Winter List 2022

“I realize there’s something incredibly honest about trees in winter, how they’re experts at letting things go.”

— Jeffrey McDaniel

God, I love winter. I will be counting down the days until the first really big snowstorm, so in the meantime here’s what else I’d love to do this season.

1. Take at least five bubble baths.

2. Finally get my own ice skates and skate around this beautiful rink.

3. Go skiing.

4. Make lasagna soup.

5. See at least two Broadway plays.

Other than that, I’ll definitely watch some of these movies. As always, I encourage you to make a list of your own. And if you’re stuck on ideas, you can see my past winter lists below:

Winter List 2021

Winter List 2020

Winter List 2019

Winter List 2018

Winter List 2017

Winter List 2015

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The Best Christmas Tweets

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Autumn List 2022 Revisited

Autumn is over and the sweet stillness of winter is upon us. While I wait for the snow, here’s how my autumn list of things to do went!

1. Make the very best leftover Thanksgiving sandwich humanly possible.

   • Okay, I didn’t do this at Thanksgiving BUT I may be able to redeem myself on the day after Christmas.

2. Watch at least ten horror movies I haven’t seen before.

   • Oh no, I only did four (Smile, Barbarian, Halloween Ends, Terrifier). To be fair, I rewatched tons of movies I’ve already seen but that does not count.

3. Finally learn the Phantasm theme on piano.

   • Not even kinda!

4. Completely clean out off of my closets and donate anything that hasn’t been worn in the past two years.

   • This is getting embarrassing. DOING THIS THE FIRST WEEK OF JANUARY!

5. Watch and harshly critique Hocus Pocus 2.

   • I watched it and… clearly it isn’t supposed to be for me, which is sad. I wanted it to be for me so badly, but here we are. Thankfully I wasn’t expecting the world, so it wasn’t devastating.

1/5 Yikes. That’s a rough one. Can’t even spin it this time. I will do better next season!

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The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music By Dave Grohl - A Review

It’s a well known fact that I intensely love Dave Grohl. Always have, always will. Whatever he does, I will support. I’m a little shocked that it took me so long to finally read his memoir, but here we are! Favourite parts ahead.

• “DNA is a miraculous thing. We all carry traits of people we have never met somewhere deep within our chemistry. I’m no scientist, but I believe that my musical abilities are proof of this. There is no divine intervention here. This is flesh and blood. This is something that comes from the inside out.”

• “From my first tour at the age of eighteen, I always loved traveling to Canada. The hash was good, the girls were cute, and the shows were consistently wild. Canadians are fucking awesome. Laid-back, genuine, and funny as hell. I defy anyone to walk one city block without making a fast friend in Canada.”

• And speaking of Canada, I absolutely love the fact that he met and played with Iggy Pop at the goddam Rivoli of all places.

• The story where he breaks his leg during a show is incredible.

• He spoke so high of the Ring of Kerry in Ireland that I looked it up and wow. Putting it on the travel list.

• He mentioned how his mom wrote a book (with contributions from others) called From Cradle To Stage: Stories from the Mothers Who Rocked and Raised Rock Stars that sounds great and I really want to read next. They also appears to be a series??

• One of the post-show meals he kept mentioned? KFC chicken and champagne. And I mean, it honestly sounds just gross enough to be fantastic.

Obviously this was published after Taylor Hawkins passed away, so I can’t imagine how hard that must have been for his to go through since he talks about him so lovingly throughout the whole book. Honestly, just such a great read.

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The Plight Before Christmas - Bob's Burgers

Stop everything you’re doing and watch the newest Christmas Bob’s Burgers. I CRIED ON THE SUBWAY, it’s so good. Christ. I’m trying to decide if it was the general Christmasy vibe that I loved, all the siblings-caring-about-siblings thing or if the music at the end is so Philip Glass-y that I never stood a chance at NOT sobbing. Love, love, love. Take twenty minutes and watch.

And if you’re in the mood for more after this episodes…

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Trip To Las Vegas

Back in September, I took my third trip to Las Vegas and I’m finally recapping it now, forgive the lateness. The first time I went was when I was 21 and it was beyond depressing, the second time I went I did way more things that I wanted to do (and wrote about that time over here) and this time was even better.

