The leaves are all fired up in Prospect Park. Get outside this weekend and breathe in the summery, fall air. Photo: @craig_p_connolly
It has been a long, lasagna-filled week for me. How about you? What did you stress eat while refreshing your NYT app and then double-checking what CNN and Fox were saying? (And did anyone else notice the Fox meters stopped working once they began tilting in Biden’s favor?)
Going into this election, we all knew it would take longer than a day, but I don’t think any of us anticipated how excruciating the wait or how razor-thin the margins would be. After trolling the Real Donald on Twitter for the last four years, my mother didn’t sound as happy as I imagined she would be when I checked in with her after Biden won Michigan. Sure she was looking forward to saying goodbye to Jared, Ivanka, Barr, Miller, and the sorest loser of them all. But like a lot of us, she was depressed that half the country, essentially, opted for four more years of hate/environmental rollbacks/disinformation/fraud/ unconscionable harm. The pollsters were wrong again, and we are similarly foolish to think Trump will just disappear when* he loses. (Though some predict he’ll be a flight risk in this New Yorker story about the reasons why he is so afraid to get tossed out.)
Nail-biting aside, at least we have a beautiful weekend ahead of us, because I for one sat glued to my screen most of this week, and didn’t take advantage of the warm weather. The fall colors are peaking in Central Park and Prospect Park, and we have five straight nights ahead of us to eat outdoors without bundling up. Now, in addition to igloo dining on sidewalks, there are also glass greenhouses on rooftops, and Summerly at The Hoxton has transformed itself into Winterly, with a rooftop enclosure and room for outdoor seating on warm days like today. I’m planning on heading to Chelsea Market tonight to snag a table along its block of outdoor seating and maybe do some sample sale browsing after a walk on the High Line. Speaking of shopping, the Navy Yard just released their virtual holiday market, Made at the Market, so you can indulge in some retail therapy and holiday shopping that doesn’t involve Amazon.
But you also need to take care of your mental state too, and this weekend, two wellness centers are opening their doors online. Healhaus is hosting its second day-long retreat this Sunday, with breathwork, tarot, and other feel-good experiences for $25, while Minka is hosting a free open house tomorrow where you can check out offerings like astrological healing and flower essence therapy. Live comedy would be a good pick-me-up right now and Tiny Cupboard’s recent press in the New York Times made me want to check out one of their free Tuesday night rooftop shows. I am also looking forward to the Literary Legends Homecoming Festival to benefit KGB next week that Kate profiled in her November Culture Calendar, and I am excited to see Class Action Park, one of the documentaries Meredith suggested to distract us from our current reality. (Having been to the waterpark side of Action Park—the deadliest section—I now feel lucky to have made it out.)
If you are craving more comfort food, order in and help a restaurant out. I stocked my fridge with Indian takeout and have been enjoying aloo gobi, chicken saagwala and vegetable korma all week. BB writer Kara Zuaro said the best self-care she’s had in the past few weeks was ordering a hard-shelled sundae for delivery from Brooklyn Farmacy, something you may not have known was possible but should definitely do.
I can’t wait for Kate’s take on the election when she is back next Friday. Till then, take good care of yourself and *have faith. The margins may be tighter than we’d hoped for, but they are spread across more states than we imagined possible.
