Library Happenings

If you are looking for cheap or free things to do the local libraries are a great place to start. If you stay home with your kids, there is always yoga or story times happening. Many of the libraries also have authors visit.

The Jericho Library has a PJ storytime on Thursday, October 4 at 7pm.

In two weeks, the Plainview-Old Bethpage library is having a craft & gift fair. On October 7 from 10am-6pm. The Plainview-Old Bethpage Chamber of Commerce and the POB Library co-sponsor this family event. Great shopping, live entertainment, inflatable kids rides and food. Free face-painting for all with a donation of non-perishable food or personal care items for LI Cares. Looks like it will be lots of fun.

What a difference 5 minutes can make

I work in Manhattan and every day I commute into the city. If I'm running 5 minutes late in the morning, then it is difficult to find parking. But if I'm on time, I have a whole level to choose from. It's remarkable the difference 5 minutes can make in finding parking.

I'm told that most of the stations are worst than the Hicksville station in trying to find parking. There are about 5 lots for Town of Oyster Bay Residents including a garage.

Yesterday I was running a little bit later than normal and I missed several trains trying to find parking. I ended up paying for parking. On the off chance I do have to pay, it's not that bad to pay $7 for the day.

Buying Lulav and Etrog

My favorite thing about Sukkot is buying lulav and etrog. I love looking over the many etrogim and seeing all the beautiful features. I have been purchasing lulav for the holiday for the last 12 years and every year is such a different experience. I still love purchasing lulav in the Lower East Side from the many vendors that are there.

The last couple years, I unfortunately did not have the opportunity to head to New York and had to purchase our lulav and etrog from the Judaica store. When it was crowded, I was lucky if I got any help finding anything. If it wasn't crowded, I would be asked where my husband was.

This year we are so fortunate to be back in New York and to have several different places to go choose from. I of course chose to go to the Lower East Side.

I took my lunch break a littler earlier and began my trip. I started with going to McDonalds to find an ATM. Doesn't really sound like the first place to go, but that's where the nearest ATM for my Maryland Bank Account was. The person in front of me was an orthodox man with payis and tzitzit. I then headed to the train. On my way there, I was grabbed by a random man, who held onto my shoulder and then let go and went walking. Got to love New York.

I took the subway to East Broadway and got off to the famous Canal and Essex Street. It was drizzling and there were not many vendors out. I am so used to crowds of people and lots of vendors. It's the Friday before yontif and raining, so it wasn't surprising that there weren't many people out. I luckily found beautiful etrogim from Israel. It was wonderful to go and have so many to choose from and not have to pay $70+ to get a beautiful etrog. Once I decided which vendor to go to, my purchase was pretty quick, since I seemed to be the only one purchasing lulav and etrog.

Before I left, I decided to get a few lower east side treats. I purchased a black and white cookie and rugelah for Shabbat. And stopped by The Pickle Guys to get Full Sours, Garlic Pickles, and Pickled Tomatoes.

Next up, is building the sukkah.

Pre-orders on Disney Movies

Do you love Disney Movies?

The Cinderella Move is available for pre-order right now for the DVD/Blu-Ray Combo for 22.99. It comes out October 2.
Cinderella (Two-Disc Diamond Edition Blu-ray/DVD Combo in Blu-ray Packaging)

Another Disney Movie coming out on November 13 is Brave for 5 disc combo for 34.96.
Brave (Five-Disc Ultimate Collector's Edition: Blu-ray 3D / Blu-ray / DVD + Digital Copy)

Note that both of these movies has an Amazon Price-Order Guarantee. So if the price goes down between now and the time it is released you'll receive the lowest price. This might not be the cheapest if you do store coupons or rebates, but it's the cheapest now.

Customize your clothing

A new website I've come across that has beautiful clothing and you can customize the designs is eshakti. They begin the look and you can make customizations to their designs to suit your needs and taste.

Price Tracker

What is your way of saving money or looking to find out deals on Amazon products? If you have an item you'd like to purchase on Amazon, you might want to consider CamelCamelCamel. This is an awesome site that lets you add Amazon items and track the price. It's especially good around Hanukkah and Birthdays, so you can start tracking the items your children want. You can set it up so that there is an email sent you when the item you are looking for hits a certain price. This site also does other websites like Bestbuy and New Egg.

Planning Menus

The hardest thing I have always found about planning menus is taking all the ingredients I have and planning a menu based upon the ingredients in the pantry.  My goal this summer was to try to reuse the items we already owned and limit our shopping trips to once every two weeks. It means trying to plan more efficiently ahead of time and then trying to actually use the items we have in our pantry.

Tools I used:
Google Calendar. I have set up a separate Google calendar for Dinner, where I list what we are planning for meals over the next two weeks and then it syncs with mine and my husband's blackberries. I put in the notes a link to the recipe if it is online or a note of where I can find the recipe.

I also use SuperCook. It's probably one of the best tools out there. I list all of the items I have in my pantry and then I put them in. I then list things I don't want to use. So Ham, Pork, Bacon, etc. is on the exclusions list since I keep kosher. The website is great if you are part of a CSA (community supported agriculture). I really had no clue how to cook chard or kale the last few years ago.

