Alicatte (Alice Perry)

We got a tiny taste of spring this past week with the 70-degree temperatures, and it’s left us hungering for more. If you’re like us, then head up to the Orchid Show at the New York Botanical Gardens and immerse yourself in all things floral and spring.

The Gardens’ conservatory has been transformed into lush rainforest, filled with tens of thousands of blossoming orchids from all over the world. Take a stroll through the glassed atrium and linger by the still pool full of exotic ferns as you give your eyes and nose a treat. What makes orchids so special is their variety—not only in colors but also shape. Let your eyes feast on the striking fuschias, the delicate pinks, and the bold striped yellow and black petals. What’s your favorite orchid shape? The spindly starfish petal, the buttercup-like fin, or the curled-in sepal? The choices are endless, and part of the fun is discovering new ones.

Imagine that you’ve hit the apex of your career. You’re a success. So what’s your next move? Well, if you’re Taly Russell, you leave your job, start over again, and do it better.

 For 10 years, Taly was an ace recruiter with a large head-hunting firm. However, after she turned 40, she says “a light bulb went on. What am I going to do with the next 40 years of my life? That’s a big chunk of your life!” She wanted to do something bigger and more exciting, so she decided to go small and more personal. She left her job and, along with two comrades-in-arms, she co-founded SilverChair Partners, a company that matches top-notch assistants with leaders in the fields of business, media, finance and even the home.

“It’s really scary to jump when you have something safe,” she says, “but what better time is there to do it?” Instead of being 41 years old, Taly laughs and says, “I’m basically one year old now. I’m starting now. I have all these great options. There’s nothing to be afraid of.”

Taly approaches her family life with the same gusto. On weekends, you’ll find her with her husband, Andy, and two young kids, Skye and Dylan, at their weekend home in North Salem, getting their familial ya yas out. They might be cruising on the zipline in the backyard, tapping trees for Maple syrup, or having a dance party in the barn.

Stanley Kubrick

Francis Ford Coppola

Erich Von Stroheim

Billy Wilder

Elia Kazan

Woody Allen

Alfred Hitchcock

Lesa Wright McHale boils down the whole family/work/mom conundrum pretty simply. “It’s about striking a balance for what works for you,” she explains to CrushworthyMoms at her stylish Soho office where she helms Lesa Wright McHale + Company, a boutique fashion PR firm that specializes in designer accessories.

“To me, freedom and flexibility matter,” she says. By owning her own small business, which she founded back in 1999, she’s able to tailor her schedule. And that means plenty of time for her two kids, Cavan, 10, and Lulu, 3, whom she describes as both bursting with personality. “They’re both characters,” she says, laughing and showing a photo of a sleeping Lulu—still wearing bunny ears—after an Easter sugar overload.

“If there’s a school play or a baseball game, I’m always there,” she says. “It’s very important for us to always be there.” She and her husband, who works in real estate, act as each other’s conscience when it comes to after-hour emails and cell phones at home with the kids.

“My husband and I kind of keep each other in check,” she tells us. When one sees the other scanning his or her phone, “we’re like, ‘Is it urgent?’ If the answer is no, then put it down!”

“It’s tough sometimes,” she admits, but having a life outside the home is a must for Lesa. “I can’t imagine it any other way because I need to do what makes me feel fulfilled but also have that freedom and flexibility” to do mom things.

Your body is a lot like a computer. Sometimes it needs to be reset and rebooted to operate at an optimal level. And Liquiteria is the place to do that. This West Village juice bar offers smoothies, pressed juices, and liquid meals to help cleanse your system of all those bad habits you’ve accumulated during the winter months.

Sure, you can always grab a mushy mixture at Jamba Juice or Planet Smoothie, but Liquiteria is the tried-and-true mecca of juice elixirs. Established in 1996, Liquiteria boasts celebrity clientele like Daniel Craig and Natalie Portman, but, more importantly, its most ardent fans are hard-to-impress native New Yorkers.

The cheerful corner shop oozes happy thoughts and healthy vibes. Behind the counter, staff chop, press, and liquify the freshiest of fresh fruits and vegetables, while juice coaches roam the room and help customers pick out the right drink for them. Want to break your sugar habit? Debloat from too much salt? Kick caffeine? Or do a total detox? Well, there’s cure-all concoction for you.

