Mommy FTW

I think twitter is an amazing way to get and share news about your neighborhood, talk to brands directly, and just have fun. I follow a lot of twitter accounts of websites that I read regularly because they will often post extra information – little tidbits, pictures, and news updates – and the brands will sometimes post about special sales, contests, and promotions.

Try twitter, even if you just want to follow people and not post. It's great! Plus, people will think you are cool.

So, if you give twitter a try, here’s my list of people you should think about following:

Brands:

Huggies – Huggies – my diaper of choice for Cameron, weather its their Little Movers, Overnights, or Little Swimmers. Whoever does their twitter is amazing. They are really active with the community, and love to share everyone’s pictures and advice.  Plus, there are lots of giveaways!

PullUpsBigKid – Huggies Pull Ups – for those of you who are potty training, get expert advice.

Sephora_Expert – An expert from Sephora (which is also on twitter) that gives expert advice and will specifically answer all your beauty questions. Go ahead, ask them a question!

FreshDirect – Fresh Direct – the grocery delivery service.  They offer lots of specials via twitter.

diapersdotcom – Diapers dot com – My go to spot when I’m in a pinch for baby supplies. Who can resist free overnight shipping?

PatagoniaNYC – Patagonia – Find out when the sales are on, and get excellent customer service. They even put Cam’s sizes on hold for me to be sure what I needed was there when I got to the store.

CCCalifornia – C and C California – I love this company’s super soft tee’s and clothing. Follow them to find out about all the sales and specials going on.

Neighborhood news / local bloggers:

PolishBar_Bklyn – Polish Bar of Brooklyn – This local mani-pedi spot is my favorite in the neighborhood.

Brownstoner – Brownstoner.com – Get up to the minute updates on what’s going on in brooklyn.

OneHungryMama – OneHungryMama.com – Get great food + kid related info.

fortgreenepark – fortgreenepark.org – Get local news straight from the Fort Greene Park Conservancy.

PrattArea – prattarea.org – The Pratt Area Community Council

LOVEofBROOKLYN – fortheloveofbrooklyn.com – If you love photography and you love Brooklyn, then you will really enjoy these tweets.

BrooklynKids – brooklynkids.org – the Brooklyn Children’s Museum – get the latest scoop on the new exhibits and activities.

achildgrows – achildgrowsinbrooklyn.com – All the news any Brooklyn parent can use.

clintonhillblog – ClintonHillBlog.com – Covering news specific to our ‘hood.

BKLocal – fort-greene.thelocal.nytimes.com – the New York Times Local covering Fort Greene and Clinton Hill.

bklynbotanic – bbg.org – the Brooklyn Botanic Garden – see pictures, and learn about events.

PATHBrooklyn – parentsaroundthehill.com – See the latest from Parents Around the Hill.

camerongood – See what my son Cameron is up to. I post lots of pictures, and we check in on Gowalla, so you can see where we are at.

mrsbetsygood – That’s me! I tweet a lot about neighborhood news, as well as random stuff about my life in general.

I was walking down Myrtle to the Post Office this morning and I decided to duck into Mr. CoCo to see what it looked like. Overall it seems pretty nice – it’s basically like a smaller version of Elly’s on DeKalb. They’ve got a small selection of produce which looks decent (for a bodega) lots of organic grocery items, and some frozen foods that Cameron likes to eat, including Dr. Praeger’s stuff.  I’m a little disappointed that they seem to be shrink wrapping some of their produce (see some of the peppers in the picture) – but overall, its not too shabby, and that’s more of a pet peeve of mine.  I asked the woman at the register if they were really open 24 hours, and she said yes.  So if anyone needs some organic milk at 2 am – you know where to check!

The Produce

The Frozens

Update: I passed by the tree on Friday evening and it looks like the limb removal was successful.  Hopefully it will recover just fine!

the Tree on Friday

Don't worry - It's not a goner!

This morning Cameron and I were playing in the playground at Fort Greene Park and I saw one of the park workers adjusting the tape around the gigantic tree that recently got hit by lightening.  I picked up Cam and we walked over to talk to her because I was curious to find out what the fate of the tree was going to be.  I was hoping they wouldn’t have to cut the whole thing down.  Well, thankfully, they won’t have to.

