By Taylor Smith
Step back in time to Medieval Europe while remaining in Manhattan? Yes, it’s possible. Just plan a trip to The Met Cloisters in Washington Heights’ Fort Tryon Park. North of the Bronx, The Cloisters is perched on a very high overlooking the neighborhood of Inwood and offering sweeping views of New Jersey’s Palisades, specifically the cliffs of Fort Lee and Englewood. more
By Taylor Smith
New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) is frequently recognized as one of the nation’s top public colleges for animation, as noted in the 2019 Animation School Ranking published by Animation Career Review.
Central to this distinction is NJIT’s B.A. in digital design with two tracks: entertainment and interactive media/production. Both programs offer undergraduate students experience in character design, color and composition, game modification, acting for animators, character development, and technology. more
By Taylor Smith
Intravenous (IV) nutrient infusions have long been available at hospitals and holistic wellness centers as a means of replenishing the body’s essential vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and electrolytes. Now, IV therapy is being used as a general wellness therapy in urban centers around the country, including New York City’s own NutriDrip (www.nutridrip.com). With locations in the East Village, Flatiron District, and Midtown East, NutriDrip’s DripLounges provide visitors with a liquid boost that can help to restore physical well-being and boost brain function. more
By Taylor Smith
Downtown Dental has opened a brand-new facility at 219 North Avenue West in Westfield, N.J. Under the direction of Dr. Paul Zhivago, Downtown Dental offers regular check-ups, cleanings, cosmetic evaluations, extensive restoration, and surgical work. more
By Taylor Smith
Most people use some form of technology throughout the day. Whether it’s listening to music, ordering an Uber, booking a dinner reservation, or responding to emails. Have you ever thought that those apps on your phone could be used to improve mental health? Below are some specific apps that can be used for potentially improving thoughts, feelings, sleep, and general happiness levels. more
By Taylor Smith
The official opening of the Jersey Shore’s new luxury boutique hotel, Asbury Ocean Club, is slated for summer 2019. Set in fun-loving Asbury Park, the 54-key oceanfront property will offer impressive amenities including an ocean-view pool and deck; 24-hour concierge and a beach bellperson for each guest; floor-to-ceiling windows in the guest rooms, which also feature expansive terraces with views of the Atlantic Ocean; a pampering spa; and state-of-the-art Technogym-equipped fitness center. more
By Taylor Smith
Spring is upon us, which means more sunshine, longer days, flowers blooming, and the desire to get out and explore! The North Jersey area offers a roster full of spring happenings, from foodie adventures to shopping opportunities and the celebration of nature. Here are a few to check out. Time to mark your calendar! more
By Taylor Smith
The story of the modern-day bra actually begins in the early 1920s in New York and New Jersey.
On Manhattan’s West 57th Street, dress shop owners Enid Bisset and Ida Rosenthal were critical of the flapper physique, which celebrated a narrow look and prompted many women to wear vests under their garments to give them a flat-chested look. Bisset and Rosenthal felt the “boyish” look was unnatural for women, and wanted to create an undergarment that emphasized a woman’s natural curves rather than diminished them. more
By Taylor Smith
The largest triathlon in New Jersey (and the region), the New Jersey State Triathlon will be held at Mercer County Park in West Windsor on Saturday July 20 and Sunday, July 21. The race is in the top 25 largest triathlons in the United States, and sells out every year. The average competitor pool is 3,500. more
By Taylor Smith
A host of summer classes at Seton Hall University in South Orange can help high school, college, and graduate students meet their academic and future graduation goals. The Department of Continuing Education and Professional Studies’ Summer Sessions will begin on May 21 and run through August 8. more
By Taylor Smith
Camps are not just for kids. For runners, a host of options are available across the country. Here are a few to check out…
https://www.craftsbury.com/running/running-camps/running-camps-home/
Based out of a cross-country ski center where Olympians train, Craftsbury Running Camps offers one workout few other camps do: biathlon practice. Daily running workouts are complemented by guided strength training, swimming, and mountain biking.
Did all that running work up an appetite? The campus dining hall is committed to making sure 50 percent of its ingredients are local. more
By Taylor Smith
Situated on Church Street, the latest bakery to hit downtown Montclair is decidedly French in scope and personality.
