all that's past is prologue...

I don't post about coffee half as much as I post about alcohol on this page, but I really do love a good coffeeshop! Lately, my top tier places to meet up for a coffee are: - Take Care Coffee in the old Kopplin's space — Lee is lovely, and his coffee is incredible - Lowboy - a labor of love by Michael, a cool vibe, and the skillet rolls are to die for as well as good coffee - Catzen - even if you sit outside the cat room and just observe them through the window, always a good time (and I think Vanessa is just about the coolest person ever) That said, my second-tier bench is also exceptionally strong: Claddagh Nina’s Workhorse SK Yellowbird the original Dunn's And then there's the fun off a more homespun beverage, either at our place or(we have an amazing espresso machine) or at the Coven. In any case, come meet me for a coffee sometime! I would love to see you!

A couple of thoughts as I go into voting: I have a few clients that get state funding. For a few of those grants, we get the grant and then have to provide an annual reconciliation for the funds received. The others are reimbursement grants (so we are reimbursed for the expense 30-60 days after we turn in our request reports). Reimbursement grants tend to be for the larger ones, somewhere between $50-250K. In both reimbursement requests and reconciliations, I have to provide the payment information — the date paid (not just entered into the system), the kind of payment (check, EFT, etc.) and check number, the vendor, the amount, the proof it cleared, the expense documentation, and of course what budget it came out of. In programs that split an expense, I have to demonstrate how that proportionality was decided. If something was evenly split between two programs (say a package of paper towels that was $6.21), I have to demonstrate why one program was charged $3.10 and the other one $3.1...

"I CAN'T WAIT until the election has happened and all this is done!" groused my local wine store owner when I stopped in today. "The ads, the signs, the arguments, it's all too much!" And I see where he's coming from. Yet at the same time, it's all so important. It's so important that Beatrix spent weeks researching how to vote  — and sent the ballot back with us because she (wisely) does not trust the mail. It's so important that when or flight arrived home at 7:35am on Sunday and I realized our #momsrising postcards had arrived while we were gone, I brought all 100 of them to yoga with me so I could write them and send them out that day. It's so important that when I was invited to a screening of Gene McCarthy: Alone In the Land of the Aardvarks  tonight, I declined watching the livestream of Rent to go. (and the amazing Judy Collins even attended and sung a few songs!) The film is not quite done (you can help with finishing funds here...

We're home, and soooo tired, after a very successful Friends and Family Weekend! Bullet points, or I will never get through everything: Wednesday: - worst customer service ever from Hertz - umm, the Met is closed on Wednesdays - MET UP WITH MY KID!! - great dinner at Wildflower - walked the Highline for a bit - Memoirs of an Amorous Gentleman by Duncan Sheik at the former SNM space. SO much fun! - Dessert at a diner and many spooky Halloween stoops! Thursday: - diner breakfast with the kid - those are not allergies, I have a cold = another Target run - back to the Met - tooling around Larchmont and Tuckahoe (I had hoped for a whole blog post just on those, but....) - TJ's and sushi conveyor belt with the kid - lovely dessert at Underhills Crossing with such great service Friday: - the cute cafe we meant to have breakfast at turned out to be a hospital cafeteria, so we went to Dunkin' - walked around Untermyer Gardens which was gorgeous - lunch at Yonkers Brewing - FAMILY AN...

We leave eaaarrrlllly tomorrow morning to go see Beatrix at Sarah Lawrence's "Friends and Family" weekend, and I was thinking earlier today about leaning into the identity of someone who goes to New York a few times a year. My dad drove me out to college my freshman year, and a friend drove me back to Minnesota after a short summer internship in Charleston. My dad drove me back out the next fall and my mom picked me up — it was the first time she had even seen Tufts. Junior year was in England, and senior year I drove myself to school and back. I flew home for Christmas but didn't go home at other breaks, which will be Beatrix's path as well, if you feel like sending her a Thanksgiving care package. And my parents certainly did not come out for parent's weekend! But here we are, heading out, and I am excited to see Beatrix and learn more about how she experiences school and everyday life. SLC has a great bunch of activities planned. And we'll take her and...

The other night, we went out to dinner with our friend Eric before the Sting concert (which was amazing, BTW). That's when he learned that there was a method to my madness of nights out at taprooms; we have a "Craftapped" membership, which gets us BOGO drinks at taprooms across the state 9and across the country!) Basically, for $60  year or so, we get ten BOGOS a month at various taprooms. Which is honestly enough that we almost never use all of them each month, and it's long been a bucket list item of mine to do so (usually we get through 3-6 a month, which is still pretty good). This week I achieved that goal! So here are the places that contributed to that bucket list: 1. Sociable Cider - this one was kind of a mess actually, we went because we could take the dog and work, but it was their birthday and raining and PACKED to the gills and loud so we drank fast and got out. I love their cider though. 2. Bumbling Fools Mead - one of our favorite, most friendly, if not...