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LIZ HEATHER

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.

  • 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!

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

Garlic bread (free) at Carbone, NYC

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.

Inside The Belasco Theatre, NYC

Outside The Belasco Theatre, NYC

  • 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.

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.

Walkers KFC potato chips

  • 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.)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Liz Heather (@lizheather)

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.

God, this city is so pretty during the holidays

TAGS: December, December Dalliances 2021, Liz Heather, monthly post, monthly roundup, Baby Dog Macintosh, Baby Dog, best tweets, new year, Christian Dior, The Brooklyn Museum, Costco candles, JG Melon, pecan pie, Charles Grodin, memoir, Bob's Burgers Christmas episodes, Mrs. Meyers Clean Day, snowdrop scent, snow drop scent, all purpose cleaner holidays, basil Method dish soap, Mushroom and Leek Bread Pudding recipe, best recipes, upstate-style roast beef sandwiches, southern baked macaroni and cheese, chocolate pumpkin pie, dill pickle chicken nuggets Burger King, Tim Hortons, Canada, gruyere cheese, Jollibee chicken sandwich, new nails, Nails For You Mississauga, Alison Roman, salted chocolate chunk shortbread cookies, demerara sugar, dairy free Boursin, Trader Joe's, Native, Native body wash seasonal, Paul Fishman, Carbone, Carbone NYC, Carbone garlic bread, Carbone pasta NYC, shapable soap, Bath and Body Works, candles, candle sale, soap sale, Zara, Broadway ticket lottery, Girl From The North Country, Bob Dylan play, Belasco Theatre NYC, Broadway NYC, Ophelia Lounge, candy cane green tea, Via Carota NYC, Irene Morales, Via Porta NYC, Dear Evan Hansen, And Just Like That, And Just Like That..., COVID, pineapple art, Cutlets NYC, feather evening coat emerald, best of Etsy, KFC potato chips, KFC potato crisps, new blonde hair, blonde hair, Radio City Music Hall NYC, Christmas NYC, things to do Christmas NYC


October 4, 2021

September Shenanigans 2021

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


spooky house gif haunted house lightening stikes
spooky house gif haunted house lightening stikes

So long, September! I can’t believe it’s finally here. And look, I try not to base my entire personality on the fact that I love this time of year so much but every year it’s getting harder and harder to deny it. There’s just something so electrifying about rainy nights and pumpkins on stoops, I’M SORRY. In any case, here’s what went down in September.

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

  • I’ve been using the greatest eyebrow growth serum OF LIFE and wrote a bit about it over here (with photographic proof!).

  • I recapped what I did from my summer list.

  • So obviously I had to create an autumn list because this is my life.

  • New podcast alert!

@rulaibraheem

##fypシ

♬ оригинальный звук - Anna Bruni
  • I made this chocolate zucchini banana cake with coffee frosting for Nathan’s birthday and we both fell in love with it. This will now be the only birthday cake I ever make for him, it’s incredible.

  • I went to the Italian restaurant Lilia in Brooklyn again because they always have the best focaccia (right now it’s cherry tomato with green garlic butter), so I got that as well as the corn-filled cappelletti with black pepper and pecorino and yes it was good but the pasta definitely lacked some sort of different textual element which would have sent it over the top in deliciousness. Am I being harsh? No. If you’re paying upwards of $20 for one plate of pasta, there has to be standards.

Cherry tomato focaccia with green garlic butter

Corn-filled cappelletti with black pepper & pecorino

  • I tried the pumpkin cream cold brew at Starbucks (with one pump of vanilla instead of two because they go nuts with their pumps) and it was only okay. Why do people love it so much? The salted caramel one looks good but I can’t bring myself to go back and try it. I have such a hate-hate relationship with Starbucks, so what the hell am I even doing going in there? The last time I brought my laptop in to work in a Starbucks was in 2019 and they played the whole Hamilton soundtrack on a loop TWICE and I almost lost my mind it’s such a terrible album. I feel like an alien for not being mesmerized by Lin-Manuel Miranda, but like… he sucks?

  • I ate at Forsythia again and it only confirmed its place in my mind as one of the best new restaurants of this past year. I finally tried and loved the short rib agnolotti as well as the pappa al pomodoro, which was like a beautiful tomato tartare, so summery and perfect.

  • I bought these pajamas from Banana Republic Factory because they’re soft as hell and I haven’t had matching pajamas since… never.

  • Links I’m Loving:

    • Okay, this is the cutest autumn sweater on the planet, COME ON.

    • Untold Horror is “a behind-the-scenes look into development hell to find the most frightening horror movies that never were, from unmade Re-Animator sequels to alternate takes on legendary franchises like Frankenstein and Dracula!” - this sounds like such a great read.

    • I Never Knew How Golden My Summers Were - a great piece on remembering the best summer of your life.

    • Creative Ways To Start Your Morning On A Good Note

    • Halloween Craft Idea For Kids: Pumpkin Stamps with Apples

    • Reason #214 Never To Get CoolSculpting

  • Tuesdays at Regal Cinemas are now offering $6.25 movie tickets! This definitely can’t last, so I’m going to make the most of it while it’s offered.

  • New seasonal candles are finally at Trader Joe’s.

