Never could have anticipated a year like this one, but here we are - a little far apart but still together.
“Winter is not a season, it’s a celebration.”
Autumn List 2020 Revisited
Winter is upon on! Yes, that seems insane, but what isn’t insane at this point in time? I normally would be excited about a season full of staying inside, but that’s all of our lives now… so… there’s that. Here’s how my autumn list turned out.
Make an apple dessert.
Truly forgot about this one since Thanksgiving was pretty much cancelled this year and Tianna wasn’t around to request that I make it.
Visit Sleepy Hollow.
I did and it was so, so great.
Jog before sunrise.
Damnit, I forgot to do this one. I really want to one day.
Make homemade hot toddies.
I did and it was good, but it took waaaaay too long. Definitely a drink you order while you’re out somewhere so someone else has to make it.
Have the most epic Halloween possible since it falls on a full moon this year and that, my dear, is magical.
I did my absolute best and it went just as I’d hoped.
3/5 is respectable! It’s a miracle that I’m still writing and attempting these seasonal lists. I promise to take them even more seriously next year. Winter, here we go…
“There’s just something beautiful about walking in snow that nobody else has walked on. It makes you believe you’re special.”
Idea For Wrapping Gifts
Navigating November 2020
Wonderful, another month has come and gone. It’s hard to tell when I’m in a bad mood these days. I feel like all of my moods are sprinkled with bits of sadness since it’s been such a rough year on everyone. It seems hard to be hopeful and optimistic for the coming months because of everything that has gone on already, but I think I’ll continue on with my internal mantra of “fake it ‘til you make it” - that’s healthy, right? In any case, here’s what happened last month:
I usually don’t mention the things that I don’t do, but this one is notable: I didn’t have the Thanksgiving croissant from Milk Bar this year (because I’m in Canada at the moment). So this is really just a reminder to myself to go hog-wild on them next November.
I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned them before, but the ready-made roast beef sandwiches at San Remo’s in Etobicoke? A PERFECT SANDWICH.
I rewatched the original (better) Jumanji and goddamit what a great movie. How did I forget what a perfect movie that was? Miss Robin Williams so much. Which reminds me: I gotta rewatch Jack soon (Coppola’s greatest movie, in my humble opinion). Haven’t seen that one in ages.
Love the new “Oat Milk Latte” nail polish colour at Urban Outfitters. Something about a boring neutral has been really turning me on lately.
The best new hand lotion I’ve used in a long time: this Kiehl’s Hand Salve. I put it on once in the morning and once before bed and it’s crazy how soft it makes them, even if you wash your hands numerous times a day (which, god, I hope you’re doing).
I know that I tend to live in the past at times, but are you ever needing to print some photos fast and don’t know where to get it done? Years ago, they had machines at Shoppers and then they disappeared. And I just discovered that Staples has those print-right-now machines! It takes seconds to print from your phone and it’s crazy cheap. I think you can only get 4 x 6 in size, but still. That’s great!
I’ll always love Cobs Bread (thanks to Marla years ago for introducing me) but I just tried their garlic focaccia and my god. Heavenly. It also makes a great base for any kind of at-home grilled cheese or even an at-home garlic bread using garlic butter.
So I tried the Popeye’s chicken sandwich that people were stabbing each other for and… I fully understand the murdering mentality. It’s an incredible chicken sandwich. I was expecting not to understand the hype, but here I stand before you, four chicken sandwiches deep.
I’ve been consistently using the Luna Night Oil from Sunday Riley (a small version that came with a gift set) and I think it’s really working well. My skin looks amazing in the morning after each use. So I might bite the bullet and buy the full size when I run out.
Just so sad to see this man pass away.
And I can’t forget this great one, too.
I simply cannot stop ordering the vegetable fried rice from Fortune Dragon in Mississauga. Can’t and WON’T.
I had such a terrible experience using Skip The Dishes the other night (there was a problem with an order and the restaurant refused to fix the problem and I was on the phone with STD (hahah, can we all call them this from now on PLEASE) for over an hour, just disgusting). So now they’re banned in our house.
And speaking of annoying food experiences, Scaddabush got rid of the best sandwich on their menu. What. the. hell. It was a prosciutto cotto grilled cheese with Italian cured ham, caramelized onions, mozzarella, and fig jam on a focaccia bun and IT IS NO MORE. I did attempt to make it at home one night and it was actually really good, but still. Who wants to spend their evenings caramelizing onions for hours in the kitchen? Well, I do, for one. But regardless! Bad move, Scaddabush.
I came across these actually helpful, fast TikTok beauty tips.
