The very best of 2022.
Read MoreJune Jaunts 2020
Can someone just hit me in the face hard enough so that I wake up in 2021? As a favour to me? (Also I love that weāre all assuming that a new year means a completely fresh new slate and that none of the actions taken this year will affect the rest of our lives? Itās ridiculous, but itās a type of logic that I can absolutely get on board with.) In any case, life is hell right now. Hereās what went on in hell this month.
I found a new streaming site for movies that is incredible.
My brother Gary made another gravy video (this time a Swiss Chalet one) and of course itās perfect.
My Dad turned 97!
I started doing Ipsy bag reviews again. The best find from the bag this month: a REALHER lipstick. Just amazing quality and I need to look further into their other products.
I watched Get Me Roger Stone and the man seems like a needy psychopath.
I rewatched The Disaster Artist: still great.
I tried hard seltzer (not White Claw, it was a brand called HOOT) and it was very okay, I just donāt see the big deal? I think we all have low standards for things being good.
God, I miss Jon Stewart. I find myself just watching old segments from his show which are sadly still incredibly relevant.
I visited this coffee shop in Astoria called Coffee + Cake thatās so lovely. They make freshly baked goods each day and homemade ice cream and Iāll definitely return. This is their tomato & parmesan focaccia bread.
I started taking antihistamine eye drops for seasonal allergies and theyāve cured me completely. Itās insane. I love them.
I tried birthday cake Kit Kats because why wouldnāt I and of course theyāre good. But theyāre basically justā¦ white Kit Katsā¦ and thatās already a thing that existsā¦ and look Iām not trying to hate on them, so Iāll keep my mouth shut about it from here on out.
If I became famous, the first thing Iād endorse would be Vicks (obviously), but the second thing? This dairy-free, almond milk yogurt DAH! Yes, the name is terrible. But the yogurt is heavenly. The madagascar vanilla will change you.
Finally made this ricotta jam jar with crostini and it was everything I wanted it to be and more.
Iāve been keeping a collection of photos taken of the city throughout the pandemic that are just gorgeous photos, here are a few.
I watched the Holy Chicken! documentary from the Super Size Me guy and it was okay. I did know a lot of those chicken facts already since we havenāt been eating meat these last few months, so it wasnāt anything revolutionary. And then after I watched it, I was reading about it and then came across all the gross behavior by the creator of the film and uggghhhh I wish I hadnāt watched and supported it now.
I tried this New Orleans cold brew and whoa. Good stuff. I donāt exactly know the difference between cold brew and coffee and itās such a boring thing to look up, soā¦ here we are.
Will forever love the food at The Thirsty Koala in Astoria. Thank you Katie, Greg & Irene for gifting us so much of their food this month! Truly so sweet of you.
Favourite tweets of the month.
New favourite Health-Ade kombucha flavour: passion fruit - tangerine. Absolutely unreal.
I bought a ton of underwear from Aerie since I donāt feel comfortable going into any stores or on the subway yet, and theyāre actually pretty great quality (Iām sorry I didnāt get on this sooner, Marla.) The sizing is a little off in that one medium doesnāt fit like another medium, but once you figure it out, youāre good.
This girl. Sheās still breaking my heart with these renditions.
How do I set my Google Alerts so that these types of stories are the only news stories I read?
I learned how to make vodka martinis at home, so what Iām trying to say is that Iām better than you now.
Truly donāt know how I feel about this news, but I think I have to support it, right? I wish we could just leave good things alone. Why must we always want more.
I watched The Joy Luck Club and hereās my takeaway: donāt have daughters. And also maybe donāt have mothers? It seems like everyone is a disappointment to every character in this movie. I was expecting to love it, so when that didnāt happen I was a little disappointed.
I watched Dan In Real Life (mainly because of Steve Carell who was way too good for this movie) and it suuuuucked. Hated Dane Cook. Hated the plot. Hated the whole white, rich, we-dance-as-a-family type aesthetic of the whole movie.
