Summer Saturdays Vol. 13
The final Summer Saturdays of 2025! I know there are technically still three weeks of summer left, but with children going to school and the temperature already dropping - it feels like we should all move on from the season.
BAKING
I reached out to Spirit Tree Estate Cidery to see if they’ll give me the recipe for their carrot cake muffins because I will dream about how good those muffins were for the rest of my life.
COOKING
I bought a fresh seafood mix from the Halifax airport to make a chowder for my parents and thank god I used this recipe because it was heavenly.
CRAVING
DRINKING
About to make a batch of this September sangria that sounds wild. Didn’t know blackberry brandy was even a thing.
EATING
I had an incredible panzanella salad (with fior di latte, heirloom tomatoes, marinated red onions, garlic toasted croutons, avocado, basil pesto with an aged balsamic vinaigrette) from The Bicycle Thief in Halifax. Also, the Digby scallops from Finer Diner were a dream.
Panzanella from The Bicycle Thief in Halifax, Nova Scotia
Digby scallops from Finer Diner near Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia
EXPERIENCING
Peggy’s Cove! Absolutely beautiful, I’ve never seen a lighthouse I didn’t love.
Peggy’s Cove
LISTENING
The song My Kink is Karma on repeat. (Am I three years late to this song? That’s none of your business?)
LOVING
The basil soft serve from Dairy Bar in Halifax. UNREAL.
SHOPPING
An ungodly amount of corn from Allison’s Farm Market. I am definitely a corn snob (go bi-colour or go home), but this stuff is eons better than anything you’re getting at a grocery store.
WATCHING
We went to the Halifax Museum of Natural History to witness their 103 year old tortoise named Gus eat a snack. Seriously, he does this at 3pm each day. He eats or takes a walk, whatever he feels like doing. I am not being sarcastic when I say that this was absolutely wonderful to see. Gus for life.
Gus!
WEARING
Sweatshirts in the summer. I never used to do this, but the air-conditioning in every single store is outrageous this year.
And that’s that! You’re sweet to read any of these little summer updates. I love doing them. Depending on how busy the fall gets, Fall Fridays might make a return…
You can find last week’s Summer Saturdays Vol. 12 over here and you can see more posts like this on my latest newsletter.
The Best Summer I Turned Pretty Tweets
Yes there are three episodes left this season, but the tweets are too good right now. Favourites from season three episode eight below!
And you can see more posts like this on my latest newsletter.
Summer Saturdays Vol. 12
Okay, this week I feel like I might actually be in that New Yorker cover above (I’m in Cape Breton at the moment).
BAKING
I air-fried the garlic chicken wings from the butcher section at Longo’s (the not frozen ones) and good god were they incredible. I used the Nando’s buffalo wing sauce on them afterward and holy hell. I am not a wing person, but these may have changed who I am fundamentally.
Air fried chicken wings
COOKING
I realized that I cook way less in the summer, which might be great. I do love doing it, but it’s nice to take seasons off.
CRAVING
Seafood chowder.
Seafood chowder
DRINKING
Free prosecco from the Millcroft Inn. The only time it doesn’t give me a headache is when it’s free, I can’t explain this logic.
EATING
I thought that Whole Foods was the only place to find good heirloom tomatoes right now, but Longo’s has them and they’re such a good price. (Am I sponsored by Longo’s? In my dreams I am.)
EXPERIENCING
The beauty that is Cape Breton.
Cape Breton, Nova Scotia
LISTENING
It’s been a Taylor Swift week.
LOVING
I need to find this coat from the And Just Like That finale immediately.
SHOPPING
I found someone on Etsy who created a replica of Baby Dog for our wedding cake and they did such an incredible job. The hand-painted colouring is insanely good.
Baby Dog!
WATCHING
Nathan and I saw Weapons and I liked it! Not as much as Barbarian, but still pretty fun.
WEARING
Still living in the Aerie Smoothez bodysuits.
Bury me in a bodysuit, I’m serious
Summer Saturdays Vol. 11 (Wedding Edition)
COOKING
I made a caprese with the basil from my wedding bouquet.
CRAVING
Absolutely nothing. This week was a dream.
DRINKING
Carib! I’m not biased because it’s Trinidadian, it’s really the best beer.
EATING
So many meals out this week: beef tenderloin, pacific snapper, asparagus and onion scrambled eggs, Nando’s. Looking forward to some home meals again.
