Best of 2023

 Top 10 Dessert Recipes (all taken from What's for Dessert by Claire Saffitz)

10. No Bake Grapefruit Bars

9. Marbled Sheet Cake

8. Hot Chocolate with Homemade Vegan Marshmallows

7. Morning Glorious Loaf Cake

6. Coconut Macaroon Bars

5. Coconut-Jasmine Rice Pudding with Lychee

4. Marbled Mint Chocolate Mousse

3. Cinnamon-&-Sugar Apple Pie

2. Blueberry Buckle with Cornflake Streusel

1. Salty Brownie Ice Cream Sandwiches

 

Sharon's Best Nonfiction (Serendipitously this year Sharon read mostly nonfiction & loved each one)
(1) Every Teacher a Leader by Barbara B. Levin and Lynn R. Schrum
(2) Hold Fast to Dreams: A College Guidance Counselor, His Students, and the Vision of a Life Beyond Poverty by Beth Zasloff and Joshua Steckel

(3) Stop Waiting for Perfect by L'Oreal Thompson Payton

(4) The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World by Melinda French Gates

(5) Critical Small Schools: Beyond Privatization in New York City Urban Educational Reform by Maria Hantzopoulos 

(6) STEM, STEAM, MAKE, Dream: Reimagining the Culture of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics by Chris Emdin

Sharon's Best Novels

(1) The Lover by Marguerite Duras

(2) Fifty Shades of Gray by E.L. James

(3) Swimming Lessons by Claire Fuller

David's Best Novels

(1) Thorn of the Honey Locus by Geoffrey Burgess

(2) Broadway Butterfly by Sara DiVello

(3) The Last Dance by Martin L. Schumacher

(4) The Fires by Sigridur Hagalin Bjornsdottir

Books Read and Discussed Together by Sharon and Alexi  - When I Was Puerto Rican by Esmeralda Santiago and Flatlands by Edwin Abbott (aka A Square)

Book Read Aloud by David to Mateo - The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien

Best Art Seen All Year - Beyond Monet: The Immersive Experience

Our Favorite At Home Grown-Up Movies

(1) Triangle of Sadness
(2) Air

(3) Cha Cha Real Smooth

(4) The Platform

(5) Everything, Everywhere All At Once

(6) Sexy Beasts

(7) The Beasts
(8) Women Talking

(9) All Quiet on the Western Front

(10) Juliet, Naked

(11) Nowhere

(12) Causeway

(13) Elvis

(14) Maestro

(15) The Salvation

(16) Force Majeure

(17) Wild Sage Mountain

Best Concert - Fred Again.. @ Forest Hills Stadium (best part was actually at OBA Mediterranean Gyro & Grill afterwards where Sharon and David stopped for a bite to eat...they were playing Fred Again.. and fans like us who had just come from the show were dancing with strangers in the restaurant)

Best Family Member Performance - Mateo peforming Village Musicians by Igor Yakushenko and David performing Lamento Andino by Teofilo Alvarez Alvarez on oboe, both at the Prague Piano Festival 

Best Movie Sharon+David Saw In a Movie Theater - Chevalier & Oppenheimer

Best Movie Our Entire Family Saw In a Movie Theater - Next Goal Wins

Best Tribeca Film Festival Movie - Maestra (Documentary about Paris Competition for Female Conductors - PHENOMENAL!)

Best Movie Sharon+ Mateo Saw At Home - Arthur Christmas

Best Family Movie Seen @ Home - Big Hero 6

Best New Year Activity - Bowling @ Bowlero in Queens (first time bowling as a family ever!) and Indian Dinner @ Jackson Diner (before they gave up their beautiful spacious location)

Best Birthday Party - Bowling and Arcade Games @ Bowlero in Manhattan in a semi-private room to celebrate Mateo turning 10(!)

Best NYC Family Event - RISENY (a cool three part immersive adventure culminating in a 4D ride soaring over the NYC skyline; David surprised Sharon by taking her and the kids here on her birthday)

Best NY Museum for Families - Slomoo Institute (ready for SLIME?!??!)

