Happy Friday! Today my husband and son are finally out of quarantine! Yesterday was Dana’s birthday, which was also his last day of quarantine.  I took the day off from work today and we are going out for a belated birthday lunch date to celebrate.  Field Hockey season ended earlier this week, so no more early Saturday morning practices for my daughter (and us). This weekend I’m hoping to get our Christmas card picture taken.   Here are five from this week:

1. Author in the family – I received a special package in the mail Wednesday: a copy of the book that my dad wrote!  We have a published author in the family!  It’s an historical biography that he’s been researching and writing for years. It’s amazing to see it finally in print!

2. Watching – This week I watched the entire season of The Queen’s Gambit on Netflix. It’s based on a book by Walter Tevis. I don’t play chess but really enjoyed the show!

3. Baking – This week I made pumpkin bloodies. I’m not over pumpkin quite yet! I also made this no-knead bread. The bread is made in a Dutch Oven and was really easy. Hot, freshly made bread is delicious!

4. Eating – This week we ordered a Grandma Pie from Stella’s.  

Dana made Carrot Dogs.  They surprisingly tasted like hot dogs!

And we loved these African Curry Quinoa Puffs from Aldi’s. They were so flavorful!

5.Reading –  I am finishing up Anxious People by Frederick Backman.  It’s not my favorite book of his, (Beartown is definitely my fave!) but it’s enjoyable enough.

ICYMI this week on the blog:

Monday I shared our Hudson Valley Holiday Events Guide.

Wednesday I shared my Westchester Weekly post.

Sharing with Friday Favorites!  Have a great weekend!

Happy Friday! This week has been a bit crazy and stressful for us. One of my son’s friends tested positive for COVID earlier in the week. Both my husband and son were in close contact with him and need to quarantine for two weeks. The friend, fortunately, has mild symptoms and is doing well. However, I didn’t realize how difficult quaranting could be! My husband has been relegated to the sofa to sleep. We moved my daughter’s stuff out of the kids’ bathroom and she is sharing my bathroom. When we are in the same space in the house as each other, we wear masks. COVID cases are increasing as seen in ALL the schools in our area. Sadly, with Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up and cooler weather where people have to be indoors, the cases are likely going to increase. Please stay safe everyone! With my husband and son still quaranting this weekend, I’m not sure what our plans are. The weather is getting cooler and it looks like it’s going to rain all day Sunday. So, we likely will not be outside very much. Here are five from this past week:

1.Day Date – Last weekend the weather was beautiful. My husband and I tried a new-to-us Filipino restaurant, Karederya in Nyack. We ordered takeout and then went to a local park and enjoyed a picnic with this amazing view.

This was our first time trying Filipino food, but it won’t be our last. Everything, including this Pancit Bihon with mushrooms and crispy tofu was delicious!

2. Aldi’s – Do you have an Aldi’s near you? Our nearest Aldi’s is about a half hour drive, but we love shopping there. I hear they have several Advent calendars including a cheese one, a wine one, a beer one and even a coffee one! Last weekend when we stopped in, I didn’t see any of them (FYI – sadly ,NY Aldi’s stores don’t sell alcohol). But I did buy myself this chocolate Advent calendar that I’m excited about! #itsthelittlethings

3. Reading – I am almost finished reading The Book of Two Ways by Jodi Picoult. She is one of my favorite authors and I usually love everything I read by her. So far though, I’m not loving this one. It’s very well written though, as she always does a ton of research for her books.

4. Watching – Wednesday, I had off for Veteran’s Day. It was cold and rainy so I did something I rarely do. I binge watched the entire season of Dash & Lily on Netflix! The series is only eight episodes. It’s based on the YA book Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares by David Levithan Rachel Cohn. It was a fun, cute holiday series!

5. Eating – Star Fruit. It looks cool and tastes a little tart and a little sweet.

Our favorite dinner of the week was Pinch of Yum’s Creamy Red Pepper Pasta with Blistered Tomatoes.

Bonus: Tuesday I shared my October reads. One of the books that I read and reviewed was Feels Like Falling by Kristy Woodson Harvey. I’m not sure how she found my post, but she commented on it! It was a great book and now I want to read all her other books!

ICYMI this week on the blog:

Tuesday I shared my October 2020 Reads.

Wednesday I posted the newest edition of Westchester Weekly.

Sharing with Friday Favorites. Have a great weekend!

Happy Friday! Since we turned the clocks back last weekend and it gets dark at 5 PM, I’m all about getting into my PJs when I come home from work! It’s all about the cozy for me. Sadly, all the leaves are falling off the trees and the ones that are left are turning brown…..winter is coming! However, we are currently experiencing 68 degree temps, that are continuing into the weekend, so I am NOT complaining! This has been a very stressful week with the election. I don’t like talking politics on social media and my blog. However, the anxiety has been high this week! Here are five from this week:

1.Halloween – Halloween was almost non-existent for us this year. My 12 and 14-year old are getting too old for trick-or-treating. My son didn’t even want a costume this year! He went to his friend’s house and hung out for the evening. My daughter, barely got dressed up as a bunny and went to a friend’s get-together. There were no trick-or-treaters in the neighborhood. So, while waiting to do child pick-up duty, Dana and I ate homemade pizza and watched the Great British Baking Show!

2. Spirit Week – Last week was spirit week at work. From wearing pink for breast cancer month, to crazy sock day and Halloween costumes, each day was something different. It was a lot of much needed fun in the office. I didn’t even take a picture of me in my “deer” headband costume! Some of us brought candy for our colleagues to “trick-or-treat” around the office. However, one of my colleagues was handing out these tea and biscotti treats. I thought it was such a unique and fun adult treat, instead of candy.

