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A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away (although I may have been in Midtown Manhattan at the time), I logged in to a pre-sale queue for tickets to see Kacey Musgraves on her Deeper Well tour. I’d seen Kacey twice before: once at the legendary Apollo Theater (nosebleed seats) and another Read more
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Anyone in SOMA can tell you that Arturo’s was an institution. People would line up and wait around for hours, squeezing on to the small bench outside its Maplewoood Avenue façade, to snag a table in the spare, dark restaurant so they could sample fresh pasta and legendary pizza. When Arturo’s decided to leave Maplewood Read more
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Hot take: Meghan Trainor should be more famous than she is. Hear me out. Over the course of about a decade and six studio albums, Meghan Trainor has promoted a necessary – even urgent, given the ongoing assault on a woman’s right to agency in the United States – narrative of female empowerment, all while Read more
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It is a little hard to believe that I’ve been writing on Taylor’s Ham since 2009. Think about that. Where were you 15 years ago? I was… Living in Queens. Finishing an MFA in memoir. About to meet the man who would become my husband. Just starting my career as a communications professional. Back then, Read more
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All of us knew we were in for a new era when Taylor Swift walked into the GRAMMYs ceremony earlier this year. Donning a cleansing white gown with long black gloves, she was elegant and severe. Little clues like a swapped profile photo on IG, now in greyscale and now the visual manifestation of longing, Read more
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“Here’s your seat, Princess,” says the nicest man on planet Earth to my daughter as he hands us the booster seat at “our table” in the corner of Mozzarella’s cozy confines on Valley Street in South Orange. MDP and I had been going to Mozzarella long before our little lady came along, but it wasn’t Read more
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Everyone who goes to Boccone South talks about Silvio. Who’s Silvio? you may wonder. Well, he’s the gravel-voiced restauranteur who greets everyone that walks in through Boccone’s doors like they’re at once old friends and royalty. I recall the first time MDP and I went to Boccone, back when they were on South Orange Avenue. Read more
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When GUTS was first released in 2023, I remember thinking, “This is the album of the year.” I hadn’t heard anything so lyrically tight in a long time, and I loved the cross-genre appeal of the entire record. So when the GRAMMY nominations came out and Olivia Rodrigo snagged a bunch, including one for Album Read more
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Why do we do what we do? The “hierarchy of needs” theory articulates the levers of human motivation. Moving from the pyramid base upward, they change from deficiency needs (a means to an end) to growth ones (psychological in nature). Self-actualization – achieving one’s full potential – is at the top. Though self-actualization may be Read more
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Finding a good lunch spot can be surprisingly hard. Long ago, I swore off Yelp (and even created a blog, Yelp: Reviewed, that served as commentary for how unhelpful — and often bizarre — their reviews are). These days, I use a combination of frequently sordid (unappetizing?) Jersey eats Instagram accounts and local Facebook groups Read more
where food and music and Taylor Swift collide
Taylor's Ham 