Liquiteria’s cold-press method of extraction creates the most nutritionally complete juice. It contains three to five times more vitamins, minerals, and enzymes than the typical machine-pulverized variety. Freshly pressed daily, these juices are the basis for the brand’s cleanse program. The plans range from juice with meals, which boosts your alkaline levels and strengthens your immune system, to the more aggressive approach called “Deep Dive & Heal,” which is an effective total body cleanse.

One single photograph changed everything for Melisa Fluhr. Five years ago, Melisa was just a mom who also had a real flair for interior design. When she decorated her first son’s nursery, she did it with both love and a unique style. She proudly took a photo and uploaded it to an HGTV website. That’s when everything changed.

The image of her son’s nursery quickly rose to the site’s top-viewed position, and she found herself doling out design advice to expectant moms everywhere. A fantastic opportunity presented itself, and Melisa ran with it. She and her good friend Pam Ginocchio started to brainstorm on ways to harness the online enthusiasm for Melisa’s ideas and style. Hence, Project Nursery was born.

The website shows real parents how to take charge of their own design and decorating projects. Project Nursery, which has a huge photo gallery created by its online community, is an expert resource for baby’s first room and beyond. The site has amassed such an impressive fanbase that it’s not surprising that Project Junior would soon follow. Project Junior is the next design phase once baby has outgrown the nursery.

Every kid likes to be the boss. And at RoboFun’s stop-animation workshop, kids get a chance to sit in the director’s chair and call all the shots.

Working in small groups with an instructor, kids write their own script, draw a storyboard, build mini-sets, and film the action. The three boys in our group brainstormed to create their own original characters, like The Man of Awesomeness and Mr. Red Cap, aka “Red.” Our instructor, Eddie, put on some Stones’ tunes and provided gentle guidance as the kids built the sets and began filming their own short movie using i-Stop motion software.

We can understand why Jennie Finch doesn’t like labels—a truckload of them could be pinned to her. She’s a two-time Olympic medalist for softball, television sports commentator, author of Throws Like a Girl,family activity guru for Moderation Nation, wife, mother of three, and inspiration to legions of young girls who love hitting homeruns and striking out batters.

“I don’t like labels, like ‘working mom’ or ‘stay-at-home mom,’” Jennie tells CrushworthyMoms. In some ways, she is both. She’s able to shift between one and the other depending on what day or time it is. Some days she’s on the road making public appearances, and on others, she’s at home playing baseball with her boys, Ace and Diesel (the name fits, she says). (Her daughter Paisley is only two months old, so we’ll give her a little more time before she’s out on the pitching mound.)

“Being an athlete and learning to juggle the sports schedule helped me to be a better mom,” she tells us. She believes that having an identity outside the home also helps because you experience more of life and can “pass those lessons on to your kids.”

American artist Mary Cassatt (1844-1926) leaned in long before Sheryl Sandberg wrote her much talked about new book, “Lean In,” which urges women to take a stand when it comes to following a career path.

Just take a look at the new exhibit at the New York Public Library at 42nd Street, “Daring Methods: The Prints of Mary Cassatt,” which showcases Cassatt’s experimental print-making process between 1878 and 1898. Cassatt leaned in when it came to joining the all-male Impressionistic movement, headed by Edgar Degas, during a time when female artists were considered a novelty at best.

Some people view Cassatt as that lady painter who made nice, little pictures of mothers and children, but this exhibition, which ends June 23, will change their minds. Cassatt worked tirelessly and aggressively to perfect the printing process. She would etch the images into copper plates and then experiment with different print materials, sometimes reworking the plates or starting over until she got it right. She would reject some plates outright by scratching a scribbled line across the image (sort of like the way Marilyn Monroe did with lipstick on photographs that she deemed substandard).

Spring can mean rebirth and renewal. And if you ask the folks at the Architectural Digest Home Design Show, spring can also mean redecorating, redoing, and redesigning.

This annual exhibition, which is going on today and this weekend and typically attracts 43,000 visitors, is an insider’s look at what’s hot and new in furniture, kitchen and bath accessories, lighting, flooring, and overall home design. The show is a great place to find inspiration and jumpstart your imagination on how to either tweak the living room or completely redo the kitchen.

Located at the 94th Pier on 12th Avenue, the huge pavilion is split into different sections. The “Made” area features limited-edition and one-of-a-kind objects, such as colorful hand-blown glasses by Vetro Vero and a console table made with glass and steam-bent maple by Nico Yektai. These 150 individual booths and stalls are bursting with innovative and ahead-of-the-curve designs.

