Nov

24

Macy’s Boston “Light Up the Night” Tree Lighting

Filed Under Boston, Events | Leave a Comment

Now that the pumpkin pie is out of the way, the Holiday countdown can wholeheartedly begin! If you are in the Boston area tomorrow, head to Downtown Crossing for Macy's Light Up the Night at 5 p.m. for their tree lighting event.

Macy's Light Up the Night Tree Lighting Event

You'll be in good company. Joey McIntyre, Jasmine V and Tedy Bruschi will be special guests to help kick off the tree lighting. After performances by Joey McIntyre and Jasmine V, Santa will flip the switch on the tree and debut the "Yes, Virginia" window scenes.

At 6 p.m., you can venture inside Macy's for opportunities to meet the special guests. Plus the first 250 people to purchase a LaCoste fragrance will get an autograph from Joey McIntyre plus a copy of his new Christmas album, "Come Home for Christmas."

Make A Wish Letters to Santa Program at Macy'sWhile you are at Macy's, don't forget to drop off your letter to Santa. Macy's "Believe" campaign is back for a fourth year (over 4 million letters collected in the first three years). Until December 24, Macy's will donate $1 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation for each letter to Santa that is dropped off at Macy's "Believe Stations." Great fun to benefit a great organization!

Special kudos to Macy's who is partnering with local blogger Mommy Niri to donate gifts for Room to Grow, a fantastic non-profit that supports babies born into poverty through the first three years.

Oct

11

Wegmans Coming to Northborough Crossing October 16

Filed Under Events, Food, Metrowest, Wegmans | Leave a Comment

Can you feel the excitement? The Wegmans grocery store chain from Upstate New York is making its debut in Massachusetts in the Metrowest Boston suburb of Northborough on Sunday, October 16.

wegmans-northborough-massachusetts

I am so excited to see what all the hub-bub is surrounding these stores. I was lucky enough to be able to  listen to a presentation by and chat with the Wegman's Northboro Store Manager Kevin Russell at a community presentation. Wegman's sounds like a pretty amazing company for employees to work and for customers to shop. He said that this store will be unlike any other store that currently exists in the market. That's a pretty bold statement, and I can't wait to check it out.

He also said that there will probably be some superfans camping out the night before the opening. That is pretty unbelievable for, um, a GROCERY STORE.

The store is going to be at the brand spanking new Northborough Crossing, an outdoor shopping center at the intersection of Routes 20 and 9 that also is home to BJs, Kohls, TJMaxx, and BabiesRUs/ToysRUs.

Check out a the video of a recent opening in Maryland. Sort of makes me want to suffer the opening day crowds (i'm getting the ikea sweats thinking about that crowd).

Also, be sure to visit the Wegmans Northborough web site to sign up for their Shopper Club (which gives you benefits including an aisle-by-aisle shopping list AWESOME) and visit the Wegman's Northboro facebook page where you can witness some of their super fans in action including a customer who penned a haiku. Plus learn some of the lingo and fave products -- black & white halfmoon cookies,  Zweigle's Hots, beef on wick, Vegetarian Oyster Sauce, spiedie marinade, french vanilla muffins, Wegman's Basting Oil, Multigrain bread, Finishing butter, sponge candy, salt potatoes,  and Dinosaur BBQ sauce...just to name a few.

And, finally, if this facebook post where someone literally leaves their grocery list in the comments and store employees track down what they will carry in the store is any indication of the level of service customers can expect, Wegmans should be a really great experience.

Here's some helpful directions to Wegmans Northborough for your trip, and an interesting article in Boston Globe about Wegmans and its namesake Danny Wegman.

Will I see you there?

Northborough Wegmans Grand Opening is October 16


Sep

2

Labor Day Weekend Fun: Day Out with Thomas the Train in Newport, RI

Filed Under Events | Leave a Comment

ALL ABOARD! It’s “Steamies” versus “Diesels” and our favorite No.1 engine is right on track! Thomas the Tank Engine™ is pulling into the Newport Dinner Train Station for the Day Out With Thomas™: Leader of the Track Tour, presented by HIT Entertainment, a worldwide leader in children’s entertainment, and sponsored by MEGA Brands, a leading toy company.

This fun-filled event offers little engineers and their families the opportunity to take a ride with a 15-ton replica of Thomas the Tank Engine, star of the popular Thomas & Friends™ series. The tour, now in its 16th year, will make stops in more than 45 US cities and is expected to welcome more than one million passengers in 2011.

And this weekend's stop is in New England. We're so excited here at kimworld. My 3-year-old son is going to quite possibly lose his mind when he sees a real life Thomas. We're pretty much watching, playing, or singing about Thomas and all of his friends 24-7 at this stage. (Ferdinand is the favorite train *this* week.)

There are lots of activites at the event this weekend including an approximately 25 minute ride with Thomas the Tank Engine and an opportunity to meet Sir Topham Hatt, Controller of The Railway. There will be other activities for the whole family including arts & crafts, storytelling, video viewing, and live music.

In celebration of the 2011 Thomas & Friends DVD Movie "Day of the Diesels". there will be commermorative activities, merchandise and giveaways focusing on steam engines and diesel engines.

Details:

September 1, 2, 3, and 4, 2011

9.30 AM to 4.30 PM

Ticket prices are $18 plus tax for ages 2 and up (service charges and fees may apply). For tickets, more information and directions contact the Newport Dinner Train at 401-841-8700, www.newportdinnertrain.com .  For information on Thomas & Friends, visit www.thomasandfriends.com/dowt

May

12

Business Card Ideas for Bloggers [Bloggy Boot Camp Boston edition]

Filed Under A Few of My Favorite Things, Business & Marketing, Events | 5 Comments

Last weekend I attended Bloggy Boot Camp which is hosted by The SITS Girls.


