Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Passport Mommy. I'm your host, Michelle Jerson. This
show is for anyone raising little humans. We feature experts
with tips and advice to enrich the lives of our children.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Mom and dad. Entrepreneurs tell us.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Their inspiring stories, learn about products that could make both
you and your child's life easier and more fun, and
of course, fellow parents discuss and laugh about what's happening
in their child's world. Motherhood is a journey. Thanks for
joining me on mine. You're listening to Passport Mommy. I'm
Michelle Jerson. And as we're thinking about all the things
(00:35):
that we need to do for back to school, there's
one thing on your list that should definitely be on
your list if it's not already, and that's your child's
eye exams, because I feel like it's so important. You know,
maybe you have a child who struggles with reading, maybe.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
There's some challenges elsewhere, and you just never really thought, oh,
maybe it could be their eyes.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
And so I'm really happy to have on the show
with me today, doctor Jackie Bowen. She's the president of
the American Optometric Association Board of Trustees. Doctor Bowen, thank
you so much for joining me.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Today.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Thank you for the invitation, Michelle.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
My pleasure is, so, why should a comprehensive eye exam
be included on parents back to school checklist?
Speaker 3 (01:17):
Well, first of all, we know that eighty percent of
learning happens through vision, and children are not able to
tell you that their vision is different from anybody else's.
They don't know that, So a lot of time can
go by before a child might exhibit failures or habits
or behaviors that show you that there might be a problem.
So early intervention, early habits of taking your child to
(01:41):
an eye doctor and every year, is essential in establishing good,
healthy habits lifelong, not just for vision performance, but for
overall health and wellbeing. There are so many things that
are affected by vision.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
Yes, definitely, And so what does AOA's recommend frequency of
eye exams for children?
Speaker 3 (02:04):
Thank you for asking that. We've done a lot of
evidence based research on that, and the recommendation might surprise
you that between six and twelve months is when the
optometrist wants to see the child first. That's during a
very critical developmental period for the eye and the brain.
And as children are absorbing information all day every day,
the eyes may or may not be helping in that
(02:26):
learning process. Between ages two and four, prior to starting school,
an exam with an optometrist is recommended, and then during
the school age years when school started, and then every
year thereafter we recommend an annual comprehensive exam.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
Great, and you know what, and insurance covers it, and
even if you don't have eye insurance, they're not that
that expensive.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
And it's definitely something that should be done.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
It's very important, yes, and so how to undiagnosed eye
problems affect their learning?
Speaker 2 (02:59):
I know you touched on it before. What are some
other ways that it could affect it?
Speaker 3 (03:06):
Normal development as you see the world around you and
interact and react to things that happen to a child,
the vision system has to be on fire all day
every day. School performance can therefore be affected because it's
not just about what you can see. It's not just
about clarity of vision. For a child. There's teaming, tracking,
(03:27):
moving in space, comprehensive contrast sensitivity. Those things can affect
the ability to learn. Social interactions are impacted because if
a child doesn't feel confident interacting with other children or
engaging in athletics or games, that can suppress their social development,
athletics as in the older years. Vision performance in sports
(03:52):
is well documented, and there are many things that the
average person is not aware of that an optometrist can elicit.
And overall self esteem. You know, if you are confident
in your space and you're confident that you're getting the
information that everyone else is getting, you're going to perform better. Overall,
that extends into adulthood, certainly your ability to achieve levels
(04:13):
of education, the confidence that you have in yourself to
go for higher level career opportunities and employment, and again
adult social interactions. So there's so many things beyond just
wearing glasses or not that are identified and corrected through
a good, healthy habit of an annual visit with the optometrist.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
Yes, that's really I'm glad you brought that up, because
I think we as parents always want what's best for
our kids, and we want to set them up for success.
So something like this we should absolutely be thinking about
as the basis for all of that. Now, I think
a big concern for a lot of us as parents
is screen time and how often our kids are on phones, tablets, computers.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Would you say that that affects their I have.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
Screen use and the escalation of that in our society
has absolutely impacted the way that we take care of eyes.
Even before the pandemic, number one out of four preschool
children and was estimated to have a vision problem. So
since the pandemic, as our screen time has escalated, we
have had to recognize the different strain and different pressures
(05:21):
put on the visual system. And if the brain has
to do a lot of work to correct the vision,
it's not going to be able to do its job
of learning and absorbing information. Screens are essential, and they're
a part of learning. They're a part of school environment
and part of entertainment. Certainly, so parents should certainly set limits.
This is not new information. We instinctively know it's not
(05:44):
good for the child to a be sitting still very
long for their whole body, but certainly for their eyes.
It's not good to be postured doing that. So beyond
ensuring that the eyes are healthy and the visual function
is healthy, we like to talk about the twenty twenty
twenty rule, where every twenty minutes your child should look
(06:05):
twenty feet away or more for twenty seconds or more.
If your arms were holding up a heavy weight for
twenty minutes they'd need to relax and shake out a
little bit. So that's essentially what that twenty twenty twenty
rule accomplishes. Two hours of outside play is recommended, and
that's really hard to do, you know, depending on the
weather or where you live. But we know from good
(06:27):
science that that is essential to development of the eye
and the vision, and it's also essential in preventing near
sightedness from escalating. Screen time is a near activity, and
if you do more near activity, the brain is going
to adapt and you are going to become more near sighted.
(06:48):
Limiting screen time certainly, encouraging outside activity and when screens
are being used, frequent breaks are necessary.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Refect.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
Great tips, Doctor Jackie Bowen, thank you so much for
joining me today on Passport Mommy. If you listen to
this show, you know that we speak to folks from
Peta quite often and they love to bring us awareness
about what's going on with animals. And today we're going
to talk with somebody who has a point of view
about visiting SeaWorld.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Here is the interview I recorded the other day with her.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
I know my kids love animals and when we travel,
we love to go see animals, whether it is at
an aquarium or in the wild. But there are some
places that PETA says are not being ethical with their animals,
and that we should be a little cautious when visiting
animal attractions if we do care about their well being.
(07:39):
I have with me on the show today, Melanie Johnson.
She's a senior manager of PETA's Animals in Entertainment division.
Melanie tell us more about what happens to animals. Let's say,
at a place like SeaWorld.
Speaker 4 (07:52):
Summer is a really busy time for travel, so it's
a great time to talk about why people should never
go to SeaWorld. At SeaWorld facilities across the country, more
than forty orcas, over five hundred other dolphins in whales,
and countless other animals have died, many prematurely. Just the
last week, an eleven year old orca named Cama died
(08:14):
at SeaWorld San Antonio.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
So what is PETA doing to help Quirky.
Speaker 4 (08:20):
Ita is pushing SeaWorld to allow Quirky to spend the
rest of her life in a seaside sanctuary, which is
a safe ocean cove where Corky could dive deep and
feel the ocean's currents while still receiving the care that
she needs. A team of experts is actually already preparing
a sanctuary for her, which would be in her home waters,
(08:40):
where she'd possibly even be able to communicate with her
brother and sister, who still swim freely in the area.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
What cruelty ways are there for people to include marine
animals in their travel plants still.
Speaker 4 (08:53):
Children have a natural love for animals, so they would
never want to visit SeaWorld if they knew how much
animals see for there. The good news is that families
can see animals from a respectful distance in their natural habitats.
So for example, if you live on the coast, you
may be able to see dolphins swimming at the beach,
or you could go on a hike, could visit a
(09:14):
park or a nature preserve. You can go bird watching,
and all of these activities allow you to see animals
without intruding on or hurting them.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
Where can we go for more information and if we
would like to help marine animals.
Speaker 4 (09:28):
People can go to peda dot org to learn more
about Quirky and our campaign against SeaWorld and to urge
the company to release these animals to Seaside. Sanctuaries.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Thank you so much, Melanie Johnson for joining me today
on Passport Mommy.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
I hope your.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
Summer travels have been fun so far, and maybe you're
gearing up to travel. Your kids have been in camp
all summer. Well, next week we are going to be
broadcasting from Lake Placid in New York. Lake Placid is
such a beautiful place to visit this time of year,
but really any time of year is a great time
to visit because during the winter time you could check
out their Olympic facilities up and they have a beautiful
(10:04):
ice skating rank, among many other things. But we're going
to do that this summer too, and we're also going
to kayak and bike and hike and all the things
that you can do in Lake Placid. And we'll be
staying a too incredible resort, which we will talk about
on the show next week. They include the Mirror Lake
Inn and the White Face Lodge. They are both beautiful
properties in Lake Placid and really a destination within themselves.
