Raven Snook

Raven is a writer, editor, performer and mom, who was born and bred in NYC, just like her husband, her mother and now, her daughter. In addition to Mommy Poppins, she has written about parenting and pop culture for New York Magazine, Time Out New York, The Village Voice, the New York Post, TV Guide and SheKnows. She's also the founder of Hot Mama Burlesque, the world's only all-moms burlesque show.

Latest posts by Raven Snook

This Week: Dyker Heights at Christmas, Restaurants with Kids' Entertainment, New Battery Park City Ice Rink

Submitted by Raven Snook on Thu, 12/13/2012 - 5:00pm

Is there a clever new way for us to reiterate that the holidays are here? Nope. Assuming your to-do list is as long as ours, you don't have a minute to waste, so we're going to keep it brief this week.

In NYC, we took a photo-filled tour of the incredible Dyker Heights Christmas lights and rounded up our favorite restaurants with kids' entertainment in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Meanwhile our Travel site is profiling gorgeous beach towns like Akumal, Mexico and Islamorada, Florida in case you want to plan (or just fantasize about) your next vacation. We also have a roundup of holiday travel packages and deals and many destinations are within driving distance of NYC.

It's your very last chance to enter Mommy Poppins' Biggest Holiday Giveaway. We've got a few more prizes to win before it ends on Friday, December 14. See the complete list on our giveaway site.

As always, you can find a slew of posts about the best things to do, see, buy and experience this magical season in our Holiday Fun Guides for NYC, New Jersey, Long Island and Connecticut. Here's what else we covered on the NYC this week.

This Week: Huge Holiday Giveaway, Amazing Holiday Light Displays, Local Gift Shopping

Submitted by Raven Snook on Thu, 12/06/2012 - 5:00pm

If you've visited any of the Mommy Poppins sites this week, you probably already know all about our Biggest Holiday Giveaway. And if it's news to you, well, there's still time to enter. We're giving away a different prize every single day through Thursday, December 13, nice big ones like $150 gift cards to some of our favorite stores and high-end toys. See the complete list on our giveaway site.

Speaking of giving, we suspect you're doing a lot of buying these days. Our Shopping Local Holiday Gift Guide is packed with NYC spots selling unique and offbeat items, and this week we added posts about our top seasonal pop-up shops and toy stores that opened over the past year.

Holiday fun is the focus on our regional sites, too. Spectacular light displays are up all over Long Island, New Jersey and Connecticut and make for great day (make that night) trips. (And if you need to stay in NYC, there's always Dyker Heights.) You can find more out-of-town seasonal fun, including cut-your-own Christmas tree farms and Santa train rides, in our New Jersey and Connecticut Holiday Guides.

Here's what else we covered on our NYC site this week:

This Week: Holiday Windows in NYC, Christmas Kids' Shows, Hanukkah Celebrations

Submitted by Raven Snook on Thu, 11/29/2012 - 4:00pm

Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza or winter solstice, our sites are overflowing with seasonal fun. In NYC this week, we added posts about inexpensive holiday shows, Hanukkah happenings and department store holiday windows to our Holiday Fun Guide.

Looking to cut your own Christmas tree? We've got roundups of the best places to chop your own on Long Island, in New Jersey and Connecticut. Turn the outing into a day trip by also hitting holiday events like Christmas tree lightings on Long Island or Santa trains in New Jersey. And if you're aiming to be eco-conscious this season, our Boston site has wonderful tips about how to have a green Christmas.

Mommy Poppins is also hosting two big events this holiday season. This Sunday is our Holiday Portrait Hurricane Sandy Fundraiser, where you can enjoy fun family activities, discounted shopping and walk away with one-of-a-kind pics of your kids courtesy of Stomping Ground Photo, with all proceeds going to storm relief. And on Monday, we launch our Big Holiday Giveaway. We'll be awarding a different prize every day, really exceptional stuff like a gift package from Toys "R" Us, tickets to the Radio City Christmas Spectacular and more. So be sure to visit our site every day throughout the season and subscribe to our free newsletters so you don't miss out.

Here's what else we covered this week in NYC:

This Week: NYC Kids Holiday Guide, Black Friday Deals, Santa and Xmas Trees

Submitted by Raven Snook on Thu, 11/22/2012 - 12:00pm

We were all about Thanksgiving, Black Friday and the start of the holiday season this week. We officially launched our NYC Holiday Guide, which is chock-full of the best places to see Santa, Christmas tree and menorah lightings, various versions of The Nutcracker and more seasonal fun.

Our sister sites are also gearing up for the holidays. New Jersey and Boston have already launched their Holiday Guides, and our Travel site rounded up Black Friday and Cyber Monday travel deals.

If you haven't gotten a chance to book a session at our Hurricane Sandy Holiday Portrait Fundraiser, which takes place on Saturday, December 2 at J&R Jr, now's the time. There will be fun family activities, discounted shopping and amazing kids' portraits courtesy of Stomping Ground Photo, with all proceeds going to Hurricane Sandy relief. It's a wonderful way to give back to those in need this holiday season.

