Grits in the City - discounts and faves

Hope you enjoy all these as much as I do!

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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Race recap: Philadelphia Love Run Half Marathon

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When I didn’t get into the NY Half this year, I was trying to figure out a different option. A friend suggested I check out the Love Run Philadelphia — good course and nice swag which includes a mug and a nice medal. I was in! Sounded like a prefect new option for half marathon #5.

Love Run Philadelphia Course Map 2024

A month and a half before the race I went ahead and reserved a spot for the day of. I picked something close I picked something close enough to not have to walk too far to the starting line but not close enough to be impacted by road closures — an important trait. Thankfully a friend had some recommendations to help as I chose one, so took away one day of stress.

Image of all of Lara’s running gear for the Philadelphia Love Run Half Marathon — including her Honey Stinger waffles and gels, knee high socks, valentines Goodr sunglasses, Oiselle hat and Still I Run neck buff.

I got up before 4am to ensure I had enough time to gather up my things to get there with plenty of time to spare. The downside of the 7:30am early start time was needing to leave early enough to allow for the travel time. I naturally picked out all my clothes and fuel the day before.

I was also prepared with some throwaway layers for the start. Those proved quite helpful, as it was chilly at the starting line. I did learn though that I probably should have washed the sweatpants as they left black fuzz all over my highlighter yellow leggings. Ooooops.

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Kids Taylor Swift themed birthday at Zumbini with Allie

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Duh-nuh-nuh-nuh they said it’s her birth-tay! Yep. Our daughter L finally turned five. When I asked what theme she wanted it was immediate. “Taylor Swift!” She’s been obsessed since I took her and her brother to their first movie theater outing to see the Eras Tour Movie, so it made for a fitting choice.

So what would that mean for five-year-olds?! In the end, we decided on a unicorn craft themed party with all Taylor Swift music, which ended up being the perfect combo. If you are looking for a good playlist of more kid-friendly (or at least I’d say Logan-approved), I’m embedding mine here.

Venue

I had heard a lot of great things about Zumbini with Allie after Q went to a birthday party there recently. I took a look at their website and saw they had a Taylor Swift dance party but for older kids. They did have a unicorn craft so we decided perhaps a bit of both worlds for her party!

Zumbini with Allie open play space

The owner was amazing in working with us to do a custom setup — with the kids doing a unicorn craft and listening to an all-Taylor Swift soundtrack as they enjoyed open play between activities and food rounds.

The venue took care of pizza, plates and utensils for the kids and we were allowed to bring in our own cake. We needed to bring in our own plates and silverware for the dessert, and all of the above for parents for both pizza and dessert.

Cake

Speaking of cake, it’s always a top priority to me when planning any birthday celebrations. As always, we went with a cake from Natale’s Bakery in Summit. We went with streamer icing decorations and added a cardboard decoration on top and voila! All set.

Decorations

We totally lucked out in that one of my coworkers who got VIP passes to the Eras Tour gave us some of the gorgeous posters and postcards to add a bit of authentic Taylor decor to the mix!

The party room was a decent size and we put up a metallic fringe backdrop layered with a Taylor Swift sign hanging across. The two really worked to brighten it up and make for a perfect backdrop.

Party favors

Taylor Swift themed bracelets

These were a MUST in the swag bags. We got this set from Amazon. There was one small misspelling but these were still great quality and value. They were such a hit!


Taylor Swift stickers

These were relatively inexpensive for 151 stickers! These aren’t the exact set we got (we’ve found so many of the things you find on Amazon get taken down) but they look almost the same.


Heart-shaped sunglasses

These were a must-buy. We went with this option based on speed of delivery but there were also some fun multi-colored ones.

Shimmery polka-dot bags

There were more Taylor Swift options but we went with these which added a bit of shimmer but didn’t overpower. Couldn’t beat the price point!

Overall, it was such a wonderful celebration and our little Swiftie had the best special day.

Music

Of course, the music is a must! We didn’t play our own soundtrack day of as the venue covered it but sharing the playlist I currently turn on for L who might love TS but has a strong preference for a more kid-friendly subset of her catalog.


What did we miss? Drop it in the comments below and let me know if you use any of the above for your own party!

ticket to taper town

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I can’t believe it but I’m in the final stretch again for my half marathon training program and the race is coming up next weekend. Every time I start this cycle it feels like such commitment yet always manages to fly by!

I often do spring half marathon training. It’s always quite the journey — training my way through almost all of the snow for the year (if not all of it) through rainy impending spring and finally into spring’s arrival.

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february reads

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I was hoping to continue the reading trend for the month of February … but would it last? Spoiler alert: YES! I’m pretty thrilled. Lots of fabulous reads and a few that just published that I was lucky enough to take an early look at.

Outofshapeworthlessloser by Gracie Gold (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5)

I knew I had to read this book after watching an interview with Gracie Gold on the TODAY Show. I used to watch skating regularly, stopping just shy a bit before her era. Her book is a very honest and often harsh look at the competitive world of skating and the challenges she faced both on and off the ice. Such a powerful read on her determination and coming to a new understanding with what had for a while become a nemesis. Highly recommend this audiobook. She also joined for this great episode of Peter Shankman’s Faster Than Normal podcast to discuss the book and her experiences.

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