(10:27):
The culinary scene is incredible. They have a spa, and
they have so many activities and even sports clinics on property.
So don't forget to tune into the show next week,
when you'll hear all about Lake Placid, when you'll hear
all about Lake Placid, what there.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
Is to do there and the beautiful resorts.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
And don't forget you can always download this podcast so
you never miss an episode, and it'll alert you every
time there is a new episode posted.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
And don't forget to leave a.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
Review, because for every review that you leave, more people
can find this show. And I'm truly grateful, and I
am truly grateful to each and every one of you.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
Who tune in each week.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
I love what I do and I hope that I
can provide insight and advice and fun inspiration for your
next trip.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
I'm Michelle Jerson. More coming up in a few.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
You're listening to Passport Mommy, I'm Michelle Jerson. And you know,
when you're traveling, there is nothing worse than traveling in
an unfamiliar area and losing your self service. And it
seems that no matter how advanced cell phones are, there
are still those dead zones all over the United States.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
But not anymore because T Mobile is now able.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
To take connectivity where it's never gone book bore, and
so I'm really happy to have on the show with
me today, Gavin Gee, he's going to talk to us
all about what T mobile is up to.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
Hi, Gavin, Hi, it's great to be here. Thank you
so much.
Speaker 5 (11:53):
So.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
Dead zones continue to be an issue for sell users
in remote areas.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
What advancements are being made to address the problem.
Speaker 6 (12:02):
Well, it's an area that we've been hard at workout
for a long time. One we've been investing in our
core network, adding more towers, making our signal go further.
But the reality is there are still five hundred thousand
square miles of the United States that no carrier has
coverage for. We're talking national parks and wilderness areas and
(12:25):
really tough to reach locations, and so we're really excited
to enable a new capability this last week called Tea Satellite,
and this is about enabling satellite direct to sell communications
that empower the phone that you have today to automatically
connect to a satellite network and stay enable you to
stay in touch with your friends and family or even
(12:45):
reach emergency services.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
So how does that work? The technology behind this, it's.
Speaker 6 (12:52):
Pretty remarkable, really, like space is hard. But what we've
done is essentially take a cell phone tower and strap
it to A satellite and we have over six one
hundred and fifty satellites orbiting above America providing cellular service
to customers. And the real key innovation here is that
we haven't done this to enable a new set of devices.
(13:12):
We've done this to enable the device that you have,
and so over sixty devices or basically any phone that
people have been purchasing in the last four years in
the United States just works automatically. So that means if
you've got access to the Tea satellite service, when you
head out into a place where there's no terrestrial coverage,
your phone automatically connects with the Tea satellite service and
(13:36):
you can continue to message and connect with your friend's
family and emergency services.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
That's amazing.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
So I imagine that this works really well in those rural areas.
Speaker 6 (13:44):
It s your does, and this is also the experience
that we've been living. Right there are places in America,
those rural country roads or tough to reach places where
we can't build a cell phone tower that in the past,
your signal might have dropped and you'd have been out
of touch. And that's the last place you want to be.
If you broke down at the side of the road
and you need some help. And so now with Tea Satellite,
(14:05):
we provide that ubiquitous coverage across America to allow people
to stay connected no.
Speaker 5 (14:11):
Matter where they are.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
That's great because, yes, I'm with you.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
I always seem to lose coverage when I am lost.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
I remember driving.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
My daughter to a girl scout thing up in the
country last year and the car was having issues and.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
Then we were in.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
The darkest, most remote area and of course I lost
signal and it's very frightening to think, oh my gosh,
I'm nowhere and I have no signal to be able
to call out to anybody. So what does this technology
mean for the future of mobile service?
Speaker 6 (14:42):
Let me just say, you know, that's the perfect example
where having Tea satellite really really could come to help you.
And you know, this is the start of this journey.
You know, we announced last week the availability of this
service to all Americans and we you know, we're excited
to offer this for our best T Mobile customers in
their rate plans or they can buy it as a
(15:04):
standline service. We're even inviting our AT and T and
Verizon customers to say come on over and buy T
Mobile as a stannel and service. But it's really the
start of this journey in that we're enabling messaging today,
but we also have an ambition to continue to invest
in this capability. So this isn't just about having dead
zones covered. This is about having dead zones covered with data.
(15:25):
So that means that your apps that work out there,
that you use on a day to day basis automatically
work over the satellite data connection. And so not only
can you message for help, but you can use the
apps that you'd use in those situations as well, be
it opening a triple A app or opening a mapping app.
You'll be able to get access to those capabilities.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
That's wonderful.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
And so what does best network mean and how does
t Satellite relate to it?
Speaker 6 (15:51):
So we're really excited. We've been on a journey for
really the last few decades, really building and continuing to
invest in the network. And just recently back in June
here there was a third party organization called Upler who
may have you may be familiar with them. They run
something called the speed test app and they do a
bunch of network testing and they ran a massive test
(16:13):
here in the US over one hundreds of millions of
devices and data points evaluating the capabilities of all of
the networks, and T Mobile came out on top. It's
been fun in that we've been the winner of this
award for a long time as it relates to the
five G network. But now with the latest award, this
is about T Mobile winning best network and some people
(16:34):
may not realize that, and I'd encourage everybody to go, huh,
maybe it's time for me to consider T Mobile and
explore what services they have to offer. And so, whilst
we've invested a lot in our core network, this is
also about how we wrap our core network with a
lot of additional capabilities, one of those being the satellite,
but we also have great inflight experiences, free Wi Fi
(16:58):
on planes, international data passes, and a whole range of
T Mobile, Tuesday and Magenda benefits that really come together
to bring the capabilities of the best network to life
for our customers.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
Yes, and that is amazing, And I'm so glad that
you were on today because I do think we do
need to reevaluate our cell phone networks and we.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
Should do it often.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
And I think T Mobile, you know, for some you know,
maybe it isn't one of the more popular brands. When
someone thinks of cell phone service, but you're missing out,
You're definitely missing out, and so where can we go
for more information? I know I'm definitely going to look
into this because if I knew that I could travel
anywhere and not have any more dead zones and then
remain connected, Like you mentioned, it's wonderful. It really changes everything,
(17:45):
especially when you're driving with children.
Speaker 6 (17:48):
Absolutely absolutely like please head on over to tdashmobile dot
com our website, or head into one of our fabulous
retail stores and the team can help you with any
questions you'd have. I think it's a very tired to
come on and switch over to T mobile. We have
a credible network, we have an incredible team, and our customers.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
Just love us terrific.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
Well, thank you so much, Gavin Gee. I appreciate you
joining me today. I'm passport Mommy. Thanks for having me
my pleasure. I'm Michelle Jerson. More coming up in a
few you're listening to Passport Mommy. I'm Michelle Jerson, And
you know I'm always looking for really cool places to
visit and especially summertime. And I saw a friend of
(18:30):
mine she was at a place called Lavender by the Bay,
and I looked at her pictures and I thought, oh,
my gosh, she looks so happy. When I saw this place,
I thought, oh, let me check it out. And I
come to find out that they have a few locations
on Long Island, and they also are very active in
the farmers' markets every week in New York City. And
so I'm really happy to have one of the owners
(18:52):
on the show with me today, Hannan Rosenbaum, and he's
going to talk to us all about Lavender by the Bay.
Speaker 5 (18:58):
Hi, Hannan, Hi, thank you so much for having me.
I'm really excited to talk to you.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
My pleasure thanks for being here.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
Is so I mean, it's such a unique spot because
I know when my daughter was younger, she used to
love sheet purple flowers, she called them, and so whenever
we would see lavender, it just it always made us
all so happy. And I didn't realize that there was
this beautiful farm right here. I mean, I'm based in
New York City, but on Long Island, So tell me
about it.
