Hi friends! Popping back in here with a fun afternoon announcement. One of my beloved clients M.M. LAFLEUR, an online fashion company for professional women, is hosting a series of Salon Nights this fall where they bring industry leaders to talk about how to break into various businesses. I attended their first one last week and I have say, it was truly the best networking event I’ve been to all year (and I can’t even count how many I’ve been to!). Tomorrow they’re hosting their second one, focused on how to break into the business of… wait for it… food and drink! For any of you in the NYC area who have been thinking about starting your own business- whether it’s food related or not- I can’t urge you enough to go. Truly! So often people ask how I started working for myself or built up my business and a key portion of my answer is attending events just like this.

Tomorrow’s “Breaking into Business: Food & Drink” will take place at The NoMad Hotel from 7-9 pm. Tickets are $25.00 but include delicious drinks and hors d’oeuvres (yep, this was my dinner last Wednesday night). You can register here. Learn even more about M.M. in their recent NY Magazine article- and if you make it tomorrow, definitely let me know!

Woo.. October has been a month! I thought September was busy… boy was a wrong. It’s left a left a little less time for blogging, but my instagram feed is where you can find a sneak peak into my day to day. Here’s what’s been going on lately….

1. Lunching on the go. Specifically at Le Pain Quotidien. I often find myself in between meetings or out of the apartment during lunch, and I love snagging a spot at Le Pain. They have amazing wifi, and really fueling meal options- this is their warm goat cheese salad with arugula and pears pictured above, but I also love their soups and quiches. I hunker down at one of the big communal tables and knock out a few hours of work.

2. The other night I was cleaning out my jewelry box and had to snap a pic of all my Tiffany’s jewelry. Isn’t this stuff such a throwback? Clearly not worn very much given how tarnished it is. But all of the pieces are from my mom and grandmother… so I really can’t part with them. Anyone else have that heart necklace?

3. A sneak peak at the look of my new brand/site! It has been so exciting to see it all come together, I really can’t wait for you to see it. We’re set to go live in mid November!

4. Central Park. Brandon and I took a quick walk here on Sunday after a visit to The Frick Collection (a must see museum if you’re traveling to New York). Aren’t those trees incredible? It astounds me every time. And to have it all nestled within Manhattan- I never tire of that.

5. Dinners! I have been on a roast chicken kick. Here’s what you see above: half a chicken, rubbed in a little butter butter and covered liberally in sea salt and pepper, and roasted at 350° for about an hour and five minutes (the chicken was 1.5 pounds). In the top left is a dish of egg noodles, tossed with some greek yogurt, sea salt, and pepper once cooked. And finally some Red Oak lettuce from the farmer’s market- tossed with a homemade red wine vinaigrette. This is how we eat.

6. Oh Everlane… I cannot say enough good things about your silk blouses, or your perfect tees. The blouses instantly make me feel pulled together, and the tees are my favorite thing to wear underneath a navy blazer.

I have a few staple  products I’ve been so into lately that I wanted to share with you guys. The days are long and the weekends short, so relishing in these simple things helps me relax throughout the day.

The first is that glaring box of Bioré pore strips- I can’t help it! But seriously, who does not secretly love these things? I struggle with clogged pores, but slapping one of these babies on each week really helps. Plus the whole process is so gratifying (and yes, you know what I mean). The next are two of my favorites from One Love Organics- the Neroli Aromatic Body Serum and the Vitamin D Active Moisture Release Mist. The body serum was my first experience utilizing a body oil instead of lotion, and I gotta say- I much prefer it to lotion. This one in particular goes on so easily and soaks right in. The Neroli scent is soft and citrus-y. This bottle is actually empty! I plowed right through it. The moisture mist is a completely new to me product, sweetly thrown into my last order by the folks at OLO. I spray it on my face and neck before I put on my their face balm. Ever since I started using it my skin has been much more balanced in tone and coloration- and I’d even say I’ve had less breakouts. A total win win. And lastly, some love for my cuticles, which I consistently bite at. Yep, I have that habit. But this Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream has really helped. I love massaging it into my nails and hands right before I go to bed. The lemony scent is really soothing.

That’s what’s up! Any products you’ve been loving lately I need to know about?

In the last few weeks, I’ve been working to eat less sugar. Yes, I’m telling you I’m eating less sugar while presenting you with a cookie recipe. Hear me out!

I’ve kind of always known that my affinity for sugar was a little too strong- bordering on addictive. I have very little self control when it comes to sweets. We don’t keep a ton in the house but when I bake, we gobble them up pretty quickly. And even on a day to day basis, I was consuming more sugar than I needed to- a heaping spoonful in my coffee, a cookie more often than not in the afternoon (or another sugary caffeinated beverage), and something sweet after dinner. I’m definitely the person that eats a meal and immediately needs something sweet to follow. I never saw it as a problem worth tackling until… [Read more...]

Can we just make Friday the day where I post pictures of small children? They’re sooo cute! And this one’s outfit. I mean, I need it.

This week kind of knocked me on my feet… I am exhausted! I can’t tell you how happy it makes me that we have zero- read it, zero plans- on the calendar this weekend. And I’m also thinking that vacation to Mexico really can’t come soon enough. Thank you all so much for your recommendations- they’re going to make trip planning about a million times easier. Other than getting some trip things organized this weekend [Read more...]

Three weeks from tomorrow, I will be in Mexico! Right after I graduated from college I spent a couple years working in Washington D.C. at a consulting firm. I made some of the greatest friends of my life at that job- the kind of friendships that last through months of not being in touch, or now long distances. The kind of girls you can talk to about absolutely anything, and [Read more...]

If you’ve been following this blog for some time, you know I briefly had a food photography series. While I loved writing those posts, I started to feel a bit outside my comfort zone when it came to giving food photography advice, since I’m by no means a professional photographer. But in the last few weeks I was thinking over the things I’ve learned since I started shooting food three years back, and realized there was probably a thing or two I could share with you guys. I’m always so flattered by the nice things readers say about my photos- so here are my [Read more...]