Food

Currently Loving November 2024

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This morning when I was walking the dog, I was in disbelief that there were Christmas lights on so many of the stores along Madison Avenue….but then I realized, we are 2/3 done with November and it is almost December….how did this happen? In any case, Christmas light season here we are. And here is what I am currently loving.

 

1. Bonbon Candies

 

When I went to visit Cruzzie, I thought it would be nice to bring him and his friends something from NYC to CA. It had to be compact, easy to travel with, and something everything would like — which turns out to be candy. Bonbon candy. It was a huge hit and worth lugging it across the country.

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Oat Bakery

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During my California visit to see Cruzzie at Thacher, I also had the chance to spend a couple days with a beloved friend who moved to Montecito. Not only do I love my friend dearly, but I also love Montecito. It is the most picturesque, paradise, perfect place. This visit, a new bakery, Oat Bakery, opened up at The Montecito Country Mart and OAT MY GOD, (I love puns but can’t take credit for this one — it is from their website) it is so amazing. We went to get a little croissant / baguette / sweetness deliciousness, and three minutes after we left, I went BACK to get more.

 

The cutest bakery – The Oat Bakery.

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Turtle Conservancy

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Last weekend, I had the privilege of going to see my son at boarding school in Ojai, California. Although I had been there three weeks before to attend Family Weekend, I wanted another chance to just go see Cruzzie and his friends, and be with him for a relaxed weekend. It was an absolute incredible time — not just because I spent precious time with my boy, but also because I stayed in a secret gem hotel, the Turtle Conservancy.

 

The entry way.

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Currently Loving October 2024

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WELP, October here we are! (or actually mid October!) It has been a whirlwind month of the Chicago Marathon and then visiting weekend at my son’s boarding school. Maybe life will slow down now??? Or not…but in the meantime, here is what I am currently loving!

 

1. Cruzzie’s Dining Hall

 

Cruzzie’s school, The Thacher School, is located in Ojai, California. It is the dreamiest place I have ever been — not just the academics, people, community, program, ethics, but also just the pure beauty of the school. Here is the dining hall at dinner. LOOK AT THAT SUNSET. You can eat outside. IT IS INCREDIBLE.

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Pop Up Bagels

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One of Tusia’s best friends brought over THE BEST BAGELS AND BUTTER I have ever tasted. Currently all the rage, Pop Up Bagels, is rumored to be one of the best (if not the best) bagel in NYC at this time.

 

They have a lot of locations in the tristate area — 3 in the city (UWS, UES, downtown) — Westchester, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. Every time I have walked by, the lines have been out the door. So when our bestie stopped by with bagels and butter for us, it was a win win HAPPY day!

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Shabbat x Nobody Wants This

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One of my favorite follows on Instagram is Erin Foster (and her sister Sara Foster). They are funny, witty, smart, quirky, beautiful, and real. So when they came out with a new show on Netflix “Nobody Wants This” — I jumped on the bandwagon to watch it. Sure enough, I binged the whole show over the weekend. I loved it so much — the jewish aspect of it (The main girl falls in love with a Rabbi so there are a lot of Jewish traditions throughout the show), the romcom, the humor, all of it.

 

HIGHLY HIGHLY RECOMMEND. Cute, easy, fun.

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Currently Loving September 2024

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WHOA here we are. September. Kids are finally in school (I miss them) and it feels like we never had a break. HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE. Here are random things that I am loving!

 

1. Hazelnuts

 

I ate these in one sitting. I love hazelnuts (they are grown everywhere in Oregon) and this combination of sweet and salty are to die for. I bought these to bring back to NYC but then ate them that same day. Oops.

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Currently Loving August 2024 Part 2

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Fall is around the corner, but still trying to soak up every inch of sunshine and moment of summer. Here is what I am currently loving Part DEUX of August 2024. And please share with me what you are loving too — I always love hearing what people are loving at the moment.

