Phew! Try saying that 10 times fast! I definitely can’t! Y’know, speaking of New York, I got to go there a few weeks ago! It was AMAZING! Here are some of the highlights:

Number One…I got to see TWO Broadway shows! First I saw Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. (It was great, don’t get me wrong, it just didn’t bring the “wow factor” I thought it would.) I liked it as closure for my Crazed Harry Potter Phase (I bet you can’t say that 10 times fast either). After my Dad and I got back to the hotel room, my dad immediately jumped online to get Book of Mormon tickets because he’d seen it once before and LOVED it like crazy! And…my goodness…I can’t describe the magic of it. It is BY FAR the best Broadway show I have ever seen.

(Please Note: Grace has only seen three broadway shows, so her opinion should mean very little considering that there are hundreds of them…)

I also got to take pictures with some of the cast! I waited by the stage door and within about 10 minutes, the lead actor came out!! He had only done the show twice (including this time) because he was the understudy, but he was AMAZING! His family and friends waited by the door too, so when he came out, they bombarded him with flowers, congratulations, and hugs! After everyone had hugged him I tapped on his shoulder and asked for a photo. After the photo he started asking me if I was interested in pursuing theater and things like that and I was SO starstruck that my dad had to keep filling in for me when I stuttered!

Here are the photos:

Okay…Number Twoooo I went to the Summit One Vanderbilt! It is this super tall building that looks OVER the empire state building! The ceiling and floors are mirrors and the walls are windows so it looks CRAZY! Another one of the rooms is the same except for a massive amount of balloons! On the very top of the building, you can go onto the balcony and/or eat and have a drink in their little restaurant! I went with my dad and his long-time friend, Melissa Stark! Afterwards, we went to the Rockefeller Center and hung around for a bit to see if a famous person would casually walk by. (No one came, but it was fun anyway.) After that, Melissa left and my dad and I got a nice 11:00pm dinner at Shake Shack. We took it to our hotel and watched Russian Doll while eating our burgers in bed!

Finally…Number Three! The Piiiiizzzzaaaa!!! It. Was. Amazing. My favorite place was Joe’s (in Brooklyn), but Famous Amadeus was a close second. Each little pepperoni piece was a little blackened at the edge had a small pool of grease in it. The cheese was perfect. Not too much, but not too little. And the crust was perfectly cooked. Easily foldable and crispy on the outside but sort of soft on the inside. Eating pizza in Portland is really disappointing now. I just…don’t understand how something can be so perfect.

Finally, before I figure out how to get back to New York to grab a slice of Joe’s…Actor of the week!

Natasha Lyonne!

She has been in Russian Doll (which is a great show about time travel), Orange is the New Black, American Pie 1 & 2, But I’m a Cheerleader, and New Girl.

Here is the Russian Doll trailer:

Have a great day!

-Grace

Welcome to the 62nd post! I have so much to talk about, I don’t even think we have time for an intro, so lets get into it! Reeeaaadddy…GOO!

I turned 14!

Yep! the moment you all have been waiting for (except you probably haven’t because that would be weird) has arrived! In the morning I opened gifts including a working banana phone, book of Rick and Morty quotes (who doesn’t need that), lovely watercoloring set with a new watercolor notebook, and a 3 day trip to any place in the US with one parent! I’ll reveal where I chose to go at the end of the post to give you some time to guess and…hey! I don’t want to see you scrolling there to check!…I’m watching you…*squints eyes at computer screen*…always watching…

After I opened gifts, I used the watercolors for the first time, face-timed my friends for a bit, and got LOTS of dog snuggles!

Around noon, my dad finished a work meeting and took me to play pinball! We went to a bar which had a little side room with around 12 pinball machines. I’d only played pinball once or twice and I had so much fun figuring out how to get bonuses and testing out the different machines! After playing for a few hours, my dad took me home where I saw my friend who came from Vermont! We caught up while dinner was being made and ate lined potatoes and hangar steak until we thought we’d burst!

More recently, I went to LA! A small group from my synagogue went to LA to learn about Racial Justice and all of the hidden voices who aren’t being heard. We cooked breakfast at a transitional house for women and their children called Alexandria House, handed out bottled water in Skid Row (click here for the history), and apart from it being 1,000,000°, it was AMAZING!