The “Dining by Design” section showcases more than 40 complete dining rooms that are curated by top design teams. Roped off like art installations, these fantasy dinner party tables run the gamut from shabby chic to austere minimalism but all have a flair for fun and creativity.

Throughout the weekend, top experts will host design seminars on subjects such as creating dynamic style in a small living space or using sustainable materials when refurbishing your home.

If you happen to be catching a train at Grand Central Station next week, don’t be surprised if you see a procession of 30 mythological-looking horses dancing around stunned commuters as they wait in line or scurry for a train.

“Heard NY” is a public performance art piece that runs from March 25 to 31 at Grand Central Terminal. The show will be performed two times daily, at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., and lasts about 20 minutes (so be on time). It features 60 dancers from the Ailey School who will don the two-person costumes, which are designed by artist Nick Cave who uses found objects, recycled remnants, and discarded materials.

Artist Nick Cave

The horses, which look a bit like Mr. Snuffleupagus minus the doleful eyes, will perform as a group starting in Vanderbilt Hall and then split into smaller clusters within the Main Concourse. Underneath the terminal’s majestic and starry dome, these fanciful creatures will graze, meander, and break into choreographed movements while being accompanied by live harp music. In between performances, the multicolored costumes, which can be considered to be sculpture, will be on display in Vanderbilt Hall.

It’s a Friday evening in November, and the last glimmer of sunlight has faded. On Amsterdam Avenue in front of the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, parents with wheeled suitcases and sleeping bags loiter on the sidewalk as kids play tag on the wide steps. The dark Cathedral looms above, ominous and foreboding.

At the top of the steps, a heavy door slowly opens. A woman dressed in a black cassock pops her head out. “Welcome to Knightwatch,” she announces. The kids charge the door. For the next 14 hours, this 121-year-old Gothic cathedral will become a playground, theater stage, and portal to the Middle Ages.

Knightwatch Medieval is the latest addition to sleepovers for children at New York City museums and institutions. The American Museum of Natural History’s hugely successful “A Night at the Museum” started the trend. The Bronx Zoo, Intrepid Museum and New York Hall of Science have all hopped on the afterhours-adventure bandwagon. Knightwatch, which costs $135 per person and runs from Friday night until early the next morning, stands out because it exposes children to what makes New York City such a unique place to grow up: its theater, history, and architecture.

As soon as we enter the Cathedral, the “play” begins. We are welcomed by our hosts, the Good Abbess, the Monk, and the Lowly Wench, who address us as “lord” and “lady.” Over an entire evening none of the actors breaks character. Dim overhead lighting gives us all a theatrical look; the church’s chilly dampness adds to the atmosphere. There is no fourth wall here, only rib-vaulted ceilings and stained-glass windows.

“Is this a castle?” asks my eight-year-old son as we enter. It does feel like a castle, a bit spooky and overwhelming. (Still unfinished, it’s longer than two football fields and contains seven chapels.)

Though the Cathedral is an Episcopal church, Knightwatch is strictly secular: no mention of the Crusades or the Inquisition here. This is about kids getting a taste of a long-ago time in a majestic setting. Plus, how many chances do you get to sleep all night in the largest Gothic cathedral in the Western Hemisphere?

Our group is relatively small—only about 40. (Other family sleepovers can top 400 people.) There are no long lines, no searching for someone to ask where the bathroom is. Within a few hours, everyone is on a first-name basis.

The night is broken into three sections: medieval crafts, a dance lesson, and an interactive play that includes a scavenger hunt for the kids. First, we meet the King who tells us his tale of woe: a magician has cast a spell on his daughter, the princess, so she is unable to speak. And the children must-must-must help him find the antidote to restore her voice. You see, she’s getting married tomorrow to a knight, and she must say her vows or something bad will happen. It’s a little confusing, but the kids don’t care because they can’t wait to help save the kingdom.

Before that can happen, we are ushered down into the basement to the Medieval Arts Workshop, where we learn about the church’s architecture, specifically its gargoyles. The kids test out what it’s like to be a stonemason. They strap on goggles and clang-clang their mallets against chisels into a block of limestone, then are handed a ball of wet clay to create their own goofy or gallant gargoyle.

As the mini-sculptures dry, it’s time for our dance lesson. Accompanied by two minstrels, one playing bagpipes and the other a Renaissance fiddle, our instructor teaches us a simple circle dance (“two steps to the left, two steps to the right”) and a clog dance, which the kids love because they can stomp around.

