Banh Mi Zon

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Over Thanksgiving break, I decided it was time to start my food hunts again in NYC to find “the best ofs.” Last Winter, I found the best dumplings, the best pizza, and the best Italian Food. So, this time, I thought it would be fun to find the “best Vietnamese” in Manhattan. It was a throw back to when I was pregnant with my 12 year old, and only wanted gazpacho and Vietnamese Summer Rolls…..So after reading several articles and reviews, we headed down to 6th Street in the Lower East Side to Banh Mi Zon to pick up a selection of items.

 

Vietnamese sandwich — perfect crusty bread with vegetables and meat. Loved every bite.

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Natori Mens

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Natori now has a mens collection and I am soooooooo excited! It has a mixture of pieces — solid colors to crazy and wild prints. I have three favorite pieces — (1) Hoodie (2) Crew Neck Tee and (3) Jogger Pants. Here they are, right in time for the holidays!

 

(1) The Hoodie!

 

This fleece chenille hoodie comes in three different colors, and in the comfiest luxurious chenille yarn. It is a modern take on a classic sweatshirt and is the perfect addition to the men’s lougewear.

 

Soft, warm, fuzzy, and looks good!

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Edible Cookie Do

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One of my downfalls is that if I go in to a gourmet grocery store searching for one specific item, I leave with a huge bag. Especially if I am hungry. So the other day when I was on the way to my daughter’s school pick up and I went in to a get a watermelon lime juice (yes very specific), I walked out with every new sweet item I could find. My favorite was edible cookie dough, Do! I had heard about this phenomenon, and actually seen the lines at their downtown location, but I had never tried it. And of course, once I tried it, I fell madly in love, and have since returned to buy various flavors. The most recent purchase was their seasonal flavors of Pumpkin and Apple Pie.

 

Seasonal Flavors

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Tricount App

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Thanks to a girls trip, I discovered a new life changing app, Tricount. This app helps organize the expenses for all the different people involved. For example, this past weekend, instead of four people constantly splitting the bill, we just rotated who paid what and put it in the app. At the end of the trip, it calculated who owed what to whom. It was also very helpful as different people were present for different portions of the expenses, and this helped keep track of it all.

 

Girls trip — where I was introduced to Tricount!

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Sleep Help

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Ever since September, my 9 year old daughter has had major sleep anxiety and issues falling asleep. It has been extremely challenging (and tiring for me) and I have experimented with almost everything. Nothing has worked…..until, recently, I tried a guided sleep meditation to listen to and it has been the ONLY thing that seems to be helping. So, even though this is a total overshare of my problems, I wanted to throw it out to anyone else experiencing sleep anxiety with a child.

 

For NINE years, Tusia was the most incredible sleeper. She would fall asleep at 7 pm and wake up anytime after 7 am. But now, since our return home to NYC after the summer away, it has been terrible. She is nervous, anxious, worried, and does not want to fall asleep.

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Bras for Bigger Breasts: Bliss Perfection

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Many people comment to me that Natori bras are only made for smaller chested women. But truth is, Natori makes bras for EVERYONE! Big small petite large, everyone! A dear friend of mine has a much bigger chest size than I do — and here is her testament. Thank you!!!

 

_____

 

I am such a loyal Josie Girl follower that I regularly purchase many of the fun products she recommends.  My latest purchase based on Josie Girl’s reco? Ruth & Dottie pencils for holiday gifts for my team at work – so cute!  Alas, there is one category of recommendations by our beloved Josie Girl that falls on flat on my ears every time: bras.

 

Why, you ask?  Well, I was naturally endowed with a 34DDD chest, so the Josie Girl’s favorite bras like the Flora and the Feathers would not exactly “hold up” for me. So, for any loyal Josie Girl followers who love the Natori brand but have bodacious boobies that need better support than some of the “daintier” bras offer, I highly recommend my all-time favorite Natori bra: the Bliss Perfection.

 

Bliss perfection!

 

It is so blissfully perfect…

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Happy Pencils

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My mother is the best at sending care packages as everything she puts in them are unique and cool. The most recent care package included the new Amanda Gorman book, vintage stickers, notebooks, and whimsical, fun pencils. I love these pencils — not only because they are functional and have a purpose — but because they are happy, joyful, and make you smile!

