June 2, 2025

The Best of May 2025

by Liz Heather in Beauty, Best of NYC, Food, Movies, Personal, Products, Recipes, Television

This has been the longest spring of all time and I’m not complaining. Here’s what went down last month.

The best tweets of the month can be found over here.
I finally reviewed last year’s Met costume exhibit (this year’s 2025 exhibit review can be read over here).
Bought/love this travel box for jewelry. Also got these great swim trunks for Nathan (love non-bland menswear).
A bunch of new candles came out at Trader Joe’s so obviously I’m on it.

Got this great quilted sweatshirt for $10 on sale at Banana Republic Factory.
Made this sausage, pesto, ricotta pasta on repeat for a few nights. Also made this bread pudding with vanilla sauce for a friend’s birthday that really turned out well.
I visited the new Printemps (french department store) in the city, which is really lovely. The design of the space is worth seeing if you’re in the area. Keep in mind that practically nothing is priced under $100.

We went to Ruta in Astoria, which is probably the best Mexican in the neighborhood by far. Their deep red salsa will fix you.

Here were my favourite Met Gala looks this year:

So I tried a retinol night serum on my face and I was warned that some flakiness might occur but this was next level flake city. I had to stop. I also do not care about the benefits of retinol, so let’s never speak of it again.
The chain Toasties in the city? What garbage! Never again. How do you mess up lunch?
I can’t stop texting this image to people (below).

I was looking for a new (not drugstore) mascara and I found a fantastic one - the Glossier Lash Slick. In love with the wand, it catches every single little hair.
I tried the Trader Joe’s strawberry gluten free muffins and they were okay, but nothing can top their GF cinnamon coffee cake ones.
I was invited to see Mel Robbins at The Beacon (with a very lovely new friend) and I’ve got to be honest. This woman is… just not for me. I’m happy that people seem to get something out of what she says, but I just can’t. Wellness can’t be bought and I will die on that hill.
Marla came for a visit and it was a blast. She stayed at The New Yorker hotel (which was old, wonderful and perfect), we did a million things in 48 hours and ate at Modern Bread & Bagel approx. twenty times. It was perfect.

Was so, so pleased that she agreed with me about how incredible the tart frozen yogurt is at Madison Fare.

Madison Fare frozen yogurt with raspberry

She also treated us to a Broadway show (this woman cannot be stopped in her generosity), so we saw Real Women Have Curves. And it was good!

I poached some salmon in a coconut cream sauce and it didn’t come out that great, so I think I’ll just stick to baked salmon.
I think I’m suffering from Pinterest-aesthetic-brain-overload because I was on such a mission (for some reason?) to find a perfect black cardigan to layer with some outfits I have - and I found one at Uniqlo. But once I tried it on I realized how very basic-white-woman it is and put it back. It can be very hard to fight these things that the internet tells me that I’m supposed to have. (I did buy this great baseball t-shirt, though.)
I went to Edith’s for the tahini iced coffee and it was very good. I also tried a bite of their chicken caesar and it was nothing special. Main reason to go here is definitely the coffee.

Edith’s tahini iced coffee in the West Village, NYC

I got a lash lift and it’s only week one, but I can see the appeal of getting them done. I’ve been using Nulastin for a few months and I’ve been seeing length, but they’re not very curly so I guess we’ll see if this makes a longterm difference or not.
We went to visit the town where the original Friday the 13th was filmed (it’s just under two hours from NYC) and it was so much fun. I’ll do a full post on it here soon. We also went to a wedding in the Poconos and it was such a great weekend.

Some things I watched:
- Final Destination Bloodlines - not as awful as I expected! The beginning scene was the most memorable/best part.
- And Just Like That (newest season) - okay, this was the craziest part of the first episode:

…what the hell? Were we all supposed to think that is a normal thing to say? Infact this insane sentence is making me want to do a deep dive on ALL of the wildly dumb things these women have said over decades and we all have just eaten it right up and accepted as normal! Madness.

Some things I’m looking forward to this month: I really want to go to Modern Bread & Bread for their night menu, I want to make this chicken Diane recipe at home, I think I’m going to start doing my Summer Saturday posts again starting this week (the season starts when I says it does) and I might have to pre-order the Jaws popcorn bucket (below).

