August 5, 2021
Despite creating a ton of new tops and shooting them on a slew of wonderful mermaid models, I have decided not to vend at MerMagi Con this year after all. I won’t bore you with the details, but the ease of my rolling over my reservation to next year helped Read more…
July 29, 2021
Back over the bridge for some more vegan eats! Firstly, breakfast at Northside Coffee in West Brighton. I’ve reported on this space before, but when it was Fab Cup. (You may remember my complaining about their Golden Milk latte and their lack of good vegan options here.) Now, renovated and with Read more…
July 28, 2021
It isn’t until you experience the death of someone close to you that you decide what you believe–what makes sense to your heart, what makes sense to your hurt. Because what is and the life of your emotions don’t intersect sometimes. Resourceful buggers, some emotions can sustain themselves in a Read more…
June 26, 2021
With my mermaid top crafting moving along, I have been having plenty of mermaid photoshoots. It’s kind of my new favorite thing to do. So many shoots have been on Staten Island because 4 of my mermaids live there… and it’s convenient for me. The moon showed up. I’ve decided Read more…
June 17, 2021
Time is divided in pictures, like blondies. A 90’s day, I binged grunge documentaries and made a tofu scramble Hello, berry season Waiting for a mermaid on South Beach, Staten Island Tried these Kite Hill tortellini. Good flavor and texture… If you need to use up a lot of apples, Read more…
June 4, 2021
Bario’s on Staten Island has a separate vegan menu–not just a small section of vegan offerings like they had when I visited in 2018. But I ordered the same thing this time: their mozzarella sticks. Because I do what my body tells me to do. They are pricey, but they Read more…
With the first of a couple of Staten Island mermaid shoots coming to fruition, we hit some of my favorite places on the Island, including Eltingville’s Pastosa to finally score a box of beet ravioli–a variety that has eluded me since I discovered their vegan ravioli in 2019. Since my Read more…
Since it’s been a minute (2009), I feel it’s time to profess my love for Carnivals. There is something magical about all the onsets of Summer. And carnivals are wrapped up in that ertia (a word I made up meaning the opposite of inertia)… one of the many colorful ways Read more…
April 24, 2021
My Staten Island ‘vegan eats’ list is pretty long again! I’m so excited by so many places finally embracing vegan options. Like Richmond Republic in Eltingville, which added two new all-vegan selections that are labelled with enthusiasm–an actual menu header and not some tiny marking. To start a cocktail–though I Read more…
January 28, 2021
Time is marked so awkwardly now; it’s disorientating. Without its usual structures, a day is still frame. A painting made in a day. Packed in words. Empire. Holy cannoli Keep it safe. Roadside attractions. Bus view of Bayley Seton. Those clouds though. Outfit of the day. Pantone 292. Homemade Chana Read more…
January 17, 2021
File this under more all-vegan in Staten Island! Nacho Mama is a newish eatery from the Tri Lounge folks (reported on here) in the space of the Thali Bar Baar (reported on here) in Bulls Head. They’ve got a menu full of healthier versions of decadent dishes, like the Tatertachos: Read more…
The Sicilian chick pea fritter Panelle is “accidentally” vegan. But Staten Island’s only Sicilian eatery, Made in Sicily in Grant City, has got ’em nice and piping hot so you don’t need to get oil all over your stove like I did last I made it. They’ve also got lots Read more…
My vegan Staten Island reporting is pretty much blowing up. And so I am uncovering more vegan options on my neighboring borough, starting at Bin 5 in Rosebank: Michelin-Rated and considered “One of Staten Island’s top places to eat” by the New York Times, as their website proclaims. But more Read more…
January 10, 2021
When I first read about the opening of Vodega in the Randall Manor neighborhood of Staten Island, New York City’s first and only 24/7 all-vegan bodega, it was 11 in the evening. And I contemplated jumping on the bus to check it out in my pajamas! But I resisted, waiting Read more…
December 24, 2020
Around the block from Historic Richmond Town, The Church of Saint Andrew was established when the area was a British colony. In fact, Staten Island has New York City’s oldest churches! (Like this one established in 1680 in Port Richmond.) In the Revolutionary War it served as safe haven for Read more…
I’ve spent a good amount of this holiday season creating my own set of holiday greeting cards. This was the final addition. A quick trip to Staten Island’s Bayley Seton Hospital with a little bit of festive trim. The hospital was bustling, as most are right now. And the decaying Read more…
October 30, 2020
The last two tops of this season’s Mermaid Craft Season would make 9 tops altogether. 3 have sold, as well as 3 from previous seasons. Though my stock of shells is still pretty larger from my massive Florida shell haul in 2019, I am thinking up another trip south for Read more…
October 25, 2020
𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓥𝓮𝓰𝓪𝓷 𝓑𝓮𝓼𝓽 𝓸𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓑𝓸𝓻𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱𝓼, 𝓢𝓽𝓪𝓽𝓮𝓷 𝓘𝓼𝓵𝓪𝓷𝓭 Welcome to my series that highlights the very best vegan foods in New York City’s boroughs. While vegan options are popping up all over, this series focuses on the non-dairy cream of the crop, options that raise the bar for vegan food Read more…
October 10, 2020
Staten Island’s Moravian Cemetery has it all–death heads and winged soul effigies on centuries old headstones, intriguing epitaphs, beautiful angels, heartbreaking modern-day memorials, lush green overgrowth, gorgeous trees, peace… quiet. Meandering through its paths in Autumn is the stuff that Cemetery Season is all about. Leaves are turning I found Read more…
October 3, 2020
I’ve realized that intellectual compatibility is the only way to be ushered past all my diligent guards. But beyond the gates… rewards well worth the usual frustration, hassle and disappointment of having said standards. Within these states of understanding, the exchange of thoughts and ideas is, to me, the most Read more…
July 18, 2020
Like a lot of New Yorkers, I picked up a rental car today. My secret for an affordable price is to rent on my neighbor, Staten Island. While I was there, multitasking as usual, I planned to hit up a Caribbean eatery that offers a vegan dish. So I had Read more…
June 26, 2020
I found fibonacci perfection in this daisy along my walk. The rose season moves into daisy and lily days. One of the reasons I love summer in New York City. Tajin covered perfectly ripe mango for $3 on the street. Black Lives Matter outside Staten Island’s Borough Hall. But I’m Read more…
June 23, 2020
In my typical multi-tasking style, an early morning errand on Staten Island meant I had the opportunity to return to Filoncino Cafe in Eltingville to try their vegan breakfast. An omelet! 🤯 Indicative of just how far options have come, the vegan omelet was once one of those holy grail Read more…
May 17, 2020
Oh no. Oh no. Oh no no no no no. Ok, enough of The Shangri-Las, though they’re one of the absolute coolest girl groups from the sixties. It was a late lunch on the beach. Staten Island’s FDR Boardwalk & Beach was at a healthy buzz upon our arrival. After Read more…
May 16, 2020
Though I found myself again at Staten Island’s most dynamic photo stop, The New York Farm Colony, first a visit to the barely accessible remains of the infamous Willowbrook State School. Since 1993, many of the former buildings of this disgraced state school for the physically and mentally disabled are Read more…
With such a hefty toll to cross into Staten Island, I like to make ‘er pay up–justify the antenna money grab with an enriching stop even if the Island is not my final destination. Such was the case when my friend and I embarked upon a road trip to several Read more…