As with most blogging and networking events, there was a lot of business card exchanging taking place. I got a nice pile of new contacts from the day. There were a few business cards that really stuck out (in an awesome way) in the pile, though, so I thought I'd share them with you.


This card is from Kathryn Doran. She runs two sites, coastalchick and The Saucy Bits. She has one side of the card with information and branding for one site, and then the other site of the card has information and branding for the other site. Such a great way to solve the multiple site dilemma. Follow Kathryn on twitter at @thecoastalchick and @thesaucybits.




Printed at Zazzle.com and Designed by Patti from Easton Place Designs




Printed at Zazzle.com and Designed by Kathryn Doran herself using graphics from Coastal Chick


The next card is from Rita from Yippy Momma. This card is printed on a coated stock and is cute, cute, cute! Follow Rita on twitter at @YippyMomma





Front. Printed at moo.com and Designed by Rita herself.




Back. Printed at moo.com and Designed by Rita herself.


The next card belongs to Sharon Sprague from UMommy. I had already met Sharon through Boston Parent Bloggers, but when I saw her new cards, I knew I wanted to include them here. I love this card for two reasons. First, they are square. That probably means that her cards will either be kept or be thrown away since they don't fit into traditional business card holders, but back in my event planning days, I had square cards. And people loved. them. I got so many compliments after the fact that I know people noticed them.


I've found square cards hard to find. Tiny Prints has them, and you could also do a custom print job through a printer like Rivkind Associates (one of my favorite printing companies of all time. I was surprised when Sharon told me that she had hers printed at Staples. That's pretty cool! She had them printed at Staples, and then trimmed them herself.


The other thing I loved about Sharon's card is that there's a description (and even a pronunciation guide!) of her site on one side of the card. Meeting for the first time happens in an instant. It's great to have something that joggles the memory when it's time to connect again using the contact info on the card. Follow Sharon on twitter at @umommy.



Front and Back. Printed at Staples and Designed by Heather McGee, Email Heather at hmcgee11 [at] gmail [dot com].


Traci Whitney, the Founder of Two Happy Homes, has a great solution for someone who wants to convey a lot of information on their calling card. This card unfolds to the size of two business cards, but when folded will fit in with all other regular-sized business cards. This gives room for contact info and detailed information. In addition, Traci is able to call out key ideas and calls to action. Follow Traci on twitter at @traciwhitney.






Front when folded. Printed at Vistaprint and Designed by Traci herself.



Back when folded. Printed at Vistaprint and Designed by Traci herself.




Front when not folded. Printed at Vistaprint and Designed by Traci herself.




Back when not folded. Printed at Vistaprint and Designed by Traci herself.

Of course, I couldn't do a post on my favorite business cards without mentioning my new cards for my new endeavor, The Field Guide to the First Year. I love them so much. They are from moo.com using graphics from the new site. Follow the new site on twitter at @firstyearparent




Front. Printed at moo.com.




Back. Printed at moo.com.


Do you have any business cards that you've come across that stick out in your mind that would be good for a blogger looking to promote their blog? Share with us what you think about when you are creating business cards.

Feb

21

Disney On Ice: Toy Story 3 opens in Boston at TD Garden

Filed Under Boston, Events | 1 Comment

Disney On Ice: Toy Story 3

Disney Parks and BSM Media were kind enough to invite me, my family, and the winner of my reader drawing to attend the Opening Night of Disney On Ice: Toy Story 3 in Boston on Friday night.

I'm Celebrating with Disney!The pre-event festivities was very Disney-tastic and included a reception with a meet'n'greet with Woody and Buzz Lightyear, characters from Toy Story 3. The organizers of the event deserve big kudos for presenting a buffet that was extremely kid friendly that was not in description only. In all of my years of event planning, I've often seen events try to be kid friendly without succeeding because of the details. This buffet included a make-your-own nacho bar and juice boxes!

I wasn't sure if my super active two-and-a-half year old would be able to sit still, but as soon as Mickey arrived on center ice, my little one was still. In fact, he didn't take his eyes off the stage for the entire first half. Amazing!It's been a few days, but he still wants to see pictures of "Mickey dancing" and loves to run around like he's ice skating. The 5-year-old daughter of winner of the 4-pack of tickets here on kimworld.com declared Friday, "the best night ever." I'm sure there were lots of kids in Boston Friday night that agreed.

Boston, it's not too late to serve up a "best night ever" for your kids. Disney On Ice: Toy Story 3 will be at the TD Garden until February 27th. Tickets range from $20 to $90. You can get a special discount, courtesy of Disney Parks, for select vacation week performances.


Check out some other bloggers who also attended Opening Night of Disney On Ice: Toy Story 3.

Check out more pictures of the Toy Story 3 on Ice.


The Disney On Ice: Toy Story 3 tour will be visiting other towns, too. Here's a list of the towns coming up as per the schedule right now:

Auburn Hills, Michigan at Palace at Auburn Hills
Kansas City, Missouri at Sprint Center
St. Louis, Missouri at Chaifetz Arena
Toronto, Ontario at Rogers Center
Montreal Quebec at Bell Centre
Dallas, Texas at American Airlines Center
Hildago, Texas at State Farm Arena
Houston, Texas at Reliant Stadium
San Antonio, Texas at Alamodome

Find out more information about Disney On Ice: Toy Story 3.


SPECIAL OFFER: Until February 28, 2011, rent Toy Story 3 from Amazon Video on Demand (you can watch on your computer or tv device immediately!), and you will receive $4 off the purchase of Toy Story 3 DVD or Blu-Ray. Great Deal!

Next Page →