July 5, 2025

Summer Saturdays Vol. 5

by Liz Heather in Summer Saturdays

BAKING

Are Canada Day cakes a thing? They should be. This white chocolate strawberry one was perfect.

COOKING

I made these cheddar corn potato bites that were good, but I really want to revamp them and make it again at Thanksgiving with cranberry and gravy.

CRAVING

Need to make these caprese scones.

DRINKING

Not enough water. GOTTA FIX THIS.

EATING

As much basil as humanly possible, it’s incredible on practically everything.

The green of this basil makes me believe in god

EXPERIENCING

Went to Niagara Falls with the family for the day, which was fun. Love that maple shop by the falls.

LISTENING

It’s abnormal how much I update my 90s playlist.

LOVING

My brother and nephew came for a visit from Scotland! Love summertime visits.

SHOPPING

Went to The Cheese Boutique in Toronto and wow. It’s huge and I could easily spend an entire day there. The homemade garlic and chive cream cheese was unbelievably good.

WATCHING

My nephew has a YouTube channel! He does a video each day and already has over 200 subscribers, it’s wild.

WEARING

I’ve been wanting a butter yellow dress for years and suddenly they’re everywhere. Must buy one soon.

You can find last week’s Summer Saturdays Vol. 4 over here.

June 30, 2025

The Best Tweets of June 2025

by Liz Heather in Links

Every time I pass this billboard I laugh cause someone with a gambling problem is gonna take 80-20 odds all day lmao pic.twitter.com/D8MhsPNImY
— Robby Kalland (@RKalland) June 9, 2025

someone recommended "it's a wonderful life" to me ages ago.. i saw the reviews for it and thought 'well it can't be THAT good.' well, i watched it and long story short, this david lynch video is me whenever anyone mentions that movie in a conversation pic.twitter.com/jsbkVYw6gc https://t.co/RdIQDSHVud
— audrey hepburn enthusiast (@darylandfilms) June 11, 2025

Really is genuinely good advice https://t.co/NXai1EN4RO
— Mr. Chau (@Srirachachau) June 11, 2025

This is a judgemental take but I think self-help books are one of the lowest forms of culture we produce, and that turning the intrinsically valuable experience of reading into something must Accomplish Something is cursed protestant-work-ethic hustle culture nonsense. https://t.co/xEzvLHtHtX
— microplastics evaluator (@DiabolicalSpuds) June 12, 2025

A man who can present a brand in more poses than a model can. 😂 pic.twitter.com/IAJOvglv43
— The Figen (@TheFigen_) June 16, 2025

i don’t even care anymore. https://t.co/pSHk5RuFLK
— prozac nation (@choirgirlshotel) June 19, 2025

‘All Are Welcome Here,’ Says Sign in Neighborhood Where Average Home Costs $2 Million: https://t.co/KNTxlWDZtH pic.twitter.com/WT7lMuRi8G
— Reductress (@Reductress) June 22, 2025

This dog learned to move around on a big ball and now refuses to walk normallypic.twitter.com/3ygYUjeePX
— Interesting things (@awkwardgoogle) June 22, 2025

pic.twitter.com/rXgjMYN5zN
— no context memes (@weirddalle) June 23, 2025

This only happens to you once pic.twitter.com/g9lUu8fuXa
— wholesome moments (@paawwesome) June 24, 2025

The best tweets of last month can be found over here.

June 28, 2025

Summer Saturdays Vol. 4

by Liz Heather in Summer Saturdays

BAKING

It’s a no-bake recipe, but it’s a dessert so I’m counting it as summer baking. I really want to make the at-home version of Magnolia Bakery’s banana pudding for Canada Day since I make it at least once every summer.

COOKING

These summer stuffed shells are everything.

CRAVING

I’m never above a new flavour of Coffee Crisp.

DRINKING

Homemade hazelnut iced coffee on repeat.

EATING

I’m on a real chicken fajitas kick. The onions, green peppers, red peppers and mushrooms? Heaven on a sizzling plate.

EXPERIENCING

Going to do this wardrobe challenge again because it makes me use my entire closet and it feels so satisfying.

LISTENING

It’s an 80s week, I don’t make the rules.

LOVING

My cousin Sue made this key holder that’s made from the piano keys of my grandmother’s piano from the early 1900s! Is this not amazing?

