Necessary Clothing in NYC

Before I begin, let me give you a brief rundown on the history of my clothing store opinions (with specific reasoning in brackets):

Stores I Have Outgrown

• H&M (The quality has become so shitty over the years. Remember when they started out and we were all so excited at how good it was? Everything was so much better then!)
• The Gap (Absolutely all of their pants fit weird. And the presence of pastel blazers? RAMPANT.)
• Forever 21 (I no longer wish to forever be 21.)

Stores I Should Like, But Can't Get On Board With

• Top Shop (Too expensive and also, nothing seems wearable.)
• Zara (Too bland and reminds me of a store that hip grandmas should really be into.)
• Aritzia (Are you kidding with how expensive your dresses are? Man. I get it, it's soft. Softness ain't worth $100+. You used to be decent with your prices, what the hell happened?)

Anyway, if you're a woman who's in New York between the ages of 13 and dead - you should stop by this clothing store, Necessary Clothing. If you have ANY of the same opinions as I do (see above) on any of those stores, then this place might just be what you're looking for. It's crazy affordable, with some especially cheaper items, but alongside some pricier, nicer-quality pieces, too. 

There are literally three locations all within two blocks of one another in Soho. Why is this? No idea, man. It's weird. But women seem to love this store, and with good reason. I've been going for years and I love it. You can get stuff from their online store as well.

Billy Eichner on Parks & Recreation

This new character Craig on Parks and Recreation is EVERYTHING. All of his choices make me fucking howl.

“The minute that you decide to stop wearing control-type undergarments of any kind, you will know how to live.”

— #lizadvice

Herbed Ricotta Bruschetta Recipe

Thankfully there are people in my life who cook amazing things. They let me eat them, love them and finally tell YOU about them. Marla is one of those people. She is probably the best there is when it comes to finding great recipes. She made this at a dinner we were at recently and I ate an embarrassing amount of these. I didn't even think I had a super strong opinion about ricotta - I've always found it to be the lesser of cheeses amongst the likes of American. But these toasts are incredible tasting, please make them for everyone you love. 

Ingredients
2 cups ricotta, store-bought (Do not substitute with fat-free ricotta. I tried that. And it blew.)
3 tablespoons minced scallions, white and green parts (2 scallions)
2 tablespoons minced fresh dill
1 tablespoon minced fresh chives
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 round sourdough bread
Good olive oil
1 whole garlic clove, cut in half

Directions

Combine the ricotta, scallions, dill, chives, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and set aside. Cut the bread in half and cut each half into 6 slices to make 12 slices total.

Brush the bread with olive oil and grill (or put in a toaster over) on each side for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, until lightly browned. Remove from the grill and rub each slice of bread with the cut side of the garlic clove. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and spread with the herbed ricotta. Serve 2 warm slices per person, unless you're serving me in which case it should be 4 slices.

Original recipe can be found here.

Kramer & Table

This brings me so much joy, I can't even tell you.

The Chocolate Chip Cookie at Smile-To-Go in NYC

This is my best friend Harmeet eating one of the best cookies I've had in New York City. Is there such thing as a bad chocolate chip cookie? That remains to be seen. But this one? If you're in the area (Soho), GET ONE. And yes, that's sea salt on top. All the best cookies have sea salt on top.

I've heard that their menu has a lot of other gems as well, but please oh please go eat this guy.

“Never ruin an apology with an excuse.”

— Benjamin Franklin

Banana Republic's Mad Men Jewelry Collection

Unfortunately, the final season of Mad Men (which returns April 13) won't have a collaboration collection with Banana Republic this year. Why? This world is cruel and unfair. 

Granted, I wasn't a huge fan of the clothing line - but the jewelry? Good God, it was gorgeous. Every. Single. Piece. Items like these:

View fullsize

Look at those clasps!

I emailed their customer service department about the collection and got this as a response:

Hello Liz,
Thank you for your inquiry! We are truly happy to have such loyal and enthusiastic customers like yourself. We do apologize as we do not have any information about a new Mad Men Collection coming out again. We do our best to offer our customers top quality, fashionable merchandise, and we regret disappointing you. Customer feedback is an important part of our business and we will be sure to share your remarks with our design and merchandising teams, Liz.
We appreciate your business and hope that you will continue to check out our latest fashions at bananarepublic.com.
If we may be of further assistance, please contact us at custserv@bananarepublic.com or by calling 1-888-BR-STYLE (1-888-277-8953).
Sincerely,
Shannon
Customer Service Consultant

I suppose there's nothing left to be done about it and I guess I'll just have to peruse eBay like some sap every now and then to see if there are any old items from the past two collections. But let the record show, I was PISSED when I found out about this. Okay, on with your day.

Strawberries & Vanilla Greek Yogurt

Ya know, INSTEAD of strawberries and cream! I can't tell you how satisfying it is. But if you're doing this - please make sure to get vanilla-flavoured non-fat Greek yogurt and not the PLAIN non-fat Greek yogurt. I don't know who eats the plain. I feel like it should be given to prisoners. Prisoners who are watching their weight, obviously. 

(This is not an April's Fool joke. This really does taste ridiculously good.)