Tag Archives: Holidays

The Anniversry

13 Wednesday Aug 2025

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I’m still the Northeast Epicurean; however, I’m now residing in the mid-Atlantic. Not sure if I’ll capitalize upon the brand recognition of NEE (a shaking of the head and rolling of the eyes would be appropriate here) or come up with a new name; so, for now, I’m going with the Northeast Eplicurean in the Pseudo South (NEEPS. Side note, I would argue this is pretty darn south). 

The Happy Couple

It’s our 20th Anniversary. Our 15th was a bust. A pre-COVID booked cruise that got ‘lifted and shifted’ into oblivion turned out to be a non-event. Since then, over the years, we’ve had some fun trips to celebrate the nuptials, but this year, we’re under the gun to do something fantastic—it is the 20th anniversary, after all. 

We bantered about our options – a cruise, a trip to Puerto Rico, or even a road trip through the mid-Atlantic. Nothing piqued our interest; however, we knew there were a few excursions we’re  definitely doing: 

  • Christmas in Colonial Williamsbug: an almost surreal holiday experience. 
  • Dining on the James River – literally: we did a summer time sunset cruise; so excited for the ‘Farm to Batteau’ experience. 
  • Colonial Williamsburg Grand Illumination: they do fireworks, does anything else need to be said? 
  • Thanksgiving at Omar’s: the closest thing to Mom’s Thanksgiving I’ve found yet. 
  • Anniversary dinner at the Bavarian Chef – German food done right, and the Sacher Torte is amazing (the surprise for the weekend for Tony is a chauffeured ride through Central VA wine country – a surprising delight for fans of the vino!) 
  • A sojourn to NYC/NJ for a friend’s wedding: can you say “Bagels, Pizza; Pizza,Bagels?”
  • Chesapeake Bay Star Gazing Cruise: because I fell victim to a FOMO ad; first time that’s happened. Since buying the tickets, I’ve refrained from looking at Google reviews for fear that I pissed away a bunch of money. 

While planning all these activities, it hit me like a dim lit light bulb crashing slowly to the floor, why not do 20 super fun things from now through the end of the year; each being dubbed an anniversary celebration.. 

And that was the birth of insanity. All activities above have been booked and will be done; the other experiences are still being planned. My goal: report on the original seven and plan out and report on the remaining 13 as they arise. I’m looking at an Airshow Circus, the Military Aviation Museum Symphonic Airshow, Edgar Allen Poe experience, and Segway tour of Richmond. Even with those, I’m only up to 11. I see the need to get creative with these as the year waxes on. 

The Art Museum at Colonial Williamsburg

I’ll be reporting on our sojourns over the coming weeks and will keep you updated on our celebrations. We recently did the first event happy hour at Norfolk Seafood Company – a wonderful experience any time of the day; later that weekend, we entertained Tony’s Cousin Tina, the original Blue Angel. This weekend, we’re off to the Northern Neck (not sure what/where that is, but that’s what the locals call it) for the Chesapeake Bay Star Gazing cruise. Posts/reviews to follow.  

Until my next missive, wishing you all the fun summer tidings you deserve while we’re still in the season. 

Breaking Bread

13 Thursday Dec 2018

Posted by in Christmas, Epicurean, Holidays, Yeast

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Tonight’s Artisan Bread

Oh, I love bread…especially fresh baked bread.  I’m fortunate to live in an area with at least 5 bakeries within a two square mile radius — and they’re all good in their own right.  One is open 24/7/365.  If it appears ‘closed’ there’s a side door you can go in where you’ll find yourself in a flour-gritty building that resembles a garage where bread, pretty much right out of the oven, is for sale.  I’ve learned the hard way, when stopping by outside of normal hours or on an actual holiday — like Easter — is that you need to go in with close to exact change as the workers tend not to have a boat load of money on them to make change of a $10 or $20.  To be fair, it wasn’t that hard, the guy just gave me the bread. 