Best International Family Show - The Lava Show in Iceland

Best Yoga & Mindfulness  - Down Dog Yoga & Meditation (website and app)

Best Family Cycling  -  Biking along the Hudson River Greenway to the Governor's Island Ferry, and then along the Governor's Island Outer Loop

Best Sharon+Alexi+Mateo Event - Sunset @ Edge in Hudson Yards

Best Opera - Dead Man Walking @ Met Opera (Sharon saw the movie and heard Sister Helen Prejean speak many years ago @ St. Paul's Chapel @ Columbia University)

Best Broadway Tony Winner - Kimberly Aquino (Sharon the Jersey girl LOVED this musical focused on HS kids growing up in a town in Bergen County, New Jersey, which is where Sharon grew up) 

Best Broadway Future Tony Nominee - Here Lies Love (in which Sharon received standing tickets and was standing right next to the stage, inches away from the actors, singing and dancing along, and actually part of the show)

Best Classical Concert - Andras Schiff Recital @ David Geffen Hall

Best TV Series - Better Call Saul

Best Travel Destinations 

* Catalunya, Spain

* Reykjavik, Iceland

* Jersey Shore

* Killens Pond, Delaware

* Heckscher State Park, Long Island

Best NYC Family Adventure - going to Liberty Island and climbing all the way up to the crown of the Statue of Liberty

Best International Family Adventures - Montserrat in Spain and Golden Circle in Iceland

Best Camping - beachfront cottage for fall foliage camping in Heckscher State Park (again)

Best Halloween Event - SMS Halloween Party and Trick or Treating in Dumont

Best New York Vegan Restaurant - The Witches Brew (on Long Island)

Best International Vegan Restaurant - B*12 in Girona, Spain

Best Outdoor Dining - Peacefood Cafe

Best Pick-Your-Own Fruit - Strawberries @ Specca Farms and Apples @ Indian Farm in Pennsylvania

Best Sporting Event - Alexi and Mateo's weekend soccer games

Best Holiday Event - Manhattan Christmas Shopping and seeing the Rockefeller Tree

Best View of NYC - View of New York City and New Jersey from Edge in Hudson Yards

