October 2023 Favorites - Everything Hudson Valley, NY Local: Armour–Stiner Octagon House, Peace, Love, Pumpkins, Walkway Over the HudsonBrunch, Date-Night, & Dessert Finds

October 2023 Edition: Monthly blog where I share some of my favorite events, local Hudson Valley Spots, brands, and products that I’ve been loving this past month.

Local Spots - Perfect for Halloween & Fall:

Armour–Stiner Octagon House | “Myths & Mysteries” - Irvington, NY

The Armour–Stiner House is an octagon-shaped and domed Victorian-style house located at 45 West Clinton Avenue in Irvington, in Westchester County, New York.

During the month of October, tours at The Armour-Stiner Octagon House transform into a more spirited experience with its ‘Myths and Mysteries’ tour. On the tour they explore local rumors around The Octagon House, implying its connection to the spirit world.

Dive into the myths and mysteries of the house — from its unique dome shape resembling an ancient Roman temple, to its octagonal floor plan rooted in 19th century Phrenology, to speculations of a resident ghost, and stories from the current owners who have described their experiences of the house as something otherworldly.

“Myths & Mysteries” tour includes Ryan Matthew Cohn of Oddities Flea Market, curated wonder-filled “Cabinet of Curiosities”.

Our experience:

This tour was so much fun, it’s such a unique house and the owners really gave it all the love an attention full of interesting artifacts and curation. Perfect if you’re looking for something new and spooky to explore in the fall. In the winter the also transform the home to a Charles Dickinson Christmas inspired tour.

Bethel Woods - Peace, Love, Pumpkins - Bethel, NY

Wind through the garden trails of Bethel Woods, and marvel at thousands of unique hand-carved jack-o-lanterns and glowing pumpkin art. Delight in Halloween music-themed displays featuring Woodstock festival icons, dinosaurs, mermaids, witches, and much more.

Thru the walk, you can take a break to enjoy a drink, get a snack, warm up by the fire, and on select nights, hear live music.

Our experience:

What I loved about this event was that it’s a great family friendly activity for Halloween. It’s a beautiful walk too and there’s so much to see. I also loved that they staggered the entry based on your ticket time… 6:30pm, 7pm, etc. so not everyone was going off at once and that made it feel less crowded and didn’t feel like people were on top of you.

The only negative was there was one cafe, and the lines were looonngg. I’d suggest going out to dinner or grabbing a bite before you go. My little one would have been so hangry if we waited on that line.

Walkway Over the Hudson - Poughkeepsie & Highland, NY

File this under “Free Things to Do in the Hudson Valley”.

The Walkway Over the Hudson State Historic Park, the world's longest elevated pedestrian bridge, spans 1.28 miles over the Hudson River in upstate New York.

Walkway Over the Hudson spans the Hudson River and connects the City of Poughkeepsie in Dutchess County with the Town of Lloyd and hamlet of Highland in Ulster County, New York. Entrances are located at 87 Haviland Road in Highland, New York and 61 Parker Avenue in Poughkeepsie, New York.

Our tips:

I parked on the Poughkeepsie side, in the graveled parking lot which is free. On a nice day, it’s truly a beautiful walk. On the Poughkeepsie side there was a bathroom and hot dog stand as well. Would definitely suggest going early as parking and crowds fill up fast.

Local Dining: Old Stone House Inn Restaurant - Warwick, NY

We came to the Old Stone House for a special treat to celebrate me and my husband’s anniversary. The food and drinks did not disappoint.

You can check out our Instagram Reel all about what we ordered.

The house and atmosphere really made it so unique. Each room was different, cozy and modern with a hint of history which I love. Definitely suggest you visit for a date night or brunch the next time you’re in Warwick, NY.

About the Old Stone Inn House:

The original stone house was built in 1773 by John Hathorn and his wife Elizabeth Welling Hathorn. Their initials are set in brick in the roof gable wall. He was Colonel of the 4th Orange County Militia during the Revolutionary War, and a Founding Father of New York State and the Nation. He served on the first NY Legislature and the 1st and 4th Congresses of the United States.

In 1834 the farm was purchased by Ezra Sanford, Jr., a veteran of the War of 1812. His son Pierson Ezra Sanford created an innovative and successful dairy business here. The Sanfords enlarged the house.