As I’ve mentioned, my husband’s adopted a Paleo lifestyle.  He’s quick to correct me, “it’s a modified Paleo diet.”  He’s been working with a nutritionist for more than a year now and has lost immense amounts of weight.  He plateaued for about 6 months and Mary Van Something Dutch, the nutritionist, put him on a Paleo diet.   

#Yummy

I haven’t figured out the Paleo rules (all these diets are kind of the same with a few tweaks here and there), but believe that bread is prohibited.  One day, Tony was Kvetching to Something Dutch about his periodic bread cravings; two days later a cookbook arrived in the mail, ‘Gluten-Free Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.’ 

The book sat for more than a few days while Tony feverishly did his research, checking out every website offering ‘Gluten Free Bread that Doesn’t Suck.’  The one consistent he found, was indeed this book.  It’s a bit pricey to get all the ingredients, however when you break down the cost per loaf it’s no more than what one would spend at Whole Pay…err Foods.  More importantly,  after following their ‘master recipe’ and making a few batches of dough, it really isn’t that complicated.  And the bread is good; really good.  

So tonight we made Bread, and enjoyed it; so much.  

For the foodies out there looking for some chili ideas, my good friend Donna Chang (it’s a spoof) has started a Vlog series on IGTV (that’s Instagram TV).  The Vlog can be found at @Stellar_rad and one of her first episodes is about Chili.  Her heritage is South American (albeit, she’s now a citizen, #Welcome, and may be more American than myself), so you know her recipe is al cante! 

Here Comes Santa Claus 

That’s it for now, I did half my decorating this evening, will finish this weekend, and am loosing steam.  Some may feel it too late to be decorating, but we celebrate Little Christmas and, inevitably, keep our tree up through the end of January (if not later). 

With that, I bid you safe travels, smooth sailings and, of course, bon appetite. 

And We Sang…

13 Thursday Dec 2018

Posted by in Christmas, Holidays, New Jersey

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Nothing says Christmas like caroling; and few things are more inspiring than caroling at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in beautiful downtown Newark, NJ. “Newark,” you say.  Yes, Newark. 

The Cathedral Basilica

This is the second year I’ve been to the Candlelight Carol Sing at the Basilica and it was as magical this go around as the first time.  The conductor, John J. Miller, judiciously picked 20 carols for the evening, half of which were song by the choir, the other half with audience participants joining in.  It’s a fantastic program with traditional and religious carols and the manner in which Mr. Miller has the choir and audience playing off one another is delightful.  

Caroling Song Book

The evening began with the choir strategically placed throughout the Cathedral singing “E’en so Lord Jesus, Quickly Come” and ended with a tribute to the 200th Anniversary of “Silent Night” and, of course, “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.” In honor of Silent Night’s anniversary, the first two verses were sung in traditional German, accompanied by the harp, and the remaining verses were sung by an audience draped in candlelight. 

Do You See What I See?

The Basilica’s Carol Sing started 48 years ago.  Then director of music, John Rose, had a concert planned for mid-December.  As fortune would have it, the area was assaulted with a storm and the organist was unable to traverse to Newark.  Not wanting to disappoint the 50 or so concert goers in attendance,  Mr. Rose treated the audience to a preview of the Cathedral’s Christmas mass music and lead a round of carols creating, unbeknownst to him at the time, a long-standing and much loved holiday tradition.  This year, there had to be close to 500 people in attendance, if not more. 

On that musical note, I’m signing off with the sweat melody of “Carol of the Bells” in my head.  And, to you, I wish safe travels, smooth sailings and bon appetite. 

Random Musings

12 Wednesday Dec 2018

Posted by in Christmas, Epicurean, Gift Ideas, Holidays

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Gizmo at the Nyack, NY Christmas Tree Lighting

Here I sit, feeling neglectful.  The holidays are in full swing and finding the time to pen posts isn’t the easiest of tasks.  “What?” You exclaim, “I’m penning blogs while juggling a full time job, a family and numerous volunteer activities. What’s your excuse, Rivera?!?” You ponder.  No excuse, I just embraced the fact that I’m not wonder woman a long time ago…and I’m good with that.  

