Tea notes: The soup of the season, restaurant playlists, and socks school
Plus, Emily in Paris has me thinking about ski outfits...
A few years back, fires charred huge swaths of the national forest near us. Nearly 200,000 acres of land burned — it was the largest fire in Rocky Mountain National Park’s 100+ year history. We’ve long wondered if and when we’d see regrowth.
This fall, I started noticing little yellow pockets of aspen trees emerging. A little research led me to learn that fire actually stimulates aspen suckers, which grow much more quickly than conifers, to sprout (thanks, USDA). While the fire was devastating for the area, the abundance of golden leaves this year feels like a cheery and hopeful gift from mother nature.
These fleeting two weeks-ish of foliage are never a given, and the colors are beyond right now. Between our 2022 wedding and then Paris last year, we narrowly missed peak colors in Grand Lake the past two years, so it’s been a joy to soak in the season. It’s one of my favorite parts of Colorado living. Tragically, I forgot to bring my snips up from home to forage some branches from out back. Wondering if I should sacrifice my kitchen shears for the cause…
The turning weather always makes me crave some cozy Italian: On Monday, we had an impromptu 4:45 p.m. anniversary dinner at Tavernetta, one of our favorites in town. Despite making a day-of bar reservation, the staff made it special for us — with brut rose (this is so good and a great value) and dessert wine on the house.
A few links for your weekend:
What do you share with others to help them understand your worldview? Loved this question posed by
on what makes up our personal canons. What are some of yours?- ’s four-day Tokyo itinerary is the only one you need.
I’m all for throwing a tongue-in-cheek birthday party for your frozen eggs.
Fashion designer Peter Som, cookbook author Julia Turshen, and nine other creative New Yorkers share their table settings. Btw, I really like The Strategist’s column In Situ, which shows you how stuff is actually styled IRL.
This is my favorite soup to make as soon as the temps drop. We make it in our Dutch oven with this immersion blender*, which might rank in my top three most handy kitchen appliances — so easy.
A restaurant playlist can change how food tastes: “Play classical music, and people are likely to spend more. Play ethnically congruent music, and the dishes may taste more authentic.”
For my fellow geriatric millennials still wearing no-shows: Enroll yourself in
’s much-needed socks school.My favorite golf / tennis / pickleball skirt* is on maj sale (I bought it full price, womp womp.)
Emily in Paris season five got me thinking about my 2024-2025 ski season lewk. FYI, Camille’s outfit is from Goldbergh, including these goggles* and this jacket. I have and love this bib from them*.
P.S. Very into “cliffside karaoke,” my current choco brown nail color*.