 

Sprinkle fairy dust on a gold pencil! SCREAMS JOY! I love this!

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OC Skate Ramps

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My 12 year old, Cruz, loves skateboarding. All summer long in Oregon, we went to various skate parks and it definitely became a passion of his. Now that we are in NYC, he goes with his besties to Brooklyn to an indoor skate park on a weekly basis. He loves it, and we love that it is a form of exercise, socialization, and an opportunity for him to do something he loves. So we decided to get him a half pipe for our home in Pound Ridge. This half pipe installation was quite a process — we had to dedicate 2 full days of putting it together (well not me personally, but I was involved with carrying the pieces from the truck to the deck).

 

The truck was supposed to arrive any time between 9 and 5, and showed up at 4:30 pm. It then said that it couldn’t go up the driveway, but we convinced the very kind driver to try. And it worked. There is NO way I could have carried everything up the driveway. Even with 3 of us.

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Hack for Old Clothes

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I have been on a mission to cleanse my closet of clothes that no longer suit me by sorting through every article of clothing and deciding whether to keep, donate, sell, or alter. In this process, I found so many shirts that I LOVED but the silhouette was too long (because I used to wear a lot of long shirts with skinny jeans). So I took a handful of shirts to the tailor (if in NYC, I love Alteration Specialists — across the street from our apartment!) with high waisted pants and asked them to crop them. Yep, a 40 something year old wearing cropped shirts. I am so happy to recycle (upcycle!) clothes and I feel like I have a whole new wardrobe. Take a look at my awkward selfies in cropped shirts — and I highly recommend the process of making new from something old! Here they are!

 

I love this shirt and finally have so many different pants that it will work with.

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Natori Elite Lace Trim V-Neck Cami

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Last week when I gave myself a self closet cleanse, I realized that all my camisoles were worn out, stained, and too long. Since I wear camisoles under my clothes all winter long to keep me warm, I went on to Natori.com to search for the perfect new camisole to replace all the tired old ones. And sure enough, I found the elite lace trim v-neck cami, so I bought one in black and one in white. This camisole is the perfect layer or pretty enough to wear alone.

 

The perfect fit as it is cropped and sits just below the waist line. The straps are adjustable.

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Savouries Cookies and Granola

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A couple weeks ago on a beautiful Fall day, I got off at the wrong subway stop (to go to Trader Joe’s) and ran into a dear old friend, Christine, whom I had not seen in a decade. (A decade!) It was one of those powerful encounters that both brought us to tears as we were SO happy to see each other and be reconnected. She is magic — and everything around her is positive, joyful, and magical. Long story short, turns out Christine is now a full time bad a$$ actress as well as a baker (a good friend to have). She makes the most incredible cookies and granola (my favorite food group) and you can’t stop eating her creations. And she sells them!!!!! Savouries! Get them!

 

Savouries! Rosemary Cookies and granola.

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Natori Flora Bra

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The only bra I EVER wear is the Natori Feathers bra, but after reading a post on Cupcakes and Cashmere about the Natori Flora Bra,  I decided to copy her and give it a try.  And yep, I am now a convert and love the Flora bra almost as much as I love the Natori Feathers bra. Both are basically the perfect bra.

 

Innovative molded, floral lace overlays smooth cups for a seamless edge that disappears completely under clothes.”

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Currently Loving October 2021

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I blinked, and here we are in mid October. I know that as you get older, the time starts to fly by, but really, in the past year, it feels like a month ago was yesterday! And it literally feels like school JUST started, but here we are almost Halloween (gulp, my least favorite holiday). Here is what I am loving this month!

 

1. The Night She Disappeared (on audible)

 

Almost 3/4 of the way done with this book (listening to it) and I am now a huge fan of audible books and this story! A must read (or listen to!)

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Chicago Marathon 2021

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This past weekend, I completed my 16th marathon and my 5th (or 6th) Chicago Marathon. It was a crazy busy weekend with first a visit from my beloved brother and his wife, Cruzzie’s 12th birthday, and then flying to Chicago and running the marathon and flying home. It was overall a great full weekend and now I am exhausted!

