May Musings 2022

How is it June? Halloween is practically tomorrow. Here’s what went down last month!

• The best tweets of May can be found over here and here.

• I wrote an essay about my hated for the Kard***ian family.

• Nathan’s show Trapped got reviewed in The Globe and Mail!

• I visited the insanely disappointing part two of the costume exhibit at The Met.

• I also revisited part one of that same exhibit because new pieces were added and they are spectacular. (And quick note: there’s no rooftop exhibit at The Met this summer! I emailed them to see why and they told me that it “has been delayed per the artist’s request“ which is complete bullshit! If the artist couldn’t make it work for this year, why the hell didn’t they commission someone else to fill the space for this year? The fuck?)

• I read and reviewed Christopher Reeve’s memoir.

• I never use face cream, but the texture of my face was weirdly rough for about a week so I lathered on the belief aqua bomb cream each night and it smoothed me right out back to normal within two days. It also works really well on elbows if ashiness is ever a concern for you.

• So intensely in love with these new shorts I got from Banana Republic Factory.

• I made this tomato, zucchini, caramelized onion & feta tart with puff pastry that was too, too good.

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• I made these flourless chocolate brownie cookies and they were truly disgusting.

• I’ve tried many foot masks, but this Holler and Glow one from Target is my absolute favourite. It’s even better than that baby foot mask everyone loved a few years back.

• Went to Bar Crudo in Brooklyn and it was incredible. The crab cakes were perfect, everything we ordered was phenomenal (except the ricotta toast). Have to go back.

• I’ve been making individual iced teas each day and this month solely consisted of the Trader Joe’s pomegranate white tea. It’s so fruity, but not at all too sweet.

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• Two new discoveries! I have a moderate dairy allergy and a possible pollen allergy! Sweet! This is what your late thirties looks like I guess?

• I tried a sample of the silk peony eye cream (eyes are rolling at that name) from Tatcha and it yes it was good. But no it should not be $62. All creams should be max $20 and that’s even pushing it a bit.

• Links I’m Loving:

  • If you’re still spring cleaning, this is such a great guide.

  • These sandwiches look so wildly good. Can I please just be invited to this woman’s house.

  • The best SNL sketch of the season. (It’s called Old Enough! Longterm Boyfriends if you need to search for it in Canada.)

  • I badly want to make these chocolate toffee cookies (below).

• Things I Watched:

  • I’m in the middle of a rewatch of Friday Night Lights (Hulu), it’s not as good as it was the first time around but Riggins can still get it.

  • Also rewatching Undeclared (YouTube!) and it’s as good as I remembered it.

  • Our Father (Netflix) was pure chaos. It’s so disturbing and awful, I kind of want to tell you not to even watch it? It’s not worth it. Awful people who get away with doing awful things is such a weird thing to recommend to watch.

  • Inventing Anna (Netflix) was irritatingly bad. A lot of the acting was terrible, the scripts were awful. Why on earth was this longer than a 90 minute made-for-TV movie? This is one of those times the Wikipedia page is more interesting than the final product.

  • The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes (Netflix) was, again, hard to watch. I’ve seen dozens of movies about this woman and every new thing I learn about her is more depressing than the last. God, the Kennedys were awful people.

  • St. Elmo’s Fire (Hulu) was terrible! I’d never seen it before but UGH. There are so many good people in it, I had such high hopes. Not one likable character in a cast of what seemed to be fifty people. Also, I know it was the ‘80s but no friend would ever put another friend’s head in a toilet, it just wouldn’t happen. Terrible script.

  • Everything Everywhere All At Once (theatres) was good! There were definitely parts that were a smidge too corny, but as a whole it was really good.

  • Flamingo Kid (streamed online) is such a good summer movie, I can’t believe I haven’t seen it before. It’s light and low maintenance and a young Matt Dillon is very pleasant to look at.

  • Big Night (streamed online) was so good. I’ve wanted to see it forever because of how food centric it is and it was perfect.

  • Top Gun: Maverick (theatres) was actually really good. Even I surprise myself sometimes. Love Tom Cruise. LOVE that he insisted on little to no CGI.

• It’s amazing that spring garlic is still in season, I’m begging you to find some.

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The main thing I’m looking forward to this month: I’m going on my big postponed-from-2020 trip! I’ll definitely be posting about it on my Instagram stories and (and highlights section) if you have any interest in seeing what I get up to. I could tell you some of the things planned, but where’s the fun in that?

If you’ve got any interest in reading last month’s roundup, you can see what went down in April over here.

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In America: An Anthology of Fashion Exhibit at The Met

I just saw part two of The Met’s newest costume exhibit and… woof. It might be the worst one they’ve ever had? Which is weird because part one was done so well (as noted over here).

“The second portion of a two-part exhibition exploring fashion in the United States is presented in collaboration with The Met’s American Wing. This section of the exhibition will highlight sartorial narratives that relate to the complex and layered histories of the American Wing period rooms. Men’s and women’s dress dating from the eighteenth century to the present will be featured in vignettes installed in select period rooms spanning from 1805 to 1915.”

— The Met

And look, if you know anything about me and The Met, you already know how much I LOVE the period rooms (they’re one of the reasons I always return each summer). But it was a spectacularly bad idea to showcase clothing inside of them. Many of the rooms have been staged by American directors (Sofia Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Regina King, Julie Dash, etc.) and while that sounds cool, it’s kind of useless. For starters, the rooms are so dimly lit that you can barely see any of the details on the clothing. Also, the mannequins wearing the pieces are placed SO FAR AWAY from the roped-off viewing areas. See for yourself.

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The Benkard Room by Autumn de Wilde

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The Baltimore Room by Autumn de Wilde

Doesn’t this seem oddly terrible for The Met to produce? I honestly just felt confused at first, but that confusion quickly turned to annoyance (and a little bit of rage). People come to this exhibit each year to SEE THE CLOTHING UP CLOSE. Why is that so difficult to understand? Now if they’d only displayed the entire collection in the manner they did with this George Washington coat (below) I could happily shut my mouth.

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Am I being too harsh? There’s more! All of the pieces that weren’t being shown in period piece rooms were presented on a platform in THE darkest room inside the entire museum on mannequins that were contorted for some reason?? Can someone explain this me? Are these dresses or fancy sheets draped over bodies? No one knows.

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If this were twenty years ago when The Matrix came out, at least then would I understand the positioning of these mannequins. How could it get any worse, you ask? Well, the names of the designers of each piece aren’t even NEAR each design. They’re all collectively on a plaque that’s near the outer wall of the room. So not only can you not accurately VIEW each piece (what fun!), but you also have no idea who the hell designed what! Sweet! That’s just what I wanted when visiting A COSTUME EXHIBIT. Just an abomination.

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The Frank Lloyd Wright Room by Martin Scorsese

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The Frank Lloyd Wright Room by Martin Scorsese

These were the two pieces (that I could actually see) that were my only favourites in the whole bunch (below).

