There’s been this movement in the food world of the past few years, these “underground” supper clubs, in which a chef cooks a dinner party for guests, who pay, and who don’t necessarily know each other. I suppose the idea is to have an intimate but elegant meal that is entirely unique. Some might call it a hipster thing to do; I think it’s pretty bougie. But I’m just bougie enough to have leapt at the opportunity to attend!

Scott calls his dinners “Stagionarsi” from the Italian for “season,” which has a double meaning here: both the seasoning of food and the commitment to creating meals inspired by the seasons. The chef emailed with us ahead of time to find out about food restrictions, allergies, and the like. It was so personal and friendly, and I know my friends (who do have allergies) were well accommodated.

Each of the food courses was paired with wine; the dessert course was wine-less but there was Basil Hayden’s whiskey for us to drink (oh wow tasty). I took notes on my phone, and you will see in many of these uncropped photos of my plates that my phone is still on! This was documentation more than glamorous photography, as you will see, but I’m going to include every course here nonetheless. Click to read more, and enjoy!

This is the saddest post I will ever write. Because guys, I have no sense of taste right now. None. Actually, that’s an overstatement—I can just barely discern sweetness. Which means that at least the expensive Savannah Bee Company honey that I polished off wasn’t completely wasted as I loaded it into mugfuls of tea. See, I got a cold. A bad cold. I’m calling it the TNNA flu, because I came down with it on the last day of The National Needle Arts Association’s Winter show, which I was working all last weekend. I honestly cannot remember the last time I was this sick. I’ve had colds, sure, but not like this.

I had the pleasure of taking Hannah Thiessen, the new Creative Director for Premier yarns, on a little excursion tonight. We didn’t have time for much, just a jaunt to Purl, which happens to be near the office. How ever do you choose from all the goodies there (or at any yarn shop)? It’s always nice to be a little ambassador to the city and what it has to offer. I showed her the colorful array there and then the twinkling lights of the city from above…

I’m thankful for this bounty of food, my dearest friends who make up my New York family, and this precious time we can spend together. I love that we’re all taking time out of our week to be with people we love and celebrate food! Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

One thing I like about the switch to Standard Time has been how magical the city feels when I leave work at the end of the day. Sure, I see the lights later at night in Daylight Savings, too, but I’ve noticed a restaurant for the first time precisely because it was lit up so invitingly when seen in the dark. The air in the fall is always more crisp, too, making the lights even prettier.

My fabulous web designer started a new website a few months ago, one for offering free desktop wallpapers. One a week, by an artist, whether a photograph or digital art. And this week, the photo is mine! Yes, yes, my web designer is also my boyfriend, but I like to think that my photo stands on its own. Go to www.dsktps.com to download it! Here’s a sneak peek.

I did not knit a single stitch for this wedding, and it’s just as well, because the temperature was pushing 100F (37C) and the humidity had to be hovering near, oh, about eight thousand percent. Why yes, we ventured to steamy gross Georgia for a wedding at the beginning of August! This was a cousin on my dad’s side (the wedding earlier this summer was on my mom’s side), who grew up in Georgia and married a good Southern girl.

This is the summer/year of weddings! Back in July we went to the first for my family, out in Jersey. It was the Friday after the wedding weekend in Boulder, which meant two weddings in less than a week. That is too much wedding for any sane person, let me tell you! But luckily this one was closer to home, and we could take a train there. The weather was iffy so I actually knit a shrug for the first time in my life, to toss over my dress “just in case.” I’m glad I had it, too, as it was rainy and on the chilly side for early July.

It’s been a long time since I lived somewhere that got hit by a hurricane—perhaps when Floyd made landfall in Philly? (I remember being let out of work early and running home through one of the hardest deluges I’d ever been in.) Growing up we had our share of scary typhoons (Hugo comes to mind), and even one or two when I was in high school in Maryland (Bertha!). But this was the first since living at a southern edge of Brooklyn in an apartment with windows that face out onto a highway and many small buildings–that is, allowing wind to pummel us full force.

Have you ever visited a place about which all you can really say is that it’s cute? Cute, that relatively condescending adjective. I have to admit it: That’s how I feel about Norway.

But then, I also identify as cute myself (I mean, aren’t I?), so I’m in conflict. And Norway probably outdoes even me for pretty.