Fitness: Giveaway for your pet

Now that you’ve taken the emBARK on Pet Health campaign pet health pledge, win a pet health kit for your pooch!

The giveaway includes:

·       Sergeant's Whiff Shampoo

·       PurLuv Sizzlin Strips

·       SENTRY Petrodex Dental Kit

·       SENTRY Calming Collar for dogs with Good Behavior pheromone technology

·       Sergeant's Vetscription Joint Eze Plus

It’s easy to enter – just leave your name (not your pet’s name) and email below.

One winner will receive the package.

Fitness: Your Healthy Pet

After pledging to keep my dog healthy through the emBARK on Pet Health campaign I volunteered with my children at Spring Farm Cares animal sanctuary in Clinton, NY.

At this shelter and adoption center, you spend a little time cleaning and then get to play with kittens and help socialize them. The sanctuary is near Hamilton College, where my older daughter is a senior, and students who miss their pets from home often volunteer here.

My daughter volunteered here so many times that she got my brother to adopt to the kittens from Spring Farm Cares, pictured here.

In the NYC region, these shelters received pet health kids from the emBARK on Pet Health campaign:

Bergen County Animal Shelter and Adoption Center

100 United Land

Teterboro, NJ 07608

201-229-4600 ext 4606

Humane Society of Atlantic County

1401 Absecon Blvd

Atlantic City, NJ 08401

609-348-8033

Guardians of Rescue

34 E. Main St., Suite 303

Smithtown, NY 11787

631-946-0815

iI you haven’t already, take the pledge at the emBARK on Pet Health site.

Spring Break Plans

Checking into a hotel can be a painful process, made even more difficult with whining kids.

Think about it. You just pulled up after a long drive, or flew in – which means you took a cab or train to the airport, waited in line, sat strapped in a seat, took another cab or a courtesy shuttle to a car rental counter and waited again.

So for a little kid (or even a big, grown-up adult) that check-in counter is the last straw.

Not so at DoubleTree by Hilton hotels.

At check in, they literally turn pouts into smiles with warm chocolate chip cookie for all.

This little gesture is particularly welcome at Spring Break, when families across the US all cram in a family vacation.

If you haven’t planned your spring break trip yet, you are in luck. I am co-hosting a twitter party with The Motherhood & DoubleTree by Hilton properties.

Join the party to learn what to look for when selecting a hotel, tips for traveling with children and trip location suggestions. Share any plans for the upcoming Spring Break and advice based on your past family vacation experiences. We'll also be talking about family-friendly packages at select DoubleTree by Hilton properties.

When: Tuesday, March 12, at 1 p.m. ET (the party will last one hour)

Where: We’ll be on Twitter – follow the #DTSpringBreak hashtag to track the conversation. See the details and RSVP .

Hashtag: #DTSpringBreak

Prizes: DoubleTree by Hilton will give away five total prizes. Four prizes will consist of tins of DoubleTree by Hilton's signature cookies (one tin for the Q1 winner, two tins for the Q2 winner, etc), with one grand prize of a free two-night stay at any DoubleTree by Hilton location. Winners will be chosen randomly from among participants who respond correctly to trivia questions.

Vegetarian Reuben Love: a lifetime in the making

In the 1970s, when I shopped in Manhattan with my mother, we always had lunch at Lord & Taylor or B Altman’s.

I remember once ordering a Reuben sandwich. It sounded really cool to me.  Trouble was, I hated pumpernickel bread, sauerkraut and Swiss cheese.

Then there was the thousand island dressing.  This is essentially mayonnaise and ketchup, both of which I’ve always despised.

So I customized. I asked for a Reuben on rye, with no dressing, sauerkraut or cheese. The waitress said, 

‘So you want a corned beef sandwich.’

‘No,' I insisted. 'A Reuben.’

Flash forward a few years.  Ok, decades.

As a vegetarian, I will never order corned beef. But I love sauerkraut, Swiss cheese and pumpernickel bread.

So I just had to get the veggie Reuben at Thistle Hill Tavern. This sandwich is made with beets, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese and excellent Orwashers rye bread.

I still hate mayo and ketchup, and I’m not sure what condiments were on the sandwich, but it was a glorious, messy delight. And if that waitress from long ago want to claim it’s not really a Reuben, so be it.