Summer List 2019 Revisited

by Liz Heather in

THE END OF SUMMER IS HERE.

I REPEAT: THE END OF SUMMER IS HERE.

appalled dog.gif

How much of my summer list did I complete? Well, let’s see.

  1. “Eat the burger at Whit’s End in Rockaway.” - Totally ate it and it was wildly tiny. Good, but tiny. (You can see it over here.)

  2. “Successfully keep my houseplants alive for at least a full season.” - All right, look. I’ve learned that this is not my thing. Nathan is much better at keeping them alive, so it’s officially become his job in our house. I’ll collect no points for learning this fact.

  3. “Go on some sort of trip with Nathan to celebrate our ten year anniversary in August.” - Hell yeah we did! I wrote about it on my Vermont Part Two post.

  4. “Wear at least ten of my lipsticks over the course of summer (bonus point if I buy nothing from Sephora this summer).” - I think I wore five over the whole summer, which is pretty great for me considering I rarely wear the makeup I buy. And I did end up buying one thing from Sephora (the NARS concealer I like) as a replacement, so I won’t get the bonus point.

  5. “Go swimming at least twice.” - Fuck. Yes. SIX TIMES! Scatter my remains in someone’s pool, please. I belong there.

  6. “Go to the beach at least three times.” - Yep, three times! And really, three is enough. Anyone going more than three times should figure their life out.

  7. “See The Farewell in theatres.” - I did and loved it, everyone should see it.

  8. “Make these meatball stuffed garlic bread sliders.” - Okay, I did not. But only because July 4th was too hot to really use our oven, and I’m not gonna make 16 sliders for just Nathan & I (we’re not depressed anymore). Still want to make this someday, though.

  9. “Make the mushroom garganelli from L’Artusi.” - I made it and it was beautiful. I think I made it three times this summer? It even tastes good with the Banza pasta. It wasn’t the exact same as it is at the restaurant, but I mean… pretty close. I also didn’t make homemade pasta (too intimidating), so that’s probably why it wasn’t 100% the same.

  10. “Lay out & look at the stars.” - This sort of happened, only I didn’t lay on the ground. There are night bugs that live in the grass and I 1) didn’t want to kill them and 2) didn’t want them to kill me. But in Vermont, the sky was absolutely unreal at night, so I spent some time looking at them when we walked Baby Dog. Gotta do this more.

7.5 / 10 - Whoa! I mean, I’m impressed with that.

I really never thought this day would arrive… the last day of summer. Let us all bask in it in preparation for THE GREATEST TIME OF THE YEAR!

Favourite Summer Photos

by Liz Heather in

I’ll be honest, this was a great summer. Favourite photos ahead!

TWA Hotel at JFK Airport

by Liz Heather in

I’ve been waiting for this hotel to open for ages. I first heard about it a few years ago when there were whispers of a million dollar renovation that was being planned to reopen the former TWA Flight Center terminal, which was designed in 1962. How does that not sound amazing?

I honestly had no words walking through the whole place. It feels like you’re in a museum or on a movie set. It’s completely surreal and incredible. The red carpeting is everything. There’s also a plane parked outside the hotel (called The Connie) that you can go into - there’s a cocktail bar inside and it’s heavenly.

The front desk

These photos don’t even do it justice. There’s a waiting/sitting area called The Sunken Lounge and it… is… beautiful. You can order drinks from there as well. There are no outlets near any of the chairs or couches to maintain the ‘60s aesthetic that they’re striving for. Kind of love that.

The main reason for my visit was to swim in the rooftop infinity pool and it, of course, did not disappoint. The pool’s open 365 days a year (!) and you can make reservations to visit if you’re not staying at the hotel. The food at the pool bar was great and not at all expensive.

The only thing that didn’t sit well with me was the fact that the entire hotel is cash-free (ie. credit card ONLY), which really should be illegal, it’s so wrong. It’s also slightly ironic since the entire establishment is aiming to have a pure 1960s vibe, when cash was king. Hopefully this policy will change in time.

