Pinned50 Things on SubstackWhat this is and why you should play along A few years ago when I was turning 50, I decided I would mark that anniversary by attempting to complete 50 NEW things during the year. I created a list of possibilities and slowly began checking off boxes. Some of these were actually 50 additional things rolled up into one…3 min read3 min read
6 days agoNEW New Year’s Eve TraditionsCelebrating around the world 🎉🍜🍇🥖🚪 My New Year’s Eve is usually spent in my pajamas, in my house, watching one of the New Year’s Eve shows (and my husband sleeping on the couch), and forcing myself to stay up to watch the ball drop in Times Square. I’m not complaining…Newyear4 min readNewyear4 min read
Jan 11Wrapping Up 2022 🎁 and Planning for 2023 🎉What will you try this year? 50 Things started the year I turned 50 as a way to hold myself accountable to my plan to try 50 NEW things during the year. These things ranged from eating crickets to glass blowing to visiting a synagogue. The chief criterion to be on the list was that it…Adventure3 min readAdventure3 min read
Jan 5Living on the Edge 🏙 😰 🛗Afraid of heights? There is a relatively new collection of buildings in NYC called Hudson Yards, and there is an experience there called the Edge, the highest outdoor sky deck in the Western Hemisphere. An elevator zips you up 1,100 feet where you can walk out, onto and around a platform surrounded by…NYC3 min readNYC3 min read
Jan 2Bizarro Meal #1 🍭🍬❄️Bizarro Meal #1 🍭🍬❄️Setting the table for a sugar fanatic — In October of 2021, I took a 4-week class called “The Table as Canvas: Designing a Bizarro Dinner Party With Jen Monroe.” The course description states, “…the best dinner hosts are those who can marry the technical skills of being a chef with an artist’s fluidity and flair for adventure”…Meals4 min readMeals4 min read
Dec 22, 2022A Different Kind of Penicillin 💉🥃🍋I like to learn how to make cocktails, but unfortunately, one or two sips of anything with hard liquor are enough to make me “woozy,” so I rarely finish a drink. This means that my family ends up being the guinea pigs. …3 min read3 min read
Dec 12, 2022Weaving 🧣🧶A Weekend of Warps and Wefts Before this past weekend, I had no idea what a warp or a weft was, nor about a dozen other weaving-related terms. My previous weaving experience only consisted of making potholders on a small square loom I had as a child, so when I saw a weekend weaving class available…3 min read3 min read
Nov 28, 2022Día de los Muertos SkullsWhen I was looking for something new to learn during the week of Halloween, I read an article on Day of the Dead altars and was also starting to see a few friends posting photos of altars they had created for loved ones. I think this is a beautiful tradition…3 min read3 min read
Nov 7, 2022OríkìPraise Poetry for Everyone If you haven’t read Professional Troublemaker by Luvvie Ajayi Jones, I highly recommend it. I first heard the word Oríkì, and learned about it in her book. According to Wikipedia, Oríkì, or praise poetry, is a cultural phenomenon amongst Yoruba-speakers of West Africa. In Professional Troublemaker…Poetry3 min readPoetry3 min read
Oct 21, 2022A.I. ArtPlaying with Midjourney Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) is a field of computer science that focuses on building machines that mimic human intelligence or even simulate the human brain through a set of algorithms. Creative uses of (A.I.) are everywhere! A.I. can write books, create original music, produce artwork, and more. Let’s…AI1 min readAI1 min read
