Happy #NationalPuppyDay to these two. I used to ca Happy #NationalPuppyDay to these two. I used to call Clifford an asshat, because he basically was. But there’s a new asshat in town… 🙄 Clifford is now a freaking rockstar. His tumor and age have slowed him down a LOT and he virtually never misbehaves, and we are seriously so proud of him. Lola, on the other hand, is still full blown PUPPY. Tonight I’m assembling a gate to replace the wooden one she ate through. 😂 Berners love wood and she is OBSESSED with being in the kitchen. So one new metal gate coming right up as soon as I can figure out how to put it together.
Last week when I met the owners of the new French Last week when I met the owners of the new French bakery in town, I told them how happy I was that they were opening … because now I had an endless source for gifts for my mom’s future birthdays and Christmases. She was born in Paris and we’ve grown up with a healthy appreciation for French things … starting with their pastries and baguettes, but so much more. My daughter took her first trip to Paris last year and thoroughly enjoyed the croissants there and she deemed the ones at @chocolatinenj just as perfect. No surprise there since the owner is a French pastry chef! If you’re local and haven’t been, do make a point to stop in and visit. They’re open Wednesday through Sunday and have a wide selection of sweet and savory items and a few French retail selections as well. We’ve tried the macarons, the Croque Monsieur, the croissants, the tomato tarts, the baguette … basically we’re working our way through their display case in due time. Don’t miss this one - enjoy!
People complain about how much time is spent on ph People complain about how much time is spent on phones sometimes, but if it wasn’t for phones. I wouldn’t have these awesome little snippets of them growing up. I only wish I had more. Appreciate and document the little mundane things, for they are the very fabric of your life.
happy Spring, friends! Y’all know how long I’v happy Spring, friends! Y’all know how long I’ve been waiting for the seasons to change and I’m so excited that Mother Nature was on board today! ☀️ There is nothing like the energy from the sun and it makes me happy. Hope you got some today!
Weekend photos in review, old school style. Contex Weekend photos in review, old school style. Context: 1) saying goodbye until Easter, 2) sending him back with good bagels, 3) sunlight charging station, 4) the sun was out all day yesterday and it was glorious, 5) hitting the farmers market for my favorite garlic butter, 6) make a wish, 7) sun patterns, and 8) my sous chef
I don’t eat French fries often, but when I do, I I don’t eat French fries often, but when I do, I’m going to make it count. Doo Wop Eats opened a few months ago in downtown Denville and their fries are LEGIT. They are hand cut and taste the way fries should … like potatoes! I add a sprinkle of salt and dunk them in a side of their special sauce and they are pure perfection. You can order a small bucket or a large one (better for sharing!), or as a side item with one of their other delicious menu items like their cheeseburgers, fried chicken sandwiches or cheesesteak. I do believe they’re the best fries in town. I said what I said. Doo Wop’s menu celebrates all your favorite Jersey shore boardwalk treats, including Fried Oreos, clam strips and milk shakes and has a fun vibe for kids and families. 😍
The Grinder Salad, a recipe I found on tiktok that The Grinder Salad, a recipe I found on tiktok that takes all of your favorite ingredients from a grinder (or sub) sandwich and makes it into a delicious chopped salad. It’s as easy as putting everything in a bowl and chopping it up. Perfect for busy days and lazy nights, light meals and warm weather choices. Ingredient list below. Enjoy!

One bag or arugula
One container of cherry tomatoes 
Quarter pound of hard salami
8 Oz of fresh mozzarella
One small red onion
1/3 cup banana peppers 
Handful of fresh basil
Half cup Italian salad dressing
3 T Kewpie mayo
2 T red wine vinegar 
Sea salt and black pepper

Chop it all up, add a half box of ditalini pasta, cooked. Mix to combine.

Recipe from GrilledCheeseSocial.
We had a fun little board party this week and the We had a fun little board party this week and the delicious whipped Brie I shared earlier was front and center. If you haven’t heard of board parties, it’s when every guest makes a different type of food board and brings it - so much fun noshing ensues! With toasted baguette slices, cornichons and local honey, this was mostly a French-inspired board. So simple to pull together and totally my kind of meal.
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Sweetnicks

Food and Life

Just What We Need When We Need It

September 26, 2011 · Narrative

“Are you kidding me?” I heard Mystic say from the other room.

“Did you already post for tonight?” he asked me, as he came into the office.

Not yet, but I’m three lines away.

“Good.  I think you should add this,” he said, showing me his Chinese fortune cookie.  Nick was cleaning up in the dining room and found a few fortune cookies leftover from take-out last week.  And between the two of them, they were gone in minutes.

Important Words

Which was, surprisingly, immediately followed by this:
Second Fortune
(They will, of course, be added to our Chinese fortune wall)

This was exactly what we needed after this weekend.  Or after the past couple of weeks.

Dude, life is hard sometimes.  This is not a news flash, I know.  Whatever your lot is in life, it is filled with the good, the bad and the downright ugly.