You can read last month’s roundup over here.

Just a reminder that you should take way more photos of your friends everywhere

March 1, 2022

February Feats 2022

by Liz Heather in Beauty, Best of NYC, Food, Ideas, Links, Movies, Music, Personal, Products, Recipes, Television

nyc bryant park fountain 2022 — The partially frozen fountain at Bryant Park, February 2022

My favourite month has arrived! Spring is coming and there’s nothing you can do to stop it.

You can find my favourite tweets of the month over here and here.
I compiled my favourite tweets about love for Valentine’s Day.
I read and review Elvira’s new memoir.
I know that it’s older, but I’ve kept the song Gypsy by Lady Gaga on repeat for about two weeks now.
I made garlic confit and I’ll be real with you - it looks way better than it tastes. And that’s coming from someone who adores garlic. By cooking it down, it actually makes the garlic flavour quite mild so it’s truly not worth making again. I put a boatload of it on some toast and it was beyond lackluster. One more con? Expect to be gassy as hell if you eat this stuff.
I tried a sample of this Tata Harper (christ that name) cleanser and it was really good. Thankfully there are cheaper, better options out there (literally anything in the tea tree line at The Body Shop), but this was great to try.
I was getting pretty sick of the Spotify commercials in my (free) account, so I made to the movie to Apple Music to try their three month trial. We shall see how it goes. (That goddam Stone Cold Steve Austin & Ice-T commercial may have been the final straw to leave Spotify.)
I went to Sarabeth’s for their Restaurant Week lunch menu and it was extremely good. I love blue cheese and pear together in a salad, why can’t that be as common as caesar salads? And the mussels and fries were heavenly.
I have been in such a funk with nail polish lately, every colour seems to look disgusting. I got a short, red, gel manicure recently and had to remove it within a week, it was so repulsive to look at. What is my problem? …What’s that? You don’t care? Hahah. Honestly, same.
I finally tried SLT (it’s one of the options when you try ClassPass for a free month trial), and what even is SLT? It’s like if spin classes + pilates classes had an obnoxious baby. And you know what? NOT FOR ME. I think I hate any pilates class that uses a machine.
In love with the larger citrus green tea candles that just came out from Trader Joe’s. Fucking love a wooden wick.

trader joe's candle citrus green tea — Citrus Green Tea candle from Trader Joe’s, February 2022

Two new things I made for the first time this month? Risotto and scallops. It’s well known how annoying risotto is to make yourself since it’s such a long process, but I didn’t fully grasp that concept until I did it firsthand. And it wasn’t even that amazing, so that was a letdown. As for the scallops? Very fast and extremely easy.

Had dinner at the extremely cute French place La Petit Joie in Brooklyn with Diana. Love any place that does oysters rockefeller every night of the week. Also, can more restaurants bring back BYOB? It’s so thoughtful to even offer.
I tried out this Ulta eyeshadow palette and it came off with hand soap. The quality of makeup these days is just wild. And the prices keep going up, WHAT IS THIS NONSENSE?
Went to The Independent in midtown and their mussels and harvest salad were truly memorable. Great place to go if you’re in the area seeing a show.
Tried the new french toast soft serve at Milk Bar and yes it was good, but not as good as their apple pie soft serve.
I have found my new favourite hair mask: AG Hair Colour Savour Mask. I’m not sure if it’s for all blondes or just dyed blondes, but I love it. You’d think the bubblegum scent would repel me, but I find it whimsical. Of course it’s made by a Canadian company.
There was a beautiful, pre-spring day so I took Baby Dog to Central Park and just look at this mug.

baby dog central park winter day nyc chihuahua — Baby Dog in Central Park, February 2022

I bought some gorgeous new address labels from Zazzle. Are you doing this? You really should. Don’t you want to be better than everyone else?

