Autumn List 2018
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Photo Credit: Getty Images
In all honestly, I can’t believe it’s here. The best part of the year. The beginning of the three equally best seasons. So let’s get down to it, here’s what I’d love to do this fall.
Make an apple or pumpkin pie from scratch since I've never done that with anything other than a key lime pie, which (let’s be honest) is a crazy easy pie to make.
Go to Downey’s for our annual visit.
Take my niece Layla to her first Halloween Haunt at Canada’s Wonderland.
Eat the thanksgiving croissant that’s available only in November at Momofuku Milk Bar.
Make some sort of savory souffle.
Display and add to the miniature Halloween village that I set up on the windowsill each year.
Finally start This Is Us.
Make at least two recipes from Chrissy Teigen’s new cookbook.
Do a couples costume with Baby Dog this year since Nathan will be out of town on Halloween.
Do some kind of Halloween craft with the kids.
There are actually a lot more things not written down that are on my list, but I need to keep them secret since certain people will be surprised with them. I’ll be sure to post about them as they happen, though.
AUTUMN, BITCH!
I know this came out forever ago but my god this sooooooooong, so so nice I want to scream.
Summer List Revisited
I can’t express the joy I’m feeling right now as I write this post. Summer is no more. We did it. Here’s what I managed to do off of my summer list that I made in June.
Go to the beach at least five times.
Done! And yes I love the beach and all, but five times is definitely the right amount of times to go there. Anything more would just be over-indulgent.
See the new rooftop exhibition at The Met.
Done! And I didn’t think much of it. I’ll speak more about this in my end of September post coming in a few days.
Spend the day doing stuff in Harlem.
Nope, still haven’t done this. It really seems like this would be more fun to do with someone who’s visiting from out of town, so I’ll try to make that happen in the near future when someone comes to visit me.
Make at least three new recipes from Chrissy Teigen's first cookbook, Cravings.
Not even close. No idea why I didn’t attempt this. It’s especially not gonna happen now since I just bought her second cookbook.
Try the frozen Irish coffee at Passage in Astoria.
Done! Delicious.
Visit Chateau Le Woof with Baby Dog in Astoria.
Yep! And it’s wasn’t that spectacular. I definitely like Boris & Horton in the city better.
See the Scarborough Bluffs since I never have before.
Oh yeah I did! Special thanks to my friend Marla for making this one happen. Such a lovely spot.
See Tew Falls in Hamilton.
My time was pretty limited in Canada this summer, so I had to skip this one. But one day I’ll get there.
Go away, anywhere, for a few days with Nathan for our anniversary.
We did! Vermont! And it was so, so nice. We might even go away again before the year is up, which is absolutely wild.
Try SLT finally.
Not a chance. Again, this would be great to do with someone visiting me who’d be into it.
6/10! A passing grade! Honestly it’s a miracle that I did any of these considering how much I loathe summer.
Autumn list coming tomorrow! See you in hell, summer!
Really hoping this will be as good as it looks.
Manchester, Vermont
Nathan and I went to Vermont last week for our anniversary and for Baby Dog's birthday (they're a day apart) and it was the best. We haven't taken a real vacation together (I equate a real vacation to mean a trip that's taken purely for the purposes of doing nothing) since Jamaica in 2011, so this was long overdue and worth the wait.
Shockingly, it didn't take us that long to get there - only four hours by car. And the route itself was gorgeous pretty much the whole way there.
We stayed at the Kimpton Taconic for a few reasons:
- I'd stayed at a Kimpton before in Palm Beach (although they appear to have cut ties with that hotel in Florida at the moment) and it was a great experience
- It's located in the middle of a very small town
- They have a wrap-around front porch with rocking chairs
- They have free bikes you can sign out from the lobby
- They're extremely dog-friendly (ie. no extra charge & they got Baby Dog a GIFT for christsake)
- They have a (small, but still great) pool
- We were able to secure one of the more private cottages that sit right next to the hotel itself
And honestly, it was a really great hotel. They had a free wine & small snacks reception every night from 5-6pm, which was lovely. Their restaurant The Copper Grouse had really good food (especially the chicken). It rained one night while we were sitting on the front porch and maybe that doesn't sound romantic, but oh man... listening to rainfall on a wrap-around Victorian porch in late summer should be on every person's checklist at some point in life.
On the first night, we had dinner at Ye Olde Tavern, which was dimly lit and really nice. They had a policy of no cell phones and oh man, why doesn't every restaurant have this already.
We also took the bikes one day into town to the Northshire Bookstore, which was great. We then, foolishly, rode the bikes three more miles to get burgers at Zoey's Double Hex Restaurant because we thought it was much closer than it was in reality. I mean, I'm glad we did it because it turned out to just be funny, and the burgers were actually incredible, but good god was that a hot day.
We drove up to see Mount Equinox on the Skyline Drive, which was more beautiful than I can express.
The drive up the mountain only takes about twenty minutes, so it's such a nice thing to do in the afternoon on a clear day. It was so crazy quiet up there too, if you're anywhere near this town this is something you should definitely do.