SHOPPING

The Bath & Body Works sale is on right now so I loaded up on foam soaps and three-wick candles.

WATCHING

It’s the perfect time of year to watch any of these end-of-school summer movies.

WEARING

Forever a sucker for a nationalistic temp. tattoo. (Sorry, Marla!)

You can see last week’s Summer Saturdays Vol. 3 over here if you like.

June 21, 2025

Summer Saturdays Vol. 3

by Liz Heather in Summer Saturdays

BAKING

I made these blueberry bran muffins and they’re fantastic.

COOKING

I always forgot how good at-home quesadillas are. These kale and corn ones are unbelievable.

CRAVING

I’m counting down the days until summer tomatoes have arrived so I can make this heirloom tomato toast daily.

DRINKING

Got drinks at the Chelsea Hotel with some friends and ended up in the lobby the whole time, which I kind of prefer over the actual bar area. Love this place.

EATING

My love for caesar salads is endless.

EXPERIENCING

We saw Stranger Things on Broadway and the visuals were incredible. It ran a bit long and I really don’t love the newer theatres, but I’m so glad we went.

LISTENING

1950s are were on repeat this week.

LOVING

The wedding cookie from Crumbl was actually great, I love a frosted cookie.

SHOPPING

I tried on dresses at Zimmermann the other day and they are absolutely not worth $900 per dress, but I truly love how they fit.

WATCHING

Almost finished my rewatch of Downton Abbey and wow does that show take a turn for the dreary. I might have to stop before it ends, it’s just such a downer.

WEARING

This years-old Zara dress continues to dominant my summer wardrobe.

You can see last week’s Summer Saturdays Vol. 2 over here if you like.

June 14, 2025

Summer Saturdays Vol. 2

by Liz Heather in Summer Saturdays

BAKING

These blueberry breakfast cookies are insanely good. I keep them in the fridge because I love a cold cookie in the morning.

COOKING

I’ve been baking a lot of salmon lately - nothing too special. I top it at the end with a garlic/soy sauce/maple/mustard glaze and I haven’t grown tired of it yet.

CRAVING

Two things mainly: June strawberries & lap swimming. I don’t ask for much.

DRINKING

When I was in Turks and Caicos earlier this year, I had the same lunch smoothie each day from a place in town and we’ve made it here at home almost 100 times since then it’s so good. Almond milk, chocolate protein powder, green apple, honey, peanut powder, cocoa powder, frozen banana & ice. Heavenly.

EATING

I’ve been slow-cooking the garlic & peppercorn pork tenderloin from Trader Joe’s and making spinach wraps (which is just spinach blended with eggs and then pan fried to resemble a tortilla) with feta for lunch this week.

EXPERIENCING

So happy to have seen the New Jersey town where the original Friday the 13th was filmed so many years ago.

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LISTENING

I went mad with organizing all of my playlists on Spotify, so this week it’s the 1970s that's on repeat at the moment.

LOVING

My dad turned 102 this week (!), which is obviously incredible.

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SHOPPING

Repurchased my favourite coffee beans (hazelnut creme) from San Francisco Bay Coffee.

WATCHING

I’m in the middle of a rewatch of Downton Abbey, which has been great because it’s been so long so I’ve forgotten most of it. Poor Edith.

WEARING

I’m still living in these Target wedge heels. Best thing I’ve bought all year, by far.

You can see last week’s Summer Saturdays Vol. 1 over here if you like.

June 13, 2025

Friday The 13th Day Trip to New Jersey

by Liz Heather in Movies, Travel

For years I had no idea the original Friday the 13th was filmed in New Jersey (Blairstown and Hope, specifically). So we took a a day trip to go visit some of the spots from the movie and it was too much fun.

The daytime diner/general store at the beginning of the movie is now purely an antique shop - Hope Junction Antiques in Hope, New Jersey. They sell Camp Crystal Lake signs and other small items to commemorate the movie.

Inside Hope Junction Antiques in New Jersey

The sign we bought from Hope Junction Antiques in New Jersey

And just down the road is Moravian Cemetery (the character Annie walks infront of it in the beginning of the movie).

From here, it’s about a 15 minute drive to Blairstown Diner (where the new owner of Camp Crystal Lake, Steve Christy (Peter Brouwer), spent most of that fateful night back in June of 1980) where we had lunch. The diner itself is celebrating its 75 year anniversary and it was wonderful. There are specialty items (like the Jason omelette, the slasher burger) and everything tasted great. I had the Summer Campers omelette (avocado, bacon, sausage, spinach) and it was perfect. Possibly the best home fries I’ve ever had. And the house-made sausage? A dream.

