A few weeks ago, I shared the Sparknotes version of our summer to get everyone reading my blog (who is not following my day to day on Instagram) up to date. You can read that here. Next up? September. Yes, I know we’re already almost done with October but hey, progress is progress.

Here’s a few things that happened at the beginning of the school year:

1) I celebrated the end of the summer in style

The last thing I did over Labor Day weekend before heading back into the city was go to a dinner party styled by my friend Seri. There are three things my relationship with Seri has taught me about making mom friends: 1) You might not find your people right away. 2) You might think you found someone but then your kids or your husbands don’t click. 3) Once you find a true blue mom friend, where everyone meshes brilliantly, you’ll want to ditch your husband and kids at every opportunity.

 

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2. We moved into a studio apartment

As most of you know, our apartment is currently under renovation. It was supposed to be finished by the time we moved back into the city for school, but that didn’t happen. I answered a bunch of questions about the renovation and our temporary living situation here. The short story is— until our place is finished, we are living in a studio apartment owned by my brother-in-law and his family. It’s small but it’s close to school and it works. We’ve also been staying on and off with our friends who live in Tribeca. We feel very lucky that we have family and friends willing to house us while we wait for everything to be done. If you are excited for the big apartment reveal, imagine how we feel!

Here’s a look at the apartment in it’s current state:

 

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3. Mazzy and Harlow went Back to School

The first day of school was one of the few things I got it together to write about last month. I mean, if you miss THAT, you really can’t call yourself a mom blogger anymore. Below is the obligatory first day of school pic. Although, if you must know, I took it the day before the first day of school because I don’t need that kind of stress in my life.

 

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Now, take a look at the actual “first day of school” photo. Mazzy’s yawn is much more true to life. At the end of the day, I took the girls for ice cream and asked how their day went. Harlow said “Great!!! We didn’t learn ANYTHING!” Then by Friday, the kids were ready for summer again.

 

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4) Mazzy got sick 

At the beginning of each school year, I have a tradition of taking pictures of Mazzy that are 1st day of 1st grade, 2nd day of 2nd grade, 3rd day of 3rd grade…which started accidentally at 2nd grade (I forgot on Day One) and everyone said to continue the trend. Well, pictured below is the 4th day of 4th grade. Mazzy was home with a fever. She actually stayed out sick the entire second week and a few days of third week, which means she missed that transitional period where everybody gets settled and gets to know each other and the teacher. Instead she jumped right in at the end of the third week when homework started. That was a real bummer.

 

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The worst part about Mazzy being sick for so long is that we are currently living in a studio apartment while our place is being renovated, so I thought for sure, being in such close quarters, we would all get sick too. I tried to quarantine Mazzy as best I could by separating Mazzy and Harlow’s blow-up mattresses as far as possible. That translated into two feet instead of one. As I said, it’s a very small space. I also made sure Harlow stayed at my sister’s apartment (they are in the same building) after school and just came to the studio to go to sleep. They also weren’t allowed to kiss, hug or touch which was super hard for them. They legit had a breakdown over the “no touching” rule on the third night, miracle upon miracles, Harlow did not end up getting sick. Neither did Mike or I. PHEW.

Finally, about a week and a half later, Mazzy had a full day without a fever and we let the girls hug for the first time. It turned into a full on tackle. Mazzy and Harlow really crave affection from each other. It’s the sweetest.

 

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5) Mazzy invented a card game.

One good thing about being sick was that Mazzy learned that there is only so much iPad a person can watch before you start craving real activities and human interaction. One afternoon, I suggested we play cards. Mazzy liked the idea and told me she wanted to make up a new game. “It’s basically the same rules as War. Except Queens are higher than Kings.” PERFECT. Seems like that’s how we should play “War” from now on.

 

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6. Harlow is Mastering Drop-Off

Harlow was initially upset that she wasn’t in the same class as her closest friends from last year, but it seems like she has bonded quickly with some of her new and old classmates. Although we still have some drama at drop-off, we have more tear-free mornings than not, which is a huge step up from last year.

Her new morning routine is dropping off her scooter and then, while I take Mazzy to class, Harlow goes on her own to visit her old teacher and classroom. She pokes her head in, says hello and then meets me in her new class which is just around the corner. Usually, by the time I get there, she is already settled and playing with her new classmates. Just like last year, there is a 15 minute window where parents are allowed to hang out in the classroom. A bell chimes when it’s time to leave. It seems to go better if I leave before the bell chimes, otherwise she panics because class is starting and I’m leaving at once. If I leave while she still has a little time to play with her friends, it goes much smoother.

