My Ultimate NYC Fall Bucket List

The temps are dropping (kinda 😅) and I’m officially feeling those Fall vibes here in NYC. After traveling non-stop over the Summer, Fall is such a sweet season (and I’m not just talking about all of the pumpkin and apple seasonal treats). Below are a few of my favorite things to do each Fall in NYC as well as a few new experiences (and treats) that I’ve had my eye on. I’m on the prowl to try all 10 by the end of the season, who’s with me?

1| Magnolia Bakery’s Pumpkin Gingersnap Banana Pudding. If you haven’t tasted Magnolia’s famous banana pudding you haven’t lived (🤤). I’ve never tried any of their seasonal flavors, but I may just have to go out on a limb and try this one.

2| See No More. If you are a Gossip Girl stan like I am, you probably ran to Sleep No More circa 2013. That was before I even turned 21 😂! This is such a fun and unique experience and P-E-R-F-E-C-T for Halloween! Even though I’ve been, I’d love to go again.

3| The Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze. This one is a little outside of the city, but just a hop, skip and a jump. I’ve been wanting to go to this event out in the Hudson Valley for YEARS and I’m finally getting to go this upcoming weekend. The Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze is essentially an incredible outdoor museum of pumpkin art.

4| Fall Foliage in Central Park. It’s still a little early to see the leaves start turning, but any day now (usually closer to November), the lush trees of Central Park will be a beautiful mural of reds, oranges and yellows. I love getting lost in the park with my camera. It’s one of the only times throughout the year that I shoot in Central Park.

5| Beer & Pretzels at The Standard Biergarten. To be honest, I usually hate the Standard Biergarten (it can be crowded and full of grown-up (?) Frat boyz), but I’ll always hit it up once or twice in the Fall because of the undeniable Oktoberfest vibes.

6| Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade. This is one of my favorite events of the YEAR and now that I have little Duncan, I’m even more excited to attend and participate. Every year the dogs of NYC dress up and make their way to Tompkins Square Park. I love seeing how creative everyone gets and how adorable each pooch is.

7| Friendsgiving. This is a seasonal favorite of mine! Once November hits, I love filling my weekends with Friendsgiving with my different friend groups throughout the city. I always host one for my Sigma Kappa sisters at my apartment and it has become my favorite way to kickoff the holiday season.

8| Milk Bar’s Pie Soft Serve. I actually already tried this one 🙈 and it is SO worth it. I’m not a huge pie person (even on Thanksgiving) but put it in ice cream form and I’m IN LOVE. If you love the taste of brown sugar and butter, you’ll be obsessed.

9| Halloween Movie Night. My Fall weekends already look a little crazed, so some planned relaxation is sounding REALLY good right about now. This weekend, I’m hoping to curate the perfect list of Halloween movies, get one of those bags of assorted Halloween candy and have myself A NIGHT.

10| The Walk to End Alzheimer’s. Every Fall since I’ve been a sophomore in college, I’ve participated in the Walk to End Alzheimer’s. For context, the Alzheimer’s Foundation is Sigma Kappa’s national philanthropy so it’s always had a special place in my heart. In addition to being an INCREDIBLE cause that has impacted so many of my sisters and friends, it has also become synonyms with Fall. If you are interested, you can donate to my team here.

As I mentioned, my Fall already looks BOOKED, but I’m hoping to check these off my list before Thanksgiving. Who’s with me?!

Monday Motivation: Influence The Energy

Happy Monday, everyone! I’m gearing up for a busy (and hopefully productive) week ahead full of different meetings, projects, new blog partnerships, preparation for one of my best friend’s wedding (😱) and more. With so much going on, it’s easy to take stress, anxiety, and anger from one project/meeting/experience into another. However, recently I’ve noticed how impactful my mood and proverbial baggage can be on my team, friends, family, and boyfriend.

With this realization, I’ve become hyper-aware of how I can be less adaptable when I walk into rooms and more influential. This is something I have to work at every single day but over the past few weeks I’ve been trying a few tactics out to help influence the energy in every situation that I put myself in.

Below are five tips that I’ve found effective:

1| Acknowledge everyone in the room. My BIGGEST pet peeve is someone walking into a meeting without saying hello and vice versa. To help influence more positive energy, I try to acknowledge everyone’s entrance into the room with a simple ‘hello,’ no matter how distracted or busy I am.

2| Ask questions. When things seem negative or low-energy, start asking questions. It can be simple questions about how your team’s weekend was or the work that you are discussing, I guarantee that launching an open dialogue will help a) get people more invested in the energy of the room because now they are a part of the conversation and b) uncover why the room seemed negative in the first place.

3| Keep things factual. I’m an extremely enthusiastic and empathetic person who tries to keep everyone’s feelings in mind in work and play. However, sometimes it does more bad than good. A lot of people don’t see the good in people and overly-emotional conversations can be easily misconceived.