I watched the first season of You and a few episodes of the second season and uuuuuuuggggghhhhhh what a garbage show. I donāt need to see anyone romanticize some pathetic Gossip Girl loser who I feel no empathy for. Itās actually just so badly written and how on earth did someone green-light this trash. Hereās a good piece written about it.
Also watched a bunch of reruns of 3rd Rock From The Sun and what an underrated, great show. Wish I remembered it more.
Iāve been on a real Harrison Ford bender lately and I canāt see it stopping anytime soon. I watched Sabrina (which was okay, the best part was seeing him play a nerdish, unlovable character). I also watched Working Girl (which is really not a great movie, but it was only watchable for Ford). Also saw Air Force One and what a movie. How on earth have I never seen it before?? Such a fox. If you havenāt seen it before, I shall entice you with this one line:
Rainier cherries are in season now and while I donāt particularly love a cherry, these are delightful.
Iāve been sucking down these Saratoga Springs sparkling waters for days and thereās no turning back, theyāre refreshing in a way I didnāt think existed. Just pure magic.
The only summer salad thatās worth a damn is this panzanella salad, but make sure you add fresh mozzarella to it.
I never thought I liked biscotti until a friend recently made it, so maybe Iām just into chocolate biscotti?
What a great idea (below):
If youād like to hear the birds in NYC right now, get on over here.
I started watching Insecure but couldnāt really get into it, maybe Iāll give it more of a chance, maybe not. I feel like if youāre not hooked into a show within three episodes, itās not gonna happen.
I rewatched Clueless and itās really just a perfect movie. I could quote every line in this movie at one point in my life and I think I might still be able to. Still looking to emulate this perfect outfit one day.
Cannot stop making this broccoli pasta with Banza and the Beyond Meat sausage.
Absolutely haunted by this moving front page of the Times.
I finished watching Fuller House and Iāll never know why I wanted to, itās such a corny/actually-bad show and yet I still watched. Thankfully itās over forever.
Incase youāre looking for an alternative site to Amazon for buying books: Bookshop.org
I havenāt read a book in what feels like forever, so I finally finished Glennon Doyleās Untamed and wrote about it.
Excited to one day see the new LaGuardia.
I went over what I did from my spring list that I made in March.
I naively made a list of what Iād like to do this summer.
Itās been a harder month than normal and I found myself watching The Land Before Time and uncontrollably weeping onto my yoga mat (I like to watch movies in the background when Iām working out). A kind of cry that comes around every decade or so where you canāt really breathe and youāre blinded my tears and everything is too much to handle. I know itās a sad movie, but I think it was the movie and the combination of this month that made me react that way. In any case, I hope kids today still want to watch that movie. Itās a hard one, but itās really still so good.
My grandmother Ma passed away this month and since travel is not allowed, it was especially difficult for this to happen now. I felt helpless being separated from most of my family so I wrote a bit about how it made me feel. I could talk about the greatness of this woman endlessly, how itās insane that you could live in this day and age and not read or write and still enrich the lives of everyone you know, thereās no way to sum her up as a person. Iāll just miss her. Her voice, her endless encouragement, all of it.
Some things Iād like to do this month: Iād like to not sink into an unending pit of depression (thatād be great), Iād like to keep going on our nightly walks with Nathan, Iām likely going to buy these bike shorts as soon as theyāre back in stock and you canāt stop me (I already have an outfit in mind, trust me itās gonna look good), I was looking forward to movie theatres reopening (the Regal near our house specifically) but the dateās been pushed again to the end of July (which will likely get pushed again), and Iād really like to start and finish another book this month.
If youāve got any interest in reading last monthās roundup, you can see what went down in May over here.
āGot a headache? Put some Vicks VapoRub on your forehead instead of taking an Aspirin. (Don’t use the no-name Vicks knockoff. That stuff is trash.)ā