Jen: I am originally from Greenwich. I haven’t live here in over 20 yrs, so in many ways it feels like I am new to town while still having the comfort of knowing where everything is! My husband and I lived in Manhattan for 14 years and spent the last 5 with two toddlers in a small New York city apartment where it felt like the walls were closing in on us a little bit every day. After many years of protesting a move to suburbia, I finally gave in and truthfully, i haven’t looked back! We have been living close to the Ave for almost a year now, so I feel I get a mini city fix by being able to walk to dinner and for a cup of coffee! I have loved getting reacquainted with this town now as a mom of two, my kids are 5 and 3. There is so much to offer young families, and the proximity to New York is such a bonus for all of us!! until we moved here, I forgot what a beach town Greenwich is! We spend a lot of time at Todd’s Point, all year long! The kids attended camp there this summer, we love to BBQ with friends as often as we can, and in the winter it feels really special to bundle up and take long walks or throw the ball around in the sand with the kids. It is such a serene and peaceful place, we enjoy as much as we can. Some of our other favorite spots are the Audubon Society, the drive alone through back country is always beautiful and we love to walk the trails or check out what fun family events they have happening on the weekends.
Since it feels like we are still moving in, which the remaining packed boxes would mean we are… I love the Home decorating stores in town, my new favorite, is Housewarmings in OG. The people are so nice and it’s pretty reasonable. We attended the Greenwich Town Party this year and had a blast. If you have never been, its is great for the kiddos up until about 2pm and then it becomes a live music playground for adults! We do miss eating out often since living out here, but we have found few favorite spots. When not with the kids we love going to Harvest, it isn’t fussy, the food is consistently good and the service is excellent! 40 Back Kitchen is great without kids and with them! Surprisingly they do cater to the littles, with kids colorful flatware and coloring gear, I highly recommend it if you are looking for an easy, healthy lunch spot.
I have really grown to love cooking and try to get the kids involved as often as possible, when I can let go of the mess that follows my little helpers. We make a lot of fish, the kids like to season it and my 5yr old is practicing his cutting skills by cutting the veggies. The 3 yr is mainly in charge of serving everyone at the table, a messy practice! Another favorite is homemade pizza. I buy the dough (making it super easy and quick) roll it out, add your favorite gravy, cheese, plus any toppings and your are done! It’s a really fun activity, especially with winter coming our way, I am always looking for fun things to do at home in the dead of winter. Dessert of course is their favorite to make, or anything that involves using the stand mixer! Lately, we have been making sugar cookies with different cut outs. I found edible cake decorating markers at Michaels, which is amazing, lots of creativity and no mess… Bonus!
We are excited to get back to some of our favorite hobbies, like soaking up the outdoors as much as possible! We are anxious to get the kids Skiing this season which feels so much more accessible to us now. I am optimistic about getting both of them on the hill! Selfishly, I can’t wait to get back out there myself! My love is snowboarding but I will have to convert back to skiing for a while until the kids are confident skiers. A more local hobby is hiking, its great to jump in the car and head over to the Minus river trails. Even if we only have an hour, the kids can run around in the woods and explore, breath fresh air and hopefully tire themselves out!
I feel really blessed to become involved in two amazing organizations, Breast Cancer Alliance (BCA) and The Red Cross. BCA is an impressive organization and the women running it are passionate about the cause. It feels really good to work with highly educated women of various backgrounds, who are passionate about and so dedicated to the causes of both organizations.
I really enjoy the resources Greenwich has to offer, especially GreenwichMoms.com! It is so easy to get overwhelmed by everything going on throughout Fairfield county, Greenwich Moms offers an easy way to drill down to truly local happenings and information! Thank you Greenwich Moms!