Excited to visit this new food hall in Long Island City one day.
Love these two new Tierra Whack songs.
I love hearing these kinds of butterfly effect stories, always.
How on earth can someone build a roller coaster in their backyard? People continue to impress me. This is amazing.
It’s pure and complete trash that chihuahuas never win dog shows. Look at this beauty from The National Dog Show.
Considering this beautiful palette for purchase even though I have plans to go nowhere, every night, for the rest of time.
I made these fondant potatoes and they were good! Love a new way to cook a potato.
I watched Coneheads for the first time and it was a surprisingly fun movie. It also happens to be the ultimate pro-immigration movie. Loved it.
I watched the Fresh Prince reunion and it was good! It was nice to see Nicky.
If you’re looking for a dog groomer in Mississauga, I can’t say enough good things about You Lucky Dog Grooming. They cut Baby Dog’s nails perfectly for $10 and it took less than five minutes. They were so gentle and caring, definitely only gonna go here from now on.
There were a few massive holes in the ceiling in my parents basement (an estimate said it would be $1000 to fix) so I went to Home Depot, got the supplies and did it myself. This is something I would never even want to do, let alone actually do, so the fact that it’s fixed now is insane. Here's what it looked like.
I made my niece Layla watch Sleeping With The Enemy and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button for the first time and I think she liked both, which obviously I love. Love making people I love watch things I love.
Absolutely in love with this song. And this one, too.
So I got fake nails. Here they are.
Yes, I love them. Yes, they look perfect every single day and that’s amazing. But no one tells you the cons, so let me tell you what they are.
Pressing buttons is an annoyance. The buttons of debit machines especially (I’ve incorrectly put in my pin about three times so far), but also remote controls and car radio dials.
Peeling onions or garlic. Or cutting anything on a cutting board in the kitchen, basically.
You know after a shower when you towel off the wet parts of the inside of your ears? Can’t be done.
All zippers and buttons add at least five minutes to your life.
Look, I’m not an animal but sometimes your nose needs a little cleaning when a tissue ain’t gonna cut it. That being said, it is IMPOSSIBLE to pick your nose with these.
Typing at your regular speed.
Peeling clementines is simply out of the question (which is annoying because they’re so in season right now).
Putting on and taking off necklaces.
And most of all, yes you can still scratch parts of your body, but it’s an unfulfilling scratch. These nails aren’t as sharp as my real ones, so the scratch is lackluster.
That being said, I do love them. I’m not sure if I’ll get them again, but they’re beautiful and I can definitely see the appeal.
I watched a few episodes of Somebody Feed Phil with my brother Robbie and it’s a pretty cute show. I only watched the New York, New Orleans, Venice & San Francisco episodes, but I’m sure I’ll watch the rest soon. I think I liked it because the host really lets the guests be the charming, endearing ones, and most TV hosts aren’t very good at that.
So since we missed both Thanksgivings this year, we picked a random day to do our turkey dinner and this year I did the rub for the bird (Mom handled all the gross stuff) and it came out amazing! Also made my favourite salad dressing (love a shallot in a dressing), this perfect cranberry sauce and best garlic bread. And instead of a whole pie, we just got mini pumpkin tarts from Whole Foods. The next day, I finally made the moist maker sandwich (from Friends) and it turned out really well.
Best tweets of the month ahead:
Some things that I’m looking forward to this month: watching the new season of Big Mouth, doing the Polar Drive experience, there have been only two snowstorms so far and I can’t wait for more to come, and I’ve already started baking the chocolate chip Nutella cookies that I love to make this time of year but I want to try something new as well so I’m thinking about giving these ones a try. Christmas will of course be different this year, it’s looking like it’ll be me, my parents (since I’ve been staying here since October), Nathan & Baby Dog on Christmas morning, which actually seems like it might be kind of intimate and nice. It’ll feel wrong in certain ways because I love having my entire family here, but I’m going to try and make the most of it.
If you’ve got any interest in reading last month’s roundup, you can see what went down in October over here.
Remembrance Day
To this day, the only poem that I have memorized is In Flanders Field by John McCrae. I don’t remember how old I was when I learned it, but it’s managed to stay in my brain. I hope kids are still being taught to learn it in elementary school.
“In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.”
October Occurrences 2020
Forgive the lateness of this monthly post! I wish I could say it’s late because I’ve been crazy busy, but it’s really been because I’ve been lounging my ass around various corners of my parent’s house and trying my best to not watch any American news. Here’s what went down last month.
I started watching The Parkers and, as expected, it’s pretty great. Kim for life.
