The Best of 2023

by Liz Heather in ,

So many great things happened last year and if I don’t tell someone, I will burst.

BEST EXPERIENCES

  • I saw the student designs at FIT, which were unbelievably good. Nicer than even some Met exhibits I’ve been to. Must go again.

  • I spent late February in Canada and got an unholy amount of snow.

  • Seeing Tao of Glass (the Philip Glass production)! Such a great birthday gift from my niece Layla. Philip Glass was even there for opening night, which was too wild for words.

  • How on earth I got lucky enough to be invited to a private rehearsal of a play with Michael McKean? I’ll never know. It was surreal. He was so wonderful and it’s insane that I got to see this. (Jessie, I’ll remember this forever.)

  • I visited a tulip farm in New Jersey (who the hell knew that New Jersey cared about tulips? Not me).

Tulip farm in New Jersey

Kings Theatre in Brooklyn

Spirit Tree Estate Cidery in Caledon

  • Took the kids to roller skate at Scooter’s. Insane that this place has managed to stay open and I’m grateful that it has.

Parents on Global News Canada

  • He also got a letter from King Charles for his 100th birthday, which is a big deal whether you care about the royals or not. And since his coronation was in the middle of May and my dad’s birthday was the first week of June, there’s a very good chance that this was the very first 100th birthday letter signed by THE KING OF ENGLAND, which is absolutely the neatest thing on the planet.

Dad’s letter from the King of England

Hamlet in NYC

  • Rented row boats in Central Park for the first time with Marla (if you live in New York and think you’re above doing this I’m here to tell you that you aren’t) and it was very special.

Marla row boating in Central Park

Family trip to Scotland! Oh lord, I still haven’t done a post about that. Coming soon!

  • Went to a Blue Jays game with my brother Robbie and some of his kids, which was so great.

After a Jays game in Toronto

  • Learned how to make so many cake pops with my niece Maya.

Halloween cake pops by Maya

  • The pure joy of making homemade pizza (with store-bought dough). It’s so much better than I remember homemade pizza being. Maybe it’s because you need to heat the spread-out dough (on parchment, with olive oil rubbed on top) for ten minutes at 450 degrees and THEN put all the sauce/toppings/cheese on it and put it back in for another ten minutes at 500 degrees.

Homemade sausage pizza

  • I got to fly in the backseat of a Harvard airplane and it was unforgettable.

I’m Tom Cruise?

  • I got Baby Dog’s teeth cleaned for the first time in her life and it was a phenomenal experience. I was at Pet Valu and saw that they worked with an organization that cleans your dog’s teeth without putting them under anesthesia. The people at KissableK9 Care were beyond impressive and kind and the whole thing took thirty minutes. I have before and after photos that are pure insanity. I would post them here, but like… even a chihuahua likes her privacy sometimes.

  • The Shark is Broken on Broadway. REFUSING TO SHUT UP ABOUT HOW GOOD THIS WAS.

  • Paid my respects to Jimmy Buffett who passed away on Labour Day weekend by going to the Margaritaville in Times Square.

Honestly the key lime pie here is seriously the best

  • Nathan and I went to Shot of Art to paint, which was unexpectedly fun.

  • I met horror legend R.L. Stine!

  • Nathan’s show at The Gramercy Theatre for the New York Comedy Festival went so well, could not be more proud of this man.

Casey and Nathan!

  • Ice skating with friends at night might be the answer to everything.

  • Nathan and I spent the last days of the year near Baltimore in Maryland and went to The B&O Railroad Museum and watched a marathon of The Twilight Zone for hours. For a moment it felt like I’d died and gone to heaven.

Nathan in Baltimore, Maryland

BEST NEW RECIPES

  • Truly can’t stop making these sesame chicken meatballs.

  • Okay, “apple nachos” is a terrible name for them, but that’s the only label I can think of for this great snack. The recipe? Sliced apples, almond or peanut butter, granola pieces and chocolate chips. Heaven on a plate.

Apple nachos

Short rib bolognese

Tres leche cake

Lemon blueberry cake

Pumpkin pie rice krispies

BEST FOODS I ATE

  • The onion soup at Bistro Eloise in Queens.

  • The tomato potato chips from Eataly.

  • The spring rolls at Wayan.

  • The market price pasta appetizer at The Grill in the Seagram Building. UNHOLY.

  • All of the pasta dishes at Figlia in Astoria.

  • The duck croquettes at Satis Bistro in Jersey City.

  • The Bobbie (a Thanksgiving sandwich) at Capriotti’s.

  • Thai green curry. I’d never tried it before this year. No one told me it was this good!

  • Tim Hortons maple crunch ice cream.

  • The duck confit spring rolls at Sojourn on the Upper East Side.

  • A Canada’s Wonderland funnel cake with strawberries will forever be my favourite summer dessert. It’s untouchable.

Canada’s Wonderland funnel cake

  • The gluten free latkes and french toast sticks at Modern Bread and Bagel on the Upper West Side.