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The McKim, Mead & White Stair Hall by Sofia Coppola

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The Worsham-Rockefeller Dressing Room by Sofia Coppola

Other than those two, the best item in part two was this gorgeous Tiffany lamp. (If you don’t know anything about them, they’re a thing.) So beautiful to see in real life.

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After this horrid experience, I needed to decompress so I headed over to part one (that came out last year) and they added new pieces! So I’m going to do another post on that one this week. (Spoiler: they’re breath-taking.)

It’s honesty wild how bad part two was, just jaw droppingly rough. On the bright side, it’s comforting to realize that even an institution as highly respected at The Met can still completely drop the ball and remind you that power doesn’t automatically mean success. God, what a disaster.

The exhibit runs until September 5, 2022 and if you aren’t in New York and would like to see a glimpse, there’s a tour video below of part two; don’t tell me I didn’t warn you. (And you can see my whole walk-through on my Instagram stories over here.)

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Kancel The Kard***ians

I’ll be completely honest with you. I’ve bought a waist trainer. I’ve tried the Kylie Skin sunscreen. I have a set of KKW lip liners. Years ago, I even bought a blazer from the Sears Kard***ian Kollection (even I winced at that admission). I’m embarrassed by all of these purchases because I should have known better. I bought them because my brain sometimes tells me that what the Kard***ians are selling is real and attainable. Embarrassingly enough, in the past I have looked to their bodies as inspiration to starve myself. I haven’t bought their shitting teas or the diet pills, but at certain points of my life of course I considered them because of the sheer influence of these people who seem to have it all. Over the last fifteen years, how did we ever get onboard with such a deeply vapid, insecure, fatphobic family that profits off of the insecurity of others?

I’ve never been impressed by their empire because they have never offered us anything of value. I’d assume people started watching their show because it was enjoyable to watch hot, mean people act like privileged morons. It was supposed to be entertainment. The show tied in with the emergence of Instagram (which turned out to be the absolute worst coincidence) and it gained momentum. It produced people who weren’t stars, but wanted to be so badly that nothing else mattered. Each year, more viewers, more popularity, which led to more surgeries, more falsities, more endorsements, more credibility. A family that started out as normal (they weren’t, they were rich even in the beginning), turned into something no one could have believed could happen. It’s the same structure that catapulted Trump into office, we refused to look away from a train wreck. And this one was a beautiful train wreck. 

The show became so popular because to a typical viewer, it was frivolous, messy, even fun and it also looked attainable. Even now, we continue to think that we could have these lives, if only we tried harder. That’s why we buy the lip kits. That’s why we think Khloe knows anything about denim. That’s why we learned how to over-contour when Kim showed us how to. 

And of course you can argue that that’s the industry. Market a product, sell a product. There isn’t anything wrong with that idea. The part that is wrong is that this family has sold us an idea that harms us on a daily basis. The idea that our value and worth should be determined by our appearances and bank accounts. We’ve been brainwashed into believing these women hold the answers to changing our own lives. The lies behind their “working hard” mentalities are so ingrained in our perception of them because that’s constantly what they’re telling us they’re doing.

At the core of it all, we shouldn’t be idolizing people we do not know. We should not be defending them as if we know them. They show us snippets of their extravagant lives and demand praise. They are on completely different planets than we are in terms of wealth and status, so why must we also be subjected to hearing (endlessly) about their lives? If you make a certain obscene amount of money, you should have to be silent. At least for awhile. Until you’ve proven that you can be trusted with our ears. Stop telling us what to look like, what to buy, what will make us “better.” We glorify their wealth and power in a way that we actually believe they’re smart people with our best intentions at heart.

The best thing of all is when anything negative is said about this family, we’re supposed to have empathy because they’re “real people too.” And pathetically enough, I do have empathy for them at times. It bums me out to see a 24 year old who looks 35 because of the severe psychological damage her family has done to her self-worth. It bums me out that fans feel sorry for these women who certainly do not care about our personal well being. It bums me out to see women who endlessly Photoshop and alter their images because of their addiction to their bizarre understanding of “perfection.” It bums me out to think of the normalization of young girls changing themselves because of the opinions of others instead of looking inward.

This family is truly untouchable. They’re an embarrassment to North American culture, and people continue to praise, love and celebrate them. As I said before, there’s something so Trumpish about all of it. These women continue to show you who they are, they ignore the harm they’ve done, and continue to profit. No one expects them to apologize or alter their behavior because they don’t acknowledge that there ever IS anything to apologize for. Any criticism of them is put into the category of negative talk. The next time I’m arguing with my boyfriend, I should just back out of the room and claim, “I refuse to engage in your negativity!” - apparently that’s all you need to say to avoid real consequences for your actions and words. With a defense like that, it becomes completely acceptable to distance themselves from anyone who has serious problems with the destructive culture that they’ve capitalized on. It would be a genius strategy if it weren’t completely tragic and devoid of actual understanding and growth. Evidently, those qualities can’t exist in a family with extreme wealth and no moral center. If you challenge or criticize any of these women, you’re labeled simply a hater. You’re told, “As a woman, why would you take down another woman?” When you’re harming society on a daily basis, you’ve left me, a fellow woman, with no choice.

These are millionaires who literally share their lives with the public and get paid for it. No one is asking them to be perfect, this family disgustingly encourages (and profits on) the idea that you need to look a certain way to matter. They have the resources to do whatever the hell they want. They have attempted to destroy the lives of anyone who has crossed them… does that not seem insane? The amount of power we’ve given to stars of a reality show? These people do not deserve your sympathy. There are things in the headlines at least once a week about how fucked up this family is. They have taken “any press is good press” to an entirely whole new level.

Recently, for example, with Kim at the Met Gala. It is sick to proudly announce that your disordered eating made you fit into a dress. It’s profoundly sad and deeply unhealthy to promote your unwellness as an accomplishment. I would feel sorry for her if it weren’t so enraging. Imagine having all the money in the world and your main focus in life is your appearance? You can change lives with your power, influence and money, you can do anything you want and you choose vanity? Wild. Yes, it’s her body and she can do what she wants with it. My problem lies in the complete ignorance of her influence on others OR in the knowledge that she knows exactly what she’s doing and gets off on deliberately saying dumb shit that she knows we will talk about.

So what is the solution here? The only one I can come up with is out of sight, out of mind. I have every family member blocked on all socials, I have their names muted, I have the names of their partners muted. At the moment, it’s the only way that I can find some peace in a world that holds them in such a positive light. We idolize their lives, possessions, relationships, and anything that we assume to be real life, when it’s just a calculated experience perpetuated by deeply insecure, powerful women. We’re encouraged to want their lives. Some of us even root for them, even though they’re complete strangers. Smaller stomachs aren’t the answer. Private jets will not fix you. Excessive surgery and wealth will not make your life happier. This family’s purpose is to sell you ideas and things that you do not need. Whether it’s the body you don’t have, the wealth that you don’t need or the power that will not give your life meaning.

