December Dalliances 2024
Love an outdoor bulb
Love an outdoor bulb
The last monthly post of a year that was intense and full of change! Hereās what went down last month.
The best tweets of December can be found over here.
I recapped how my autumn list of things to do went.
The Presidentās Choice Elk Crossing ice cream is unbelievably good.
Elk Crossing ice cream
The restaurant Earlās put out a cookbook and I canāt stop making their chicken hunan kung pao.
I found out that the house from the movie The Santa Clause is in Oakville, so I had to drive past it. And look at their perfect decorations.
The Santa Clause house in Oakville, ON
The Santa Clause house decorations
I found a dupe recipe for the Levain dark chocolate peanut butter chip cookies and I truly canāt tell the difference.
Levain peanut butter chip cookies
Got a Philly cheesesteak from Gladiator Burger and wow. Will definitely return.
I will fully admit that crumbl cookies are overrated, but their monthly dessert specials are wondrous. Look at this eggnog tres leche (below). Sheās beautiful.
Eggnog tres leche
I perused the new Half Baked Harvest cookbook and itās absolutely nothing revolutionary, thereās a cheeseburger pasta in it for christsake. I still think we should force a limit on how many books a food blogger can release.
I did make these white wine mushroom stuffed shells and they were (as most HBH recipes are) probably too cheesy, but the vegetarians liked them so I guess it was a win.
White wine mushroom stuffed shells
I also made this slow cooker roast and it was so easy and perfect for lunch sandwiches on Christmas day. And secured the greatest (Canadian)grocery store cake: the caramel crunch cake.
Caramel crunch cake
Ate at this great Mexican place The Mule in Hamilton.
The Mule in Hamilton, ON
Some things I watched:
Die Hard - yes, itās insane that Iāve never seen it before now. So good.
Challengers - LOVED Zendayaās character. Second favourite movie of the year (first was Anora). Only question was HOW was that hotel bed that big??
Jagged Edge - pretty good. I love this genre of movies (80s/early 90s thriller/mystery).
Carry On - anticlimactic ending, but overall not terrible.
Nosferatu - liked it! Honestly it couldāve just been the fun of who I saw it with, but truly hard to tell.
These little guys (below) continue to make me smile each day.
Would die for them
Some things that Iām looking forward to this month: Iām going to start using this first-of-the-month checklist again and Iāll recap my resolutions from last year as well as make new 2025 ones.
If you have any interest in the other monthly roundups of 2024, they can be found here: November, October, September, August, July, June, May, April, March, February and January.
The Best Tweets of December 2024
Navigating November 2024
Gingerbread season >>
Gingerbread season >>
All of the Christmas gifts are bought and under the tree, why the hell donāt I do this every year? People are mean in those mall parking lots, so Iām grateful to be done the shopping portion of the season. Now thereās just decorating and cooking left, which is kind of the best part. Hereās what went down last month!
The best tweets of November can be found over here.
I read and reviewed Anna Marie' Tendlerās memoir Men Have Called Her Crazy.
Got an oil change for $66 with no appointment at Royal Lube (perfect name, no notes) in Mississauga. Am I nuts or is that really good in 2024?
I tried the 10 3 2 1 method and it sucked! Completely did not work for me.
I made these ricotta beef shells that were good, but honestly a lasagna would be more satisfying.
Will never tire of my favourite chicken marsala recipe.
Chicken marsala over tres leche mashed potatoes
I took a day trip to Buffalo (and woof, I really donāt like that city), but Iām happy to report that the Wegmanās ultimate chocolate cake remains the greatest cake in the history of grocery store cakes.
I made tres leche mashed potatoes and they were phenomenal. Making them again for Christmas.
Tres leche mashed potatoes
Hot take: suburban Targets are too big. Itās enough already.
I got a tub of white chocolate raspberry butter from a holiday market and itās changed all of our lives, itās so good. (Itās made me want to make a bunch of different butter combinations for the holidays, so Iāll report back.)
Love a seasonal flavour and these (below) are pretty great.
Turkey Dinner Lays
Some things I watched:
Perfect Days - pretty long, but liked it.
Getting Lost (the documentary about the show Lost) - look, I was a fan of the show but I wasnāt a superfan so maybe Iām not the key demographic here. It definitely couldāve been edited/shortened, but I did love Kateās explanation of the finale.
The Martha documentary on Netflix - loved it. Yes, sheās a bitch (with the way she talks to her staff) but sheās insanely rich so I donāt see why thatās surprising. Nice people arenāt exceedingly rich, itās that simple.
The Weekend Away (Netflix) - not terrible!
Anora - best movie of the year, hands down.
Cast Away - god, itās still such a great movie, especially this monologue.
The John Mulaney SNL - okay, the man is not funny. Iād say itās bewildering that heās so popular but so many famous comedians are terribleā¦? So this makes sense?
