June Jaunts 2022

by Liz Heather in , , , ,

Whoa boy, is this late! I’ve been traveling a ton, but I won’t let this lateness happen again. Here’s what went down in June.

  • The best tweets of the month can be found over here and here.

  • I recapped how my spring list of things to do went.

  • I wrote my summer list of things I want to do.

  • Some things I’ve watched & rewatched:

    • Friday Night Lights - it’s still a great show, just maybe not as incredible as I remembered it from the first viewing. Best two lines of all time though? “You might be the luckiest man and not even know it.” As well as, “Success is not a goal, it’s a byproduct.”

    • The Way, Way Back - UGH! It was not good. Other than Sam Rockwell being his usual great self, the whole movie just falls flat. As if someone watched Adventureland and loved it so much that they wanted to make their own terrible version.

    • PEN15 - An insanely good show. The best episode might be the bottle one about Maya’s mother. Can’t say enough good things about this perfect show.

    • Stealing Beauty - forever a favourite. A young girl goes to the Italy countryside to find herself? Nothing more poetic.

  • How do I feel about the trailer for Hocus Pocus 2? I just wish it had more of the classic cast in it. I’m hoping there will be surprise appearances by more of the original characters, so I’ll try to get onboard. I just hate new main characters being introduced in a beloved movie.

  • Forever in awe of how good the limited edition Kit Kat flavours always are.

  • I don’t even know the song but I love the line, “You don’t need Givenchy you need Jesus” and that’s just a very cool line. I should be embarrassed to say that aloud, but here we are.

  • I tried the chocolate cream cold brew at Starbucks and whoa. Fully understand the big deal now.

  • Trader Joe’s has this blood orange tea that is my summer iced tea obsession.

  • My dear friends Katie & Greg got me a gift certificate for Paintbucket in Brooklyn, so I went for a pedicure and loved it. Choosing a colour from a swatch on the wall is such a great idea. There’s definitely something The Wing-inspired about the design motif of the place itself, but I’m still into it. They offer wine and the service was great - of course it’s overpriced for what it is, but it’s nice to have a decadent little experience every once in awhile.

Paintbucket in Brooklyn

Some things I’m looking forward to doing this month: I’m going to write full posts on each city I visited on my trip from last month, I’d like to see something on Broadway, I want to eat all of the summer corn and tomatoes I can get my hands on, and I really want to watch the new season of Only Murders In The Building.

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

“Hi”

August Actions 2021

by Liz Heather in , , , , , , , , ,

Summer is almost officially over, so obviously the autumn planning has commenced! This will soon be me.

betty boop pumpkin lighting.gif

God, I can’t wait. Here’s what went down in August.

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

  • I got artificial (not acrylic) nails again and I’m in loooooove. Powder dip is all I’m going to do from now on. If you’re in Mississauga, the absolutely best place to get them done is at Nails For You in Square One. SUCH a beautiful job.

  • Have you ever even heard of the Michael Keaton movie Pacific Heights? I hadn’t and it is so good. Love that man. Love that movie.

  • I made this corn dish (with mozzarella instead of halloumi) with tomatoes and basil as a side dish and it’s so summery and perfect.

  • I kind of love the idea of this fist-fighting festival. “Small rural communities high in the Andes, many of which do not have regular access to law enforcement to resolve disputes, settle their scores once a year in a public arena, with their fists. The ultimate aim is to begin the new year in peace. For this reason, every fight — whether it involves men, women or children — begins and ends with a hug.“

  • I made this sweet potato corn chowder and boy was it not good. Never again.

  • If you’re looking for some small Ontario towns to visit, I didn’t even know all the places on this list.

  • I tried Bellucci Pizza in Astoria (the Sicilian pepperoni, to be exact) and it was stellar. The texture of the bottom of the slice was unreal. Is it annoying to have another great pizza place? Never.

Bellucci Pizza in Astoria

  • And while bad pizza is hard to find, I did try Champion Pizza and let’s just say that New York has waaaay better to offer. Steer clear.

  • Nathan and I saw the movie Old with some friends and it was such a party. You can only see this movie with people who won’t take it very seriously because it’s obviously terrible, but in such a fun way. Movie of the summer, as far as I’m concerned.

  • Incase you’re looking for some perfect background noise while you cook.

  • I know zero about wine (other than the fact that I loathe South African red wines), but I’ve discovered lately that I’m especially fond of Australian Chardonnays. Look at me!

  • A friend and I tried Society Cafe for Restaurant Week and it was wonderful, I’d definitely return.

  • I have been using this eyebrow serum Nulastin for a few months now and it’s working miracles on my face. I’m gonna do a full post on it this week so that you can see the before and after for yourself.

  • I returned to the bakery Mel and got the ham & cheese croissant and some cookies. I know it’s hard to come across a bakery that isn’t doing God’s work but this place is at the very top of my favourites list.