Speaker 5 (19:25):
Yeah. So we are a lavender farm. We started in
two thousand and two. We're based out on the North
Fork of Long Island, and it was a hobby that
my parents started and eventually became into a business. I
used to summer in a town called Southold and we
(19:45):
lived on a dune and my dad would try and
plant things and nothing ever grew. So he thought about
planting lavender, and the lavender really flourished, to the point
that we had so much lavender we didn't know what
to do with it. Yeah, and my mom was an
art teacher in Jamaica Queens, and she was always very crafty,
(20:06):
and she used to make floral arrangements for her friends
and do sachets for her friends. So they decided to
set up a little picnic bench in front of the
house and put out some of the some of their goods,
and we would come back from the beach and there
would be ten dollars in the jar and twenty dollars
in the jar. And ultimately they saw that there was
(20:26):
this unique product that people really loved and that really
wasn't prevalent in New York and saw an opportunity. So
they bought some land and the rest is history. We
have two locations now over forty five acres of lavender,
and it's really it's really incredible to see what we've built.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
Wow, that is amazing.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
What a family story and what a legacy. And I
love that that you started out just you know, putting
it out there, and people the honor system, they come
by and they leave money.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
I think that's incredible. Such a great spot.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
I think to bring families too, and just such a
nice outing for the day.
Speaker 5 (21:02):
It's great because it's an opportunity for people to come
and disconnect from the daily grind. A field of lavender
flowers is really it's it's almost like an ocean of
purple goodness. I like to call it. It's not what
we're It really takes over the senses. As soon as
(21:22):
you step out of the car when we're in Bloom,
the fragrance just hits you and and transports you to
a place that you're really not used to. And then
you see the fields of the lavender blooming, swaying with
the wind. It's it's really an incredible experience and and
and it's it's it's it's something that we're not used.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
To right exactly, especially if you're coming from a city,
or even if you're not coming from the city, even
in your every day you don't usually see that. I remember,
I think the last time I saw lavender field it
was somewhere in Europe.
Speaker 5 (21:53):
I can't remember, but yeah, so last so lavender is
really prevalent in Provence, France. Yes, and I always say
come to Long Island.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
We'll save you the flight, right exactly, exactly, it's so great.
And so what are some activities do you do besides
obviously people coming and being able to just enjoy the fields?
Speaker 2 (22:14):
Are there certain activities that you plan throughout the year.
Speaker 5 (22:18):
So it's you know, we keep it simple. You know,
I really want people to come and disconnect. You know,
when we're not in bloom, we do have the farm
is open and the shop is open, and we're doing
farmers' markets throughout the year, but it's not it's really
just a place to explore and disconnect, right.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
How nice.
Speaker 1 (22:42):
And so when you come with young kids, and you know,
sometimes it's hard to disconnect with young.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
Kids, tell me about it.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
Do you find that they also kind of get into
the zone and relax a little bit.
Speaker 5 (22:55):
So, yeah, it's a great opportunity for kids to learn
about the various pollinators and nature. We have some chickens
free range chickens running around, so the kids get to
go check out the chickens. We have butterflies all over
the place. We do have honey bees. Kids sometimes are
scared of the honey bees, but the bees are focused
on gathering the nectar from the lavender. They're not going
(23:17):
to bother you if you don't bother them.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
Right, when would you say is the best time to visit?
Speaker 5 (23:21):
Our lavender typically starts blooming in June and goes through July.
So the English lab there's over one hundred varieties of lavender.
We have about twenty to twenty five different types of
lavender at the farm. English lavender, which is a very
bright and vibrant colored lavender, also great for cooking, blooms
(23:42):
in June and then in July, which is our French lavender,
which is the most fragrant, it's the tall, it's really
what gives off the impression of a sea of purple
that blooms in July and typically ends at the end
of July.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
Great, so now is really the time to go, right
if we want to well of weeks right?
Speaker 5 (24:01):
So yeah, I would say that this last last week
is probably We'll probably start cutting at the end of
the first weekend in August.
Speaker 2 (24:09):
When you cut it all, where does it go.
Speaker 5 (24:11):
The beauty of lavender is not only is the color,
but the fragrance, and lavender fragrance gets stronger when it's
in its dried form. So we harvest the bunches and
we sell them year round at the farmer's market. We
also dry the lavender to make sachets, so after we're cutting,
we're processing, drying, and we start making our lavender goodies
(24:32):
for the year.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
That's great, and so is the farmer's market that you do.
Is it year round?
Speaker 5 (24:38):
Yes, So we're Union Square four days a week Monday, Wednesday,
Friday and Saturday, weather permitting, and then we're market on
the Upper west Side. We try to do it year round.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
Great.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
And so if we're planning a visit to come see
you at one of the farms on Long Island, what
should we bring with us?
Speaker 5 (24:57):
Lots of water, sunscreen, really really recommend exploring all that
the North Fork has to offer. There's lots of great vineyards,
other farms and farm stands, great pies in the neighborhood.
So it really it's it's it's good to make it
a day trip.
Speaker 1 (25:13):
Right, Definitely, and I think, hey, why not stay overnight too.
If you have the weekend, just go do things in
the area. In general, you know, lavender has always been
known to alleviate stress.
Speaker 2 (25:24):
How does it do it?
Speaker 5 (25:26):
So it's the fragrance is really what takes your body
and lowers the blood pressure, the the the fragrance is.
It's it's an incredible thing. It also induces past memories.
I have a lot of customers who say when they
smell lavender, reminds them of their grandmother's attic. We're a
little pillow that there that their grandmother once gave them.
(25:48):
So it's it's it's it's not only smells great, it
looks great, and it has a wonderful effect on the body.
Speaker 2 (25:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
Absolutely, well, I'm looking forward to the visit and I
feel like it's perfect for people of all ages.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
We talked about families, but you know what.
Speaker 1 (26:03):
Everybody needs to relax, especially in these times.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
I absolutely great escape.
Speaker 5 (26:09):
And I also want to say I forgot to say,
when you do come to visit us, make sure you
bring your camera, you know, whether it be your iPhone
or your personal camera, because the pictures are going to
be great, and those are going to be memories that
will last a lifetime.
Speaker 1 (26:23):
Oh that's a good idea. Yeah, you know, I'm always
there with my iPhone. But if you have even a
better camera, now would be the time to break it out.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
You can put those pictures on the wall.
Speaker 5 (26:32):
Would be hundred percent, one hundred percent or even online.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
Right exactly exactly? Are there two locations on Long Island.
Speaker 5 (26:39):
Yeah, so we have a location in Calverton, which is
about an hour twenty from the city, and then we
have our original location, which is an East mary And
that's more about an hour and forty five minutes. East
Marion is our original location. It's about seventeen acres. Calverton
in Riverhead is about thirty thirty plus agers.
Speaker 1 (27:01):
Okay, great, and is there Do you recommend a visit
to both or once you see one like you pretty much?
Speaker 5 (27:08):
You know, but both are great. Both are unique. The
one in East Marion is a little more intimate, I
like to describe it, whereas the one in Calverton is
more expansive. So if you're looking to do a quick trip,
then I would recommend the Calverton, but if you're coming
for the weekend, then East Marion is great as well.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
Okay, perfect, all right, So what are some other things
you mentioned? Hey, if we're coming out, maybe the North Fork.
I know in Calverton you also have splitsh Splash for
the family, the weak.
Speaker 5 (27:38):
Right.
Speaker 1 (27:38):
What are some other favorite activities of yours in the area.
Speaker 5 (27:41):
So, I like, I love to go to Greenport, which
is close to East Marion. It's a town right on
the water, so you can go walk around, go shopping.
The kids can go run around the marina, check out
on the boats. Sometimes you get lucky and you have
some yachts out there, but that's a great one. Restaurants.
You know, you're right on the water, so you can
have some fantastic seafood. I love the south Old Fish Market.
(28:05):
So yeah, there is so many, so many different things
to explore.
Speaker 1 (28:08):
Yeah, and I feel like it's a part. You know,
a lot of people too from the city. They may
go out to the Hamptons, but they don't always stop
this great area which is right near the you know,
fairly close, I guess, right about four five minutes.
Speaker 5 (28:19):
Or an hour, yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2 (28:22):
Yeah, And this is such a great part of Long Island.
Speaker 5 (28:25):
It really is an untapped gem. You know, it's just
farmland the vistas, the vineyards, it's it's it's great.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
Yeah, yeah, me too.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
And I remember before kids we did a tour around
the vineyards, and even with kids, I feel like there's
a lot that you can do in the area and
some of the vineyards are really kid friendly.
Speaker 5 (28:44):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (28:46):
Yeah, what a great weekend trip.
Speaker 1 (28:48):
Okay, So when we were arranging this interview, you were like, oh,
I have to you know, I'm shuttling my kids to camp.
And I was like, oh, I know that all too well.
