October 9, 2022
It was that time of the year again, time to find our way to the New York Renaissance Faire for festive merry-making. This year, a first: I would be a fairy, complete with a crafted headdress, top and bottom. A mess of nature and iridescence, the trunk was an explosion Read more…
Mahwah, New Jersey is close to Tuxedo, New York… home of the Renaissance Faire. So some fun around the area before the special event. My adventurous friend and I We had dinner at Jay’s Thai Kitchen. To start, some Spring Rolls And some Crispy Tofu Triangles The Papaya Salad, Som Read more…
September 30, 2022
Treats hand-off Apologies for tons of selfies, but it has been a while since I cared to dress well. This pistachio chocolate chip cookie from Yard Sale is a new tradition. Merry Merfolk prep Currants I always send him the morning sky. Pad Thai, all the time Fall. Blending in. Read more…
October 29, 2021
Determined to survive this school year, I have to cherish what aids my survival… area sweet treats, my new team and work time shenanigans. To start, a huge vegan chocolate chip scone and oat milk scone from Roots Cafe before I discovered it had two ants crawling on it. Doh! Read more…
October 21, 2021
Turning Point Park Durand Eastman Park & Beach
October 16, 2021
Right around my birthday you can sometimes find a farm with a pumpkin patch that is still got blooming sunflowers. These are the center of a Venn diagram of my love of summer and my love of fall. They are a festive find that I associate with my birthday… and Read more…
December 10, 2020
With a Christmas craft night planned, I decided to use a generous portion of my pumpkin puree. So a pumpkin chocolate chip loaf for the festive gathering! Every year I forget just how delicious VCTOTW‘s recipe is… While I was at it… and feeling fairly certain I’d see my students Read more…
November 19, 2020
And Boom! The winter coat is out. This year has passed with record speed… but its timestamps are upside down, half off the page and mostly indiscernible. My old trusty (this blog) will file away the months neatly for reference when the dust clears. So here are some things that Read more…
November 8, 2020
Since my trip to Manhattan’s Trinity Church & Cemetery was thwarted, I headed to the other side of Green-Wood Cemetery to capture the slightly past peak foliage and the familiar dour faces inside the blaze of a summer day in autumn, before the bright orange and yellow fall. Next up, Read more…
October 27, 2020
Lest you forget, it’s cemetery season. And even a quick glimpse into the wrought iron gates at dawn is eerily stirring as night’s restlessness leaves a trace of tension in the fog. The picketed border between the living and the dead hardly serves a purpose beyond framing the gravestones within. Read more…
October 22, 2020
The Allegheny Cemetery has a beautiful set of angel wings on its grounds–enormous feather-brushed bronze. The striking Porter Angel marks the resting place of Henry Kirke Porter, a congressman and businessman who died in 1921. She’s long been on my list of must-sees. And she was worth it. Pretty face, Read more…
The Homewood Cemetery has got what I like in a cemetery–it was founded in the late 1800’s, its grounds are Lawn Park style, and it’s full of gorgeous trees in peak foliage. And when you enter bright and early you can watch the bright streams of sun penetrate the morning Read more…
October 21, 2020
Autumn is my favorite season for so many reasons. A short stop before holiday hoopla, the glorious seasonal transition brings the goods–by way of my favorite tones in the trees and rustling at my feet, tights weather, sweater weather, pumpkins, my birthday, Libra sun, Halloween, giving thanks to all the Read more…
October 10, 2020
Staten Island’s Moravian Cemetery has it all–death heads and winged soul effigies on centuries old headstones, intriguing epitaphs, beautiful angels, heartbreaking modern-day memorials, lush green overgrowth, gorgeous trees, peace… quiet. Meandering through its paths in Autumn is the stuff that Cemetery Season is all about. Leaves are turning I found Read more…
October 8, 2020
It was so nice out when I left work that I headed to Prospect Park… to eat vegan food under a tree. It’s been so hectic lately, so it was nice to whisk myself away and smother myself with treats. Maybe I’ll do this every Thursday? First, my favorite Thai Read more…
October 3, 2020
Autumnal veggies are perfect for a heartwarming curry inspired by Vegan Richa. Though I probably should expand my lunch repertoire, a good curry is easy, satisfying throughout the week and such a perfect vehicle for whatever veggies I have laying around… Like a ton of kale… Withering away I had Read more…
November 13, 2019
A brief jaunt in East Patchogue, Long Island would have food, fun and photographs. To follow, some highlights of the area… if you happen to like vegan food, nature and cemeteries like me. Door dashed my breakfast because who the heck wants to get dressed and jump in the car Read more…
October 22, 2019
{It’s My Party 🎉, Part 6} My birthday excursion was packed with all of my favorite things, but reality returns tomorrow. The last day had me finally seeing downtown Cleveland and getting back into the foliage just a short drive from my motel in Richfield. The truth is that I consulted Read more…
October 19, 2019
Arts & Crafts, Beautiful Places Far Away, Nature, These are a few of my favorite things., Wanderlust
{It’s My Party 🎉, Part 1} When I thought about where I’d whisk myself off to for (triple prepositions!) my birthday, I asked myself, “Self, what would make your special day enjoyable?” To which I responded, “Being far away and on my own, a national park, an old cemetery, lots Read more…
October 13, 2019
As soon as my friend started describing his new seasonal side gig, terrorizing people at an old Victorian mansion on Staten Island, I knew he was referring to the Kreischer House. And I knew I’d now get to go inside the beautiful home I spied this summer. Dead By Dawn, Read more…
October 9, 2019
Though I have several tragic flaws, the complete lack of a voice of reason exhausts me as much as it brings me excitement and joy. So while I recover from driving more hours in the last two days than I slept, some gorgeous shots of why Autumn is my favorite Read more…
September 28, 2019
The High Holiday breaks from school are a perfect dose of rest for this gentile. And a perfect opportunity to return to the road, which I long for daily—its freedom. With an “errand” in Buffalo, New York, I found my way to East Otto’s Griffis Sculpture Park for some art Read more…
November 18, 2018
As one of the first rural cemeteries in the country, Laurel Hill Cemetery, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is a National landmark. Both of those distinctions landed it on my “to go” list. Fearing the impending winter and its weather-related travel restrictions, it was time for another day trip to the City Read more…
November 14, 2018
With the Farmers Market season ending, I am preemptively stocking up–making my lunch a ton of roasted autumn vegetables. Because these starchy roots need nothing but some oil, salt and pepper. First, rainbow carrots and their slew of phytonutrients: purple, yellow and orange phytonutrients. Though Candy Cane beets (or Chioggia beets) Read more…
November 12, 2018
The Great Jack-o-Lantern Blaze has been a popular Halloween event since 2005 (!), though I just learned of it this Halloween season. It is just the most wonderful kind of whimsy–thousands of pumpkins… hand carved and ablaze within Van Cortland Manor‘s grounds in Croton-on-Hudson, New York. Add spectacular lighting within Read more…
November 5, 2018
Before I go on about how this fried “chicken” sandwich tasted, here are some hues from a Sunday in which the Autumn sun blazed glorious beams. Let’s follow them out and about. First, they crept into my basement apartment as I prepared my lunch for the week, making this radish Read more…