Founder & CEO of Mommy Poppins
Anna was born in Park Slope, spent her early years in the West Village. By the time she graduated high school, she had lived in 4 of the 5 boroughs. Growing up in NYC in the '70s meant the streets were her playgrounds. Museums and avant garde music venues were the kid-friendly activities. And living downtown taught her the importance of creating community for families in NYC.
Now, raising her own two children in the city, she tries to create the same sense of magic and community she felt growing up, despite today's more commercialized version of kid-friendly New York.
She started Mommy Poppins in 2007 to share a more artsy, educational, uncommercial, community-oriented vision of raising kids in New York City. Today Mommy Poppins is relied on by millions of families as the authority on the best things to do with kids beyond New York City: from Boston to Philly, Los Angeles, Houston and travel guides for dozens more cities and destinations.
Submitted by Anna Fader on
Radio City Music Hall is known for hosting huge spectacles on its football-stadium-size stage. And Cirque du Soleil is known for its enchantingly beautiful performances. Put them together and you get Zarkana, a visually stunning extravaganza of epic proportions.
Submitted by Anna Fader on
Lately, I've been privileged to forge some amazing partnerships. Last month we helped promote the Partners in Preservation effort that awarded $3 million in grants to local historic landmarks. Apple has asked us to present some of our recommendations for educational apps at the company's Upper West Side store (more info on that to come). And we have another fun event coming up with a large company whose name (sort of) rhymes with doodle. So things are really hoppin' around here!
But today, I want to announce a new partnership I am particularly excited about: the East River Ferry. Last summer, I wrote about my experiences riding on the East River Ferry and all the fun things my family and I did at the different stops. Not only is the East River Ferry a pleasant way to get from one place to another, an all-day pass is an awesome way to explore the different neighborhoods it services (Midtown, Long Island City, Greenpoint, Williamsburg, Dumbo and Lower Manhattan). This year, the folks at the East River Ferry and I teamed up to expand on the idea of my original post by creating a free pamphlet with 101 things to do along the East River Ferry route.
Submitted by Anna Fader on
Announcing the Sizzling Summer Camp Sale! Last year we hosted a big camp sale on our Poppins Perks site and it was so popular, many people asked us if we were going to do it again. Not only did we help hundreds of families save big on summer camps, we also raised enough money to help send five underprivileged teenagers to a week of sleepaway camp in the Catskills with Manhattan Youth.
This year's camp sale is just as great. We've got 15 summer camp programs offering deals of up to 66% off. We have lots of options, whether you're looking for a half-day preschool program, a week of full-day camp or several weeks of full-day day camp. There are even programs for those tricky weeks after school ends in June and those last few weeks of August before school starts again.
Submitted by Anna Fader on
There's nothing as priceless as family photographs that capture your beautiful children before they grow up. It's one thing that can't be put off until later; you've got to grab those cherubic faces before they change. Professional family portraits are a wonderfully special gift for family members. With Mother's Day and Father's Day right around the corner, we asked some of NYC's top professional photographers who specialize in family portraits to offer deals just for our readers.
Submitted by Anna Fader on
Spring Break is gone and it's time to be dreaming about summer vacation plans and long Spring weekends. Perhaps a special Mother's Day trip, hint, hint? This week's round up of family travel deals features some big dream vacations to places like Thailand, China, Mexico and a sweet road trip package to the Southwest US. Because some of these deals are so good, these vacations might become more than just a dream.
Submitted by Anna Fader on
Last week I posted a bunch of last minute spring break deals, but I think this week's crop of travel deals is even better. Whether your'e looking for a last minute getaway this week, or a Spring weekend getaway or a summer vacation deal, I found big discounts on trips to Montreal and Myrtle Beach, Philadelphia and South Beach and, of course, DisneyWorld, plus a bunch of hot destinations for this summer. These deals are so good, I'm tempted to go on these vacations myself. If you see I suddenly stop posting next week, you'll know why!
Submitted by Anna Fader on
I've long been a fan of Beam Summer Camp, a unique sleepaway camp where kids collaborate on different creative projects in building, science and art each session. So I was excited to hear that Beam is bringing its coolness to after-school workshops here in Brooklyn.
Submitted by Anna Fader on
As you know, Mommy Poppins has been sharing our expertise on the best things to do in the New York City area since January of 2007. We currently have destination sites for NYC, Long Island, New Jersey, Connecticut, Boston and Los Angeles. Now we're taking Mommy Poppins global with family vacation information from wherever our own travels take us.
On Mommy Poppins Travel, our mission is to help you discover exceptional experiences and magical vacation memories with a mix of bucket lists, slideshows, reviews and articles about the best places to travel with kids in the US, the Caribbean and Europe (for now). Plus weekly roundups of top travel deals.
Find our family travel site by clicking the TRAVEL link at the top of any Mommy Poppins page or go directly to travel.mommypoppins.com to see what we wrote about this first week. As with everything, the site is a work in progress. We're adding lots of new content every week so sign up for our weekly free Travel newsletters so you don't miss a thing. And I'd love it if you'd take our quick reader survey and tell us what you hope to see on the site.
Oh, and if you're wondering what will happen to our old Travel Guide, it will live on the NYC site as a NYC Day Trips and Weekend Getaways Guide.
Here's what else we shared this week (I'll give a hint, lots of deals, a huge giveaway and more awesome fun stuff to do).
