Brooklyn Botanic Gardens

November 26, 2016 in Journal

I am a total plant lady 🌿 , so my visit to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden totally made my heart swoon. The gardens opened over 100 years ago and my two favorite features are some of oldest parts: the Japanese gardens (opened in 1915) and the Conservatory (constructed in 1917). If you could use a little more greenery in your life right now please enjoy an overload of it below!

Japanese Hill & Pond

Aquatic House

Tropical pavilion

Desert pavilion

Greened out yet!?! I hope you loved it, I personally was inspired by the aquatic house to add a couple of orchid plants to the apartment and am on the lookout for some new cacti varieties!

Kings County Distillery

November 02, 2016 in Journal

When I am not traveling I love to spend my weekends exploring new places around me in NYC. Recently the city had Open House New York (OHNY), and annual event where institutions and businesses open up their doors for exclusive for discounted tours that highlights design and planning around the boroughs (so cool right!?). My partner and I decided to cross over to Brooklyn to tour Kings County Distillery.

Kings County Distillery is the oldest distillery operating in the the 5 boroughs, but that isn’t saying much because it opened in 2010! It was the first post-prohibition era distillery to open up and has become a whiskey lover's favorite. I personally am not a whiskey kind of girl (I much prefer a spicy gin or full bodied glass of wine) but I had gifted my partner a small bottle of the bourbon a year or so ago based on the beautiful look of the bottle. He was immediately smitten.

The distillery is located in Brooklyn’s historic navy yard in the relatively small former paymaster’s building. Because of their artisan small batch roots this is not a problem for the whiskey and moonshine makers. What they lack in volume is more than made up for in quality. Over the course of the tour we learned that the founder, originally from Kentucky, began making moonshine with a roommate after college, and later decided to move their small illegal operation to the navy yard once demand exploded and the FBI caught wind.

We toured the basements where the mash is fermented in open air vats and then made a spirit by the stills. And then went upstairs to where the bourbon is barrel aged in a delicious smelling room. We ended our tour with a tasting of the classic moonshine, seasonal spiced moonshine, classic bourbon, and chocolate whiskey.

In all it was a lovely to see how a product I respect so much is made, and meet some of the people part of that process. It really sparked my desire to learn more about other local products!

Hometown Tourist: Reynolda Gardens

October 25, 2016 in Journal

I recently went to visit my Grandmother and parents in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Although originally from NYC, I spent most of my childhood growing up there. I always thought of Winston-Salem as home and not a place to discover and explore, but on this trip I recognized that is not so. On this trip I took a few hours with my mother and sister in tow to wander about Reynolda Gardens, a place I know but never really appreciated. That changed on this visit...

Reynolda Gardens is part of the former estate of tabacco magnate and businessman Richard Joshua Reynolds. The grounds were developed in 1906 during a period called the Country House Era where wealthy industrialists would build lavish estates to which they could retreat to for fresh air and relaxation. Now the garden's 129 acres are maintained by Wake Forest University and used for educational and public purposes. While there we strolled though the gardens near the greenhouse (above) and the Reynolda House museum (below), and on my next trip I plan to explore the boathouse and meadows. And as you can see we also took lots of selfies and pictures of the beautiful botanicals!