So I went to Suprema Provisions finally and look the burger was good, but not nearly as good as the burger at Sparrow Tavern in Astoria (or even The Spaniard). Their mushroom pasta was saucy and great. And I never thought I’d say this, but I think it’s time to retire burrata from all restaurant menus. It is always the same. Always uninspired. We need to move on with ours lives, I think.
Okay, so I bought some eucalyptus to hang from my shower head (pardon me for being DEEPLY ORIGINAL) and unlike every Pinterest pin that encourages you to do this, I fully recommend NOT EVEN BOTHERING. It’s pointless. There is no smell. There is no point. And I think it might attract moths (!), but that last point is unconfirmed. Instead, if you’re really obsessed with this idea, just buy a can of this eucalyptus shower mist. You spray it into the hot water and it does actually make it seem like a steam room for the length of your shower.
Went to Van Dam diner in Queens with Irene and it’s like you fell into 1983, loved it.
Truly sorry for telling you about this, but if I had to hear about it so do you: lip blushing. One more reason that this world hates women. If I had any real money, I’d buy up as much ad space as I could and just have signs that tell women, “Hey you! You’re good! You don’t need to buy anything to be better! Relax!”
And speaking of buying things to make you feel better, I just bought these strappy black heels and they feel so lovely & I can’t wait to destroy anyone in my path the first time I wear them.
I also bought these Steven Madden heels online and does that man hate women? Or just their feet? The most uncomfortable shoes I’ve ever owned. Returning as soon as possible.
I was in Harlem so I went to Oso for their happy hour (good guacamole, I want to go back mainly to try the cake place next door) and then to Lido for their happy hour, which was fantastic. I love when a happy hour menu gives a fuck. Definitely want to go back to Lido for a meal.
What I watched this month:
- Tried rewatching The Mindy Project and while the first few seasons are pretty good (Morgan is the best character by far), I just couldn’t get into the entire series again for some reason. I think I stopped around the episode where she talks about how she doesn’t like men seeing her naked ever. Some things are just better as a memory, I guess.
- I’m rewatching old Sex and the City episodes to get the AJLT taste out of my mouth and they’re all pretty hit or miss. Samantha is so much funnier than I remember, which was been great. Also, you know when Carrie is with Aiden and he has his dog Pete with him - did you ever notice that this dog is NEVER excited to see Carrie when she enters a scene? I get that it’s not real life and he’s just a dog on a set, but it made me laugh so much that this dog just does not fucking care about her. Pete was right all along. Also, for all the credit that this show gets for the outfits, good god are there a lot of terrible wardrobe decisions. But I guess that’s part of the good thing about it maybe? Like not everything has to be your taste or even look good - it’s more important to be fun and confident and have these characters wear what they think looks good? What side am I even on?? Do I hate the show or not?? Look, even I don’t know.
- The John Mulaney SNL: Why did I watch this one specifically? Who knows. I don’t think I even like him, but it was a really good episode. Makes zero sense, but I was dying at the monkey sketch.
- The Worst Person In The World: I liked it! Not as much as I thought I would given how highly praised it is, but it was nice to be in a theatre. (And that chocolate peanut butter pie slice at The Angelika? Oof. Always worth it.)

chocolate peanut butter pie the angelika theatre nyc dessert — Chocolate peanut butter pie at The Angelika, NYC

I made this sesame garlic chili oil noodle dish that suhuuuuuucked. I think I need a moment away from Half Baked Harvest. So many misses lately.

Recipes I want to make this month:
- Tuscan Kale Salad with Gorgonzola Croutons - I always forget how much I love blue cheese.
- Truffled Garlic Bread with Ricotta - okay, this looks maddeningly incredible. I could either make this myself OR I could visit any North Italia restaurant where they have it on the menu… which is just a two hour drive from me to the Pennsylvania location… mental note…
- Hummingbird Cake Scones with Mascarpone Glaze!! Christ!!
- Prosciutto, Peas & Orzo - my love affair with orzo has not ended.
- Banana Sheet Cake with Walnut Streusel and Rum Glaze - can sheet cake come back in style already? Fuck.
- Grilled Asparagus Caesar Salad - love new ways to ingest caesar dressing.
- Lemon Almond Pudding Cake - pudding CAKE? This must be the future.