Okay…I guess you’ve waited long enough to know where I decided to go for my birthday trip…The answer is…NEW YORK!!! I’m going with my dad! We’ve booked flights, hotel rooms, and are researching some of the best pizza restaurants! (The whole “best pizza in new york” google search isn’t very helpful. There’s a LOT of pizza places.

Okay anyway, Easter! So…That happened. Doc and Hazel hunted for eggs in the backyard that were so skillfully planted by the Easter Bunny.

Here’s a couple of pictures of Doc’s experience hunting for eggs:

In other news, my Dad’s Birthday! He turned 52 this year! Woohoo! We didn’t get to do much because my Mom, Brother, and Sister got Covid, but we opened gifts (while masked), and my parents ordered dinner from Montelupo (which you may remember as the dinner place I went to for my 13th birthday). Don’t worry, the whole Covid thing is under control. My siblings and Mom are almost past it and got through it pretty okay. There were a lot of movies in bed for them and candy requests for my Dad and I to fill out, but it gave me something to do while I was home from school. It also gave me a newfound knowledge of Disney movies, as they constantly played throughout the house for about a week.

Finally, for our last topic, my friend and I went to see Hamilton!

My friend’s Mom is sick and couldn’t switch the dates on their tickets so I got invited!! It was an AMAZING experience and I really enjoyed going!

Thanks for reading!

-Grace

Allllrrriiighhttyy then! With the title out of the way, we can get on with the post! First off, I have a few books that I have read (or am in the middle of reading) that I would LOVE to share with you! You are welcome to let me know if you’ve read them, enjoyed them, or have another book recommendation!

1. The Silent Patient…This book was a LITTLE slow at first, but I was interested so I kept reading. It. Was. Worth. It. By the time I finished reading it, I wanted to read it all over again!
2. Anxious People…I’m still in the middle of this book, but it hasn’t disappointed me, yet! I listened to it on Audible and the reader was really great! I found it funny and super smart!
3. They Both Die At The End…This book was calm, and peaceful, and a GREAT book to read before bed. It is super popular right now and had 87 holds at the library! (My dad bought it, instead.)
4. Good Omens…I read this book in class and thought it was AMAZING. Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett teamed up and wrote one of the most funny things I’ve ever read. It’s definitely not slapstick, but more of an intelligent humor.
5. Animal Farm…I did a class study on this book and thought it was really cool. We looked at historic political figures that related directly to animal farm and when it all connected, my mind exploded. I have no brain left (which is actually why it took so long to write this blog post. Writing is extremely difficult without a brain).

Nextly, (which I am making an official word as of now) I have been baking more. I tried making merengue-dollop-hersheys-kiss-shaped-thingy-things which, apart from deflating slightly, turned out great!

I also made brownies!*

*pause as audience claps on all that I have achieved. (there won’t be a speech)

I just used a mix, but have never made brownies before, so I considered it a WIN!

Now…for a moment you might have randomly been waiting for…Valentines Day!

Going into the past a bit, I had a surprising amount of fun! I drew a SPECTACULAR Spiderman card for Doc, made an Encanto card for hazel, used an INSANE amount of inside jokes in my Mom’s card, and got pretty punny for my dad.

My friends and I exchanged sweets! I made my friends sugar cookies, but in the absence of a heart-shaped cookie cutter, I used a lobster shaped one (as one does). In total I got Shortbread cookies from Hawaii, Edible Caramel Cookie Dough, and a Marshmellow Chocolate! Pretty good if you ask me! (hopefully you did ask, otherwise that would be AWKWARD!)

Now for some super minor things that happen that I’m gonna tell you really fast…

Ready? Okay, GO!

1. I made a waffle using a really small waffle iron and it was supremely adorable!
2. I learned how NOT to make good frosting.
3. I made a huge paper map for a school project with my friend, Izze.
4. I realized that sometimes I type me instead of my and it makes me sound like a pirate.
5. I went to a super awkward high school social event and I realized being social is hard

PHEW! That was FAST!

Let’s see…

Well, Doc just came into my room and made this LOVELY face at me as I was writing:

Speaking of Doc, he is going to be our friend’s ring bearer at her wedding! He was super excited to hear the news! (Or he may have been excited because there was a ring pop and Care Bear stuffed animal involved…)

Now for…Actor Of The Week!

Justin Roiland!

