While I’ve written through my regular rotation of meal prep, sometimes I like to shake things up or perhaps just feel like adding or trying something new. So it was this week when I decided to try to shift my BBQ short ribs recipe to a slow cooker… and I think I did OK with the results. No measurements as I still need to finesse a bit, but generally this is what I did…

My trusty slow cooker (pictured here without a disposable liner, but you can see in the next pic that I did use one!)… a couple pounds of short ribs… chicken broth that I didn’t use…. beer, lemons that I juiced, onions, ketchup, mustard not pictured and the brown sugar I added (too much) also not pictured. Oh, and that little bag of frozen red stuff? I thought it was tomato paste. They were frozen chipotles in adobo, which means I later added tomato paste as well. I think they added a bit of smoky taste which Hubba Hubby enjoyed quite a bit, so not a bad mistake, but definitely one of those “it’s too early in the morning and why didn’t I label this little baggy in the freezer?” types of mistakes. I think I also added some cumin — again because Hubba Hubby likes smokiness, my liquid smoke is at the other apartment, and because why not?

Here you get a sense of how much liquid everything was. 5 bones of short rib, tossed around to coat in the sauce after I stirred everything together.  I let this cook on low for about 8 hours.

With some regular roasted broccoli and topped with the sauce. Oh– learning my lesson from the lamb tagine last week, after the meat was tender and falling off the bone, I pulled the bones from the sauce, separated the meat into 5 containers (thus the 5 bones — though I think some had less meat than others, so next time I might just try to separate it more evenly instead of by-bone), and poured all of the sauce into a quart container that I let cool on the counter (no lid), then put into the fridge. A thick cap of fat (not flavorful fat, just oil really) formed on top and hardened, so I scooped that off before adding sauce to the lunch containers (you can see some residual fat-globules, the yellow bits in the sauce on top of the meat).

Huge hit with Hubba Hubby – I personally would serve this over rice or pasta, but trying to cut carbs and calories in the lunches led me to leave it just meat + veg.

Do you have any perfected short rib recipes to share? I’ll re-share this one once I figure out measurements for slow cooker! I promise!!

Tons of fun and tons of discounts explored below! Read on for how to save lots of money

Last weekend, the New York Baby Show took place at Pier 94 on the West Side of Manhattan. It was my first time attending the show though I’ve known about it for a few years — friends have been going and telling me how amazing it was to interact with vendors, learn about new products and innovations, sit in on panels/discussions, and of course — most new moms or most anyone’s favorite thing — all the swag.

Hubba Hubby and I managed to attend a few panels — the above photo was from the Pregnancy to New Parenthood panel early on the first day. They emphasized the importance of having a support network around you — other new moms preferably — and going outside, not shielding baby from the world. I thought they had a lot of good information and were very helpful.

We also attended a more intimate seminar where I didn’t take photos (we were sitting almost front and center, I would have been in the panelists’ faces) that I thought was incredibly interesting — “New Dad Boot Camp” — which both Hubba Hubby and I felt helpful. A group of fathers run this group called the NYC Dads Group and offer 3 hour boot camp sessions for new dads to teach them basic skills for parenting — diapering, feeding, holding, burping, bathing, etc. They even have ‘veteran fathers’ come in with their babies so the new/soon-to-be dads can get hands-on experience with a real live baby!

While there are lots of baby classes you can take with your partner that’ll teach you these things, I liked that it was geared specifically towards men, run by men, for men. I’ve noticed a trend where only motherhood is associated with parenthood and I find it inapplicable to my own life and family. Hubba Hubby has been extremely involved not just from conception, but every step of the way — pregnancy test, all of our OB appointments, going to the store repeatedly to register, … all of it. We both believe and want him to continue to be as involved even after birth, and I think this type of class will help give him (or any new dad!) the confidence to get right in there, get his hands dirty and change diapers, hold the baby, everything — both the fun and the not-so-fun.

{Side note: they also briefly described how your partner relationship may/will change during the first few months, the learning process and struggle it might be — and how to openly communicate effectively, how to bridge the gap between your expectations etc. That also sounds super helpful as I’ve had multiple friends who are newish moms reach out to me and allude to how much things change after you bring a baby into the home – which makes me super nervous.}

The other part of the NY Baby Show is walking around the venue, talking to vendors and learning about new/fun products. As an expecting-mother, I don’t have any baseline knowledge of kids products from past use. I had a lot of fun  learning about a lot of products, but there were a number that caught my eye… my top 3 picks!

ABSOLUTE TOP PICK: Sage Spoonfuls offered a whole system for making your own baby food that wasn’t difficult or intensely involved — containers, a food processor, a cookbook (which I’m eyeing and may need to put on my registry!), etc. — but the one piece that stuck out to me that I really liked? These “Sage Squeezie Food Pouches” (available in several different designs)! As someone who cooks frequently and enjoys it, my goal is to make my own baby food (I’m fully aware that this might not actually happen, but set goals and adapt them later!). I’ve seen tons of these pouches you can buy pre-filled for on-the-go snacking, but when I searched for empties to fill with my own homemade food, I came up woefully short — I could only find ones that filled from the top spout, which seemed messy and probably would take a while. These, however, seal up the side with a double-zipper (like any of those sealed sandwich bags) – you can stand them on their sides to fill up, then zip them up and boom! your own baby food pouch. They’re dishwasher safe (top rack only) up to 50x, and have a nifty little measurement on the back to help you keep track of how much baby is eating.

Wait, you want to hear me describe this and show you the product? Oh, okay! MomTrends graciously hosted a blogger lounge – #MTBloggerLounge – that included a broadcast booth, so I took my best shot.

Ahem. Yep, that’s how I speak.

My 2nd top pick from the Baby Show is less about food (but coincidentally from a brand with whose food products I’m super familiar!) and more about how fussy I can be… Heh, honestly when the vendors were demonstrating the stroller to me, I actually gasped so loudly that one of them said “ooh, I wish we got that reaction on video!!”

I’m a huge fan of OXO items as it is — then a few years ago, after they had roughly 50% of the people in their office with kids, they decided to launch their OXO Tots line, which includes containers sized appropriately for children (for storing your homemade baby food), bibs, sippy cups, all sorts of food-geared items. Imagine my surprise when I walked by the OXO booth and there were not just one but TWO strollers parked outside it.

Ummm, what?? Hubba Hubby and I have had the most trouble picking out a stroller. He drives; I walk and train places. I’ll probably be with the baby more; he wants to push the stroller more when he’s with us. Lots of variables and everyone’s exact situation is so unique that it’s hard to get advice from people we know, too! So I asked the booth reps to show us the features of the Cubby+ (pictured above).

Guys, if you’re at all familiar with OXO you already know that they have a solid lineup of products built around comfort and functionality, without losing the pleasing aesthetic. This stroller is no different, with a wide range of features, all of which you can read about on their site. The one major feature that I want to focus on is the collapsing part.

Hubba Hubby and I are currently registered for one of the more expensive (upper-mid-level) strollers. Not the MOST expensive by any means (I had to talk him out of that one), but definitely a pricier stroller. We went to the store at least 3x to test strollers – pushing them around the store (did I mention that at the Baby Show, there was an obstacle course for people to test strollers?!), putting on and releasing the brake, trying to maneuver it… and of course, collapsing them. Some people tell me I’ll never collapse it, other people say that they always collapse theirs, listen, every situation and family style is different. My biggest issue with every single stroller we saw in our desired ‘class’ of stroller: when you collapse it, the handles go on the ground. Like… ew. My hands go there! Then they’re supposed to touch the baby?!

I’m telling you, this is a conspiracy with the baby wipe industry to make us use more wipes and antibacterial lotion.

Take a look at the 2nd pic of the Cubby+. Notice something?? It’s collapsed by the handles aren’t touching the ground at all!!! BE STILL MY BEATING HEART.

Also, it retails for only $399.99. This is, I believe, roughly $200 cheaper than the one we are currently registered for. And the 20% off coupon at Buy Buy Baby works on this stroller (it doesn’t work on most strollers)!!! Guys that’s $320. That’s… ridiculous.

Excuse me while I change our registry to this awesome stroller. Oh yeah, it collapses totally one-handed and unfolds completely one-handed too. No, seriously. It was amazing. Go read about the rest of its specs here.

My 3rd top pick from the show isn’t as flashy and honestly there aren’t any pictures of it because it’s services for postpartum recovery: Apiari. I met briefly with one of the co-founders who was manning the booth, and she explained just how important the time directly after you give birth is. Bonding with baby, adapting your relationship with your partner to include this new little person in your life without excluding your partner, all of that — and how they provide a variety of services to help you with all of that. From postpartum doula (helping teach new parents how to care for their infant) to housekeeper and/or cleaner, all the way to something as simple as “family meals” (with choices of ‘fully cooked meals’, ‘in-home cooking kits’, or ‘ready to cook meals’)… you can basically describe where you’re having the most trouble and they will step in and relieve that stress and anxiety. Being a new parent is tough enough, everyone needs a little help sometimes.

