Day trips to outer borough must first and foremost start with brunch. Where to go and where to take your madre this Sunday (um, it’s mother’s day!)? Courtyards, mimosas, and cuteness are on the menu.

My pick numero uno is Le Petite Cafe in Carroll Gardens. The ambiance in the courtyard (yes, it’s the place with the tree and water fountain) is beautiful, especially for mom. Their brunch menu isn’t anything particularly wonderful, so if mom is a food snob, you might want to choose something a bit more upscale. La Petit Cafe has great french toast and wonderful omelet selection. The service can be a bit slow, but you hardly notice as you’re focused on the atmosphere. Adorable.

Buttermilk Channel lends itself to food snobs. Also in Carroll Gardens, Buttermilk is known for warm sour cream donuts that taste similar to funnel cake, out of this work bloody marys - think rosemary-infused vodka - and short rib hash that makes my mouth water just thinking of it. The service is divine if you don’t mind feeling a teeny bit rushed out.  Buttermilk has a separate vegetarian menu if that’s your fancy and Court Street makes for a wonderful Sunday walk with mom.

For lingering atmosphere or upscale brunch, you can’t really go wrong with either Carroll Gardens spot. And both are reasonably priced so as not to break the bank on Mother’s Day.

Emma Dinzebach

First it was Magnolia, then Crumbs, then some sort of revolt created Buttercup. Presently, we can’t keep track of the city’s sweet shops and trucks and such no matter how hard we try. And now we don’t have to because cake balls are the new cupcake. Well, almost.
Yeah, cake balls sounds kind of vulgar but they. are. delicious. My best friend brought me red velvet cake balls dipped in Ghirardelli chocolate last weekend. They were so moist, rich delicious and…homemade. That means, you can bake them on your own! But if your oven is full of shoes, you might want to order them. Nothing smells worse than burned Louboutins.

Brooklyn baker/ cool- maker, Julie Tran, sells similar cake balls on Etsy; and they taste scarily similar to my pastry-esque BFF’s. Cake balls are ping pong ball size and easily eaten in 2-3 bites. Sweet Jewels, Julie’s clever double entendre for the delicacies, are also red velvet cake mixed with cream cheese icing and dipped in chocolate. Julie’s are rolled in coconut. A newer, “Red Hot,” version includes spiced cinnamon and a candy red hot center.

When I Etsy-searched cake balls, tons of listing came up with lemon cake balls, pumpkin cake balls, sprinkled cake pops and more. Sugar Sweet Sunshine Bakery and City Bakery both have their own versions of cake balls, which were cleverly decorated as little chicks and bunnies for Easter. Other cupcakeries have yet to catch on, but with swimsuit season just around the corner, you can bet people will be yearning for smaller bites…er, balls.

Emma Dinzebach

Stressed or not at all, starting yesterday through April 18th, it’s spa week in Gotham and the perfect excuse to be pampered. Treatments are $50 just for signing up at spaweek.com and this year, city spas are participating like woah.

Some things you should know before you go: 1) Spas book up quickly, so make reservations in advance…as in today. 2) Tip well. On average, 15-20% is the going rate to tip on your massage therapist or facialist. Because spa week treatments are less expensive but not less work, we recommend tipping higher than that on your treatment or tipping 15-20% of the regular cost of the treatment if your budget allows. 3) There are participants all over the city, so use this opportunity to try something new. Have a massage near that Upper West Side restaurant you’ve  been dying to try. New Yorker’s need any excuse to get them out of their hood. 4) Learn more. Other fun ways to follow the Spa Week action? Follow them on Twitter at @SPAWEEK and read their blog, Spa Week Daily.  5) Get Vajazzled. Yup, that’s right. Because nothing says “I’m relaxed” than overpriced crystals adorned to your flower.  6) For a serious laugh, check out Spa Week Daily’s Spa Crawl video blog of this girl - I guess she works for Spa Week - mid-slather, lather and shine at her once a day $50 treatment.

And amidst all of those instructions and options remember to breathe deeply. This is supposed to be relaxing.

Emma Dinzebach

On a rainy afternoon last week, I went on a Williamsburg adventure ending in a delicious drink at the apparently wildly popular (how was I supposed to know!) Hotel Delmano. Hotel Delmano is not a hotel. I know, tricky, right? The unassuming spot on Berry Street serves creative cocktails and small plates for regular prices. They have a real record player…and use it! The Tuesday afternoon I popped in, they played sing-songy jazz and chatted with patrons.

The menu looked so divine, I could hardly decide what to order, so I had the bartender pick his favorites. “Well, I also have my own creation - the Russian Riviera,” he said. The Russian Riviera is vodka, champagne, lime and maple syrup. I was weary of the maple syrup, but I’m a sucker for bubbly. The sweetness of the syrup was adequately muted by the alcohol, and the combination tasted divine. My brother tried the Three Amigos - Patron, Bloody Mary mix, and Tecate. You drink it in that order, which sounds unsophisticated, but tastes quite good. Hotel Delmano’s menu also includes a delicious elderflower vodka drink and more mixtures than I can write in three to four hundred words.

Our stop was the best way to end an afternoon of vintage clothes shopping and record browsing in the BK. And even if I’m not in the mood for vintage clothes again soon, I might take the L Train for a cocktail…if you can fathom.

Hotel Delmano   82 Berry St. between 8th & 9th Williamsburg, Brooklyn  718.387.1945

Emma Dinzebach