Grits in the City - discounts and faves

Hope you enjoy all these as much as I do!

honeymoon: first stop, riomaggiore

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I’ve wanted to visit Cinque Terre since my good friend Rachel went there at the conclusion of our Spain Summer abroad program in 2000. The photos of her time there with her sister looked like post cards. Magical. And T was kind enough to let our honeymoon be the time for us to finally plan to visit.

Booking Accommodations

Finding hotels in Cinque Terre was different from any other international destination I’ve visited. The options are not large hotels. Instead, they’re smaller, locally-owned guest houses. Having fewer rooms that are available meant options by the time we booked (even months in advance) were limited.

I ended up booking our round trip airfare and Genoa hotels on one site and booking the hotels we moved around to during the trip separately on a different site. As we were trying to book, options continued to disappear!

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chef’s table at common lot in milburn

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T and I love to sit at the Chef’s Table. Not only do you get the great meal but you also get to interact with the team and see a bit of the preparation and extreme care that goes into crafting the meal. We hadn’t eaten at one for years, until a few weeks ago when he surprised me with a visit to Common Lot in Milburn.

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honeymoon in cinque terre

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It’s crazy that this year marks four years. Four years since I walked down the aisle in the back of the borrowed Brooklyn brownstone (how I like to instead think of the space now known as Madison May Vanderbilt) to say yes to a lifetime of adventures with T.

One thing I realized this year I’d yet to do is to document our 10 day adventure in Cinque Terre — the trip of a lifetime I’d always dreamed of and one that T so graciously allowed to become our honeymoon.

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netflix binge: the maternity leave edition

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I typically watch very little television. Aside from my weekly episode of The Bachelor when it’s on air for our podcast and the associated live tweeting fun, my TV “diet” consists mostly of various food shows on the Food Network. However while I’ve been out on maternity leave, I’ve turned on a lot more TV in the background as I’ve been snuggled up with L. Here’s the scoop on what I’ve been watching on Netflix.

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a trip to broadway for hamilton

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I’ll admit, I didn’t know the soundtrack to Hamilton super well when T turned it on in the delivery room. I knew it was a show I wanted to see at some point, that I find Lin Manuel-Miranda an inspiring unstoppable force and that the music was unique and catchy. That’s about it. I don’t remember the exact song that was playing (hello, epidural) but the musical’s soundtrack was totally in the room where it happened.

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the vessel and hudson yards

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I haven’t been into the city since I started working from home before L’s arrival. I didn’t know about the new development at Hudson Yards until recently. My dad and I decided to make a day of it to go in and explore — and to introduce L to Manhattan at the same time! When we saw the forecast (finally no rain) we decided this past Monday was the day.

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the final countdown

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I’m in the final stretch on the way to so many things that are looming…

Less than a week until Mother’s Day, a holiday that’s become a mix of beautiful and sadness all rolled into one these past couple of years.

Less than a month until I have to leave Baby Girl and go back to work, with her starting daycare and me trying to maneuver the “fifth trimester” with the added stress of a NJ-to-NYC commute this time.

Less than half a year until I begin a new decade (AKA my birthday). I might not be feeling this one so much if it wasn’t for the silver strands that keep appearing around my part-line, reminding me it’s fast-approaching.

So much change, whether I like it or not.

For now, I’m enjoying every second of the “now”. Every cuddle I can get. While I could put her down to nap and go do the dishes or cleanup around the house, you’ll almost always find me curled up with her in my arms on the couch.

Just because I can.

Just because she loves it just as much as I do.

surviving mother’s day

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We are here again. Mother’s Day. This year, I’m really trying to focus on my kids and the honor of being their mother. And of course, I’m thinking extra about my mama.

I’ve been having a hard time really writing — whether that’s journaling or long-form writing. The main thing I have been doing is writing here, albeit sporadically. This week, I’m trying to pick back up journaling, using the below list of writing prompts to do so. Even if your loved one is still living, I’ve decided journals like this will be so wonderful to share with our children to get to know their family even better.

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