And so how do you as a dad balance and
everything that you're doing with the business with Lavender by.
Speaker 2 (29:03):
The Bay with your kids. How old are your kids?
Speaker 5 (29:06):
I have a ten year old, a seven year old
and a three year old. I wish I had I
wish I could tell what the special sauce was. But
it's really just you know, your intention. It's important for
me to be present for my kids and you know,
be there in the morning and taking them to camp
and being a part of their life as well as
(29:28):
exposing them to the business and the farm that we have.
It's all about legacy and instilling that concept in our
children and having them take pride in what the family does.
That's really important for me.
Speaker 1 (29:43):
Yeah, I agree with you, and I think it's so
nice to have a family business and the kids can
learn so much from that from just you know, every
day you know, dealings with the business and to know
that their family owns something. And I bet they learn
a lot from watching you run in Yeah.
Speaker 5 (30:01):
I mean I always have to struggle with every time
I pick them up from camp. It's like, oh, can
we go to the farm, And it's like sometimes yes,
and sometimes we can. Sometimes we got to go do
other things. But it's great that they that they seek
it out and I love that.
Speaker 2 (30:15):
Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
So back to we were talking about the farmer's markets
and that's so great that you're at like three different
places in the city throughout the year. And I think
everybody can always use lavender. We talked about how great
it is. It smells so nice, it relaxes you, and
you mentioned something like you can use it for cooking.
Speaker 5 (30:31):
Yeah, so we recommend using our English lavender for cooking.
You can bake with it, you can make tea with it,
you can make cookies or biscottie. There's so many, so
many great things that you can use it on if
you're into that. Type of thing. I totally recommend it
and exploring that.
Speaker 1 (30:51):
Yeah, I've never thought about that, and so what are
some other products that you sell?
Speaker 5 (30:56):
So you know, the main benefit of lab there is
that it's naturally calming. It helps with sleep, it helps
with stress headaches. If you use a few drops of
essential oil on your pillow, it'll help you get to
sleep quicker. You can use it in a diffuser. You know.
(31:16):
There's so the sachets you can keep in your car
and your purse if you're stressed out on the subway.
We even have a lavender keychain that you can squeeze
in and escape to our fields.
Speaker 2 (31:25):
Oh, I love it.
Speaker 5 (31:27):
We so we also sell dry bunches. The dry bunches
are great because the last months to years, if it
ever loses its fragrance, all you do is give it
a squeeze. The essential the lavender es central oil is
locked in the lavender buds, so as long as you
have buds intact, you'll have fragrance for for for many years.
Speaker 2 (31:46):
Oh, that's great.
Speaker 1 (31:46):
And I think I also read at one point when
I was living in a home and we had like
I don't know if it's an ant issue or something else.
Isn't lavender also good for like keeping away certain insects?
Speaker 5 (31:56):
Yeah, so they say that it's great for a ski repellent,
and that it's good for for moths to keep us
actually in your closet, to to keep away in the moths.
You know, a lot of our customers buy for that purpose.
But to to it's uh, to it's effectiveness, I can't.
I can't speak on you know, right, I wish I could,
(32:20):
but it's it's it is a great natural repellent.
Speaker 1 (32:24):
Sure, well, great, I look forward to visiting. I cannot wait.
Handhan Rosenbaum, thank you so much for joining me today again.
Where can we get more information on Lavender by the Bay.
Speaker 5 (32:34):
So our website Lavender by theebay dot com or one
of our many social media on Facebook, on Instagram, Lavender.
Speaker 2 (32:43):
By the Bay Perfect.
Speaker 1 (32:44):
Thank you so much for joining me today. On passport mommy, thank.
Speaker 5 (32:48):
You so much for having me. And I can't wait
to have you guys.
Speaker 2 (32:50):
At the farm name here, I'm Michelle Jerson.
Speaker 1 (32:52):
More coming up in a few And we did end
up visiting Lavender by the Bay and it was everything
that he mentioned.
Speaker 2 (32:59):
It was.
Speaker 1 (33:00):
It's so nice, it was such a great family experience.
My kids had a blast running through the lavender fields
and seeing the chickens. I highly recommend. So it's that
time of year where US News and World Report releases
their Best Hospitals list, and so I'm really happy to
have on the show with me today Chelsea Wen. She
(33:21):
is a senior health data analyst for US News and
World Report.
Speaker 7 (33:24):
Hi Chelsea, Hi Michelle, thanks so much for having me
on My pleasure.
Speaker 5 (33:29):
So.
Speaker 1 (33:29):
US News and World Report is the global authority in
healthcare rankings and ratings, and you are releasing the twenty
twenty five to twenty twenty six edition of Best Hospitals,
and tell me this year what you are recognizing.
Speaker 7 (33:46):
Yeah, So, our overall goal is to help patients make
informs healthcare decisions, and we do that by evaluating hospitals
in the areas of care that are most common for Americans,
like diabetes, like COPD, heart attack, stroke, hip replacement, all
(34:07):
of those things. And we rate hospitals in the outcomes
that patients care most about. So that's going to be
survival rates, readmission rates, rates of complication, as well patient
experience and also the number of patients that are treated
at each hospital.
Speaker 1 (34:26):
And so US News also evaluates the tap hospitals in
more than three dozen different healthcare services in cancer care, orthopedics,
heart bypass surgery, surgery. About the different specialty areass and
conditions that you evaluate?
Speaker 7 (34:42):
Wait, yeah, so we do evaluate twenty two procedures and conditions.
This year we added two more which are heart arrythmia
and pacemaker implantation. And then as you mentioned, we we
evaluate in heart bypass surgery different types of cancer surgeries
(35:05):
as well, and these are meant to target some of
the highest volume procedures and conditions that are treated for Americans.
And then on the other side, we also provide numerical
rankings of hospitals in specialties, and the specialties are meant
to assess hospitals on really complex patient cases. We're evaluating
(35:29):
their ability to treat the sickest of the sick. And
then to put all that together, we have the best
regional Hospitals, which our hospitals recognize for providing excellent outcomes
across all areas of care in their community. And we
also have the Honor Roll, which is the top twenty
hospitals across the entire nation.
Speaker 1 (35:51):
Wow, and so how should we as Americans use US
News Best Hospitals lists as we make decisions about our healthcare.
Speaker 7 (36:00):
Yeah, so I think for most Americans what is going
to be most useful is those best regional Hospitals that
I just mentioned. We really want to highlight that there
are great hospitals providing great outcomes in almost every pocket
of America. We don't need to travel necessarily to get
really great care. So, for example, you know, in Texas
(36:24):
there are thirty four best Regional Hospitals representing areas from Houston, Dallas, Austin,
San Antonio, Sugarland, the Woodlands, Fort Worth, Temple, all over,
and in Houston, the number one hospital is Houston Methodist Hospital.
You know, they're ranked nationally within the top thirty for
(36:45):
eleven out of the fifteen specialties, so they're ranked seventh
in the nation for gastro entrology and eighth in the
nation for pulmonology and lung surgery. So you can see
all of these details and exactly how each hospital did
on every outcome like survival, like readmissions on our website,
and based on what procedure that you're interested in, Like
(37:08):
say you're looking for a place for a new replacement
or you're looking for a place for your parents to
get a new replacement. You can type that in the
search bar. You can add your zip code, your city,
and it'll show you a list of all your options
for each hospital. It'll show you the doctors that are affiliated,
It'll show you what procedures are doing. All of that
(37:28):
information makes it a really useful compare and contrast tool
when you're making these really important decisions.
Speaker 1 (37:34):
Absolutely, and so how do you I mean, obviously you
are in the know and you know the hospitals everywhere,
but if somebody say, wanted to bring a hospital to
your attention, how can they do that?
Speaker 7 (37:49):
Yeah, So we do solicit feedback from clinicians and hospital
leadership very regularly when we're building out these outcomes and
building out these ratings, and we do have an email
that is available for that type of suggestion, so that
can be found on our website. Our website is www
(38:12):
dot usnews dot com slash hospitals, so that will have
all the information you need. We also publish our methodology
in great detail on the website, so if you're ever
interested in exactly how we rate hospitals, what goes into that,
all of that is available on the website.
Speaker 1 (38:31):
Also terrific, Chelsea One, thank you so much for joining
me today on Passport Mommy. Very informative and I'll go
check out your new report.