Some things I’m looking forward to this month: I won a lottery ticket to see Harry Potter on Broadway this coming week, obviously I want to find and drink the space Coke, I really want to try the happy hour at Bistro Les Amis (the poutine looks Canadian), the second season of Stanley Tucci’s Searching For Italy starts on March 13th, my best friend Harmeet is coming for a visit (!), I found a place in NYC serving Steak Diane (!!!) so that’ll likely be my birthday meal, I got a ticket for opening night of the Broadway play Birthday Candles with Debra Messing on the 18th, and I will most certainly go get my free birthday gifts from The Body Shop, Sephora, and Ulta. (And I mean… should I drive two hours purely for some amazing garlic bread? I’m thinking I should? That sort of tracks with who I am as a person? Also it’s my birthday soon? And the world is slowly but surely burning? And garlic bread might solve everything? And by “might” I mean “definitely will”?)

If you have any interest in reading what went on in January, come on over here.

January 5, 2022

December Dalliances 2021

by Liz Heather in Best of NYC, Food, Links, Personal, Products, Recipes, Reviews, Television

December was a complete whirlwind but when is it not? I hope you had a very Merry Christmas! Other than getting my booster (!), here’s what else went down last month.

You can find my favourite tweets of the month over here and here.
I recapped how my autumn list went.
I made a list of things I’d like to do this winter.
I compiled my very favourites from the year.
My favourite photos from 2021.
Here are two great things to do when a new year has begun.
I wrote about the Christian Dior exhibit at The Brooklyn Museum (which closes in February).
Did you know that Costco has candles? There’s a four candle box for $20 and they’re only two-wick each, but extremely good quality.
I don’t think I’ve ever had pecan pie before in my life (I don’t even know why, I think I thought it might be too nutty?) but I tried a slice at JG Melon and whoa. Who the hell knew?
I attempted to read Charles Grodin’s memoir and I just… I couldn’t. I don’t mean to show any disrespect, but what a bore. Some people shouldn’t write books, I simply had to softly put it down on Nathan’s desk and walk away.
Incase you need to know the Bob’s Burgers Christmas episodes in one handy chart.

bobs burgers christmas episodes Liz Heather

I am obsessed with the snow drop scent from Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day. I’ve got the all purpose cleaner as well as the dish detergent and I’m so angry I didn’t buy any more to use throughout the year because it’s currently sold out everywhere. And look, the pine one is very good too, but the snow drop one just takes your breath away. Oh god… is this my life now… excitement over cleaning supplies scents?? End me.

Speaking of things that bum me out, I also tried the basil scented Method dish soap and Nathan and I both agree: not for us. The bottle shape is weird and the smell of basil to clean your dishes is confusing.
The best of the holiday recipes that I made over the Christmas break: Mushroom & Leek Bread Pudding, Upstate-Style Roast Beef Sandwiches, Southern Baked Macaroni & Cheese, and Chocolate Pumpkin Pie (I didn’t do the marshmallow part, I went with whipped cream instead although a rum whipped cream would have worked well, too).
The dill pickle chicken nuggets at Burger King in Canada? Shock of all shocks: not good.
But the tim biebs at Tim Hortons? Pretty good!
Food lesson I learned: gruyere does not taste good as a shredded cheese on top of garlic bread, it must be mixed into some sort of mixture to taste good since it’s way too overpowering on its own.
Tried the chicken sandwich at Jollibee and honestly? It’s a definite contender for the Popeye’s one. Really great.
New nails alert!

Liz Heather nails Christmas — Nails For You in Square One, Mississauga, Ontario

I finally made Alison Roman’s Salted Chocolate Chunk Shortbread Cookies and they are fantastic. I had no idea how much I love demerara sugar, it’s that beautiful crunchy sugar that you can find atop the classiest of muffins and it’s too too good.
They have the dairy-free Boursin at Trader Joe’s! And it tastes exactly like the dairy version! Why does this excite me!
My niece Layla introduced me to the brand Native and I’m loving their holiday scented body washes (Sugar Cookie & Candy Cane).
I finally ate at Carbone with my dear friend Paul and it was good! Was it as special as the world seems to think it is? Of course not, but that reality is okay, too. The service was great, the place is beautifully decorated for the holidays and the food was very much adequate. The cons of the place are mainly due to its inaccessibility and food quality for its price. And maybe we should've gotten more meat entrees instead of only sticking with their pastas but I mean... it's an Italian restaurant... shouldn't all of their pastas wow you with a reputation like theirs? The best things we ate were the tortellini al ragu ($34) and the garlic bread (free). Both truly great. The spicy rigatoni vodka ($32) is their most celebrated pasta and honestly it was good but not at all worth the hype. The fettuccini con funghi ($32) was disappointing mainly because of the inclusion of bell peppers... why put bell peppers in such a dish? Such a gross flavour with the creaminess of a soft fettuccine. I really did want to love this place, but there are far superior Italian places in this city (L'Artusi, Lilia, Portale). Take your money elsewhere.

