This woman is probably the kindest person you'll ever meet and you should feel a little bad that I MET HER FIRST. Happy Birthday to my longest and best friend out there. Thank you for endlessly being you and inspiring everyone around you. Love you, jugs.
Revisiting My Summer List
With the summer finally coming to a close, I wanted to reflect on that list I made earlier in June. Remember how I made a list of things I wanted to do this summer? Let's see how that went.
- "Try the frozen hot chocolate at Astor Bake Shop (Queens)" - did it and wrote about it!
- "Finally visit the rooftop across the street - there's a hotel across the street from me that has a rooftop bar that I've always wanted to go to but never have (Queens)" - didn't do it, which is weird because it's crazily close to my body right now.
- "Finally eat a Nanaimo bar for the first time (Toronto)" - did it! And they were crazy good, it's probably a good thing that I haven't been eating them my whole life. Thank you to Mrs. Battiston for making me a batch!
- "Go to City Island (Bronx)" - sadly, no. But I'll aim to go next year.
- "Go to Montauk (Montauk)" - I had the chance to, but no - it collided with plans to be in Toronto, so yet again, I'll have to wait for you, sweet Montauk. I did manage to make it to Long Island, however.
- "See this year's installation at the rooftop at The Met (Manhattan)" - shit! Totally forgot about this one.
- "Successfully grow something in my backyard (Queens)" - totally did this one! The wheatgrass!
- "Check out the Jefferson Market Garden (Manhattan)" - did it on the way from the burrata ice cream.
- "Get the burrata ice cream at Dominique Ansel (Manhattan)" - oh hell yeah.
- "See a movie at that gorgeous AMC on the UWS @ 84 street (Manhattan)" - nothing good was ever playing!
- "Try an egg cream in Forest Hills (Queens)" - uh HUH.
- "Visit the Edgar Allan Poe cottage (Bronx)" - Nope, it's hard to get people to want to come to the Bronx with you.
- "Blog Idea: Photograph Each Hour For A Day" - I was never up to date enough to do this one, that's my bad. I still intend to do it!
- "Blog Idea: Outfit Of The Day posts" - My outfits sucked this summer? Haha. They didn't, I just forgot I wanted to do this.
- "Blog Idea: Vlog!" - I swear this one is still gonna happen soon.
All in all? Six out of fifteen things got done.
Yikes. Does it make sense that I still had a pretty wicked summer? 'Cause I really did. Behold, summer!
Camilla Days
I've been friends with these guys for almost twenty years, and that warrants a post. Stud recently got engaged and had probably the best engagement party that's every happened, and that's where this photo was taken. Cannot WAIT for that wedding.
Anyway, do people still stay in close contact with their middle school friends? Is that still a thing? I really hope it is.
I Got You Babe
I will always listen to this song in its entirety when I hear it on the radio. I have also started to sing it to my dog, but instead of the word “babe” I sing “bope” since that’s her nickname. It’s kind of shocking how perfect a song it is to sing to her, too. Especially the line, “Now put your little hand in mine.”
I *think* she may love it as much as I do.
Happy 30th Birthday, Nathan
That's him wearing his birthday present above (Baby Dog doesn't seem into it, but believe me - she is). This man is smart as hell, babely as ever and funnier than anyone I know. I hope you have a great day today, b!
Smart Phone Manners
I know it's a common occurrence to have every action of daily life interrupted by technology. I really do understand this. My main concern here? How much worse is it going to get before we all hate one another.
I recently got an iPhone (I upgraded from my 2009 Samsung that finally died) and I really thought I'd become as equally annoying as everyone I know (with the exception of maybe one person) with this new device in my life. But honestly? I think I'm the same me. And thank God for that.
My main problem here? Table manners & smart phones. If I were to rule the world, I'd create a course on the subject and implement it in every elementary school classroom, so we could grow up having a basic understanding of THINGS WE SHOULD ALREADY BE AWARE OF.
What does it take to not be considered an impolite piece of iPhone-using scum? Not much! Here's a gentle list to take note of.
Things To Avoid
- If you're seated at a table that has cutlery on it, don't you dare put your phone down on that table. Don't do it. I don't care if you're a man who keeps his phone in his pocket, figure it out. (Sidenote: it really can't be good for men to keep cell phones so near their junk. Has anyone done a study on that yet?)
- If you really can't fight the urge to read that text that just arrived, put your phone on Do Not Disturb mode if you're amongst other, polite human beings so you're not tempted to look.
- If you're waiting for your drink or food or cheque to arrive, this is not the time to check your email. If you're amongst company, speak to these humans beside you. If you're alone, LOOK AROUND maybe or have a thought of some kind. Your time doesn't have to exclusively consist of refreshing your Instagram feed.