In 1926 Wilfred L. Raynor, Sr. purchased and continued farming. The Raynors placed the property on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001. They owned for 85 years.

Domar Homestead LLC bought the property in 2009, reselling to the Raynors in 2013.

By 2016, the house was deteriorating and endangered. In that year Arek Kwapinski and Sylwia Kubasiak rescued this historic landmark. Over the next five years at great cost and hard work fixed and updated it to become the Old Stone House Restaurant in 2021.

Cafe e Dolce - Warwick, NY

Great coffee shop in Warwick, NY. We came here after dinner for a slice of cake for dessert and coffee. We got the German Chocolate slice, it was so delicious.

They also specialize in crepes, and this is really a great coffee shop to sit, relax, and people watch on the Main Street of Warwick.

Kelly’s Bakery - Poughkeepsie, NY

A recent WWB attendee of ours suggested I visit Kelly’s Bakery and wow it was a pretty great experience.

We took the trip to Poughkeepsie and got there pretty early and there was still a line! What I did love about this place was I didn’t feel pressured to rush. It was my first time there and the staff was really patient and accommodating with me. They suggested I try the monkey bread, which is something I still thing about and the breakfast sandwich with house made chick sausage. As a passionate coffee lover, they also have house made syrups for your coffee with some really unique flavors.

The owner is Kevin Halim who graduated from Le Cordon Bleu with his Culinary Arts back in 2010 and from the Culinary Institute of America in 2015 for his Baking and Pastry Arts Management. Basically you know the food will be good, just pack your patience with the line.

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September 2023 - Favorites: Bethel Woods Harvest Festival, Spooky Brunch Recipes, Blondery, WWB Event Recaps, and Entertaining Mimosa Bar Finds

September 2023 Edition: Monthly blog where I share some of my favorite events, local Hudson Valley Spots, brands, and products that I’ve been loving this past month.

Local Hudson Valley Spots:

Bethel Woods Center of the Arts - Harvest Festival 2023

First time visiting Bethel Wood and the Harvest Festival this year. Harvest Fest is an annual fall farmer's market hosted at Bethel Woods Center of the Arts, every Sunday, late August to early October. Unfortunately, it’s over now but had over a 100 vendors, music, and food. I love that parking was $5-$7, super affordable. There were so many great vendors and felt like a true “kick off” to fall.

Spooky Breakfast Recipes on the ‘Gram:

I got into the fall cooking early this season, here’s a few brunch recipes I’ve been cooking up over on Instagram.

BONUS: Since it’s almost Halloween, I’ve also been loving Dash Halloween inspired mini waffle makers. 🎃 It makes breakfast a little more fun, especially for my toddler.

Delivery from Blondery:

Blondery is a women owned and black owned bakery in Peekskill, NY and online retailer serving up a variety of high quality blondies, cakes, cookies, and more.

They gifted and sent me over some of their traditional and best selling flavors, and can confirm they were delicious. My favorites were the Brooklyn Black Out and Birthday Cake.

Not sponsored just loved the product and supporting local women owned businesses, especially in the Hudson Valley.

blondery flavors

Women Who Brunch Event Recaps:

🎃 Our event recap from our Best of Tarrytown & Sleepy Hollow Brunch and Historic House Tour can be found here.

💐 Our event recap of our Pressed Flower Art Workshop and Brunch Bites at Witch Hazel, can be found here.

Entertaining Finds: For our Mimosa Bar, I was obsessed with the set up. A few items we used was this condiments tray for all the fruit toppings for the mimosas (I LOVED this tray and can’t wait to use it at more events or for entertaining or having a brunch at home) and some simple disposable mimosa champagne flutes.

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August 2023 - Favorites: Farmers Markets, Pantry Staples, and Local Bites & Museums

August 2023 Edition: Monthly blog where I share some of my favorite events, local Hudson Valley Spots, brands, and products that I’ve been loving this past month.

Local Hudson Valley Spots:

Boscobel House & Gardens - Garrison, NY

Boscobel opened as a nonprofit museum sixty years ago. Built between 1804 and 1808, it was originally the dream house of wealthy Loyalists. By the 1950s, after falling into disrepair, it was demolished. Preservationists saved as many architectural fragments as possible and reassembled them fifteen miles north, where the Neoclassical mansion was restored back to—and even beyond—its original grandeur. Boscobel was saved as a beautiful piece of art.