Tortellini al ragu ($34) at Carbone, NYC

Liz Heather Carbone New York City restaurant — Carbone, NYC

I’ve never even heard of shapable soap, but I bought a can from Bath & Body Works (it’s on sale for $5 right now) and it’s so fun to use. Kids especially seem to love it. Apparently they only have them around the holidays but there are four scents to choose from.
I bought this faux leather vest from Zara that I love and have absolutely no idea how to style.
I won a lottery ticket to see Girl From The North Country and it was really good, I sat in the second row from the front and I might be ruined forever because seeing a play that close was unreal and so cool. Also, seeing the Belasco Theatre was a dream. Also, Austin Scott can GET IT.

Had a drink at the Ophelia Lounge and the view is wonderful, but the drinks and food aren’t terribly special.
The candy cane green tea at Trader Joe’s? Award-winning.
Finally ate at Via Carota with Irene on her birthday and it was really good. All the pastas were wonderful, skip the rice balls.

Irene Morales New York City — Beautiful Irene on her birthday at Via Carota, NYC

I made my way to Via Porta (the smaller, casual outpost of the L’Artusi crew) to get some of their jarred sauces and I was a little disappointed unfortunately. It just didn’t taste the same as in the restaurant. I only tried the bolognese one, so maybe the mushroom ragu will be better? I’ll definitely give it one more try, especially since they’re supposed to start selling their fresh pasta in the coming weeks. (Also, the baked goods they’re selling are extremely good.)
My friend Casey kindly invited me to the dress rehearsal of Dear Evan Hansen and I’m so happy to have seen it! But good lord, never again. The music is mostly wonderful and the actors were great, but every other aspect of the production? Yikes. Forever love seeing something on Broadway, though.
My And Just Like That… thoughts (spoilers ahead):
- God, where do I begin…
- In a time when death, sickness and darkness literally surrounds our every waking moment, why in the world would a team of writers want to start out a “beloved” series with the death of a major character? I mean… read the room??? Why start an entirely new season with grief? On what planet does this make sense? Especially when you have these characters living in this post pandemic existence that still isn’t a reality here and now? It’s nonsense.
- Also the cringey nature of every single podcast scene? I have to almost ignore these parts entirely because of how bad they are. It’s as though someone wrote this script and then a team of woke writers came in to make it fit into today’s culture but completely missed the mark and just ended up making this vomit-inducing trash. It’s all just so embarrassing to watch.
- I know this has been said to death, but them even doing this series without Samantha was the wrong decision. The balance is completely off, I don’t care about the new characters, none of this should ever have been made.

We bought this new pineapple print for the living room and I can’t wait until it’s hung up.
I tried the eggplant parm at Cutlets and it was pretty good but nothing to write home about.
In love with the new feathered evening coat I got for Christmas.
I tried the KFC potato chips from Walkers (brought over from the UK) and they were delicious.

I’m sure you saw my new hair, but incase you’re living under a rock. (Note: this is the first time in 36 years I’ve dyed my hair. Why did I want to do it? Mainly because I wanted to stop being afraid of doing it.)

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Some things that I’m looking forward to this month: seeing The Phantom of the Opera with Nathan (his first time!), I’m excited about the return of Restaurant Week, the Bath & Body Works semi-annual sale has already started incase you like cheap candles (the hot buttered rum one is NUTS), I’m excited about making new resolutions for the year because I’m clinically insane, and I might make the trek to Governor’s Island now that it’s opened for the winter.

If you have any interest in other monthly roundups of 2021, they can be found here: November 2021, October 2021, September 2021, August 2021, July 2021, June 2021, May 2021, April 2021, March 2021, February 2021 & January 2021.