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Around Town Lifestyle

Come Shop with Me: The Mills at Jersey Gardens Instagram Takeover #FoundAtSimon

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It’s probably no secret that I’m a hardcore bargain shopper. So today, I’m partnering up with The Mills at Jersey Gardens to give you a behind-the-scenes peek into my whirlwind shopping excursions at New Jersey’s largest outlet and value retail shopping center.

Fall is one of my favorite seasons to shop for, and I’m super-excited to check out the boots, jackets, sweaters and scarves especially. And who knows, I may even decide to get a head start on my Christmas shopping this year! But you’ll have to be sure to follow along on Instagram to find out!

Be sure to head on over and follow @MillsatJersey and @ClosetConfections to get in on the action!

This post was written in partnership with The Mills At Jersey Gardens.

Around Town Lifestyle

Around Town {Brunch at The Clocktower}

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After more than 16 years of living in New York City, I now consider myself to be somewhat of a brunch connoiseur. But over the years, I’ve noticed a lot of my favorite haunts become increasingly crowded. Waiting over an hour for a table and bumping elbows with the stranger next to me are both surefire bellini buzzkills! Enter my new go-to spot… The Clocktower!

Located in the EDITION Hotel inside of the iconic Met Life building, The Clocktower is composed of three intimate dining rooms, a billiards room and a beautiful dark woodpaneled bar. I feel so chic and sophisticated whenever I go there. Hands-down my favorite menu item, the brioche French toast has a delicious carmelized sugar coating reminiscent of creme brulee and is served with two mouth-watering slices of smoked bacon!

If you’re ever in Manhattan looking for an upscale brunch spot, this is the place to be!

Around Town Lifestyle

Around Town: Sweet Chick

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If you follow me on the ‘gram, then it’s no secret that I’m all about that #brunchlife. Every weekend without fail, Eric and I find ourselves cozied up inside some restaurant in the city huddled over a plate of pancakes or waffles with a glass of mimosa in hand. While we do like to try new places, we usually get so attached to our favorites that it’s sometimes hard to pry us away.  For pretty much an entire year we were glued to Landmarc in the Time Warner building (who doesn’t love a place that hands out free homemade caramels with your check?!), followed by an equally long stretch spent alternating between The Plaza Food Hall (watching the chefs prepare our meals right in front of us also doubled as our weekend entertainment) and Rue 57 (two words: blueberry. pancakes).

With a steady rotation of reliably good eats in our brunch repertoire, we weren’t really looking to add anyplace new to the mix until we stumbled upon Sweet Chick. I’m not sure which one of us got the hankering for chicken and waffles first, but we soon realized that none of our regular haunts served up this southern classic. After doing some quick bleary-eyed research from bed one Sunday morning, we settled on Sweet Chick… and the rest is history.

Sweet Chick brines all of their fried chicken in sweet tea the night before, which results in a bird that’s crunchy and well-seasoned on the outside, yet tender, juicy and slightly sweet on the inside. They then serve it alongside a belgian waffle that’s perfectly light and fluffy with a crisp exterior and also comes with a trio of flavored butters. And if chicken and waffles isn’t your thing, I’m not sure if we can be friends they also churn out a delicious stack of pancakes and to-die-for maple-glazed bacon.