 

The expo was INSANE. Usually, I am in and out in 20 minutes, but due to COVID regulations and checking proof of vaccine, it was incredibly delayed. Took over 2 hours to pick up my number. And always awkward for me to ask a stranger to take a picture of myself holding up my number, but hey, YOLO.

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Di Fara Pizza Manhattan Pop Up

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Last Winter, on our “best pizza” of NYC, we wound up deep in Brooklyn at Di Fara. It truly was the most amazing pizza I have ever had, even with the hour long drive. So as soon as I found out that Di Fara had a pop up for 3 weeks in Manhattan, I jumped at the opportunity for us to go. Definitely worth it as still the best pizza I have ever had.

 

Located in the Lower East Side, this pop up, is basically an office building with a security guard who has someone come take our order. You can also get pizza from Roberta’s (but Di Fara is way better).

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Knead Love Cinny Buns

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I love it when things just work out and you don’t expect it! Yesterday, I was ordering a cake for my son’s birthday from a Gluten-Free Local Bakery (that I posted about in May 2020) and then decided to take the subway down to Trader Joe’s (yes second visit this week), but got off at the wrong train stop. As I emerged from the train, I realized that the Union Square Green Market was taking place and that Knead Love (where I was in the process of ordering Cruz’s 12th birthday cake) had a booth!

 

I mean — gluten free carbs and hot pink? Everything about Knead Love, I love (and yes I need love!)

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Trader Joe’s Haul

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During graduate school the only place I grocery shopped was at Trader Joe’s– it is where I got EVERYTHING. Vegetables, pre packaged food (I lived on their burritos and enchiladas), muffins, granola, everything. And yet since then, I rarely go as there is not one close by and I like things where I pick the quantity myself. That said, I was reintroduced to Trader Joe’s and it inspired me to try it again. I have gone twice in the past two weeks and I love it — not for everyday grocery shopping, but for random snacks and food to hoard in my house (I hoard food).

 

Huge bag of goodies — and SO inexpensive — less than 50 dollars!!!! UNBELIEVABLE!

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Gratitude Journal

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The start of this school year has felt a little off — whether it is COVID or the city or just life — it has not been as peaceful or calm as I would like. So with the advice and encouragement from two separate friends, I started writing in a gratitude journal. And this simple act of acknowledging five points every. single. night has made a tremendous difference. It is just a subtle shift of my energy that instead of focusing on the negative or what I have not done, I see all that I have and what I am thankful for. One tip was to make the fifth point about myself — which obviously is harder to write down — but it really has helped. In the two plus weeks that I have made this a part of my nightly routine, I clearly see the benefits of this practice. I actually look forward to writing the words down and having a journal full of positivity and gratitude. I highly recommend this daily homework and see such beauty and strength that has emerged from my own recognition of what I have.

 

My calendar on the left, and my gratitude journal on the right. I use just a dotted moleskine (I dont like lines).

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Batchworthy

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OK, so I have written about these sauces before, but I have to write a full post about it because they are just that good. They are SOOOOO good. Back in June, I bought the “Husband Sauce” and the “Caesar Sauce,” and they were delicious, but it wasn’t until this month that I purchased The Full Batch.  The full batch includes: 1 8oz. Husband Sauce, 1 8oz. The Heat, 1 8oz. Soft Caesar, 1 8oz. That Good Grainy Mustard, 1 4oz. Garlic Confit, and 1 4oz. Garlic Rillette. Literally you can make the most scrumptious meal with any of these sauces.

 

Even the jars are colorful and make my fridge bright and happy.

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Currently Loving September 2021

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Here we are in mid September and here is what I am currently loving!

 

1. Harriman State Park

 

Last week, we had a day off from school and a parent organized a hike to Harriman State Park — which is about an hour away from NYC. It was a great day filled with beautiful nature. It made me miss the ease of Oregon nature and hikes, but I am thankful to have been introduced to Harriman State Park and can’t wait to return.

 

2. Dahlias

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