When you’re done at the diner, it’s only a three-minute walk north on Carhart Street and there you can find the First National Bank building still standing brick-for-brick and column-for-column as it appeared in the film. This is part of Blairstown's famed historic district and the bank is where the exterior shots of Annie entering the daytime diner were filmed. There are a number of Friday the 13th-related stops to make while visiting the historic district, including Roy's Hall. The non-profit offers special screenings of Friday the 13th each year, so plan ahead to see if there are any screenings.

Our last stop was to see the outside of Camp Crystal Lake (actually called Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco, Hardwick Township, New Jersey). While Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco has hosted thousands of Boy Scout troops since its inception in 1927, it is also where the majority of Friday the 13th was filmed. The only way to see the inside of the camp is to book a tour through Crystal Lake Tours where fans can visit the camp and explore nearly every square inch of Friday the 13th's Camp Blood. We didn’t book a tour, but here’s what others have said about them:

The real life Camp Crystal Lake campgrounds

“Visitors will find the original Crystal Lake sign hanging approximately 20-30 feet away from a replica of the Jeep that both Steve Christy and Mrs. Voorhees drove during the movie. And nearby, a solo canoe floats on the water. There is also a chance to inspect the archery range where Brenda (Laurie Bartram) was shot down by Mrs. Voorhees. Not everything about the filming location has remained the same. The camp’s docks are now slightly differently from the movie's, and the lifeguard tower has been significantly altered in appearance. But the beach where Alice battles Mrs. Voorhees is eerily similar, and it's easy to envision the two of them engaged in their final battle to the death. Fans can expect to walk up to a mile while taking in the campground, but the tours can last two or even three hours depending on the amount of time each group spends inspecting all of Friday the 13th's interior and exterior sets. Tours are offered in the mornings, afternoons, and evenings, but there's also a special "flashlight" session at night, which adds that spooky feel horror fans crave. Plus, some of the camp's other special activities include archery and canoeing sessions.”

Crystal Lake Tours plans numerous events where fans can meet the original cast and crew (namely on big anniversaries like today). I do really wish we had managed to go to their gift shop to get a sample of Crystal Lake's waters from the Angry Mother Bottling Co. but next time for sure.

June 7, 2025

Summer Saturdays Vol. 1

by Liz Heather in Summer Saturdays

Welcome to the return of Summer Saturdays! I started doing these in 2023 and I write them mainly to reiterate to myself that I am a human woman who is capable of doing fun summer things. For most of my life I’ve hated this horrid season (the heat, everything smells, children run wild/free = all reasons to naturally hate it), but I’ve actively tried to change that mindset these past few years. So these posts are here to stay (until Labour Day). And you might say that summer starts on the 20th, but it starts when I says it does.

BAKING

This is in no way a fun muffin, but these black bean muffins are good, I promise you. Full disclosure: you will not like them, but I do.

COOKING

At-home steak salads are always the answer. And it should be illegal for one to be anything upwards of $20 at a restaurant, I will die on this hill. We used to be a country.

CRAVING

The vegan tahini soft serve from Seed + Mill in Chelsea Market. Top three best soft serve in the city, hands down. Try to ignore the vegan/tahini part of the description because it’s actually really good.

Soft serve from Seed + Mill in Chelsea Market, NYC

DRINKING

LOVE the Schweppes seltzer flavour concord grape. Tastes so much like a purple Crush only without the raging sugar headache.

EATING

A few months ago I realized the secret to an incredible at-home chicken parm - you have to get bone-in chicken (and then just slice it before you cook). Made it countless times since then and it tastes phenomenal.

EXPERIENCING

Saw the new costume exhibit at The Met and of course had many thoughts.

LISTENING

Made a 1960s playlist that’s been on repeat for about a week now.

LOVING

This long sleeve bodysuit from Aerie. I got them in two colours: navy & “canyon sun.” What the hell is canyon sun, you ask? Brown. It’s just brown. People hate the word brown so much they’re willing to come up with the nonsense that is “canyon sun” shoot me.

SHOPPING

Just reordered the Urban Skin RX Dark Spot Facial Scrub. It smells great and really gets rid of any recent acne scars.

