I'm thrilled that the website of Working Mother has recently had a makeover—and that I have plenty of articles on the good-looking new site. In August, I...

...interviewed Jenae Heitkamp, co-founder of iBesties, a doll line that tries to make business and technology as cool as fashion and pop stardom. 

...spoke with Stacey Boyd, founder of Schoola, a site that accepts old kids' clothes, sells them online at a discount, and gives the profits to schools. 

...asked a fashion maven for easy ways to transition a summer work wardrobe into fall. 

...rounded up items that make it easier for returning mothers to breastfeed in the office. 

...got expert advice for how to shake up Date Night. 

This month, on Working Mother's website, I...

...interviewed Chris Nee, the creator/showrunner of Disney Junior's Doc McStuffins (and she was the best). 

...asked fathers for important things they learned during their paternity leaves. It made it clear that dads should definitely stay home, too, if they can.

...rounded up the most extreme donuts in the country for National Donut Day, then found options for 11 healthy desk-drawer snacks to keep on-hand instead. 

...created a head-to-toe guide for staying comfortable at work while pregnant. 

...shopped for the best work life accessories for spring. 

...lamented that Mothers' Equal Pay Day comes even later in the year than Women's Equal Pay Day. 

...asked doctors for posture tips for working, even if you have a newfangled standing desk. 

...recapped Working Mother Media's amazing 2015 Multicultural Women National Conference. 

Part of the reason I've been so behind in posting my clips is that I've started a new, full-time job as a writer and editor at Working Mother magazine. Already, I've had some interesting assignments, including...

...showing how Mad Men's Matthew Weiner is a champion of working mothers. 

...finding the companies with the most extreme maternity leaves. 

...asking a host of HuffPost Live about naming her daughter after herself. 

...finding the most enviable programs for Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day.

...looking into the gender wage gap for Equal Pay Day.

...decoding the Supreme Court's ruling on pregnancy discrimination.

...highlighting why mompreneurs are important to the business community and shouldn't be ignored.

...soliciting advice from an expert on what women need to do for a personal finance tune-up.

...asking a professional organizer how to de-clutter for spring cleaning. 

...talking with a participant in Habitat for Humanity's Women Build Week about how the organization benefits working moms.

...offering advice to kids—and parents—separating for sleep-away camp for the first time and taking care of pets for first-time owners.

...rounding up the best spring work/life accessories, confidence-boosting books, Earth Day board games, Cinco de Mayo books, Memorial Day cookout must-haves, and gifts for elementary school grads and high school grads.

The Daily Meal Gift Guide

Quoth the editors of The Daily Meal: "To help you tackle your epic Christmas list this year, we sought the help of some of the top editors and planners in the entertaining world who know a thing or two about choosing the best gifts." Hey, that's me! Yes, this happened way back in 2013, but I'm just circling back to it now. I was approached to give my best gift suggestion for seven different types of recipients: the host, the beer/wine drinker, the coffee/tea drinker, the cook, the baker, the wannabe food critic, and the traveler. Luckily, none of my picks are too tied to the holiday season—feel free to use them for birthdays, hostess gifts, and gifts you just give to yourself. 

Pictured: Fred & Friends Ninja Bread Men cookie cutters, available at Amazon.com.

For the October issue, I conducted a survey of local residents, asking them about sex, money, politics, religion, and the county for a feature titled "What Westchester Really Thinks." You can download the PDF, or read it online here.

For the June issue, I produced a positively huge, 20-page feature on ways to have seasonal, summertime fun in Westchester County. Plenty of my own writing is sprinkled throughout. You can download the PDF, or see it online here.

For the "Get Outdoors in New York City" issue of Time Out New York, I checked out the scene at the McCarren Park Pool. Click on the images below the splash, and you'll also see the quotes I got from people visiting the pool.

