With Mother’s Day fast approaching (hint, its on Sunday May 13th this year) we’ll posting on some of the latest gift ideas. Each year some items remain popular like pearl necklaces and brithstone jewelry but in the area of gift apparel you’ll see new seasonal trends each year. This year here are a few of the items that gift recommender websites are briging to our attention.

• JCPenny
  There are current women’s clothing sales that will help you stretch your gift dollars.  Some current sale items include: Worthington jackets, blouses and pants, Liz Baker cutout sweater outfits, a.n.a. hlaters and shorts, St John’s Bay mesh jackets and more. Halter dresses are a popular trend this year.
• Target
  Some of the new items are: Mossimo Yarn Dyed Trouser Pants, Mossimo Tote Bags, Isaac Mizrahi Sleeveless Bow Blouses and Raschel knit skirts.
• Walmart
  Items of note include: George ME women’s print skirt, cotton silk blend camp shirt and women’s print chemise.

For more Long Island clothing stores  listings to help you find mother’s day sales visit our business listing pages for: women’s clothing, women’s discount clothing, and women’s clothing accessories.  You’ll find several listing pages that will help you with popular mother’s day gifts like beauty products, flowers, greeting cards, and spas.

The 35th running of the Long Island Marathon is being held on Sunday May 6, 2007.  The advance registration is closed but you can still sign up for the marathon in person. Go to the Mitchell Athletic Complex on Friday from 4 PM to 9 PM or Saturday from 10 AM to 6 PM.  And there is a free clinic tommorrow, May 1st, at 8 PM in the Plainview Old Bethpage Public Library. A panel of experts including past marathon winners will be available to answer your questions.  This is a great resource for first time marathoners and anyone else. Over 6,000 participants are expected this year.  The offical website has great maps to help you locate positions on the whole course.

The Retail Design Diva blog is a good read for retailers and consumers alike, quirky and fact filled, with information to help you impress your friends by being in the know about baristas.  Wine is trending up on the business radar on Long Island.  And wine has become a more popular pleasure among the baby boomers in America for the past few years.  So its only fitting to let you know about the impact on home furnishings and bridal shower planning.  The Design Diva reports that “wine now makes an absolutely acceptable kitchen decor theme”.  This affects the preferences for color arrangements in rooms and the choice of wine racks for several rooms in a home or apartment.  Many Long Island furniture stores today will have selection of five to ten different types of wine racks.

 Some recent consumer surveys that young adults ages 20 to 25 are getting a more postive few of wine and they want a better udnerstanding of wine.  But there are some barriers to wider acceptance by young adults.  Wine can still be seen as foreign and elitest.  We have posted about some of the events Long Island wineries are doing to break down these barriers with fun events that target different age groups.  This is a good trend for the east end of Long Island and good for the rest of the Island too.

Spring is finally here and many Long Islanders are very happy to see the winter weather from the rear view mirror.  So this may be the last weekend event on Long Island if you want to experience winter animals and ecology. 

The Winter Seal Walk at Montauk Point State Park is an all-ages event this weekend, 4/28/2007 at 1pm.  The walk lasts about two to three hours and up to four species of seals will be seen.

Wine Camp is a three night and four day adventure on the North Folk of Long Island in the heart of our wine country here.  There is one this weekend but it is unforuntaely sold out.  But this is a little notice now so you can plan ahead for the series.  There is one weekend wine camp in each of the next three months:

• May 17 to May 20
• June 25 to June 28
• July 23 to July 26

The weekend is dedicated to fun comfortanle events at Long island vinyards and bed and breakfasts.  You’ll lean how to taste wine like the experts and how to pair wine with food and maybe impress your friends and family when you return home.  Some of the participating vinyards and wineries include:

Visit the host organization wbesite for more information on the Long Island wine camp.

You’ll find more information on local Long Island wine tasting in our business listings.

One of the popular things to do on Mother’s Day is to treat your mom to a special brunch, lunch or dinner.  This is so popular that you should plan ahead and make reservations early at your favorite restuarant.  We will be letting you know about Long Island restaurant websites that announce a Mother’s Day menu as we find out about them.  Here are a few to start with:

• Jonathan’s Ristorante is located in Huntington NY, 11743.  They offer a Mother’s day brunch.
• The Garden City Hotel, located in Garden City NY, 11530, offers a Mother’s Day menu for brunch and dinner.
• The Three Village Inn located in Stony Brook NY is focused on a family experience for their holiday menu.  They have a seperate kids menu available for their Mother’s Day dinner special.
• Danford’s Inn in Port Jefferson NY has a unique Mother’s day buffet combinations that feature an omlet station and shrimp bar with entrees designed for Mom’s special day.