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Thursday, November 30, 2023

A Day In Litchfield, CT!

It's the last day of November and I can't believe it has been 10 years since we've been to Litchfield! The first time we came here was during the fall and the kids were so little and young! It was one of the very first quaint New England towns I fell in love with when we first moved to the east coast. So cozy and it totally reminds me of scenes from Gilmore Girls. 

Well, little did we know that this was the town that inspired the location of the show and I can totally understand why! It's such a wonderful spot to apple pick, pumpkin pick, go leaf peeping but most of all go window shopping. It's such a charming town. The village greens is my favorite. Noah was three when he had fun running around and now that he's 14 still enjoys the village greens. We all had so much fun walking around and browsing inside all the shops. I have to say the Litchfield candy store was Noah's favorite. It's not in the village but about a mile outside of town. We hope we will come again when fall peaks so that I can capture the fall foliage in all it's colorful glory! 

Tuesday, November 28, 2023

Thankful For Historical Sites!

 

Who would have known that in the outskirts of my own backyard there are pockets of old historic homes and estates with a lot of history! It's amazing what we take for granted when we don't venture out in our own area and so thankful for social media where various influencers from my neck of the woods will post about a place they've been and since there was no school the monday after his birthday weekend we decided to take Noah to Historic Walnford. 

And it was indeed Historic.

So much history and the house and mill was incredible. It was so calm and peaceful touring these sites. I love the architecture inside the house and the location it's at. Who knew this little gem is only 15 minutes away from my house! So thankful for history and for all the historical sites that are literally a few miles away from our little town!

Saturday, November 25, 2023

Macy's 97th Annual Thanksgiving Day Parade!

 

As I wrote in my previous post traditions are the best and I'm so glad that for the past 12 years we have managed to watch the parade in person! It's hard to believe Noah is the only boy left in the nest and that we still manage to go. These moments are extremely special to us and he's such a good sport to wake up early enough to go after all these years! I look back at the first time we went and it's bittersweet how fast all my kids have grown! Especially now that my girls are all young adults, but still...nostagia hurts sometimes because they are so missed especially around the holidays. 

I am so thankful to have Noah to hang with and do fun stuff with. I hope that he will make this a tradition with his future posterity and that he will continue to wake up early-at least for the next four years so that we can make more memories before he leaves the nest! 

Now for a few photos as I didn't take too many because I'm getting old and I actually want to enjoy the parade with what's left of my little fam Jon instead of having my phone glued to my hand! LOL!

Thursday, November 23, 2023

Thankful for Traditions and Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Traditions are very special and one tradition that we have had since moving to the east coast has been going to the Macy's thanksgiving parade in NYC. It's hard to believe that I have one kid left in the nest and today was extra special. This kid has been a trooper for the past 12 years waking up every thanksgiving morning at 5-6am just so we can get to the Macy's parade a bit early! I am thankful for all of our blessings and for the day we had. Especially more grateful for my girls who are away for college and live in a state where they have family to spend the holidays with. My heart is full! Happy thanksgiving and stay tuned for more pics! 

Wednesday, November 22, 2023

Thankful For My Girls!

 

These girls are my everything! I honestly don't know what would do or be without them in my life. They are the first to have made me a mother. Sierra, Lexie, and Chelsea. All five years apart and counting my blessings everyday that they were born with that age gap. In hindsight it was good for my mental health. That five year age gap has been a blessing and continues to be a blessing. I love them all unconditionally and there is nothing in the world that I would do for them. So thankful for all their differences and for who they are. I sure do learn a lot from them and pray that I will always be open minded and supportive in all the decisions they make with their lives. Motherhood is truly the best and I'm so glad that I decided to have four instead of just one kid! 

Friday, November 17, 2023

Thankful For My Only Boy.

 

November has to be my luckiest month because that is when my son, our only boy Noah was born. He's 14 and till this day he is as sweet as they come. He has inherited at least one attribute from each of his sisters. Me and his dad. He is every percentage of all five of us which makes him unique in his own way. I love that he's kind and giving. He loves to help the homeless. If he sees someone that looks like they are in need whether on the side of the road as we are getting off the turnpike or in the streets of New York he wants to help. 

