Looking Back, Looking Ahead

How was your first week of 2023? Mine was both a mental and physical transition from last year into this new one. In the quiet moments, I reflected on what did and did not happen in 2022, but also what I made happen and did not make happen. Food for thought and fuel to do more, see more, be more in the 365 days ahead.  

Summer Dress, Winter Style

I bought this gingham dress late in the summer and promptly hung it in my closet, never to be worn. Until a few weeks ago when instead of the chilly temps you’d expect, we were experiencing one warm sunny day after the other. Of course, temps have dipped significantly since then, but with a few tweaks I think this dress can weather the change of season and become a wardrobe staple all year long.

Finding My Balance

For the last 18+ months our world has been anything but ordinary. In many respects, it’s been terrifying. But as COVID vaccines and breakthrough treatments rolled out and infection rates fell, it did feel like we could finally breathe a collective sigh of relief. With Thanksgiving around the corner and Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa coming up, I want to celebrate with family and friends. In person, not virtually. And I’m sure you do, too. So unless we are forced into lockdown, I’m not going to panic, I’m going to mask up, and I’m going to do whatever I can to find my balance throughout whatever comes our way.

Rainbow Run

Did it feel weird when you first returned to a more “normal” workout routine post COVID? It did for me. With the gym in our building closed for months during the pandemic, I definitely had to get creative about staying in shape — both mentally and physically. Going up and down the fire staircase (7 flights x 10 times) definitely proved aerobic, especially on bitter cold days. I also enjoyed bundling up for a long, waterfront walking loop around JC. With no free weights in our apartment or even available to order (did you try???), I took advantage of using the ones in our garage upstate whenever I could. We also have an Ergometer (rowing machine), and 25-40 minutes on that was a whole body challenge. As much as I wanted to try to consistently maintain my best weight, best fitness, best energy levels, working out also kept my brain clearer, my mood less dark too.

Pastel Patrol

Forget the “fashion rule” that says pastels are only for Summer. There’s no easier or better way to lighten your Fall/Winter wardrobe — or your mood — than by adding a dash of these delicate hues. My suggestion? Every now and then switch up the deeper hues that most of us will reach for in the months ahead with a pale blue, pink or lavender. These pretty colors add a nice contrast when paired with always reliable black, too.

Switching Up My Smoothie

Good morning, sunshine! Here’s a delicious and healthful new Smoothie recipe that I’ve worked into my breakfast rotation. If you’re new to Life’s a Spritz, you might not know that I’ve been having one Smoothie version or another for…yikes…decades. (As seen here and here.) For me, it’s the fastest, easiest, most nutritious way to get my day going. If you’re not on the Smoothie train, you just might want to hop on once you taste this one!

Cyber Monday

There’s less than an hour left in 2018’s Cyber Monday countdown, and I for one can’t wait for it to be over. Spending Thanksgiving up at our Adirondack cabin with limited wifi made stepping back from the frenzy pretty easy. But if you’ve been shopping the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales and scoring the bargains that are going to make your holiday season easier and more affordable, cheers to that!

With everyone’s wifi access limited to my lone hotspot, it was easy to step away from my laptop on Black Friday and drive to Lake Placid with my husband Chris. It was a spectacular day — if a bit (just a bit!) chilly at 12 degrees. But we were dressed for the frigid temps and enjoyed a lovely, after-lunch walk around Mirror Lake, then a nap once we’d made it back to the cabin. April and I did our part to support Small Business Saturday by shopping at our two favorite local stores, Dartbrook Rustic Goods in Keene and The Birch Store in Keene Valley. Both their websites have an array of unique gift ideas.

Just Peachy!


According to Perrier and my Inbox, August is National Peach Month! Yay!! So since we bought some almost-ripe beauties last weekend at the Farmer’s Market up in the Adirondacks that were now ready to go, I wanted to come up with something that would do them — and us — right. Basically I riffed on a crowd-pleasing blueberry yogurt cake I’ve made many, many times. It’s the kind of cake that makes the perfect summer dessert when topped with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream, but it’s also fantastic for breakfast/brunch when it spends a few minutes in the toaster oven and then is finished with some cream cheese. It’s a super simple recipe I hope you’ll give a try. 

Strawberry Rhubarb is my Jam…


…and dessert sauce and yogurt topping and pie filling and…Think you get the idea. This four ingredient (!) jam recipe is so delicious and so easy to make, I hope you’ll put fresh rhubarb and strawberries on your Farmer’s Market shopping list this week. If you’re tempted, don’t wait on the rhubarb. It’s only available for a very short window of time — at least here in the Northeast. I buy as much as I can, then wash, cut and freeze it so we can enjoy it for months to come. Then you can combine it with store bought raspberries, too. If you haven’t tried cooking with rhubarb, give it a try. I think you’ll like (love) it.