It looks like they have a wide variety of pricing options to suit everyone’s budget, too — I am definitely keeping this number on hand just in case someone decides to treat us to something special… psst, how do I put this on my registry?

{Funny enough, when we first chatted with her, Hubba Hubby put down his info and apparently entered into a prize drawing. Well, a short while later, we won!! a giant basket of breads and goodies. Still chowing our way through that basket!! This did not influence my decision to pick them though, I just thought that was funny.}

Phew — that was a lot!! After 2 intense days of talking to lots of vendors (most of whom had no idea I might write about them — I rarely identified myself as a blogger, once or twice AFTER I’d already asked my questions) — this is what we came home with. A massive pile of literature to sort through (with discounts!), tons of swag — mostly very, very useful, and some of it completely useless (I’m looking at the pin! you can’t see it because it’s tucked under something, but I got a pin with a company name on it, which I feel a little bad just throwing away but…). I am still in awe at all of this stuff and learning about so many new products that will help us start our journey with the new baby in August.

Honestly, the New York Baby Show was an incredible and rewarding experience on so many levels. I highly recommend it to anyone who is expecting or plans to be expecting, or is close to someone expecting — and even those with small children already. There was tons of stuff to see, to do, to sample, even for those with little ones already — there were plenty of nursing areas, rest lounges, places to sit, play areas for the little ones — it was a very well-organized, thoughtful event designed for the entire family to enjoy. I had a great time and though I initially worried that Hubba Hubby would be bored, he wound up also having a great time and learning a lot about what to expect with our upcoming arrival.

Now — my gift to you — all of the discount codes I picked up along the way from many of the vendors.

OXO Tot: use “TOT2017” for 20% off all OXO Tot items on oxo.com – expires June 4, 2017

Sew Trendy: use “NYC517” for 25% off next purchase – expires June 7, 2017

Canon: use “NYBABY17EZ” for 10% off hdAlbum EZ photo books – expires June 30, 2017

My 1st Years: use “NYCBABY” for 10% off sitewide – expires September 30, 2017

Chatbooks: use “PARTYON” for your first book free in a Series – expires October 31, 2017

Stuck On You: use “NYJPMA” for 25% off bento boxes/mini backpacks/labels – expires December 31, 2017

Carter’s: use “CART3672” for 20% off $40+ purchase – expires March 31, 2018

{no expiration date listed; unsure when these expire}

Babyota: use “NOOBIE20” for 20% off

Bare: use “BARE0414” for 10% off

Bloom: use “NYCSHOW20” for 20% off

First Spoons: use “FRESHBABYFOOD” for 10% off your first order or “FRESH30” for $30 off and free shipping on first delivery

FlatRate Moving: mention “NYBABYSHOW” for $150 off your next move

Hot Milk: use “B20SN” for 20% off

Petit Gastronome: use “FIRST10” for $10 off your first order

Razbaby: use “RAZ2017” for 20% off

Spruce & Co: use “NOOBIE” for 15% off

Phew, that’s all of them!! Happy shopping and congratulations to all y’all who are expecting!!!

**Amazon links are affiliate links. I was not compensated by any of the above vendors and opinions presented are my own alone. 

Ah, life. Looking over my site a bit where I’ve written about my father and other lost family members, I see that my most recent post to dear old Dad mentions several interesting things: my “potential offspring”, starting “my own family”, my choice of spouse… it’s almost as though I knew. Well, I DID know that I’d (secretly) gotten married… but I did NOT know that I’d shortly find myself pregnant!

In years past, Father’s Day was always difficult for me. At least other holidays focused on family in a more general sense; his birthday was easy to mourn alone or with family; but father’s day specifically is for fathers. I often thought bitterly about everyone else celebrating their still-living fathers and how I didn’t have that option — not even the option to not call mine. He was just… gone. I don’t think I handled the absence well — some years found me angrily responding to PR people who invited me to “celebrate dad” with some item or other, other years found me sulking in a corner and refusing to acknowledge the day existed at all. I mourned in my own strange way; everyone does.

Thank you to everyone who reached out yesterday to see if I was doing OK. I really appreciate the messages from those who wanted to make sure I was not sulking or sending mean emails to PR people just doing their jobs.

Interestingly, this year my own father was sort of tucked into the back of my mind. I know he’s gone; I’m not delusional. I know he’s still my father; it’s okay.

This year, my focus was on someone else entirely: Hubba Hubby. While it’s true that our own child is not yet born but still in utero, it’s the first(ish) father’s day where he is on his way to becoming a father. It’s the first year that all those silly commercials, all those sweet cards, those little things that children can and do for their fathers… they mean something to both of us, in a different manner than in the past.

It wasn’t until the end of the day that I really took note that I had hardly thought sad thoughts all day, nor thought of my father. It really dawned on me that I am starting a new chapter of my life — forward-facing, future-focused.

That’s not to say I’m forgetting my own father, but rather… everything comes in crystal-clear now, in a different way. The light shines differently now. The sun is just a touch brighter, and life a bit more hopeful. Everything is just a little bit better… creating this life with my partner. Our own family, our own traditions, our own everything, together.

{Okay, enough sappy stuff.}

Happy father’s day, Hubba Hubby! Here’s to all the rest of our lives together, creating this life together with our own rules.

Same team, always.
xo

Just over 6 weeks ago, we welcomed our baby girl to the world. We are overjoyed, though we are keeping pictures of her shared publicly to a minimum.

As someone once said, the days are long but the years are short – we’re just trying to enjoy this time as it happens. You can imagine that as first time parents, everything is quite overwhelming!

Case in point – me sneaking in a nap where I can! and our senior dog looking for affection where she can. (Ignore the messy apartment…)

I just wanted to let y’all know that my posts about pregnancy are finally at an end!! … and here come the posts about parenthood. in between catnaps and sleep deprivation and all that. I’d originally planned out some more posts — about all the pressure for a ‘perfect pregnancy’, about our babymoon (there may still be some food posts to come out of that — 10 days in Paris, Geneva and London, you figure I ate something worth mentioning, right?), and about moving 6 weeks before my due date — but time escaped me and now those things seem but a distant memory…

Tune in later this week for some fun new products and companies I had the pleasure of experiencing and experimenting with, along with my full thoughts!!

Until then… I hear a sweet little baby calling for my undivided attention.

Ciao ciao,
Yvo~

Last week, I had the pleasure of attending Mom’s Night Out 2.0 – a fun and interactive night and the first time I was away from my baby for more than an hour (she wasn’t even 6 weeks old at the time, so I don’t think this is unusual…)! Hosted by Meredith Publications, five different companies showed off some of their latest products (which we got to take home to further experience).

As every new parent will tell you, sleep is frequently a hard battle. SwaddleMe – a brand that any parent should be familiar with – had makeup artists on-hand to refresh your makeup or, in my case, give me a whole new coat of spackle under my eyes and elsewhere so I wouldn’t look so rundown and tired. Haha… sigh. One of SwaddleMe’s new products is the Kicksie, a legs-free swaddle – great for warmer weather, but also so baby can kick as much as s/he likes while still feeling cozy and snug; when baby sleeps well, everyone sleeps well. (Whoever coined the saying ‘sleep like a baby’ obviously never had a newborn.)

We also got to check out their new Footsie – another legs-free swaddle, this one with footies for cooler weather but still great for babies that like to kick or move their legs freely while sleeping.

I’m a huge fan of Summer Infant and SwaddleMe — perfect for first-time parents who perhaps aren’t that great at swaddling (Hubba Hubby is great at it; me, not so much! – but thankfully baby has already moved past wanting/needing to be swaddled before she’ll sleep). Speaking of footies… New Balance was in the house, providing us with 5 minute foot massages. As a new mom, I’m constantly on my feet – running to grab another swaddle or burp cloth, dancing baby to sleep, rocking baby, or walking baby around to get her to calm down… so this was super duper appreciated and much needed. I’m sure everyone feels me on that! Here’s a shot of me laying back and relaxing, enjoying… ahhh!… and here’s a shot of the sweet Fresh Foam Arishis by New Balance that I got to take home with me! Grey is a great color (and coincidentally, the color of the walking kicks I was rocking that night) to go with everything you wear, but I was most impressed with how lightweight these were. You never notice how heavy some of your shoes are until you put on a pair that are super light and comfy. Sweet – these are also breathable and, well, available now at NewBalance.com. I’m excited to rock these new kicks!
Jif was also on hand, providing delicious peanut butter snacks for everyone. Right now, they’re running a contest to help make the world a better place. From the copy: “…@JifBrand’s “Imagine If, With Jif” program supports families who want to make the world a better place and fuel the next generation of kids to spread love with their actions big and small. Does your family have a creative idea? From now to October 20, parents can submit their family’s idea at http://bit.ly/2xFCdxs for a chance to win up to $30K to make your idea a reality. Enter today and good luck! Rules: http://bit.ly/jif_e ”

I filled out my chalkboard — it’s a touch hard to inspire anything in my infant, but I’m sure she understands the kindness my husband and I demonstrate towards each other and others on a daily basis. I hope to continue to lead by example and raise her to be a kind young lady, generous of heart and spirit!