3. Watching – This weekend I watched Holidate on Netflix. It was a cute, mindless movie. I also finally finished season 1 of Emily in Paris. Dana and I visited Paris years ago, pre-kids, in February. It was pretty cold. Watching Emily in Paris has made me want to go back in the spring or summer!

4. Reading – I am finishing up reading Followers by Megan Angelo. It’s about the future of social media with a sci-fi angle. I’m not loving it and think I should have stopped reading it awhile ago. However, I’m too invested now, so I’ll hopefully finish it this week. Up next I have Jodi Picoult’s new book, The Book of Two Ways, which I’m excited to read.

5. Eating – We tried a new-to-us Ethiopian restaurant, Lalibela over the weekend. We enjoyed an avocado salad arepas, a cheese empanada and this vegeterian/vegan sampler platter. You eat with your hands using the injera (flatbread) to scoop up the different dishes. It was sooo good!

I made one of our go-to dinners again this week, Sheet pan Cauliflower Fajitas.

ICYMI this week on the blog:

Wednesday I shared this week’s Westchester Weekly.

Sharing with Friday Favorites. Have a great weekend!

Happy Friday! With Halloween, a full moon, a blue moon and “falling back,” this will be one doozy of a weekend! It’s actually a pretty low-key weekend for us though. My daughter has a field hockey game Saturday morning. Then later in the evening she will be going to a friend’s Halloween party. My son is hanging out at home and will help give out candy to trick-or-treaters. I bought some Halloween candy, but we normally don’t get a lot of trick-or-treaters. So with COVID, I’m not sure we’ll be getting any kids! Here are five from this week:

1. Field Hockey– Saturday my daughter had her first home field game.  It was fun getting to watch her play, since we aren’t allowed to go to away games.  Since half of the team is made up of juniors who were under a mandatory quarantine, the freshman girls have actually been playing these past couple of games. While they haven’t won any games, they’ve been able to get a lot more playing time than they normally would.

2. Voting – Early voting in New York state started last Saturday and Dana and I waited in line for 2 hours to vote. Luckily, I knew there would be a wait and brought a book! Please make sure you get out and vote this election!  Every vote counts!

3. Hiking –  We went for a hike over the weekend to Teatown Lake Reservation.  The fall foliage has peaked, but there were still some beautiful views.  We did a nice and easy 1.5 mile, family-friendly walk around the lake.

4. Eating – This week we visited GoGreek in Pelham.  I enjoyed the veggie falafel pita.  They put fries in their gyros, as is traditionally done in Greece. 

One of our favorite dinners this week was this Crispy Roasted Tofu and Broccoli with Sesame-Peanut Pesto.

We also tried Vegan Sesame Chicken from Taste of China in Tarrytown after our hike. This is the only Chinese restaurant in the area that I know of that has vegan “meat” dishes.

5. BOOed – We got booed by our neighbor this week! If you’re not familiar with “BOOing,” someone leaves some treats outside your door with a note. It’s supposed to be anonymous…..but we know who Booed us. You are then supposed to continue the process by Booing someone else. We Booed another neighbor, who I don’t think knows that it was us.

6. Raking – I love fall foliage, but I don’t love the leaves so much when they’ve fallen off the trees in my yard. We spent a couple of hours last weekend raking and filling leaf bags for organic pick up. This was our second time raking and sadly we will need to do it at least one more time.

ICYMI this week on the blog:

Wednesday I shared my Westchester Weekly post.

Sharing with Friday Favorites!  Have a great weekend and a Happy Halloween!

Hello Friday! I’m so ready for the weekend (although I feel like I write this every Friday, it’s always true!). The fall foliage is hitting its peak around here and it is so pretty! I’ve been lighting my pumpkin scented candle at night while I read before bed. I’m all about the fall feels, while this perfect weather lasts! I know winter will be here soon enough……and I am NOT a fan! This weekend is busy with a field hockey game for my daughter and a Boy Scout event for my son. We also have a pages long house to-do list that we’d like to make a dent in! Here are five from this week:

1. Family Hike – Last Saturday we went on a family hike to Blue Mountain Reservation. This has been a favorite local park and we have taken two Christmas card pictures here! This visit we took a new trail and came upon this lake which we had never seen before. It was such a beautiful day and the fall foliage was in full effect!

2. Reading – I am finishing up One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London. This has been such a fun read. It’s a behind the scenes look on a Bachelor/Bachelorette type show, with a plus-sized girl as the “Main Squeeze.”

3. Baking – Sunday I was all about baking and made Appledoodle cookies AND Pumpkin Chocolate Chip muffins! The muffins weren’t very pumpkiny but the cookies are so good!

4. Eating – My husband made Scallion Pancakes for the first time for us.

I picked up this sandwich from the deli for lunch earlier in the week. It’s fried eggplant, fresh mozzarella, roasted red peppers, pesto and olive oil.

And this Mediterranean Braised Chickpea Rice Bowl was one of our favorite dinners this week.

5. Halloween (?!) – I have no idea if there will be Halloween this year. However, it is only a week away now and neither of my kids have finalized a costume! While I’m not sure they will be trick-or-treating, they both plan on hanging out with friends. I know my son will be able to wear his costume to school the Friday before. The planner in me is freaking out a little bit. Not stressful at all!

ICYMI this week on the blog:

Monday I posted A Weekend in Saugerties.

Wednesday I shared another edition of Westchester Weekly.

Sharing with Friday Favorites. Have a great weekend!