Of course their show didn’t end, they wanted more money and created a new one. They can and we let them. It doesn’t hurt me if you watch or follow them, but I think it might hurt you, whether you realize it now or not. (Yes that sounds condescending - it is. Condescension is all I have now to offer anyone who supports these people.) I’m talking about them right now and it’s what they want. If that family is talked about, they win. They’re the real life Candyman. Is it even possible to get rid of them? Probably not. Not anytime soon, for sure. But they can be made to be invisible, at least to this hater’s eyes.

April Activities 2022

Yes, I’m late on the monthly post but there are approx. three people who read these posts so WE’LL ALL LIVE. Here’s what went down in April!

• NATHAN’S TV SHOW TRAPPED PREMIERED! It’s available only in Canada on Bell Fibe TV1 but I have a link to it if you’re interested in watching and you’re not in Canada (message me about it). So wildly proud of how good it is and I promise you’ll love it.

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Airing on Bell Fibe TV1

• The best tweets of April can be found over here and here.

• I wrote about seeing the great Birthday Candles on Broadway.

• I did Nathan’s podcast again and we talked about the Netflix show Old Enough and whether or not you can question women.

• I talked about visiting the beautiful New York Transit Museum and why you should too.

• I came across this wonderful Kurt Vonnegut letter.

• I should have loved this recipe for lemon orzo with parmesan and peas, but it was definitely missing something. Maybe a basil vinaigrette should’ve been mixed in? Maybe some grilled chicken? There are so many recipe blogs now that everything has become so boring and bland.

• I went to Hudson Yards for the first time and it’s… a lot. I had no idea there was so much going on in that area. Had drinks at Peak with Jessie mainly for the view and it was lovely! If you find yourself shopping in that area, a drink up there should definitely be on your list.

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Peak in Hudson Yards, NYC

• I looked through the new Half Baked Harvest cookbook and there might be some decent recipes in there (like the rosemary chicken salad with bacon shallot vinaigrette or the lasagna alla vodka or the balsamic stuffed mushrooms with basil and orzo). Will I buy it? Time will tell. Buying a new cookbook is such a commitment.

• I went to the antique store No Particular Hours finally and it was a little disappointing. I don’t know what I was expecting, but I figured that since it was only open on the weekends it’d be a bit more exciting? How does this logic make sense? I’m not sure. In any case, it’s nothing special. I think antique shops might only be good in the suburbs.

• I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Easter candy is EONS better than Halloween candy. And the Dove milk chocolate peanut butter eggs give you a reason to live. But that being said, the Lindt mini eggs completely sucked. There’s a weird powder on them that didn’t seem normal, the Cadbury ones are waaay better.

• Baby Dog and I went to Central Park because everything is in bloom and it’d be a sin not to go and see it all.

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My happy girl in Central Park, April 2022

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Her expression makes me want to weep

• Things I Watched:

  • The House of the Devil: uuuuugggghhhh, words can’t express how terrible this was. I can’t stand when directors who aren’t Alfred Hitchcock show up in their own movies. It always seems desperate. I might officially hate Ti West (god even that name, I cringe writing it).

  • Speaking of awful things, I did a brief hate-watch of some seasons of Entourage for some reason. What’s wrong with me?

  • Also rewatched some of The League and it really doesn’t hold up after all these years. Every scene with Jason Mantzoukas is magic and Andre (Paul Scheer) is by far the best character, but other than that it’s definitely not worth a rewatch.

  • Euphoria: I watched all two seasons of it at once and loved Kat & Ethan (until she was awful in the second season to him), obviously loved the idea of Lexi & Fez, and I kind of hate Rue & Jules. I just can’t stand Jules. The last two episodes of season two especially? So messy. Love mess.

  • I saw the Lizzo SNL and these two sketches were by far the funniest ones: the Black Eyed Peas one and the Venga Bus one.

  • Life of Kylie: do you remember this sad attempt at a show? It was on while I was getting my nails done and just wow. Apparently money can’t stop you from being boring. (Also, small side note: if these people weren’t absolutely wretched, I would feel immensely bad for the awful face work that Scott has had done recently. Someone forced a clip of their new show on me and it’s shocking that bad plastic surgery can still be achieved even if you have millions. Sad.)

  • Old Enough: love how low maintenance this is, perfect show, no notes.

  • I attempted the first season of Atlanta and only got through the first three episodes. I do want to watch that Trinidadian funeral episode from this season though because I’ve only heard good things (from one person, my brother Robbie, but that’s enough to spark my interest). I don’t think I’ve ever seen any show attempt to show what a Caribbean funeral is like and I’d love to see if they got it right.

  • Bao: Pixar is really incredible sometimes (I’m aware that we all know this already). I feel like all moms would love this short.

  • Turning Red: Okay, so I’m going to have strong opinions about a movie based in Toronto. And here they are. No Canadian has ever said the word “hoser” to any other Canadian. Can we all just accept that and move on? It’s embarrassing. Also, when the mother over-pronounced the word “Toronto” you could immediately tell that little to no research was done on this movie. It takes place in 2002 and the $5 bills they showed were the new ones that definitely came out after 2002. And the birthday cake Timbits they mentioned came out in 2014. Am I a loser for pointing these things out? NOPE! How hard is it to research a movie with a budget of millions?! I’M not the problem here. And look, all that being said yes it’s a good movie. It’s a real “call your mom” movie.

• We’ve been making homemade iced green tea for about a year now, but I started getting flavoured green tea and it’s taken things to a whole new level.

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Homemade iced green tea is the answer, whatever the question

• I’ve never even heard of the Canadian singer Virginia To Vegas, but I’m obsessed with the two songs betterman and selfish.

• I will not stop re-buying these pocketed leggings from Aerie. So damn soft.

• I went out to a winery in the Hamptons (Macari Vineyards) with my friend Diana and what a great time we had. Sometimes I forget how good it feels to leave the city for a day.

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Baby Dog at a winery!

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Baby Dog at a Hamptons beach!

• Nathan and I saw American Buffalo on Broadway with Sam Rockwell (what a compete fox) and what a fucking party. It was so good, that man is incredible, I love that theatre (Circle in the Square), I can’t recommend it enough. This was the first Mamet play I’ve ever seen, so I was already excited. The set is incredible, everyone did so well, and we managed to get lottery tickets through TodayTix that were amazing seats. GO GO GO.

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April 2022

• Real fast: if you find yourself in Richmond, Virginia then you have to go to the Hotel Greene to play mini golf INSIDE this gorgeous, old hotel. Nathan did it while he was there for shows and it looks incredible.

Things I’m looking forward to: I’m definitely going to go see part two of the new costume exhibit at The Met, Stanley Tucci’s second season of Searching For Italy is finally airing so I can’t wait to see that, this might sound stupid but Ina Garten is in Europe for two weeks and she’s posting in her stories about her favourite places and I am enthralled I can’t wait to hear about them, and I must visit the new restaurant Le Gratin inside my precious Beekman.