The Greater Williamsburg, VA area has been on my list to visit for a while now – perhaps since I met Hubba Hubby, given that he went to law school there. I was excited to learn more about the area and even was able to tell him about some stuff that’s happened since he was last there – he didn’t know about the breweries or the wineries that have cropped up! Guess it’s been a while since he went, all the more reason for us to take a trip out there … and show baby her father’s alma mater.

I was also surprised to learn that not only are there roller coasters there, but a huge history museum, hiking trails, bike paths, an aviary, and tons of other unique experiences on offer — I can’t wait to plan our trip together and not just a magnetic board of activity ideas (seen in the pic above!) but to actually go and see everything together.

Last but absolutely not least, here’s a photo of me hanging out in the wonderful little nursery Munchkin put together. We were all given a chance to test out their latest, the Step Diaper Pail Powered by Arm & Hammer, which I’m super excited to tell you more about… in another post. Stay tuned for that!!

I had such a great time munching and mingling at Mom’s Night Out 2.0 that I can’t wait for the next one!!! … when is that again?! Thanks again to MomTrends for inviting me!

What are some of your favorite products to make parenthood easier?

This post is sponsored by MOMTRENDS, SwaddleMe, New Balance, Jif, Visit Williamsburg, and Munchkin. Opinions expressed herein are my own, though I received compensation for this post along with product samples in most cases. Amazon links are affiliate links. 

As I promised in my last post, here’s more about that awesome Munchkin Step Diaper Pail attendees were sent to try. But first, here’s another look at me sitting in that sweet lil nursery Munchkin set up for us at Mom’s Night Out 2.0 — I don’t happen to be the kind of mom whose nursery looks that put-together all the time, so I won’t show you what our nursery actually looks like. Rest assured, it’s a mess, with onesies, toys, and boxes of diapers tossed everywhere (Hubba Hubby might kill me for admitting that, oops). But you know, it’s a real baby room with a real baby occupying space and getting her diaper changed there multiple, multiple times a day, and not a showroom just for us to take pictures!

Here’s a picture of just that awesome Munchkin Step Diaper Pail – one thing that remains the same in both this show-nursery and our nursery at home, though, is the presence of a diaper pail. Honestly, I know “back in the day” people just used regular garbage cans but the world is a far more pleasant-smelling place now with diaper pails trapping in those awful poopy diaper smells. I’m told it’ll get worse once baby starts on solids, but even now, the smell of ‘buttered popcorn’ can be overwhelming (y’all who have had babies and/or changed diapers… you know what I mean!!!). Having the Step Diaper Pail takes it one “step” farther (see what I did there?! … dads aren’t the only ones who make ‘dad jokes’) with a nifty foot pedal to make operation hands-free — so keep your baby safe with one hand on baby, one hand on the dirty diaper, and one foot on the pedal… easy-peasy!

Other points to note:

• proven #1 in odor control
• for every pail sold, Munchkin plants a tree!
• self-sealing system twists the bag tightly closed to prevent ‘stink blast’
• works with both rings and snap, seal and toss bags
• childproof locking system

I’m so glad we were sent a diaper pail; this makes nighttime diaper changes a breeze as we now have this diaper pail next to our 2nd changing station in our bedroom. No worrying about diapers stinking up our bedroom!

Thanks to Munchkin for the awesome Step Diaper Pail!

National Chocolate Day is October 28, and what better way to celebrate than to watch LIVE as Chef Johnny Iuzzini demonstrates some of his favorite chocolate dishes? Taking place at the Macy’s at Herald Square in New York on October 28 at 1pm, tickets and more information can be found here: http://bit.ly/ChefIuzzini2017.

Your ticket price includes admission to the event with tasting samples (YUM!), a $10 Macy’s gift card, chocolate from the Chef’s much-anticipated chocolate line along with a copy of Chef’s cookbook Sugar Rush (affiliate link) — which he’ll even sign for you at the after party. Yup, there’s an after party too!

Bonus: I’ll be there, so if you see me you should be sure to say hi.

This event is a must for all chocolate lovers in the NYC area!!!

Don’t forget to get tickets before they sell out: http://bit.ly/ChefIuzzini2017 !

This post is sponsored by Everywhere Agency on behalf of Macy’s; however, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Foreshadowing is an interesting thing. I wrote last year in my annual Halloween post that it might be the last time I say goodbye to my father and that I was moving forward to create my own family. While I already knew that I’d upped and gotten married, I was not yet pregnant… and yet, here I am now. If you’d told me a year ago that I’d have gone through all that I have — I would have laughed uncomfortably in your face.

At this writing — the late hours on October 30 — my brain is an exhausted mess, my heart is bursting with love for all that is my life. I put the little one to sleep a couple hours ago, and she makes me smile every.damn.day. No one told me that it would be like this, and yet they did: she literally pooped on me more than once today, and still I love her more than words.

That photo up top? Hubba Hubby took it. It’s a picture from the birthday party he threw for me — oh yes, I turned 37 last week — I managed to accidentally buy a dress that matched a dress the dog already owned, which led to my decision to find a dress for the baby to match both of us. I think I did an OK job with that!

Earlier today, I was holding the baby up and looking at her, she was looking at me, and she gave me this giant smile. The smile I know she uses to mean “HI MOM! YOU’RE PRETTY AWESOME” but also “HEY I POOPED YOU SHOULD CHANGE ME MUHAHAHA” — and I melted. My heart melted instantly, and I almost cried from this strange overwhelming feeling.

We did this, we made this, I glance over at my husband and we share that secret language, the knowledge that holy hell this is our child, our daughter, for whom we are responsible forever and who we will try to raise to the best of our abilities to be an outstanding contributing member of society.

I have to set a good example for her.

I still laugh at fart jokes. And farts. How can I be a good example for her?!

But it’s Halloween, my dear readers. It’s the anniversary of the day my father left me, a 20 year old girl, to continue onwards into adulthood without his guidance. It’s Halloween, 17 years since he passed away. It’s Halloween, the day I normally descend into a weepy mess and sulk and ignore the world around me.

My dear readers, it’s Halloween. It’s my daughter’s first Halloween, my husband’s favorite holiday. It’s not just about me anymore. Nothing I do is just for me anymore (even the things that are) — I do it for her, for my family.

We have a family costume, the three humans are dressing alike. We will go out to the local street fair, and smile, and (maybe) collect candy. We will drink hot apple cider and we will laugh and look at costumes and take pictures and go to the haunted gazebo and eat cider donuts and hold hands and be happy.

I will not sulk. I will likely hardly think of my father, but instead focus on if my daughter is warm enough in her costume or too warm. Is it slipping off her shoulders because I bought a slightly too big size, is it choking her? Is she uncomfortable? Is she hungry? Is she having a good time, even though she will never remember this and only know it happened because of all the pictures we took? Is she happy?

I never thought parenthood would change me as much as it has. I wanted to stay who I was, but also happen to be a parent, but that’s not how life works. In a way, this is who I always was, but now I’m also this other person. I have a tiny little creature who depends on me for everything.

I don’t think I’d want it any other way.

On this night, I remind myself that I am still Yvo but also that I am no longer just Yvo.

Dear Dad, I’ve only just begun to know how you must have felt when you first became a parent. How it felt to be responsible for the life of another living being, how hard you worked to set a good example, how the weight of the world rested on your shoulders… and I appreciate everything you were and did even more now than I could have imagined.

Thank you.

Love,
Yvo

*I may re-read this tomorrow morning and wonder what on earth I was even thinking… but for now, I’m going to bed.

Guys, something exciting is happening. I was planning a long post extolling all the virtues of my new home “town”, Jersey City, when I was tapped to promote an event that just corroborates my love and excitement for the local community here. I’m bumping the JC-love post down a bit (hopefully going up later this week) to tell you about an amazing event that’s coming up:

Celebrate the opening of Chef Marcus Samuelsson’s newest project, Marcus B&P, with a fun evening of nibbles, noshes, and more with the man himself at 6 pm on November 15 ! 

Your $20 ticket gets you access to the event, a $10 Macy’s gift card, a $10 Marcus B&P gift card, and a copy of The Red Rooster Cookbook (affiliate link). Plus if you introduce yourself to me, you get to hang out with me… haha who doesn’t want to hang out with me.