We’ve been packing a fair amount of fun into the season.  Tony and his band had a Christmas concert this past weekend.  While that’s meant a lot of rehearsals for the band, I’ve been spending time with the ‘band aids’ — the band members’ significant others; all good friends with whom I enjoy breaking bread and sipping wine with. 

I didn’t properly plan today’s missive so I offer you some of the musings I’ve had over the past few days: 

Fun Socks — Thanks Maker’s Mark!

Give Me Their Budget:  I need Maker’s Mark’s marketing budget.  Actually what I experience is  only a small percentage of that budget falling into the CRM — customer relationship management — category.  Years ago I signed up to be a Maker’s Mark Ambassador.  Every Christmas they send fabulous gifts to their Ambassadors.  One year it was ear mufflers, another year a sweater for my Maker’s bottle, and one year bourbon ball ice cube trays.  This year’s gift…ta da:  Socks!  Absolutely #Fun! 

Paprika from La Tienda

La Tienda:  Above and beyond the my husband’s jeep catalog, I’m the person who receives catalogs in the family which I always enjoy thumbing through (am I aging myself?).  A few days ago, Tony received a catalog from La Tienda, a company that’s celebrating ’22 Years of the Best of Spain” which piqued my interest.  With an great assortment of  foodstuff  — from meats and cheeses to tapas offerings and custom gift boxes — I’m envisioning a few gifties for the big guy, specifically a Paella Pan, their smoked Pimenton de la Vera Paprika, a goat or sheep cheese item — the Spaniards make seriously good cheese — and perhaps a ring or two of Chorizo.  If you’re looking for a unique gift for the Spanish epicurean in your life or, your friendly neighborhood meat and cheese lover, check them out. 

Living Coral

Living Coral:  Pantone, the color folks, has come out with their color of the year.  They’ve been doing this for the past 20 years and every year, I’m fascinated by their choice.  For 2019 the Pantone Color Institute has designated Living Coral as the color of the year (PANTONE 16-1546).  They state, “Living Coral emits the desired, familiar, and energizing aspects of color found in nature. In its glorious, yet unfortunately more elusive, display beneath the sea, this vivifying and effervescent color mesmerizes the eye and mind. Lying at the center of our naturally vivid and chromatic ecosystem, Pantone Living Coral is evocative of how coral reefs provide shelter to a diverse kaleidoscope of color.”

With that colorful tidbit, I’m wishing all my readers safe travels, smooth sailings and, of course, bon appetite!

Gifts for Walkabout…

04 Tuesday Dec 2018

Posted by in Christmas, Gift Ideas, Holidays, Travel

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My husband and I celebrate and exchange gifts on Little Christmas, the Epiphany, in early January. I balked when Tony first suggested this.  However, I quickly discovered: 1.  The hassle of running around and buy gifts for the 25th is eliminated, 2. The holiday season is a lot less stressful in general, and 3. We seize upon the post holiday sales, often saving a substantial amount of money. As the clock ticks away, I’ve rounded up some thought provoking and sometimes novel gifts presented by the editors of and writers for some of my favorite sites:

Travel + Leisure – I love Travel + Leisure and worked with them quite frequently in my previous life.  Three of their gift picks:

Vietnamese Coffee Kit
  • Sony Noise Canceling Headphones –  Digital Assistant Editor, Richelle Szypulski writes, “Sony’s newest over-ear headphones are so impressively good. They’ve made the latest model lighter and more comfortable to wear and increased the battery life to a whopping 30 hours. But above all, Sony focused on sound and, wow, it is delightfully immersive to listen to music with these on.”
  •  Vietnamese Coffee Pour-Over Kit – Associate Digital Editor Tanner Sanders enthuses over the kit, “This clever little system that’s designed to easily fit in your bag makes a truly wonderful Vietnamese coffee. Even better, the pack comes with enough supplies to make five cups of coffee, making the perfect gift for your coffee-obsessed friends heading out on vacation.”
  • Tablet Holding Cutting Board –Digital Assistant Editor, Elizabeth Preske, choose this goody, stating, “With this handy kitchen tool, my mom can prop up her iPad and easily follow the directions while she preps her meals. No uncomfortable neck craning or back bending necessary.” 

