I’m an avid coffee shop-goer, and coffee lover, I get serious withdrawals if I can’t get my daily latte. May not be healthy habit, but it’s the coffee that keeps me going. I luv Starbucks, but my passion is visiting small coffee shops with freshly roasted and grounded coffee, and that little extra ingredient called personality. One of my finds in New York city is Kaffe 1668 (275 Greenwich St, in Tribeca), which drew me in with the name – had to be the real Scandinavian deal, and as I learned, the owners are from Sweden, and I even got my favorite Swedish chocolate balls there with my latte. (And you thought we Scandinavians only ate meatballs)

But it’s the Finn in me that enjoys not just seeing Scandinavian things, but Finnish things around the world. And Kaffe 1668 surprised me with homey coffee mugs, from Finland. I have written about Arabia’s Teema dinnerware before, it is a modern classic, and one of the most popular collections of Scandinavia.

Kaffe 1668 is worth your visit for the chocolate balls, free wifi and authentic Scandinavian atmosfär and great coffee from even better coffee mugs.

Read more about Kaffe 1668

Bubby’s is one of the most popular brunch restaurants in Tribeca, New York City. Tribeca is worth a Sunday visit even if you’ll just go and have a brunch at Bubby’s.

Bubby’s is famous for its traditional American home cooking, large pies made from the scratch and displayed for everyone to admire, and their homemade drinks. The atmosphere is friendly, relaxed and the feeling is somewhere between a small town diner and a hip urban corner cafe. The menu offers Mexican surprises, but I didn’t try anything “new and exciting” at the Bubby’s. Kids and me tried the fluffy pancakes and omelettes, I sticked to the basics.

The only downside.. the prices are New York prices. Expect to pay 17 bucks for your traditional Sunday breakfast with some eggs, hash browns, and toast.

What to try at Bubby’s: homemade style pies.. too many to choose from, but the cherry gets the highest amount of recommendations from the regular customers. Homemade lemonade and soda is rumored to be the greatest in Manhattan. I don’t know what to say to that – Bubby’s is so far the only place in Manhattan, where I have even seen homemade sodas so far!

The Jimmies rocked the 92YTribeca on Sunday! 92YTribeca is an arts and entertainment venue located on 200 Husdon Street, NYC, and The Jimmies were performing part of 92YTribeca’s B.Y.O.K. series.

The concert was at 11 AM, and I think due the daylight savings time it felt even earlier than that. Well, an hour earlier. I had hard time getting kids up the bed on time, it’s over an hour drive from where we live, but we made it. We all were happy that we made it on time, and saw The Jimmies. The Jimmies is now The Best Band Of All Times according to my three children.

My kids (who are 6, 7 and almost 9 years old) were pretty much double the age of the other kids in the audience, but The Jimmies isn’t just for tots, their songs are a collection of different music styles, from reggae to rap and from country to pop, and I can almost guarantee even every parent can pick a song they like to listen (even when the kids are not around).

I loved how the 92YTribeca was dressed up for a kids’ concert.

… and how The Jimmies let the kids be part of the band
with these home-made maracas.

After the concert we had an opportunity to talk to the band, and I am so impressed how the band members took time to answer all of my kids’ questions, and play over and over again with my kids with The Jimmies personalized Whoopie Cushions and the bubble machine. Little did they know that my kids had never owned a whoopie cushion before and it was like the best thing since spreadable chocolate and my two youngest ones just wouldn’t let the band members alone after getting such an amazing gift from them. The lead singer Ashley is so nice, perfect with kids, and I am a fan of The Jimmies for life, just from speaking to her wonderfulness.

Kris, Gaby, me, Ashely of The Jimmies and Isabella

After the concert we met Jyl of Mom It Forward, who was in town for the weekend. We had brunch the Triceba way, at the Bubby’s, and we loved seeing pictures of Jyl’s two children, who are around the same age as Kristian and Isabella, and we were already planning on a family meet-up in Park City Mountain Resort in Utah later this year. I couldn’t have planned a fun Sunday with kids and friends any better! Only one bad thing… now my kids have been bugging me that they Have To join twitter, because that’s where Jyl (@Jyl_momIF) and Ashley (@pluckypea) are too!

Isabella, Jyl, Gaby & Kris

PS. Check out the NYC Mama’s blog post about the same concert

92Y Tribeca is a 92nd Street Y’s exciting new arts and entertainment venue offering variety of entertainment for the whole family. I just heard about their B.Y.O.K. (Bring Your Own Kid) series, and I’m so excited about taking kids to see The Jimmies on Sunday (March 8th at 11 AM).

If you haven’t heard of The Jimmies yet, check them out, and listen to their song Taddy in the below video. I love the tunes, lyrics are fun, and music that both my kids and me like to listen. I’ll get you a full scoop of The Jimmies after we see them live this weekend or you can already download a few of their tunes on the go.