Boscobel offers 68 acres of our grounds, featuring lush gardens and a woodland trail. It has beautiful views of the Hudson River. Guided house tours are available.

Pro tip: My library had free museum passes for the house tour and access to the grounds. Come on the earlier side on the weekends. There was a wedding party the day I went and tons of wedding guests were starting to fill up the parking lot.

Noble Coffee Roasters - Campbell Hall, NY

If Noble Coffee was closer to me, I’d be in real danger. The coffee and breakfast sandwiches are amazing. It’s always packed and the staff is so nice. My favorite thing to order has been the Arugula Egg Sandwich on sourdough bread, with bacon, chive cream cheese and lemon dressed arugula.

Goosefeather - Tarrytown, NY

Goosefeather pays tribute to the cuisine of Hong Kong, with a focus on noodles, Cantonese barbecue, and dumplings.

James Beard nominated, Chef Dale Talde, brings his imagination to the cuisine, utilizing unexpected ingredients like dry-aged beef, black truffles and more.

Chef Dale Talde is the host of Tastemade’s “All Up In My Grill.” He was also a two-time cheftestant and judge on Bravo’s Emmy Award-winning culinary show, “Top Chef.” A familiar face onscreen, Dale has judged “Chopped,” “Knife Fight'“ and “Beat Bobby Flay.” Chef Dale’s debut cookbook is called Asian American.

Goosefeather is located in The King Mansion at the Tarrytown House Estate, which sits high on the hill above Sunnyside, the former home of famed writer Washington Irving (most recognized for his story, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow). The venue offers four separate dining rooms, a 9-seat bar, and both indoor and outdoor lounge areas.

My Takeaways:

For a date night, the food and drinks were absolutely delicious. I loved that each room had it’s own personality and theme. My food and beverage suggestions would be the “Pretty in Punk” cocktail. Order the Duck Boa Buns, Pork Belly, and Black Pepper Beef.

Next time, I would have steered clear of sitting on the “patio” area outside. On a very hot summer day in August, the sun was beating down on my face. It was so hot, hard to see, and talk to my husband. The staff tried to bring an umbrella over but the restaurant manager kept saying things like “but we have to shade the inside as well!”, like we were a complete burden and afterthought. Then the umbrella kept blocking the stairwell, where guests and staff had to go under it to get through. It was very awkward. I supposed as a first time experience, the hospitality was a bit underwhelming and would have loved to have been told more about the restaurant and history. But, the food was that good that I would go again.

Kingston Bread - Kingston, NY

I’ve been wanting to go to Kingston Bread & Bar for so long now. It was a very long day of going to different places with my son but I was determined to get some bread and it was worth it. I got a loaf of the Upstate Levain. It was amazing. Next time I go I definitely want to have lunch there, and take home a t-shirt, and get their sourdough starters.






Farmers Markets:

August was Farmers Market Season. I got the market bug and legit visited one market each week. It’s a summer must in my opinion. Please feel free to let me know your favorite Farmers Market in the Hudson Valley region. I really need more in my life. Here’s the ones I did visit this summer.

Tuxedo Park Farmers Market - Tuxedo Park, NY

Open Saturdays from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM // June - October


Highlights: Fresh mozzarella, Ambulance Corps is usually always bringing the safety knowledge, and gorgeous flowers from Ladybugs Garden, in Chester, NY.

Goshen Farmers Market - Goshen, NY

Every Friday from May through November 17, 2023

Hours: 9:00am to 3:30pm

Highlights: Y’all don’t sleep on this Friday Farmers Market. These vendors are A+. They have everything from really affordable fresh produce, baked goods, soap, coffee, meals/lunch options, sangria, spices, and so much more.

Rhinebeck Farmers Market - Rhinebeck, NY​

Sunday’s - May through December 17th, 2023 - 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Highlights: Had some of the most beautiful sunflowers I’ve ever seen, lines out the door for heirlooms and fresh bread, lots of food vendors too.

Ramsey Farmers Market - Ramsey, NJ

May - November, 2023 - 9am - 2pm / December - April, 2023 - 10am - 1pm

At Main Street Train Station

Highlights: This market has my go-to meat guy, the best iced coffee, fresh produce, craft vendors, empandas, cheese, pies, pickles, dried fruit, and so much more.

