The Last of Summer

“Autumn begins in the night. Now the days, often as not, are still summery, if more bearably so. The midday sun is not perceptibly lower in the sky. But the sun has, somehow, gotten faster. And with night settling in at dinner time and burrowing deeper, it is in the hours of darkness that summer literally runs out of time.”-  Andy Newman

Happy last day of summer! Here’s to crisp breezes, jackets, scarves, boots, and hot coffee.

Photo by Lisa Teso

Hats, Hats, Hats

Do you wear hats? I've always wanted to/tried to, but end up feeling weird or frumpy. My winter hat last year made me feel like Paddington Bear, so I had a cold head more often than not. But I might be changing my mind after seeing the new styles from my friend Dara's company, Preston & Olivia. Check out this gorgeous video of her new fall pieces, shot by Nick Bowser. The blue one up top is my fave!



Top photo by Trent Bailey, Dara's husband. Quite the talented team, right?

September Tastes

I can't count how many times a day I hear about pumpkin spice this or that (mostly lattes) but to me, it's not yet time for pumpkin. Pumpkin belongs to October. September is time to turn the oven on again, but fill it with summer's harvest - like tomatoes. September's appetite is for warm food mixed with cool, like roasted squash with goat cheese. September doesn't stick to your ribs, but it's almost time for food like that. Here's what I'm craving now, in this limbo land between summer and fall.



Slow Roasted Tomatoes A recipe from one of my favorite food writers, by way of her favorite restaurant in Seattle. A small group of friends ate a bowl full of these with crusty bread and creamy goat cheese on Labor Day, and I still need more of these in my life.



Ultimate Grilled Cheese Sandwich I love tomato on grilled cheese, but this one takes it up a few notches with basil, prosciutto, and red pepper flakes too.



Butternut Squash and Goat Cheese Salad I don't always love butternut squash, it's sometimes too sweet or too heavy, but the cilantro and goat cheese in this salad really brightens it up. I usually eat a big portion as a meal, but it'd be great before something warm and hearty like roast chicken.



Chicken Stew with Onions, Tomato and Dijon This stew is perfect for fall, but I'll definitely be eating it through the winter. It's rustic and flavorful, equally good on a pile of rice, mashed potatoes, or sopped up with a baguette.



Roasted Apples (with Vanilla Ice Cream) Every fall, when the counters are full of apples from a recent apple picking trip, my friend Kate requests baked apples in some form. This year, I want to try these roasted apples instead - don't they look amazing?



Plum and Mascarpone Pie Roasted plums over lightly sweetened mascarpone cream. I'd add a little cinnamon, I think.

What are you looking forward to cooking up this fall? Or just eating, if cooking isn't your thing :)

Photos by: moi, Molly Wizenberg, Scott Peterson, me again, Elise Bauer, Ashley Rodriguez, Ditte Isager

Fall Clean Up

There’s something about the changing seasons that inspires a little non-weather change, isn’t there? Usually it’s switching over the closet, bringing out warmer clothes from under the bed and getting rid of a few sweaters. But this week, as the air has gotten a little cooler, I’ve found myself cleaning out something else…my inbox!

I’ve been on a huge “unsubscribe” kick, applying a similar rule to the one I have for my closet. In my closet: If I haven’t worn it in a year, off to Goodwill it goes. In my inbox: if I haven’t used this product/service in the last six months, unsubscribe! Goodbye Gilt, goodbye Sephora, goodbye weird online survey service I subscribed to when I was young and broke. Hello, fewer emails! I’d highly recommend it.

How about you, any season changing purges (closet or otherwise) on the horizon?

Photo by Ursis Wehrli

Your Own Personal Skyline

{manhattan from the george washington bridge, 1936}

There are a lot of things that could be said today, on this anniversary. But I wasn’t here, I didn’t belong to New York yet, so they’re not for me to say. Instead, I’d like to point you to a beautifully written essay from 2001 on the city that never ceases to move forward. Here are some of my favorite bits...

The city has spent a considerable amount of time and money putting the brochure together, what with all the movies, TV shows and songs -- the whole ''if you can make it there'' business. The city also puts a lot of effort into making your hometown look really drab and tiny, just in case you were wondering why it's such a drag to go back sometimes.

The New York City you live in is not my New York City; how could it be? This place multiplies when you're not looking...Before you know it, you have your own personal skyline.

We see ourselves in this city every day when we walk down the sidewalk and catch our reflections in store windows, seek ourselves in this city each time we reminisce about what was there 5, 10, 40 years ago, because all our old places are proof that we were here. One day the city we built will be gone, and when it goes, we go. When the buildings fall, we topple, too.

Photo by Jack Rosenzwieg. All quotes by Colson Whitehead in The New York Times. Story via Longform.

(Summer Meets Falls) Weekend in Pictures

{after work bubbles in midtown}

{name that movie}

{west village strolling}

{cooling off with sno-balls}

{definitely ordered too small!}

{before the storm}

{ivy-covered, after the storm}

Summer collided head-on with fall this weekend, and I think fall won. Friday was a much-needed night in, cuddled up with my air conditioner and Tom Hanks. Saturday it was hot and so humid, my friends and I nearly ran to Imperial Woodpecker to cool off with sno-balls. Not long after the last sno-ball of the season (and my first!) we watched a monster rain storm blow in from New Jersey, and it was suddenly cool...actually, kind of cold! After ducking into an dimly lit Italian restaurant to dry off and warm up with pasta, it was suddenly fall. Let's hope it's here to stay!

A Succulent Wedding Cake

I made another wedding cake this weekend, would you like to see?







It was for my friends Ian and Ashleigh (their story was featured in Style Me Pretty!), who can only agree on red velvet when it comes to cake, so I made a chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting. I’ve loved the look of two tiered cakes for awhile now, it feels casual but still special. And Ashleigh selected a perfect garden rose and two pretty succulents to top it off. I loved it!

End of Summer Garden Party

Remember my garden? The one we held parties in, planted flowers in, and loved? Sadly, our landlord gave half of it to a new restaurant that shares our building, and our half is sad and ugly. But! The owner of the restaurant graciously let me use their (newly re-done and beautiful) garden when they were closed for Labor Day.

It was glorious to have one last little dinner party in the pretty garden, even if it isn't ours. The weather was cool and a little humid, somehow perfect for summer transitioning to fall. We drank Pimm's Cups, had heated discussions about Bob Dylan and Kinfolk, and capped the night off with s'mores bars. Perfect.