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More Kindness

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I spent last night talking with my dear friend Morgan over dinner, sharing the ups and downs we have been through in the last several months since we last saw one another. Almost all of our get-togethers have the same excited, loving, and supportive energy driving our conversations. Afterall, in the last 15 years, we have been through break-ups and makeups, divorce, marriage, health issues, job loss, and sincere heartache. The kindness, openness, and support that I experience in the simple act of grabbing dinner with a friend is an inspiration to me personally and professionally. It is in the vain of these conversations that I am driven to start writing and sharing again.

The last few years have been difficult. I experienced profound loss, struggled with infertility, watched my husband suffer from lyme disease, and witnessed my family coping with grief in a variety of ways. These of course are on top of the typical stressors that we all feel in our increasingly hostile and negative environment that is the American political and cultural landscape. These hardships though have pushed me to my limit, and forced me to make some changes in my life that I feel paying off ten-fold. While it’s all still a work in progress, I am committed to making healthier, kinder, and more mindful choices in my life.

It’s not possible for me to note this daily, but for now, here are some items that I found helpful in kick-starting the change that I needed to make in my own life:

  1. Follow yung Pueblo on instagram – @yung_pueblo – his reminders about mindfulness, balance, and finding inner peace and acceptance were surprisingly helpful to me at random times in the last several months.  
  2. Read Radical Acceptance by Tara Brach. Someone recommended it to me last fall, and I was really opposed to reading it as it initially struck me as too “out-there”, too “self-help-ish”, and way too connected to Buddhism. I am not someone that meditates (although I keep trying to be), I’m not religious, and I’m generally a pretty put-together individual. I finally came around to reading this book, and I can’t speak enough about how subtly it helped to shift my perspective and mindset. If you are on the fence about reading it, I can’t’ recommend it enough. 
  3. I also returned to my yoga practice. I started watching YouTube and following Yoga with Adriene. Then, I expanded my practice and now attend Alma Yoga as well. If you are in the Hudson Valley, it’s worth checking out this studio. The kindness of the instructors and the sense of humor that they possess makes yoga so much more fun and supportive than I ever remember it being in the past at other studio’s I have tried.

These are just three quick items that helped me today, but if you need a boost, or a shift in your own mindset, give them a try! I’m looking forward to sharing more experiences and tips as I am working to meet my own goals, overcome infertility, and generally live a healthier life.

What tips do you share with your friends when they need to make a change? How do you shift your mindset to be more positive?

 

Where have all the plant nurseries gone?

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After coming home from a few extended trips away, my boyfriend and I were inspired to do a little work on the small yard we have. As a talented cook, my boyfriend always has fresh herbs growing in the house. Additionally, he is always able to resuscitate the brown leaved plants that I seem to create with my lack of plant care skills. So in addition to the small basil, cilantro and lavender plants that were germinating and sprouting, we went out in search of additional plants to plant in our new garden to be.

This proved to be a difficult mission. One place that we had gone to previously was Plant Depot located on Route 9 in Fishkill. Though they had a decent selection, the prices compared to was I was used to growing up was outrageous. The hanging plants were priced between $35-40. I ended up leaving there completely disappointed. While I have a real appreciation for Adam’s Fairacre Wappinger Farms in Falls, their plant selection was not very big and they were out of hanging plants with flowers.

That lead us to our next stop which was Blooming Hill Farm in Blooming Grove, NY.  This is one of my favorite places in the valley, and I pretty sure I have mentioned it in earlier posts. They are a small, independently owned family farm that offers monthly farm dinners, has breakfast on Saturdays, and supplies products to many top rated restaurants in New York City (They also make a few of the farmers markets in Northern Jersey!). Including an outstanding homemade and local produce breakfast, we were able to pick up another lavender plant as well as a rosemary one. We also got a few beautiful flower planters, one with Black Eyed Susans, and another of Zinnias. These we planned on using to spruce up our deck a bit, as well as our home office.

After Blooming Hill Farms, we left in search of a true plant nursery. There used to be a decent one located on Rt. 94 in Salisbury Mills. Pennings Nursery was closed with a sign that said for sale when we drove by. If you check out their website, the latest update says that they are selling wholesale to the public and to call for information. Adament to continue our mission, we looked on yelp for more nurseries, and drive to two more when were both closed.

This lead us to Adam’s Fairacre Farms in Newburgh, NY, our final stop of the day on our gardening mission. Image

Here we were able to fill up our cart with plenty of perennials to plant in our back yard, a lilac plant, a planter for my front porch, as well as a hanging plant. The price for all of this as well as four bags of soil was approximately $150. We are really happy with how it turned out, and I have a small table in the kitchen with even more plants germinating (small spider plants from the one bigger spider plant that I have managed to not kill on my own!).

I’m excited to see how our garden will grow. In the meantime, I am going to continue my mission to find the smaller farms/nurseries and greeneries to support as well. It was disappointing to see so many out of business in such a lush and farm friendly area. I will not resort to purchasing my plants at a Lowes or a Home Depot. While we didn’t make it to Warwick or New Paltz, both are places I would like to check out in the hopes of finding farms like the ones I had as a child.