Our guide, the Good Abbess, beckons us. The King needs our help to save the kingdom! We race upstairs where we meet Felix, the court jester, who will assist us. We must find the key with the golden ribbon to unlock the box that contains the antidote for the princess. And so the scavenger hunt begins.

The court jester is like Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz: he’s playful and silly, but always sets us back on track when the kids get derailed. We search for clues, stumbling upon scenes in the Cathedral’s chapels showing the unfolding saga of the mute princess and the vain knight. With more twists than a Spanish-language telenovela, the interactive play is a Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding for the under-12 set. We are sworn to secrecy not to reveal the story’s outcome, so unless you have tickets for tomorrow night’s sold-out overnight, you’ll have to attend one of the upcoming sleepovers on May 3, 24 or June 14 and find out for yourself.

Over the course of the scavenger hunt, we end up exploring every nook and cranny in the Cathedral. The kids become so familiar and comfortable that when bedtime arrives, they aren’t scared of this initially dark and spooky place.

We bed down on sturdy cots in the nave. Because of the small group size and the massive space, we’re able to spread out with some semblance of privacy. With sleeping bags, long johns, and the cool temperature, this almost feels like a camping trip.

Is it possible to go home again? To recapture that first-time feeling when you watched a movie that zapped you right between the eyes because it encapsulated both your inner thoughts and worldview?

Almost 25 years ago, one movie really sang to me: "Lord Love a Duck." Before "Heathers," there was "Lord Love a Duck," a dark comedy centered on high school life that playfully skewers just about every American institution. (I still pay homage to this film every time I want to swear my head off but can't, so I blurt out, "Lord love a duck!" and then I smile because I remember the movie.)

Could this movie still have the same effect on me since I've grown up? Yes and no. When I first saw this flick, I was completely focused on the Roddy McDowell character whose quick, cynical take on the world ensnared me. (Christian Slater played the same role in "Heathers," but he gets blown away at the end.)

Upon this second viewing, I realized how little screen time McDowell actually has and that Tuesday Weld's character, who is dying to be popular, is the true protagonist. Overall, the movie is not the greatest this time around. Perhaps I've become less cynical, or, now when I think of it, perhaps more. This film was made more than 40 years ago, and Americans' values are more vacuous than ever. In other words, biting satire, unfortunately, doesn't change a thing.

Let the kids have fun! That’s the secret to taking great pictures of children, according to Heidi Green, one of the most popular kid photographers in the city. And that is also great advice for being a parent.

Heidi records all those special moments in our lives—holidays, birthday parties, and family portraits—with a unique style that sets her apart from the rest. She takes a more natural approach to the typical cookie-cutter, stilted family photo. She seeks out atypical settings and is able to capture children’s genuine joy of just being kids.

Considering the fact that she’s a mom to four-year-old twins Harry and Rose and was a nursery school teacher for ten years, Heidi has a certain cachet when it comes to relating to kids. “It’s all in the way you approach the children,” she explains. “Kids are very smart and intuitive. They can sense when parents are tense about getting the holiday card shot. When you put them at ease, you get a natural smile.”

We don’t need pediatricians or social scientists to tell us that kids are starting puberty earlier. Our noses can vouch for it.

Crushworthy’s Alison was sitting with her 10-year-old son, Colin, on the couch, when the distinctive aroma of tween spirit hit her nostrils. “God, what is that smell?” Alison recounts. “Colin was so proud of himself. He kept saying, ‘Mom, smell!’” as he lifted his arm. (Karina had a similar experience with her 10-year-old daughter with much less excitement of the odor).  She wanted to rush Colin off to the shower, sort of the way Meryl Streep was in “Silkwood” after she had been exposed to nuclear radiation.

Fortunately, body odor is not as serious as nuclear contamination. And the problem of B.O. can be solved by using a deodorant or antiperspirant. However, when you look at the ingredients in some deodorants, you may start to think that radiation ain’t so bad. Aluminum chlorohydrate? Linked to Alzheimer’s Disease. Parabens? May be tied to breast cancer. Propylene glycol? Used in manufacturing antifreeze. (Eww.)

We don’t want to poison our kids; we just don’t want them to stink. Junior Varsity Naturals and Growing Basics are two kid-friendly deodorants that are all natural and contain no harsh ingredients. (Growing Basics even claims to have no egg, nut, or dairy products. Not that we recommend eating it….) The deodorants are packaged in bright colors with fun names, like Cherry Blast or Ripened Blackberry. They go on smoothly, and, most importantly, they work. We have clean-smelling Colin to prove it.