June 13, 2024

May Musings 2024

by Liz Heather in Best of NYC, Food, Links, Movies, Personal, Recipes

It has officially been six years of doing these monthly roundup posts since I started them in May of 2018. HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE. If there’s a lesson here, it’s that change is truly possible. I never would’ve thought I’d be doing these consistently for that long, so that’s wild to me. Thank you to anyone and everyone who has ever even read one. Here’s what went down in May!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Liz Heather (@lizheather)

The best tweets of the month are over here.
I reviewed the hip hop jewelry exhibit at the Natural History Museum.
I saw the new rooftop installation at The Met.
Vulture wrote about Nathan’s special twice this month and I couldn’t be prouder.

The New York Times also loved Nathan’s newest special Down With Tech!
I made this one pan pepper steak with added mushrooms that I will absolutely do again.
My favourite Met gala looks:

The hair, the makeup, the dress = all of it is perfection, she just needs to leave Justin to fully become perfect in this moment

The back of Mindy Kaling’s dress is HIGH ART

The author of my favourite book, Paul Auster, passed away so I think a re-reading of Mr. Vertigo is in order soon.
I visited the newly opened Paramount Theatre in Brooklyn to see Belle & Sebastian (they were great) and what a beautiful venue.

I tried cottage cheese for the first time and it wasn’t terrible! I still say that “cottage cheese” is the most disgusting thing it could have been named, though. I made this fake chocolate mousse with it and Nathan ate every last bite. I also made a fake “ice cream” with cottage cheese + frozen blueberries that was actually good. I won’t pretend to tell you it tasted like real ice cream, but it was surprisingly edible.

Cottage cheese + frozen blueberry ice cream that’s not actually ice cream, I can’t lie to you

We had a huge Baby Dog scare where she tore a ligament in her leg and our vet was an absolute nightmare with prescribing her these insanely strong pills that made our lives a living hell for a week. Thankfully she’s back to normal and better than ever. We also started her on these cataract eye drops that may actually help her sight, will report back on these in a few more weeks.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Liz Heather (@lizheather)

I tried the new chickpea pasta from Trader Joe’s and I like it better than Banza (it’s cheaper, too). Also tried their new, incredible honeycomb candy.

Love this essay by Glynnis MacNicol and I can’t wait to read her upcoming memoir entitled I’m Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself.
Embarrassed to say how much I love the Shake Shack lettuce wrap.

The white chocolate macadamia cream at Starbucks is a problem. I’m really in the macadamia era of my life. No one tells you that your late-30s era is intensely boring?
There’s nothing sadder than disappointing soft serve. Marvel: do better.

Truly in love with the shortbread foam hand soap from Bath & Body Works. (Don’t forget their annual sale is going on right now.)

Loving the entire ButterBliss line at Target. How is it so damn soft??
Tried the new sandwich place Nomad, which is incredible. Took me 39 years to understand that I truly love coleslaw. Again, terrible name choice. Beginning to learn that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover? What a concept?

Quick note: if you ever shop in store at Staples, you should really look up their online prices vs. the in-store price when you’re there. The in-store price is almost always wildly more expensive than the same item listed online and if you show the cashier when you’re checking out - they’ll price match it for the lower price.
So I was on a morning walk and I found a lost cat! It was wild and the owners were so sweet about it.
Saw Mary Jane with Rachel McAdams on Broadway with Nathan and it was great.

There is an exhibit of old literary posters right now at The Met that is absolutely beautiful.

The latkes at Modern Bread and Bagel remain the best in NYC.

Got the new summer scents from Mrs. Meyers and they. are. incredible.

Seasonally scented cleaning products? FUCK ME UP

Took Baby Dog to Central Park and she loved it, even if you can’t tell by this forcibly posed photograph.

I love a street fair because you’ll always find something unique. Creepy-faced magnets? Forever yes.

Completely forgot about my love for rainbow sherbert.

Some things I watched:
- The Idea of You (Amazon Prime): low maintenance and intensely watchable. The line, “People hate happy women” PERFECT. And Michael Showalter directed it?? What the hell? That’s great.
- How Stella Got Her Groove Back: it’s pretty gross that the main love interest is a 20 year old boy. And the real life story that it’s based on is AWFUL (spoiler alert: he was actually gay and married her for a green card!!).
- Under The Tuscan Sun: still great.
- Twister (the Helen Hunt one): such a great movie. There’s really no need for the remake. Best part? The sheer amount of twisters in the movie. That may seem like a dumb observation, but it really isn’t. It’s just so fast-paced and there’s basically another twister every ten minutes or so.
- Dream Scenerio: good! Some of the abuse scenes are hard to sit through, but as a whole a really good movie.
- The Danny Meyer episode of Ina Garten’s show: I was not aware that he basically invented eating at the bar instead of at a table in a restaurant (was also not aware that it needed to be invented??) and I must make the pasta (orecchiette with broccoli rabe and sausage) that he made for Ina in that episode.
- Emily in Paris (season two): can you tell how desperate I am in finding new shows to watch? It’s not a good show. I hate all the singing, I had to fast-forward those scenes. But I did love these pink shoes.

