On Halloween
Brooklyn's Finest Always
Brooklyn loves Halloween. Truly head over heels in love with it. My neighborhood goes all out with decorating in October and the streets, the people, the vibe on the big day is brimming with community, love, and all the spooky heart. I love it so much. Every year we meet up with a group of families from my oldest son’s class and meander the crowded streets looking out for each other’s kids, chatting, and sipping wine. Slowly we make our way to Waverly Avenue where every year Pam Fleming’s Dead Zombie Band comes out to play spooky classics as well as original music. The kids run around, dance, and the parents can just chill and pat themselves on the back for surviving another Halloween. It is one of my favorite nights of the year.
It got me thinking about living in the city. So many of my friends have exited Brooklyn for the suburbs over the past few years. A big portion of that is a natural progression— reaching middle age, having kids, wanting a yard. But the past few pandemic-filled years in the city have been really hard and I think that played a big role in people finally pulling the trigger on beginning a new chapter and embracing the slower quieter world of a small town. I browse houses upstate all the time and think about moving up there quite a bit, but then I do Halloween in Brooklyn again and feel the beating heart of the community around me and realize I don’t know that I’ll ever be able to pull that trigger. I love that my kids are growing up here.
Read
Stone Cold Fox by Rachel Koller Croft
Between a rainy weekend and a quick work trip, I devoured this book in four days—I even shushed my Lyft driver in Boston so I could finish before I got to my hotel. This is what I call a quick and dirty read, and I don’t mean dirty in a negative or spicy way! I just mean a compelling addicting story that instantly draws you in and, man, was I in. The story revolves around Bea, a beautiful advertising guru in New York City. Bea is ambitious, determined, and calculating. After seven dates with Colin Case, a wealthy bachelor from very old New York money, Bea decides marrying him is the ultimate get. You see, Bea grew up moving from place to place, scamming, and pulling cons on men with her mother. Marrying into this level of inherited wealth is the holy grail, and Bea is determined to get it.
Told through childhood flashbacks detailing the long cons her mother played on her numerous husbands juxtaposed with Bea’s present-day efforts to win over the Case family, which is no easy feat, and Colin’s childhood best friend, Gale Wallace-Leicester, who is secretly in love with him, this book has you questioning if Bea’s efforts are entirely devious or if she is a sad woman who is truly the product of the environment she was raised in. This entire book plays with themes of right versus wrong, light versus dark, moral versus immoral and as the game between Bea, the Case family, and Gale heats up it is hard to pick a side.
I enjoyed this book immensely. It did what books should—provided a great and entertaining escape that had me questioning characters motives, and who you should be rooting for. There were also several surprising plot twists that I didn’t see coming! Just when you think you figured it out Koller Croft throws in a wrench taking the plot in a complete other direction. A very satisfying read if you’re looking for something quick and dirty.
Listen
Ghost Story
Oh, my goodness, this podcast! Journalist Tristan Redman begins looking into weird occurrences that happened in his childhood bedroom after he hears subsequent occupants also experienced strange incidents and the ghost of a faceless woman in the house. Throw in the fact that Redman’s wife’s great grandmother was murdered in the house next door by a family member in a murder suicide, and you have family secrets, loyalty, and a whole lot of questions that Redman’s in-laws don’t necessarily want answered as he begins to investigate if the two things could be related. This is so good, and the British lilt makes it a very pleasant listen.
Make
I made this Chocolate Guiness Cake for my husband’s birthday and it is perfection. That’s it. No notes! The Slow Cooker Butternut Squash Soup was also so great. I added in some sage and ate it every day for lunch this week with a slice of bread and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese. Fall in a bowl.