He has been in one of my favorite shows, Rick and Morty (as Rick AND Morty), Small Foot, Space Jam: A New Legacy, Gravity Falls, and Solar Opposites.

Finally, I got into the high school I wanted!!! My friend and I are going together and will get to carpool together!!! I am SO excited!!!

Enjoy your day!

-Grace

Happy Birthdays! (Sooooooo many Birthdays…)

Doc and Hazel had GREAT birthdays! Let’s start with Hazel. In the morning she opened gifts! She got games, a pop-it pencil case, and a BIKE! She and my dad got to ride around the neighborhood and she LOVED IT! When we got home from school, we watched a mediocre Netflix movie while I cut up cookie dough (more on that later). The movie was Level 16. I think it’s supposed to be a psychological thriller, but I’m still not sure. It was seriously…um…a movie. Then I spent the next three hours making cupcakes and brownies.

You’re probably wondering why I have cookie dough, cupcakes, AND brownies mentioned in the paragraph above. I spent FIVE TOTAL HOURS creating the best dessert I’ve ever made!

MINI BURGER CUPCAKE/BROWNIE/THINGIES! I made vanilla cupcakes for the buns, brownies for the burgers, and fondant for the cheese and lettuce. I also made sugar cookie french fries and red frosting for ketchup!

Then we watched the movie “Encanto” (I LOVED it) and stayed up pretty late preparing for Doc’s birthday (which was the next day). Speaking of Doc’s birthday…

The night before we had blown up a LOT of balloons and COMPLETELY COVERED his bedroom floor in them! We also covered the rail on the staircase with streamers and Doc LOVED IT!!! He was REALLY excited! I only wish I had taken a video of his reaction!

When he woke up, he opened gifts including pajamas, bouncy balls, and books! We played some new board games for a few hours and then went to the park! Doc played so hard! He ran around, bounced balls, climbed up slides, and screamed from the sugar rush of cookies for breakfast. Then, we took Doc to see Kim (his nanny) so that they could spend some time together because EVERYONE needs a break from our family. (Although, Kim is basically a Topliff because Doc loves her so much!) Then the rest of us went home to lounge around and prep the cake. Because I was so wiped out from baking the day before, my mom made cake, icing, and layered on the fondant. I got to do the fun part…DECORATING! My mom and I made a cake of the face of Doc’s favorite superhero! Can you guess who?

Spiderman!!!

Here are some photos of Doc and Hazel on their birthdays:

The photo above is of Doc and Kim in their Spiderman costumes!

Going back a bit farther, my Grandma and Great Aunt, Nana and Auntie, celebrated their birthday on January 8th! I made cake, and we called them to wish them a great day!

Nana and Auntie-I hope your birthday was full of laughs and good times and I hope the year teaches you new things, and is filled with joy!

Alrighty! On to H#2! Hair!

Hazel and I both got our hair dyed!!! I got mine a pinkish orange and Hazel got a vivid blue and purple!

Now for H#3: Hostile Ostriches!

I went to a petting zoo with my family and our DEAR family friends, Akiva and Elannah. The ostriches ate like MANIACS and I’m pretty sure they were plotting my murder! They kept looking at me with a devilish grin. Or wait…maybe that was just their normal expression?

We didn’t just see ostriches, though! I found a new best friend, Maple the Llama, and I got to feed goats!

Finally, Actor Of The Week!

Tatiana Maslany!

She is in my new FAVORITE SHOW, Orphan Black (trailer here), as well as She-Hulk (coming out this year), Trollhunters, Pink Wall, and The Vow!

Have a GREAT day!

-Grace

Two days ago t’was Christmas morning, and all through my home,
everyone tested positive for Excitement Syndrome.
The stockings were full with knickknacks and toys,
for two (not so little) girls and one little boy.
The children rushed down the stairs, all full of glee;
the gifts were piled high, under the tree.
Doc got a bike, Hazel got a whole lot of candy,
and I thought my new Doc Martens where really quite dandy.

Our relatives came at 8:24,
and then came the donuts, of which I adore.
Some of my gifts, I’ll list out below:
New jeans, face masks, and a butterbeer marshmallow.

I’d gotten The Stand by Stephen King,
and from my friend, a beautiful ring.

My mother got me a Simpsons-style piece of art,
the design and the detail were really quite smart.