I got a lash lift aaaaaand it was bullshit. My eyes have never been more irritated and that’s coming from someone who went through corneal surgery. I think lash lifts are supposed to be for people who already have long lashes. But if you have long lashes, then why the hell do you need them to be lifted? SCAM.
Are eyelash curlers bad for people with short lashes? I was told they were. But that was by someone who also recently fucked my lashes, so I’m not sure what to believe now.
So many new movies were watched in October: Killer Klowns From Outer Space (absolutely great), Motel Hell (also great), Moment of Truth: Stalking Back (too real, a little hard to watch, but I’m really looking forward to watching other made-for-tv-movies from the series), Hush (a great movie, but again: too much, I might not be able to handle modern horror & I’m fine with that), Summer Camp Nightmare (great), Goodnight Mommy (parts of it were really cringe-y to watch but it was incredible), Mom (so, so underrated), Wolf (it was actually pretty good, how on earth had I not seen it before?), House on Haunted Hill (the old version and it was great! It ends abruptly but it’s still a fun movie), Elvira: Mistress of the Dark (80s as hell, but not as terrible as I thought it’d be), Creepshow 2 (just a good time), Frogs (terrible and not in a fun way), Cujo (just a story of neglectful pet owners), Night of the Demons (not bad, not good), This Is Paris (it was really, really good. It’s definitely hard to watch if you’ve dealt with abuse in any way, but it’s really well done) and I got through about nine minutes of Cats before I just had to call it.
The next season of Shrill started filming!
I finally went to Sleepy Hollow and wrote about it over here.
A recipe for mini meatloaf ghosts created by the ever-delightful, Chef John.
Among the top three of funniest Fresh Prince scenes ever.
Ate the hazelnut & cappuccino cronut this month and it was spectacular.
Started getting the cashew yogurt from Trader Joe’s and it’s so addictive.
The new SNLs have been all right, nothing special. And look, I love Jim Carrey. Forever will. But he isn’t good as Biden. It’s such a weird choice. Highlight of the episodes this month? The Bieber performances, surprisingly.
I made the Impossible Burger at home (you can buy them at any Fairway Market) and they’re absolutely the top veggie burger on the market today. So damn good.
There’s this restaurant in Mississauga (Erin Mills Pump & Patio) that does such a good job of replicating this now-off-menu pasta that I used to love from Snug Harbour and I’m so thankful to have found it. (It’s the Hunters Penne Pasta with chicken, cremini and shitake mushrooms, Italian parsley, black truffle oil in a white wine cream sauce incase you want to taste heaven.)
We went to Downey’s on Halloween this year and for the first time got their homemade cheese bread. Life will never be the same. Some photos of the day below.
The LCBO puts out a seasonal magazine with food and drink recipes that I looooove. One of my favourite magazines for sure.
Here’s a list of hidden horror movie categories on Netflix, should you be interested.
I read and reviewed Sofie Hagen’s new book Happy Fat and it was such a great read.
Such a shame about the beautiful Roosevelt Hotel closing down.
Dolly Parton will forever be charming as hell.
I made a batch of hot ginger toddies and yes they were good but waaaay too high maintenance to make at home. It’s definitely a drink that’s easier to just order when out.
I made these ginger sesame noodles with caramelized mushrooms and wow. Definitely will make again. I’d never thought of having broth at the bottom of a bowl full of noodles, but it’s such a great idea.
Also made these incredible apple cheddar biscuits.
Riverdale finally has a return date: January 21st!
If you find yourself in NYC in November, I beg you… please go eat the Thanksgiving croissant from Milk Bar. You will regret nothing.
There was a full moon on Halloween and I hope you made the most of it.
I made these pumpkin and pesto cheese stuffed shells because I’ve always wanted to make something savory with pumpkin and it was really, really good.
Loving this Etsy shop’s candles. I’ve only ordered two so far, but I’m a big fan.
Baby Dog’s old lobster costume made its way onto a pet costume list.
Of course I dressed up for Halloween, how dare you think I wouldn’t. (I also watched this tutorial on how to do the older lady makeup.)
Best tweets of the month ahead.
Some things that I’m looking forward to doing this month: reading Lindy West’s new book, decorating my parent’s house for the Christmas season, and SNOW.
If you’ve got any interest in reading last month’s roundup, you can see what went down in September over here.
Halloween 2020
Happy Halloween!
The Best Moon is Coming...
“The moon does not fight. It attacks no one. It does not worry. It does not try to crush others. It keeps to its course, but by its very nature, it gently influences. What other body could pull an entire ocean from shore to shore? The moon is faithful to its nature and its power is never diminished.”
