Welcome to the return of Summer Saturdays! I started doing these in 2023 and I write them mainly to reiterate to myself that I am a human woman who is capable of doing fun summer things. For most of my life I’ve hated this horrid season (the heat, everything smells, children run wild/free = all reasons to naturally hate it), but I’ve actively tried to change that mindset these past few years. So these posts are here to stay (until Labour Day). And you might say that summer starts on the 20th, but it starts when I says it does.

BAKING

This is in no way a fun muffin, but these black bean muffins are good, I promise you. Full disclosure: you will not like them, but I do.

COOKING

At-home steak salads are always the answer. And it should be illegal for one to be anything upwards of $20 at a restaurant, I will die on this hill. We used to be a country.

CRAVING

The vegan tahini soft serve from Seed + Mill in Chelsea Market. Top three best soft serve in the city, hands down. Try to ignore the vegan/tahini part of the description because it’s actually really good.

Soft serve from Seed + Mill in Chelsea Market, NYC

DRINKING

LOVE the Schweppes seltzer flavour concord grape. Tastes so much like a purple Crush only without the raging sugar headache.

EATING

A few months ago I realized the secret to an incredible at-home chicken parm - you have to get bone-in chicken (and then just slice it before you cook). Made it countless times since then and it tastes phenomenal.

EXPERIENCING

Saw the new costume exhibit at The Met and of course had many thoughts.

LISTENING

Made a 1960s playlist that’s been on repeat for about a week now.

LOVING

This long sleeve bodysuit from Aerie. I got them in two colours: navy & “canyon sun.” What the hell is canyon sun, you ask? Brown. It’s just brown. People hate the word brown so much they’re willing to come up with the nonsense that is “canyon sun” shoot me.

SHOPPING

Just reordered the Urban Skin RX Dark Spot Facial Scrub. It smells great and really gets rid of any recent acne scars.

WATCHING

The second episode of And Just Like That. I’m very into the idea that there’s a new love interest for Carrie. I’m sure it’ll end badly and she’ll just stay with Aiden, but at least we don’t have to just watch her wondering around her house all day. Also, is it just me or was the show more fun when she wasn’t rich? I’ve rewatched the series so many times over the years and I think I’m onto something here.

WEARING

Wore this gorgeous Simons dress to a wedding because I’m trying to unlearn how much I’ve hated how my arms look in the past. Progress!

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You can see last year’s Summer Saturdays series over here if you like this series but live in the past. Volume 2 coming next Saturday!

“The Costume Institute’s spring 2025 exhibition presents a cultural and historical examination of Black style over three hundred years through the concept of dandyism. In the 18th-century Atlantic world, a new culture of consumption, fueled by the slave trade, colonialism, and imperialism, enabled access to clothing and goods that indicated wealth, distinction, and taste. Black dandyism sprung from the intersection of African and European style traditions.”

— The Met

This display is maddening, EVERYONE WANTS TO SEE THINGS AT EYE LEVEL

Okay, it was a perfectly fine exhibit. (Can you sense my subtle annoyance?) My major problems were these…

WHY IS EVERYTHING LIT SO OMINOUSLY? I’ve had this issue with exhibits from the past and it’s so infuriating. Also, the majority of these garments are dark colours so why would you showcase them against dark backgrounds? Dark colours pop against light backgrounds and vice versa. This is… science?
The entire exhibit was a tenth of the size compared with exhibits from other years.
Why was it focused solely on male tailoring? Especially when they certainly had the space to include more.

That being said there were definitely gorgeous pieces.

House of Balmain, Olivier Rousteing, pre-fall 2023

Louis Vuitton, Virgil Abloh, autumn/winter 2021-2022

Oh and one more issue - STOP PUTTING PIECES TOO HIGH SO PEOPLE CAN’T SEE THE DETAILS ON THEM (see below).

Infuriating, there’s absolutely no reason for this nonsensical placement

Why in the hell would these be displayed like this?? It makes zero sense. All in all, the exhibition was only all right this year. Definitely not a must-see (unlike last year’s).

The exhibit is open now until October 26, 2025.

And since I was already there, I saw the new rooftop exhibit Ensemble by Jennie C. Jones (on view until October 19, 2025) since it’s the last rooftop commission until at least 2030.

*Ensemble* by Jennie C. Jones, The Met rooftop 2025

The large sculptures are “based on string instruments that are supposed to play sounds activated only by the wind” - which sounds great, but I was there on an extremely windy day and didn’t hear anything. I respect the effort, though.

And look, it sounds like I’m overly picky but I think it’s just because nothing will ever top the Jeff Koons rooftop pieces from 2008. Oh! And lastly, look at this adorable dog kennel that was made for Marie Antoinette’s dog. In love.