Owner and head baker Arben Gasi makes special effort to use New Jersey-sourced ingredients for the regional French menu. The majority of food products are from an urban farm in East Orange, and all of the cheese is made in the Garden State. “We use organic, stoneground flour so we minimize the loss of nutrients,” says Gasi. more
By Taylor Smith
D&R Canal
Frenchtown along the Delaware River
The Delaware & Raritan Canal stretches more than 77 miles along the Delaware and Raritan Rivers.The park crosses Middlesex, Mercer, Burlington, Somerset, and Hunterdon counties within New Jersey. It is one of the state’s most popular avenues for kayaking, canoeing, running, walking, bicycling, and fishing. It is also a valuable wildlife corridor with recent bird surveys revealing more than 160 species of birds, almost 90 of which nest within its borders. The upper portion of the canal includes stops in charming Frenchtown, Stockton, and Lambertville, which are great weekend destinations for the arts, dining, and shopping. more
By Taylor Smith
Weighted blankets have been used in niche medical communities for many years, but only recently have the suggested health benefits taken off as a newfound trend. Without a prescription or dramatic changes in one’s routine, weighted blankets have allowed some people to fall asleep faster and to feel less general anxiety.
These specific blankets are engineered to be 7-12 percent of your body weight to relax the nervous system and mimic the sensation of being held or hugged. Also known as “deep touch pressure stimulation,” many weighted blankets are designed to apply gentle weight to pressure points on the body. Similar to what is experienced during massage or yogic exercises, these pressure points can correspond to improved mood, feelings of safety, and relaxation. more
By Taylor Smith
The Architecture Digest Design Show, to be held March 21-24 at Piers 92 & 94 in New York City, is a four-day design destination peppered with special events and curated finds from over 400 brands in the luxury residential and hospitality worlds. Organized by sections (including Furnish, Refresh, Made, and Shops), special features are the AD Apartment and DIFFA’s Dining by Design. more
A memorable getaway could be less than an hour away
By Taylor Smith
Looking for a spring getaway, or the perfect place to host a special event? Now’s the time to visit one of these stunning inns, all located within the Garden State.
Courtesy of the Nassau Inn
The Nassau Inn
10 Palmer Square, Princeton
609.921.7500; www.nassauinn.com
A full-service hotel in downtown Princeton’s Palmer Square (www.palmersquare.com), The Nassau Inn is the ideal place for an escape or romantic getaway any time of the year. Offering historic charm with modern amenities, The Nassau Inn features the Yankee Doodle Tap Room, a beloved local gastropub with significant Princetontonian charm and history. During the winter, guests will enjoy the oversized stone fireplace and snug atmosphere. A favorite of Princeton students and alumni, visitors will notice the colorful mural painted by Norman Rockwell behind the bar. Past guests have left their mark in the surface of the dining room’s tables, and a famous photo gallery of noteworthy Princeton University graduates lines one wall. Live music is a staple, and the American grill menu is also served al fresco on the restaurant’s outdoor patio during the warmer months.
In walking distance to Princeton University, The Nassau Inn has always had a storied connection to the Ivy League institution. Originally opened in 1769 at 52 Nassau Street, The Nassau Inn was demolished and rebuilt in 1938 at 10 Palmer Square to make way for road adjustments and construction of today’s Palmer Square, the site of much of downtown Princeton’s shopping, dining, and even housing.
The hotel has 188 guest rooms and four banquet rooms with over 10,000 square feet of meeting and event space. A popular site for weddings any time of year, The Nassau Inn’s Prince William Ballroom is perfect for a joyful reception or a timeless candlelit dinner.
The Bernards Inn
27 Mine Brook Road, Bernardsville
908.766.0002; www.bernardsinn.com
World-class dining and accommodations come together at The Bernards Inn in Bernardsville. Called “the grand dame of the Somerset Hills,” The Bernards Inn offers four-star, farm-to-table gourmet cuisine. In addition, the executive pastry chef goes above and beyond to create spectacular desserts and wedding cakes. Managed by a team of wine directors, The Bernards Inn’s wine collection has been awarded the Best of Award of Excellence from Wine Spectator magazine for the past eight years. Each of the specially appointed guest rooms includes pastoral-themed oil paintings, architectural detailing, and antiques that capture the traditional settings of the great estate homes of the Somerset Hills. more
Fashion Designer Ann Lowe
By Anne Levin
In the annals of the accomplished whose work has gone largely unrecognized because of their race, Ann Lowe occupies a prominent spot. Lowe was an African American fashion designer whose lavish creations were coveted by the rich and socially prominent. While she earned such distinctions as Couturier of the Year and made the Who’s Who in American Women list, she rarely received the attention she deserved.
In 1953, Lowe designed the ivory silk taffeta gown that Jacqueline Bouvier wore for her wedding to John Fitzgerald Kennedy. The dress featured trapunto, a layering of fabrics to create a dimensional effect — a technique for which Lowe was known in fashion circles. But the future first lady is said to have credited “a colored woman” with creating the famous gown, neglecting to identify her by name.