If you’ve got any interest in reading last month’s roundup, you can see what went down in March over here.

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I mean… no one is cuter

March Magic 2022

“Never yet was a springtime, when the buds forgot to bloom.”

— Margaret Elizabeth Sangster

Sometimes I write these monthly posts and think, “How the hell did I do all of that in one month?” I mean, obviously I love it but sometimes it just seems bewildering that I get to do all of these things that make me so happy. I wish I could go back in time and tell kid Liz what a sweet life she’ll have. She’d never believe it. Anywaaaay, maybe that paragraph should’ve been a diary entry…? Here’s what went down in March, babies.

• The best tweets of March can be found over here and here.

• I recapped what I did from my winter list of things to do.

• I made a spring list of things I want to do.

• I wrote about the fashion exhibit on now at The Met (In America: A Lexicon of Fashion).

• I tried out the new Vicks bath salts and they are incredible. I know that all bath salts hit hard, but these? Just beyond relaxing. I also tried the Vicks scented Puffs tissue paper and oh my god. Take all my money, Vicks. Such a genius idea to incorporate that smell when you blow your nose.

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Puffs with Vicks

• I went to the downtown location of Eataly and it’s less chaotic than the Flatiron one. And I don’t hate Eataly, but you definitely have to know why to go here. It’s overpriced and terrible if you’re going for a sit down meal or even their pre-packaged meals. But if you’re going for high quality dried pasta, incredible canned tomatoes and specialty items like anchovy paste and canned seafood, then it’s a cook’s dream.

• I dyed my hair even blonder and… I don’t know if I’ll ever go back to natural. I love this look so much. I think my goal this year is to… become… untouchable?

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• The New York Times had a piece on the former mayor of Mississauga, Hazel McCallion!

• Sometimes I like to sit in Barnes & Noble and peruse the cookbooks for inspiration and meal ideas since one day B&N will definitely go bankrupt and cease to exist. I give it ten more years, max. So in the meantime, I will take advantage. I looked through The Pepper Thai Cookbook (Chrissy Teigen’s mom) and it wasn’t anything special. I swear, her and her daughter make 90% of their recipes with fish sauce. And look, fish sauce is great when used sparsely, but it’s enough already. I also looked through The Milk Bar cookbook and again, nothing special.

• I got coffee at the fancy coffee place Felix Roasting Co. and yes it’s a pretty space, but they really need to clean the fabric of their booths because they look ROUGH. I can’t stand it when a business puts so much effort and time into creating a different, beautiful space and then there is zero upkeep. Why spend all that money up front and then get lazy with the actual management of the place? It’s such a waste. And not to be a bitch, but the Starbucks flat white is better than whatever they’re serving here. Never again. And if you’d like to see the most pretentious coffee shop menu of all time, gently look below.

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$15 for a S’MORES LATTE? We’ve entered hell on earth.

• I can never find them, but damn those North Fork BBQ potato chips are everything.

• Kind of over-the-moon in love with this Levi’s x The Simpsons collab. God, that cloud vest is perfect.

• Obviously, you know how Ulta & Sephora give you a birthday gift during your birthday month, so add Kiehl’s to that list now too. Got their pear scented lip balm for free.

• My brothers and I all surprised my mom and came to Canada for her 70th birthday and it was so nice. Can’t believe it actually happened.

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The Heathers, March 2022

• I bought this fake suede green coat from Zara that is the absolute softest and will be completely ruined if it rains.

• I tried the new croissant croutons from Trader Joe’s and they taste like little butter cubes. Just an insane amount of butter in these. They should’ve crumbled these up and sold them as a croissant breadcrumb instead. But what do I know (other than everything).

• Every single time I go to Mimi Cheng’s, I remember how much I love them all over again. Not really for their every day items, but their monthly specials are always incredible. In March they had French onion soup dumplings that were so intensely flavourful, they didn’t even need a dipping sauce. Love this place.

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• My best friend Harmeet was visiting, so we had drinks at The Palm Court at The Plaza before going over to see Plaza Suite on Broadway (her idea to do both, a genius one at that). The play was too good. When did they start letting you order a whole bottle of wine to take to your seat? Love that. And Sarah Jessica Parker was magnificent, but Matthew Broderick? Not so great! He just seemed… tired. Or unenthusiastic. Which seems weird because doesn’t he have tons of Broadway experience?

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• I had my steak Diane at The Dowlings at The Carlyle and it was divine. Ordered the raviolo carbonara, the wedge salad and the table-side flambéed steak and what a glorious night it was. The Carlyle is such a beautiful hotel, I love that they still have mail chutes prominently shown (below).

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I love embossed butter (at Dowlings At The Carlyle, NYC)

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Appetizers, Dowlings At The Carlyle, NYC

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Mail chute at The Carlyle, March 2022

• I had lunch at Robert for the first time and it was perfectly all right. The food/service/view were all good, but who decorated this place? Bit of a yikes situation with the colour scheme.

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Robert dining room, NYC

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View onto Columbus Circle from Robert, NYC

• This week in things that are too beautiful + too expensive:

  • This gorgeous Marchesa Notte Greer Gown

  • This breathtaking neon Coach purse

  • I would wear this to fill my bird feeder

  • Oh my god, THE BEADING
    

• I’ve mentioned my love of Bread Alone bakery (they always have a stand at the Union Square farmer’s market), but I hadn’t tried their oat chocolate chip cookie until now and it’s even better than the basic chocolate chip one. They also have incredible whole wheat sourdough.

• I saw the Harry Potter play (SPOILERS) even though I’ve never read the books nor cared about the movies, so maybe that’s why I didn’t love it. One standout part, though? Those damn dementors, they were WILD. Do not see this play high. The effects of them were true insanity and if you liked the series even 1%, this is the main reason to see the play.

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• I love the spring collection of colours that Essie puts out and my favourite colour right now is definitely their Well Nested Energy.

• I had the Vallata lunch special ($29 for a pasta & glass of wine) which was really, really good. Especially for that price. In 2022. Couldn’t believe it. I’m sure it won’t last.

• Sweetest Irene treated me to birthday dinner at Rezdôra (I’ve been dying to go here for ages) and it was phenomenal. We had the Cacio E Pepe in Emilia, this puffed up prosciutto thing and some toasted bread to start and then for our entrees, the truffle Raviolo (the giant raviolo with black truffles), the Grandma Walking Through Forest in Emilia (the green pasta), and the Maccheroni al Pettine with duck ragu (truly heaven on earth). NOTE: I just noticed on their new, updated menu that the duck ragu is gone and replaced with a sausage ragu! I’ve already sent out an email to those in charge questioning this decision. I’ll do everything in my power to get it back on that menu.