Get your tickets now before they sell out — it’s sure to be an awesome night of good food and good fun. All the details here: http://bit.ly/MarcusBP

*this is not my baby*

The 2018 New York Baby Show, on May 19 & 20 at Pier 94 will once again be the largest show for new and expectant parents in the country. Now in its 8th year, no other event provides a better experience for thousands of expectant and new families from New York and neighboring counties, seeking a family-friendly jamboree of top brands, great speakers and seminars, big giveaways, and lots of learning, support, bonding, and fun as you make your way into parenthood. We are giving away tickets for you and your family to experience the show. See below for details. Normal ticket price is $30 per family (for 2 adults and up to 4 children), and $20 per individual.

I have 10 tickets (family OR single) to giveaway! Be one of the lucky ones to score free tickets — if you’re one of the first 10 to use this link, the tickets are yours! And if you’re NOT one of the first 10 and aren’t able to snag free tickets, use this link for 50% off!!

If you remember the post from last year, I was fortunate enough to be able to give away tickets back then as well – and the recap post is even better because it shows you how much swag there was for everyone to snag! Honestly for both expecting parents and those who have young children, there’s a ton to see, do, and enjoy – and I’ll be back this year with baby in tow to try things on, try things out, and give things a go to see how she likes them!! I highly recommend this event to everyone who has kids under the age of 5.

Go go go! And if you see me, be sure to say hello!

It’s taken me months to bring myself to write this, and even now I find myself at a complete loss with tears welling up in my eyes. I needed to mourn, but I’ve never been one to mourn quietly or alone – an odd thing for one who suffers alone in her own mind, and I imagine something quite difficult for my husband and loved ones to understand. I don’t even understand it.

The day this will publish – April 13, 2018 – would have been Keywee’s 16th birthday. Would have been. Keywee was my faithful, loving, adoring companion. She was by my side through everything – even when she wasn’t.

I adopted her defiantly, under the guise of wanting my mother to have a creature to care for after my father’s passing. My mother repeatedly told me she didn’t want a pet, but when the opportunity arose for me to adopt a puppy from someone’s two dogs who’d mated, I jumped. I didn’t pick Keywee. I wanted the runt of the litter, presuming the runt would stay small forever, but Keywee was the only unclaimed pup of 3, she was the “plain” one – not the lone boy, not the runt, just Keywee. A week after I took her home, I received a call from her parents’ owners: “The runt was just returned, do you want to trade?”

Indignant, I exclaimed, “No! I already love Keywee. I’m keeping her.” That was the last conversation I ever had with them.

Keywee took years to settle into being herself, but she was feisty and lovable. Even those who didn’t like dogs, or those who claimed to not like dogs with pushed-in-faces, or those who just didn’t like pets, seemed to like her. Or they humored me and said they liked her, anyway. It doesn’t matter. Keywee was my family. Keywee had impeccable taste in humans; she growled at people that I later would discover were not people I wanted in my life. She snuggled up to me in my sad moments, and joined me in my happy moments. We danced around my living room in fits of happiness, in moments of bliss.

She was my best friend.

I could go on… and on… and on. I could tell you how guilty I feel and how I feel I failed her in her last months. How shocked I was when her health took a sharp turn – from pretty decent for a 15 year old dog to sudden failure of nearly everything. How distraught I was, how strangled I felt in balancing between caring for a newborn and caring for a senior dog.

I could.

But I’m not here to complain or look for forgiveness, or absolution.

I’m here to tell you about my wonderful dog, Keywee Sin, April 13, 2002 – December 26, 2017.

Faithful companion.
Best friend.
Chocolate thief.
Light of my life.
My absolute favorite creature to wake up next to for so many years.

Her wonky smile, her happy tail, her tongue poking out frequently. Her tiny paws, delicately crossed. Her prancing after being groomed, her moping when it’d been too long since she was groomed. Her absolute love of adventure. Her desire for nothing more than to just be by my side, whether that was curled up on the couch, curled up in bed, curled up on the passenger seat as I drove and drove to nowhere and everywhere.

Keywee, you were the best thing I ever did for just me, myself, and no one else. I’ll never forget you. I’ll never stop loving you. And I hope one day, when it’s time, you’ll meet me at the Rainbow Bridge.

Keywee Sin
April 16, 2002 – December 26, 2017

Swag!

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of attending the 2018 New York Baby Show – unfortunately, this year I was only able to attend the first day as we had to head to a baby shower the next day. But we still managed to come home with our stroller loaded with goodies that are super useful (and a lot we’ve already used), as you can see in the pic.

Here are my top 3 picks from the show – stuff I learned, stuff I wish I knew before I had a baby, stuff that was super helpful!

My absolute #1 pick is a bit of a surprise – actually, they all are surprising to me. As we were walking around the show, I saw a booth to one side that had no one visiting it. Thankfully I walked over and discovered TOT SQUAD – baby gear cleaning & repairs! I was JUST recently lamenting how much the snow/salt was griming up my stroller wheels and how I needed to find a service to clean it (let’s face it, when I’m home and have a few minutes without the baby clinging to me, I do not feel like cleaning my stroller – facts are facts). I was super pleased to find out they were doing free “The Basics” cleanings at the show ($40 value!) and quickly dropped off our stroller while I went to grab lunch. They did such an amazing job with it that they now have a customer for life in me! I was super surprised to find out they’re located at the Buy Buy Baby in Chelsea, where we spent hours upon hours registering and where I’ve shopped multiple times in the past few months — they’re sort of tucked away downstairs so I guess I kept missing them. In any case, I highly recommend it if you’re not really interested in cleaning your stroller yourself, the way I’m not — they have more extensive cleaning packages as well but mine really just needed to have the chassis wiped down and the basket vacuumed because we had a picnic under a tree a few weeks ago and the tree basically dumped all these little buds into the basket and all over us.

Seriously, check them out – they clean car seats, single and double strollers, all of your baby gear. They also install car seats and do basic repairs on most of your gear. I cannot recommend them enough and will definitely be returning.

My next pick is a surprise because if you recall from last year’s recap, I was gung-ho about making my own baby food and all that jazz. Well, after I actually had the baby, I discovered that I don’t need to make baby food because I chose to go the Baby Led Weaning route (which will be getting its own post soon).

While we were at the show, we walked by the Plum Organics booth. They were giving out little sample cups of Dino cookies and of strawberry beet puffs. Well, baby needs to practice certain skills – such as the ‘pincer grip’ – and when we’re out and about, it’s great to have dry snacks for her to practice with. She took a little cup of the strawberry beet puffs and went to town chowing down on them, and I was thrilled to see that they have a healthy dose of iron in them (it’s my current obsession – making sure baby has enough iron in her diet). She really enjoyed them and I immediately went to Target and bought the last container in their stock. Yay for healthy snacks for baby!

They also gave me a few containers of their new stackable baby bowls (in the picture) to try. Since I’m doing BLW, the woman manning the booth suggested tossing them with pasta, mixing into baby oatmeal, or even baking with them instead of spoon feeding to baby, which I really appreciated. Their website even has recipes for us to try. And here’s a coupon if you want to try the baby bowls!

Last but not least – and perhaps most surprising – I got to witness firsthand the amazing BabyZen YoYo stroller fold up. Caveat: I absolutely adore my UppaBaby stroller. It’s a powerhouse, my workhorse stroller – I use it every day for walks, shopping trips to my local warehouse store (the storage basket fits plenty), and baby A still naps in it like a champ while I rack up FitBit steps walking the boardwalk. The ride is smooth, the wheels are great at going over the rocky potholes and bumpy boardwalk that Jersey City offers – I ADORE OUR STROLLER.

It’s a beast. Part of how it can offer all those features is by weighing in empty around 22 lbs. That’s without a baby in it, and yes most adults can lift 30-40 lbs of weight without an issue but the balance and strollers themselves are just unwieldy and not the easiest thing to lift, especially with a baby in them – or with a sleeping baby that you want to stay sleeping, forget it. I would never give up my UppaBaby – it’s amazing for my daily walks and needs.

HOWEVER. I go into Manhattan quite frequently, and the UppaBaby makes me feel strongly that I’m in the way of everyone. It’s a tank, and my walking-road-rage flares up with this desire to run people over when they’re in my way (I’m pushing 40+ lbs and you’re still walking slower than I am! HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE? STEP ASIDE!)- plus realistically there are far too many times when the elevators in the subways or PATH aren’t working, or of course there simply isn’t an elevator at all in the subway (this is a FREQUENT COMPLAINT about the MTA). I struggle to get my 40+ lbs up the stairs alone, and far too often I’m left walking to a PATH station instead of just taking the subway 30 blocks like a normal person. (I love walking as much as the next NYer, but 30 blocks with the stroller can be excessive sometimes, especially in the heat.)

Add in how much we travel overseas and domestically, and a second stroller starts to make a lot of sense.