4| Keep people accountable. If you continuously allow people to walk all over you, their attitude and energy are never going to change. If someone is bringing the energy down consistently, talk to them one-on-one and see if there is anything you can do to help change it. While you might NOT be able to do anything to change it, you are raising the concern and they’ll probably (hopefully!) take it into consideration the next time.

5| End on a positive. Meetings get intense, brunch with your girlfriends can get dramatic, but always, always, always end on a positive. This will help ensure that nobody in that room is taking negative energy to their next experience.

This is NOT easy. I’m still working at it every single day. It’s really hard to keep things positive when shit totally sucks, but I promise you it will be worth it in the long run.

ThePreppyMAG September Picks

We’re more than halfway through the month and I’m itching for some real Fall weather. While Summer will always be my favorite season, now that Fall is here to stay I can’t wait to wear all things yellow, orange, and denim. I already picked up most of these items 💸💸💸 and about to do another splurge. Which of these picks is your favorite?

An Afternoon With Jam Jar Minis

Top (Old Navy) | Jeans (Gap) | Headband (Topshop) | Shoes (Chanel) | Wine (Jam Jar)

Happy Monday! This weekend was THE MOST chill I’ve had in a while. It included A LOT of much-needed sleep, snuggles with Duncan, a walk and wine date along the Battery Park Esplanade (pictured above), and of course trying out a new brunch spot (Malibu Farms in the Seaport District). What more can a girl ask for?

One of my favorite parts of the weekend was taking a six-pack of Jam Jar Minis down to the esplanade with Tom and Duncan to enjoy the last few days of Summer. I’m a recent fan of Jam Jar after I was lucky enough to receive two four-packs from the brand (one white and one red) a few weeks back and attend their launch event for their new Jam Jar Mini product last week. While the brand is new to me, I know it will be a favorite for YEARS to come.

I’m specifically obsessed with Jam Jar Minis because they are P-E-R-F-E-C-T for just about any occasion. I’ve been burned so many times by opening up a full bottle of wine just to drink one glass and toss it out a few days later. Jam Jar Minis is the solution to all of your problems. Whether you are meeting up with friends in the park, just want one glass of wine after work or tailgating, it avoids so much unnecessary waste.

In terms of taste, both are delicious, but I have to say I’m partial to the Sweet White. It is similar to a Moscato, making the mini bottle perfect for a dessert sweet treat. The Sweet Shiraz is also delicious and better if you are more of a semi-sweet gind of gal. Will definitely be a go-to as we get deeper into Fall and into Winter.

Lastly, the four-packs they Jam Jar Minis come in are absolutely adorable! They are super easy to carry wherever you go and the packaging is super cute. After my new Chanel slides, Jam Jar Mini four-packs are basically my favorite fall accessory.

South of France Travel Guide

Settle in because it’s time for pt. duex of my France travel guide. In case you missed it, I shared pt. une a few weeks back covering all of the fun that we had in Paris. As a reminder, Tom and I spent two weeks in France with his parents at the end of May and it was truly an experience of a lifetime.

In this installment of my France travel guide, I’ll share everything we did in our first nine days in France and they were a VERY busy nine days. In these nine days, we visited Eze, Nice, Monaco, Cannes, St. Paul de Vence, Avignon, and Carcassone, it was a wild ride. As always, this travel guide will outline where we stayed, what we did, what we ate and of course, what I wore.

Where We Stayed

While we may have visited seven different cities we only stayed in three of them, each with a hotel as beautiful as the next. Seriously, Tom’s dad CRUSHED the hotel game here with three amazingly unique and luxurious hotels. I loved them ALL.

For the first four days, we stayed in Eze at a hotel called Chateau de la Chèvre d’Or, which is nestled within the nooks and crannies of Eze Village (an incredible medieval village overlooking the French Riviera). Eze is only about 15 minutes away from Nice so in a way, it is a quiet little escape from the hustle and bustle of the city. Honestly, I found it surprising how urban Nice actually felt, so it felt kinda nice being away from it all. The rooms at the Chateau de la Chèvre d’Or were extremely comfortable (really big bathrooms with two vanities and closets, so of course it worked for me) and had GORGEOUS balconies overlooking the Mediterranean. I loved hanging out on the balcony in the morning or before dinner, it was so serene.

After Eze we were off to Avignon where we stayed at a hotel called Le Prieuré, it was amazing. Le Prieuré is actually an old priory that was refurbished into beautiful villas that were absolutely gorgeous. Our rooms were super spacious and included a huge patio that was perfect for afternoon reading or pre-dinner cocktails. Sitting on this patio may have been one of my favorite things about the entire trip. Similar to our situation in Eze/Nice, Le Prieuré was a short drive from the center of Avignon, in a town they called Villeneuve-lés-Avignon. The area felt way less touristy than Old Avignon and you could easily find locals living and dining around the area. Even though it was an outside Avignon, there were still a ton of restaurants and bars to enjoy that were walking distance and Le Prieuré itself had a Michelin-starred restaurant on site.

