Chef Francois Payard Unleashes the 'Macaronut' for 2016 Macaron Day

For the 7th annual Macaron Day NYC, pastry chef Francois Payard has raised the bar with the ultimate hybrid confection.

Meet the macaron donut, lovingly dubbed as the "macaronut" by social media outlets.

It only makes sense that Payard—an accomplished pastry chef as well-decorated and praised as his beautiful pastries—would dream up such a concoction and bring it to life.

If you're a New Yorker, Macaron Day NYC is sweet for your tastebuds and your community—a portion of the profits from the day will benefit City Harvest, a non-profit dedicated to help feeding the 1.4 million New York residents facing hunger each year with food rescue since 1982:

City Harvest will collect 55 million pounds of excess food from restaurants, grocers, bakeries, manufacturers, and farms, and deliver it free of charge to 500 community food programs across the city this year.

Even if you're not in the city and unable to buy one of Payard's macaronuts, celebrate Macaron Day by stopping by your local bakery and picking out a few flavors (*cough* rose, pistachio and lavender)...

Don't forget the champagne!

Ladurée SoHo and The Bethesda Walk

After spending the day in New York City with two of my closest friends, I forgot how much I missed being there.

I love this graffiti

Julia, Cara and I went to SoHo to find my American Holy Grail: Ladurée Soho.

Ever since it opened Ladurée SoHo opened, I have had a burning desire to sit in the restaurant's courtyard, drink Thé Marie Antoinette, and eat macarons.

It was a dream come true.

Even though I've lived outside of the city for most of my life, I had never explored the inner depths of Central Park. I've sat by the Upper East Side entrance after stopping at Ladurée nearby, but never wandered through the winding paths and trails...

We ended up walking half of Central Park last night, from West 80th Street to East 59th Street. I wanted to find the Bow Bridge around West 72nd Street and this is what we saw:

The beginning of the Bethesda Walk

The end of our day at looking at The Plaza Hotel

Bean Bar and Leesburg Farmer's Market

I love visiting my family relatives in Virginia because they always make everything fun--they know the cool things to do, the places to visit, and the healthiest food to eat.

One morning we had coffee at Bean Bar, a local cafe downtown with a killer European-themed atmosphere. My cousin Michelle pointed out that Bean Bar uses all-natural ingredients, sells fresh baked goods and offers brunch on the weekends. I ordered the Seven Spice Chai Latte with almond milk and a homemade apricot "pop tart" pastry, a breakfast I would happily enjoy on a regular basis.

Seven Spice Chai Latte and Homemade Apricot "pop tart" pastry

Of course one of the many baked goods Bean Bar had was my beloved macaron... These macarons were bigger than the ones I normally buy, but they were just as good. 

Lemon and Salted Caramel macarons

We went to the farmer's market this morning and it was cool to see the different variety of produce and baked goods from the farmer's market in Newport. Virginia is fortunate to have more accommodating weather that permits more things to grow, like this awesome "Green Zebra" watermelon.

I was happy to find even more macarons at a baker's tent... These tasted really good, too. 

Salted Caramel, Chocolate, Raspberry, Lemon and Pistachio macarons

First Day of Spring & National Macaron Day

Spring has finally sprung.

Spring ahead, fall behind.

Swing into spring!

Whatever phrase you prefer, there was no denying spring arrived today in Newport!

I went for a drive on Ocean Drive a few days ago and I finally snapped a picture of this part of the road. This is my favorite house on Ocean Drive, by far

I have had International Macaron Day saved as an event on my calendar for the past month and I was happy to partake my second annual ritual at The French Confection. I had a brief break during the day, so I sipped on a vanilla spice chai latte and nibbled on three macarons: lavender, rose and pistachio.

Actually, my friend Steph stopped by and she tried the pistachio flavor. She had been determined to go plant-hunting for a new house plant, so we tried looking for a greenhouse in Newport... We learned from our stop at Water's Edge on Broadway that most of the good plants come from Portsmouth, an excursion for another spring day...

CMA Spring National College Media Convention

It's hard to get enough of New York City, because she's like Christmas morning--no matter how many times you experience it, the excitement never dies.

Times Square

Hotel Wellington

Student newspapers from across the country at CMA NYC conference

Spending this weekend at CMA's Spring National College Media Convention in New York City was amazing. Combined with the Women's Travel Fest workshop I attended on Sunday, I learned so many tips and tricks from media professionals about blogging, freelancing and pitching in less than a week. The CMA NYC conference was aimed towards university student newspaper editors and aspiring writers who want to improve their content and their reach on their campuses.

I live-tweeted some sessions and posted the tweets on Storify:

The Career Blogger

Sticky or Sweet? Describing Food for Restaurant Reviews

Interactive Graphics and You

Free Tools to Increase Your Social Media Following

Bonnie Fuller of HollywoodLife.com's keynote speech

One of my favorite parts of the conference was attending a tour inside of The New York Times building. We learned about the architecture, the Pulitzer Hall, and an overall history of the newspaper. Renzo Piano, the architect who designed The New York Times building located at 620 8th Avenue, also designed the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, France with fellow Italian architect Gianfranco Franchini. 

Sushi at Bluefin in Times Square

I have wanted to get this picture for so long and I am so happy I finally had to the time to take it

Before leaving New York City, I could not leave without making one last stop...

Normandy sandwich: brie, apples, French mustard, raisins, lettuce

Hopelessly and happily addicted and I don't care who knows it

This was one of the best weekends I've had in the city...

It turns out I'll be back in the city sooner than I thought--the university student newspaper staff will be visiting the MoMa in a week. I can't wait for my next box of macarons...