Enter the BabyZen YoYo, which is super lightweight, folds up super compact in a square pocketbook shape, and honestly is small enough that I could probably lift it with the baby in it up and down subway stairs (with a bit of pausing in between steps because it’s still a stroller and still a touch unwieldy for my Hulk lifting). It has an almost full recline, a huge canopy, and tons of other features that I’m probably forgetting.

It’s going on my wishlist for her birthday, just to make travel a bit easier with her.

My top three picks, again:

1. Tot Squad for stroller and baby gear cleaning!
2. Plum Organics Super Puffs and Baby Bowls, super easy feeding baby
3. BabyZen YoYo, a lightweight full stroller that you can use every day but also great for traveling

The New York Baby Show was super fun — unfortunately I’m too busy with baby to round up all the discounts offered, but you should take a peek at my good friend FairyDealMother on Instagram because she posted a couple of the best discounts available from the show! I have a couple of codes for Baby Letto and Da Vinci cribs as well but I’m currently rocking a napping baby in her stroller so I can’t go look for them right now, haha.

Hope you all had fun if you attended the show and if not, you’re missing out! I highly recommend the show for anyone who’s expecting, it is super fun, informative (I didn’t even mention all the sessions and panels they offer), and well worth the $20 ticket price.

Thanks for reading!

Baby A expressing her “I don’t know!” with this current Mets season

I’m sure you’ve all seen this coming for a while. I started to hint and I posted things along these lines, but honestly… it’s been overdue. The site, much like my life, is evolving. Food is such a huge part of my life, but now so too is this small child with whom I spend 95% of my time and 100% of my energy.

Thankfully there’s an overlap. She’s over 6 months old now and eating real food – we’re doing Baby Led Weaning (which will get its own post!). She is “chatting” and mobile, she is a real person now (as opposed to a pooping potato that I carried with me wherever I went). And I’m happy to say that I think I’m ready to start writing about this chapter of my life —

I AM SUPER EXCITED TO SHARE THINGS WITH YOU ALL. I know some of you may close the tab in disgust because you’re here for food – and food is still the main focus, with a bit of family and parenting tossed in! – but maybe some of you are interested in how this journey looks for me. Maybe you’re not. Sorry not sorry, this is my life now! Come along for the ride, or don’t – but I promise it’s a wild one!

One of the biggest things I’ve realized over my 13 years (!!!) of food blogging is that who I was 13 years ago isn’t who I am now. When it comes to food, my tastes have changed and matured, but also my understanding of what is what has as well. For example, as a 22 year old living in NYC and scraping by to save a down payment while working full time, then going to school full time – all that young lady could afford was to visit these trendy places once before dashing off her opinion of a place.

I’m now 37 and fully understand that one visit doesn’t really give you the full picture. At 23, I couldn’t justify visiting a place multiple times and that was a ‘good enough’ snapshot for me to share – if a place didn’t make me want to return and spend my hard-earned dollars on it again, then that was part of the review. But now, as I explore my community and neighborhood (which will feature prominently here), I understand more about all of these things, and I am fortunate enough to have my neighborhood staples, my mainstays, and places that I can comfortably say are awesome (and who wants to focus on the negative, anyway?). Places I can speak confidently on the menu, the staff, everything.

This will be reflected in new reviews! I’m super excited for my first one coming next week – this evolution is so important to me. I’ll even include stuff about family-friendliness – yup, because this is part of my life now.

I’m super excited to share with you and hope you’re just as excited to read about my life. It’s pretty great – I am truly happy – and I wish you all the same happiness, whatever form that takes for you.

Thanks for sticking around, I know it’s been a rocky few years of very intermittent posting. I hope to keep this going.

Speaking of which — does anyone do web design? I think it’s time for an update of the site and I’d love to hire a reader or a reader’s friend, if that’s possible.

xoxo
Yvo

In the Mom World, it seems like I’m constantly spotting some cool new thing another mom has and thinking “I bet my kid would like that” or “I think that would make my life easier” and asking them where they got it. I’m not immune, nor is the community around me it seems. Whenever I post something on my InstaStory (are you not following me on Instagram? You should! I post all sorts of cool stuff), no fewer than 5 other parents will reach out to ask me about my new toy. To that end, I thought I’d start sharing my most recent acquisitions in the hopes that someone out there would be helped by my Amazon shopping addiction!

(Psst, these are all affiliate links – this adds no cost to your order but tosses a few cents or dollars my way if you decide to purchase, which helps defray the costs of my website. Thanks!)

1. The most recent thing to arrive: this cool little booster/camping chair with tray! I opened up the bag and pulled it out and Autumn immediately climbed into the chair and sat at her own seat, proudly. We haven’t taken it outside the home yet, but she definitely seems to enjoy sitting in it and occasionally I give her a snack in it. I may try strapping it to our dining room chair and seeing if she likes it more than her high chair… It seems like it’ll be great for beach outings, picnics, etc.!

2. I saw this frozen treat mold on another mom’s InstaStory – her daughter is 6 days older than A – and had to ask about it. I immediately ordered it because surprise! Teething is super painful and Popsicles really help with the pain. You can freeze water mixed with fruit juice, breast milk mixed with something else, fruit purees – I actually froze some baby food that I was gifted, since it was going to go to waste otherwise. A has really enjoyed it on her sore gums. Score!
3. It has been extremely warm lately, but A continues to enjoy her naps in the stroller while I run errands. Though we get a nice breeze most days, I ordered this stroller fan to help keep air circulating around her and prevent her overheating. It’s rechargeable and will run from 2-6 hours depending how high you turn it, and super portable with a clip.

4. Some kids really like to squeeze their pouches and get them EVERYWHERE, so this nifty little addition to the top of a pouch helps with that. I’ve found that if I freeze a pouch, A enjoys them more (again, she’s teething a lot lately) as a little treat after a nap. It helps soothe her gums, keeps her cool, and I think she feels like she’s having dessert (not that we’ve explained that concept to her yet). Since she is a bit of an excited monkey and likes to squeeze or throw her pouch sometimes, this has helped cut down on the mess.
5. Bonus: this isn’t really an Autumn Pick (though she seemed to like it), but I recently purchased a raincoat with a hood because when it’s raining and I’m pushing the stroller, it’s really hard to also hold an umbrella. She’s fine because the stroller has a rain shield! but I’m constantly getting soaked. Well, I found this pretty raincoat on Amazon and got so many compliments on it when I wore it around town, I thought I’d share.

Hope you found something you liked! What’s your latest parenting purchase that you can’t believe you ever lived without?

**Not sponsored by Amazon nor any of the companies mentioned/linked; all products paid for by me, and the companies mentioned don’t know they are being mentioned here.**

This past Saturday we were invited to join Momtrends at Liberty Science Center in Jersey City for a family fun-filled day of exploring the wonders of science. I’m actually already a member – it’s super close to downtown Jersey City via light rail, and I really enjoy the space – but I couldn’t turn down the opportunity to have private access to a few exhibits before they opened to the public for the day. Namely, THE DINO DIG!!! I’m not as big into dinosaurs as I was once upon a time (though we did dress as a family of dinosaurs for our first family Halloween last October!), but this is such a cool exhibit I can’t imagine anyone not being interested – and we were given access to it an hour before it opened to the public (I imagine it can get quite crowded!). The exhibit is the only one that requires you to go outside of the building, so be aware if it’s a sunny day as this was, you may want to put sunscreen on your little ones. You know they get excited and distracted and will forget to do it themselves. But what exactly is this exhibit? When you go out the doors, an LSC employee is there to greet you, give you what looks like a paintbrush, and explain how exactly to clear sand GENTLY away from the fossils you’ll uncover. Then you can either stay on that landing (as in the pic above) and brush sand away from…chasmosaurus fossils in boxes elevated off the ground (we had to hold A as the boxes were too high for her to see if she were standing on her own).Alternatively, you could go down a short flight of stairs into what appeared to be a giant sandbox. Don’t worry – you can park your stroller on that landing and there is always an employee there so you shouldn’t worry about your belongings (there is plenty of stroller parking all over the facility next to each exhibit entrance). What’s in the sandbox, you ask?!More LSC employees to answer any questions you have and…signs explaining facts about fossils and dino digs and…you could pick a spot and just start brushing away (I took this pic too early; he soon uncovered a velociraptor and I MEAN THE ENTIRE THING NOT JUST A BONE FRAGMENT).

LOOK AT THIS COOL THING HE UNCOVERED LATER. I can’t even express to you how amazing this and how much fun for dinosaur lovers this must be. Hands-on experiencing brushing sand away and “discovering” fossils!! The LSC employees were happy to answer questions, and a few I heard while we were digging included “have any dinosaur fossils been found in NJ?” (yes) and “how tall was a velociraptor?” (not as tall as Jurassic Park would have you believe; only about as tall as a turkey but over 20 feet long!)More bones waiting to be uncovered.I walked by the entrance to the Jennifer Chalsty Planetarium, which opened at the end of last year. We weren’t able to catch a show (not for lack of invitation and welcome! but I would be hard-pressed to attempt to force an 11 month old to sit through something like this). The planetarium is the 4th largest in the world and the largest in the world outside of Asia (the top 3 are in Japan and China). I’m super excited to go one day, but will patiently wait until A is old enough to enjoy!