Lesson learned! Starting the day tear-free is so much better for BOTH of us.

 

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I also want to add that about ten days into the school year, her new teacher told me she was starting to see “Harlow’s goofball side” come out in class, which is an EXCELLENT indicator of her comfort level. Goofball Harlow is my favorite Harlow.

7. We went on a boat ride

I have a friend who works closely with the Public Art Fund and she got us tickets for the coolest boat ride ever. It’s a vintage fireboat painted by Tauba Auerbach, currently giving free rides from Brooklyn Park Bridge to the Statue of Liberty and back. They call it a “dazzle ship.” When you get to the statue, the water cannons let loose and give Lady Liberty a shower. I’ve lived in NY my whole life and this was such a treat!

 

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The boat ride was so awesome (and in perfect weather), I even got Mike to smile in a photo! I think this means a fairy got its wings. If you live in NYC, you should look for the Dazzle Ship along the East and Hudson River all throughout September and October. It’s quite a sight.

 

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8. We went apple picking

Mike’s rule is that we have to leave the house before 10am to beat the crowds. It always seems crazy to me to kill ourselves to get ready on a Saturday, but once we get there, I get it. The orchard is empty, it’s just us and it’s beautiful. On our way out, when we see all the cars pulling in, the crying toddlers and the people fighting over who gets the wagons, we always look at each other and smile. We aren’t rookie parents anymore.

 

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9. We celebrated Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur

Shana Tova to all my Jewish followers! Sorry, it’s a few weeks late. For everyone who is not Jewish, Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish new year based on the lunar calendar. Shana Tova means “a good year” in Hebrew. We celebrate with two nights of big family dinners that include sweet foods for a sweet new year like apples with honey, pomegranate, honey cake, raisin challah and wine. It’s all supposed to signify a sweet new year.

 

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Yom Kippur, which happens about tend days later, is a 24 hour fast (you can’t even drink water!) in which you atone for all of your sins from the past year. For parents, this is extra hard because we have to fast while feeding our kids. Gone are the days of sleeping late and riding it out. Now we have to wake up and cut strawberries, pour syrup over waffles, etc. Torture.

At sundown, we all attend a “break fast” where everyone gorges themselves on bagels, lox and my favorite, whitefish salad. Break fast. Breakfast. Get it?

This year we attended break fast at Seri’s place, so I have to give her full credit for the genius bagel display below. She made it with a paper towel holder. How’s that for a break fast table decor hack?!

 

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10. I started working out with Zengirlfitness again!

Ohmygod, I missed @zengirlfitness over the summer while I was living at the house. Although, I have to say— I did not come back with nearly as big of a deficit as last year, because this summer, I joined a gym. Can you believe it? First time I went to a regular gym on my own since Harlow was born. After camp drop-off, I worked out for a half hour as many mornings as I could. I didn’t want to make my workouts too long or difficult, because I knew then I would avoid going. Instead, I worked on being consistent and establishing exercise as part of my routine. I didn’t get nearly the results I get with Zen Girl, but I was able to semi-maintain all the work we had done. I call that a success.

It feels really good to be back though. I’ll write more about my workout routine soon!

 

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11. We ate a mountain of cotton candy

Last Sunday, Mazzy had a birthday party, and as any parent of more than one kid knows, that can kind of suck for the kid not invited. I assured Harlow that we would find something fun to do and then randomly walked into a coffee shop to get some caffeine before we came up with a plan. That coffee shop was a new place called L Room Cafe, where we quickly discovered that they make these totally OBSCENE desserts. We watched a few of them being delivered to their respective tables before I made an executive decision that we were getting dessert too.

The crazyass cotton candy cloud in front of Harlow below is covering a hunk of hollowed out white bread with toasted bread cubes, vanilla ice cream and strawberries inside. The idea is that you pour hot vanilla sauce on top and watch the cotton candy disintegrate and melt into the cube before you eat it. Unfortunately, nobody told us that (I found out what you are supposed to do with the sauce after the fact when I looked up the place on Instagram), so Harlow just ate the cotton candy and then we ate what was underneath, which was still delicious, but I think we might have to go back to do it right!

The other dessert is the Rose Garden Egg Waffle and it was delicious.

 

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Needless to say, any jealously that Harlow was harboring about Mazzy getting birthday cake at the party totally disappeared the second those desserts landed on our table.

Alright! That closes out September. October recap will come right on its heels!