NY Liberty Back to School Game & Performance from Disney's Laura Marano #Showup #NYLiberty

The countdown is on! Summer vacation here in the city is winding down and in less than a week the kids will be heading back to school and what better way to celebrate conquering a new school year than with a Back to School NY Liberty Game at Madison Square Garden? The Liberty is one of New York’s most successful teams and are even making a run to qualify for the WNBA playoffs and they are part of one of the most entertaining sporting events we've ever attended! On Friday September 9th, they'll be playing against the Connecticut Sun and making a run for the playoffs! And they need you to #Showup and cheer them on! 

As part of the fun-filled night they have an amazing half time show planned with a performance from Laura Marano of the Disney Show Austin & Ally who'll be singing her hit "Boom Box" and new song "Lala". Here's the details:

Macy's 4th of July Fireworks at Gantry Plaza State Park: Flashback to 2015

With just 3 days until the biggest day of Summer have you made your plans for the 4th of July? 2016 marks the 40th anniversary of the Macy's Fourth of July fireworks display and I'm sure it's going to be one of the best shows we've ever seen. Although the Lil' monsters and I have voted to stay home to watch the spectacular show of lights from our rooftop here in Queens we definitely think if you're up to it, going out to see it up close will be an amazing and fun filled evening. Sometimes it feels like by living in Queens we miss a lot of the cool events and parades, so I was so excited when we discovered last year we could take in amazing views of the city skyline, have the kids play in the park and relax with our favorite people right in the midst of the beautiful Gantry Plaza State Park as we counted down to the show above us. 

InStyle Magazine & Single Edition's Summer Social Connecting Bloggers + Brands

Summer may officially be over but we can still revel in the fantastic gatherings that kept us busy during fun-filled events for trend watchers. InStyle Magazine and Single Edition's Summer Social was a glitzy and stylish affair where Bloggers and Digital influencers connected with brands up-close and personal. Guests from all over excitedly headed to 404 NYC to get a taste (sometimes literally) of what's hot.

It was one big party! During the cocktail reception there were passed hors d'ouevres by Gardein, flowing wine courtesy of the Brancott Estate, and hot beats by DJ Olivia Dope. In fact, as soon as you walked in, many were being pampered with a manicure by Essie! It was truly a fabulous night. 

Ode a la rose, a florist based largely in New York City provided beautiful rose bouquets on every floor -- the piece de resistance being a larger than life arrangement in front of their station. I still can’t figure out how many dozen roses there were, can you?

Thierry Mugler rocked our worlds with their heavenly Angel scent and their out of this world Alien fragrance. The first thing that I noticed about Angel was the hint of pine needle!  A fun fact about this brand is that once you’ve purchased a fragrance by them, you can refill the bottle the next time your buy for a fraction of the cost. How cool is that? Completely outside of the box scent and packaging wise, Thierry Mugler’s booth was a major highlight for me.

 And speaking of highlights, I couldn’t believe how much I loved Gardein’s vegan snacks! From their Crispy Chicken to their Crab Cakes – everything they served was not only gluten free, but it wasn’t even actual meat. I am a staunch meat eater and they had me fooled. My favorite was the Beef Tacos. Toward the end of the night, I was tip-toeing to their booth to see how many times I could “sample” their treats.

New to me was Dickinson's witch hazel. As an avid user of all things natural, it was refreshing to get to meet the brand and sample a few of their cleansing cloths. An added bonus is that their wipes are soap and fragrance free for those of us with sensitive skin! My skin has never been more #SelfieReady!

Other brands of note were Tide Pods, Sally Hansen Airbrush Legs, Zico, Neutrogena, and Sun Chips. Instyle Magazine and Single Edition were generous enough to send us home with some of these fantastic goodies too!

All in all, Instyle Magazine’s Summer Social was a fun and exciting event that has introduced me to brands I hadn’t tried before. Thanks for having me and for the fab bag of goodies we got to take home to try out.

                                                    Contributing writer

La Toya of La Toya Literally is a blogger and opera singer from Brooklyn. She is abnormally obsessed with all things Outer Space, loves to travel, and reads nearly 100 books a year. When she's not dining out or binge watching The Twilight Zone, you can catch her singing in various venues around NYC. Find her on Instagram  & Facebook