After presents we went with some friends to see the new Spiderman movie,
I thought it was okay. Not really quite groovy.
The theater had food, I ordered a waffle,
It didn’t agree with the donut, so I felt a tad awful.
Into the car we piled so fast,
To escape from the snowy and rainy forecast.
The forecast was wrong, which surprised no one,
we only say clouds ’till out peeked the sun.
At home we prepped for the ultimate dinner,
potatoes, and carrots, and lobster, our winner.
We ate, and we ate, till we thought we’d burst at a seam,
and for dessert, we had delicious ice cream.
Then something surprising happened to us all:
Little flakes of snow began to fall.
My Christmas was great, It was just so much fun,
I can’t believe the year’s almost done.
I hope your holiday was all full of cheer,
And I for one, can’t wait till next year!

Hello! Welcome to this week’s post! A lot has happened since we last talked!

1. My Mom’s Birthday!

She had SO much fun! In the morning, we let her sleep in. (By “let”, I mean we stopped Doc from going into her room and jumping on her bed.) After she woke up, she met us downstairs and opened her gifts. Her gift from Me, Hazel, and Doc were painted measuring cups. She likes drinking her coffee from liquid measuring cups, so we all added some “flair”! (I use this term loosely.)

At about 8:00 AM, her friends brought her coffee, and for dinner she went to a fancy shmancy restaurant with my Dad and their close friends.

I wasn’t at home when the dinner happened, which brings me to Event #2!

2. Sleepover!

My friend and I had a LONG overdue sleepover! I went to her house, played video games, got burgers, watched TV, slept, woke up, ate waffles, and played more video games. Eventful, I know!

3. Laundry

In the time period of this post and the last one, I have done A LOT of laundry. Seriously. Laundry sucks.

Just a quick shoutout to all those people who brave the laundry baskets EVERY DAY. I respect you guys.

4. TV show recommendation! (This isn’t an event, but it’s SUPER important.)

I have been binging watching Outer Banks. Seriously good. It’s like National Treasure, but with teens. And murder. And it’s in North Carolina. But seriously cool! You can watch it on Netflix.

Unfortunately, I am on a school Google account, and the Outer Banks Trailer on Youtube is restricted for some reason, so here is the link to the page. You’ll have to click on the link to view the video. It’s just a few extra steps. I believe in you!

https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=outer+banks+season+1+trailer&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

I don’t think a lot else has happened. Life has been pretty uneventful. I got to go to Elephant’s Deli with my friends after school. We do it almost every week, and it’s REALLY fun. We buy food, make dumb jokes, and get to not stay three feet apart, like we have to do at school!

That’s pretty much it!

Well, other than the SNL skit and Actor Of The Week! Enjoy!

Here is the SNL skit. (It’s also restricted.)

https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=snl+man+park&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

And this week’s Actor Of The Week is…

Madelyn Cline!

She has been in Outer Banks (what a coincidence!), Stranger Things, What Breaks The Ice, This Is The Night, and the upcoming movie, Knives Out 2!

Have a great night! (Or day, I don’t know what time of day you are reading this post!)

-Grace

Welcome, Ladies and Gentlemen to the SECOND Halloween post on my blog!

Today we will discuss costumes, pumpkins, and candy, the works!

This post is sponsored by Halloween.

This year I went trick-or-treating on my street with Hazel, Doc, My Mom, My Dad, Our Cousins Hillary, Andrew, Danny, and our friends Akiva, and Elannah!

We trick-or-treated in a big group on our street, ate dinner, then Hazel and I trick-or-treated on our own for about an hour and half, then we met up at Doc’s Nanny’s house.

Aaaaannnnnyyywwwaaayyy…

1. Costumes!

This year I was the Operation game character!

Hazel was Cousin It from the Addams Family!

Doc was a pumpkin-scarecrow-thing!

Danny was a crow, so were Hillary and Andrew! (I made their costumes!!!)

That isn’t a very good photo of it, but this is the inspiration:

https://www.marthastewart.com/908289/raven-costume

Elannah was a fork in the road! The person in the picture isn’t Elannah. I didn’t get a picture of her! : ( This is a photo I got on the internet

Akiva was Fifty Shades of Gray! I also didn’t get a photo of Akiva, so this is just an example of his costume.