Inflatable Bath Tubs

A friend of ours had an inflatable bath tub for their little one in the shape of a duck. I kept it in the back of our mind prior to having kids. So when the time came to purchase an inflatable tub, we purchased the duck as well. It was great for traveling with the kids before we were ready to shower them and before they could sit in the bath. Our duck has now gone through my two children and my nephew. It has been awesome.

If you have girls, you might be interested in the Disney Princess inflatable bath tub. It's on sale for $12.50.

Disney Inflatable Bathtub, Princess

or you could always go with the adorable duck:

Munchkin White Hot Inflatable Duck Tub


Once they grow out of the duck, I would suggest moving into just using a laundry basket.

Mane Tamer Hair Straightener $59.99

I'm in search for a new hair straightener. Today on Woot, there is a Mane Tamer Hair Straightener for $59.99. It lists for $200. What are your thoughts on a straightener? Should I hold out and get a Chi?

T3 73522 Mane Tamer Ionic Ceramic Tourmaline Flat Iron, Black, 1.75 inch

More Menu Planning for your Sukkah

If you are looking for warms soups/stews to serve during Sukkot, you might want to look at Joy Of Kosher's website. They just posted some interesting stews for the holiday.

Pressure Cooker Stews for Sukkot

Need some inspiration for Sukkot

I'm obsessed with Pinterest. For me it's such a visual way to think and I think visually. I have put together a board on Sukkot/Simchat Torah that contains items for decorations and food and crafts.

Check it out

Sukkah Song from the Fountainheads

There are many great A Capella groups these days doing wonderful songs for the holidays. That is perhaps my favorite part of each holiday and seeing what kinds of new videos will be available and how creative.

This year Ein Pratt Fountainheads did one for Sukkot.

Sukkot Folding Chairs

Are you interested in folding chairs for your sukkah? You might want to check out Buy.com. These all weather ones look great! I usually purchase the 6.00 ones from Ikea, but if you don't live near one then you might need an alternative

All-weather Outdoor Folding Chair Pads (Pack of 2)


Set of 4 Plastic Folding Chairs - Butterscotch - by OFM

All-weather Acrylic Outdoor Folding Chair Pads (Pack of 2)


You might also be interested in a electronic bug zapper
ELECTRONIC INSECT ELIMINATOR / BUG ZAPPER NEW

Sukkot Meal Planning

Sukkot begins on Sunday and we're planning our sukkah meals. It's getting colder at night, so I'm planning for chilly sukkah sitting. We're going to do Soup and Challah for one of our evenings. It's going to be a bunch of different soups and a bunch of different Challot. We have made special Apple filled Challot. I'm also thinking about making Pumpkin Challah.

Another day we are going to do Tacos in the Sukkah. Coming from California I love Mexican food and it's a must during Sukkot.

Another day we are planning Macaroni and cheese. Two different kinds, one that it is a little spicy and one that is creamy and more traditional for the kids.

I'm always looking for ideas, what kinds of things are you planning?

Warming Tray on Sale at Amazon

During the summer, it becomes so hot if we keep the oven on for the entire time for Shabbat. So another way that might be more Green and definitely won't heat up the house as much is a warming tray. Amazon has a great deal right now:


Toastess TWT-40 Silhouette 1000-Watt Cordless Classic Stainless-Steel Warming Tray, 4 Plate

Sukkot Planning

When the Jewish Holidays fall on weekdays, it is often so hard to plan for them. We are in a new house and while we have a sukkah, we are actually going to use something a little different this year. Our outside already has poles that we can used instead. I don't think our bamboo mats are going to stay on top, so I'm going to need to find some other items for s'ach. I'm thinking about calling the local farm to see if I can get corn husks, what kinds of things do you use for your sukkot?

Our regular sukkah came from the sukkah project. We ordered the plans and pieces from them and picked up lumber at Home Depot. It's a rather large sukkah that we were able to expand.

Disney Deals

If your daughter is into Disney as much as mine are, then you might be interested to know that Amazon has a deal right now on Tiana's Royal Botique.

Disney Princess Royal Boutique Tiana Kitchen Playset

Free Kindle Books for 9/27

Free Kindle Books

 Download Crazy Love


I'll Follow  the Moon


27 Brownies Easy Recipes (Easy Cupcakes & Brownies Recipes)



You do not have to have a Kindle in order to download Kindle Books, Download free Kindle Reading Apps. Note that prices on apps change throughout the day so this may no longer be free.

New to the island

We just moved here this summer. I'm working on trying to figure out long island and things to do with my family. Typical things like finding doctors and shopping are all par for the course. One of the biggest shocks I had was when we were in August and had already received information for our 2 and 4 year olds about camp for the summer of 2013, definitely a shock. We hadn't even begun school and we are already getting information about next summer. I'm wondering what are the best options for full day camp programs in Nassau County on the North Shore.