This Needs Hot Sauce

As a native New Yorker, I will defend this city to anyone who will listen. There’s no place like it and it’s the place in the world I feel most at home, walking through the streets, riding the subway, and spending time with my friends and family. The past few years, though, have had their highs and lows. We’ve experienced our fair share of unprecedented times (derogatory) from a corrupt mayor and police force, the trauma and loss of covid, and the coldest winter in decades.

Growing up, my parents were in a CSA. I enjoyed it sometimes and complained about it others, like when we had to eat zucchini forward meals for days. It’s not my favorite vegetable. Signing up for one on my own felt like a big adulthood milestone. While we were in Italy, Leah, Erika, Jared and I signed up for our very own CSA share. Eating such good food made me motivated to cook more and splitting a share made the concept more manageable for a summer where I also want to be outside.

Hi friends, What a week! Last month, someone asked me what my most off brand personality trait was and I think it might be that I’m a big basketball fan. I was raised a Lakers fan by my dad, who is Southern California born and raised. The threepeat era was the most fun and I even attended an NBA finals game in third grade. It was a core memory. Now, of course, I have also fallen hard for the Knicks and have gotten to see them a few times at MSG and on the road.

Famesick, Aperitivo, and my first pie Rabbit, rabbit! It’s June and hopefully I won’t be wearing my boot for much longer. The thought of wearing two shoes makes me almost giddy. You never appreciate the simple things until they’re broken. I’m trying to focus on activities that I can get lost in, like hosting a party, embarking on a very ambitious baking project (more on that below), and getting lost in a book.

Are you ready? Featuring Big Ellie, Khao Soi, and Diet Coke I read that this is the longest possible summer season—Memorial Day is the earliest it could be and Labor Day is the latest. This feels necessary after the snow covered winter we had and I’m here for it. We had a a pretty rainy long weekend with some sunshine on Monday. It wasn’t a beach weekend but we have time for that during the months ahead. I hope it was restful for you. Today is Jared’s birthday, which is very exciting.

Ice cream, summer dresses, and birthdays What a week, am I right? There was something in the air this week and last that had me texting friends, googling if Mercury is in retrograde, and feeling so tired by Friday. We made it though, to a long weekend that’s the unofficial start of summer.

It was a 10/10 weather weekend in New York which is always cause for celebration. I logged some hours reading and flopping in local parks, ate a meal outside, and also spent lots of time doing not much of anything, which was sorely needed after the past few weeks. I got permission to stop wearing my boot at home, which has made life much more pleasant. Walking around barefoot in my own space feels so good. In a few more weeks, I’ll get to ditch it for good.

Hi friends, This week something very exciting happened! Joy Wilson, whose work I’ve read and recipes I’ve cooked for decades, shared my family’s pumpkin bread in her newsletter. Her intro made me very emotional and it all feels so full circle. I went to a Joy the Baker book signing at the Free Library of Philadelphia when I was in college and I won a food processor in a raffle that I still have today. It is the first and only time I’ve won a raffle.

After a week that took me all over, I am so happy to be back in our apartment, with no travel for next bit of time. I had a week packed with excitement and also travel snafus (my flight home was diverted to JFK midair, which added two hours to the journey). I was greeted by Jared, who met me at the subway with a seltzer, and of course, Este, the cat who made me a cat mother. I’ve had salad and lots of water and as soon as I finish writing this, I’m taking an everything shower.

I wanted to say hello today from a chaotic and fun week. I’m currently at a very cute beach house in Seaside, Florida for Erika’s bachelorette party. The Click Five is playing on speakers and I had a 3pm glass of wine. We’re taking group photos in an hour so I’m on a time crunch. But let’s catch up!