EXPERIENCING
Pure joy? I don’t believe in your wedding day being the best day of your life, but it was pretty fantastic.
LISTENING
I made a Getting Ready playlist to hear the morning before the ceremony and it’s been on repeat for a couple of days now.
LOVING
…my husband?? I’m sorry, but it’s wild to say that term out loud.
SHOPPING
I got this beautiful Zara purse to use as my wedding purse and then used Velcro to secure Baby Dog’s photo inside.
WATCHING
Currently have the latest Summer I Turned Pretty episode on pause. Did I get married this summer because Belly is supposed to? Even I’m not sure.
WEARING
I guess it would make sense to show the wedding dress here (I will), but truly my night-before outfit was the one I’ve been lusting after since I bought it from Simons a month ago.
Summer Saturdays Vol. 10
BAKING
Can someone please make me this pistachio cake?
COOKING
CRAVING
An A&W teen burger in a lettuce wrap. Nothing better.
DRINKING
Red sangria forever. I’m not complicated.
EATING
Red snapper and baby scallops, who am I? I swear to god you turn 40 and every fish in the sea becomes sexier.
I don’t look at anyone the way I look at red snapper
EXPERIENCING
My first time at the Millcroft Inn and Spa in Caledon and it was too lovely. I’ve never found an outdoor pool that I don’t love.
Millcroft Inn, Caledon
LISTENING
Our old Baby Dog playlist (that consists of songs that we would change the words to so they’d be focused around her life and I won’t go into any more than that because the things that couples do shouldn’t be discussed in public).
LOVING
The gluten free sourdough bread from Schar is pretty good at attempting to be real bread - but honestly I’ll take any bread substitution if it allows me to cover it with an heirloom tomato drenched in sea salt.
SHOPPING
I’ve just started using the mini version of the Dr. Jart Color Correcting cream (mixed with Dr. Dennis Gross moisturizer) so we’ll see what happens. It seems pretty great so far.
WATCHING
The newest Naked Gun and it was perfectly all right! My 11 year old nephew loved it and honestly that made me like it even more.
WEARING
I bought the most perfect black evening bag from Simons. Excited to own it for about thirty years.
My two favourites - Marla and my black bag
Favourite Summer Recipes
Baby tomatoes in August
Baby tomatoes in August
I realized recently that it’s purely because of summer produce that I started to tolerate (and dare I say enjoy) this season. It’s kind of amazing. I think there are only two periods of my life: who I was before I ate an heirloom tomato and who I became afterward. Favourite summer recipes ahead!
White Chocolate Strawberry Scones (but with cake flour and you can sub apricots instead of strawberries should the mood strike you)
White Chocolate Apricot Scone
Grilled Chicken Caprese Pasta Salad
The Absolute Best Summer Tomato Panzanella Salad (with added fresh mozzarella) (you also have to be a lover of raw garlic if you make this recipe)
Grilled Chicken Club Sandwich with Rosemary Aioli
Heirloom Tomato Toast
Summer Steak Salad
Incredibly Easy Slow Cooker Ribs
Ricotta and Tomato Jam Jar (a Nordstrom recipe)
The Best Ever Banana Pudding (the Magnolia Bakery recipe)
Banana Pudding (Magnolia Bakery recipe)
Lemon Mascarpone Sorbet
S’mores Pie (legit the easiest dessert on the planet to make)
S’mores Pie
And you can see more posts like this on my latest newsletter.
The Best of July 2025
That was the fastest month of all time, yeah? Here’s what happened!
I continued to write my Summer Saturdays series.
The best tweets of the month are over here.
Took my brother and nephews to do an impromptu cake tasting!
Cake tasting
Speaking of cakes, are we all aware of how good the La Rocca ones are? I tried their strawberry white chocolate this month and it was delicious. Their best one remains the caramel crunch one, though. Best grocery store cakes of all time.
La Rocca strawberry cake
My niece Tianna and I stayed at Pillar and Post in Niagara-On-The-Lake and it was absolutely perfect. I tried bone marrow for the first time (I see the appeal) and it was a perfect little getaway. (Also, a gorgeous lavender field is only minutes away.)
Lavender field, Niagara-On-The-Lake
I was craving green curry (but not wanting to pay $30 for it from a restaurant) so I made one at home with onions, peas, chicken and store-bought green curry sauce and it was insanely satisfying. Also, lasted me a full week. I have to remember to do this again.
