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LIZ HEATHER

June 13, 2024

May Musings 2024

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


Baby Dog in Canada, May 2024

Baby Dog in Canada, May 2024

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!

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  • 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.

God, this was a fun night

  • 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.

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  • 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.

Chocolate covered toffee is the answer

  • 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.

Shake Shack for life.

  • 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.

Even the sprinkles look sad.

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

Unreal.

  • 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?

Burrata sandwich, Nomad

Chicken katsu sandwich, Nomad

  • 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.

Mary Jane on Broadway, NYC

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

The Met, May 2024

The Met, May 2024

The Met, May 2024

The Met, May 2024

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

Latkes from heaven, Upper West Side

  • 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.

Baby Dog in Central Park, May 2024

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

Street fair magnets

  • Completely forgot about my love for rainbow sherbert.

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.

Bury me in these pink boots

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.

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TAGS: May, May Musings, May Musings 2024, Liz Heather, Baby Dog, Nathan Macintosh, The New York Times, hip hop exhibit NYC, rooftop The Met, The Met, The Met Gala, Vulture, Down With Tech comedy special, pepper steak, steak recipe, best steak recipe, Jessica Biel, Mindy Kaling, Paul Auster, Mr. Vertigo, Paramount Theatre, Belle and Sebastian, Brooklyn, cottage cheese, cottage cheese chocolate mousse, cottage cheese blueberry ice cream, cottage cheese dessert recipe, cataract eye drops dogs, chihuahua, chihuahua cataract eye drops, chickpea pasta Trader Joe's, honeycomb candy Trader Joe's, Glynnic MacNicol, I'm Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself, Shake Shack, white chocolate macadamia Starbucks, Marvel soft serve, shortbread foam soap, Bath and Body Works, ButterBliss Target, Nomad sandwiches NYC, coleslaw, burrata sandwich, chicken katsu, Staples, price match Staples, Mary Jane Broadway, Rachel McAdams, Broadway NYC, old literary posters. exhibit The Met, best latkes NYC, Modern Bread and Bagel, Mrs. Meyers Clean Day, Mrs. Meyers, tomato vine Mrs. Meyers, fresh cut grass Mrs. Meyers, Central Park, magnets, vegetable magnets, Baskin Robbins, The Idea of You, Michael Showalter, How Stella Got Her Groove Back, Under The Tuscan Sun, Twister, Helen Hunt, Dream Scenerio, Danny Meyer, Ina Garten, pasta recipe, Emily in Paris, rainbow sherbert, May 2024, May Musings 2024 Liz Heather, Baby Dog grass, Baby Dog summer, green grass, summer treat, Vulture blog


November 2, 2022

October Occurrences 2022

by Liz Heather in Best of NYC, Family, Food, Halloween, Ideas, Links, Movies, Music, Personal, Recipes, Television, Travel


Ontario, Canada - October 2022

This might be the hardest week of the year because it’s officially the longest period of time until next Halloween. I tend to take a few days to decompress a bit, so by this coming weekend I’ll be fully ready for holiday-mode. That being said, October was such a great month that felt like almost a year long - in a good way. Here’s what went down.

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

  • I think it’s clear that I watched every good 90s Halloween sitcom episode that I could find links for.

  • For Halloween, I dressed up as Tony Montana (Al Pacino) from Scarface and Baby Dog was, umm, my main accessory.

  • In love with this article, “The Secret To Marriage Is Never Getting Married.”

  • I’ve always wanted to make the Nestle Toll House chocolate chip oatmeal cookies recipe (on the back of the Toll House package) and they were really, really good. Might become a staple in my cookie repertoire.

  • I made these soft pumpkin cookies with salted maple icing again this year and they continue to be incredible - and that’s coming from someone who truly hates soft cookies.

  • I also made these garlic butter chicken meatballs with creamy orzo (in a slow cooker) and the meatballs were great, I’ll definitely make those again. But the orzo cooked in a crockpot? Hard pass. Pasta always tastes terrible from a crockpot, I knew this and still went ahead, so it’s my fault really.

  • I was in Canada for awhile, so I…

    • Went to the new(ish) Keg near Square One and it kind of sucked? What the hell? The meat was nowhere worth the price, which is weird because I remember that it used to be better. I’m trying to find my new Canyon Creek (since it closed) and it’s a hard task to undertake but I won’t give up.

    • I had the burger from Ozzy’s Burgers and the lamb was terrible, but the regular burgers were fantastic.