2. These are our pumpkins!

You might be wondering why one says “Tuckliff”. That is Hillary, Andrew, and Danny’s last name, Tuck, mixed with mine, Topliff. Also, I did a butterfly for Danny because he LOVES them!

My dad’s says Barn This Way, which is a joke between him and my Mom.

Here are some photos from the pumpkin patch. (I’m not in any of them because I was taking the photos!)

3. Candy!

What is your favorite chocolate bar? I like chocolate much more than the gummy or fruity candies. My favorite chocolate candies are M&Ms, Kit Kats, and Twix!

That’s all for now! I hope you had a GREAT Halloween! You can tell me about it in the comments. I would LOVE to hear about it!

-Grace

Last week, my family and our good friends decided to have a Halloween-themed dinner. Doc LOVED it! Our guests, Akiva and Elannah (Doc calls Akiva “Bipa”), made cute little veggie monsters!

My mom made meatloaf cupcakes. She cooked the meatloaf in a muffin tin and used mashed potatoes as frosting. Then she added candy eyes for decoration!

My mom told Doc it was a cupcake. Surprisingly, meatloaf and cupcakes taste sort of different, and Doc was NOT a fan…

So…yeah. But that meal wasn’t ALL bad! I made ice cream cones for everyone!

Now get ready for ADORABLE PHOTOS I’VE TAKEN FROM THE PAST WEEK!!!!

Finally, my last topic is a new Hulu show. I LOVE “Only Murders In The Building”. It is SUPER FUNNY! Martin Short, Steve Martin, and Selena Gomez star, with a cameo from Sting and Tina Fey!

By the way, the actor of the week is Steve Martin!

Obviously he was in “Only Murders in the Building”, and he was also in “Pink Panther”, “Father of the Bride”, “Cheaper by the Dozen”, and “Little Shop of Horror”.

Have a nice day!

-Grace

P.S.

This post has A LOT of birthdays. Let’s get into it…

Keanu Reeves (Sep 2)

Max Greenfield (Sep 4)

Leslie Jones (Sep 7)

Pink (Sep 8)

Alexis Bledel (Sep 16)

Jason Sudekis ( Sep 18)

Marcia!

Her birthday was on September 22!

Dearest Marcia, I hope you have the happiest of Happy Birthdays! You are so sweet and loving. You deserve the best of the best on your special day! Xoxo!

Auntie Julie!

Her birthday is on September 29!

Auntie Julie! Happy Happy Birthday to you! I hope your special day is fun and full of love! Doc wishes all of the cake in the world upon you. Xoxo!

That’s All Folks!

-Grace

Hey guys! I thought I would talk about Roons. If you don’t know what that is, don’t worry. They are coconut macaroons made by my mother. She has an entire business where she bakes, packages, and sells her macaroons! Now, let’s be clear. These are not some fancy shmancy French sandwich cookies.

That is a MACARON. I am talking about Macaroons. This is a link to my Mom’s company:

https://eatroons.com/

Here is how it all started…

Once upon a time…I went with my family to Thanksgiving in Napa Valley. I was only two so it was like a billion years ago. My mom casually suggested over dinner that she wanted to do a baking project with me. She said she was going to make my Grandpa’s FAMOUS chocolate chip cookies. My Grandma looked at her and said:

“That’s so PEDESTRIAN of you! Why don’t you try making a Macaroon!?”

And with those words, the idea of a company was born. My mom experimented over and over with the recipe. Sometimes I would help, and sometimes I would stay out if it. I am pretty sure my mom was worried that as the bright little two-year-old I was, I would pick my nose and wipe it in the batter bowl. (But rest assured, I have grown out of that habit.) Anyhoo, Eventually, she turned ROONS into a company and made ROONS for everyone in the land. And they lived Mostly Happily Ever After.

Here are some pics of ROONS: The Early Days:

And here is a picture of them now:

Before we get into this week’s (and last week’s) SNL skit, I just want to say that I am sorry I haven’t posted in a while. I actually drafted this post a while ago, but haven’t gotten around to editing and publishing it. I hope you can forgive me!

And finally, Actor Of The Week!

Ving Rhames!

Ving Rhames is best known for his role as “Luther” in the Mission Impossible series, but has been in other films such as Out Of Sight, Lilo and Stitch, and Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2.

Have a great rest of your week!

-Grace