Ham & cheese croissant from Mel Bakery, NYC

  • You know how when you’re making croutons and the recipe always tells you to use sourdough? MAN, is that bad advice. Or maybe not bad, but sub-par for sure. FOCACCIA! FOCACCIA CROUTONS! I promise you. So crispy on the outside, but little fucking pillows on the inside. Never going back to sourdough croutons. Pass it on.

  • I watched Desperate Housewives in its entirety for some reason?? Terrible show?? I always watch things I hate in August for some reason.

  • Speaking of bad television, I started watching the new Riverdale episodes and… oh no… it might actually, finally just be bad. Was it always? Have I grown? I don’t want answers to these questions?

  • I tried the Beyond chicken nuggets at A&W in Canada and whoa are they good. Must remember this.

  • I also tried the Swiss Chalet chicken sandwich and it was very all right. I felt like it was missing one element and I’m too dense to know what that could be.

  • There’s been a warning sign on my rooftop door since we moved in and it suddenly disappeared (why? I don’t ask questions), so I finally got to see our own rooftop view and it’s wild that it took me this long to go look.

The view from our rooftop in Astoria, Queens

  • I went to Carmenta’s in Brooklyn and had a great chicken parm & caesar salad. Love when boring food can be done well.

  • I’m using this Drunk Elephant set I just bought and yes they’re good products, but their packaging is complete shit. I can’t stand it when a decent company falls flat on its packaging. Too much or too little product comes out in these types of bottles and it’s infuriating every single time.

  • They were showing the French film La Piscine at the Film Forum, so I went to see it with Irene and god DAMN I love an old theatre. Such a nice summer night idea. Can’t stop listening to this song now.

  • We also had dinner that same night at Vic’s and it was only okay. Don’t think I’ll return, even if their garlic bread was pretty unique and good.

  • Tried the Double Double Coffee Crisp and for the life of me could not taste the difference between it and a regular Coffee Crisp, so that means? Both are perfect.

  • I made a Hazel McCallion (Hazel McCallion is a Canadian politician who was the mayor of Mississauga, Ontario, from 1978 until 2014) crop top because I’ll always love her and this shirt needed to exist.

Hazel McCallion crop top

  • Since I haven’t been able to get a reservation at Carbone yet, should I just buy the damn sauce online or continue to wait it out?

Heaven in a donut, $2

Some things I’m looking forward to this month: I will try to finish off the final things from my summer list, I’m trying to decide if I want to go apple picking or if I just feel like I should, I’m also prepping everything I want to do for autumn, and I might go try this PSL dipped cone (below) because why the hell wouldn’t I?

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

August Actions 2019

by Liz Heather in , , , , , ,

Words cannot express… the emotions going on inside me right now.

AUTUMN IS A FEW SHORT WEEKS AWAY. This is absolutely the start of the best time of the year because it’s basically autumn eve. That’s how I treat all of early September. Last year I went a little nuts in celebrating every single day of autumn and… I want to go even harder this year. I sort of winged it last year, but this year I’ve already started planning ways to celebrate the best time of the year. I have a problem. I know. But I’ve come to terms with that, so you should too. So let me tell you what went down last month so that we can fully move into the GREATEST, PUREST TIME OF YEAR.

  • I watched Why Do Fools Fall In Love on Netflix and jesus christ, the dog-being-thrown-out-the-window part? WHY DID NO ONE WARN ME. Will not watch again.

  • I love a good summer shark/alligator/dumb movie, so we obviously saw Crawl and it was very fun. The dog was the best part. (Are you seeing a pattern here? I’M NOT HARD TO PLEASE, HOLLYWOOD.)

  • I forced Maya to come to a sunflower farm with me and it was lovely. Why would a person with a bee allergy want to go to such a place? I’m not well.

  • I rewatched my favourite John Ritter movie Stay Tuned because it’s just something everyone should do once in awhile. Such a weird, perfect movie.

  • I attempted to read Samantha Irby’s book We Are Never Meeting In Real Life and I just couldn’t get into it, so I stopped. It’s weird ‘cause I really enjoyed Meaty, so I don’t know what happened here. Maybe ‘cause it’s summer and I think I hate reading in the summer? Haven’t picked up a book in months that I wanted to read.

  • I do not need to be the one who tells you how good hazelnut Kit Kats are, but I guess that’s what I’m doing at the moment - SO GOOD.

  • I watched part of the new 90210 reboot and ughhhh. It’s awful. In every way. Also, Luke Perry JUST died. They couldn’t have postponed or cancelled this trash?

  • I watched the first season of Tuca & Bertie and it’s so, so crazy good. Absolutely love it. Thank you to Harmeet for making me watch! I was so skeptical at first, but it’s incredible. So many similarities to Broad City in its goodness.

  • I went to the CNE with my Mom for the first time is yeeeears and it was so nice.

She did my braids, I can’t do nice braids on myself

  • Since Restaurant Week is always a big part of my life, I went to Park Avenue Summer for lunch earlier in the month and got the corn bread, corn gnocchi and corn creme brulee. YES, YOU’RE READING THAT RIGHT. Love a fucking cob. It was all very tasty, if not a little too corny (but that’s my fault, let’s be real). I also got the chicken and it was incredible. I’d love to be able to crisp a chicken skin as perfectly as they did.