    • My niece Layla turned 17 (!) so thankfully we were able to get the Milk Bar birthday cake from the Toronto location. It’s such a shame that location is closing at the end of the year.

    • I also planted some bulbs in the garden with my mom, which makes me even more excited for spring to come next year to see if anything blooms.

    • I tried the new Lays flavour Fries & Gravy and good god I love this country.

    • I made the apple fritter cake (again) for (Canadian) (real) Thanksgiving and I. love. this. cake.

    • My dad put up his seasonal bird feeder and I think I’ve said this before, but the answer to life is getting a bird feeder and then sitting down to watch it. Nothing better.

Heaven on earth?

My dad & Baby Dog, October 2022

Mississauga, Ontario - October 2022

Fries & Gravy Lays

Oakville, Ontario - October 2022

  • I made my way to the Harvest Moon Farm & Orchard in North Salem, NY (with my friend Diana) where we had the best warm apple cider donuts and cider mimosas. Afterward we went for brunch at The Arch restaurant, which was beautiful & old, but nothing really spectacular food-wise.

Cider mimosa at Harvest Moon Farm & Orchard, North Salem, New York

Cider donuts at Harvest Moon Farm & Orchard, North Salem, New York

  • On Halloween, I took Baby Dog on our annual autumn visit to Central Park and it was bursting with beauty.

Central Park, October 2022

Central Park, October 2022

Central Park, October 2022

Baby Dog in Central Park, October 2022

Baby Dog in Central Park, October 2022

  • When it comes to all purpose cleaners, I’m in love with Mrs. Meyers. The snowdrop scent is my favourite one (which should be coming out again soon), but I just got the apple cider one and yikes. It’s perfect. Is it sad to have favourite seasonal all purpose cleaners? Absolutely. But here we are. Welcome to your late 30s.

Mrs. Meyer’s Apple Cider Limited Edition Scent

  • Now if we’re talking seasonal coffee drinks? The Starbucks pumpkin cream cold brew (only 1/2 shot of syrup, extra foam) makes me a little sick by the end of the drink, but I still love it. And the vanilla cream cold brew at Tim Hortons is also really good. Oooo and the Tim Hortons hazelnut cold brew with espresso foam? Get out of here, so good. I think I just like foam.

  • Loving the new Charlie Brown stamps from the USPS. Wait, who is in charge of deciding the new stamps? Oh god, have I discovered the greatest job on earth? I THINK I HAVE??

  • So I got a new Apple charger from The Apple Store, the one that apparently charges faster. Aaaaaand my battery dies even quicker now! Sweet!

  • I was scrambling to find a dress for a wedding this month and Bloomingdale’s saved me. How do I always forget about that place? I love an old, good department store. Yes they can be overwhelming, but they’re practically deserted. I have to remember this for the future. Oh! And Macy’s too! Such great dresses for special occasions.

  • So Nathan and I went to Los Angeles for a wedding (the dress code was “outdo us”) and we stayed at Citizen M hotel in downtown LA. Let me just say that this is not the type of hotel for two people to share a room, that’s the nicest way I can put it. It’s definitely clean and relatively nice, but the rooms are laughably small. The wedding was fun and I loved walking around downtown LA mostly because of the incredibly well preserved buildings. Sure, the area is pretty dicey but it’s beautifully ancient. We walked to Santee Alley (where I got my new favourite feather clutch) and three days was the perfect amount of time to stay in that area. And the baja tacos from Tocaya were insanely good. Also the Wolfgang Puck Express stand at LAX had really good food to take on the plane.

Citizen M hotel room, this bed is literally the width of the room

Baja taco from Tocaya, Downtown LA

Ummm, is Nathan somehow cooler in LA??

Okay hold up, are we BOTH COOLER IN LA??

WE BAD

California blonde dreams coming true

The Los Angeles Theatre opened in 1931 - Downtown LA

The Eastern Columbia Building opened in 1930 - Downtown LA

The Orpheum Theatre opened in 1926 - Downtown LA

  • Speaking of airports, the restaurant The Hearth by Lynn Crawford at Pearson in Terminal 1 in Toronto is great! Get the meatballs. Love it when airport food is above average.

  • Of course I listened to the new Taylor Swift album Midnights and the best songs are Question…?, Sweet Nothing, Anti-Hero, Bejeweled, Maroon and You’re On Your Own, Kid.

  • Some things I watched this month:

    • Smile: such a fun time. Love a fun horror movie.

    • I rewatched the first two Friday The 13th movies with Layla (her first time seeing them) and I’d forgotten how good they were. They really hold up well over time.