I can’t express how much I love that bright, robust, goddess in the sky. Always have, always will. So the fact that a full moon coincides with Halloween this year? Perfection. I just read this great piece about the upcoming moon on Halloween night, so here are the best, most notable parts from the it (below) and then (further down) you can read about some full moon rituals that any self-respecting, moon-loving human should partake in.
This Halloween will be the first blue moon visible in every time zone since 1944.
The moon remains, perpetually and since antiquity, a source of cultural wonder. On Oct. 31, humans in all time zones will be treated to a blue hunter’s moon. A blue moon occurs on the rare occasion when there is more than one full moon during a month. (It doesn’t actually look blue.) A hunter’s moon follows a harvest moon (that was Oct. 2), and it theoretically signals a time to stockpile for winter.
The idea that something rare can happen during a full moon has been drilled into the human psyche in countless ways including through popular movies, books and cartoons. The root of the word lunatic is luna (moon in Latin), implying a sort of craze associated with the moon at its fullest.
“Full moons are a time when we get a little assistance seeing in the dark,” Chani Nicholas, an astrologer said, speaking metaphorically. “It is a very significant full moon, and it is happening four days before the election and is sitting next to a planet with upheaval, change, surprise, excitement: Uranus.”
Jessica Dore, a social worker and tarot reader, said the coming full moon, in its rarity, was a kind of emblem of change. “I think that symbols — and a blue moon is a symbol — do have the potential to activate things in an individual and in the collective,” Ms. Dore said. “It is a time when something rare can happen.”
It’s clear that the pull humans feel to learn about the moon, harness its power or flat out hex it stems from a time when we relied on it heavily in a day-to-day sense. But it also just feels nice to know that there is something out there in the mysterious dark expanse of space that is connected to humanity.
And maybe there’s something even deeper. The atoms of the universe are endlessly recycled, said Ms. Noble, the lunar scientist. (The sun is a second generation star, for example.) Perhaps, with the discovery that human bodies are made of stardust, we all have a little more moon inside of us than we think.
I feel like the summary of this post is: aging girl loves the moon. And I think I’m fine with that? I do love it! Here are some things that I may or may not take part in come Saturday night:
Moon Water Ritual
What to do: Take your container, fill it with water and simply place it outside in the direct line of the moon light overnight
Tools: a mason jar with a lid & water
As you place the water outside, spend a few minutes considering your intentions for the lunar cycle ahead (the upcoming month). In the morning collect the jar and use it however you wish (some ideas could be to drink it by taking a sip or two everyday, reminding yourself of your intentions and the power of the moon or to place your moon water in a spray bottle, add a few drops of your favorite essential oil and use it as a facial toner each morning).
Moon Wishes Manifestation Ritual
What to do: List your manifestations
Tools: Paper, pencil, jar, candles and matches
Start by lighting a candle, focus on being present and letting go of everything running through your mind.
Spend a few moments thinking about what you want to release, and what you want to call in.
Take the paper and one by one jot down the things you’d like to have show up into your life over the next month - these are your full moon wishes.
Place the wish list in a jar - and then set it outside to soak up the moonlight.
In the morning bring the wishes back inside and place it somewhere you will see it daily. Each evening before you go to sleep, take a look at your list and reflect.
Some Final Ideas
Take a moonbeam bath
If you can get outside and bathe in the moonlight in either the ocean or fresh water, this is a wonderful way to connect yourself with nature and the energy of the full moon.
Count your blessings
A full moon is the time when emotions come to the surface. Let go of any unresolved feelings by thinking about who and what you are grateful for. Fill yourself up with gratitude by making a list of everything that comes to mind. Then re-read this list. Having a tough time finding something to be grateful for? Just focus on one thing that you may take for granted and explore that from all angles.
Write a release letter & then burn it
A full moon is the best time to release and let go. No ritual is stronger than writing down your deepest inner thoughts and then releasing that energy by watching it go up in flames. If you are stuck with what to release or write, you could write include a letter to yourself about the things you are worried about or want to rid yourself of (habits, negative thoughts, etc.) or write a letter to someone whose energy, friendship or relationship no longer serves you and you want to let them go.
Turn your devices off for the entire duration of the moon’s presence (so as soon as the sun sets, turn off your phone)
To fully connect and not be interrupted, I think this is probably the best suggestion in the whole post. Focus on what’s going on in your mind that night. Let that be the most important voice that your mind hears.
However you spend Halloween, I hope you make the most of the magic in the air that night.
“The moon is the earth’s oldest temple. Holding the potency of countless prayers since the dawn of time. A bell whose ringing brings you into the field of the mother, where body and soul can quietly drink.”