And now you will too!

  • I made this hot honey salmon and if salmon weren’t such a disgusting fish, this would be a killer recipe. (And if you actually enjoy salmon, this really is great.)

  • I finally watched the rest of the new Black Mirror episodes and I stand by my thoughts that the Striking Vipers one was the best one of the season. Smithereens was okay and all, I’ll always love a Topher Grace. The main actor (Andrew Scott) did a great job, too. And the Miley Cyrus one was just okay? I don’t understand why that’s the common favourite of the season. It’s average, at best.

  • Favourite thing I’ve bought this summer: this jumpsuit with lace from Zara.

  • I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned it before, but I love reading the (monthly?) Grub Street Diet columns from New York Magazine. They profile different (semi-known, sometimes-famous) people and what they eat in the span of a few days. I mostly love it for recommendations of good things to eat around New York, but also I love hearing about what people do for snacks and routine meals.

  • Someone buy me this Danny Meyer Chocolate Cream Pie. Please.

  • I watched all of On My Block on Netflix and it’s so, so good (thank you, Marla!). I’m an idiot for not watching it sooner. My favourite character is definitely Jamal, I love the florist with the gnomes, and the musical choices are phenomenal. Such a great show. If you haven’t seen it, I’d describe it as a modern day coming of age story set in South Central LA inspired by The Goonies. SO GOOD.

  • Did you know that eating tomatoes helps prevent colon cancer? Did not know. I’m forcing Nathan to eat them now, enough of this “I don’t like tomatoes” shit. Not standing for it anymore!

  • I went to two weddings this month, which were both beautiful. LOVE a wedding.

  • I tried the seasonal tomato gelato at Il Laboratorio Del Gelato and it was rough. I did taste the corn gelato and that one was actually pretty good, I should’ve gotten that one. This was my first time here and my main thought: it has a horrifying interior. Like if Patrick Bateman ran an ice cream shop.

  • Lately I’ve started shopping more at small businesses and less at chains. Partially because these places will disappear if I keep doing what I’m doing and I hate that idea. So no more writing/drinking at Starbucks. No more books from Amazon. No more crazy cheap dish soap at Dollar General. No more plants from Home Depot. Enough of this shit!

  • Nathan and I celebrated our ten year anniversary and went to Vermont (again, haha) and I did a full post on it, so take a look if you like. While we were away, we did rewatch the first It (still great), Sleeping With The Enemy (always a favourite of mine) and The Hand That Rocks The Cradle (which is even better than we remembered, SUCH a good movie). Also, if you enjoy Instagram stories of vacations as much as I do, I posted our whole Vermont one on my Instagram.

  • This sounds like a broken record, but I did Nathan’s podcast again! We talked about our relationship and why we think it works, etc. etc. Very self-indulgent stuff here, guys.

  • So you know how I tried and loved that chocolate dessert hummus a few months ago? TRADER JOE’S IS RIPPING IT OFF & has made their own version. For two dollars. Now look, I know companies get ripped off all the time by bigger corporations who steal the idea and make their own… but fuck. This fucking sucks. I first heard and tried dessert hummus because of seeing it on Shark Tank (the company is Delighted By Hummus) and I want to say that they invented the idea, but I can’t say for sure. I hate this.

Some things that I’m looking forward to this month: I’m SO excited to see It: Chapter Two, possibly planning out details for a trip to Salem, finishing up the last of the summer things to do list, I’ve gotta find something new and good to read, there are so many photos that I love from visiting my family/friends this summer so I might do a photo post solely of my favourite ones, finalizing my AUTUMN THINGS TO DO list, and I’d really love to pack away all of my summer clothes at some point this month to make room for the gazillion sweaters I’m waiting to wear.

If you’ve got any interest in reading last month’s roundup, go on over here!

Side Dish of Corn

by Liz Heather in ,

You might think this is a dumb post, but I just ate this stuff and I'll never cook corn the same way from now on.  

I love corn. My mom would always boil it, strain it and then put some butter on it and voila. Beautiful. But I just ate/made some corn that blows that old corn out of the water (haha!). 

What should you do? 

Okay. You need some organic corn-on-the-cob, garlic cloves, olive oil, kosher salt and ground black pepper. If you use one ear of corn, then chop one clove of garlic and pour 1.5 tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan. (If you use two ears of corn then use two cloves and 3 tablespoons of olive oil - you get the picture.) 

Stand the corn-on-the-cob upright in the frying pan and use a sharp knife to cut the kernels from the cob (it's easy to do this right in the pan 'cause if you do it on a cutting board the kernels go flying everywhere. I mean everywhere.) into the pan. Add the chopped garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper. Cook it up. Takes maybe three-four minutes. And you will have the best tasting corn of your damn life. I could eat buckets of this stuff. And the beautiful part? Doesn't need any butter! I know! But butter's great! However you truly don't need a smidgen of it here.