Bowen Yang in this Shrek sketch is so goddam funny, Iāve watched it five times.
Some things Iām looking forward to this month: cannot wait for that first snowfall, thereās a maple syrup museum I want to take the kids to, already bought my bayberry candles for Christmas Eve, Iād love to make homemade ricotta after watching Ina do it and I will definitely be watching some of these movies.
If youāve got any interest in reading last monthās roundup, you can see what went down in October over here.
Unreal sunset
The Best Tweets of November 2024
The Best Tweets of October 2024
The Best Halloween Tweets 2024
September Shenanigans 2024
Early autumn sunsets >>
Early autumn sunsets >>
Welcome to the absolute best time of year.
The best tweets of the month can be found over here.
I wrote about going to Cooperstown, New York.
I compiled my favourite summer photos.
I recapped how my summer list went.
I made an autumn list of things Iād like to do.
The AirTrain at JFK was half price for the entire summer! Am I the only one who finds that crazy? In a city where everything costs more with each passing day. Blown away by that. Itās back to the ridiculous/normal pricing now, but still.
I went to my first dog swim event (!) and it was absolutely heaven on earth. At the end of summer, public pools open up their pools on the last swim day of the season to let dogs go swimming and itās as great as it sounds. (Baby Dog is too delicate to partake, but we watched from a safe distance.)
Forever a lover of autumn mums. And $9 for 9ā ones at Home Depot? Get the hell out of here with that pricing. Amazing.
Autumn mums
Iāve been using GrandeLASH for almost a month now and Iām not really noticing that much of a difference, so if this doesnāt work Iāll give Revitalash a try and if that doesnāt work? I think I can officially say goodbye to lash serums at last. Itās too exhausting. I canāt care about tiny little pieces of hair for the rest of my life.
I will never shut up about how incredible this foot peel is from Target. I only need to use it twice a year and it gives you BABY SOFT feet.
Went to Dyments Farm in Dundas to try their burger and whoa. Definitely worth the drive.
Burger at Dyments Farm in Dundas, ON
In love with everything at Aerie right now, theyāre reminding me of early Aritzia pieces (at the old Aritzia prices) and I should really shut up about it before it becomes like current Aritzia and therefore is way too expensive.
Came across a new way to do beach waves with a straightener and it totally works.
Are you aware that Staples recycles all old electronics? I brought in some old printers and itās way easier than taking it to a dump.
Is The Ordinary a con? I have never had a positive experience with any of their products. Even the name makes me think theyāre just messing with us?
Tried and absolutely loved the gluten-free Costco frozen pizza. Makes no sense.
The smash burgers at Oklahoma Burgers in Mississauga are decadent as hell.
Oklahoma Burgers in Mississauga, ON
Went to the Toronto Vintage Clothing Show for the first time in years and got an insanely nice coat. I only want fun coats for the rest of my life. Also got a mini glass bottle of perfume from the 40s to stay in my purse that was $5.
Perfumes at the Toronto Vintage Clothing Show
In love with this Simons belt.
I made these turkey meatballs from the LCBO magazine Food & Drink and they were pretty disappointing. Must remember to not trust all their recipes.
The dark chocolate pistachios from Trader Joeās are unholy. Could eat bags and bags of them.
Ridiculously in love with the Whole Foods pumpkin bites. A perfect autumn bite.
Pumpkin bites at Whole Foods
Some things I watched:
The Perfect Couple: Okay, I could argue for an hour about how bad this was. Yes, a whodunit is fun. But thatās where the fun ended. It was so badly written and terribly shot. God, anything can be made these days.
The Trini episode of Atlanta: what a great episode. Makes me want to watch the rest of the show.
Only Murders in the Building: Really liking this season. The Perfect Strangers moments? Wonderful. I kind of need Richard Kind and Martin Short in a scene together soon though (Clifford reunion!).
English Teacher: best new show Iāve seen in SUCH a long time. I love the kid Jeff. The music choices are so good. So many good lines, I canāt even quote them all.
Mamma Mia: Iād never seen it, so we put it on and yikes. I truly hate singing in (most) movies. Fast-forwarded all the songs. Other than that, not a terrible movie.
Emily in Paris: this tweet really sums up the show.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts: Only my ten year old nephew could get me to watch something like this. It wasnāt terrible! Weird to hear Pete Davidson in it, but definitely not the worst thing Iāve ever seen.
Hustlers: Not good. But Mister Bruce was the best part.
Rewatched: The Hand That Rocks The Cradle, Dangerous Minds, Barbarian, Old. All still great.
Iām watching tons of Twilight Zones episodes each night and this quote (below) from the episode Passage on the Lady Anne just swallowed me up.
