Grits in the City - discounts and faves

Hope you enjoy all these as much as I do!

My first marathon: NYC 2024

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This escalated quickly. I entered the lottery in February for the TCS NYC Marathon, knowing it could take years before I might be selected and if I wanted to do it sometime, it couldn’t hurt to start now. And then I donated to get some extra chances through the extra NYRR draw. Oh and now the NYRR members would be eligible for an extra “last chance” draw. Sure — let’s do that too. Somehow after all of the above, the idea of waiting to go through the same thing a second year felt too much. I was ready already!

Back in 2023, I ran the NYC Half Marathon with the Autistic Self Advocacy Network. I started thinking — wonder if they have any bibs for the marathon? Before I really thought about it too long, I’d emailed to see about a spot and found myself on the team, trying to figure how on earth you train for a marathon! Shoutout to this amazing organization. So honored to run with you again and to help raise ~ $3.4K for the cause!

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2024 Black Friday Deals

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If you’re a big bargain hunter, ‘tis officially your season! If you are like me, it’s all about trying to get all the gifts checked off in November so December can be focused on festivities, family and a big ol’ dose of relaxation. Sharing a few of my fave finds over the last several days — and you can probably tell I’m gearing up for my next marathon with the running slant!

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Janie’s Life-Changing Baked Goods

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When I learned there was an “official cookie” of the TCS Marathon and — gasp — it was one I didn’t know, I had to say “tell me more!”. I came into NYC the day before the race so I wouldn’t be rushed and, ideally, could get a bit of extra rest in a more peaceful and controlled environment. The latter didn’t quite pan out as hoped (more on that in another post) but I tried to make the most of the former.

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Birthday brunch at Stone House at Stirling Ridge

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This year we did something different to celebrate my birthday — a birthday brunch! We’d been to Stone House at Stirling Ridge in Warren, New Jersey before but only at night. I was so curious to see what brunch would be like and it felt like a luxurious throwback to the more carefree days when we lived in the city and brunch felt like a way of life. Plus? We didn’t know but they had live music. So fun!


We made reservations and I was thrilled to see we could even reserve their outdoor seating. It was mid-September — warm but with a slight chill in the air. They did it right, with their fire pits lit to take just a bit off of the crisp starting to be noticeable in the air. I told them that it was my birthday when we reserved and they surprised me with a custom printed menu wishing me happy birthday at the top. A lovely touch!

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see you someday, sweet dixie

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I might be okay but I’m not fine at all…

Oh My Little Dixie Cup (as her registration papers read.) I found her at a time where I think I found myself — when I reached the point where I knew it was time. That if I didn’t finally get a dog, I was going to make some poor life choices. I held her close when I was threatened and had to move apartments, scared for us both and grateful to be safe. She loved the beach, and didn’t mind the weekend we got stranded in Long Island with friends since we were there together.

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Summer art strolling at New Windsor’s Storm King Art Center

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I’ve been curious about Storm King Art Center for ages so when we switched to a staycation, we decided it was a perfect time for a visit. We stopped for brunch on the way at Willow & Whisk in Wyckoff (so delicious — highly recommend.) That proved to be a wise choice as we then walked around a lot in the sun without easy access to food or drink. Note though you can bring your own picnic supplies to enjoy!

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Staycation brunch at Willow & Whisk in Wyckoff

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It’s been a long time since we’ve had a chance to try our a new breakfast or brunch sit down spot around here — so I took my challenge to find a great spot to try en route to Storm King very seriously. Thanks to Google and a lot of review sources I was able to find Willow & Whisk, a very extremely popular spot tucked into a shopping mall in Wyckoff. I was curious to see — would it live up to the hype?!

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Belated birthday at 1776 by David Burke

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Last year, it kept raining in September. So much so that we never managed to line up a nice outdoor dinner for my birthday. 9 months later, we decided today’s bonus holiday day off was a perfect one for a date day trip to Morristown. Never too late to celebrate. 1776 by David Burke had been on our list for a while so we decided to check it off on Friday! Besides — the venue seemed fitting for so close to the 4th.


It rained earlier so was still a little bit wet. We asked to still sit outside and they accommodated us. We had the whole space to ourselves, surrounded by beautiful flowers and numerous closed umbrellas at the tables around us.

I had to try their Caliente Breeze cocktail, which was made with a jalapeño-infused Hornitos tequila, pineapple reduction, lime and peychaud’s bitters. So good and refreshing on this hot day. Extra delightful for the Tajin rim!

We were there for lunch so felt like trying a mix of smaller plates rather than more mains. To start, we had to go their bread service seeing as it included popovers (my fave.) The order included gruyere popovers, corn bread, sweet butter, radishes and grapes. We got four popovers in the order and I can’t wait to eat the two remaining ones tonight! Unfortunately we don’t have more of their butter. Not sure what they did to it but it was slightly sweet and I am obsessed with it.

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Creative Mornings with Adam Rubin + Instagrammable coffee at Ariston

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It’s pretty rare that I get out for events these days but when I saw Adam Rubin (author of Dragons Love Tacos, and other books!) would be at the Creative Mornings New York May event, I had to go.

Exterior - Ariston Flowers & Cafe - Union Square - New York City


Even though I knew they would have coffee there at Creative Mornings, I had to stop for coffee en route. Just, you know, in case? I stumbled my way into Ariston Flowers & Café, which I didn’t realize when I walked in is an Instagram fave for its glorious beautiful flowers all around and equally Instagrammable coffee — both the drink and the beautifully decorated cup.

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