Speaker 7 (38:38):
Thank you so much, Thank you so much, Michelle
Welcome to Passport Mommy. I'm your host, Michelle Jerson. This
show is for anyone raising little humans. We feature experts
with tips and advice to enrich the lives of our children.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Mom and dad. Entrepreneurs tell us.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Their inspiring stories, learn about products that could make both
you and your child's life easier and more fun, and
of course, fellow parents discuss and laugh about what's happening
in their child's world. Motherhood is a journey. Thanks for
joining me on mine. You're listening to Passport Mommy. I'm
Michelle Jerson. And as we're thinking about all the things
(00:35):
that we need to do for back to school, there's
one thing on your list that should definitely be on
your list if it's not already, and that's your child's
eye exams, because I feel like it's so important. You know,
maybe you have a child who struggles with reading, maybe.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
There's some challenges elsewhere, and you just never really thought, oh,
maybe it could be their eyes.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
And so I'm really happy to have on the show
with me today, doctor Jackie Bowen. She's the president of
the American Optometric Association Board of Trustees. Doctor Bowen, thank
you so much for joining me.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Today.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Thank you for the invitation, Michelle.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
My pleasure is, so, why should a comprehensive eye exam
be included on parents back to school checklist?
Speaker 3 (01:17):
Well, first of all, we know that eighty percent of
learning happens through vision, and children are not able to
tell you that their vision is different from anybody else's.
They don't know that, So a lot of time can
go by before a child might exhibit failures or habits
or behaviors that show you that there might be a problem.
So early intervention, early habits of taking your child to
(01:41):
an eye doctor and every year, is essential in establishing good,
healthy habits lifelong, not just for vision performance, but for
overall health and wellbeing. There are so many things that
are affected by vision.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
Yes, definitely, And so what does AOA's recommend frequency of
eye exams for children?
Speaker 3 (02:04):
Thank you for asking that. We've done a lot of
evidence based research on that, and the recommendation might surprise
you that between six and twelve months is when the
optometrist wants to see the child first. That's during a
very critical developmental period for the eye and the brain.
And as children are absorbing information all day every day,
the eyes may or may not be helping in that
(02:26):
learning process. Between ages two and four, prior to starting school,
an exam with an optometrist is recommended, and then during
the school age years when school started, and then every
year thereafter we recommend an annual comprehensive exam.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
Great, and you know what, and insurance covers it, and
even if you don't have eye insurance, they're not that
that expensive.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
And it's definitely something that should be done.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
It's very important, yes, and so how to undiagnosed eye
problems affect their learning?
Speaker 2 (02:59):
I know you touched on it before. What are some
other ways that it could affect it?
Speaker 3 (03:06):
Normal development as you see the world around you and
interact and react to things that happen to a child,
the vision system has to be on fire all day
every day. School performance can therefore be affected because it's
not just about what you can see. It's not just
about clarity of vision. For a child. There's teaming, tracking,
(03:27):
moving in space, comprehensive contrast sensitivity. Those things can affect
the ability to learn. Social interactions are impacted because if
a child doesn't feel confident interacting with other children or
engaging in athletics or games, that can suppress their social development,
athletics as in the older years. Vision performance in sports
(03:52):
is well documented, and there are many things that the
average person is not aware of that an optometrist can elicit.
And overall self esteem. You know, if you are confident
in your space and you're confident that you're getting the
information that everyone else is getting, you're going to perform better. Overall,
that extends into adulthood, certainly your ability to achieve levels
(04:13):
of education, the confidence that you have in yourself to
go for higher level career opportunities and employment, and again
adult social interactions. So there's so many things beyond just
wearing glasses or not that are identified and corrected through
a good, healthy habit of an annual visit with the optometrist.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
Yes, that's really I'm glad you brought that up, because
I think we as parents always want what's best for
our kids, and we want to set them up for success.
So something like this we should absolutely be thinking about
as the basis for all of that. Now, I think
a big concern for a lot of us as parents
is screen time and how often our kids are on phones, tablets, computers.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Would you say that that affects their I have.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
Screen use and the escalation of that in our society
has absolutely impacted the way that we take care of eyes.
Even before the pandemic, number one out of four preschool
children and was estimated to have a vision problem. So
since the pandemic, as our screen time has escalated, we
have had to recognize the different strain and different pressures
(05:21):
put on the visual system. And if the brain has
to do a lot of work to correct the vision,
it's not going to be able to do its job
of learning and absorbing information. Screens are essential, and they're
a part of learning. They're a part of school environment
and part of entertainment. Certainly, so parents should certainly set limits.
This is not new information. We instinctively know it's not
(05:44):
good for the child to a be sitting still very
long for their whole body, but certainly for their eyes.
It's not good to be postured doing that. So beyond
ensuring that the eyes are healthy and the visual function
is healthy, we like to talk about the twenty twenty
twenty rule, where every twenty minutes your child should look
(06:05):
twenty feet away or more for twenty seconds or more.
If your arms were holding up a heavy weight for
twenty minutes they'd need to relax and shake out a
little bit. So that's essentially what that twenty twenty twenty
rule accomplishes. Two hours of outside play is recommended, and
that's really hard to do, you know, depending on the
weather or where you live. But we know from good
(06:27):
science that that is essential to development of the eye
and the vision, and it's also essential in preventing near
sightedness from escalating. Screen time is a near activity, and
if you do more near activity, the brain is going
to adapt and you are going to become more near sighted.
(06:48):
Limiting screen time certainly, encouraging outside activity and when screens
are being used, frequent breaks are necessary.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Refect.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
Great tips, Doctor Jackie Bowen, thank you so much for
joining me today on Passport Mommy. If you listen to
this show, you know that we speak to folks from
Peta quite often and they love to bring us awareness
about what's going on with animals. And today we're going
to talk with somebody who has a point of view
about visiting SeaWorld.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Here is the interview I recorded the other day with her.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
I know my kids love animals and when we travel,
we love to go see animals, whether it is at
an aquarium or in the wild. But there are some
places that PETA says are not being ethical with their animals,
and that we should be a little cautious when visiting
animal attractions if we do care about their well being.
(07:39):
I have with me on the show today, Melanie Johnson.
She's a senior manager of PETA's Animals in Entertainment division.
Melanie tell us more about what happens to animals. Let's say,
at a place like SeaWorld.
Speaker 4 (07:52):
Summer is a really busy time for travel, so it's
a great time to talk about why people should never
go to SeaWorld. At SeaWorld facilities across the country, more
than forty orcas, over five hundred other dolphins in whales,
and countless other animals have died, many prematurely. Just the
last week, an eleven year old orca named Cama died
(08:14):
at SeaWorld San Antonio.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
So what is PETA doing to help Quirky.
Speaker 4 (08:20):
Ita is pushing SeaWorld to allow Quirky to spend the
rest of her life in a seaside sanctuary, which is
a safe ocean cove where Corky could dive deep and
feel the ocean's currents while still receiving the care that
she needs. A team of experts is actually already preparing
a sanctuary for her, which would be in her home waters,
(08:40):
where she'd possibly even be able to communicate with her
brother and sister, who still swim freely in the area.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
What cruelty ways are there for people to include marine
animals in their travel plants still.
Speaker 4 (08:53):
Children have a natural love for animals, so they would
never want to visit SeaWorld if they knew how much
animals see for there. The good news is that families
can see animals from a respectful distance in their natural habitats.
So for example, if you live on the coast, you
may be able to see dolphins swimming at the beach,
or you could go on a hike, could visit a
(09:14):
park or a nature preserve. You can go bird watching,
and all of these activities allow you to see animals
without intruding on or hurting them.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
Where can we go for more information and if we
would like to help marine animals.
Speaker 4 (09:28):
People can go to peda dot org to learn more
about Quirky and our campaign against SeaWorld and to urge
the company to release these animals to Seaside. Sanctuaries.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Thank you so much, Melanie Johnson for joining me today
on Passport Mommy.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
I hope your.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
Summer travels have been fun so far, and maybe you're
gearing up to travel. Your kids have been in camp
all summer. Well, next week we are going to be
broadcasting from Lake Placid in New York. Lake Placid is
such a beautiful place to visit this time of year,
but really any time of year is a great time
to visit because during the winter time you could check
out their Olympic facilities up and they have a beautiful
(10:04):
ice skating rank, among many other things. But we're going
to do that this summer too, and we're also going
to kayak and bike and hike and all the things
that you can do in Lake Placid. And we'll be
staying a too incredible resort, which we will talk about
on the show next week. They include the Mirror Lake
Inn and the White Face Lodge. They are both beautiful
properties in Lake Placid and really a destination within themselves.
