I love Octobers but I’m grateful to be moving on to the holiday season. Halloween was so good this year. I used a fog machine (it’ll now have to be a staple each year) and a bluetooth speaker that played horror movie soundtracks and it was. the. best. Here’s what else went on last month.

You might think you’re better than fake tattoos, I assure you that you’re not

I made a list of my favourite Halloween tweets.
Put up some new Halloween decorations.

The best tweets of the month can be found here.
I made this apple crisp coffee cake, which was fantastic. I’d prefer more crumble than cake, though.

I tried the new spicy all dressed chips and it’s a big meh. All dressed is already so perfect, they really should just leave them alone.
I got a ton of old VHS and camcorder tapes converted to digital at Digital Treasures and they did such a good job.
I’ve been constantly wearing the Anne Marie Beretta coat I got last month at the vintage clothing show.

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I hadn’t had a DQ cake in years, so I bought one and it remains as good as ever.
I don’t love donuts (too doughy), but a holiday themed donut? Obviously I'll get those.

Thanksgiving donuts from Sanremo’s in Etobicoke, Ontario

Thanksgiving was really great, if not a little quieter this year. The next-day sandwich was one for the books. (If I started a business that solely made these sandwiches and just tried out new versions each month, could that work? Call it Turkey Time? Patent pending.)

Went to Downey’s for their pumpkin donuts (for a donut hater, I buy an alarming amount) and got this apple pie flavoured milk. It was a bit gross, but you have to try new seasonal items. It’s law.

Took my parents on an autumn drive through Belfountain and our car broke down in the middle of nowhere! It was exciting.

I went to Ottawa for the first time! The drive was intensely beautiful. My dumbass didn’t realize how close Quebec was, otherwise I would’ve made sure to get a poutine across the water. Next time.

Stopped at The Big Apple on the way back and just wow. I’d never been there before, so I loved it.

I bought a few new pairs of bootcut jeans (I know, pretty cool) and had them all tailored. They fit perfectly. I will tailor my pants for the rest of my life now.
October sunrises >>

Some things I watched:
- Nobody Wants This: other than some really bad dialogue, I’d definitely watch season two.
- English Teacher: best new show on TV, hands down.
- Only Murders in the Building: good season, not great. Martin Short will be the main reason I keep watching.
- The Blair Witch Project: I got my niece Maya to watch it and she loved it. A perfect horror movie.
- The Return of the Living Dead: okay, it’s obviously bad but fun bad.
- The Bob’s Burgers Halloween episode this year was awful?? What the hell?
- I’ve been on a real Twilight Zone binge and this quote, “As long as there are men, there cannot be peace.” PREACH.

Some things I’m looking forward to this month: good god, I don’t even know. The election is today so… let’s just wait and see what happens before I look forward to anything.

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

That was one of the longest Octobers I’ve ever experienced and it couldn’t have been better. Here’s everything that went down last month:

The best tweets of October can be found over here, and I also did a post about the best Halloween tweets.
Our costume!
I started doing weekly Fall Fridays recaps because I can’t shut the hell up.
Made Halloween cake pops with Maya with meltable chocolate from Michaels (the funfetti vanilla is the best one) and I think these might be among my favourite desserts now. Nothing says ‘I’m almost 40’ like discovering how good cake pops are 15 years after they became popular?

Got a drink at Beetle House (the Beetlejuice-esque bar in the East Village) and that place is a party. Cocktails with dry ice should be mandatory at all bars for the prices we’re paying these days (I’d run on this platform alone if I were up for mayor).

I used a few of the single packets of the Dennis Gross triple eye serum and I could really see slight results in only a couple days. So annoying when expensive skincare products actually work well.
This chicken marsala remains one of my favourite top three dinners to make.

It’s a tall order, but please serve this chicken marsala at my funeral

TIP: if a recipe calls for softened butter but you forgot to soften it in advance, you should just brown the butter instead. This works for me literally every time. Browned butter is incredible.
Finally went to the Oscar Wilde bar and it was beautifully decorated for Halloween. It also had one of the best lighted washrooms I’ve ever seen in NYC.

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It’s one week into November so have I already had the Thanksgiving dumplings from Mimi Cheng’s as well as the Bobbie (Thanksgiving) sandwich from Capriotti’s? We both know the answer, don’t make me say it.
Made pecan pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, but they were only okay. I think I’ll steer clear of the baking recipes from Bon Appétit for awhile. Independent bloggers almost always have better dessert recipes.

Underwhelming pecan pumpkin chocolate chip cookies

Okay, the flagship Nordstrom in Manhattan? New favourite place to shop for dresses. There’s also a great happy hour bar on the fifth floor with this incredible locker that charges your phone while you walk around.
I’ve made the Chrissy Teigen jalapeno corn pudding for the past few years as part of our Thanksgiving meal and I might finally be sick of it? Looking for new corn recipes.

My favourite freezable meal right now is this short rib bolognese.
Walked through a section of Central Park that I’d never seen before (the north woods) and it felt like an entirely different park.

Made apple cider doughnut cookies that turned out great. I thought the cinnamon sugar topping sounded a bit boring, but it was perfect.

It is both a blessing and a curse that I learned of Nuts Factory existence (it’s basically American Bulk Barn).
Made this coconut chicken tikka masala in the slow cooker and it was pretty good. I doubt I’ll make it again though because I never cook rice anymore and this is a recipe begging for rice. (Why don’t I like to cook rice? Um, it takes forever? And I threw out my rice cooker because I hate having useless appliances that I’ll use once a year.)
The focaccia ready-made sandwiches at Eataly? Holy shit. Unbelievably good.

Went to Canada for Thanksgiving and it was so lovely, as always.

Some things I watched:
- Sabrina The Teenage Witch (the movie): I had no idea it was a movie before it was a show. I’ll always love Melissa Joan Hart as Sabrina, so this was a great find.
- Urban Legend: totally forgot about how good this movie was. With the exception of the dog-in-a-microwave scene, obviously.
- Knock At The Cabin: I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, M. Night Shyamalan’s movies are always so hit or miss and this one? STUNK. I really hate that he insists on making cameos in them, too.
- Prom Night: Great! Jamie Lee Curtis is a phenomenal dancer. Nobody talks about that.
- Blades: it’s literally just a Jaws parody but with a lawnmower instead of a shark. So what I’m saying is that it was fantastic.
- Trick R Treat: so terrible.
- Halloween (the Rob Zombie one): UGH! Awful! Nathan claims that I hated it because apparently I don’t like “dysfunction or reality.” WHO DOES.
- Coherence: so good! Everyone should see it.
- The Fog: loved it! So fun when the villain is weather. And I LOVE the fact that when it was first released, they installed fog machines in some movie theatres where the movie was showing. God, that’s great.

Some things I’m looking forward to this month: Nathan’s big Gramercy show this weekend, buying new cookware finally because our pots specifically are pretty toxic, might make these salted chocolate pecan pie bars for (fake) Thanksgiving later this month and I can’t wait to finally eat at the Christmas restaurant in the city Rolf’s.

If you’ve got any interest in reading last month’s roundup, you can see what went on in September over here. And my autumn highlights on Instagram can be found here.

October Occurrences 2024

October Occurrences 2023