McCarren Park Pool

The last time lines snaked from the imposing brick entryway down Lorimer Street, Sonic Youth was set to perform at the last of JellyNYC’s Pool Parties. After the facility’s $50 million renovation, the queues have returned, formed by families eager to try the new 1,500-person-capacity swimming hole. But even with more than a thousand swimmers, everyone has enough room.

Kids have their run of the deck at the top of the massive 37,571-square-foot U-shaped pool, splashing their way through spray fountains and shallow paddling areas. Make for the other side, where the families thin out and the water, accentuated by the painted bottom, looks Mediterranean blue. Patrons are more relaxed here, either cooling off with a dip, sunbathing, swimming in the designated lap lanes or playing volleyball in a sand court off to the side.

Be warned: Rules are strictly enforced, especially after the local press reported fights, arrests and theft (just try a backflip into the water now). You must leave everything except your towel, water bottle, sunblock, bound reading material, and flip-flops or sandals (no sneakers)—yes, even your cell phone—in a locker, for which you must provide your own lock. For more regulations, visit nyc.gov/parks.

Lorimer St between Bayard St and Driggs Ave, Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Daily 11am–3pm, 4–7pm; free. Through Monday, September 3, 2012.

 

Click through to see the article and quotes at Time Out New York.

 

Photograph: Marielle Solan

New York Apartments 2012: East Village

Time Out New York does a great feature package on apartment hunting every year, and this time around I got to profile three East Village hunter/renters. (Each profile also has a slideshow of the apartment.)

2 Cooper, luxury 2BR apartment, East Village

Mid-Range 3BR apartment, East Village

Bargain 2BR apartment, East Village

I also got to hear (and retell) this crazy story about a major setback that occurred during one apartment search:

THE SEARCH: After looking on sites like Naked Apartments (nakedapartments.com), StreetEasy (streeteasy.com) and Craigslist (craigslist.org)—the latter of which can be “very misleading,” notes Hull—the three roommates found an apartment and signed the papers. “On our move-in day, [the broker] called and told us there was one guy still in the apartment,” says Van Brunt. “John and Tony went to talk to him. He opened the door with the chain on and said, ‘This is my apartment, and that’s why I’m in here and you’re out there.’ We were basically homeless for two weeks. We found another apartment managed by the same company on 9300 Realty [9300realty.com]. It was a nicer place, with a balcony, a dishwasher and washer-dryer, [in] a better location. We said, ‘Give us that apartment at the agreed-upon rent, even though it should be a little more, and prorate us [this month], and we’ll be fine.’ ”

 

Photograph: Jakob N. Layman

 

The Commuter's Guide to Grand Central Terminal
Where to eat, shop, marvel, have a cocktail, play a round of tennis, and shoot a film—all while rushing to make the 6:12.

Grand Central Terminal may be in New York City, but it really is our domain. City residents never pay much mind to the beautiful Beaux-Arts building unless they have to take a trip to the northern suburbs. We Westchester commuters scuff our shoes daily on the terminal’s Tennessee marble floors.

Still, we don’t always take the time to appreciate the smart design, the impressive engineering, the meticulous planning that goes into keeping the transportation hub humming. Often, because we’re running for a train. But, before we pop our earbuds in and sit on a comfy Metro-North seat, we should take a moment to soak it all in. After all, it’s one of the greatest buildings in New York—at least according to New York magazine, which gathered a panel of experts in early 2011 to name the best New York City buildings of all time. “Grand Central creates a new type,” Barry Bergdoll, chief curator in the department of architecture and design at the Museum of Modern Art, told the magazine. “It’s really an indoor urban room that’s absolutely stunning.”

If that wasn’t enough, within its walls there are retail stores brimming with worthy last-minute gifts, gourmet goodies at every turn, a cocktail lounge that looks like it was transported from the piazzas of Florence, and even a tennis court. Here, we present our commuter’s guide to getting the most out of Grand Central. At the very least, it’ll give you another reason to feel superior to those Long Islanders, who have to come into the City via the hellish subterranean maze that is the current Penn Station.


To read the rest of the article, either click through or download the PDF above.