 

1. Tru Fru

 

HOLY CRAP THESE ARE ADDICTING. The best little bit of sweetness and dessert. We love them in both dark and milk chocolate — but especially the milk chocolate raspberries. You must get. To die for. Frozen raspberries coated in white chocolate and then milk.

 

2. Rafting

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Lion’s Gate Portal

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Last week, on August 8th 2024, we did a little ceremony to manifest the good! What is Lion’s Gate Portal? GOOD QUESTION! It is an astrological term describing the alignment of the sun in Leo, the star Sirius, which is the brightest star as seen from Earth, the constellation Orion’s Belt and the Earth. Basically, it is a day reserved for the practice of manifestation. August 8th 2024 — 8 – 8- 8 (get it the 2+0+2+4 = 8)

 

 

So, we charged the crystals during the day.

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Blueberry Bake Off

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Over the weekend, we went blueberry picking again, and decided to have a bake off that afternoon with the blueberries we picked!

 

The blueberry patch is located on the McKenzie River. It is a farther drive than the farm we usually go to, but they have 80 different types of blueberries and it is all organic and super beautiful, so it’s worth the extra drive.

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Pickled Green Beans

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Typically in summer in Oregon, I do a lot of fruit harvesting and cooking / baking / figuring out what to do with all the fruit. But this year, there are less fruit options due to a big Ice Storm that hit Oregon earlier this year. So instead of the normal peach picking I do around this time, we went green bean picking — yep, green beans! Despite not being the best treat to eat when picking, it was fun to be on the farm and collecting the beans.

 

I didn’t know what to expect — I thought the green beans would be on a bush — but nope, it is a plant that you have to squat to pick.

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Electrolytes

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My sister from another mister is someone that she says BUY, I do it. I mean, we bought our dog from the same breeder — same dog, same breeder. We didn’t even ask questions — she is just the type of person that has the best taste (except our dog likes to bark a lot and is super anxious, but the best nonetheless) and always knows the best of everything. So when I ran the Big Sur Marathon this past Spring and stayed with her for a night, she told me to drink these electrolytes — Ultima — and so I did. No questions asked. AND NOW I CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT THEM. They are the best best best thing in the world and I am drinking a lot more water now, because of her. Not only that, my kids love them, too. And they are drinking more water because of this too. So this, my friends, is a PA, to get these electrolytes and improve your water intake!

 

You can get big tubs of them, but I prefer to get the individual packets. I know, I know, not as environmentally friendly, but so handy to put one of them in my purse for later, or just to grab and go.

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Paris Biggest Croissants

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The morning of Tusia’s birthday, we went on a hunt for the biggest Pain Au Chocolate / Croissant in the city. I had done some research and found that it was 1.5 miles from the apartment. So, that is what we did. We walked, we looked, and we HUNTED for the croissant. Thankfully, our scavenger hunt worked out, and we got it. It surpassed our expectations and highly recommend everyone do this on their next Parisian Adventure. The croissant is from Philippe Continci and it was not just beautiful to look at it, but incredibly delicious. We kept asking how something THIS big, could be so flaky, light and tasty. 10/10 recommend.

 

Croissants.

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Currently Loving Paris Edition

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Went on a quick 3 day trip to Paris last week to celebrate Tusia’s 12th birthday and there are so many highlights from the trip! Here is what I loved from Paris last week (and will always love)

 

1. The Random Street Art

 

is there anything more beautiful than art all over the streets of Paris? I could spend days just looking at the walls along the streets!

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Currently Loving #2 April 2024

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The days are long, the weeks are short, but here we are to almost May! So much has happened this month — mainly, going back to school (and teaching) after Spring Break, a cross country tip to visit schools, a family medical situation, more work, more rain, more running, more forgetfulness. Not sure what happened, but the month went WOOSH by. Now, I am getting ready to plan for summer, go BACK to the west coast for a marathon, finish up the school year, and all the other normal busy end of the year obligations. So apologies for the sporadic posts, I am committed to being more consistent going forward. And here is what I am currently loving:

 

1. Flowers in NYC

 

Nothing beats the flowers in the city in Springtime. My favorite thing is to look at the difference stages of all the tulips along Park Avenue, the various magnolia, cherry trees, the violets, the pansies, all the bright colors and smells. LOVE.