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Baby Dog poolside at the Rio, Las Vegas

Also, Baby Dog went to the west coast! If that doesn’t seem insane to you, well, it should. She’s a tiny little dog who was abandoned and now she’s strutting through casinos - a success story for the ages. Nathan was doing shows at the Rio for the week, so we made a trip out of it. Tip: a week in Vegas feels like a month, the ideal time to stay is 3-4 days max. Highlights below!

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“I’ve made it.”

I went to The Sahara to have dinner at Bazaar Meat by José Andrés. I got the patatas bravas, the spanish meatballs and the cotton candy fois gras. Everything was delicious and perfect. I. love that man’s food. Later that night I headed to The Palms to get a drink at Ghost Bar on the 55th floor. And yeah, the view is nice but it wasn’t anything too special.

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View from atop Ghost Bar, Las Vegas

The next day we went to see David Copperfield (who was wonderful) and then I went to see Nathan’s show at the Cellar, which was great. And then we played some KISS mini-golf inside the Rio, which you definitely should do if you’re anywhere near the Rio.

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David Copperfield statue

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Nathan, pre-Copperfield

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KISS Mini Golf, Las Vegas

I also got to eat at Martha Stewart’s new restaurant The Bedford, which was good but definitely overhyped. Of course my expectations were high because 1) I love her and 2) she’s never opened a restaurant before. The servers are extremely well trained (which is wonderful, I love this detail) they have even been taught to say “cheers” in Polish. The attention to detail on the decor of the individual tables as well as the entire space is perfection, even the temperature was just right. However, there had to be cons. All burgers should have round buns, what reason is there to mess with that simple fact? The smashed potato (which is smashed table-side) is an incredibly stupid idea and almost seems like a joke on the white people who would actually enjoy it. Small side orders of sauces should absolutely never cost $9, that’s ludicrous. The fries were wildly overcooked in overused oil (how does one mess up french fries?) and the prices, sure, they were outrageous but that fact tracks since it’s in Las Vegas. The homemade mustard was really tasty (maybe because you never come across homemade?) and her béarnaise sauce was perfect. The oysters Rockefeller were good, if only a little bit chilly. All in all, it was an experience. One that I’ll happily never have to have again. (The Times has a great piece on it, if you care about all things Martha.)

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Oysters Rockefeller at The Bedford

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Burger at The Bedford

The real highlight of the trip was going to The Neon Museum, which features signs from old casinos and other famous Las Vegas businesses displayed outdoors. I took the nighttime tour and I promise you - this is the tour to take. Almost all of the signs were lit up in all their glory and it was incredible to see. I talked about it in way more length on this Instagram highlight reel.

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The Neon Museum, Las Vegas

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The most beautiful sign at The Neon Museum

Some things I would maybe want to do on my next visit:

• Eat at Capriotti’s and get The Bobbie again (it’s a Thanksgiving turkey sandwich that will melt your brain, it’s so good)

• Find the art-o-mat (takes $5 bills) at The Cosmopolitan

• Brunch at Eggslut

• Eat at Giada’s at The Cromwell

• Find Wayne Newton’s star on the walk of fame outside The Paris

• Get the steak frites at Mon Ami Gabi (or white chocolate bread pudding)

• Go to the Shelby Heritage Centre to see old cars (free)

• Visit The Golden Nugget again and The Plaza (this is the inspiration behind Biff’s Tanner’s Pleasure Paradise in Back To The Future II)

• Visit Red Rock Canyon (this is a MUST)

• Visit a pawn shop

Also the view from the plane ride back home was breath-taking. I was glued to the window.

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The view from the plane as we left Las Vegas

And a tiny small sidenote? I love that there are still thriving TCBY stands in airports across America. Goddamn, it really is the best frozen yogurt out there.

Such a great trip!

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Navigating November 2022

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How we intend to spend the remaining winter nights

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

• TIP: If you don’t pay for a Spotify subscription and you hate ads: just close the app every time an ad starts and then reopen the app and the song will start. How did it take me years to learn this?

• So for the first time in nine years, Milk Bar didn’t have their Thanksgiving croissant. Criticisms have been declared and letters have been MAILED. If you think I’m kidding, you really don’t know me.

• I rarely go to bars, but I went to Witching Hour in Brooklyn and I just loved the layout and general vibe. Must remember.