(10:27):
The culinary scene is incredible. They have a spa, and
they have so many activities and even sports clinics on property.
So don't forget to tune into the show next week,
when you'll hear all about Lake Placid, when you'll hear
all about Lake Placid, what there.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
Is to do there and the beautiful resorts.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
And don't forget you can always download this podcast so
you never miss an episode, and it'll alert you every
time there is a new episode posted.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
And don't forget to leave a.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
Review, because for every review that you leave, more people
can find this show. And I'm truly grateful, and I
am truly grateful to each and every one of you.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
Who tune in each week.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
I love what I do and I hope that I
can provide insight and advice and fun inspiration for your
next trip.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
I'm Michelle Jerson. More coming up in a few.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
You're listening to Passport Mommy, I'm Michelle Jerson. And you know,
when you're traveling, there is nothing worse than traveling in
an unfamiliar area and losing your self service. And it
seems that no matter how advanced cell phones are, there
are still those dead zones all over the United States.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
But not anymore because T Mobile is now able.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
To take connectivity where it's never gone book bore, and
so I'm really happy to have on the show with
me today, Gavin Gee, he's going to talk to us
all about what T mobile is up to.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
Hi, Gavin, Hi, it's great to be here. Thank you
so much.
Speaker 5 (11:53):
So.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
Dead zones continue to be an issue for sell users
in remote areas.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
What advancements are being made to address the problem.
Speaker 6 (12:02):
Well, it's an area that we've been hard at workout
for a long time. One we've been investing in our
core network, adding more towers, making our signal go further.
But the reality is there are still five hundred thousand
square miles of the United States that no carrier has
coverage for. We're talking national parks and wilderness areas and
(12:25):
really tough to reach locations, and so we're really excited
to enable a new capability this last week called Tea Satellite,
and this is about enabling satellite direct to sell communications
that empower the phone that you have today to automatically
connect to a satellite network and stay enable you to
stay in touch with your friends and family or even
(12:45):
reach emergency services.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
So how does that work? The technology behind this, it's.
Speaker 6 (12:52):
Pretty remarkable, really, like space is hard. But what we've
done is essentially take a cell phone tower and strap
it to A satellite and we have over six one
hundred and fifty satellites orbiting above America providing cellular service
to customers. And the real key innovation here is that
we haven't done this to enable a new set of devices.
(13:12):
We've done this to enable the device that you have,
and so over sixty devices or basically any phone that
people have been purchasing in the last four years in
the United States just works automatically. So that means if
you've got access to the Tea satellite service, when you
head out into a place where there's no terrestrial coverage,
your phone automatically connects with the Tea satellite service and
(13:36):
you can continue to message and connect with your friend's
family and emergency services.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
That's amazing.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
So I imagine that this works really well in those rural areas.
Speaker 6 (13:44):
It s your does, and this is also the experience
that we've been living. Right there are places in America,
those rural country roads or tough to reach places where
we can't build a cell phone tower that in the past,
your signal might have dropped and you'd have been out
of touch. And that's the last place you want to be.
If you broke down at the side of the road
and you need some help. And so now with Tea Satellite,
(14:05):
we provide that ubiquitous coverage across America to allow people
to stay connected no.
Speaker 5 (14:11):
Matter where they are.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
That's great because, yes, I'm with you.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
I always seem to lose coverage when I am lost.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
I remember driving.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
My daughter to a girl scout thing up in the
country last year and the car was having issues and.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
Then we were in.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
The darkest, most remote area and of course I lost
signal and it's very frightening to think, oh my gosh,
I'm nowhere and I have no signal to be able
to call out to anybody. So what does this technology
mean for the future of mobile service?
Speaker 6 (14:42):
Let me just say, you know, that's the perfect example
where having Tea satellite really really could come to help you.
And you know, this is the start of this journey.
You know, we announced last week the availability of this
service to all Americans and we you know, we're excited
to offer this for our best T Mobile customers in
their rate plans or they can buy it as a
(15:04):
standline service. We're even inviting our AT and T and
Verizon customers to say come on over and buy T
Mobile as a stannel and service. But it's really the
start of this journey in that we're enabling messaging today,
but we also have an ambition to continue to invest
in this capability. So this isn't just about having dead
zones covered. This is about having dead zones covered with data.
(15:25):
So that means that your apps that work out there,
that you use on a day to day basis automatically
work over the satellite data connection. And so not only
can you message for help, but you can use the
apps that you'd use in those situations as well, be
it opening a triple A app or opening a mapping app.
You'll be able to get access to those capabilities.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
That's wonderful.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
And so what does best network mean and how does
t Satellite relate to it?
Speaker 6 (15:51):
So we're really excited. We've been on a journey for
really the last few decades, really building and continuing to
invest in the network. And just recently back in June
here there was a third party organization called Upler who
may have you may be familiar with them. They run
something called the speed test app and they do a
bunch of network testing and they ran a massive test
(16:13):
here in the US over one hundreds of millions of
devices and data points evaluating the capabilities of all of
the networks, and T Mobile came out on top. It's
been fun in that we've been the winner of this
award for a long time as it relates to the
five G network. But now with the latest award, this
is about T Mobile winning best network and some people
(16:34):
may not realize that, and I'd encourage everybody to go, huh,
maybe it's time for me to consider T Mobile and
explore what services they have to offer. And so, whilst
we've invested a lot in our core network, this is
also about how we wrap our core network with a
lot of additional capabilities, one of those being the satellite,
but we also have great inflight experiences, free Wi Fi
(16:58):
on planes, international data passes, and a whole range of
T Mobile, Tuesday and Magenda benefits that really come together
to bring the capabilities of the best network to life
for our customers.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
Yes, and that is amazing, And I'm so glad that
you were on today because I do think we do
need to reevaluate our cell phone networks and we.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
Should do it often.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
And I think T Mobile, you know, for some you know,
maybe it isn't one of the more popular brands. When
someone thinks of cell phone service, but you're missing out,
You're definitely missing out, and so where can we go
for more information? I know I'm definitely going to look
into this because if I knew that I could travel
anywhere and not have any more dead zones and then
remain connected, Like you mentioned, it's wonderful. It really changes everything,
(17:45):
especially when you're driving with children.
Speaker 6 (17:48):
Absolutely absolutely like please head on over to tdashmobile dot
com our website, or head into one of our fabulous
retail stores and the team can help you with any
questions you'd have. I think it's a very tired to
come on and switch over to T mobile. We have
a credible network, we have an incredible team, and our customers.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
Just love us terrific.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
Well, thank you so much, Gavin Gee. I appreciate you
joining me today. I'm passport Mommy. Thanks for having me
my pleasure. I'm Michelle Jerson. More coming up in a
few you're listening to Passport Mommy. I'm Michelle Jerson, And
you know I'm always looking for really cool places to
visit and especially summertime. And I saw a friend of
(18:30):
mine she was at a place called Lavender by the Bay,
and I looked at her pictures and I thought, oh,
my gosh, she looks so happy. When I saw this place,
I thought, oh, let me check it out. And I
come to find out that they have a few locations
on Long Island, and they also are very active in
the farmers' markets every week in New York City. And
so I'm really happy to have one of the owners
(18:52):
on the show with me today, Hannan Rosenbaum, and he's
going to talk to us all about Lavender by the Bay.
Speaker 5 (18:58):
Hi, Hannan, Hi, thank you so much for having me.
I'm really excited to talk to you.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
My pleasure thanks for being here.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
Is so I mean, it's such a unique spot because
I know when my daughter was younger, she used to
love sheet purple flowers, she called them, and so whenever
we would see lavender, it just it always made us
all so happy. And I didn't realize that there was
this beautiful farm right here. I mean, I'm based in
New York City, but on Long Island, So tell me
about it.