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Merci Montecito

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Last weekend. Cruzzie and I spent the weekend in Montecito / Ojai / Los Angeles AKA HEAVEN. All three of those places are my favorite places in the world — they are beyond beautiful and I just love the area so much. So when coming home, I knew I needed to bring a piece of Montecito with me. This trip, it meant cookie dough from Merci — the best coffee, cafe, food (but let’s be honest, everything in Montecito is “the best,” because, truly, it is. But yes, back to cookie dough, yes, I traveled across the country with cookie dough, and lord, was it worth it.

 

Ah, California. I love you so much.

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Spring Break 2024 Highlights

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Sunday Scaries ending Spring Break is REAL. We are ALL feeling it……the two week break went by in a flash, or was so long, did it even really happen? Well, here we are! Monday, April 1st! Back to school (for the kids, and for me!) and so here are the highlights of the past two weeks where we traveled and explored. We were fortunate enough to have three legs — Skiing in Oregon with my parents, Mexico beach vacation the 4 of us, and then ending up in Palm Beach with just me and the kiddos. Here are the highlights:

 

OREGON

 

Cross Country skiing with my parents everyday, while Ken took the kids downhill. I no longer downhill but the kids love it (and Ken is a great dad to take them every day to ski together), but I much prefer the exercise, nature, silence, and togetherness of cross country. Especially with my parents!

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Currently Loving March 2024

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And here we are! March! This is what I am currently loving (of course also longer days, more sunlight, sparkling water, hot showers, etc)…

 

1.  Hot Cocoa from Glace

 

A TikTok trend of Smores hot cocoa at a cute (and small) boutique on Madison Avenue. Worth it! VERY VERY sweet but so fun and different (especially on a cold, snowy day, like we treated ourselves to these on).

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Currently Loving February 2024

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January was a long year….and now we are at the shortest month, but it’s still winter (which I don’t love) but this is what I AM loving!

 

1. H Mart Haul

 

H Mart is a Koren grocery store that has every kind of Asian food that you want. Last weekend, we went there as an activity, and there was so much to look at and buy, we could have all stayed there for HOURS! This was some of our goodies that we picked up. Chocopie — HUGE hit with Cruzzie. His favorite — and now I need to go back and get more for him.

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House of Joy – Dim Sum

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After our excursion downtown to Mercer Labs, we went to Chinatown for dim sum lunch. Through a friend I met on vacation (an Australian Chinese woman), we went to House of Joy. This was truly a cultural experience — very authentic — and I loved every minute of it.

 

Girls outside the restaurant. I love Chinatown, it has such character, flair, and high energy.

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Currently Loving January 2024

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ANOTHER YEAR, another Currently Loving post! And so here we are! Here is what I am loving:

 

1. No.6 Store Socks

 

My forever style muse sent me an email to get these socks — and whatever she tells me to get, I do! (She used to have her own style newsletter and I wish she still had it!!!). These socks are fun (not necessarily warm for NYC winters, but cute and stylish) and I can’t wait to wear them!

 

2. Cityscape Needlepoint Project

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Craftsman and Wolves Granola

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I AM A GRANOLA SNOB. I say that all the time, because it is true — I love love love granola. And I eat it everyday, but it has to be good granola. My all time favorite still is the Eugene Aunt Maple’s Crunchy Granola, but when in San Francisco, I was (thankfully!) introduced to a new one — Craftsman and Wolves  — and it was so good that I had to bring three packages home. Even more perfect, we walked by the bakery on our food tour, so I was able to quickly run in and buy the granola (as well as some other treats to eat on the spot).

 

Yes, in my tiny carry on, I brought these three packages home. I would have brought more if I had more space….

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