Happy New Year! New Year's is always a special time for Mommy Poppins because I started the site as a New Year's resolution five years ago (happy fifth birthday, MP!), and I wrote our popular list of 100 Things to Do in NYC with Kids the following New Year's. (Apparently I'm highly motivated by New Year's, who knew?). Unfortunately, I don't have anything that exciting up my sleeve today, but couldn't let January 1 go by without acknowledging some of the amazing new destinations we wrote about in 2011.

As we all know, NYC is constantly evolving with new attractions opening (and closing) all the time. While the pace of new kid biz openings seems to have slowed from its heyday a few years ago, there are still incredible places popping up in New York City. If you follow the site religiously, you will know about all of these, but for those of you who may have missed one or two of the approximately 500 posts we wrote this year, here's a rundown of our favorite new NYC attractions for families that opened in 2011.

This is the season for being grateful for what we have and helping others. I want to start this post by thanking you for being part of our Mommy Poppins community. Over the years we have had several opportunities to come together and make a difference for NYC families, and I am continually amazed by what we can accomplish when we do so.

The holidays are a time when many of us worry about overeating since we're faced with treats and feasts at every turn. But for some people this is not a problem. One in five children live in homes without enough food. Not in some distant place, but right here in NYC. It's a hard number to grasp, but true.

That's why I am inviting all of you to join me in an online food drive with a goal of feeding 10,000 children in NYC this holiday season. Please read on to find out more about this drive, and my personal reasons for believing this is such an important cause.

We love finding great deals for our readers so, as part of our focus on the Upper West Side this month, we got some of the best places in the neighborhood to offer you big discounts. Read on for discounts on two favorite kids' shows at Manhattan Movement & Arts Center, music classes from ABC Do-Re-ME!, a deluxe party at The Little Gym and huge savings on NY Kids Club—good at all six locations, including the UWS! If you like a deal, don't dawdle: Some of these discounts are so deep they have limited availability, first-come, first-served.

As you may know, we are featuring the Upper West Side on Mommy Poppins this month, writing about fun things to do, cool toy stores and places to eat, stay and play.

As part of our Upper West Side focus, we're hosting a Moms' Night Out with one of our favorite family spots in the neighborhood, Scribble Press, and it's a wonderful chance to take care of your holiday card and gift making.

When it comes to most things to do, NYC beats the suburbs hands down. Grocery shopping? Not one of them. Supermarket-deprived neighborhoods, walk-ups and lack of a parking (or even a car) make city shopping a challenge. For a long time FreshDirect has been a game changer for NYC families, but now there's a new option for online grocery shopping. This year, Peapod brought suburban grocery shopping to the City and I put it to the test.

Read on to find out how Peapod's new service in NYC stacks up to FreshDirect and how you can save a lot of dough on your groceries.

As you may already know, Mommy Poppins is growing, so we're looking for some new faces to join our team. We'd love to hear from writers who live in New York City, Westchester, Long Island and New Jersey, who want to help us create the best content for local parents.

We're looking for freelance bloggers to write reviews of local venues and events, as well as well-researched roundups of the top activities, classes and experiences for kids.

Read on for additional info about this opportunity, as well as instructions on how to apply.

Have you ever wondered how the blind are able to make their way around this crazy city we live in? Some days, navigating NYC with perfect vision is tough! Dialog in the Dark, a new exhibit at the South Street Seaport, invites visitors to experience New York City from the point of view (so to speak) of the blind and visually impaired.

When you enter the interactive installation Dialog in the Dark, you're given a white cane to help you find your way and then the lights are turned out—from this point on you're in complete darkness as you're led through several replicas of NYC environments. Each area has its own smells, sounds and things to feel. Part of the fun is figuring out where you are, so I won't give too much away, but I will give you a sense of what it's like.