Rookie USA Grand Opening with Carmelo Anthony this Friday, October 12

I'm a huge fan of the Rookie USA store on the Upper West Side, and so I couldn't be happier to be sharing the news that they are having their Grand Opening celebration this Friday, October 12.

In addition to a full day of giveaways, raffles and prizes as well as a live D.J., there will also be the chance to meet Carmelo Anthony from 5-6pm.

Yes, THE Carmelo Anthony of the New York Knicks. To receive a wristband to meet Carmelo Anthony, just be one of the first 200 people to make a Jordan/Melo purchase on Friday. Please note: you will not be able to join the autograph line without a wristband, and no outside product is allowed.

To learn more about the great athletic apparel and shoes available at Rookie USA, check out photos of the store here and just some of the great brands like Nike and Levis you'll find at Rookie USA here.

To keep up with all the happenings at Rookie USA, follow them on Twitter @RookieUSA and via the hashtag #RookieUSA, and like them on Facebook /RookieUSA.

Rookie USA is located at 808 Columbus Avenue @99th Street.

Disclosure: I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been
compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and Rookie USA #CBias #SocialFabric. All opinions are my own.

Magpie goes to her first basketball game! Go Rutgers!

Twitter, the gift that keeps on giving. First, I won Pee-wee Herman tickets. And then, I won two tickets to the Rutgers Women's Basketball game against Syracuse from NJ.com.

The Rutgers tickets were perfect because they were for last Sunday's game, and I had hoped something super-fun was going to drop out of the sky (or in this case, the Internet) because my daughter Kay had a friend coming over and I just didn't see a lot of harmony going on between those two and Magpie. Also, at the ancient age of seven, I felt Magpie was well over-due for a basketball outing, and I had heard the college women's games were just perfect because you can sit really close to the court and see all the action.

Of course, my husband jumped at the chance to take Magpie. I'm sure this is because he had been secretly yearning for a special father-daughter outing, and had absolutely nothing to do with avoiding the alternative activity - supervising two five-year-olds and a toddler. Whatever the motivations, they had a blast at the game. I highly recommend catching a college basketball game with your kids, the tickets aren't very expensive (ranges from $10 for general admission up to $30 for reserved court side) and you may even be there on a fun giveaway day like ours:

In addition to watching the actual basketball game:

Magpie was the first to admit she also loved the cheerleaders:

And of course, the team's mascot, the Scarlet Knight:

The Rutgers regular season ends on Monday, February 28, with a 7pm game at Seton Hall in South Orange, NJ which I'm can only imagine is a big deal.

All photos taken by Magpie with her very own camera that she really wishes I would stop borrowing whenever I forget to charge my own.

Fun Handprint Art Projects for February: Chinese New Year, Super Bowl Sunday and Endless Winter

With so many folks getting directed here from Search looking for Handprint Art Projects to do with kids, I've decided to start doing a round-up each month. Here's what I have for a fabulous February of handprints:

Chinese New Year starts this Thursday, February 3, ushering in the Year of the Rabbit.

Activity Village has a really fun dragon that is made from cut-out or painted handprints. This is a great project for a lot of kids, as you can just keep adding handprints to the dragon's body.

Picture from ActivityVilliage.co.uk

If you're looking for more crafts for Chinese New Year, including ones featuring rabbits, they have plenty to choose from here.

This Sunday, Feb. 6, brings The Superbowl which I hear from sportsball fans is a big game, maybe even The Big Game.

Play With Me has a great handprint football project. My husband reports that the teams playing are the Pittsburgh Steelers (Black and Gold) and the Green Bay Packers (Green and Yellow) if you want to tie those colors in, too.

Picture from Playtimewithmommy.blogspot.com

And last, a round-up of February wouldn't be complete without a mention of The Snow that has been particularly widespread this year. Where I live on the East Coast we haven't seen our lawn since December.  And with the snow coming down now, I don't think we'll be seeing it anytime soon.

Playtime with Mommy has some adorable Handprint Mittens, perfect for celebrating any wintry February day. She has a lot of other fun crafts too for making the most of these snowy days.

Picture from Playtimewithmommy.blogspot.com

What holidays did I forget? Tell me what other days you celebrate, and more importantly, do you celebrate with handprint crafts?

Happy February!

PS If you're looking for Handprint crafts for Valentines Day, they got their own post.

Represent!

Go Phillies!

Magpie: Kickball Week 2

Magpie started kickball last week. The first week was filled with the thrill of the game. But the second week? I guess the thrill had already worn-off. I didn't attend the game, but this is the update I got:

Me: How was kickball today?
Husband: Fine, oh fine.
Me: Did she seem to improve from last week, or the same?
Husband: The first two innings she played, the last three innings she held a worm. When she was in the outfield, she insisted on everyone coming over to see the worm. When she was at bat, she ran the bases holding the worm and pointing things out that Wormie (the worm was named) might find of interest.

Magpie: Kickball Week 1