It’s T-shirt time, so check out www.threadless.com  for some awesome slogans.  Retro, vintage, snarky, sweeeet.

One of New Jersey’s hippest beach towns, Asbury Park is in the midst of a rockin’ renaissance that’s not to be missed, Hip Grandmas. Once the crown jewel of the Jersey shore, Asbury experienced tough times for quite a while, but the tide shifted dramatically a few years ago. Thanks to ultra-cool developer Madison Marquette, there’s now 400,000 square feet of new development going on along the Asbury oceanfront, and the push is on to totally revitalize the historic place that Bruce Springsteen made famous with his 1980s album “Greetings From Asbury Park.”

The place to stay in Asbury is Mikell’s Big House, a 4th Avenue accomplishment that’s a tour-de-force in the B&B industry. Built in 1889, this Victorian Italianate is a rebel in the world of traditional bed and breakfast establishments. No doilies, no frou-frou florals, no stuffy innkeeper at the Big House, where owner/interior decorator Mikell Towery has waved her magic wand to create a place that beautifully blends the midcentury with the brand-new. Art abounds in Mikell’s big house, and there’s even a Prohibition-era speakeasy to be found in the non-cluttery spaciousness of the place that’s quickly become a favorite getaway for those who know the meaning of cool. The five rooms include the Big Room, Bigger Room, Biggest Room, Huge Room, and Gigantic Suite. The vibe is relaxed, the house is quiet, and laid back innkeeper Mikell whips up a breakfast of deliciousness for guests. Free beach tags and lots of Asbury advice are to be had here at Mikell’s Big House, where the owner is uber-involved in the community. Mikell will help with dinner decisions and reservations, and her golden retriever Theo is a big fuzzy wiggle of welcome for weary travelers.  Mikell and Theo live in the carriage house, in back of the Big House, and Mikell has a knack for multi-tasking the duties of being a B&B owner with the demands of being Asbury Park’s most in-demand interior decorator.

Two of Asbury’s most happening dinner establishments are Plan B and Taka.  Cookman Avenue’s Plan B is the ultimate in trendy and scrumptious.  Exuding a New York City aura, Restaurant Plan B has an innovative chef and the most gorgeous staff of waiters this side of the moon.  (I dig Ryan, a surfer who makes Brad Pitt look, um, pale in comparison.)  Owner Jeffrey knows how to run a restaurant.  The food is amazing, the design is eclectic and sparse, and the mood is relaxed.  Directly across the street is the independent cinema “The Showroom,” and an incredible deal is to be found on Thursday evenings, with a $25.00 “Dinner and a Movie” special offered.  Sweeeet. 

Cookman Avenue has Plan B; Mattison Avenue has Taka.  Contemporary Japanese cuisine rules here, and the space is sweeping.  Housed in a World War One era commercial building, Taka is a feast not only for the appetite, but for the eye.  White Japanese lanterns are suspended from the ceiling, and a brilliant Samurai and geisha girl cartoon mural sprawls along one wall.  The owner Taka Hirai is to be found in the kitchen, creating Japanese awesomeness that’s so much more than sushi.   Desserts at Taka include a green tea cheesecake that’s to die for, and the amiable waiters here are happy to oblige the clumsy-with-chopsticks by bringing either American silverware or “cheater chopsticks.”

After a delicious dinner at Taka or Plan B, head to the famed Stone Pony for a night of music that’s guaranteed to be great.  One of the most beloved rock clubs in the world, the Stone Pony’s been hosting talent since 1974, and the place pulses with the energy of those gone before.  Guitars on the wall (signed!) and super acoustics make this the place to be for entertainment.  Other great venues are the Wonder Bar and The Saint, making Asbury Park the epicenter of musical wonderfulness.  On a Girly Getaway with another Hip Grandma, we heard a young blues-rock band called Outside The Box, and they rocked our socks (even when we were wearing sandals!)  These guys are amazing, and they play at the Stone Pony every Wednesday.  Fireworks on the Asbury beach happen on Wednesdays, too, making Hump Day an explosion of mid-week Asbury Park fun.

Asbury Park is definitely on a swift upswing, with a revival that’s not to be missed.  Book a big room or two at Mikell’s Big House and get your girlfriends together for an ocean getaway filled with food, music, fireworks, fun, and relaxation.  Tramps like us, grandmas, we were born to run.   Run to Asbury Park, whose glory days are here again.

Check out www.mikellsbighouse.com, www.restaurantplanb.com, www.takaapnj.com, www.stoneponyonline.com, www.TheShowRoomAp.com and www.AllAsburyPark.com  

Check out www.itsallaboutbooks.net for literary T-shirts for hip book-loving grandmas. The fit is great, the fabric is high-quality, and these shirts rock! Lit happens. Wear it on your chest, you librocubicularist, you.

