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holiday sugar cookies

December 24, 2018 by Lara Leave a Comment

Last year, Christmas was a blur. We put up a tree, we made lots of the recipes we always made but it didn’t feel remotely like Christmas. And I didn’t honestly expect it to be, since it’ll never be the same again. Last year, it was about getting through somehow. So much of what I think of Christmas is wrapped up in my mom and always will be, as we lost her so close to the holiday last year.

This year, I wanted to do my best to make it more spirited, vowing to err on the side of too much Christmas to ensure that Q really got Christmas this year. We put up our first tall tree (bought on clearance after Christmas last year) and put up garland with lights on the banister. I spent hours watching holiday movies on Netflix and wrapping an extra tall stack of presents with sparkly paper.

And I planned to make lots of sweet Christmas treats. Last year, my friend Jocelyn came out to New Jersey and spent the day with me baking sugar cookies, trying to help me get into the Christmas spirit. This year, I decided to make some again – this time to serve at the family’s annual gingerbread house decorating gathering.

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netflix: the holiday list

December 21, 2018 by Lara Leave a Comment

I found myself looking at a list to find I had a ton of vacation days I never took. There was only one solution — take off the week before Christmas (and then some) to wrap all the things, bake all the things, and take all the naps. I decided I was equal to the task. All those hours of baking and wrapping require something in background. Enter the Netflix holiday movie rotation!

Most of the below are from this year, but there are some older ones in the mix towards the bottom. There was only one rule for this post — to exclude all those bigger holiday movies from over the year. I think you’ll see I made good on following that rule.

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[giveaway] smile brilliant’s cariPRO

December 18, 2018 by Lara 18 Comments

I’m learning that nothing makes you scrutinize everything about yourself like being a parent. How you talk, how you react under pressure. Yes, even how you brush your teeth. We’ve begun emphasizing the importance of regular brushing with Q. I’m doing an okay job though, right?

I’ve never used an electronic toothbrush so when Smile Brilliant reached out with an opportunity to try their cariPRO toothbrush, I decided it was a good time to try — especially with the high volume of sweets I’ve been eating around the holidays! Over the last several weeks, I’ve been using just the cariPRO to see how it performs.

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pre-black friday sales: maternity edition

November 14, 2018 by Lara Leave a Comment

This pregnancy, I’ve been leaning on my Le Tote subscription but also bought a handful of new colorful items to help me from getting too bored with my wardrobe. I just noticed a number of my faves are actually on sale in advance of the formal Black Friday sales, and wanted to share for my other mamas-to-be!

I’m in love with a red BCBG tunic I bought pretty early on. I was wearing this before anyone knew we were expecting and it’s also been great with my almost third trimester bump as well! It looks super cute, is dressy and will be useful post baby as well. It is somewhat sheer, so you can wear a thicker nursing tank under it during fall/winter for it to work just fine. Right now, you can snag this in one of three colors for an extra 30% off the already on sale price on Pea in the Pod. [Read more…]

birthday dinner at restaurant serenade, chatham

November 4, 2018 by Lara Leave a Comment

This year, my birthday fell on a Friday. T mentioned we could do a nice evening in Manhattan but we then agreed that it would be kind of nice to instead try out a nice spot out in New Jersey. We have a few favorite staple restaurants but have yet to try any of the high end options. Now, we just had to narrow down to one! After looking at menus and reviews, I was most curious about Restaurant Serenade in Chatham so that became our winner.

We made an early reservation, so the contemporary French restaurant was still filling up around us as we ate. They sat us at a nice table, alongside the large window in the front. Our table’s location really added to the experience. I was a bit bummed to be missing out on the cocktail menu but was pleased to see they had several non-alcoholic options. The one I tried was soda, Madagascar vanilla syrup and small flowers. Still warm out at the time, it made for a refreshing start to the meal. [Read more…]

an ice cream tour of denver

October 27, 2018 by Lara Leave a Comment

Back in August, we took our first family vacation as a family of three. We haven’t been traveling too much these days. With Q’s second birthday approaching at the time, we also wanted to travel at least once where he’d be free! One of my close friends lives in Denver so we thought it was a great time to pay her a visit and to finally meet her little girl (who Q loved). It was quite warm while we were there, so we ended up tackling the city one scoop of ice cream at a time. This kicks off the first in a series of posts on the great things we tried while we were in town. Here’s more on some of our Denver ice cream faves. [Read more…]

an extra dose of love coming this february

October 1, 2018 by Lara Leave a Comment

It’s an exciting time at our house as we are expecting a new addition this February! We’ve been trying to explain the upcoming change to Q, who understands in words that he has a baby sister on the way but we aren’t sure he really gets what that means yet. Luckily, there’s still some time for that to sink in.

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west village brunch at the loyalist on bleecker street

September 30, 2018 by Lara Leave a Comment

Recently my friend N was in town, which meant an excuse to head in to Manhattan for a fun brunch at somewhere new! This time, we chose to make it a West Village brunch at The Loyal, a spot that opened around this time last fall. It was perfect timing too as we share a birthday so brunch was like an early birthday celebration for us! They also offer reservations — always a brunch plus.

We started with an order of their monkey bread. It was delicious and perfect for sharing. It came with a cream cheese dipping sauce. I read some reviews online saying that the sauce was too much, but I beg to differ. Light and fluffy and just the right amount sweet, I found the sauce a delicious addition to this start to our brunch. [Read more…]

planning a fall-themed birthday for your child

September 25, 2018 by Lara Leave a Comment

There’s something nice about a birthday that comes with a built-in theme. For our son’s first birthday last year (sigh, almost a year ago) we went with just that – a fall birthday! We decided that we could let him have more of an opinion on future selections but that we were going to take advantage of a simple fall-themed birthday for year one.

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5 things that help in returning to work after maternity leave

September 12, 2018 by Lara Leave a Comment

I’ve been thinking a lot about returning from maternity leave – that first point in time where you’re forced to pull together you as a mom and you as a career professional into a new version of you. And it doesn’t exactly come with a manual. Lauren Brody’s site and book, The Fifth Trimester, come close (both are great and you should check them out if you haven’t already) – but nothing quite prepares you for the exact combo that is your reality.

I’m excited to share my first piece on Motherly, which went live yesterday on their site. The experience re-entering work following maternity leave was way more challenging than I anticipated. I previously wrote about here on Grits in the City but this new piece goes into what I tried to focus on during this period of adjustment. Some of these things, though they sound quite small, made such a difference for me. Take a look here.