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Cacio E Pepe in Emilia, Rezdôra NYC, March 2022

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Truffle Raviolo (the giant raviolo with black truffles), the Grandma Walking Through Forest in Emilia (the green pasta), the Maccheroni al Pettine with duck ragu, Rezdôra NYC, March 2022

• Things I’ve Watched:

  • To Gillian On Her 37th Birthday: Okay, I watched this because I was turning 37 this month and I thought “that sounds fun” so of course it wasn’t. Spoiler but Gillian IS DEAD. She died on her 35th birthday! I had no idea the whole movie was about the grief of her death, so obviously this wasn’t a fun watch. Also, all the gross flirting with minors was… a lot.

  • Malice: Okay, do you know anything about this movie? If not, don’t look it up. Just watch it. I was ON CLOUD NINE watching this one. So many twists, there’s a great Alec Baldwin monologue in it, it’s just a party of a movie. Especially if you love early 90s semi-sexy psychological thrillers, WHICH I DO. Such a great movie.

  • Impeachment: Great watch. Started watching it at the airport out of boredom and then it really picked up. Fully recommend.

• I tried these great Vicks-like patches called Salonpas that you can stick on any area that needs pain relief but without the stickiness of an ointment.

• I visited Argosy Book Store (one of the oldest book stores in NYC) and it’s wild that this place has managed to stay alive.

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Argosy Book Store, March 2022

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Argosy Book Store, March 2022

• Did you know that every night at 11:57pm, fifteen screens in Times Square shut down at the same time and display art for three minutes? It’s called the Midnight Moment.

• This Welsh restaurant in Astoria Snowdonia has started to do tacos on Tuesday that are beyond incredible, especially the lamb.

• I’m over the moon that Manhatta finally reopened, so Nathan and I went for my birthday and it’s still as beautiful as ever. So thankful they were able to reopen.

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Cocktail menu at Manhatta, NYC, March 2022

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View from Manhatta, NYC, March 2022

• So my dear friend Diana and I had brunch together and I found potentially my favourite burger (au poivre) in all of NYC at Raoul’s and I can’t recommend it enough. They only serve it for brunch on the weekends and then a limited amount at the bar on week days. Find this burger. Eat this burger. This is your only option. Christ, it’s a revelation.

• Since when did Tim Hortons bring back the apple fritter? So messy and good. Not better than San Remo’s, but a respectable alternative. Now all they need to bring back are the salted caramel Timbits and I’ll stop complaining.

• I made this lemon orzo with peas and parmesan and it tasted so flat, it was weird. I love all those ingredients in it, I was just confused eating it. It’s like when you meet someone you think is so gorgeous and you talk to them and there’s zero chemistry. Like, what the fuck… we coulda been something here.

• I made this crazy easy lasagna (with jarred sauce instead of tomatoes) last minute and it came out great. Love a fast lasagna. No one has time for a béchamel sauce.

• One of the best dishes I’ve eaten in a loooong time: the roasted corn and couscous risotto with parmesan from Glass House Tavern. Holy hell, was it good.

• I made scallops for the first time at home and they tasted so ordinary. They might just be one of those dishes that taste better when somebody else makes it.

• Some spring inspired recipes I’d love to make soon:

  • Caprese Pesto Orzo Bake

  • Couscous Bowls with Lemon Feta Vinaigrette

  • Truffled Garlic Bread with Ricotta

• So I saw one of the best plays I’ve ever seen on Broadway: Birthday Candles with Debra Messing. I wrote about it here, but oh my god. I laughed, I cried, I can’t believe how good it was.

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Things I’m looking forward to: I’ve gone to the open galleries in Chelsea on Thursdays but I didn’t know that on the third Thursday of every month most of the galleries on the Lower East Side remain open from 4pm-8pm so I’m definitely going to do that if the weather’s nice, I’m excited for all the rain that’s coming (does this sound insane?) because it’s a known fact that spring rain is the least depressing rain, and I really want to make a dent in my “movies to watch” list.

If you have any interest in reading what went on in February, come on over here.

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Spring List 2022

Spring has arrived! Time open the windows! Time to breathe in the cherry blossoms! Time to dry clean and put away your winter coats! Time to still be careful because there’s a deadly pandemic affecting literally everyone around you! But I don’t mean to be a downer. Just, like, keep that in the back part of your mind.

this time between variant surges is so precious

— caleb hearon (@calebsaysthings) February 20, 2022

Here’s what I’d love to do this season.

1. See at least one Broadway play.

2. Make as many recipes as possible that incorporate spring peas (I love peas and I constantly forget about them).

3. Deep clean my apartment.

4. Plan out all of the outfits I want to wear on my big trip in June.

5. Visit a winery in the Hamptons.

As always, I encourage you to make your own spring list! We’re all busy and exhausted, so if you don’t section off some time for the things you’d enjoy then you’re missing out on… life?

If you’re looking for some ideas for yourself, here are some past spring lists I’ve made:

Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Spring 2019, Spring 2018 and Spring 2016.

Winter List 2021 Revisited

One of the best time of years has arrived! I’ll never understand people who aren’t overjoyed by the springtime. It’s full of beginnings, how is there anything better?

Here’s a recap of what I did from my winter list.

1. “I would love to either ride a snowmobile or go skiing. Either one will be an acceptable snow transaction.”

• Ugh, I didn’t do either. To be fair, there was little to no snow this year in New York soooo is this one really my fault? Well, yes. I could have easily ventured upstate to find a slope. Next year!

2. “Eat a latke. I never have and I’d like to.”

• Yeep. Didn’t even kinda remember this one.

3. “Waste away in Margaritaville. In Times Square. I know that this sounds so insanely lame, but I really want to and I refuse your judgement.”

• Oh lord, this one I really wanted to do! What is wrong with me?

4. “Visit the Transit Museum because I’ve never gone and it seems like my kinda place.”

• I did it! Finally! A thing I did! Full review over here.

5. “Eat moussaka. I never have and it seems like a good winter dish.”

• NOPE! I’d still like to, but here we are.

Okay so 1/5 is pathetic, yes. But it’s springtime and anything is possible now. If you thought that this kind of failure would deter me from making a spring list tomorrow, you’d be wrong, baby!

February Feats 2022

My favourite month has arrived! Spring is coming and there’s nothing you can do to stop it.

• You can find my favourite tweets of the month over here and here.

• I compiled my favourite tweets about love for Valentine’s Day.

• I read and review Elvira’s new memoir.

• I know that it’s older, but I’ve kept the song Gypsy by Lady Gaga on repeat for about two weeks now.

• I made garlic confit and I’ll be real with you - it looks way better than it tastes. And that’s coming from someone who adores garlic. By cooking it down, it actually makes the garlic flavour quite mild so it’s truly not worth making again. I put a boatload of it on some toast and it was beyond lackluster. One more con? Expect to be gassy as hell if you eat this stuff.

• I tried a sample of this Tata Harper (christ that name) cleanser and it was really good. Thankfully there are cheaper, better options out there (literally anything in the tea tree line at The Body Shop), but this was great to try.

• I was getting pretty sick of the Spotify commercials in my (free) account, so I made to the movie to Apple Music to try their three month trial. We shall see how it goes. (That goddam Stone Cold Steve Austin & Ice-T commercial may have been the final straw to leave Spotify.)

