Sunday Funday with NJ Family

The only time I left the house on Sunday was to watch the Epp boys throw footballs in the yard, pump up tires, fly wooden airplanes and enjoy the balmy temps in the fifties. Two of the Shore Rogers family drove up for dinner. It was great to see Chris and Devin. We had fun cooking together and shooting some basement pool on our beautiful billiard table from the Vineyard house.

Devin, Bill, Kat, Ally Paul and Chris

*minor update, revisions and technical difficulties 5:17 pm*

Quality Family Time in NJ

An Uber picked us up at the Moxy Hotel on Ann St. for a schlepp-free, hour-plus journey to Allendale NJ. The boys were excited to take us to their favorite restaurant Friday night: Mt. Fuji Japanese Steak House in Hillburn. It was similar to Benihana, offering hibachi table dining with a silly-chef-sideshow. Lots of laughs. We had a fireside night cap back at the ranch and off to bed.

Saturday morning found us snug around the fire and at the beginning of a long round of Monopoly. We took a lunch break at The Shannon Rose in Ramsey for pub grub. Back to the sofa for fireside games. Saturday was sunny but cold outside. Ally and Paul made a delicious dinner and corked some awesome wine. After clean-up, the six of us watched "The Greatest Showman." The very entertaining 2017 musical drama inspired by the life of P.T. Barnum. No doubt we'll come back to take the family to the show when it's on Broadway. Great music and dancing. A full day of lazy family time. The best.

Springtime in NewYork

Early flight Thursday, NYC shopping for a warm raincoat, hanging out at the Moxy Hotel again...it’s good to be back in the greatest city in the world. Ally recommended Escala in Soho for dinner. Typical of her suggestions, it was an amazing dinner of exotic small plates in a very small, loud space. We paired our food selections with an Eastern European wine. It was unusual but a perfect complement to our meal.

Friday found us out in the cold rain again. We took the #7 subway to the all new and ritzy Hudson Yards at 30th & 10th. A state of the art mall and lifestyle community in NYC; home to the city’s first Neiman Marcus store. It was over the top! 

St. Patrick's Day 2019

St. Paddy's Day was always a busy weekend for my large Irish family. Back in the day, there was Irish dancing, bagpiping, drumming, an iconic green river, parade appearances and plenty of eating and drinking with family and friends over the course of many local celebrations in Chicago. Our parents and grandparents instilled a great pride in our heritage and we pursued lessons in Irish music and dance for most of our young lives, with St. Paddy's Day presenting some of the best opportunities for showcasing our talents. That was many years ago. Now, I liken St. Patrick's Day to New Year's Eve: festive and preferably enjoyed at home.

I was folding clothes this week on my bed and when I put the last of the laundry away, a lone shamrock was left under the pile. It had been an unusually sad day for me, and the sight of this green clover made me believe in miracles. I was overwhelmed with comfort and at a complete loss to understand where this may have come from. Although, as an intuitive Irish lass, I have my suspicions. May you find something special to cuddle your soul today and bring you outright awe and joy.

Unexplainable shamrock on my bed

Florida: A Big State with Lots to Do

This is the year of exploring the state of Florida. From Miami to Jacksonville, Key West to West Palm and Port St. Lucie (PSL), I've covered some territory over the last couple of months. A few NJ friends met in PSL for a spontaneous sleepover Sunday and round of golf Monday at St. Lucie Trail Golf Club. A nice public course, well maintained and challenging. And then there's the food. We enjoyed fine dining at Tutto Fresco at PGA Village in PSL after much needed showers. It was unseasonably hot and humid on the course. We're not used to that weather in late winter. The girls worked off some calories on a bike tour Tuesday morning. It included a couple of detours: First Data Field, home of the NY Mets spring training, and the beautiful St. Bernadette Church. A sunny lunch followed at the lovely RH Rooftop Restaurant in West Palm. Super fun getaway with the girls.

Jill, Pat, Lauren and Kat

Love your neighbor. No exceptions.

RH Rooftop Restaurant

Kathryn's famed selfie

Anna Maria Oyster Bar Restaurant

Make note of this popular luncheon restaurant at exit 224 off of I-75. It was jumpin' on Ash Wednesday with plenty of folks proudly displaying their smudged foreheads. Please God don't strike me with lightening, but I was wondering, in this day and age of intolerance, what's worse...Catholics in ashes or zealots in MAGA caps? And yes, it really is the start of Lent today.

Pink Concert in J Action Ville

The family is crouching down to accommodate the selfie stick at Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena after Pink's Beautiful Trauma World Tour performance. What an amazing show! Pink is a high energy artist, with a high energy band, dancers, visuals, pyrotechnics and aerial acrobatics. I don't really know a lot about her music outside of her big hits, but the kids asked for Christmas tickets and we joined in on the fun. We had to cancel our flight plan because of weather so we drove. Was it worth the 12 hour round trip drive? Yes! It's been a while since a little road trip.

Pink

This just in ... the girls are getting ready for our Pink concert in Jacksonville next week. Click on that barely visible arrow in the center of the picture for some video action. 💕
📹credit: Steph

Global and Emotional Footprints

The global carbon footprint is a huge topic of political and social discourse. We are all guilty of perpetuating the need for logistics companies to deliver our online purchases. How bad is e-commerce for the environment? Reducing emissions, clean energy, carbon offsets, carbon neutral...ugh, Amazon we all have some thinking to do.

And then there's our emotional footprint. Defined by studies in neuroscience, our emotional footprint is gaining more traction in sociology. It has a very real impact on social well being and goodwill. It's not about how much cow you are eating, motors you are operating or electrical gadgets you enjoy. It's about actions and reactions causing a ripple effect, which intentional on not, determines the trajectory of reciprocal human behavior. Simply put, a temper tantrum will put onlookers in a bad mood and an act of kindness naturally brings joy to observers. The emotional footprint is all about that term we hear so often: mindfulness. Are you fully aware of how your behaviors affect others? What do you radiate? Goodwill or impetuousness? Have a think. Just a couple random discussion topics for your happy hour tonight.
 

March 1st Quotation

This is arguably a ridiculously insulting quote about the Irish... or not.

"It's not that the Irish are cynical. It's simply that they have a wonderful lack of respect for everything and everybody." -- Brendan Behan

Happy March! ☘