Pantry Items:

Heyday Coconut Curry Chickpeas

The brand had me at coconut and chickpeas. I paired these beans with an Indian Butter Chicken recipe I made during the week and the flavors paired so well together. Bravo beans!

Kola Goodies: Sri Lankin Milk Tea

Wow, this milk tea is truly so delicious. It’s creamy, sweet, with a perfect amount of spices that make you feel so warm and cozy. They have other superfood lattes like tumeric and super green latte. The CEO Sanjani is also the coolest.

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July 2023 - Favorite Things: Lavender Farm, Video Stabilizing Gadget, Snacks, and Clean Skin Care

New Blog concept coming at you, here’s where I share some of my favorite events, brands, and products that I’ve been loving this past month.

Exploring Local Thangs:

Lavenwood Farms - Washingtonville, NY

This past month, on July 9th, we held a Lavender Wand Making Class with lunch and networking at Lavenwood Farms in Washingtonville, NY.

I’m still blown away with having a sold-out workshop when it was severely down pouring (towards the end of our event thankfully!). We did some networking, lunch, and was taught how to make lavender wands by artist Fernanda of D'alma Design Studio.

Highly suggest you check this place out for lavender picking. Peak season is the first two weeks in July, but they have other workshops throughout summer including wildflower picking, painting nights, chef’s dinners, yoga, meditation, kids days, and much more. They also have a cute farm stand where I snagged from lavender lemonade, a shirt, and lavender simple syrup.

Foods & Products:

Peaceful Provision’s Witch Hazelnut Matcha Latte

A donut creation made for Witch Hazel’s 1st birthday celebration. If you don’t know about Witch Hazel it is a clean beauty, skin care, apothecary in Beacon, NY and they also have classes like perfume making and dried flower bouquet classes. Definitely check it out when you’re in Beacon.

Back to the Food… I’m not a big matcha person and this donut really won me over. Your pro-tip of the day: With Peaceful Privioson’s I find that you can’t order too many because they’re fresh and get stale pretty fast. And to go earlier or on a weekday because the lines are long and they sell out fast.

Little Lad’s Herbal Corn Popcorn

I’ve already had 2 bags of these from Specialty Food Association’s Summer Fancy Food Show. The flavor is so good. That is all.



Mulino Bianco Galletti - Shortbread with Sugar Crystals

These cookies are so buttery and tasty, so good. Ate the whole entire bag in about a week.

I got this sample recently and wow. I honestly didn’t think I’d love anything else outside my Caudalie serum but I loved this sample. Love the clean ingredients, the added vitamins A, C & E, and how great it feels on my face.





Nopalera - Cactus Flower Exfoliant

A clean collection of bath and body products made from the Nopal cactus, an ancient symbol of Mexican heritage. This is a cleanser, exfoliant, and moisturizer that leaves your body silky smooth afterwards.




Supergoop! Play Everyday SPF 50

Sunscreen is everything in the summer, especially with a toddler that loves for anything outdoors. I’ve really been enjoying being a responsible adult and putting this sunscreen on the daily.

Ash Hopper Botanical Skincare

Ash Hopper is a plant-based organic skincare brand that combines the best of science and creativity to bring sustainable skin solutions to life. It’s also local, with a shop in Warwick, NY and a vendor at Beacon, Goshen, and Cold Spring Farmers Markets and online.

The owners Matt and Thena Donnelly, both walked away from their careers as an MRI tech and salon co-owner. They embarked on their dream path, harnessing the healing power of nature to develop their unique line of sustainable skincare solutions.

I stopped into their Warwick shop and got the Kelp & Clay soap. It’s amazing and usually I’m one of those people that loves to hoard soap and never use it. But truly I love how creamy it is on my skin and the smell. Definitely check them out and support this local small business.

Gadgets:

DJI Osmo Mobile SE Intelligent Gimbal - Tripod & Video Stabilizer

This gadget is so cool. I originally got the recommendation from a friend of mine at Specialty Food Association’s Summer Fancy Food Show. She does social media for her company and this came highly recommended.

It acts as both a tripod and video/vlogging stabilizer for your phone. It has so many features to record video, take photos, it has a joystick and can focus in on an object to follow, it can transition from portrait to landscape, and a bunch of other features I still haven’t played around with yet.

If you do content creation or vlogging, I’d highly recommend this tool for your phone video capturing.