• I went to Sarabeth’s for their Restaurant Week lunch menu and it was extremely good. I love blue cheese and pear together in a salad, why can’t that be as common as caesar salads? And the mussels and fries were heavenly.

• I have been in such a funk with nail polish lately, every colour seems to look disgusting. I got a short, red, gel manicure recently and had to remove it within a week, it was so repulsive to look at. What is my problem? …What’s that? You don’t care? Hahah. Honestly, same.

• I finally tried SLT (it’s one of the options when you try ClassPass for a free month trial), and what even is SLT? It’s like if spin classes + pilates classes had an obnoxious baby. And you know what? NOT FOR ME. I think I hate any pilates class that uses a machine.

• In love with the larger citrus green tea candles that just came out from Trader Joe’s. Fucking love a wooden wick.

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Citrus Green Tea candle from Trader Joe’s, February 2022

• Two new things I made for the first time this month? Risotto and scallops. It’s well known how annoying risotto is to make yourself since it’s such a long process, but I didn’t fully grasp that concept until I did it firsthand. And it wasn’t even that amazing, so that was a letdown. As for the scallops? Very fast and extremely easy.

• Had dinner at the extremely cute French place La Petit Joie in Brooklyn with Diana. Love any place that does oysters rockefeller every night of the week. Also, can more restaurants bring back BYOB? It’s so thoughtful to even offer.

• I tried out this Ulta eyeshadow palette and it came off with hand soap. The quality of makeup these days is just wild. And the prices keep going up, WHAT IS THIS NONSENSE?

• Went to The Independent in midtown and their mussels and harvest salad were truly memorable. Great place to go if you’re in the area seeing a show.

• Tried the new french toast soft serve at Milk Bar and yes it was good, but not as good as their apple pie soft serve.

• I have found my new favourite hair mask: AG Hair Colour Savour Mask. I’m not sure if it’s for all blondes or just dyed blondes, but I love it. You’d think the bubblegum scent would repel me, but I find it whimsical. Of course it’s made by a Canadian company.

• There was a beautiful, pre-spring day so I took Baby Dog to Central Park and just look at this mug.

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Baby Dog in Central Park, February 2022

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Baby Dog in Central Park, February 2022

• I bought some gorgeous new address labels from Zazzle. Are you doing this? You really should. Don’t you want to be better than everyone else?

• So I went to Suprema Provisions finally and look the burger was good, but not nearly as good as the burger at Sparrow Tavern in Astoria (or even The Spaniard). Their mushroom pasta was saucy and great. And I never thought I’d say this, but I think it’s time to retire burrata from all restaurant menus. It is always the same. Always uninspired. We need to move on with ours lives, I think.

• Okay, so I bought some eucalyptus to hang from my shower head (pardon me for being DEEPLY ORIGINAL) and unlike every Pinterest pin that encourages you to do this, I fully recommend NOT EVEN BOTHERING. It’s pointless. There is no smell. There is no point. And I think it might attract moths (!), but that last point is unconfirmed. Instead, if you’re really obsessed with this idea, just buy a can of this eucalyptus shower mist. You spray it into the hot water and it does actually make it seem like a steam room for the length of your shower.

• Went to Van Dam diner in Queens with Irene and it’s like you fell into 1983, loved it.

• Truly sorry for telling you about this, but if I had to hear about it so do you: lip blushing. One more reason that this world hates women. If I had any real money, I’d buy up as much ad space as I could and just have signs that tell women, “Hey you! You’re good! You don’t need to buy anything to be better! Relax!”

• And speaking of buying things to make you feel better, I just bought these strappy black heels and they feel so lovely & I can’t wait to destroy anyone in my path the first time I wear them.

• I also bought these Steven Madden heels online and does that man hate women? Or just their feet? The most uncomfortable shoes I’ve ever owned. Returning as soon as possible.

• I was in Harlem so I went to Oso for their happy hour (good guacamole, I want to go back mainly to try the cake place next door) and then to Lido for their happy hour, which was fantastic. I love when a happy hour menu gives a fuck. Definitely want to go back to Lido for a meal.

• What I watched this month:

  • Tried rewatching The Mindy Project and while the first few seasons are pretty good (Morgan is the best character by far), I just couldn’t get into the entire series again for some reason. I think I stopped around the episode where she talks about how she doesn’t like men seeing her naked ever. Some things are just better as a memory, I guess.

  • I’m rewatching old Sex and the City episodes to get the AJLT taste out of my mouth and they’re all pretty hit or miss. Samantha is so much funnier than I remember, which was been great. Also, you know when Carrie is with Aiden and he has his dog Pete with him - did you ever notice that this dog is NEVER excited to see Carrie when she enters a scene? I get that it’s not real life and he’s just a dog on a set, but it made me laugh so much that this dog just does not fucking care about her. Pete was right all along. Also, for all the credit that this show gets for the outfits, good god are there a lot of terrible wardrobe decisions. But I guess that’s part of the good thing about it maybe? Like not everything has to be your taste or even look good - it’s more important to be fun and confident and have these characters wear what they think looks good? What side am I even on?? Do I hate the show or not?? Look, even I don’t know.

  • The John Mulaney SNL: Why did I watch this one specifically? Who knows. I don’t think I even like him, but it was a really good episode. Makes zero sense, but I was dying at the monkey sketch.

  • The Worst Person In The World: I liked it! Not as much as I thought I would given how highly praised it is, but it was nice to be in a theatre. (And that chocolate peanut butter pie slice at The Angelika? Oof. Always worth it.)

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Chocolate peanut butter pie at The Angelika, NYC

• I made this sesame garlic chili oil noodle dish that suhuuuuuucked. I think I need a moment away from Half Baked Harvest. So many misses lately.

• Recipes I want to make this month:

  • Tuscan Kale Salad with Gorgonzola Croutons - I always forget how much I love blue cheese.

  • Truffled Garlic Bread with Ricotta - okay, this looks maddeningly incredible. I could either make this myself OR I could visit any North Italia restaurant where they have it on the menu… which is just a two hour drive from me to the Pennsylvania location… mental note…

  • Hummingbird Cake Scones with Mascarpone Glaze!! Christ!!

  • Prosciutto, Peas & Orzo - my love affair with orzo has not ended.

  • Banana Sheet Cake with Walnut Streusel and Rum Glaze - can sheet cake come back in style already? Fuck.

  • Grilled Asparagus Caesar Salad - love new ways to ingest caesar dressing.

  • Lemon Almond Pudding Cake - pudding CAKE? This must be the future.

