Uptown Mom is not exactly a baseball fan, but...

... living where I do means living 5 stops on the B-Train from Yankee Stadium, so GO YANKEES!!!

KOSHER CUPCAKES IN HARLEM?!?

As you may have heard, we have a new cupcake shop in the 'hood. Uptown Mom was not looking for a new cupcake shop; she is pretty happy with Make My Cake, which is very close to her home. However, the new shop, Tonnie's Minis, has just told me on the phone that they are KOSHER. I cannot personally vouch for either the hashgacha of the store itself, or the quality of the food -- I haven't been by the store yet in person -- but their Greenwich Village location is under kosher supervision, and assuming the uptown cupcakes are made in the same location, that will suffice for Uptown Mom's purposes. Even better, people really seem to like these cupcakes. And the price point is fantastic -- $20 for a dozen, and they do a baker's dozen on request. (By contrast, I paid $20 the other day to celebrate a family birthday with 5 cupcakes from Make My Cake.) In the holy name of research, Uptown Mom has ordered a dozen of them to supplement the homemade cake and other goodies we're making for a birthday party this weekend. I assume that the cupcakes will turn out to be smaller than those at Make My Cake, but those are enormous, and I'm not fearful that they'll be itsy-bitsy, since it sounds like they make an extra-small size (and I don't believe that's what I've ordered).

Will get back to you on both the deliciousness and the kashrut post-party! And if you already can comment on this new shop, please do chime in.

Life goes on.

I see with chagrin that I have once again allowed this blog to lie fallow for far too long. For that I apologize, dear readers. All I can say is that something must have happened while I was busy making other plans.

I’d like to extend a warm welcome to the many new parents and kids of Harlem – some new arrivals, some not, and some newborn! – with whom I’ve become acquainted in the months since I last updated this blog. I look forward to seeing more of you in the streets, parks, playgrounds and shops of Harlem in the months and years to come.

As always, if you know of events or resources for kids and/or parents in Harlem that you would like to see featured on this blog – or you just want to say hi! – please send me a message and I will do my best to oblige. I look forward to hearing from you.

Harlem Tae Kwon Do rocks.

So now I must kvell. My oldest son, after two years of "Peewee" classes, is now old enough for the big kids' classes at Harlem Tae Kwon Do, and he just qualified for his "green stripe", which required learning various kicks.

Harlem Tae Kwon Do rocks. The folks who run it are amazing at what they do and very very warm people. Their kids' classes are extremely reasonably priced relative to just about anything else our son could be doing with his afternoons ($60 for 1 class/week, $80 for 2 classes/week or $120 for unlimited classes), and just a wonderful combination of exercise, focus, discipline, and of course punching, kicking and yelling. (I've also taken the adult classes myself and I love them but find it tough to make them work with my difficult schedule. Working out at home is pretty much the only thing that really works with my schedule.)

R.I.P., Tribal Spears

Tribal Spears, a beloved gallery/cafe near my home, is closing this weekend. We will miss Tribal Spears and its energetic proprietors, who have poured themselves into this community, terribly.

Sorry to have abandoned this blog for the better part of a year

It's been an eventful year for everyone, including Uptown Mom and family. Events about which I failed to blog in the past year include the opening of an absolutely wonderful new playground in Morningside Park between 116th and 117th Streets, which happily replaced most of The Playground with the Dangerous Equipment, the sad untimely closing of Antoinette's and the incredible privilege of being in Harlem on the night of November 4, 2008.

So one of my resolutions for the new year is more consistent blogging.

Happy new year everyone!

Feel better, Representative Rangel.

Rep. Charles Rangel is in the hospital with the flu.

Speaking of one of the unlucky folks for whom this year's flu shot didn't work, I feel for you, Rep. Rangel.

Feel better soon.