Before heading to Paris, our last stop was Carcassone. This was a walled city right outside Toulouse, bringing all of your Game of Thrones fantasies to life. This hotel (Hotel de la Cite) was legitimately built into the castle walls making for a super special experience. Everything to do in Carcassone was within the castle walls so staying at a hotel within the walls was super convenient and pretty essential. This was definitely the smallest hotel room (I guess they didn’t need much room during medieval times) that we stayed in but it was a good tradeoff for how gorgeous the hotel itself was. My favorite part of this entire hotel was the quaint bar off the lobby. It felt like an old library stocked with delicious, artisanal cocktails and games.

I would easily go back to any of these hotels TOMORROW. They were all so gorgeous and definitely a highlight of the trip.

What To Do

Across our three locations in the south of France, there were SO many things to do, but I’ll narrow it down to my absolute musts.

Eze: With this city is only a short drive from many of France’s iconic locations, including Nice, Cannes, St. Paul de Vence, Monaco (not, France, but close?), there were so many things to do it was almost overwhelming. My favorites were: 1) aimlessly wandering around new and old Nice discovering places to enjoy an Aperol Spritz, 2) Exploring the quaint village of St. Paul de Vence. This city is full of adorable shops and scenes to snap your next most-liked post on Instagram, and 3) a boozy brunch at Anjuna Beach. Unfortunately, it was pretty cold and rainy during our time in Eze, but this was still worth the time. Anjuna Beach was the perfect way to end our time in Eze as it overlooked the gorgeous Riviera and the food/drinks were AMAZING. I’d love to visit during a warmer time to get the full experience. You may be surprised to see that both Cannes and Monaco aren’t on my list of musts, but honestly, I don’t think I was able to spend enough time there to get the full experience. On my next trip (if I’m lucky enough to make it back), I’d definitely prioritize these two to get the most out of the French Riviera.

Avignon: My first night in Avignon had a bit of a rough start after getting sick on the drive from Eze (let’s just say it was a very, very windy ride), but Tom was raving about the morning walking tour he went on. His two favorite parts of the tour were the Pont d’Avignon as well as the Popes Palace. After spending a morning reading on our private patio at Le Prieuré (which was another favorite part of the trip) and I felt a little better, I loved walking around the gorgeous town of Avignon. There are so many adorable shops and cafes to peruse in and out of, but the most unique thing we did while in Avignon was getting a fish pedicure. It was probably one of the weirdest and coolest things we’ve ever done. On our second day in Avignon, we took a drive out to the Châteauneuf-du-Pape wine region. Châteauneuf is already one of my favorite kinds of wine so this made me VERY excited and of course, we visited the winery of one of my all-time favorites, Vieux Télégraphe.

Carcassone: Our two days in Carcassone was an absolute fantasy. Exploring the castle walls and the village within felt truly like a fairytale. The weather was a bit cold and rainy, but that made for a perfect excuse for trying every cappuccino/hot chocolate in sight. My favorite part was by far exploring the ins-and-outs of the castle walls. We walked around the entire perimeter taking in the gorgeous views of the French countryside. It was basically a scene out of a Taylor Swift music video.

What To Eat

Similar to my Paris travel guide, we ate at so many places throughout the South of France, but here are my top recommendations.

1| Le Remparts. I don’t know what’s better, the food or the view! This restaurant was located within our hotel in Eze, making it a very convenient option. We ate there not once, but twice!

2| Chez Pipo. This is the place that you go to try out some traditional Nicois cuisine. Most notably, Socca, a chickpea flatbread that is native to the Nice area. This came as a recommendation from one of Tom’s friend and it was an amazing one.

3| Restaurant L’Escargot. Tapas are always a good idea. Carcassone is actually in close proximity to Spain and this place was the perfect spot to try out some French tapa dishes. So delicious!

4| La Petite Cuillere. Go for the vibe, stay for the charcuterie board. This place had an adorable atmosphere with outside seating and I could have easily stayed there all night. In terms of food, this was a great place to get some staples– steak, burgers, etc.

What To Wear

Top (Red Dress Boutique) | Jeans (Gap) | Shoes (Sperry Top-Sider)

Last but not least, what to wear when visiting the south of France?! We visited in late May and it was a lot colder than I was expecting. While yes, I had no idea where we were going, I assumed most of Europe would be similar to the warm temps we experienced in Italy two years earlier. I was wrong and with the exception of a few warm days in Avignon, I wore jeans most of the time and short-sleeved blouses most of the time.

I’d say my favorite outfit during this part of the trip, was the one I wore the morning we were in Monaco. It was a little rainy when we left the hotel, but I definitely didn’t want that to keep me from dressing for the occasion. I loved how colorful this outfit was fitting in with the rainbow-colored buildings in old Monaco, yet very comfortable as we were walking a lot.