The house-made garlic and chive cream cheese from The Cheese Boutique is heavenly.
I’ve been living in this Aritzia burgundy sweatshirt.
Beyond excited for this project.
Nathan and I went to Montreal (best thing about a road trip? McDonald’s $1 any-sized iced coffee + the free DoubleTree warm cookie) and had such a great time. First time trying their bagels and good god - eons better than New York ones. No one told me. Only regret of the trip? Not ordering this onion block from The Cage.
$1 iced coffees for life
Montreal bagel
And this should be obvious, but Quebec cheese curds are otherworldly. There is no substitution.
Montreal, July 2025
Officially in love with the Montreal brand Mimi and August (thank you, Marla!).
I will always stop at The Big Apple when we pass it on the highway. Right now they have incredible nectarines and apple cheddar bread. (We also stopped at Primitive Designs because why not?)
Apple cheddar bread from The Big Apple in Ontario
Primitive Designs in Ontario
Yearning to eat this beef stroganoff with caramelized mushrooms and crispy onions.
Had my bridal shower and it was overwhelmingly nice. I made my favourite lemon sorbet with mascarpone for dessert (I will use any excuse to make these, they’re so good). And these honey jars are such a perfect party favour (note: you do have to fill them yourself, like some sort of sap).
Lemon sorbet with mascarpone and mint
Mini honey jars
This is really a reminder to myself to never use booking.com again. I’m 40, I should know better. Stop using third party websites for booking anything. They’re all terrible when it comes to changing plans.
These are officially the hottest, most comfortable heels I now own so I should probably buy two more pairs.
I ate the greatest samosas of all time from the Lakeview Farmers Market at Zesty Fusions. Also had an incredible gluten free breakfast sandwich from Gud Daae and a great iced flat white from Delicious All Day Coffee.
Current snack on repeat: Nutella on Dad’s Cookies. I can’t stop.
Some things I watched:
Fatal Attraction: wow, I rewatch this movie a lot. Might need to look into that.
A rerun of the Lady Gaga SNL: fantastic. Love her.
Single White Female: great! Can’t believe I hadn’t seen it before.
The Bear: I can’t stand how much Eyo says “like.” Other than that, the season was fine? Not enough scenes with Will Poulter.
And Just Like That: live long enough and you’ll grow to hate Aiden. It’s a blessing that this show is coming to an end. Also, Miranda’s character progression has never made any sense to me.
I Know What You Did Last Summer: I actually liked it! I won’t ruin the ending, but I truly hated that part of it.
Some things I’m looking forward to this month: OH I WONDER.
You can read last month’s roundup over here and you can see more posts like this on my latest newsletter.
Summer Saturdays Vol. 9
BAKING
So much salmon (herbed, jerk, maple), I can’t be stopped. The two-pack from Real Canadian Superstore that’s usually $7 cannot be beat.
COOKING
Tomato season is so close, I might jump the gun a bit to make this triple tomato salad that I saw made on The Kitchen (which is fast becoming my favourite cooking show).
CRAVING
Summer horror movies. I know it’s too early, but I can’t stop myself. And the latest I Know What You Did Last Summer was surprisingly pretty good! I hated a few things about the ending, but otherwise it was a party.
DRINKING
Homemade iced hazelnut coffee in my new insulated bottle.
EATING
Apple cheddar bread from The Big Apple. It’s unreal.
EXPERIENCING
Our wedding is in less than two weeks and I think this image (below) sums it up nicely.
LISTENING
I’ve got this bridal playlist on repeat but I’ve hit a weird wall this week with hating every single playlist I’ve ever made. Not sure what to do with that.
LOVING
Look at these gorgeous heirloom tomato candles.
SHOPPING
I bought a few things from Mimi & August in Montreal, so I think I’m officially a fan.
WATCHING
I finished the first three episodes of The Summer I Turned Pretty and yeah forget what I said last week, I can’t stand Jeremiah I don’t know what I was thinking before. Is Conrad good, though? No. Is Belly even good? Also no. I also can’t stand Taylor. All right now I’m sitting here wondering why do I watch this show….
WEARING
I bought these nude heels and they are dreamy.
You can find last week’s Summer Saturdays Vol. 8 over here and you can see more posts like this on my latest newsletter.