The Planet D – Dave and Deb of The Planet D offer up a Handpresso option, which is probably more up my husband’s alley than the Vietnamese coffee thingy. Unfortunately for him, this list isn’t being developed for him.  My picks among the 55 things the dynamic duo suggest:

Warm, Toasty Toes
  • Travel Towel –Dave and Deb write, “Even if you are staying in a 5-star resort, you often have to bring a towel with you when going on an adventure excursion.Instead of packing the clunky hotel towel, use this microfibre travel towel. It’s good for long multi-day treks or just a day at the beach. Quick dry and odor resistant make it a plus to have in your baggage.” 
  • Compression Socks – Deb, or Dave, wrote about their experience with the socks, “I tried them once a few years ago and they felt like they were squeezing my legs, my latest pair are so cushiony and cozy. The merino wool keeps odors away and they feel comfortable on a flight.” Compression socks intrigue me…hint, hint Tony Rivera.  

Town & Country:  Writer Caroline Hallemann knows how to pick great gifts and did a solid round up for ‘Jet Setters’

Twill Weekender Bag
  • Ollo Phototgraphy lens – I’ve often thought of this but have never investigated; you can get a get a set of lens for the iPhone at a pretty reasonable price. As Caroline states, “Help your Instagram-obsessed nephew rack up the likes with a set lenses for his phone which instantly up his photography skills.”
  • Mini Jewelry Case– OK, I like it because it’s cute. Caroline feels that you could “Help your less-than-organized mother secure her earrings, necklaces, and rings for travel in a chic croc-embossed leather jewelry case from Cuyana.”  The case is Cuyana’s coveted jewelry case, redesigned.  It has a soft felted pouch with satin drawstring ribbons at the interior to store your littlest luxuries. It also features the same belt detail for securing earrings and rings with ease.
  • Twill Weekender – This is so tempting and appears to be a useful size for that last minute weekend get-away.  Caroline agrees, “Have a friend who is always planning weekend getaways? Consider gifting them this simple-yet-sturdy weekender that doesn’t break the bank.”

Good Housekeeping: Good Housekeeping’s gift guide is culled from interviews with avid travelers, people always on the go. Writer Lindsey Murray goes so far as to state, “Going on a trip is a gift in itself, but certain add-ons can make the journey even more enjoyable.”  Three clever gift ideas I never would have thought of include: 

Fire TV Stick
  • FireTV Stick  “Nearly every hotel has a TV, but what happens when you want to watch your favorite streaming service? Just plug in this tiny device and, bam, it’s just like you’re at home!” — Nate H., 32, has traveled to 43 countries in the last year
  • JBL Portable Waterproof Wireless Bluetooth Speaker –  “I always travel with a small bluetooth speaker.  It hangs in my shower when I’mat home, but on the road, it is my portable entertainment system.  I can hang it in a hotel shower, on a backpack, or under a beach umbrella and play music, podcasts, or sound for a movie.” — Jay W., 40, world tour manager who has traveled to 42 countries
  • Audible Credits – “My absolute favorite travel-related gift is an Audible credit. When traveling it’s often hard to know how strong your cell service will be or if Wi-Fi will be available. Being able to download audio books directly to your device means you aren’t dependent on service for your on-the-go entertainment.” — Veronica H., age 32

We’re staring 2019 in the face; before we get there, however, I’ll post more gift ideas – next up for the epicurean in our life.  Until then, I wish you all safe travels,smooth sailings, and, of course, bon appetite.