Overall, I really shouldn’t have written this post at all because I don’t want anyone to find out about this hotel. It’s such a perfect place to take out-of-town visitors. Absolutely going back. If you’d like to see more of my visit first-hand, I highlighted my experience on Instagram and it’s titled TWA Hotel.

August Actions 2019

by Liz Heather in , , , , , ,

Words cannot express… the emotions going on inside me right now.

AUTUMN IS A FEW SHORT WEEKS AWAY. This is absolutely the start of the best time of the year because it’s basically autumn eve. That’s how I treat all of early September. Last year I went a little nuts in celebrating every single day of autumn and… I want to go even harder this year. I sort of winged it last year, but this year I’ve already started planning ways to celebrate the best time of the year. I have a problem. I know. But I’ve come to terms with that, so you should too. So let me tell you what went down last month so that we can fully move into the GREATEST, PUREST TIME OF YEAR.

  • I watched Why Do Fools Fall In Love on Netflix and jesus christ, the dog-being-thrown-out-the-window part? WHY DID NO ONE WARN ME. Will not watch again.

  • I love a good summer shark/alligator/dumb movie, so we obviously saw Crawl and it was very fun. The dog was the best part. (Are you seeing a pattern here? I’M NOT HARD TO PLEASE, HOLLYWOOD.)

  • I forced Maya to come to a sunflower farm with me and it was lovely. Why would a person with a bee allergy want to go to such a place? I’m not well.

  • I rewatched my favourite John Ritter movie Stay Tuned because it’s just something everyone should do once in awhile. Such a weird, perfect movie.

  • I attempted to read Samantha Irby’s book We Are Never Meeting In Real Life and I just couldn’t get into it, so I stopped. It’s weird ‘cause I really enjoyed Meaty, so I don’t know what happened here. Maybe ‘cause it’s summer and I think I hate reading in the summer? Haven’t picked up a book in months that I wanted to read.

  • I do not need to be the one who tells you how good hazelnut Kit Kats are, but I guess that’s what I’m doing at the moment - SO GOOD.

  • I watched part of the new 90210 reboot and ughhhh. It’s awful. In every way. Also, Luke Perry JUST died. They couldn’t have postponed or cancelled this trash?

  • I watched the first season of Tuca & Bertie and it’s so, so crazy good. Absolutely love it. Thank you to Harmeet for making me watch! I was so skeptical at first, but it’s incredible. So many similarities to Broad City in its goodness.

  • I went to the CNE with my Mom for the first time is yeeeears and it was so nice.

She did my braids, I can’t do nice braids on myself

  • Since Restaurant Week is always a big part of my life, I went to Park Avenue Summer for lunch earlier in the month and got the corn bread, corn gnocchi and corn creme brulee. YES, YOU’RE READING THAT RIGHT. Love a fucking cob. It was all very tasty, if not a little too corny (but that’s my fault, let’s be real). I also got the chicken and it was incredible. I’d love to be able to crisp a chicken skin as perfectly as they did.

And now you will too!

  • I made this hot honey salmon and if salmon weren’t such a disgusting fish, this would be a killer recipe. (And if you actually enjoy salmon, this really is great.)

  • I finally watched the rest of the new Black Mirror episodes and I stand by my thoughts that the Striking Vipers one was the best one of the season. Smithereens was okay and all, I’ll always love a Topher Grace. The main actor (Andrew Scott) did a great job, too. And the Miley Cyrus one was just okay? I don’t understand why that’s the common favourite of the season. It’s average, at best.

  • Favourite thing I’ve bought this summer: this jumpsuit with lace from Zara.

  • I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned it before, but I love reading the (monthly?) Grub Street Diet columns from New York Magazine. They profile different (semi-known, sometimes-famous) people and what they eat in the span of a few days. I mostly love it for recommendations of good things to eat around New York, but also I love hearing about what people do for snacks and routine meals.

  • Someone buy me this Danny Meyer Chocolate Cream Pie. Please.