āLove has its own particular point of view. It sees everything larger than life. Nothing is too ornate, too fanciful, too dramatic. Love demands the theatrical, and then transfigures it. It turns the grotesque into the lovely, as a child does. With it, we can see what we wish to see in other people. Without it, we canāt see anything at all. We can search forever, and never find.ā
Some things Iām looking forward to this month: finishing up my Halloween costume, cooking everything for Thanksgiving, making the leftover sandwich and I really want to see the movie Hush.
Will forever love sunflowers at night
If youāve got any interest in reading last monthās roundup, you can see what went down in August over here.
The Best Tweets of September 2024
August Actions 2024
The sunflowers outside my building
The sunflowers outside my building
SUMMER IS OVER! Extremely pumped to say goodbye to August. So many things are changing right now and I kind of canāt wait for whatās ahead. But before that, here were the highlights of the month.
Finished my Summer Saturdays series.
The best tweets of the month can be found over here.
Why donāt all cheese boards have corresponding cheeses labels?? SOMEBODY PUT ME IN CHARGE OF SOMETHING.
Cheese with labels >>
In love with these blue sky bran muffins. Who have I become? I like her?
The Freshly Brewed Coffee candle at Bath & Body Works smells like heaven on earth.
Truly their best scent
I found Walla Walla onions at my farmerās market and they remain the greatest onion on the scene today.
My friend Richard made the best tomato pie Iāve ever tasted.
Tomato pie for life
I got the new Alex Trebek Jeopardy stamps and theyāre a bit disappointing. I was hoping for more than just one design.
Marla came for a visit and we did so many fun things. We saw Suffs on Broadway, ate at Thyme & Tonic (incredible), tried on a million gorgeous things at both locations of Beaconās Closet, we rode the Staten Island Ferry, ate at the always-great Rubirosa, went to Little Island for the first time, went to some of the Chelsea Thursday galleries and we perused Chelsea Market so we obviously had to get some Seed + Mill.
Suffs on Broadway
Beaconās Closet
Gorgeous Marla
Little Island
A rat scared us out of Central Park approx. five seconds after this photo was taken
Manhattan skyline from the (free) Staten Island Ferry
Seed + Mill now has a chocolate drizzle option
I read Jennette McCurdyās book and it was too real and too good.
My favourite pesto recipe is the How Sweet Eats one, but with walnuts instead of pine nuts.
Summer is the time to make peach daiquiris and this peach rose slushy.
Peach daiquiri
Fell in love with the restaurant Hillstone. On a mission now to visit all the locations eventually. The best parts about this place are the chilled salad plates, the chilled martini glasses that are replaced midway through your drink, an insane French dip sandwich (David Chang says that this sandwich āhaunts himā and heās right), a wildly good chicken caesar salad, servers only have three tables at a time so they can really focus on each customer, they donāt have food runners or bussers, the tables are drilled into the ground so there arenāt any wobbly ones, thereās freshly squeezed orange juice AND each table is designed to feel like itās in its very own little VIP section. So impressed by the level of thoughtfulness at this place, I love it so much.
Caesar salad at Hillstone
Chilled glass at HIllstone
French dip at HIllstone
And speaking of hospitality, I read something recently that explains why I think I love restaurants so much. Iām the one who cooks at home (which I enjoy), but itās nice to escape that sometimes and have someone take care of me in that way. Itās such a simple thought, but it blew my mind for a minute.
I finally deep cleaned my beauty blender by putting Dawn in some boiled water and then I let the sponge sit in that mixture for five minutes before rinsing in water. Reddit has all the answers.
I found a Sabon body scrub on sale at Marshallās, which reminded me how much I love any Sabon products.
Iāve been living in the Essie colour Seas The Day.
Essie āSeas The Dayā
Annoyance of the day: I absolutely hate that all brow pencils now come in that little mechanical tube (that always breaks). Remember when the Anastasia brow pencil was actually a real pencil that you could sharpen?? Weāve strayed too far from the light of god. Itās impossible to find a real, high quality pencil anymore.
Nathan and I spent our anniversary in Cooperstown, New York to go to the incredible Baseball Hall of Fame, so Iāll do a post about that later this week.
Dennyās has a Beetlejuice-themed menu right now that is a full party, even if it does sound somewhat gross.
Loved reading Pete Wellsā final NY Times piece.
Some things I watched:
Patriot Games - wow. Love 90s movies like this.
Six Days, Seven Nights - even Harrison Ford canāt save this movie.
Trap - I liked the first two thirds of it, but everything went downhill as soon as they left the stadium. This review sums up my feelings almost precisely.
Falling Down - great movie.
Wall Street - weird that Iād never seen it before, Martin Sheen was a smokeshow.
Consenting Adults - great idea for a movie.
Longlegs - love an original horror script.
I would normally list the things Iām looking forward to this month, but things are changing so fast right now that I have no idea what the end of the month will look like. Iām hopeful and excited, but Iām also terrified and I sort of just want to let this month happen.
Sheās done with summer
If youāve got any interest in reading last monthās roundup, you can see what went down in July over here.