Autumn candles at Trader Joe’s, September 2021

  • So it’s been established how much I love and support Milk Bar… but the new funnel cake soft serve is truly one of the most disgusting things I’ve ever ingested. Just shockingly gross. If you’re nearby, get a free sample and tell me how right I am.

  • I went for a late summer walk through Central Park and why don’t I do this once a week.

  • I can’t get over how beautiful this song is (thanks for introducing it to me, Jessie!), it’s toooo good.

  • There’s a sale on Aerie underwear right now IF you’re into that sort of thing.

  • I made a zucchini lasagna that was very good but in no way better than a meat lasagna.

  • Speaking of zucchini, if you own a deep fryer: please make this zucchini spaghetti or these cider battered chicken fingers and then ask me over.

  • I took this (free) (actually helpful) intro to SEO class online if you’re interested in that sort of thing.

  • I made these apple pie bars that are ridiculously easy, fast and incredible. I was feeling ambitious, so I made this quick caramel to pour on top.

  • I fell down a rabbit hole of researching all of the Broadway theatres in New York and I might get tickets to Girl From The North Country purely to sit inside the gorgeous Belasco Theatre.

  • Finally had the steak at L’Artusi and it was delicious. Best steak ever? God no, but good. They will, however, hold the title of best steak tartare in all of NYC though.

The steak at L’Artusi in the West Village

The best steak tartare in NYC at L’Artusi

  • New things I’ve watched and rewatched:

    • Searching For Italy: so, so great. I already wanted to travel around Italy and eat everything so watching this was a delight. It’s also just so enjoyable to watch people who love their jobs. The Tuscany episode was my favourite one, mostly because I love any and all panzanella talk.

    • I attempted to watch Basic Instinct but I was in a very specific mood and had to turn it off after the rape scene. Nah thanks.

    • Never Have I Ever (season two): Love that Common is in it, hoping he becomes a regular. I can’t stand the way the writers write the teen dialogue, it’s so cringeworthy, but if you can get past that it’s an absolutely okay show. That scene in episode nine with her & Paxton when he comes in from window? Shiiiiit.

    • Broken: it’s an episode about makeup and the lesson? Watch out for counterfeit cosmetics. Got it.

    • The X-Files (The Squeeze episode): Someone told me to watch this one because it’s supposed to be scary, but it wasn’t anything special. A waaay better episode is Pusher. Watch THAT one.

    • The Witches of Eastwick: How the hell have I never seen this before? So many parts are good. Would definitely rewatch. I’ll never get over how gorgeous Michelle Pfeiffer is. Just maddening.

    • Scanners: boooooooooo. They shouldn’t make the cover look so good, it’s terrible.

    • Nightmare on Elm Street: Really holds up well. Always love it.

    • I’m rewatching Sabrina the Teenage Witch and kind of loving every minute of it. The episode where she becomes addicted to pancakes? A gem.

    • Was Dharma & Greg, like, a great show? I never cared about it at the time because I think I was too young to get into it but I just watched their Halloween episode and it was so good. Might look into this further.

    • Awkwafina is Nora From Queens (season two): With the exception of the blackout episode and the extremely hot cameo from original Reggie (Ross Butler), this season has really sucked. And this is insane to me because I loved the first season, what the hell?

Some things I’m looking forward to this month: I created an autumn highlight on my Instagram incase you care to see the fun things I’m planning on doing this month, excited to read Stanley Tucci’s new book, definitely going to make these pumpkin scones with a maple glaze, I will likely buy something from this year’s Halloween Lush collection, I’m gonna do a post about my recent trip to Salem (!), and I’m in the final stages of costume planning. God, I love this month.

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

TAGS: September 2021, September Shenanigans 2021, Liz Heather, monthly roundup, monthly post, Lilia, Lilia Brooklyn, rainy night, best tweets, eyebrow growth serum, new podcast, best of TikTok, chocolate zucchini banana cake, coffee frosting, Nathan Macintosh, green garlic, corn pasta, focaccia bread, best focaccia NYC, best steak tartare NYC, L'Artusi, restaurants NYC, pumpkin, pumpkin cream cold brew, Starbucks, Hamilton soundtrack, Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Forsythia, pajamas, Banana Republic Factory, links I'm loving, autumn sweater, Untold Horror, I Never Knew How Golden My Summers Were, Creative Ways To Start Your Morning On A Good Note, Halloween craft idea, pumpkin apple stamps, kids craft Halloween, coolsculpting, Tuesdays at Regal Cinemas, Regal Cinemas, Regal Entertainment, cheap movie dates NYC, seasonal candle Trader Joe's, vanilla pumpkin candle, honeycrisp apple candle, Trader Joe's, Trader Joe's candles, Milk Bar, funnel cake soft serve, Central Park, Baby Dog, Canada geese, zucchini lasagna, free SEO class online, apple pie bars, quick caramel sauce, best recipes 2021, Broadway theatres NYC, Belasco Theatre NYC, steak NYC, Searching For Italy, Stanley Tucci, panzanella, Basic Instinct, Common, Never Have I Ever, Broken, cosmetics, The X-Files, The Squeeze, Pusher, The Witches of Eastwick, movies, Michelle Pfeiffer, Scanners, Halloween movies, Nightmare on Elm Street, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Aerie underwear, Dharma and Greg, Awkwafina is Nora From Queens, Ross Butler, TV