When I take clients around Montclair, at some point they always ask, "Which area is the best?" Of course, "best" is relative. If you're a commuter, living near one of Montclair's 7 train stations might be best. If you have small children, maybe it's living near one of the many parks. Or near Applegate Farms (now you know my favorite indulgence!). Some people want to live near one of the movie theaters, others prefer a New York City [...]
Soon after starting a family, we moved into our first house in Montclair, which was across the street from a park. And although the playground was in need of a facelift back then, the park had a paved path, a climbing tree, a baseball diamond, a big pond, a fountain and a few weeping bushes that kids could tuck themselves into for [...]
It needs to be said: we all had a very long winter. Even as recently as last week, I was tempted to turn my heat back on.
But now, everyone seems energized by the warm weather, especially since it's been such a long time coming. Since moving here, spring feels even more magical to me. Early on, when barely anything was in bloom, I'd walk [...]
A few years ago I rode my bike to the local farmers' market to get some Swiss chard for dinner. PAWS (Pound Animal Welfare Society) had a booth set up with orphaned cats and dogs. I did not come home with chard that day, but instead with a beautiful Siamese kitten. (Too little to ride safely in my bike basket, I pedaled home so I could [...]
There are a couple of places in Montclair that feel like happy secrets and when I'm reminded of them I always feel the need to share.
One such secret is Kip's Castle. Sitting high atop First Mountain, this majestic structure offers an equally majestic view. There are no lords or ladies living there - in fact it's actually part of the county [...]
May in Montclair is hard to describe...but I'm going to try. First, it's incredibly beautiful. The magnolia trees and all the fruit trees are in bloom, so it's pink and bright, and when the wind blows, petals rain down like confetti. Gardens blossom, parks fill up, people stroll leisurely after their dinner. But that's just the [...]
I love this piece in Slate's design blog. It's the story of a guy who felt so strongly about the benefits of walking that he started his own guerrilla campaign to encourage people to walk more.
The Slate bloggers write, "Although 41 percent of all trips made in the United States are 1 mile or less, fewer than 10 percent of all trips are made by walking or [...]
Even though the Montclair Film Festival is a relative newcomer to town (premiering, as it were, only a few years ago) it fits so seamlessly into the culture and sensibility of Montclair, it feels like it's been a part of the town forever. Each year, local venues turn over their auditoriums to accommodate the week-long film event and people [...]