Some things I’m looking forward to this month: I won a lottery ticket to see Harry Potter on Broadway this coming week, obviously I want to find and drink the space Coke, I really want to try the happy hour at Bistro Les Amis (the poutine looks Canadian), the second season of Stanley Tucci’s Searching For Italy starts on March 13th, my best friend Harmeet is coming for a visit (!), I found a place in NYC serving Steak Diane (!!!) so that’ll likely be my birthday meal, I got a ticket for opening night of the Broadway play Birthday Candles with Debra Messing on the 18th, and I will most certainly go get my free birthday gifts from The Body Shop, Sephora, and Ulta. (And I mean… should I drive two hours purely for some amazing garlic bread? I’m thinking I should? That sort of tracks with who I am as a person? Also it’s my birthday soon? And the world is slowly but surely burning? And garlic bread might solve everything? And by “might” I mean “definitely will”?)

If you have any interest in reading what went on in January, come on over here.

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January Jewels 2022

This is obvious, but was that the longest January that ever Januaried? Also, I had to sit down and do the math yesterday to remind myself of my age, what is happening? Time isn’t real anymore so we should all just silently, but confidently stop looking at clocks. Like when a clock’s battery dies, just don’t replace it…? I don’t know, but that feels like it could be an answer to something.

• You can find my favourite tweets of the month over here and here.

• I made a list of the best of 2021 (recipes, experiences, etc.).

• I compiled my favourite photos from 2021.

• I recapped how my 2021 resolutions went - why don’t more people do this? If they did, then maybe there wouldn’t be such a stigma around making resolutions in the first place. I completely failed in getting some of mine done, but like… that’s okay? Not everything has to be a success.

• I also wrote out my 2022 resolutions that I’m actually very excited about.

• I read Stanley Tucci’s new book Taste and reviewed it.

• There were giant snowstorms in Toronto & NYC so I made a list of the best TV snow day episodes to watch. (And there’s also a list of the best snowy movies to watch over here.)

• The best opening scene of a movie ever quite possibly?

• The Broadway shows I saw this month:

  • The Phantom of The Opera - went with Nathan (his first time, my gazillionth) and he loved it! Thank god too, because if he didn’t… let’s just say I’d TAKE UMBRAGE.

  • MJ: The Musical - it was really good. It does seem insane that it was still made after everything, but the actors were great and the dancing was incredible. I’m sure it won’t last and maybe that’s a good thing? I don’t know.

  • Come From Away - went with Nathan and it was good! I can’t see myself ever wanting to see it again, but it was good.

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Phantom of the Opera, January 2022

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MJ: The Musical, January 2022

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Come From Away, January 2022

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I promise you I wash this Raptors mask a lot, January 2022

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Seeing The Phantom of the Opera with Nathan, January 2022

• Restaurant Week has returned and so has the heavenly wild mushroom soup with truffle oil & mascarpone at Giorgio’s of Gramercy.

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Didn’t even mind how burned this bread was THAT’S HOW GOOD THIS SOUP IS, Giorgio’s of Gramercy, January 2022

• The Sparrow Tavern just reopened and good christ, they might have the most incredible burger in Astoria. Just wild, wild stuff.

• It’s winter and I can’t stop making this zucchini lasagna.

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Zucchini lasagna

• I made these ginger sesame noodles with caramelized mushrooms and while they were good, there were way too many steps to get to the eventual meal. Noodles need not be so complicated! Just as a sidenote: I feel like 90% of food bloggers should take, like, a yearlong break or something. There’s too much content when it comes to new recipes online and so much of it just isn’t any good and might be wasting all of our time. Am I wrong?

• Bookmarked this helpful piece: The Best Restaurant at Every Major U.S. Airport.

• I made the Momofuku Soy & Scallion noodles from the package sold at Target and it was pretty good! I added zero ingredients other than what came with the package and yes that was a mistake, but I’ll add more to it next time since there are five packets left. I’m thinking caramelized onions, mushrooms and maybe actual chopped raw scallions too. Ooo yeah, that sounds good.

• I went to Bench Flour Bakers for the first time and what a sweet little place, I just wish it were closer to civilization. I had a scone that was incredible, great coffee and I can’t wait to go back to try their duck burger. The soup was a bit of a yikes situation but that’s my fault, I never like English pea soup so that was my mistake to order it.

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Scone from Bench Flour Bakers, Astoria, New York

• I’ve been using the brightening powder from dpHUE and I can’t really tell if it’s working. It also has this weirdly strong metallic smell, which can’t be good?? Probably should return.

• I tried a sandwich from Alidoro in the West Village and WOW is that place overrated and laughably expensive for what you’re getting. I’ve made better sandwiches AT HOME. There are better sandwiches in literally every corner bodega. How on earth is this place succeeding?

• I also went into Sullivan Street Bakery next to Alidoro and what the hell? Why is that place so small? Isn’t it supposed to be a big deal? This whole street was a joke.

• I walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, checked out the Time Out Market in DUMBO and then walked over to visit the New York Transit Museum and I did a full post on the museum over here.

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Brooklyn Bridge, January 2022

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View from the Time Out Market rooftop in DUMBO, New York

• I’ve been using the Three Ships lip exfoliator, lip mask and face mask and they’re all really good products. Love the act of having to mix up your own mask in a little bowl before it goes on your face. Seems like a great company. (Thank you, Harmeet!)

• I was a little disappointed to hear that Forsythia is introducing a $75/per person tasting menu now, but then I realized they’re doing a $40/per person two course meal with wine at the bar so I can’t wait to return.

• I finally ate at Mamo with my dear friend Diana and it was good! Truthfully the food was very okay, but the addition of truffles to everything is the main draw here. It’s also a beautiful place, so it’s definitely worth a visit.

• Diana then took me to Angelina Bakery in Bryant Park for dessert since she had heard good things about it, and bless her heart but I think this place slightly misses the mark. They’re big on chestnut cream here, which in my opinion tastes like air? It’s weird because once you taste it you think, “Oo this texture is nice” and then you wait for the flavour to kick in, but it never does. It’s odd. Usually the French are good at desserts. And they do look beautiful, but that’s where the intrigue ends. Oh god, and the hot chocolate! Waaaay too chocolatey, but this is a personal preference. For comparison, I’ve always hated the City Bakery hot chocolate that most people adore, so take this with a grain of salt. (If you are in the area for something sweet, I vote that you go to the Lady M around the block or the Japanese chocolate king Royce.) (And Diana, please continue to introduce me to new places - even if they’re trash, I want to go with you!)

• In love with the seasonal lemon poppy seed cruller at Daily Provisions. God, I love a cruller, they’re lighter/tastier than a donut but sweeter than a boring croissant. And those sexy ridges? Get out of here.

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Lemon poppy seed cruller, Daily Provisions, New York City

• There was a big snowstorm last week, so I woke up at 6am and took the train to Central Park. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do and it was so worth it. I arrived before sunrise and it was absolutely breathtaking. It snowed the entire time and all you could hear were the birds. I can’t truly express how magical it felt. It also led to a crazy amount of people liking one of the photos I took that morning, which, you know, feels nice unfortunately. I’m a whore for likes.

Not quite a blizzard, not quite a bomb cyclone but still dreamy as hell #NewYorkCity #WinterStorm #CentralPark pic.twitter.com/HZqf7vI75G

— Liz Heather (@itslizheather) January 29, 2022

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Central Park, New York City, January 2022

• Sephora birthday gifts are back and… they don’t seem that great? What nonsense is this?? (The Ulta birthday gifts have been announced too and why is everything so disappointing?)