Speaker 5 (19:25):
Yeah. So we are a lavender farm. We started in
two thousand and two. We're based out on the North
Fork of Long Island, and it was a hobby that
my parents started and eventually became into a business. I
used to summer in a town called Southold and we
(19:45):
lived on a dune and my dad would try and
plant things and nothing ever grew. So he thought about
planting lavender, and the lavender really flourished, to the point
that we had so much lavender we didn't know what
to do with it. Yeah, and my mom was an
art teacher in Jamaica Queens, and she was always very crafty,
(20:06):
and she used to make floral arrangements for her friends
and do sachets for her friends. So they decided to
set up a little picnic bench in front of the
house and put out some of the some of their goods,
and we would come back from the beach and there
would be ten dollars in the jar and twenty dollars
in the jar. And ultimately they saw that there was
(20:26):
this unique product that people really loved and that really
wasn't prevalent in New York and saw an opportunity. So
they bought some land and the rest is history. We
have two locations now over forty five acres of lavender,
and it's really it's really incredible to see what we've built.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
Wow, that is amazing.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
What a family story and what a legacy. And I
love that that you started out just you know, putting
it out there, and people the honor system, they come
by and they leave money.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
I think that's incredible. Such a great spot.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
I think to bring families too, and just such a
nice outing for the day.
Speaker 5 (21:02):
It's great because it's an opportunity for people to come
and disconnect from the daily grind. A field of lavender
flowers is really it's it's almost like an ocean of
purple goodness. I like to call it. It's not what
we're It really takes over the senses. As soon as
(21:22):
you step out of the car when we're in Bloom,
the fragrance just hits you and and transports you to
a place that you're really not used to. And then
you see the fields of the lavender blooming, swaying with
the wind. It's it's really an incredible experience and and
and it's it's it's it's something that we're not used.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
To right exactly, especially if you're coming from a city,
or even if you're not coming from the city, even
in your every day you don't usually see that. I remember,
I think the last time I saw lavender field it
was somewhere in Europe.
Speaker 5 (21:53):
I can't remember, but yeah, so last so lavender is
really prevalent in Provence, France. Yes, and I always say
come to Long Island.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
We'll save you the flight, right exactly, exactly, it's so great.
And so what are some activities do you do besides
obviously people coming and being able to just enjoy the fields?
Speaker 2 (22:14):
Are there certain activities that you plan throughout the year.
Speaker 5 (22:18):
So it's you know, we keep it simple. You know,
I really want people to come and disconnect. You know,
when we're not in bloom, we do have the farm
is open and the shop is open, and we're doing
farmers' markets throughout the year, but it's not it's really
just a place to explore and disconnect, right.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
How nice.
Speaker 1 (22:42):
And so when you come with young kids, and you know,
sometimes it's hard to disconnect with young.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
Kids, tell me about it.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
Do you find that they also kind of get into
the zone and relax a little bit.
Speaker 5 (22:55):
So, yeah, it's a great opportunity for kids to learn
about the various pollinators and nature. We have some chickens
free range chickens running around, so the kids get to
go check out the chickens. We have butterflies all over
the place. We do have honey bees. Kids sometimes are
scared of the honey bees, but the bees are focused
on gathering the nectar from the lavender. They're not going
(23:17):
to bother you if you don't bother them.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
Right, when would you say is the best time to visit?
Speaker 5 (23:21):
Our lavender typically starts blooming in June and goes through July.
So the English lab there's over one hundred varieties of lavender.
We have about twenty to twenty five different types of
lavender at the farm. English lavender, which is a very
bright and vibrant colored lavender, also great for cooking, blooms
(23:42):
in June and then in July, which is our French lavender,
which is the most fragrant, it's the tall, it's really
what gives off the impression of a sea of purple
that blooms in July and typically ends at the end
of July.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
Great, so now is really the time to go, right
if we want to well of weeks right?
Speaker 5 (24:01):
So yeah, I would say that this last last week
is probably We'll probably start cutting at the end of
the first weekend in August.
Speaker 2 (24:09):
When you cut it all, where does it go.
Speaker 5 (24:11):
The beauty of lavender is not only is the color,
but the fragrance, and lavender fragrance gets stronger when it's
in its dried form. So we harvest the bunches and
we sell them year round at the farmer's market. We
also dry the lavender to make sachets, so after we're cutting,
we're processing, drying, and we start making our lavender goodies
(24:32):
for the year.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
That's great, and so is the farmer's market that you do.
Is it year round?
Speaker 5 (24:38):
Yes, So we're Union Square four days a week Monday, Wednesday,
Friday and Saturday, weather permitting, and then we're market on
the Upper west Side. We try to do it year round.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
Great.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
And so if we're planning a visit to come see
you at one of the farms on Long Island, what
should we bring with us?
Speaker 5 (24:57):
Lots of water, sunscreen, really really recommend exploring all that
the North Fork has to offer. There's lots of great vineyards,
other farms and farm stands, great pies in the neighborhood.
So it really it's it's it's good to make it
a day trip.
Speaker 1 (25:13):
Right, Definitely, and I think, hey, why not stay overnight too.
If you have the weekend, just go do things in
the area. In general, you know, lavender has always been
known to alleviate stress.
Speaker 2 (25:24):
How does it do it?
Speaker 5 (25:26):
So it's the fragrance is really what takes your body
and lowers the blood pressure, the the the fragrance is.
It's it's an incredible thing. It also induces past memories.
I have a lot of customers who say when they
smell lavender, reminds them of their grandmother's attic. We're a
little pillow that there that their grandmother once gave them.
(25:48):
So it's it's it's it's not only smells great, it
looks great, and it has a wonderful effect on the body.
Speaker 2 (25:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
Absolutely, well, I'm looking forward to the visit and I
feel like it's perfect for people of all ages.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
We talked about families, but you know what.
Speaker 1 (26:03):
Everybody needs to relax, especially in these times.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
I absolutely great escape.
Speaker 5 (26:09):
And I also want to say I forgot to say,
when you do come to visit us, make sure you
bring your camera, you know, whether it be your iPhone
or your personal camera, because the pictures are going to
be great, and those are going to be memories that
will last a lifetime.
Speaker 1 (26:23):
Oh that's a good idea. Yeah, you know, I'm always
there with my iPhone. But if you have even a
better camera, now would be the time to break it out.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
You can put those pictures on the wall.
Speaker 5 (26:32):
Would be hundred percent, one hundred percent or even online.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
Right exactly exactly? Are there two locations on Long Island.
Speaker 5 (26:39):
Yeah, so we have a location in Calverton, which is
about an hour twenty from the city, and then we
have our original location, which is an East mary And
that's more about an hour and forty five minutes. East
Marion is our original location. It's about seventeen acres. Calverton
in Riverhead is about thirty thirty plus agers.
Speaker 1 (27:01):
Okay, great, and is there Do you recommend a visit
to both or once you see one like you pretty much?
Speaker 5 (27:08):
You know, but both are great. Both are unique. The
one in East Marion is a little more intimate, I
like to describe it, whereas the one in Calverton is
more expansive. So if you're looking to do a quick trip,
then I would recommend the Calverton, but if you're coming
for the weekend, then East Marion is great as well.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
Okay, perfect, all right, So what are some other things
you mentioned? Hey, if we're coming out, maybe the North Fork.
I know in Calverton you also have splitsh Splash for
the family, the weak.
Speaker 5 (27:38):
Right.
Speaker 1 (27:38):
What are some other favorite activities of yours in the area.
Speaker 5 (27:41):
So, I like, I love to go to Greenport, which
is close to East Marion. It's a town right on
the water, so you can go walk around, go shopping.
The kids can go run around the marina, check out
on the boats. Sometimes you get lucky and you have
some yachts out there, but that's a great one. Restaurants.
You know, you're right on the water, so you can
have some fantastic seafood. I love the south Old Fish Market.
(28:05):
So yeah, there is so many, so many different things
to explore.
Speaker 1 (28:08):
Yeah, and I feel like it's a part. You know,
a lot of people too from the city. They may
go out to the Hamptons, but they don't always stop
this great area which is right near the you know,
fairly close, I guess, right about four five minutes.
Speaker 5 (28:19):
Or an hour, yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2 (28:22):
Yeah, And this is such a great part of Long Island.
Speaker 5 (28:25):
It really is an untapped gem. You know, it's just
farmland the vistas, the vineyards, it's it's it's great.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
Yeah, yeah, me too.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
And I remember before kids we did a tour around
the vineyards, and even with kids, I feel like there's
a lot that you can do in the area and
some of the vineyards are really kid friendly.
Speaker 5 (28:44):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (28:46):
Yeah, what a great weekend trip.
Speaker 1 (28:48):
Okay, So when we were arranging this interview, you were like, oh,
I have to you know, I'm shuttling my kids to camp.
And I was like, oh, I know that all too well.