  • I watched all of On My Block on Netflix and it’s so, so good (thank you, Marla!). I’m an idiot for not watching it sooner. My favourite character is definitely Jamal, I love the florist with the gnomes, and the musical choices are phenomenal. Such a great show. If you haven’t seen it, I’d describe it as a modern day coming of age story set in South Central LA inspired by The Goonies. SO GOOD.

  • Did you know that eating tomatoes helps prevent colon cancer? Did not know. I’m forcing Nathan to eat them now, enough of this “I don’t like tomatoes” shit. Not standing for it anymore!

  • I went to two weddings this month, which were both beautiful. LOVE a wedding.

  • I tried the seasonal tomato gelato at Il Laboratorio Del Gelato and it was rough. I did taste the corn gelato and that one was actually pretty good, I should’ve gotten that one. This was my first time here and my main thought: it has a horrifying interior. Like if Patrick Bateman ran an ice cream shop.

  • Lately I’ve started shopping more at small businesses and less at chains. Partially because these places will disappear if I keep doing what I’m doing and I hate that idea. So no more writing/drinking at Starbucks. No more books from Amazon. No more crazy cheap dish soap at Dollar General. No more plants from Home Depot. Enough of this shit!

  • Nathan and I celebrated our ten year anniversary and went to Vermont (again, haha) and I did a full post on it, so take a look if you like. While we were away, we did rewatch the first It (still great), Sleeping With The Enemy (always a favourite of mine) and The Hand That Rocks The Cradle (which is even better than we remembered, SUCH a good movie). Also, if you enjoy Instagram stories of vacations as much as I do, I posted our whole Vermont one on my Instagram.

  • This sounds like a broken record, but I did Nathan’s podcast again! We talked about our relationship and why we think it works, etc. etc. Very self-indulgent stuff here, guys.

  • So you know how I tried and loved that chocolate dessert hummus a few months ago? TRADER JOE’S IS RIPPING IT OFF & has made their own version. For two dollars. Now look, I know companies get ripped off all the time by bigger corporations who steal the idea and make their own… but fuck. This fucking sucks. I first heard and tried dessert hummus because of seeing it on Shark Tank (the company is Delighted By Hummus) and I want to say that they invented the idea, but I can’t say for sure. I hate this.

Some things that I’m looking forward to this month: I’m SO excited to see It: Chapter Two, possibly planning out details for a trip to Salem, finishing up the last of the summer things to do list, I’ve gotta find something new and good to read, there are so many photos that I love from visiting my family/friends this summer so I might do a photo post solely of my favourite ones, finalizing my AUTUMN THINGS TO DO list, and I’d really love to pack away all of my summer clothes at some point this month to make room for the gazillion sweaters I’m waiting to wear.

If you’ve got any interest in reading last month’s roundup, go on over here!

Jordan Peele's Us - Halloween Horror Nights 2019

by Liz Heather in ,

WHY DON’T I LIVE IN ORLANDO OR HOLLYWOOD DAMNIT!

I know I said I wouldn’t start any Halloween talk before the end of August, but this news just came out so I must share. If you're a fan of Jordan Peele, his movies, or horror in general then you'll be delighted to hear that Us is officially coming to Universal Studios' Halloween Horror Nights.

Peele himself said about the maze, "It's very exciting to know that fans of Us will get to experience firsthand the terror of being stalked and tormented by ‘The Tethered.'" He continued, "It’s been a lifelong ambition of mine to create a monster that would scare people on Halloween, so having ‘The Tethered’ join such esteemed company is a dream come true."

As of right now, there aren't any images of the maze yet, but it sounds like it will be incredible. The story will start in 1986 and take you on a journey that follows in the footsteps of young Adelaide on the Santa Cruz boardwalk. The maze will then transition into present day, thrusting you into the chaos of "The Tethered" uprising. GAAAAHHHHHHHHH, I love this idea so much.

Halloween Horror Nights begins Friday, Sept. 6 in Orlando and on Friday, Sept. 13 in Hollywood. PREVIEW BELOW!