• I returned to Minetta Tavern and it’s not as great as it used to be! You’re very crammed into each table and the food wasn’t really worth the price anymore. So that’s rough to realize.

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Poppies should be worn year round

• I also went to Don Angie for the first time and the lasagna is as good as they hype it up to be - same with their incredibly photogenic salad. Make sure to skip the veal tartare and the dessert, though.

• I tried the Thanksgiving dumplings from Mimi Cheng’s and they were just all right, which was a little disappointing. Maybe I’m still in mourning for the Milk Bar croissants.

• The Starbucks seasonal drinks keep making me sick and I keep returning for more. Someone explain?

• Obsessed with this slip I got from Free People.

• Made a batch of the insanely good Alison Roman chocolate chip shortbread cookies for the freezer, to make closer to Christmas.

• So there was a beautiful, summer-y day in early November so I found an outdoor pool and headed to The Rockaway Hotel. Day passes for their heated pool are $30 all season, which is kind of amazing.

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The Rockaway Hotel Pool, November 2022

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Tanning in November

• Some links I loved:

  • This great Times piece on all kinds of stuffing.

  • Some good cookie-making tips from Ina.

  • I had no idea Coney Island used to have these grand, gorgeous hotels.

  • How to donate stuff straight from home.

• I got a drink at Miracle on 9th Street which was very cute and the drinks were great. If I’d known it was all the way over near Avenue C, I might not have gone but I’m glad I did.

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Drinks at Miracle on 9th Street, Manhattan

• Some things I watched:

  • Terrifier: okay I shouldn’t really count this since I saw a total of fifteen minutes before leaving the room. But Nathan continued watching it, so I could hear all the screams and sounds from the bedroom and I still somehow had nightmares?? So no I won’t be watching the sequel.

  • We saw Halloween Ends on November 1st and it has to be the absolute worst Halloween of the entire franchise. Just unreal. It felt like punishment for trying to watch a horror movie past October 31st, so lesson learned.

  • The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror XXXIII: it’s a bit depressing to hear how old Marge’s voice has become (this is an awful thought to voice and I apologize), but the Halloween episode was so good this year (especially the last segment).

  • Falling For Christmas: I am not a Hallmark movie person, but I was bored so I put this on and… I’m still firmly not a Hallmark person. These types of movies aren’t even enjoyably bad, I don’t get it.

  • A Christmas Story: this was never in my favourites of Christmas movies and it’s a very okay movie. Hundreds of better Christmas movies, though.

  • Knives Out: it was completely all right, nothing fantastic. I really hated Daniel Craig’s accent and the whole throwing-up-if-lying detail. Just seemed like a bad first screenplay idea.

  • The Fabelmans: it was good but not as epic as I’d hoped. It was really good at showing the memorable relationships through a child’s eye, especially when a kid starts to see his parents as real people.

  • The Crown (seasons 1-2): Love it, can’t wait to keep going. John Lithgow is wonderful. Loved this line: “I find, in general, people have very little understanding of who they are. One has to turn a blind eye to so much of oneself in order to get through life.”

  • Don’t ask me why but I watched some of the last season of The Big Bang Theory and just UGH. What a terrible show that was. The fact that the writers made Penny pregnant in the series finale even though there were countless episodes beforehand where she confidently said she wasn’t going to have children. JUST UGH. Of course it was written by a man.

• I’ve already gone a few times, but the Union Square Holiday Market is really great this year.

• You’re already Christmas shopping so just a gentle reminder: get the gift receipt.

• The snow is coming and you will slip and possibly fall. Act accordingly.

• I used to absolutely love Yogi Bear’s All Star Christmas Caper (it came out in 1982) and it absolutely still holds up. Link over here if you have kids and/or love nostalgia.

Some things I’m looking forward to this month: of course I’ll be lighting my bayberry candles on Christmas Eve as well as New Year’s Eve, December is always the most expensive month but it doesn’t have to be, don’t forget to buy your mistletoe, I’ll definitely watch some of these, I’ll absolutely watch The Snowman yet again, I’ll make a family Christmas video again, if you’re in Ontario you kind of have to ice skate on this gorgeous path, and once again I’m begging you not to give lottery tickets as gifts.

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If you have any interest in reading what went on in October, come on over here and you can see more posts like this on my latest newsletter.