WATCHING

The second episode of And Just Like That. I’m very into the idea that there’s a new love interest for Carrie. I’m sure it’ll end badly and she’ll just stay with Aiden, but at least we don’t have to just watch her wondering around her house all day. Also, is it just me or was the show more fun when she wasn’t rich? I’ve rewatched the series so many times over the years and I think I’m onto something here.

WEARING

Wore this gorgeous Simons dress to a wedding because I’m trying to unlearn how much I’ve hated how my arms look in the past. Progress!

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You can see last year’s Summer Saturdays series over here if you like this series but live in the past. Volume 2 coming next Saturday!

June 6, 2025

Superfine: Tailoring Black Style - The Met's 2025 Costume Exhibit

by Liz Heather in Best of NYC

“The Costume Institute’s spring 2025 exhibition presents a cultural and historical examination of Black style over three hundred years through the concept of dandyism. In the 18th-century Atlantic world, a new culture of consumption, fueled by the slave trade, colonialism, and imperialism, enabled access to clothing and goods that indicated wealth, distinction, and taste. Black dandyism sprung from the intersection of African and European style traditions.”

— The Met

This display is maddening, EVERYONE WANTS TO SEE THINGS AT EYE LEVEL

Okay, it was a perfectly fine exhibit. (Can you sense my subtle annoyance?) My major problems were these…

WHY IS EVERYTHING LIT SO OMINOUSLY? I’ve had this issue with exhibits from the past and it’s so infuriating. Also, the majority of these garments are dark colours so why would you showcase them against dark backgrounds? Dark colours pop against light backgrounds and vice versa. This is… science?
The entire exhibit was a tenth of the size compared with exhibits from other years.
Why was it focused solely on male tailoring? Especially when they certainly had the space to include more.

That being said there were definitely gorgeous pieces.

House of Balmain, Olivier Rousteing, pre-fall 2023

Louis Vuitton, Virgil Abloh, autumn/winter 2021-2022

Oh and one more issue - STOP PUTTING PIECES TOO HIGH SO PEOPLE CAN’T SEE THE DETAILS ON THEM (see below).

Infuriating, there’s absolutely no reason for this nonsensical placement

Why in the hell would these be displayed like this?? It makes zero sense. All in all, the exhibition was only all right this year. Definitely not a must-see (unlike last year’s).

The exhibit is open now until October 26, 2025.

And since I was already there, I saw the new rooftop exhibit Ensemble by Jennie C. Jones (on view until October 19, 2025) since it’s the last rooftop commission until at least 2030.

*Ensemble* by Jennie C. Jones, The Met rooftop 2025

The large sculptures are “based on string instruments that are supposed to play sounds activated only by the wind” - which sounds great, but I was there on an extremely windy day and didn’t hear anything. I respect the effort, though.

And look, it sounds like I’m overly picky but I think it’s just because nothing will ever top the Jeff Koons rooftop pieces from 2008. Oh! And lastly, look at this adorable dog kennel that was made for Marie Antoinette’s dog. In love.

Kennel made for the dog of Marie Antoinette, ca. 1775-1780

Past fashion exhibits I’ve seen at The Met:

2024 - Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion

2023 - Women Dressing Women

2023 - Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty

2022 - In America (Part Two): An Anthology of Fashion

2021 - In America (Part One): A Lexicon of Fashion (as well as the updated Part One that a few months later)

2019 - Camp: Notes on Fashion

2018 - Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination (not a full post, but a brief summary)

2016 - Manus x Machine: Fashion in an Age of Technology

I’ve also written about the Thierry Muglar exhibit as well as the Christian Dior one (both at the Brooklyn Museum).

June 2, 2025

The Best of May 2025

by Liz Heather in Beauty, Best of NYC, Food, Movies, Personal, Products, Recipes, Television

This has been the longest spring of all time and I’m not complaining. Here’s what went down last month.

The best tweets of the month can be found over here.
I finally reviewed last year’s Met costume exhibit (this year’s 2025 exhibit review can be read over here).
Bought/love this travel box for jewelry. Also got these great swim trunks for Nathan (love non-bland menswear).
A bunch of new candles came out at Trader Joe’s so obviously I’m on it.

