school before we departed for Vietnam and had a tour set up before we left. While we were Read More

13Feb

On Being That Girl Again (and Why Moms Should Take Solo Trips)

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If you read my blog, you know that I recently left my family for nearly two weeks to head to China and Vietnam. While I was traveling, I posted on Facebook on occasion, and very often on Instagram. I truly thought of my time in Asia as time to regroup and decided I would benefit from a break from real life and that included social media. I also didn't carry my computer nor did I have Wifi access everywhere I went. I have never been in such a visually stunning place in my life, so photography became my best friend and I filled my Instagram stream Read More

12Feb

Giveaway: Nice Work if You Can Get It on Broadway

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The show Nice Work if You Can Get It is a show with fabulous music, choreography and some of the best singers on Broadway. It's a real crowd pleaser and if you don't love musicals, this may change your mind. Directed and choreographed by Kathleen Marshall (Anything Goes) with the book by Joe DiPietro (Memphis), the show is about the Roaring Twenties and features a cast of outrageous characters gather in New York to celebrate the wedding of a wealthy playboy. But things don't go as planned when the playboy meets a bubbly and feisty bootlegger Read More