And so how do you as a dad balance and
everything that you're doing with the business with Lavender by.
Speaker 2 (29:03):
The Bay with your kids. How old are your kids?
Speaker 5 (29:06):
I have a ten year old, a seven year old
and a three year old. I wish I had I
wish I could tell what the special sauce was. But
it's really just you know, your intention. It's important for
me to be present for my kids and you know,
be there in the morning and taking them to camp
and being a part of their life as well as
(29:28):
exposing them to the business and the farm that we have.
It's all about legacy and instilling that concept in our
children and having them take pride in what the family does.
That's really important for me.
Speaker 1 (29:43):
Yeah, I agree with you, and I think it's so
nice to have a family business and the kids can
learn so much from that from just you know, every
day you know, dealings with the business and to know
that their family owns something. And I bet they learn
a lot from watching you run in Yeah.
Speaker 5 (30:01):
I mean I always have to struggle with every time
I pick them up from camp. It's like, oh, can
we go to the farm, And it's like sometimes yes,
and sometimes we can. Sometimes we got to go do
other things. But it's great that they that they seek
it out and I love that.
Speaker 2 (30:15):
Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
So back to we were talking about the farmer's markets
and that's so great that you're at like three different
places in the city throughout the year. And I think
everybody can always use lavender. We talked about how great
it is. It smells so nice, it relaxes you, and
you mentioned something like you can use it for cooking.
Speaker 5 (30:31):
Yeah, so we recommend using our English lavender for cooking.
You can bake with it, you can make tea with it,
you can make cookies or biscottie. There's so many, so
many great things that you can use it on if
you're into that. Type of thing. I totally recommend it
and exploring that.
Speaker 1 (30:51):
Yeah, I've never thought about that, and so what are
some other products that you sell?
Speaker 5 (30:56):
So you know, the main benefit of lab there is
that it's naturally calming. It helps with sleep, it helps
with stress headaches. If you use a few drops of
essential oil on your pillow, it'll help you get to
sleep quicker. You can use it in a diffuser. You know.
(31:16):
There's so the sachets you can keep in your car
and your purse if you're stressed out on the subway.
We even have a lavender keychain that you can squeeze
in and escape to our fields.
Speaker 2 (31:25):
Oh, I love it.
Speaker 5 (31:27):
We so we also sell dry bunches. The dry bunches
are great because the last months to years, if it
ever loses its fragrance, all you do is give it
a squeeze. The essential the lavender es central oil is
locked in the lavender buds, so as long as you
have buds intact, you'll have fragrance for for for many years.
Speaker 2 (31:46):
Oh, that's great.
Speaker 1 (31:46):
And I think I also read at one point when
I was living in a home and we had like
I don't know if it's an ant issue or something else.
Isn't lavender also good for like keeping away certain insects?
Speaker 5 (31:56):
Yeah, so they say that it's great for a ski repellent,
and that it's good for for moths to keep us
actually in your closet, to to keep away in the moths.
You know, a lot of our customers buy for that purpose.
But to to it's uh, to it's effectiveness, I can't.
I can't speak on you know, right, I wish I could,
(32:20):
but it's it's it is a great natural repellent.
Speaker 1 (32:24):
Sure, well, great, I look forward to visiting. I cannot wait.
Handhan Rosenbaum, thank you so much for joining me today again.
Where can we get more information on Lavender by the Bay.
Speaker 5 (32:34):
So our website Lavender by theebay dot com or one
of our many social media on Facebook, on Instagram, Lavender.
Speaker 2 (32:43):
By the Bay Perfect.
Speaker 1 (32:44):
Thank you so much for joining me today. On passport mommy, thank.
Speaker 5 (32:48):
You so much for having me. And I can't wait
to have you guys.
Speaker 2 (32:50):
At the farm name here, I'm Michelle Jerson.
Speaker 1 (32:52):
More coming up in a few And we did end
up visiting Lavender by the Bay and it was everything
that he mentioned.
Speaker 2 (32:59):
It was.
Speaker 1 (33:00):
It's so nice, it was such a great family experience.
My kids had a blast running through the lavender fields
and seeing the chickens. I highly recommend. So it's that
time of year where US News and World Report releases
their Best Hospitals list, and so I'm really happy to
have on the show with me today Chelsea Wen. She
(33:21):
is a senior health data analyst for US News and
World Report.
Speaker 7 (33:24):
Hi Chelsea, Hi Michelle, thanks so much for having me
on My pleasure.
Speaker 5 (33:29):
So.
Speaker 1 (33:29):
US News and World Report is the global authority in
healthcare rankings and ratings, and you are releasing the twenty
twenty five to twenty twenty six edition of Best Hospitals,
and tell me this year what you are recognizing.
Speaker 7 (33:46):
Yeah, So, our overall goal is to help patients make
informs healthcare decisions, and we do that by evaluating hospitals
in the areas of care that are most common for Americans,
like diabetes, like COPD, heart attack, stroke, hip replacement, all
(34:07):
of those things. And we rate hospitals in the outcomes
that patients care most about. So that's going to be
survival rates, readmission rates, rates of complication, as well patient
experience and also the number of patients that are treated
at each hospital.
Speaker 1 (34:26):
And so US News also evaluates the tap hospitals in
more than three dozen different healthcare services in cancer care, orthopedics,
heart bypass surgery, surgery. About the different specialty areass and
conditions that you evaluate?
Speaker 7 (34:42):
Wait, yeah, so we do evaluate twenty two procedures and conditions.
This year we added two more which are heart arrythmia
and pacemaker implantation. And then as you mentioned, we we
evaluate in heart bypass surgery different types of cancer surgeries
(35:05):
as well, and these are meant to target some of
the highest volume procedures and conditions that are treated for Americans.
And then on the other side, we also provide numerical
rankings of hospitals in specialties, and the specialties are meant
to assess hospitals on really complex patient cases. We're evaluating
(35:29):
their ability to treat the sickest of the sick. And
then to put all that together, we have the best
regional Hospitals, which our hospitals recognize for providing excellent outcomes
across all areas of care in their community. And we
also have the Honor Roll, which is the top twenty
hospitals across the entire nation.
Speaker 1 (35:51):
Wow, and so how should we as Americans use US
News Best Hospitals lists as we make decisions about our healthcare.
Speaker 7 (36:00):
Yeah, so I think for most Americans what is going
to be most useful is those best regional Hospitals that
I just mentioned. We really want to highlight that there
are great hospitals providing great outcomes in almost every pocket
of America. We don't need to travel necessarily to get
really great care. So, for example, you know, in Texas
(36:24):
there are thirty four best Regional Hospitals representing areas from Houston, Dallas, Austin,
San Antonio, Sugarland, the Woodlands, Fort Worth, Temple, all over,
and in Houston, the number one hospital is Houston Methodist Hospital.
You know, they're ranked nationally within the top thirty for
(36:45):
eleven out of the fifteen specialties, so they're ranked seventh
in the nation for gastro entrology and eighth in the
nation for pulmonology and lung surgery. So you can see
all of these details and exactly how each hospital did
on every outcome like survival, like readmissions on our website,
and based on what procedure that you're interested in, Like
(37:08):
say you're looking for a place for a new replacement
or you're looking for a place for your parents to
get a new replacement. You can type that in the
search bar. You can add your zip code, your city,
and it'll show you a list of all your options
for each hospital. It'll show you the doctors that are affiliated,
It'll show you what procedures are doing. All of that
(37:28):
information makes it a really useful compare and contrast tool
when you're making these really important decisions.
Speaker 1 (37:34):
Absolutely, and so how do you I mean, obviously you
are in the know and you know the hospitals everywhere,
but if somebody say, wanted to bring a hospital to
your attention, how can they do that?
Speaker 7 (37:49):
Yeah, So we do solicit feedback from clinicians and hospital
leadership very regularly when we're building out these outcomes and
building out these ratings, and we do have an email
that is available for that type of suggestion, so that
can be found on our website. Our website is www
(38:12):
dot usnews dot com slash hospitals, so that will have
all the information you need. We also publish our methodology
in great detail on the website, so if you're ever
interested in exactly how we rate hospitals, what goes into that,
all of that is available on the website.
Speaker 1 (38:31):
Also terrific, Chelsea One, thank you so much for joining
me today on Passport Mommy. Very informative and I'll go
check out your new report.
Speaker 7 (38:38):
Thank you so much, Thank you so much, Michelle
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