And the most important rule of all? If you must, absolutely must, take your phone out for whatever reason (and that better be for a good goddam reason) - you should, at the very least, apologize for its presence. To bring out and use your phone with no explanation at a sit-down dinner is inexcusable and rude beyond measure. And the fact that you're even slightly thinking right now, "Whoa, calm down, Liz. Everyone does it." is abhorrent. We used to have better manners. I know that we did because I'm not that old and I remember a time when manners were sort of respected. I don't know how this shift slowly happened and we all became dirtbags, but it doesn't have to be this way. I know it. I just know it.
First of the Month Checklist
I love the first day of the month. There's just something about starting a new month that makes you feel like you can get tons and tons of stuff done. And whether that's true or not, the idea behind it makes me hopeful. Is it just me who feels that way?
The one thing I do every time this day comes around is check off my list of monthly things that need to get done. I really think that everyone should have one of these lists. How else are you supposed to stay on top of things? And if you're unsure of what types of things should be on this list, feel free to take a glance at mine.
My Monthly Checklist
- Clear out any old food from the fridge and clean the shelves.
- Choose my next book to read.
- Set a goal of how many times I expect myself to go to the gym (this varies depending on the season - I go less in the summertime since I'm outdoors more compared with the winter when I need to up my gym dosage since I spend so much time indoors, not moving as much).
- Set a spending budget (which takes into consideration birthday gifts, holidays, etc.)
- Clean out my car (this was, obviously, for the times when I had a car).
- Check Barnes & Noble for any author events that I might want to go to.
- Buy greeting cards if there are any family or friends' birthdays this month.
- Wash the bed sheets (should I be doing this more than once a month? Hope not. That's a lot of work).
- Clean and polish any shoes that are looking rough.
- Go through emails and respond to anything that's ridiculously late.
That's it! Pretty good list, eh? I think so.
Quick Note
Over the weekend marked my sixth anniversary with Nathan! Here's us.
He had some shows in Farmington, PA so we took the dog and went for the weekend. (And P.S. if you're ever near the Nemacolin Woodlands Resort - it is luxurious as hell and you should definitely stay there.)
In any case, I think I say it an appropriate amount - but just incase I don't, I'm crazy lucky to have this man by my side. Happy six years, b.
Annoyance of the Day - Hotel Key Cards
Why must we suck all of the beauty out of this world? Why must every action of our daily lives be affected by technology? Will this better us? It is really necessary?
Look, I'm not complaining about every technological advance that's been made in the last twenty years. I'm really not. It's just that sometimes there are little things that really get under my skin. And believe me, I could get into a whole big thing with you here, but I'll narrow this rant down to one of the things I hate the most. THESE.
Why? Why did it have to come to this? What was so wrong with using a key? An old-fashioned, working key? Do you understand how beautiful a key can be? The intricacies of it? The specificity? The uniqueness? Sometimes a key is the most beautiful thing that you'll touch all day, and no ones seems to notice. The mere weight of a key brings me pleasure. Is that sick? If you held this key (below) in your hand, you're telling me it wouldn't make you feel warm inside? Am I the maniac here?
And if I am the maniac here, I'm not sorry. I'm sure I'll be screaming about this (primarily at children, I'd imagine?) for years to come, so get ready.
Long Island Day Trip
Once in awhile (or extremely often, depending on your preference), you need to get out of the city. So when I was recently asked by my friend Jenn to accompany her and some friends on a day trip to venture across Long Island, I was eager to come along. What did we do? What DIDN'T we do is the more apt question.
We found a farm where we could pick raspberries & blueberries in Mattituck, which happened to have the largest and loveliest sunflowers I've seen in years.
And, I mean, look at these tomatoes. Are you kidding me with that ripe-ass red? So gorgeous.
We then headed onward to Macari Vineyards to sample some wines, which happened to be accompanied by the finest of truffle cheeses.
To finish the day, we stopped off for food in Oyster Bay. I've only ever heard of Oyster Bay because of that Cole Porter song, but I figured that hearing a place mentioned in a lyric is almost too great a reason to solely visit a town. And the oysters at Canterbury's were fantastic.
The above photo is of the Oyster Bay LIRR station - and it may not look like much, but I can't accurately describe how much I love seeing these older types of train stations. I love the fact that it never got torn down and completely redone. Doesn't it make so much more sense to restore buildings like these? Ugh. Love this old station so much.
Anyway, it was a great day. There are so many different paths you can take once you get off the highway heading to Long Island. I hope to make it to Montauk someday.