Here's what else we covered on our NYC site this week:

This Week: Early Holiday Fun for NYC Families, Our Hurricane Sandy Fundraiser, Countdown to Thanksgiving

Submitted by Raven Snook on Thu, 11/15/2012 - 4:00pm

All of our sites are busy gearing up for the holiday season. In New York City, we've been working around the clock updating our Holiday Fun Guide with important info on big seasonal attractions like the New York Botanical Garden's Holiday Train Show, all of the different Nutcracker ballets dancing around town and next week's main event: Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Our regional sites have been very focused on Turkey Day this week, with posts about family-friendly restaurants serving Thanksgiving dinner in New Jersey and Fairfield County, Connecticut, while our Boston site has a mouth-watering list of Thanksgiving recipes from the 1600s that are so easy, kids can help make them. If you're thinking of travel, we've posted a list of Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday travel deals.

While the holidays are a magical time when our communities come together and go all out with sparkling lights and holiday displays, this year it's a bittersweet experience since we're all still worrying about those whose lives were derailed by Hurricane Sandy. That's why we here at Mommy Poppins were inspired to organize a Holiday Portrait Fundraiser, equal parts holiday photo session and family party, with all proceeds going to Hurricane Sandy relief. Read on for details about this one-day-only event and everything else we covered on our NYC site this week.

This Week: New Route for Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, Things to Do Veterans Day Weekend, Still Recovering from Sandy

Submitted by Raven Snook on Thu, 11/08/2012 - 4:00pm

It's felt like the Hurricane Sandy show (with a brief cameo by an unnamed nor'easter) for the past few weeks and—aside from seeing people come together to help those in need, which has been inspiring—we haven't liked it one little bit. While our New York City, New Jersey and Connecticut sites are back up and running, our Long Island site is still dormant due to lack of power for our bloggers. It's a tricky balance to strike right now: Those of us who can are trying to get back to our normal routines, but we can't help but think about those who lost their homes or loved ones. We encourage you to continue to help victims of the storm in any way you can. We here at Mommy Poppins are planning to host an event to benefit Hurricane Sandy survivors in the coming weeks, so stay tuned for details.

We started gearing up for the holidays this week on our NYC site with a look at the brand-new route for Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. We've got tips on where to stand and the balloon inflation the night before. Meanwhile our Connecticut site shared the best Thanksgiving activities in Fairfield County, including details on Stamford's big parade. If you're wondering what to do on Monday when NYC public schools are closed in observance of Veterans Day, we've got lots of ideas in our weekend events roundup, including info on some holiday camps in case you can't afford to take the day off from work. We also have a great roundup of fall deals on kids' entertainment, home cleaning and more.

Here's what else we covered on our NYC site this week:

This Week: What's Open in NYC Thursday & Friday, How to Help Local Hurricane Sandy Victims, The Grinch's Holiday Workshop

Submitted by Raven Snook on Thu, 11/01/2012 - 4:00pm

All week, everything we've posted on our site and on our Facebook page has had something to do with Hurricane Sandy. What to do at home during the storm, what's open after the storm and how to help local victims. It's been exhausting and frustrating and devastating for everyone, to varying degrees. So many people are still in such dire need, and some are members of the Mommy Poppins family.

Our regional sites have been very quiet due to the hurricane. Most of our bloggers in New Jersey, on Long Island and in Connecticut are still without power, and some aren't even able to return to their homes. As the extent of the damage sinks in, we find ourselves with no words, so we're going to quote Shari, one of our New Jersey peeps: "Our thoughts and prayers are with you... I am writing this from a friend's home in Weehawken after having evacuated our home in Hoboken. I know that many of you are in a similar position and some, much worse. All the Mommy Poppins family send their thoughts and prayers to our readers and our entire state." To everyone affected by Hurricane Sandy in NYC and beyond, we are constantly thinking of you.

Here's what else we covered on our NYC site this week:

What's Open on Thursday & Friday for NYC Kids: Activities and Specials While School Is Out

Submitted by Raven Snook on Thu, 11/01/2012 - 9:00am

New York City is, slowly but surely, starting to recover. Buses hit the streets on Wednesday and subways started rolling again in parts of the city today (bonus: public transportation is FREE on Thursday and Friday. You can see a map of which subways are running on the MTA website.) And although public schools are closed through Friday, restaurants, culture spots and other places are beginning to reopen—save for businesses in neighborhoods that were hard hit by the storm like Coney Island, the Rockaways, much of Staten Island and downtown Manhattan, which is still without power. Even as life gets back to normal for much of NYC, it's important to remember our neighbors in need. Something we should all keep in mind, even as we start getting out and about again.

Since schools are out for the rest of the week, many kid-centric spots are offering special activities on Thursday and Friday. Here's where to take the family through the end of the week.

Latest posts by Raven Snook

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