We continued onwards to another exhibit designed with the littles in mind.
Arthur’s World! I read a lot and watched a bit of Arthur as a kid, though I don’t remember much of it.I’ve a sneaking suspicion that soon enough I will once again be familiar with it…I loved the set design — they had familiar scenes from around Elwood for fans of the books and TV show.They even had a green screen so you could “star” in your own bit of the show! I definitely did not go in there and dance goofily to get my tired infant to crack a smile…There was a wall with covers of Arthur over the years, and to the left a felt storyboard for you to make your own stories. A fun exhibit in a section of the LSC that rotates through various children’s exhibits. The first time I visited it was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle focused, which was nostalgic for my husband and I. Next we went around to look at the various live creatures that live at LSC. My husband is quite an animal lover, and A has picked this up from him (I’m pickier about what animals I love, so I hesitate to say I am an animal lover, haha). She really enjoyed him showing her all the various animals, reading the signs to her and explaining them, making animal noises. There is also a Touch Tank but that wasn’t open until later in the day.We went up for an “Animal Experience” according to the schedule but sadly it’d been canceled for the day. Instead there was a woman just showing a Madagascar Hissing Cockroach (there’s a whole tank of them in that section). She offered to let us pet her (the cockroach, not the employee), which Hubby accepted. I declined and made sure he used anti-bac on his hands afterwards.Another special exhibit right now is Grossology, the biology of the human body – the icky parts.Mucus, poop, etc.We walked through very briefly because A had fallen asleep at this point, after fighting her nap for hours (she was so excited by everything around us!). It was a bit noisy as exhibits tend to be, so we breezed through which is a shame because it was another super interactive exhibit with stuff to crawl/climb through, buttons to press, animatronics to talk to you about science facts, and tons of fun bits – including a giant nose that “sneezed” on me as I innocently walked by, causing me to scream loudly while my husband zoomed away from me, shooting me a “what is wrong with you, the baby is sleeping!” look. Oops. (She didn’t wake up at least.) I really want to go back and examine it more in-depth with A! There was even a slide that took you “through” the esophagus into the stomach.

We also got a fun swag bag filled with goodies that you can get at the gift shop. I’ll probably not be giving my child a “slime baff” anytime soon, but you know… I did have fun “biting” her finger with that T-rex grabber!!

A bit more information: there’s also a permanent exhibit called “I Explore” for visitors under 5 years old, designed for those with younger children with them. I haven’t yet made it into this exhibit as it is always crowded and I’m always drawn more to the living creatures and other exhibits, but I will make it back! I believe it is an even more interactive space than the others and has a lot of LSC employees on hand to help the little learners explore.

There is stroller parking in abundance all around the facility, and two large elevators that service every floor. On busy days, it might take you a while to get an elevator to where you’re going, but that is the case anytime you rely on elevators.

There are bathrooms on every single floor, and I believe most if not all of them have changing tables. This is important when you just can’t wait for an elevator and your little one is doing the pee dance! (Okay, my little is in a diaper still, but I’m sure this is important. I mean sometimes I need the facilities too!) There is also a nursing room on the 2nd floor; be sure to flag an employee down (I believe at the entrance to “I Explore”) to use the key to unlock it. It is comfortable enough for nursing in private and will fit your stroller easily, and if you are so inclined, I think it has two chairs so you could share the space with another nursing mama. I’ve only used it once. I’m pretty sure they would not object to you nursing elsewhere on the premises, but it is nice to have a private space for those of us who are more comfortable in a padded chair, or have easily distracted little ones, etc.

I can’t emphasize enough how much fun I think the Liberty Science Center is for the little ones (and the adults who go with them, because let’s be honest – some children-geared activities are painfully boring for us and this is NOT one of those!). It definitely stirs the curiosity in the world around us, and breaks it down into fun, bite-sized bits of information that are more easily digested and retained. All of the interactivity really made me wish I’d spent more time at the NY Hall of Science (I grew up a 20 minute walk from it and have never visited), if it’s at all anything like LSC! Perhaps I would have grown up with more interest in STEM and gone into a different field.

By the way — admission for those under 2 years old is free!! I have a membership for just me which takes care of my admission and she’s free when I go. Membership means that I can skip the long ticket lines, too. Just saying!

Now the fun stuff: I have a pair of tickets to giveaway!! Open to those in the continental US only (I’ll be mailing the tickets out via USPS when winners are chosen, or meeting up with those who are local). All you have to do to enter is comment below with which exhibit you are most excited to visit. That’s it – super simple, right? (And use an email address that you’ll check…)

Contest ends 7/29/2018 at 11:59 EST. I will reach out to winners on 7/30/2018. Not open to family members or employees of The Feisty Foodie, the standard terms and conditions apply. Winner will be chosen by random drawing. Thanks for entering and good luck!

Thank you to Momtrends for the invitation and to Liberty Science Center for hosting us – we had such a great time, we’re already planning a return trip this week! Hopefully I’ll finally get to check out “I Explore”…

Last week’s post about my latest parenting purchases was so popular that I thought I’d share some more of my recent acquisitions that have helped make life just a little easier. Remember – all Amazon links are affiliate links, which adds nothing to your purchase price but usually throws a little bit of money my way that I put towards the upkeep of this site (thanks for using the links!).

1. While I love my regular workhorse stroller (and have enthused about it here), I needed something lightweight and smaller for travel and for trips into the city when I don’t want such a large footprint or don’t need so much storage. After a lot of deliberation, I settled on this awesome smaller independent company for an 11 lb stroller with a huge sunshade (sale price on red and camo). We took it all over London and Dublin, it folds up super easily and is really lightweight. I actually even took it into Manhattan once, got off at a stop that didn’t have an elevator and managed to get it up the stairs by myself while carrying A in one arm. I definitely could not do that with my regular stroller (which is 20+ lbs empty). Note: a lot of people I know also rave about this more typical umbrella stroller, which on sale for $63~ is an amazing price with tons of features. I think both have their upsides! It all depends on your kid and your needs.
2. I get asked about this next item ALL THE TIME as it tends to appear in the background of a lot of my InstaStory pics (seriously, why aren’t you following me on Instagram?) — A’s current cup for water. It’s a traditional 360 cup on top, but it narrows in the middle which makes it small enough for her hands to fit around comfortably, so she can hold it and tilt it herself without help from me and without bulky handles that make it impossible for regular sippy cups to fit in stroller cup holders. I know that sounds insane if you’ve never dealt with that issue, but if you have then you know exactly how annoying that is. This one doesn’t leak, it comes in a couple of different colors, and she finds it pretty easy to use.
3. Here’s how mom-word-of-mouth works; a mom friend brought these cards to a day at the park. She showed me how she would put three in front of her son (who is 3 months older than A) and ask him to point out the baby. I was impressed that he usually got it, so I immediately ordered them and excitedly posted them on InstaStory. A few days later, another mom reached out to me to tell me she’d bought them for her daughter (who I think is 6 months older than A), and how much her daughter LOVED them. It took a lot of time and work with A but now we can show her cards and she will meow when the cat comes up, and she recently picked up the card with the teddy bear on it and brought it to her own teddy bear. And because A likes animals so much, I recently ordered the set with just animals. It’s backordered so I won’t get it for a little bit, but I think she’ll enjoy those even more — especially because that comes with sound effects (ie, Mommy and Daddy always read animals with sound effects).
4. Another amazing mom-word-of-mouth toy: the Wonder Wheel! At a parents’ meetup a few months back, a mom pulled this out. Her son immediately stopped climbing on her to paw at the wheel, making it rattle and roll. Three other babies were mesmerized by it and just stared. I ordered it the next day, brought it to the park a few days later, and two or three other moms ordered it after their babies tried to take A’s from her (not maliciously, of course!). Now we all have marks on them to make sure they don’t get mixed up when we’re all together — it suctions to surfaces so you can put it on the high chair and occupy baby while you’re cooking, and it makes lots of noise and is super fun for them.
5. One more item to help baby eat well, and that I learned about from another mom: these nifty utensils are shorter than most baby utensils and have a choke guard. They’re intended to encourage self-feeding and they definitely help. A is not a master of them yet, but she understands the concept and will take them from me after I fork something onto them, and will eat off the fork. Sometimes she gets annoyed and will use her other hand to pull the food off and just eat that way, but I’ve seen her try to fork food (which is harder than you might think, depending on texture). It’s so fascinating watching her develop and think once upon a time, we were all this totally unknowing about everything.

Thanks for reading another batch of items that’ve helped me with my growing infant! Do you have any recommendations for things you’ve purchased recently that seriously help your life – parenting-related or not?