One time we saw a man walking down fifth avenue in the city looking inside every single trash can for food and here comes Noah asking me if we can get him something to eat. Those homeless people that mind their business and don't panhandle are usually the ones that really need it. And you can tell. I always go by my gut and will give if I feel that nudge. Noah is a lot like me when it comes to caring for the needy. He's crazy and sassy sometimes like Chelsea, super sensitive yet very agreeable like Lexie. Artistic and creative like Sierra, and sometimes too nice like his dad. He does have latin in him which will rarely come out. Like ever! I hope that he won't have that Spanish heat like I do. He's a jersey boy through and through with the way he speaks and I love it! Sometimes I have to tell him to enunciate his words and not talk too fast! But that's the way of life here in Jersey. At least he talks fast and doesn't like being rushed. Living in Jersey can be super rushed and I have been teaching him that life doesn't have to be like that. Just because you're from here doesn't mean you have to be like it! So thankful for this kid who still likes to play with action figures, reads comic books, talks about social media, dystopias, friendships, and constantly sends me tiktoks that relate to love and moms, and also geeky ones that I sometimes don't get! 




Wednesday, November 15, 2023

Thankful For My Sis.

Grateful for sisters who stick together through the thick and thin of life. I'm so thankful for this wonderful sister of mine! I'm glad she was able to take time off from work last month to spend a few days with me. I sure needed to see her and it was so fun to have kept our time together chill and simple without feeling the ne need to go everywhere. Sure there was a moment where we could have gone to the city but she was like, "I've already been to New York." We did go to Philly and she was able to see some the main historical sites such as the Liberty Bell, Rocky steps and statue. She took most of the pictures in Philly and I mainly took pictures of us in Princeton. It's pretty sad that when she visited me last time we never ventured out in my own backyard! LOL! 

Tuesday, November 14, 2023

Autumn In New York & An Expression of Gratitude For This Season!


It's been over 10 years since I've been blogging and it's been a few years since I've kept up with gratitude posts. I blame it on Covid and the lack of motivation that it has caused me to "keep up." There are times when I just want to "live" without feeling the need to post and blog all the time. The fact that my back is beginning to hurt as I sit down in front of a computer for hours doesn't help my motivation either. But alas here I am expressing my gratitude and love for autumn online. I love this time of year where the leaves change and the temps become cooler. Fall is indeed becoming my favorite season over summer. Now I know I'm getting old having written that! So let's see how long I will keep up with these posts. There might be days when I'll skip a couple days and a month where I literally write something everyday in November like I did back in 2018. But for now I want to express my gratitude for autumn in pictures. I especially love Central Park in the fall. The fall foliage, the people in the backdrop of some of the pics, the energy that you can sense by looking at them. I love it all and so thankful to live close to this magical city that can make you happy and cry at the same time! It's bittersweet not having the girls around anymore during this colorful  time for photos but luckily Noah doesn't mind being in pictures...for now! 

Thursday, November 9, 2023

14.

Roblox, comic books, playing the guitar, action figures such as Naruto, venom, and Spiderman are among the many things this 14 year old continues to have interest in. And I love it! I love that he still plays with action figures. He even made a little video of Naruto & spidey fighting and it looks so cool. You can see it on my TikTok if you'd like. Although he's a homebody he also loves the city. He loves Cane's. That is his favorite place to eat. It used to be McDonalds but Cane's is his love language now. I can't believe our baby boy is not so baby anymore. He'll always be my baby but first, he will always be my buddy, my sidekick, my true love and major heartbeat! Happy 14th birthday to this kid who always says, "life is pretty good right now." 

 

Saturday, November 4, 2023

Historic Village Diner in Red Hook!

One of my favorite diners is nestled in the small town of Red Hook in upstate New York. The breakfast is amazing and although it can get a bit crowded it's worth the wait and the small space that it serves. I swear the kitchen is bigger than the entire diner. Nonetheless the service was great and the food was delicious. It was a perfect time to come in the fall to go leaf peeping. Seeing all the fall foliage on a rainy day was gorgeous. We didn't mind the rain and love to venture our and of course, we love FOOD! It was the best and we will definitely come back! 

Thursday, November 2, 2023

Pumpkin Picking in Vermont!

October was great and went by way too fast. I thought I would be able to travel as much as I did last year driving all over New England to see the fall foliage as well as in upstate New York but because of all the rain we got for the past seven weeks it was impossible for me to venture out and capture all the halloween decorated stoops that the city has to offer. The upper east side had a ton of decorations and I only got to capture these ones. They were lovely but I wish I had more time to go and see more. However, I was excited that we were able to go to Vermont to do some pumpkin picking at Armstrong farm. All the pumpkins here including the huge ones are way cheaper than the ones in Jersey. You can buy a ton for under 20 bucks! And the jam and the syrup are top notch! Although it drizzled a bit while we there we still had fun picking and Noah felt like a little kid again dragging around the radio flyer wagon.