Booksy Galore in Scotts Corners (little hamlet of Pound Ridge, NY, just north of Stamford) is a nice book store and it's a small but cute walkable strip of boutiques over there. The new bakery Breads n Bakes has the best French pastries in the area by far, and there are some nice design stores over there too. No leads for jazz clubs but The Bayou in Mount Vernon, NY (about a 35 min drive away) has live blues and zydeco music. It's been around since my mom was a kid, and it's a really cool space. Flies under the radar but it shouldn't.

Welcome to town!

I think many of the farmer's markets are out of season right now but there is a spot called Mike's Organic downtown that also does local delivery which partners with local farms for produce, meat and dairy.

This is so cool! I'm so glad you posted about it. I had no idea and it's something I'd love to do!

We know someone who knows the chef and he sounds like such a nice guy, and I hear he keeps a very clean kitchen/runs a tight ship. We haven't made it out yet but I'm glad you posted this! It's reminded me to get out there.

I had no idea!! I’ll ask her about it the next time I go in! She is such an amazing woman

FreshCo is an excellent deli/breakfast place. The woman who runs it is a jewel of a human being. I’m telling you it’s a sight to be seen the way she knows everyone who walks through the door. She’s watched children grow up in her shop, she knows their birthdays, she helps me with my little ones when I have to juggle them to the bathroom. She’s never met a stranger and it’s a gorgeous little slice of humanity.

Plus she keeps an absolutely spotless kitchen, makes a delicious bagel/breakfast sandwich/whatever you want, has Taylor Ham/pork roll, and she carries bagels from that guy with the cult following who usually distributes them for pick up from one of the local churches. Eric’s Bagels. They’re solid.

I love your comment so much. It supports so much of what I've heard and what I've surmised from my own research but hearing you put it this way makes me feel so bullish about living here. We have two young kids whoa re in daycare and still pre-school age, but we're excited to have them go through the Stamford public system and now even more so!

There's an Anytime Fitness on High Ridge that I haven't pulled the trigger on going to, but it's a small franchise that from reviews seems to be well run and quiet. It's 24 hours.

Wow, that's quite a list! Thanks for sharing! And I'm glad some of my ideas were helpful. I'm glad you started this thread!

So festive stuff, we're probably not so into tbh. We don't observe Christmas so a lot of Santa stuff is off our radar, and some of it is evening (too close to bedtime) or outside and maybe we'll get around to it, like the Mill River holiday walk or the Kensico Dam Winter Wonderland holiday lights thing (link here: https://www.wwinterwonderland.com/) but it's not high on our list.

Basically though, here is our short list of things to do when the weather gets iffy and we have to get out of the house. We have a 3.5 year old and a 1.5 year old.

• Maritime Center in Norwalk, or Stepping Stones Children's Museum--if you can spring for it, I highly recommend getting a yearly membership to at least one of them so you can just pop in regularly, even if it's just for 30 min to break up a long morning. The membership is the game changer, because then it just becomes a thing you do when the mood strikes you instead of it being a big event. Just throwing out there that asking family members to gift you a yearly membership is a holiday gift that will not clutter up your living room.
• Going to the "big store"--gather up the kids and take them to: Costco, Target, the SoNo Mall, even just the grocery store, or the grandaddy of them all--IKEA. They're contained in the shopping cart, they're feasting their little eyes on all sorts of stuff, you kill some time getting there and coming back with them in the car--it packs a wallop. Buy them a little trinket for their cooperation and continued enjoyment of these little outings, and you're good.
• Do an extended diner tour of the area. Diners are usually big, no one cares if your feral children are minorly disruptive, there's almost never a wait, and they'll make your kid banana pancakes any time of day. Go to a different diner every weekend. Find your favorites. Buy little stickers and various choking hazards from the vending machines at the front.
• Library tour! That's this winter's theme in our household. We plan on getting to know the local Stamford Ferguson library branches and then exploring some of the surrounding towns. Apparently some of the libraries have play areas and it's a great civic resource to support. Use them or lose them!
• Third Place brewery in Stamford. Big, laid back, has those big Jenga blocks that your kids will enjoy stacking for a while while you drink a beer and get snacks. Easy place to have a friend meet you.
• Depending on your kid(s)' tolerance, in the past we have done coffee shop tours of the area--every weekend going out to try a new coffee shop, or a new to us bakery, but our kids are a little too mobile now and need more room to roam. If you have a stroller bound kid who'd be happy gnawing on a croissant for a while, I'd recommend it.
• Chelsea Piers has drop in hours at their kid gym and at their pool, I think. Haven't tried it yet but it's in my back pocket to do.
• Keep an eye on Stamford Moms for one-off goings on--they're the best for keeping track of things like little pop up craft and holiday events: https://stamfordmoms.com/articles/events/
• "The goat farm"--this is our name for Designs by Lee, which is a really sweet plant nursery in North Stamford. They have some goats and a cute little playground (outdoors) and it's a nice diversion for a temperate winter day.
• Zoos. We haven't been to the Beardsley Zoo yet in Bridgeport so I don't know if they have a lot of indoor exhibits, but the Bronx Zoo certainly does! Time your return drive to occur around naptime.
• When all else fails, pick a place that's about a 35 min drive away, like a good bakery or a good coffee shop (May I recommend BE Chocolat in Fairfield? An absolutely amazing chocolate shop run by a top Belgian chocolatier and his Quebecoise wife. They make traditional Belgian waffles called gaufres in house as well, and they are very toddler friendly). 35 min drive, plus 30 min there, plus 35 back = a morning well spent. Our kids are pretty comfy in the car though--your mileage may vary, especially if you have a child that gets car sick.

Are you talking like indoor things to keep you from losing your mind before nap time? Or more like festive ways to celebrate the season? Bc if it’s the former, I can swap notes! 😅