Lowe’s designs made the pages of Vogue, Town & Country, and other popular fashion magazines. Her skill and artistry impressed French designer Christian Dior. At one point in her career, she had her own label and a store on New York’s Fifth Avenue. Her dresses were sold at Neiman Marcus, Henri Bendel, and Saks Fifth Avenue, where she was the head designer of a special boutique with a privileged clientele. Yet her genius was rarely recognized. more
Designer Danielle Frankel Focuses on Classic Tailoring and Fit
By Taylor Smith
Danielle Frankel launched her eponymous wedding dress fashion label in New York City in 2017 after having worked at both Marchesa and Vera Wang. It was Frankel’s own nuptials that spurred her to create her wedding dress designs, which are produced exclusively in the United States, along with veils, bras, jackets, belts, and jewelry. She began by taking her own private clients on a hunch that modern women were looking for something that was less Cinderella-inspired and more modern and aesthetically unusual.
For example, Frankel’s own wedding dress included a silk-faille coat dress with an off-the-shoulder collar. The look was inspired by her husband’s white button-down shirts. For the reception, Frankel chose a 90s-era silk-duchesse coat that she purchased at the Brooklyn Flea Market. A similar wedding dress design is available in her current collection (the Lou for $10,995). This aesthetic of clean lines and menswear-inspired tailoring soon caught the attention of buyers at Bergdorf Goodman, and her wedding dress designs are now available at Bergdorf’s in New York City as well as Mark Ingram and Moda Operandi Madison. The designer also has a presence at exclusive retailers in Dallas, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Tokyo, and Hong Kong. Her looks are sold online at Net-A-Porter.com and ModaOperandi.com. Both online retailers are committed to bringing the most cutting-edge fashion to people around the world. As stated on its website, Moda Operandi in particular aims to “connect you directly to the world’s best designers.” more
Photo courtesy of Camp Invention.
From Nature to STEM, Area Camps Offer an Abundance of Options
By Laurie Pellichero
While it’s just the beginning of spring, summer will be here before we know it. Now’s the time to start thinking about where to send the kids to camp – and make those reservations before they fill up. Here is just a sampling of the many options right here in the area, each unique in its own way.
Camp Invention
Camps held in Bridgewater, Chester, Cranford, Hillsborough, Madison, Somerset, and Vauxhall
800.968.4332; invent.org/camp
Camp Invention is a nationally-acclaimed summer program where STEM concepts come to life. Led by local teachers at area schools, the five-day program has tapped into kids’ natural curiosity since 1990, giving them the opportunity to become innovators through teamwork and immersive, hands-on creative problem-solving. Each year, the Camp Invention education team collaborates with National Inventors Hall of Fame inductees to develop a new, action-packed Camp Invention experience for children ages kindergarten through sixth grade.
With the 2019 program, Supercharged, campers will take on four exciting challenges. In Innovation Force, the children will collaborate with inventor superheroes and take on the role of engineers, fabricators, and innovators to conquer villains. Creative problem solving is the focus of Deep Sea Mystery, where campers team up to rebuild ships and design underwater equipment. In DIY Orbot, participants explore circuit boards, motors, and gears as they design a remote-control bot to take on obstacles from sports to dance. And kids will gain confidence in Farm Tech as they code bots to turn a polluted wasteland into a money-making machine and create devices to save animals. more
By Taylor Smith
Want to develop your creative craft or pen that novel that’s been living inside you? Do you have a passion for painting, drawing, sculpture, or film? Are you considering a teaching career in the arts? We’ve rounded up some top Master of Fine Arts programs in the Northeast that can add an extra spark to your resume and potentially help you to make that career change or land the job you’ve been dreaming about.
Columbia University
Location: New York City
Program: Applicants apply to either painting, printmaking, sculpture, photography, or “new genres.”
Length: 2 years
Famous Faculty: Nicola Lopez, Sanford Biggers, Gregory Amenoff, and Kara Walker.
Selling Points: If location is a determining factor, it doesn’t hurt to spend two formative years training and studying in Manhattan, arguably one of the largest art capitals in the world. Being an Ivy, Columbia also ranks high for exclusivity, accepting only two percent of applicants to Columbia’s MFA in visual arts. As of 2013, the program also offers a concentration in sound art, so if experimenting with audio is your forte, this is the place for you. more
By Stuart Mitchner
My only problem with a ceremonial institution like last month’s celebrating black history is in the way “history” implicitly detracts from the ongoing immediacy of the African American experience. “Lives” in my title can be read both as a reference to the lives of people and to the force that lives in the present, which happens when we listen to Charlie Parker or Billie Holiday, read James Baldwin or Frederick Douglass, admire a painting by Jacob Lawrence or a photograph by Gordon Parks, or go online to watch First Lady Michelle Obama’s stirring speech at the 2016 Democratic Convention.