Juggling single parenting along with work, maintaining a home, cooking good-for-you meals, freelancing, a new pet … well, folks, you know as well as I do, it’s all hard.

We’re all in the trenches.  Slogging away.  Day after day.  Night after night.

There are moments when I need to catch my breath.  And can’t.

When I need thirty seconds of peace to think a complete thought.  And can’t.

When I need to be able to finish a conversation (heck, even a sentence!).  And can’t.

But at the end of every day, I fall into bed exhausted, slightly stressed, but happy.

And it is because I know the real value of the day.

I wouldn’t trade it for anything.  Not anything.

Because in all that stuff that we have to slog through, there are these bits of magic.

When Nick grabs my hand to hold it.  In public.

Or when he turns to give me a kiss before leaving.  Which is not always, mind you, but sometimes.

Or when he finally understands a lecture I’ve been preaching since the dawn of time.

When Madeline brushes the hair from my eyes and tells me I’m “the best ever.”

When she offers to massage my feet, along with half a bottle of lotion, because she knows my ankle is sore.

When Mystic’s son, a teenager, throws his arms around his waist and whispers that he loves him.

When his youngest son turns in an essay for school on his hero, and the person he chose was Mystic.

Those are the moments of real value.  The reward for a job well done.  Or a day well spent.  Or a connection well made.

I get it.  I completely and utterly get it.  And Mystic?  He gets it like few others I’ve seen do.

We know what’s important.  And the real value of the day.  And will cherish it to the moon and back.

Whether you are a parent or not, a career-driven professional or  a homeschooling mom… no matter your life’s work, there is real value in every moment.  The negative ones.  The positive ones.  All of them.  And I, for one, am going to squeeze the heck out of it.

September 26, 2011 – Bonus Photos
Monkeying Around
I, of course, didn’t let her continue her naughtiness because there was no way that was going to end well. But I did, however, make her stop mid-climb so I could take a picture.

Lazy Dog Days
To say that the kids adore Maxwell would be an understatement.

Will the Real Miss Madeline Please Stand Up

On the Road

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Posted In: Narrative

Comments

  1. Joanie from CLBB says

    September 26, 2011 at 9:12 pm

    woohoo, looks like a little monkey is feeling better! It’s taken me most of 55 years, but I finally get it, too. Go with the joy in the good times, learn from the bad and move on. LOVE your fortune wall–March Madness 2005, we each got a fortune that we totally wrapped around the trek of our Tar Heels thru the tourney–it worked, they won, such silly fun!

    Max is huge! What are you feeding him, your cheeseburger soup?! (one of my faves from the old BB days ;-) )

    Reply
  2. Sarah Caron says

    September 26, 2011 at 10:33 pm

    Great post and great reminder.

    Reply
  3. Claire says

    September 27, 2011 at 1:36 am

    Enjoyed this post! My parents have a picture VERY similar to that one of Madeline climbing. They had told me NOT to climb my closet…even to get a game; I was to ask for help! WEEEELLLL, I wanted a game and decided to get it myself. They have a picture of my back climbing up and then me looking around at them with a look of “Ooops…I’m not supposed to be here!” ha!

    Reply
  4. Joanne says

    September 27, 2011 at 6:21 am

    Ah love this post. This is a message that is all too often forgotten when life gets busy or rough.

    Looks like Monkey is doing better! And it also looks like Maxwell is equally smitten.

    Reply
  5. Meg says

    September 27, 2011 at 2:06 pm

    You’re so right: every moment matters. And I love that what you highlighted were the human connections we make and the moments of raw, unguarded emotion. Those are what matter most to me, too.

    Maxwell is awesome! Is he a golden or an Irish setter (must see if you posted about this already)? I have an 8-year-old golden, Rudy, who is pretty much the sweetest ever. Glad the kids love him!

    Reply

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Happy #NationalPuppyDay to these two. I used to ca Happy #NationalPuppyDay to these two. I used to call Clifford an asshat, because he basically was. But there’s a new asshat in town… 🙄 Clifford is now a freaking rockstar. His tumor and age have slowed him down a LOT and he virtually never misbehaves, and we are seriously so proud of him. Lola, on the other hand, is still full blown PUPPY. Tonight I’m assembling a gate to replace the wooden one she ate through. 😂 Berners love wood and she is OBSESSED with being in the kitchen. So one new metal gate coming right up as soon as I can figure out how to put it together.
Last week when I met the owners of the new French Last week when I met the owners of the new French bakery in town, I told them how happy I was that they were opening … because now I had an endless source for gifts for my mom’s future birthdays and Christmases. She was born in Paris and we’ve grown up with a healthy appreciation for French things … starting with their pastries and baguettes, but so much more. My daughter took her first trip to Paris last year and thoroughly enjoyed the croissants there and she deemed the ones at @chocolatinenj just as perfect. No surprise there since the owner is a French pastry chef! If you’re local and haven’t been, do make a point to stop in and visit. They’re open Wednesday through Sunday and have a wide selection of sweet and savory items and a few French retail selections as well. We’ve tried the macarons, the Croque Monsieur, the croissants, the tomato tarts, the baguette … basically we’re working our way through their display case in due time. Don’t miss this one - enjoy!
People complain about how much time is spent on ph People complain about how much time is spent on phones sometimes, but if it wasn’t for phones. I wouldn’t have these awesome little snippets of them growing up. I only wish I had more. Appreciate and document the little mundane things, for they are the very fabric of your life.
happy Spring, friends! Y’all know how long I’v happy Spring, friends! Y’all know how long I’ve been waiting for the seasons to change and I’m so excited that Mother Nature was on board today! ☀️ There is nothing like the energy from the sun and it makes me happy. Hope you got some today!