Once again, none of these products were sponsored – I paid for all of them and these companies have no idea who I am nor that I am writing about them.

Porta is another local gem that I’ve visited more times than I can remember but have yet to share here. It isn’t because I’m selfish (this time). I just assume everyone already knows how awesome it is, but time and again articles come out about “the greatest pizza in NYC isn’t in NYC” (this title is idiotic beyond description) and then mention an overhyped place a few blocks from Porta.

{Side note: I know people will ask. Yes, I’ve visited the other place. The pizza was sufficiently tasty but NOT amazing and definitely not worthy of the accolades that get heaped on them. The lines, the attitude, the mediocre service — shrug. My negative opinion won’t put them out of business and the lines will remain what they are, so I feel totally comfortable sharing that I will never return. Why? The pizza was just fine but the manager and bartender both hitting on my husband while my pregnant self sat next to him was really completely unacceptable, and service is always the make-or-break when it comes to a restaurant whose food is middling.}My very first visit to Porta was late night after an LSC: After Dark Halloween party. Oh, did I not mention – they have adult after-hours parties at Liberty Science Center once a month! Super fun but definitely something for pre-baby days or when I’m able to get a sitter for baby. Hubby and I dressed as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (we were a party of 4), so of course we needed to get pizza after the party!

{This picture was included solely to show that I’m a lot of fun!}Porta has this housemade mozzarella appetizer that just demonstrates how much attention they pay to what they put on the menu. Every time I’ve ordered this, it’s been well-received by everyone at the table, fighting for the last bits. You’d think something as simple as mozzarella couldn’t be that great, but the lush texture and the lovely bounce to the cheese is just awesome. They use this on a lot of their pies, which makes total sense. Also, it’s a huge portion for $10 so great to share with others (or order a side of meatballs and make little meatballs sandwiches while you wait for the main event – the pizza).

I can’t lie though- sometimes I wonder why they don’t go another little bit and make their own burrata to put on the menu. I’d be there even more frequently if they did…The fried artichoke appetizer is one of only two dishes I haven’t loved at Porta. It was a little soggy, and not that interesting taste-wise. Hubby and I both love artichokes too. At this writing, however, it’s not on any of their Summer 2018 menus (brunch, lunch OR dinner), perhaps due to season.Their housemade ricotta is another delight; drizzled liberally with fruity olive oil and sprinkled with fresh-ground black pepper, spread onto the sliced bread… so delicious. I could make a meal out of just this and a side of meatballs! I tend to save room for the pizza though.We also tried the octopus – we both liked it but agreed that we may not return to it because we like other things so much here! But I was glad we tried it; expertly cooked and with a lovely mix of flavors with strips of fennel, garlic, capers, lemon… it was very tasty! … and a random time I decided to try the lasagna, which was really good though heavy. If you go for lunch, there’s a $10 lunch special that consists of your choice of salad and pasta. The bowl of salad (I’ve tried both, but I can’t tell you which is in the pic nor which to get – it depends on your personal tastes) is not a small one, though it may look small in the pic!… and the pasta. There’s a veg option {spaghetti pomodoro} which I’ve never tried, though others have told me is good – this is the bootzin, which I find so yummy I’ve gone back and ordered for dinner a regular portion. It’s orecchiette with sausage, cherry peppers, and olives, all of which combine to make for a complex marriage of flavors. The pasta is cooked al dente with quite a hefty chew to it, while the olives are little pops of salt and the peppers chime in with a touch of heat. I really enjoy this pasta dish and am often surprised to hear other people tell me they’ve never had any of the pasta dishes at Porta. They are quite the hidden gem here.This is the other dish I ordered on a whim one day that just didn’t do it for me, though — I believe it was a special so not even on the menu anymore. I won’t bother describing it, I just wanted to share this picture because I like it. As for the pizza – well, here’s the margherita pie. In the background you can see a coloring page they brought us for my friend’s son. This is neopolitan style, the fluffy quick-fired crust is airy and chewy all at the same time. I find their pizza quite excellent for this style.I’m pretty sure this is the Italian Stallion, aka the pizza we order every other time we visit. It’s not super spicy, but another great mix of flavors that works for Hubby and my palate. Gorgonzola, Italian long-hots, and housemade Italian sausage add to the usual suspects on top of the pie.The 14 and 1/2 is the pie we order every other time we visit. Hot soppressata and Calabrian chilies give this one a bit of a zing and make Hubby happier than it makes me, but still a very good pie. I think this is another time we ordered the 14 and 1/2. This looks like another shot of the Italian Stallion.As for the drinks, I love that the cocktail menu is frequently changing and have sampled many of their drinks. Some are great, some are good, but as with many things – it’s all down to your preferences. I like having the option of a cocktail with my lunch.

And… coincidentally enough, before this post was set to publish, we visited for brunch and discovered they have a whole different brunch menu that I don’t believe we’d ever seen!

A carafe of mimosa was $10 and I couldn’t pass it up. For $10 I was pretty pleased! It was not a small thing and the drinks there usually range much higher for just one, so this was a solid deal. Orange juice and pizza might not be ideal though.And the meatballs, which I’d had in the past but couldn’t find a picture for some reason, were a hit with the baby – they brought these immediately despite ordering them after we ordered the pizzas (baby was asleep when we sat down, but woke up soon after and I wanted her to eat something). The baby ate almost an entire meatball immediately (once it cooled and I cut it into slightly smaller pieces for her). That’s faster than she eats my meatballs!For the sake of the blog!! and this post, I ordered two new-to-us pizzas. First up: Love & Mercy, which boasted a ton of meats in the sauce on top. This one was very herbaceous but Hubby thought lacked enough salt. And this one, the Open Sesame, he found a bit too salty. Prosciutto cotto and a roasted egg on top made it a fun pizza, and while I liked this one better than the Love & Mercy, I think we’ll be sticking to our Italian Stallion and 14 and 1/2 in the future. It was great to try Porta for brunch though — and I almost wish we’d strayed from pizzas entirely, as they had a bunch of very fun dishes that were more geared towards brunch — but another great experience with fantastic service.

{the new section of family-friendly ratings!}

Stroller-friendly? YES. There’s a front and back entrance; the back entrance on Columbus has a short flight of stairs but the entrance on Newark Ave. you can roll right in. The doors are huge so you can easily push a double stroller in if that’s what you have. There’s space up front to park your stroller if you so choose (I see people do this a lot), but there’s also space in the back next to tables if you want to bring the stroller with you, which we frequently do when she’s asleep in the stroller. The hostess has never given me attitude for having a stroller with me — usually it’s lots of ‘awww’.

High chairs? They have high chairs for when you sit at a regular table, but do not have the high chairs that reach bar tables (not a lot of places have these though) — the bar tables are in the front only, and gets pretty crowded during certain times so you’d unlikely sit there with a child anyway.

Changing tables? YES. The women’s room definitely has one, I am unsure about the men’s room and forgot to check yesterday. However, the bathrooms are downstairs (so be careful carrying the baby downstairs with you) but are huge with lots of stalls so if the men’s room is anything like the women’s room, you could likely navigate a diaper change if you needed to on the sink counter. But they may have a changing table in the men’s room, I just haven’t checked.

Overall family friendly rating? Very. The staff is super friendly and accommodating. You can also sit outside – the strollers will fit next to the table and they will bring you a high chair if you need/want one, and the outdoor seating area faces the pedestrian plaza on Newark, affording you some fun people-watching and safety inasmuch as no cars drive down that strip. I’ve never had a bad server here — all have been kind and nice, with a lot of ‘awww’ for the babies. I once visited when I was late in my pregnancy, but the hostess only noticed I was pregnant as she was seating me at a table with bench seating. She immediately tried to offer us a different table or to bring a chair with a back for me, worrying that I wouldn’t be comfortable at the picnic-style-table. I declined but she was so sweet to offer and I thought that was just a nice touch. (Funny enough, my friend was also pregnant – though months behind me – and the hostess didn’t notice she was pregnant so didn’t ask her. It wasn’t malicious though, neither of us were showing very much.)

I can’t recommend Porta enough for both its food, family-friendliness, and overall excellence. They also do trivia nights and have a rooftop I’ve yet to check out, but it looks nice in pictures! I think late at night it turns more scene-y but I don’t know enough about that to comment.