  • Maple syrup greek yogurt (when did I become Buddy from Elf?)

  • Sponge toffee. Again, no one told me.

  • The foot long freak fries at the CNE.

Freak fries at the CNE in Toronto

Fried chicken sandwich at Shopsin’s

  • The egg nog greek yogurt at Trader Joe’s.

BEST TV & MOVIES

  • The Banshees of Inisherin - loved it.

  • Pamela, A Love Story - love her, loved this.

  • The newest season of Dave. A perfect show.

  • Barbie - did I watch it twice in theatres in two different countries? I DID.

  • The Bear (season two) - such a perfect show. Favourite episode was definitely the Richie one (“Forks”).

  • The Summer I Turned Pretty (season two) - I’m not even embarrassed by how much I love this show.

  • Outer Banks (all seasons): I can’t explain the grip this show has on me. The disgust-turned-to-love I have for JOHN B confuses even me. Such a fun show. Leave it to your 12 year old niece to introduce you to the best/worst TV shows.

BEST PURCHASES

  • A new hair straightener (Kipozi) that works wonders.

  • Blister bandages - not a sexy thing to have on this list, but still a relevant one.

  • I got a pair of Levi’s ribcage straight ankle jeans (the first non-skinny jeans I’ve had in fifteen years maybe) and I’m so in love with them. The amount of times I’ve declared to Nathan that these “are, like, a really cool pair of jeans” is… excessive.

  • The vintage fur coat that I got from Exile Vintage in Toronto. A beauty.

  • The Essie polish in the colour “sew gifted.”

Essie’s “Sew Gifted”

Olive green running shoes from Call It Spring

  • New pots and pans! I never knew I could live such a non-stick life, it’s amazing.

  • The fact that I now own THE GLOOM ROOM. My overly generous friend Yassir got it for us and my life might now be complete? Words can’t express the beauty of this piece. (I couldn’t stop saying how “coveted” it is in the “miniature community” at fake Thanksgiving and I think it might have ended the party early?)

  • Mighty Patch nose patches. Favourite pimple handler of all time.

BEST IDEAS

  • My friend Marla mentioned how she gives her young sons a small amount of money for birthday gifts for people in their lives and then each kid comes up with an idea based on what that person enjoys and buys the gift. And honestly, what a perfect idea. Gift giving is a skill and absolutely should be taught to young kids (especially boys) since it’s such an important part of living. Love this so, so much. Every parent should be doing this.

  • A gentle reminder to take photos of good outfits.

God, I miss that tan

Love colours on a man

  • Okay, if you’re not buying wild blueberries then you should be. I’ve had it with the cheap, flavourless blueberries that are the size of softballs. BLUEBERRIES ARE SUPPOSED TO BE TEENY. The frozen, wild ones from Whole Foods are the best tasting ones I’ve found in NY (the wild ones at Wegman’s are pretty great too), but the Canadian frozen ones from the east coast are top tier too. Make blueberries tiny again.

  • I got a “root shadowing” done at Bloc + Mane in Etobicoke and it was everything I needed. It’s a process that blends your hair colour if you’ve dyed it in the past year but you don’t want that aggressive grow-out line.

  • For years I’ve wondered who the hell goes to the Uno or Applebees in my neighborhood when you LIVE IN NEW YORK CITY and there are a million better options. But for whatever reason, I found myself in one and I’m sorry but $7 martinis are the absolute main reason to go there.

  • A great baking tip: make whipped cream fast in a food processor. So smart.

  • My wonderful friend Richard made stuffing as a main entree for a dinner at home and CAN WE MAKE THIS A THING? Genius idea.

  • Writing down the special/funny moments that happen to you that you want to remember, and then putting them in a jar on your desk.

  • Maybe this is corny but I read this in a NYT article a year ago and I always keep it floating somewhere in my brain to not forget: “I like to remind myself that my track record for getting through bad days is 100 percent, and that’s pretty good.”

  • Another great idea from that same article: “Greet people with their first names. They’re delighted.”

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENTS

  • Josh wine. UGH! The grossest wine brand of all time, which makes sense since it’s also the worst name for a wine brand…?

  • An at-home frother. It just didn’t work. One day I’ll have a fancy espresso machine and that will be when I can froth finally.

  • The restaurant Olio E Piu in the West Village. Trash!

  • The movie Tusk. One of the most originally awful movies I’ve ever seen.

  • Scream VI. Just horrible. TEAM NEVE FOREVER.

  • The Broadway play Shucked. I will continue to fight every single person who claims this is a good production.

  • Experienced the awfulness that is Rolf’s German (Christmas) restaurant in the city. DO NOT GO. I let loose on a Google review and never looked back.

  • The Crown (last season) - UGH. Just terrible. Don’t give me a glass of wine and ask me about this show, I promise that you will regret it.

And here were my favourites from 2022, if you’re interested.

Favourite Photos of 2023

by Liz Heather in ,

(You can see my favourite photos from 2022 over here.)