Some things I’m looking forward to this month: finishing off some final spring activities, writing my summer list, I need to dry clean and officially pack away my winter coats, I’ll start doing my Summer Saturdays weekly series again, excited for the new season of The Bear at the end of the month and I’d love to find some new strawberry recipes to make the most of the season.

If you’ve got any interest in reading last month’s roundup, you can see what went down in April over here.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Liz Heather (@lizheather)

May 1, 2024

April Activities 2024

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

The best tweets of April can be found over here and the best NYC earthquake tweets are over here.
Loved this part from a NYT newsletter about the eclipse written by Elizabeth Dias: “For a nation pulled apart by every manner of division, the eclipse also offered a moment of unity, however brief. It was a reminder to everyone, on the same day and at the same time, that life can be magical. That being alive is a collective experience. That there is something astonishing about being part of the greater story of things.”

In Nathan news, he was on The Tonight Show for the third time promoting his new special (Down With Tech), and Vulture wrote two pieces about him and the new special (!) - so he’s had a great month.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Liz Heather (@lizheather)

I made this asparagus soup and it’d be a better recipe if it were strained, but it was perfectly fine. I think this is another one of those foods that tastes better when it’s a special at a restaurant.
I tried and finished a bottle of “hair growth support” powder and it didn’t do much. Can someone please remind me never to cut my hair again?
Loving the acne spot treatment from Bubble.
Am I waiting for the August Nordstrom sale to buy a coat that I basically already own but in a different colour? Obviously.

My other coat in the background: “…GIRL”

Made this New York Times couscous and why can’t I seem to remember that their recipes are very blah? It’s as if it were AI generated. Oh no, are recipes going to be created by AI in the near future? Oh my god they are, aren’t they.
I made the switch to Redken shampoo and conditioner and Nathan and I both have seen a huge difference. My hairdresser passionately convinced me that I should stop buying cheap shampoo and it really was great advice.
I made this dark chocolate strawberry yogurt bark (below) that’s pretty fun if you’re desperate and don’t have ice cream.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Marianna Moore (@mariannas_pantry)

I saw the new Diane Von Furstenberg line at Target and the kids section is beyond cute.
I know I won’t shut up about Wegman’s, but are we all aware of how good their individual cookies are? And their slices of chocolate cake? And their family-sized protein powder with 1 gram of sugar?? The deals are almost infuriating.
In NYC restaurant talk: the pasta at Ci Siamo was phenomenal (better than Lilia), the cocktails are better than ever at Manhatta, the kale caesar at Fumo is incredible, the fried chicken at COQODAQ is overrated but their chicken curry is outstanding (I also loved that they had house wines, BRING BACK HOUSE WINE + HOUSE WINE PRICES), the malt vinegar skinny fries at Motel Morris are perfection and the vodka parm at Compton’s in Astoria is only okay (again proof that TikTok famous sandwiches contain more hype than flavour).

Snack I can’t stop eating: hummus mixed with feta and chopped red onions (dipped with either sliced cucumbers or carrots or pita chips).
Saving my money now for the new Lemax phantom castle that comes out this Halloween.
I met Harrison Ford (!) near Columbus Circle and he was very kind and extremely handsome. And I’ve never seen such a confident stride in my whole life. Man’s a stud.

I’ve been making this spinach wrap (below) for weeks and can’t get over it. I’ve been topping it with shredded chicken and either buffalo sauce or tzatziki sauce.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by iRick Wiggins (@ketosnackz)

Spinach & egg wrap with shredded buffalo chicken

In my quest to dress better, I bought these perfect gingham pants.
SNL had two especially good sketches this month: Jumanji and The Engagement.
I visited The Pastry Box in the East Village and it was ridiculously good.

Some things I watched:
- Albert Brooks: Defending My Life (HBO) - it was fine, I was hoping to like it more.
- Quiet on Set (HBO) - nuts. Parts of it are really hard to watch.
- Past Lives (Prime) - heartbreakingly good, just loved it.
- Late Night with the Devil (AMC+) - I liked the style of it, but the ending was sort of ruined for me inadvertently. Hard to say if it was actually good.
- Alien (in theatres) - Nathan and I saw the 45th anniversary screening of it (I’d never seen it before) and it was fantastic. Weird that I’d never seen it and weirder that I loved it?

Some things I’m looking forward to this month: I’m seeing Belle & Sebastian at the new Paramount Theatre tonight, I’ll definitely go see the new fashion exhibit at The Met, I might try to see I Saw The TV Glow at the Angelika and I really want to get to Smorgasburg sometime this month before it gets too hot to enjoy.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Liz Heather (@lizheather)

If you’ve got any interest in reading last month’s roundup, you can see what went down in March over here.

April 10, 2024

Down With Tech - Nathan Macintosh

by Liz Heather in Links

The funniest man I know.