Slowly but surely, I’m getting back to blogging. I haven’t quite hit my stride with this whole baby thing, but I’m trying to drag myself back to the real world and a routine and that includes finding time to post here. It sounds silly, but if I can find enough structure to blog, I can find enough of a routine to get other things done too. Currently, each day feels like I’m underwater at the beach, trying to make out what someone who’s standing on the sand is saying. Once a routine falls into place, I think I’ll feel like a human again. It’s not all so terrible – there have been some wonderful moments lately – here’s three of them.
While my beau was on paternity leave, he encouraged me to go on a nice long walk and it did wonders for my sanity. On one such walk, just before New Years, I finally walked into Butterfield Market, a gourmet shop on the UES I’ve passed many times but never explored. They had so many wonderful goodies. I picked up these pink-a-boo pineberries. These white strawberries are like the regular red kind but have a hint of tropical flavor. I grabbed some mousse as well and it was the first time I’ve had mousse in the US that tasted like the mousse au chocolat I used to get in France. It’s denser, not whippy/airy like chocolate mousse always seems to be here. The goal was to serve it as a special New Year’s Eve dessert, but a fussy baby got in the way of those plans. Still tasted delicious on New Year’s Day.
I discovered Nose Best Candles at the UWS Grand Bazaar flea market almost two months ago but just broke mine out this week and am so happy I did. The scents are all incredible, but I went with this seasonal one. I love that this company, born in the pandemic, isn’t just selling candles – they’re selling an experience. All the scents have fun, risqué names and come with a scannable Spotify code so you can download a complementary playlist and listen while you burn. If you go to their website, they’ve also paired each candle with a cocktail. At $22, they’re priced nicely, and you’re supporting a POC/Queer/woman-led company that is putting a bit of extra thought into their products. I’ve currently got mine set up next to one of my Christmas gifts – a gorgeous Harlem-themed matchbox that just fuels my candle obsession.
Our New Year’s Eve was boring. We stayed home on the couch – not much else you can do with a newborn. But, thankfully, fomo was low because everybody was doing the same, regardless of parental status, due to the raging Omicron variant. The main activity for the evening had nothing to do with the ball drop. Instead, we watched UGA compete in the Orange Bowl, which they won (!!!), sending them to the National Championship. Our bambino was dressed for the occasion and may have been our good luck charm.
Peaches to Apples 