Such a beautiful town, such a lovely trip.
August Actions
This is me right now.
SUMMER'S OVER, GEEKS! And look, I know the official end of it is in a few weeks, but I don't give a damn and neither should you. Here's what I did this month.
I finally tried oat milk and yuuuuuck. Both my dad and Nathan made such a stink about how stupid a product it is that I had to buy it for myself to see if it was any good and WOOF. It was just weird and terrible and stay away.
I tried the watermelon soft serve at Dominique Ansel Kitchen and although it was really pretty and refreshing, that thing was huge and waaaay too sweet. Happy I tried it though.
I saw Sorry To Bother You in theatres and wow, it was unique and good and made me scream to myself even louder about how it's so stupid how remakes keep being made when money should really be being put into new, original screenplays.
Also saw The Meg in theatres with Nathan, which was probably a perfect summer movie because of how ridiculous it was. We literally only went because of that one scene with the tiny dog in the preview. WORTH IT.
I finally saw Dead Poets Society (yes, I'm aware it came out almost 30 years ago) and what a good movie. I miss Robin Williams. On another note, it made me really mad that the speech he says in that one scene was used in that iPad commercial and I never realized that that's where it came from, fuck Apple!
I've been limiting my horror movies since it was technically still the summertime, but the mood was right so Nathan and I watched The Strangers (I'd not seen it before) and it. was. good.
I also watched Steel Magnolias on Netflix and even though it was pretty sad, it's such a fun movie.
Also, finally watched The Little Prince and oh good god, was it perfect. Such a sweet movie, with maybe one of the sweetest endings on earth.
I started watching Disenchantment because I sort of have to, don't I? I'm only on episode three, but a few things have made me laugh so far. I'm hoping for the best? Full review coming next month.
No idea why I watched so many movies this month --oh wait, yes I do because ONLY MURDERERS LIKE TO GO OUT AND BASK IN THE DEATHLY HEAT ALL DAY. Sooo that meant some rewatching of some good movies like The Fugitive (holy shit, this is still such a good movie, so suspenseful and Harrison Ford is a fucking dreamboat) and Under The Tuscan Sun with the delightful Diane Lane (I love this movie in a way that's hard to explain. It's a perfect movie. It always boosts my spirits. Plus the idea of someone just fucking off to Italy is my dream).
I mean, it wasn't all great movies, though. The terrible ones I saw? Barbershop - wow. And Made In America - just insanely bad.
I read Penny Marshall's biography and it was really, really good.
I went to the Russian Tea Room for the first time and MEH, it really wasn't as good as it's touted to be. I mean, what the hell is up with stroganoff? It's like a soupy version of pasta, where's the thick sauce!? What are we even doing here?!
I went to the Commodore in Brooklyn to try their fried chicken sandwich and while it was good, it definitely wasn't as good as the one at The Penrose. Also, I hate Brooklyn. Why on earth would a restaurant/bar NOT have a name out front saying who they are? Oh, I know why, because you're in Brooklyn and you think you can get away with that shit. Losers.
I tried Van Leeuwen's non dairy coffee ice cream and it really wasn't that good, which surprised me. I still want to try some other brands of non dairy until I find a really good one, so the search continues.
I made this homemade hummus and it was really, really good. Never gonna buy hummus again.
I made these black bean muffins from an Ambitious Kitchen recipe and holy hell, they were fantastic. I made them for the road trip that Nathan and I took to go to Vermont for our anniversary and they were so unexpectedly delicious.
Speaking of which, I'll definitely do a post on that Vermont trip in a few days and put a link to it here. Such a great trip.
I know that you know how loyal I am to Seche Vite's Top Coat, but I ran out of it recently and had to use a backup - Essie's No-Chip Top Coat that actually was kind of amazing for keeping a lasting manicure for at least a week. Now if I can just combine the two into some kind of super top coat, I'll be queen of life.
SEE YOU IN HELL, SUMMER!
(If you have any interest in past monthly roundups, they can be found here: July 2018, June 2018 & May 2018.)
New Coaster At Canada's Wonderland in 2019
Photo Credit: Canada's Wonderland
Photo Credit: Canada's Wonderland
Canada's Wonderland is introducing a record-setting roller coaster for the 2019 season: the Yukon Striker. It’s apparently the "longest, fastest and tallest dive roller coaster in the world," according to the park. There's a 90-degree drop “for three breathtaking seconds, staring 245 feet down into an underwater tunnel,” the website reads. “Then suddenly you dive, reaching speeds of 130 km/h and soaring through four dynamic inversions, including a complete 360-degree loop - the only one of its kind for a dive coaster.” It’s a three-minute, 25 second thrill with a 75 metre drop AND IT SOUNDS INSANE.
"The launch of Yukon Striker coincides with the official opening of Frontier Canada, a gold rush-themed attraction area in Canada’s Wonderland."
CANNOT. WAIT.