The good news is that millions of people have been reading Obama’s memoir, Becoming (Crown $32.50), and David W. Blight’s Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom (Simon and Schuster $37.50).
Blight’s landmark biography begins with President Barack Obama’s September 24, 2016 dedication speech at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, in which he delivered “a clear-eyed view” of the “tragic and triumphant” experience of “black Americans in the United States.” After referring to “the infinite depths of Shakespeare and scripture” in black history, Obama paid tribute to “the fight for our freedom … a lifetime of struggle and progress and enlightenment … etched in Frederick Douglass’s mighty leonine gaze.” more
New Jersey’s Activist First Lady is also a Big Fan of Drumthwacket
By Wendy Greenberg | Photography by Tom Grimes
Tammy Snyder Murphy became aware of climate action some 24 years ago while living in Frankfurt, Germany, where her husband worked in financial services. “I was stunned,” she recalls. “People took cloth bags to grocery stores. They recycled trash, just as a matter of course. It opened my eyes.”
The personal commitment to sustainability was a lesson that is still with her today, as first lady of New Jersey. In fact, Tammy Murphy is a passionate advocate for several key issues,
the environment among them.
Since her husband, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, took office just over a year ago, Murphy has channeled a “can do” attitude, which she attributes to her parents, to support the agenda of her husband and Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver. She sees herself as a “convener,” and says, “There are four people in this office,” referring to three staff members and herself. “Tell us what you need. We’ll help get it done.” more
By Taylor Smith
On view through August 9, 2020, “T. rex: The Ultimate Predator” is sure to ignite the imaginations of visitors at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.
The new exhibit asks, “How did T. rex evolve to become the most fearsome carnivore of the Mesozoic?” Spectators can take in life-size models of the fearsome predator; fossils, casts, and interactive activities; and an immersive multiplayer virtual reality experience developed just for the exhibition. Children are sure to marvel at how this 12,000-plus-pound terror began as a tiny critter. They will also meet T. rex’s family members, some of whom are small and even have feathers! more
By Taylor Smith
Located in Northern New Jersey’s Morris County, Morristown has been called “the military capital of the American Revolution” for its strategic role in the war for independence from Great Britain. According to British records, the first permanent settlement of Morristown occurred in 1715. more
By Taylor Smith
Tucked into the mountains of Sparta in Northwestern New Jersey, Rock Island Lake Club is a wedding venue to remember. With the potential to personalize nearly everything, this is not your traditional banquet facility. more
By Taylor Smith
In case you haven’t heard, your gut health has a dramatic impact on your overall brain and body-wide health. The “good” bacteria found in probiotic rich foods can actually help improve the microbiome of your digestive system. The following are some of the best good bacteria-fueled foods to include in your daily or weekly routine. more
By Taylor Smith
Westfield’s premier cryotherapy center, Chill Cryotherapy, has announced its expansion into an adjacent storefront at 327 South Avenue West in Westfield, N.J. The business offers customized protocols for specific health and wellness concerns, such as weight loss, muscle recovery, anti-aging, and chronic pain. more
By Taylor Smith
For outdoor enthusiasts, the Bean Boot is one of the most iconic pieces of active footwear. Leon Leonwood Bean created the leather and rubber boots in 1911 to combat the problem of cold, wet feet during Maine hunting trips. In 1912, the Bean Boot (originally called the Maine Hunting Shoe) went on sale under the new company name, L.L. Bean. more
By Taylor Smith
Philanthropist and former Mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg recently announced on his Twitter account: “I’m giving $1.8 billion to @JohnsHopkins for financial aid so admissions can be permanently need-blind. I want to open the same door of opportunity that I had for generations of talented students, regardless of financial aid.”
The donation is the largest ever to a higher education institution. Bloomberg wrote in a following New York Times op-ed, “My Hopkins diploma opened up doors that otherwise would have been closed, and allowed me to live the American dream.” Bloomberg has stated that he was able to attend Johns Hopkins because of a National Defense student loan. more
By Taylor Smith
Each year, thousands of new movies are produced and released, and only a few are nominated for Academy Awards. Many of these chosen films actually began as books, plays, and short stories. Here is a collection of seven written works that have gone on to become beloved Oscar-winning films. more