Top 5 Reasons to Love New York City at the End of 2023

(1) VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES 

(2) MUSIC 

(3) BROADWAY 

(4) SOCCER 

(5) VEGETARIAN & VEGAN DINING

Long Island Fall Foliage Camping V3.0

Our fall foliage camping trip took us to Long Island for the third straight year in a row, and we were greeted by baby yoda.	This year we arrived Thursday evening, an entire night early to extend our camping trip.  Sharon and Mateo played hooky from school one day & David took off.
This is the gorgeous view when we step outside in Heckscher State Park each morning.	This is how our beachfront cottage looks in daylight; we have stayed in the same cottage 3 years in a row.
Sharon and Mateo got up bright and early Friday, and were thrilled to wake up in Long Island.  They headed straight for the beach.	Ever since Mateo was little, Mateo and Sharon have enjoyed early morning walks along the beach looking for seashells.  Here, Mateo found a beautiful shell.
We love going on an early morning beach walk in mid-October when the crowds are gone and we have the beach to ourselves.	Sharon was really happy to take an additional day off from school to be able to spend three and a half days out in lovely Long Island and scenic Heckscher SP.
Sunshine greeted us Friday morning, promising a beautiful beach day ahead.	There were actually small waves that formed in the water.
Mateo and Sharon in their bathing suits as they prepare to go swimming on the day they played hooky from school.	Mateo rocking out his pink bathing suit and rainbow tie-dye Crocs on the beach in Heckscher State Park, where we had the beach basically to ourselves.
This year Mateo and Sharon found the beach in Heckscher State Park where you CAN go swimming	We were the only souls brave enough to go swimming in the water in October, and we had so much fun.
Mateo and Sharon played water frisbee with a free frisbee from Fort Tryon Park in our neighborhood.	There's Mateo (or is it Sharon?!), the sole person crazy enough to take a dip in Long Island Sound in October.
After Alexi finished up his HS classes for the day, he took LIRR&joined us for a late afternoon of mini-golf.	Sharon celebrates her hole in one on this beautiful Sayville Falls mini-golf course with an autumn theme.
Mateo poses by the cascading waterfall...	...and lovely colorful fish swim in the waters below.
One of the coolest holes in the course is inside a cave.	Alexi lines up his shot very carefully in the cave.
Sharon aims to get her 2nd hole in one of the day.	David moves his ball a little further out for the shot.
Whenever we camp in Long Island we get our firewood at the local 7 Eleven.  Sharon recently found out the story that 7 Eleven is open the hours in its name, which was revoluntionary at the time.	David is the expert at making roaring campfires, including in less than ideal, windy conditions.
We brought along some mystical fire that we ordered on Amazon to transform our campfire flames to all the colors of the rainbow.	A roaring campfire in front of our beachfront cottage makes an ideal setting to enjoy an evening outdoors in nature.
Our family enjoys two types of s'mores whe we go camping.  The first is the classic with milk chocolate.	The second type of s'more Sharon pioneered (and the kids now really love) has white chocolate inside.
Alexi enjoys a late night s'more after a long day and week of classes at Brooklyn Tech (w/2 AP classes).	Mateo similarly enjoys a s'more after a day off from school spent sea-shell collecting and swimming.
Sharon woke up early Saturday morning in time to catch the sunrise.	Sunrises over the water are among Sharon's absolute favorites, and the perfect way to start the day.
Sharon put on her bikini for an early morning swim in the water.  The water was definitely a bit chilly this mid-October morning, though invigorating.	Mateo put on his bathing suit, though did not join Sharon for an early morning swim and celebrated staying on the beach while Sharon took a dip.
Both our kids had soccer tournaments Columbus Day Weekend.  Alexi was the goalie for his WSSL Core Team, and their tournament was in Heckscher SP.	Alexi's team's players were pretty outmatched by the competition, so there were lots of shots on goal and Alexi was a busy goalkeeper for all the games.
Mateo's MSC soccer tournament was in South Jersey outside of Philadelphia, so he and David left early Saturday for Mateo's weekend tournament games.	Mateo played games in both his home team red and away team gray MSC jerseys.  His team did well in the tournament.
After a weekend filled with so many soccer games, we headed to our new favorite vegan restaurant in all of New York State, "Witches Brew", out on Long Island.	The restaurant was decorated with a Halloween theme, since we went in mid-October.  Luckily, we joined the queue early and arrived in time for our reservation.
Alexi & Mateo LOVE having dinner & drinks at Witches Brew, especially glasses of hot chocolate to warm up after soccer games played in the rain.	Witches Brew has an incredible vegan dinner and dessert selection, and Sharon loves perusing all of their desserts to get ideas for her own baking.
David absolutely LOVES the vegan cauliflower wings here, and wishes he had the secret recipe.	Sharon is a huge fan of the vegan desserts at Witches Brew, including this Halloween-themed cupcake.
We got back early enough from Witches Brew for David to make a roaring campfire.	When camping we love spending evenings sitting out by the campfire and talking together.
Our beachfront cabin looks beautiful illuminated by electric light and campfire light.	Mateo provides his own light by wearing a headlamp to get around in the darkness.
This year Mateo could always be found in his Christmas Santa pjs, which used to be Alexi's pajamas.	Through his pajamas, Mateo is making sure that all of us keep the Christmas spirit alive all year long.
On our very last day, Columbus Day, Mateo and I both woke up early enough to catch the sunrise.	We got to see an absolutely gorgeous sunrise from the beach.
Sunrises at the beach are super special and lovely.	The shadow of the sunlight on the water is stunning.
Mateo and I walked along this beachfront, looking for seashells and sea glass and other interesting items.	Us beach lovers recognize the differences in the sand & surf in the beaches we visit during the summers.
Mateo was willing to dip his feet in the water, though said no to an early sunrise dip.	Mateo poses in front of the lovely sunrise, and we were the only ones on the beach this early.
On our fall foliage camping trips we wear our matching s'mores pajamas & take a fun family photo.	Alexi and Mateo pose indoors in their twin s'mores pajamas (it took some doing to get Mateo to wear these pajamas instead of his Santa pajamas!).
Our kids's favorite stuffies are these unicorns, who accompany us on our domestic and international travels.	The unicorns even ventured outdoors this trip, and at the beach they found these lovely seashells and pebbles.
On our way back to NYC from LI we headed to Elwood Pumpkin Farm for some pumpkin picking.	At Elwood Pumpkin Farm they had an amazing variety of pumpkins, in all different colors & shapes.
Alexi and Mateo brought along their unicorn friends for our pumpkin picking adventure.	Mateo grabbed a big wheel barrow so we could gather lots of pumpkins.
The pumpkins at Elwood are absolutely stunning....	...so we had to gather lots to take home!
Mateo and Sharon pose in front of their pumpkins...	...and David wheels them to our car.
Alexi showed amazing ganas and resilience this weekend, facing so many shots on goal and not getting the support from his teammates on defence or offence.	Shout-out to the park ranger who stopped us when we were walking back to our cabin in the rain (thinking we forgot where the parking lot was), then came back and offered us a ride back to the cottage...fantastic police escort!
Here are words to definitely live by.	We love fall foliage camping on Long Island.