Read MoreParadise Falls
Morning Market
Colette
One of the most frequent questions I get is where I like to eat and explore in the city, so I figured why not start in my own little neighborhood? If you didn’t know, I live in this little sanctuary in Brooklyn called Williamsburg — over the years, the neighborhood has gotten a lot more “hip” and although new places have been popping up left and right, I’m still loving the same spots I did when I was a Brooklyn newbie. I found Cafe Colette and its indoor garden on a whim when I first moved to Brooklyn. Two years later, it’s still my go-to spot for a Sunday brunch, a weekday lunch, or even for a round of cocktails with my girls. Jay and I went out for a nice lunch earlier this week because it’s so rare to be able to spend a morning together with our busy schedules as of late and snapped some photos of all the goodies and of this beautiful garden! 🌿 Cafe Colette specializes in gin cocktails, and what’s a mid-week brunch without a cocktail or two? 😉 The colette cocktail is my go-to, made with gin, herbs de provence and sparkling rosé. It comes out in a cute little coupe glass in the cutest tinge of pink, and it’s crazy delicious. I also love the neon negroni, which is Cafe Colette’s little twist on a classic negroni. It’s made with gin, aloe vera, melon, suze, bianco vermouth and topped off with a dash of chlorophyll (which satisfies the bio nerd in me) and it glooows! As for food, their cheeseburger is a MUST-GET. It’s Jay’s favorite and I always make him split it with me because it’s so darn good! 🍔🍟 If we’re coming for brunch, I love their cast-iron French toast with housemade vanilla butter, and we’ll usually get their mushroom toast to split as an appetizer because ya gurl can’t resist that runny egg yolk. #yolkporn 🍳 The decor in this place is just too perfect, also. I love the rustic chairs and the wooden benches in the garden.🌱 There’s always sun shining through the skylight, creating this perfect illusion of spring even if it’s freezing out. It’s our favorite little green haven away from the bustlin’ streets of Brooklyn. Since we came out to a nice little weekday-date (a treat because we’ve been cooking so much lately) I decided to wear my…
Read MoreFavorite Cookbooks + Recipes
If you’ve been keeping up with me on Snapchat, you’d know that I’ve really been getting into cooking the past few months. Being able to work from home is a blessing, to say the least. Since I’ve been living in this apartment, I’ve skipped out on a lot of the way-past-midnight library sessions and that one-dim-desk-lamp all nighters (that I’m sure we’ve all experienced as a part of our dorm days), and been able to focus more on work during daylight hours and getting that adult time schedule together (just as I’m about to graduate… Better late than never, right? 😅) To compliment my newfound I’m-an-adult attitude, I’m all about cooking easy meals that are delicious and healthy. Nothing feels better than to be able to quickly whip up a dinner feast after a long work day (and NOTHING feels better than knowing you have leftovers in the fridge for the next night) and it’s so 👏🏻 much 👏🏻 cheaper 👏🏻 than ordering takeout every other night. I’m always looking in fun cookbooks (or on Pinterest!) for dinner inspiration. Even though I don’t have any dietary restrictions, I tend toward vegetarian/vegan/seasonal food cookbooks and recipes — I find that the flavors are delicious on their own and it’s very easy to incorporate a meat into the dish (because you can pretty much toss chicken into anything) and still feel like you’re getting your fill of veggies for the day. 1 – The Love & Lemons Cookbook by Jeanine Donofrio and Jack Mathews I’ve followed Jeanine’s and Jack’s food blog, Love & Lemons, for YEARS. So when they announced they were releasing a cookbook, you know I was on that Amazon pre-order list. My favorite recipes: vegan carrot waffles, grilled mexican corn salad, farm stand peach pizzas. 2 – Cravings by Chrissy Teigen The tagline is all the food you want to eat and it’s seriously a book of all the food I want to eat. Chrissy gives recipes for all things breakfast, carbs and even includes a chapter just on thai food. I could live off this cookbook for the rest of my life and be extremely satisfied, I’m sure. My favorite recipes: lemony arugula spaghetti cacio e pepe (my go-to weeknight pasta to make), pounded papaya salad (s/o to bestie Hannah for making this my favorite thai dish to date), pineapple-grilled short ribs. 3 – The French Market…
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