Got this great quilted sweatshirt for $10 on sale at Banana Republic Factory.
Made this sausage, pesto, ricotta pasta on repeat for a few nights. Also made this bread pudding with vanilla sauce for a friend’s birthday that really turned out well.
I visited the new Printemps (french department store) in the city, which is really lovely. The design of the space is worth seeing if you’re in the area. Keep in mind that practically nothing is priced under $100.

We went to Ruta in Astoria, which is probably the best Mexican in the neighborhood by far. Their deep red salsa will fix you.

Here were my favourite Met Gala looks this year:

So I tried a retinol night serum on my face and I was warned that some flakiness might occur but this was next level flake city. I had to stop. I also do not care about the benefits of retinol, so let’s never speak of it again.
The chain Toasties in the city? What garbage! Never again. How do you mess up lunch?
I can’t stop texting this image to people (below).

I was looking for a new (not drugstore) mascara and I found a fantastic one - the Glossier Lash Slick. In love with the wand, it catches every single little hair.
I tried the Trader Joe’s strawberry gluten free muffins and they were okay, but nothing can top their GF cinnamon coffee cake ones.
I was invited to see Mel Robbins at The Beacon (with a very lovely new friend) and I’ve got to be honest. This woman is… just not for me. I’m happy that people seem to get something out of what she says, but I just can’t. Wellness can’t be bought and I will die on that hill.
Marla came for a visit and it was a blast. She stayed at The New Yorker hotel (which was old, wonderful and perfect), we did a million things in 48 hours and ate at Modern Bread & Bagel approx. twenty times. It was perfect.

Was so, so pleased that she agreed with me about how incredible the tart frozen yogurt is at Madison Fare.

Madison Fare frozen yogurt with raspberry

She also treated us to a Broadway show (this woman cannot be stopped in her generosity), so we saw Real Women Have Curves. And it was good!

I poached some salmon in a coconut cream sauce and it didn’t come out that great, so I think I’ll just stick to baked salmon.
I think I’m suffering from Pinterest-aesthetic-brain-overload because I was on such a mission (for some reason?) to find a perfect black cardigan to layer with some outfits I have - and I found one at Uniqlo. But once I tried it on I realized how very basic-white-woman it is and put it back. It can be very hard to fight these things that the internet tells me that I’m supposed to have. (I did buy this great baseball t-shirt, though.)
I went to Edith’s for the tahini iced coffee and it was very good. I also tried a bite of their chicken caesar and it was nothing special. Main reason to go here is definitely the coffee.

Edith’s tahini iced coffee in the West Village, NYC

I got a lash lift and it’s only week one, but I can see the appeal of getting them done. I’ve been using Nulastin for a few months and I’ve been seeing length, but they’re not very curly so I guess we’ll see if this makes a longterm difference or not.
We went to visit the town where the original Friday the 13th was filmed (it’s just under two hours from NYC) and it was so much fun. I’ll do a full post on it here soon. We also went to a wedding in the Poconos and it was such a great weekend.

Some things I watched:
- Final Destination Bloodlines - not as awful as I expected! The beginning scene was the most memorable/best part.
- And Just Like That (newest season) - okay, this was the craziest part of the first episode:

…what the hell? Were we all supposed to think that is a normal thing to say? Infact this insane sentence is making me want to do a deep dive on ALL of the wildly dumb things these women have said over decades and we all have just eaten it right up and accepted as normal! Madness.

Some things I’m looking forward to this month: I really want to go to Modern Bread & Bread for their night menu, I want to make this chicken Diane recipe at home, I think I’m going to start doing my Summer Saturday posts again starting this week (the season starts when I says it does) and I might have to pre-order the Jaws popcorn bucket (below).

You can read last month’s roundup over here.

Just a reminder that you should take way more photos of your friends everywhere

May 31, 2025

The Best Tweets of May 2025

by Liz Heather in Links

how it feels when u make a joke and everyone laughs pic.twitter.com/MrsbTXdRwd
— Anna-Laura (@annalaura_art) April 29, 2025

pic.twitter.com/DWJIsr29JI
— chaotic memes (@memechaotic) May 14, 2025

https://t.co/U1ARJQzj4p pic.twitter.com/5Wrr3P2sG3
— Simon Sarris (@simonsarris) May 15, 2025

this is aggressive bad bitching in 2024, so you know this was blowing their minds 60 years ago. https://t.co/mr8PQipmoi
— Remi (@IhyRemi) May 19, 2025