Hartford Courant from Hartford, Connecticut • B8

(artforb ourant MONDAY, MARCH 31, 2014 living I COURANT.COMFEATURES I IS IT THE WEEKEND YET? BLUE MONDAY? HERE ARE A FEW IDEAS TO GET YOU OVER THE HUMP KORKY VANN'S DEAL OF THE DAY HANDCRAFTS AROUND THE WORLD The highly anticipated Handcrafts Around the World Sale featuring imported crafts and home furnishings is Friday, Saturday and Sunday in New Hartford. Participating companies sell wholesale to upscale department stores, gift shops and boutiques. Sales are final, and payment is by cash, check or credit card. The sale is at the Pine Meadow Fire Station, 366 Main New Hartford. Hours are Friday, 1 to 6 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m.

to 5 p.m.; and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more deals, visit courant.comsawyshopper THEATER 21-PLUS PARTY LIQUID LOUNGE The Connectcut Science Center hosts its popular 21-plus Liquid Lounge party Friday from 6 to 10 p.m. on three floors, featuring its traveling exhibit "Lost Egypt," live music, DJs, dancing, gourmet food carts and alcoholic beverages. Dress like an Egyptian for a chance to win prizes.

Tickets are $15 if purchased by April $18 at the door. The science center is 250 Columbus Hartford. Information and tickets at www.ctsciencecenter.org. I'D RATHER BE DANCING StopTime Dance Theater's annual music and dance extravaganza showcases dancing, singing and live music, April 2 to 13 at Playhouse on Park in West Hartford. Performances are Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7:30 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m.; and Sunday at 2 p.m.

Tickets $22.50 to $32.50. For more, call 860-523-5900 or visit www.playhouseonpark.org. FAMILY THE MONSTER WHO ATE MY PEAS ArtPower presents the musical "The Monster nuMOWTFB WAo Ate My Who Ate My Peas," based on the book by Danny Schnitzlein, Sunday at 3 p.m. at the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center in Old Say-brook. When a crafty monster appears underneath HI SPRING EXPO FOR CHOCOLATE LOVERS Live music, door prizes, special drawings, demonstrations and, of course, chocolate, lots and lots of chocolate, are part of the Chocolate Lovers Spring Expo, a fundraiser for Easter Seals, on Sunday, April 6, from 11 a.m.

to 3 p.m. at Crowne Plaza Hotel, 1284 Strongtown Road, Southbury. $25 in advance, $30 at the door, children 5 to 12, $5. Information: 203-754-5141 and www.waterburyct.easterseals.com. OUTDOORS DIGGIN' IN Rose Garden Volunteer Saturdays at Elizabeth Park, 1561 Asylum Ave, West Hartford, are April 5, 12, 19 and 26, from 9 a.m.

to noon. Bring garden gloves. Information: www.elizabethparkct.org and 860-231-9443. his kitchen table, the boy makes a deal to get rid of those peas. (For kids in kindergarten through second grade.

55 minutes.) Tickets are $16; $10 children 12 and under. Information: 877-503-1286 and www.thekate.org. MUSIC ARIAS AND THE HARTT ORCHESTRA The Hartt Orchestra and conductor Edward Cumming return to the Belding theater in the Bush-nell Center for the Performing Arts on Friday, April 4, at 8 p.m. The program will include DANCE BALIVADHAM KUTIYATTAM Kutiyattam is the oldest existing form of Sanskrit dance drama. These brightly costumed, highly rhythmic ceremonies have been performed for more than 2,000 years.

The Nepathya troupe brings an authentic Balivadham Kutiyattam show to the auditorium at Co-op Arts Humanities High School, 177 College New Haven, Saturday, April 6, at 8 p.m. The event, sponsored by Yale's Institute of Sacred Music, is free. Information: 203-432-5062, and ism.yale.edu. DINING RESTAURANT WEEK The spring edition of New Haven Restaurant Week returns Sunday and runs through April 11, featuring specially priced lunch and dinner menus at 29 city eateries. Multi-course lunch menus are $18 and dinner menus are $32.

Information: infonewhaven.comrestaurantweek. arias sung by local opera star, Matthew Worth, pictured, and Beethoven's Seventh Symphony. Tickets start at $25. Information, bushnell.org. MOMMY MINUTE Grief Counseling And Support Groups Increasing For Children camp.

After the Sandy Hook tragedy, The Cove was chosen to partner with The Moyer Foundation, to create Camp Erin Newtown, held in June, now open to any grieving child in Connecticut, ages 6 to 17. Andersen remembers poignant moments with last summer's campers: "They wrote messages to their loved ones on luminaries that were floated out into the middle of the lake as part of the camp experience." To find out more about The Cove's fundraiser, log onto www.covect.orggala and watch Monday's FOX CT Morning News. reaction was different. Only 19 months at the time of the loss, she heard about her dad and missed him, as she grew up. "I really needed to learn how to help my children through their journey of grief," says Stefanski.

"A family friend had suggested we go to an organization called The Cove." Now, seven years later, her kids are coping and moving forward, thanks to the help they received from this volunteer-driven, non-profit program. "The children are playing with each other but yet there are times when the memory work is interspersed within that play," says Stefanski, explaining The Cove Center for Grieving Children's approach to supporting kids as they endure the death of a significant person, which is different than therapy. "It's really heartwarming. It's very profound." In seven locations in the state, including New Haven, Meriden and West Hartford, kids meet peers experiencing similar emotions, and don't feel alone. "I know that my children felt really connected.

It was a safe place for them," says Stefanski. Youngsters don't always grieve in a solemn way. An upcoming fundraiser, Hope Night, scheduled for May 3 in Seymour, is dedicated to the drawings these children create, as they work through their sadness. Kids were asked to sketch what "hope" means to them. "So much comes out in that process and I think you really get to the heart of what children are feeling when you look at some of the art pieces," says Andersen, showing pictures of stick figures, surrounded by sunshine and rainbows.

Programs at The Cove are offered to families for free, making donor support a vital component to success. In addition to the benefit, the warm weather also brings the second session for a unique bereavement SARAH CODY scodytribune.com When the unthinkable happens, sometimes parents struggle to come-up with answers. "My husband passed away 7 years ago," says Darlene Stefanski of Stonington. After Jack succumbed to adenoid cystic carcinoma, cancer in the head and neck, her son, age 6, would see fathers on the ball field and ask, "Why did my dad die?" Her daughter's To contribute your own adventures in motherhood, or to read more from Fox CT reporter Sarah Cody and freelancer Teresa Pelham, go to www.ctnow.commommyminute..