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Happy #NationalPuppyDay to these two. I used to ca Happy #NationalPuppyDay to these two. I used to call Clifford an asshat, because he basically was. But there’s a new asshat in town… 🙄 Clifford is now a freaking rockstar. His tumor and age have slowed him down a LOT and he virtually never misbehaves, and we are seriously so proud of him. Lola, on the other hand, is still full blown PUPPY. Tonight I’m assembling a gate to replace the wooden one she ate through. 😂 Berners love wood and she is OBSESSED with being in the kitchen. So one new metal gate coming right up as soon as I can figure out how to put it together.
Last week when I met the owners of the new French Last week when I met the owners of the new French bakery in town, I told them how happy I was that they were opening … because now I had an endless source for gifts for my mom’s future birthdays and Christmases. She was born in Paris and we’ve grown up with a healthy appreciation for French things … starting with their pastries and baguettes, but so much more. My daughter took her first trip to Paris last year and thoroughly enjoyed the croissants there and she deemed the ones at @chocolatinenj just as perfect. No surprise there since the owner is a French pastry chef! If you’re local and haven’t been, do make a point to stop in and visit. They’re open Wednesday through Sunday and have a wide selection of sweet and savory items and a few French retail selections as well. We’ve tried the macarons, the Croque Monsieur, the croissants, the tomato tarts, the baguette … basically we’re working our way through their display case in due time. Don’t miss this one - enjoy!
People complain about how much time is spent on ph People complain about how much time is spent on phones sometimes, but if it wasn’t for phones. I wouldn’t have these awesome little snippets of them growing up. I only wish I had more. Appreciate and document the little mundane things, for they are the very fabric of your life.
happy Spring, friends! Y’all know how long I’v happy Spring, friends! Y’all know how long I’ve been waiting for the seasons to change and I’m so excited that Mother Nature was on board today! ☀️ There is nothing like the energy from the sun and it makes me happy. Hope you got some today!
Weekend photos in review, old school style. Contex Weekend photos in review, old school style. Context: 1) saying goodbye until Easter, 2) sending him back with good bagels, 3) sunlight charging station, 4) the sun was out all day yesterday and it was glorious, 5) hitting the farmers market for my favorite garlic butter, 6) make a wish, 7) sun patterns, and 8) my sous chef
I don’t eat French fries often, but when I do, I I don’t eat French fries often, but when I do, I’m going to make it count. Doo Wop Eats opened a few months ago in downtown Denville and their fries are LEGIT. They are hand cut and taste the way fries should … like potatoes! I add a sprinkle of salt and dunk them in a side of their special sauce and they are pure perfection. You can order a small bucket or a large one (better for sharing!), or as a side item with one of their other delicious menu items like their cheeseburgers, fried chicken sandwiches or cheesesteak. I do believe they’re the best fries in town. I said what I said. Doo Wop’s menu celebrates all your favorite Jersey shore boardwalk treats, including Fried Oreos, clam strips and milk shakes and has a fun vibe for kids and families. 😍
The Grinder Salad, a recipe I found on tiktok that The Grinder Salad, a recipe I found on tiktok that takes all of your favorite ingredients from a grinder (or sub) sandwich and makes it into a delicious chopped salad. It’s as easy as putting everything in a bowl and chopping it up. Perfect for busy days and lazy nights, light meals and warm weather choices. Ingredient list below. Enjoy!

One bag or arugula
One container of cherry tomatoes 
Quarter pound of hard salami
8 Oz of fresh mozzarella
One small red onion
1/3 cup banana peppers 
Handful of fresh basil
Half cup Italian salad dressing
3 T Kewpie mayo
2 T red wine vinegar 
Sea salt and black pepper

Chop it all up, add a half box of ditalini pasta, cooked. Mix to combine.

Recipe from GrilledCheeseSocial.
We had a fun little board party this week and the We had a fun little board party this week and the delicious whipped Brie I shared earlier was front and center. If you haven’t heard of board parties, it’s when every guest makes a different type of food board and brings it - so much fun noshing ensues! With toasted baguette slices, cornichons and local honey, this was mostly a French-inspired board. So simple to pull together and totally my kind of meal.

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