    • Recent SNLs: Nothing super noteworthy in any of the episodes, I like the new guys. I was introduced to that great Megan Thee Stallion song Anxiety, which I can’t stop playing. The worst sketch I’ve seen in years was that Jack Harlow one with the joker. Just awful. Oh, and Colin Farrell looks alarmingly good.

    • Celebrity Jeopardy: I solely watched because I love Ike Barinholtz (and he was great). But look, I know that Celebrity Jeopardy is, like, the easiest Jeopardy to exist. I understand that. But I had no idea how incredibly dumb most celebrities are. I mean, I know they’re not exactly known for their IQ levels but this was actually just wild to watch. Every single person on each episode I saw was a complete moron (with the exception of Ike and Simu Liu).

    • Barbarian: so great, loved every bit of it. Bill Skarsgård remains as hot as always. (Sidenote: I was gushing about Skarsgård later to Nathan before bed and he scoffed and dismissed it so I asked him, “You probably don’t even have an answer, but who would you consider an attractive celebrity man?” and without even a second of hesitation he goes, “Pierce Brosnan in ‘97.” Hahahahahah, god I died. He’s not wrong.)

Some things I’m looking forward to this month: I’ve already put my order in for this year’s bayberry candles, I’m finally going to read Dave Grohl’s book, of course I’ll get the Thanksgiving croissant from Milk Bar, I’m definitely gonna go to the NY postcard show, and I’ve already got my ticket to see the Thierry Mugler exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum which opens on the 18th. Oh! And a gentle reminder if you’ve started Christmas shopping: get the damn gift receipt.

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

Ray of sunshine on my ray of sunshine

TAGS: October Occurences, October, October Occurrences 2022, Liz Heather, Halloween, leaves, autumn, autumn in NYC, autumn in New York, Canada autumn, best tweets, Halloween sitcom episodes, Tony Montana, Al Pacino, Scarface, Baby Dog, Nathan Macintosh, Los Angeles, LA, L.A., The Secret To Marriage Is Never Getting Married, marriage, married, Nestle, Toll House, toll house chocolate chip cookies, cookies, soft pumpkin cookies, salted maple icing, recipes, dessert recipe, garlic butter chicken meatballs creamy orzo, orzo, meatballs, chicken meatballs, crockpot, slow cooker, Canada, NY, NYC, New York City, The Keg, Square One, Canyon Creek, Ozzy's Burgers, Ozzy's Burgers Mississauga, burgers, burgers Mississauga, Layla Heather, Milk Bar, Milk Bar Toronto, Milk Bar birthday cake, spring flowers, bulbs, gardening, Hassina Heather, Lays, fries and gravy, fries and gravy potato chips, apple fritter cake, bird feeder, Stanley Heather, birds, bird watching, cardinal, Birds, backyard, changing leaves, autumn leaves, Harvest Moon farm and orchard, mimosa cider, north salem new york, apple cider donut, apple cider donut NY, cider mimosa new york, Central Park, Central Park foliage, leaves Central Park, Mrs. Meyers Clean Day, Mrs. Meyers, apple cider scent Mrs. Meyers, late 30s, late thirties, seasonal coffee drinks, autumn coffee drinks, Starbucks autumn drinks, Starbucks seasonal, Tim Hortons, foam, Charlie Brown, Charlie Brown stamps, USPS stamps, postage, USPS, Apple Store, Apple charger, Bloomingdale's, Macy's, formal dresses NYC, fancy dresses NYC, evening gown NYC, formal dresses NY, Citizen M hotel, downtown LA, Citizen M hotel downtown LA, wedding los angeles, santee alley LA, Tocaya Modern Mexican, fish tacos LA, best taco LA, Wolfgang Puck, Wolfgang Puck Express, LAX, food LAX, YYZ, food YYZ, Toronto, feather clutch, California, California blonde, downtown LA buildings, The Orpheum Theatre LA, Eastern Building LA, Los Angeles Theatre downtown LA, The Hearth by Lynn Crawford, Pearson airport, best food Toronto airport, Taylor Swift, Midnights, Question, Sweet Nothing, Anti-Hero, Bejeweled, Maroon, You're On Your Own Kid, best Midnights songs, Smile, Smile movie, Friday the 13th, SNL, Saturday Night Live, Megan Thee Stallion, Anxiety, Megan Thee Stallion Anxiety, Jack Harlow joker sketch, Colin Farrell, Ike Barinholtz, Celebrity Jeopardy, Simu Liu, Bill Skarsgard, Barbarian, Pierce Brosnan