Porta
135 Newark Ave
Jersey City, NJ 07302
(201) 544-5199
{other locations exist, I have only visited this one}

Though my little one is not yet a year old, I was happy to attend a fun event showcasing all the newest trends in Back to School fashion and gear.The first table I saw was right up my alley – Stonyfield Organic! They had a bunch of their staple products that make their way into lunchboxes and are super fun, but…their newest product, currently only available at Kroger (but available more widely in the NYC-metro area by mid-fall) were their snack packs. Three flavors – pretzels with chocolate yogurt, graham crackers with strawberry yogurt (and graham crackers with chocolate yogurt, not pictured) offer a fun and creative way to get your kids to eat another serving of dairy. These make a great addition to anyone’s lunch box — including mine!Epson was on hand to show off their latest printer, no cartridges to buy and the ink lasts up to 2 years! I was impressed with all the creativity on hand for crafters, too – while I’m not a crafty person I’ve realized that if I’m going to encourage creativity in the little one, I better get on becoming one! Hasbro’s “lock stars” (affiliate link) is one of the toys of summer 2018. I think I’m too old to understand fully how this works, but it’s a collectible charm that you can put on your bookbags, sneakers, and other stuff to show off your personal style. Collect them all – I see a unicorn one calling my name… Seriously they’re cute! I just can’t tell if it’s an actual lock or not.The event photographer (who took all these wonderful photos!) caught me checking emails and drinking orange juice. Hard to see the label but this is orange juice from Natalie’s – these were delicious. I know, you’re thinking it’s just orange juice right? But their blood orange juice – ONE INGREDIENT – was SO GOOD. The girl serving them saw me basically drink an entire glass in one go and asked if I wanted more. I had to say no lest I just drink the entire container because it was THAT GOOD. I have to find some to stock in our fridge. As with all of these lovely events, we went home with tons of goodies. Avery sent us home with folders and other school supplies to brighten our offices, Mabel’s Labels (who made the unicorn labels some of you have seen on my daughter’s cups) also sent us home with labels. Speaking of Mabel’s Labels — some of the cutest and durable labels you’ll find — use “MOMTRENDS10” for 10% off your label purchase direct from their website, mabelslabels.com ! 

You can also use the promo code 15AVERYNAMY for 15% off any Avery + Amy Tangerine Designer Collection product purchased on Amazon.com  {affiliate link} – a really cool, inspirational collection from Avery. You can see one of the inspirational sayings in the bottom right of the above pic! Love the bright and happy collection, can’t wait to use some of it myself.

How do you prep for back to school? Any tips for when I have to go through this myself? What’s your favorite school supply to buy? Favorite store? Share in comments!

There are a few tenets that I’ve developed over my many years of writing about food. The first, “price is not a seasoning; free does not mean it tastes good, and expensive does not mean better” is important in the face of all the free meals/food and stuff that’s offered to me on a regular basis. The second, “service can make or break an opinion” is important in light of just how much competition any given restaurant or product has — if two places offer similar menus, it’s easy to choose to go to the place with better service. But if two places exist where one has amazing service and very mediocre food and one has mediocre service and amazing food – well, I’m more likely to go to the place with amazing service a bit more frequently than the place with amazing food. Of course, the third tenet — “everything is subjective” — means you may feel differently about that.

Brightside Tavern is a place that boasts phenomenal service. They advertise themselves as having ‘the best brunch in Jersey City’ – it certainly is one of the better deals, clocking in at $20 and including 3 Bloody Mary’s or 3 Mimosas. Even beyond that, however, the service has time and again been incredibly friendly and welcoming. I have never had a server, hostess, bartender, manager even breathe funny in my direction – there is always a smile greeting me, a friendly hello, and people trying to make my experience better.

The first time both Hubba Hubby and I visited, the owner (I think? Steve? he wears a hilarious hat with fake hair attached to it sometimes) came over to say hi to us and chat about our obviously brand-new baby. She was about 3 weeks old at the time. He asked us a bunch of questions, congratulated us, told us to come in anytime, and made some offhand remark about her being only the 2nd youngest patron to visit this week as earlier that week, someone with a 10 day old had dined there. He walked away after wishing us well, but came back a few minutes later to proudly point at the TVs that rotate old school music videos. Across the screen under the videos scrolled “Welcome Autumn, happy 3 weeks!” {or something along those lines, my brain was pretty foggy back then} – which we thought was just about the sweetest thing. I can’t emphasize enough how much everyone who works there makes you feel welcome when you visit. 
We frequently find ourselves over here for brunch; I believe this was the brunch burger. Hubba Hubby thought it was standard fare for a burger; nothing to rave about but still good.
Huevos rancheros: I thought this was fine but not unique or special. The tater tots though… those are the bomb.Classic eggs Benedict. Gotta love those tots. The Hollandaise is pretty standard.Breakfast sandwich – bacon, egg, cheese on a baguette. Again those tots are not to be missed.
My breakfast burrito…I do wish the pico de gallo and avocado were inside, making it easier to eat, but still fairly tasty. And yes… the tots.The turkey BLAT (bacon, lettuce, avocado, tomato) – it’s a good sandwich. And when I was still pregnant, I got it without the turkey so it was just a BLAT. Still good. And those tots!

You may have noticed I didn’t really describe the food very much. Well, it’s standard pub/tavern fare. It’s all solidly tasty, if you go with the expectation that they know how to work a fryer (they do) and you’re not expecting anything unique or fancy with your food. The menu isn’t special – or at least I haven’t ordered anything that was – but it’s all good. Everyone needs a place in their neighborhood like that – just solidly good food that you know what to expect and you get what you expect. When you add in the incredibly welcoming service, you get a really great place that you wonder why you don’t visit more frequently (for us, it’s because it’s a solid 20+ minute walk that, depending on the weather, can be truly awful).

Also, if you check their Facebook page, they frequently have musical events happening on weekends or even weeknights – some family-oriented, some geared more towards adults. We tried to attend a children’s music concert once, but it was back when the baby fussing sent us into a straight panic so we left when she started stirring. I’ve since learned that it’s OK for baby to make a little noise at children’s events, haha!

{the new section of family-friendly ratings!}

Stroller-friendly? YES. There’s a ramp to the left of the main entrance; sometimes the door at the top isn’t unlocked but you can always ask someone to unlock it for you and they will open it for you. Or someone will help you bring the stroller up the 2-3 steps that lead to the main entrance.

High chairs? They have high chairs for when you sit at a regular table, but I do not think they have the high chairs that reach bar tables (not a lot of places have these though). They are very happy to help you sit at a table that will fit you and your stroller next to it, if you please!

Changing tables? I imagine yes solely because I know there is a family restroom off to one side(they have single-occupant bathrooms together by the bar); I actually have not gone in there but they refer to it as the family bathroom so I assume there is a changing table in there. If anyone reading this can confirm or deny, please let me know and I will update!

Overall family friendly rating? Very. The staff is super friendly and welcoming; they will go out of their way to make you feel as though you’ve been a regular for life (which makes me want to be one!). The clientele is also always friendly and has a nice word for A when we’re there, and everyone is just always so, so nice.  I see people throwing baby showers in the back room frequently and I think there’s another party room downstairs as well. I definitely recommend this for anyone who has or doesn’t have kids! and wants some solid pub grub.

Brightside Tavern
141 Bright Street
Jersey City, NJ 07302
(201) 435-1234

Earlier this year, Amazon launched a new subscription service called “Prime Book Box” – for kids! Coincidentally shortly before they launched I’d just purchased a subscription to Literati for a close friend and was interested in the concept of a book subscription box: you’re likely familiar with how subscription boxes work, so I’ll spare you a boring explanation.

Since I’m an Amazon Prime lover and frequent customer, I quickly signed up for the Prime Book Box service and was immediately disappointed. Perhaps my standards are too high or I was expecting something different; this subscription is literally just a box of 4 books that are sent to you as you direct (every 1, 2 or 3 months). Before the box is shipped, you get an email reminder to log in and review what’s being sent your way; you can then change out the books for other choices or skip the box that month.

While it’s true that you wind up paying far less for the 4 books than you would if you ordered them each separately through Amazon, I haven’t found the selection particularly interesting month-to-month. At this writing, I’ve only accepted one box (my first box) – pictured above – and I struggle to find the books unique or interesting. While I chose the appropriate age category for A (0-2), I didn’t think these books captured her attention well. It’s been far more fun ordering her books as I see her interest in specific types piqued: flap books, animal books, sound books, etc.

However, I may have just expected something more similar to Literati: though it’s slightly more expensive and carries with it a subscription fee of $9.95/month, each box is a surprise. You don’t get to look at what books are being sent to you ahead of time, but the choices are supposedly curated very carefully to encompass lesser-known books. The fee is only for the subscription and does NOT include the books themselves; you have about a week to review the books before you decide which ones you want to keep (at which point, you keep the books you want and mail back the books you don’t). But each box purportedly includes fun little extra goodies; my friend received a science-themed box that had some fun extras that made it worth it for her.

I haven’t yet received my first Literati box as I only very recently signed up, but I’m excited to check them out!

What are your favorite kids’ subscription boxes?

By the way — if you want to try Literati, use my referral link and you will receive your first $25 of books absolutely free! You’ll still have to pay the initial $9.95/month subscription fee, but can use the $25 towards the purchase of any of the books from your box.

And if you want to try Amazon Prime Book Box for Kids, this is my affiliate link.