Does anyone else know of local farms that sells plants (flowers, herbs, veggies) to the public in the Hudson Valley? I’d be curious of those especially in the mid and upper valley areas. Please share any that you know of!

Trivia in the Hudson Valley

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One of my favorite new-(ish) pastimes is bar/restaurant trivia. Since living in The Hudson Valley, I have been able to participate in a few different trivia nights in various localities. It’s a fun way to get out during the week, and if you are any good, can also win you some goodies. Here’s the run down on those that I know of, have participated in, or hope to make it to! Please share more if you know of them.

Newburgh Brewery – Wednesday Nights – This is difficult trivia! They have at least 4 different categories that they announcement on their Facebook page earlier in the day on Wednesday. If you are savvy, you can brush up on some of your facts before attending. The perks of this trivia is that you can have teams of up to 8 people. They serve $5 beers, and allow you to have food delivered directly to the brewery. The downside of the trivia is that due to the awesome size of the room (it’s huge and beautiful!) it is sometimes difficult to hear.

Captain Lawrence Brewery – bi-monthly on Thursdays – I have not ventured to this trivia yet. I can’t wait to! The reviews that I hear include excitement over the free beer tasting in the tap room prior to trivia starting. I can’t confirm that yet though, hopefully by the end of the month!

Hyde Park Brewery – Thursday Nights – It’s been a long time since I have been to this trivia due to my relocation around the valley. More college kids than the average trivia game, but to me, that also means more of a chance to win! This trivia is done by Stump! Trivia…a trivia business that hosts pub trivia at multiple locations. It’s a great game as it includes a level of wagering in every round, has picture bonuses, and always includes current events and pop culture topics in addition to other regular trivia categories.

Max’s on Main – Tuesday Nights – This is another location for Stump! Trivia. The menu at Max’s is awesome, and the owners are always in the restaurant chatting with customers (and sometimes trying to help with trivia questions!) There are a lot of regulars to this game, so it’s a tough one to win against the seasoned veteran teams. This is always a fun game. Perks of this place include the food and the company. The downside is definitely the size. It’s not as large as most of the breweries, so to get a good table on the bar side, you have to be there by 7-7:15pm.

Gleason’s – Wednesday Nights – Gleason’s food and beer list is amazing. Both their soups and flatbreads are some of my favorite. I have not tried their trivia yet, but if it’s anything like everything else they offer, I’m sure it will be awesome!

Skytop Steakhouse – Tuesday Nights – I love the Skytop. My favorite food to order their is the Garlic sliced sirloin steak. Trivia night has been increasing in popularity, and in my opinion, improving consistently. Sometimes hard to hear because of the acoustics, but still worth the game. Also, though Kingston is making a sincere effort at urban revitalization, Skytop still ensures a good crowd with no trouble or nasty drunken mishaps…which is more then a few other locations in the area can boast.

I know that there are a ton more games out there, I’ll add to the list as I learn about them. Share where else their is good trivia in the Valley!

 

Revitalization for Newburgh!

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This afternoon I went to the Bank Square Coffee Shop to hang out, read, and do a little work for a class I am taking online. I was really excited to overhear the conversation that was taking place next to me. There were two men, both in their 20s and 30s, discussing how positive the changes were in Beacon. The older of the two men (who were both guitarists) noted that, “its [Beacon’s] transformation is profound enough to be wrote about one day.”  As someone who is constantly excited to walk down Main Street and see what’s new, and go to places like The Hop, Max’s, and Bank Square, I was really happy to know it wasn’t just me that lived in this bubble of excitement about Beacon.

The gentlemens’ conversation then veered in the direction of discussing Newburgh. For those of you that are not familiar with the Hudson Valley, Newburgh is (was) the murder capital of New York. While there are a number of great up and coming places in Newburgh, the poverty level in the city, as well as the lack of industry in the area, lead to a large crime rate and other typical urban dilemmas. However, as it is located just across the river from Beacon, some of the new business, traffic flow, and investment coming into the area will hopefully makes its way to the much needed community projects and business ventures just across the river.

Some fun Newburgh businesses to check out:

* The Wherehouse – Great bar/pub

* Downing Film Center – Small private film screen with smaller and larger production films

* Caffe Macchiato – Coffee shop just across from Washington Park

Though I haven’t been to any of the restaurants on Front Street yet, many of them have great reviews. During the summer, there are some great bars located right on the water. It’s a fun atmosphere and view, if nothing else! Before I venture there though, I definitely want to try Manchu Picchu, the Peruvian restaurant right on Broadway (my boyfriend, and friends have been and love it…I just haven’t made it yet!)

In general, hearing so much about city revitalization made me feel really happy today. I get excited about growth and positive development anywhere really, so to have it happening in my own backyard is definitely something that makes me smile.

What other places do you see going through this type of change? What other places in Newburgh should I try?? Please share your suggestions!