The park worker told me she had sent a picture of the tree to “Forestry” (I’m assuming those are the city-tree-expert-folks) and they said they thought they would be able to save it, and just remove the split part.  She said they would be coming by Friday with the chipper and chain saws.  Apparently there’s lots of trees down in the city, some in playgrounds, that have taken higher priority in terms of clean up than this one.

If you have a little one that loves machinery that makes loud noises (like mine does!) you might want to check in the park tomorrow to see if there is some chipping and chain saw action going down.

Clinton Hill Library (and all the Brooklyn Public Libraries) are asking for our help!  And, given how much time Cameron and I have spent there (for Story Time and just hanging out on cold and rainy winter days) I am more than happy to oblige.  If you are interested in supporting the Library and it’s programs here’s info on how to do it:

Donate to the Clinton Hill Library today!

Online: You can visit the Brooklyn Public Library website and make a donation there.  You can send your money anywhere – even specifically choose the Clinton Hill branch.

By Phone: You can call 718-230-2738 and make a donation.

Via Text Message: You can text BOOKS to 50555 to make a $10 donation.

By Mail: You can pick up an envelope at the front desk of the Libarary and mail in your donation.

If you have any questions, email them at supportourshelves@brooklynpubliclibrary.org

I am guessing you’ve spent money on Music Together or other types of classes for your child – so please consider sending some money to the Library.  They offer a great, free service to the community and deserve our support!

I know that I never felt as much a part of the Fort Greene / Clinton Hill neighborhoods as since I’ve had Cameron – mostly because I spend so much time walking the streets, playing in the playgrounds and parks, and meeting my neighbors.  Anyways, that’s why I do posts about neighborhood news – because I know most of my readers live in this part of Brooklyn, and I think they want to know whats going on in their ‘hood….

I was walking today down Myrtle to go visit the Pratt Post Office and I saw two new businesses opening – both are going to be Grocery options with Organic Items – one smaller than the other.

Two New Grocery Stores for Myrtle Ave. Bring it on!

You can learn more about them on the Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn Partnership website.  The store opening in the Walgreens Building (375 Myrtle Avenue between Clermont and Adelphi) is going to be opened by people who run a few Organic and produce markets on Fulton.  The smaller grocery, Mr. Coco says on the awning that it will be open 24 hours – that could be interesting.  It is located at 414 Myrtle Ave.   I wish them both luck!  And I hope the quality of the food is good – we could sure use that!

Now, on to the Post Office.  As you may know the Pratt Post Office is closed for repairs.  I finally got a note in my mail about it!  I went today to the Mobile Unit to pick up my P.O. Box Mail.  There are two Mobile Unit trucks parked at the Post Office during the hours of 9-4 M-F and 8-1 on Saturday.

Skip the Mobile Unit on Myrtle and head around the corner for some real service!

The truck out front only sells stamps – so don’t bother waiting in line there for anything else.  There is another truck parked in a small alley on the side of the post office which handles giving out the packages and the P.O. Box Mail.  Be sure to bring your ID if you need any of those items!

Hi all – I had two bits of Fort Greene / Clinton Hill news I wanted to share.

First – I was at Story Time yesterday at the Clinton Hill Library and it seems that the usual woman has moved libraries and is gone for good.  They have  a stand in named Steve (I think) and he didn’t give the impression that he was going to be the permanent person in charge.  He seemed a little awkward, but everything worked out fine.  I saw another mom who was at the later session and she said Steve told her class that they might not have the funding to keep Story Time going for more than 6 weeks.  I hope this isn’t true!  It’s such an amazing resource in the neighborhood.  Yesterday there was quite a crowd!

Lots of strollers yesterday at Clinton Hill Library

Secondly, I also went to the Pratt Post Office on Myrtle to get the mail from my P.O. Box.  I wasn’t sure what to expect since they quietly and quickly announced their closing.  There was a truck outside that was selling stamps (no money orders, according to the postal worker).

Get your stamps here....

They were also letting people in to use the APC machine and drop items in the big box in the foyer.  I was also allowed to walk into the actual post office and pick up my mail.  The postal worker said they decided to keep it like this until actual construction begins.  Sounds reasonable to me!  After that, she said, who knows.   Yikes….  She recommended that people with P.O. Boxes check their mail daily for now.