• Speaking of Sephora, I tried the lip oil from Merit and returned it the next day. Lip oil just isn’t necessary. You get the same effect when you use lip balm, when will women see this scam??

• I also sampled some Kylie Skin products (I know, don’t judge, I really just wanted to try them to have an opinion) and they were all awful. The face wash leaves your face tight and extremely dry, the toner does absolutely nothing but burn a bit (in a bad way) and the face lotion is thick as hell and leaves this gross film on your face. And the “high gloss” looks like it’s a kid’s product to use at playtime. Returned everything obviously.

• I tried the Impossible chicken nuggets and they taste identical to regular chicken nuggets. If I were an eight year old vegetarian, I’d be jacked right about now.

• I stopped by Leonelli inside The Evelyn and their slice was incredible, I’m dying to try the roast chicken sandwich next time.

• I know I mentioned it last month, but I have to make a mental note to remember to buy all of the snowdrop scented Mrs. Meyer’s items that come out again in November (minus the hand wash because I’m loyal to my foam soap). This scent has given my life meaning?

• I had a Chip City cookie and it’s nothing too crazy, Levain is definitely better.

• I made this sour cream banana bread and how could it not be good? Love a banana bread.

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Sour cream banana bread

• I’ve never been a giant fan of salmon but I’ve made this lemon brown buttered salmon recipe twice now and it’s oddly delicious. Is browned butter the answer to typically gross food? Yes. Yes, it is.

• If you’re Canadian, do you remember Christine Cushing? I’d completely forgotten about her but recently came across her YouTube channel and I forgot how much I liked her and the way she cooks.

• What I’ve watched this month:

  • The Golden Girls - honestly…. just a fun, great time. I never watched it as a kid but I randomly put on one episode while I was cooking and it’s wonderful. I’m almost done the whole series. Few thoughts? There’s an entire episode about Blanche’s husband coming back to life (she thought he was dead) and the whole storyline is about how he faked his death and how it turns her life upside down and then this scene happens at the end <spoiler> that reveals it was just a recurring dream that she has about her husband and how it isn’t a sad dream because it helps her remember him to keep his spirit alive and I don’t know if I’m doing it justice, but it’s the sweetest scene and so unexpected somehow. Also, Rose is definitely the best character. And last thought? I really don’t care for Sophia, she’s much too mean. I understand that she’s supposed to be, but I wince every time she enters a scene.

  • Scream (5) <spoilers> - look, I’ll always love the franchise but here’s the ranking of the best ones to worst: Scream, Scream 2 (Scream: The College Years), Scream 3 (Scream Goes Hollywood), Scream 5, and finally Scream 4. And that’s not me hating it! There just… there didn’t need to be this many movies. The original will never be matched and that’s okay! Certain parts of the new one were great of course - Dewey’s “I’ve been stabbed nine times” and I loved the Skeet Ulrich hallucinations because they were hilarious. It’s really just a fun movie that revisits the original in a decent way. Scream 4 is the real bad one of the franchise, so let’s all just agree that that’s the one we’ll collectively forget.

• I was thinking about watching the new Pamela Anderson/Tommy Lee thing on Hulu but then I heard that she didn’t even want it made! At first I thought that seems impossible because how could it get made without their approval, but like… that tape was released without their approval, so I guess it kind of makes sense? In any case, there’s no way I’ll watch it now.

• I had lunch at The Regency Bar & Grill and oh what a nice little spot. The caesar salad was perfectly dressed and the eight hour short rib was decadent and perfect. Service was great, too. Love a good hotel restaurant.

• New habits I’ve adopted this past month:

  • When I buy something in a store, I do a quick check on my phone to see if there’s a cheaper price for the same item on their company’s website OR if they price-match with other stores, I quickly look that up as well. This last week alone I think I’ve saved maybe $20. Is everyone doing this and no one is talking about it? Or am I a little too proud of my cheapness?

  • If someone mentions a name of someone famous that I don’t know, I’ve decided to stop looking them up to find out who they are. Frankly, I shouldn’t care and I love not knowing things that do not affect me directly.

  • I am going to stop buying flights through third party websites. It’s always such an annoying hassle to deal with them if something goes wrong with your flight, and yes airlines are complete scumbags but at least if you book directly, the chances of being treated better are higher.

  • This last habit isn’t really for me, it’s for you: you’re not using Q-tips in your ears, are you? Please stop! Apparently it even says on the packaging that you shouldn’t use them in your ears. Please, please stop! Ear health! It’s important!

  • I’ve learned the secret to what you’re supposed to do when you’re done having acrylic/artificial nails - get a gel manicure as soon as the fake ones are removed. That way your little baby nails are protected for a few weeks while they re-adjust to being normal sized again.

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Gel nails after taking off artificial nails

Some things I’m looking forward to this month:

• Cooking something special for Valentine’s Day, I’m not sure what yet but I’d like to try and make something new/fancy. Maybe these browned butter scallops with champagne risotto. Maybe a duck ragu pasta. Oooo or maybe these incredible cauliflower toasts as an appetizer.

• I would really love to learn how to do the splits. You might think it’s impossible, but I’ve seen some videos that will make you eat your hat in a few months time.

• I officially started keeping track of my receipts (I should be embarrassed that I haven’t done this before but here we are), so I’m kind of excited to see how that goes. I want to go through every one at the end of each month and see what the hell I’m spending too much on. This might be a terrible idea.

If you have any interest in reading what went on in December, come on over here.

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Still not sick of this hair

2022 Resolutions

Honestly, all years after 2020 seem impossible so I’m not even gonna acknowledge the madness that it’s 2022. Before I let you know what my 2022 resolutions are, I need to let you know what you should also be doing right about now.

Every January I make sure to:

• Mark down all important holidays/birthdays/anniversaries/weddings (also Daylight Saving Times, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Thanksgiving) on my calendar.

• Check expiration dates for passport/license/health card/insurance/vet vaccinations and write down any important renewal dates.

• Schedule all your doctor, dentist and hair cut appointments for the entire year.

• Go through your entire fridge and throw away anything expired (this should really get done every month, but I’ll tell you right now that I never remember to do that).

RESOLUTIONS

1. Read at least one book per season.

2. Take Baby Dog on an adventure at least twice a season.

3. Try at least one new restaurant each month.

4. Properly go on a date with Nathan at least once a month.

5. Make a receipt box to track monthly expenses.

6. Go on a solo, alone trip.

7. Wear FUN clothes.

8. On the first of each month, try something new.

9. Vow not to do eyelash extensions ever again.

10. Have my book published by the end of 2022.

Do these seem lofty? Resolutions should be lofty. We’re all slowly rotting towards death, let’s get some more loftiness in our lives. Happy new year!

(UPDATE: To see how these resolutions went, come on over here.)