Sonia's blog

I don’t like grocery shopping—it's one of my least favorite chores. I usually leave the supermarket feeling like I’ve spent too much money and questioning the quality of my purchases. While I've been slowly making the move to organic food, the prices at big-chain organic retailers can be dizzying plus I'd really like to shop locally. So I started looking into alternative options.

In the past, we've written about joining a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture groups), shopping at the city's greenmarkets and even growing your own indoor vegetable garden. But you can also consider joining a local food cooperative. There are a number of food coops in New York City (and not just the famous one in Park Slope, either). While currently all food coops are located in Manhattan and Brooklyn, there are efforts to start additional ones in other boroughs. We've got the scoop on how to find and join a NYC food coop, and how your family and your community can benefit.

We love comic books and comic cons almost as much as we love freebies. Put the two together and we're giddier than Iron Man with a new gadget (or girl).

This Saturday, May 4 is the annual Free Comic Book Day when shops across the country give away certain issues at no cost. We've got the scoop on how to find a participating comic shop near you, as well as details on two free comic cons in the Bronx this month, including the annual Kids Comic Con.

One look at our NYC Party Guide and it's clear there are a slew of birthday party places for kids in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island. But if you assume there aren't any awesome spots to celebrate your child's big day in the Bronx, think again. The Boogie Down borough actually has a small but growing list of cool party spots for kids, from old favorites like the Bronx Zoo and the New York Botanical Garden, to the recently opened Van Cortlandt Park Ice Skating Rink and swanky Riverdale play space Kidaroo.

As a Bronx mom with three little ones whose birthdays are spread out throughout the year, I find myself in a perpetual state of party planning. And while we've had many a house party, I’ve found that once I factor in food, decorations, favors, etc., it costs just as much as a destination bash, especially in the Bronx, where packages are usually less expensive than they are in Manhattan. Plus I don't have to deal with the cleanup! Here are ten great birthday party places in the Bronx with options for kids of all ages and interests.

My nine-year-old son has had happy feet practically since birth. He already has many years of tap-dancing under his belt and he took ballroom dancing in his school last semester. He was thrilled to be dancing (in school, no less!) and quickly picked up the foxtrot, merengue, swing dancing and even the tango. The ballroom dancing program hadn't even wrapped before he was asking if he could continue to take lessons outside of school.

I said of course... but then I started doing the research. To my surprise, while there are plenty of schools that offer one-off classes here and there like flamenco or salsa, and lots of ballroom dancing studios for adults, there aren't that many programs for children that focus solely on the genre. However, I did find a handful of NYC spots that can give your little movers and shakers a dedicated ballroom dance experience, plus info on how you can bring ballroom dancing to your kids' school.

Some kids are content to sit and watch others fly gracefully above their heads. And then there are the ones who crave the adrenaline rush and, let's face it, the coolness of being able to say nonchalantly, "Yeah, I've totally been on a trapeze before."

If you've got one of those young thrill-seekers at home, it may be time to consider aerial arts classes. Flying trapeze isn't the only way to swoosh through the air. At these six circus spots, including the brand-new Aerial Arts NYC in Midtown East, kids can learn how to defy gravity on silks, ropes, the lyra (a.k.a. aerial hoop) and more, all on safe equipment under the watchful eye of experienced instructors.