My local movie theatre, Ephrata Main, has lowered all ticket prices to $5.00, as their way of giving back to the community in this economic crisis! Hip Grandmas everywhere: suggest this to your own local theatre. We’ll start a trend. Sweet.
www.ephratamain.com

Hey, Hip Grandmas, inspire a love of reading in your Grand Ones with Wonder Shirts: the coolest T-shirts on earth for book-loving kids. Featuring art by famed illustrators like Betsy Lewin, Mo Willems, Kevin Henkes, Edward Gorey, Arnold Lobel, Rosemary Wells, Garth Williams, James Marshall and more, these T-shirts will rock your little (and big!) readers. I dig the “Driven To Read” shirt, and also the “Aggle Flaggle Blarble! Read To Me!”

Books ARE a big deal, and Wonder Shirts promotes books and reading and art. Sweeeet. Check them out at www.wonder-shirts.com

Check out www.lushusa.com for a Father’s Day gift that’s perfect for the silver fox in your life. LUSH’s Daddyo Shampoo is a divine blend of lemon, coconut oil, and seaweed in a gorgeous purple blend sure to shine up any father’s hair. Made especially for gray, white, or blonde hair, Daddyo Shampoo eliminates brassy yellow tones while restoring and shining.

LUSH offers a whole bunch of fresh handmade cosmetics that are ethically and sustainably procured from around the world. Sweeet.

It’s been raining in Pa., but the new show at the Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre (www.dutchapple.com) lights up gray days. “Singin’ in the Rain” hits the stage at Dutch Apple, and it’s a fab show for Hip Grandmas and their families. The cast shines in this old classic, and a fine-tuned medly of music will have you tapping your toes. This is the Dutch Apple’s 174th production, and the Lancaster, Pa. dinner theatre has perfected the art of entertainment. The food is yummy and the musicals are fun. Singin’ in the Rain is no exception! Chase those gray clouds away, and hit the road to Lancaster, Pa.!

Even grandmas need big city girly getaways, and the best place in Manhattan for the granny chicks to nest is the New York Palace. Clean, comfortable, quiet, spacious, and oh so elegant, the Palace is the official girl getaway hotel of the Hip Grandmas club. With an opulent offering of 805 rooms and 88 suites, The Palace is right across the street from St. Patrick’s Cathedral and steps from Rockefeller Center.  The service is divine and the views are to die for.  Get a suite, bring your pjs and best dressup clothes, and go out on the town that never sleeps, girlfriends.   The Palace is also awesome for a getaway with your Grand Ones of any ages, and the New York Palace is now offering an American Girl “Dream Come True” package.  Just two blocks from The Palace, the American Girl Place is a great place to visit with the little ones.

Pick up a delicious pizza just down the street at RedStone Pizzeria or to save time, order online at www.redstonetogo.com

See a show; go shopping; eat, eat, eat. The best restaurant on Theatre Row is Chez Josephine: a hip little place that’s been a Broadway tradition since 1986. Chez Josephine has a new Prix Fixe menu, and a fab piano player for dinner and Sunday brunch. Owned by the charming Jean Claude Baker, this newly modeled restaurant is resplendent with blue-tin ceiling, red-velvet walls, and a clientele that the owner calls his “cocktail of human beings.” Celebrity sightings abound in this restaurant named for performer Josephine Baker. (Owner Jean Claude Baker is the “13th of her 12 adopted children,” and the restaurant is his tribute to Josephine). There’s joie de vivre galore at this place, Hip Grandmas, so gather your gang & head to 42nd Street.

After all the walking you’ll do in Manhattan, stroll on over to the Oasis Day Spa at One Park Avenue for a mani, pedi, facial, brow waxing, or massage. Massage therapist Giselle King has a magic touch, and she’ll have those grandma muscles so relaxed you’ll think you’re back in the ’60s, chicksters.

Get thee and your girls (or your Grand Ones) to Manhattan and take a bite of the Big Apple, grandmas. You’ll be glad you did.

Check out www.newyorkpalace.com , www.chezjosephine.com , and www.oasisdayspanyc.com.

Hey, Hip Grandmas, check out www.greenfeet.com for this trendy red kitchen compost crock. Snazzy and compact, this crock looks great on any countertop. Composting is cool, and hipster grandmothers are collecting their eggshells, veggie peelings, coffee grounds, and fruit peels in these racy red crocks. How does your garden grow? With compost made in your little red crock.

For the coolest runnning shoes this side of the moon, check out www.spirafootwear.com   I especially dig the racy red Stinger competition shoe. Just as comfy for kicking around the house, the Stinger is built for running. Light and efficient, this shoe includes Spira’s trademark WaveSprings technology that disburses energy with each step. The awesome aspect of the Stinger is that the technology allows for a new shoe experience - springy and bouncy - through the life of the shoes. Sweeet. Now there’s no excuse for you not to run a marathon, Grandma.  Wear these shoes to the amusement park, too, and you’ll be sprinting after the Grand Ones all day long.