Sundays at Home
With co-founder Ana Tiwathia
Ana and Aarya aka the cutest nugget we know in Williamsburg/Brooklyn- 3 Days*
Being on the road so much makes a Sunday at home feel very luxurious. It’s rare for me to have a lazy Sunday at our home in Brooklyn. My husband, daughter and I have basically been nomads for the last two years, bouncing between Jerusalem, Connecticut and Brooklyn. When I do find myself at home, I try to max out what I love about our neighborhood and savor the little things I miss so much when we are out of town.
6am: My daughter, Aarya, is 19 months old and thus an extremely bubbly individual. Sometimes she wakes up earlier, but 530am is where I draw the line as the earliest I will go to fish her out of her crib. If my husband is with us, I will let him sleep while she and I play together. I have been drinking strong black tea with milk and honey every morning since I was 10 years old. Yorkshire Gold and PG Tips are my favorite… I feed the bubbly individual banana with buttery toast.
Aarya, on the hunt for dogs to kiss at Transmitter Park, Greenpoint - 3 Days*
730am: We set out for our morning walk. One thing I love best about our neighborhood in Williamsburg is the community on our street. Most of the houses are still owned by the same Italian families that have lived there for 3 generations. Everyone is best friends, have known each other since birth, spend holidays together, sit on stoops gossiping for hours, get totally trashed and rowdy at our yearly block party… It’s great.
The accents are straight out of a Scorsese movie, and the old ladies ooo and aahh at my daughter every time they see her (which she loves). There is also a plethora of insanely good coffee shops and bakeries around. I usually pop into The West around the corner for a small Macchiato and maybe some pastries if anything looks especially fresh and delicious.
9am: At this point we might start waking my husband which is a similar experience, I imagine, to pulling a vampire out of a coffin and dragging it into sunlight as it wheezes and screams and claws at its own skin. I’ll make a more substantial breakfast/ brunch with soft boiled eggs (scrambled for Aarya), avocado, tomatoes, greens, pastries and toast.
10am: The bubbly individual goes down for a nap and my husband and I tuck into the Sunday New York Times. My father was a Times journalist and I harbor a sentimental attachment to reading the paper version on Sundays.
12pm: If the weather is nice and we can organize ourselves, we’ll head out to the park. Either McCarren(which has a massive outdoor pool and sprinkler park), East River (great views, mean geese) or Transmitter in Greenpoint (GREAT views, no geese). We usually swing by Saltie and pick up some decadent sandwiches for a picnic lunch.
A backyard in Brooklyn - 3 Days*
3pm: We’ll head home for a family nap, or I might sneak out to a yoga class or the gym. I’ve had the workout routine of a fit, nerdy 80-year old woman since I was 18. I use the elliptical and bike (lightly) for about 45 minutes, then do 15 minutes of strength work and stretching on a mat while listening to radio programs. Then, if I have time, I’ll do a steam-cold shower-steam-cold shower thing for another 15 minutes. I love it. I emerge refreshed and looking like a spry 75-year old.
5pm: It turns out beer halls are actually great for kids (who knew?) and we have a few outstanding options in our neighborhood. We’ll go to Spritzenhaus or Radegast and have some yummy Belgian beer while the bubbly individual runs wildly up and down the benches, harassing patrons and eating French fries. We’ll often meet up with a friend or two from the neighborhood, often ones with other children for Aarya to scamp around with.
7pm: I like to stop by our local wine and cheese shops on the way home. Bibber and Bell has a great selection of reasonably priced American and European wines and usually have a bottle open to taste. Campbell Cheese and Grocery is my happy place, with a carefully curated selection of cheese, charcuterie, seasonal produce, bread and every beautiful condiment you can imagine. I’ll buy enough tasty sundries to put together a light dinner for us.
Cheese and more cheese, Sundays at Home - 3 Days*
8pm: After putting the bubbly individual to bed, my husband and I will retire to the backyard to enjoy the dwindling light of the day over good wine and food.
10pm: I am more than ready for bed by 10pm, sometimes it’s more like 9pm (I get up early, don’t judge).