Summer is almost over and I think this is the first time in years that I’ve been a little sad to see it go. I was able to visit Scotland with my family, Marla came to see me in New York, I spent the majority of August in Ontario with friends and the kids, we played so much of Wii’s Warioware: Smooth Moves, I’m maintaining the tan of my dreams and I’ve never eaten so much fresh corn in my life. What kind of summer-loving fiend have I become?? In any case, here’s what went down in August.

I finished my Summer Saturdays series that I loved doing. I’ll definitely do this again (maybe sooner than you think).
The best tweets of August can be found over here.
Loving the new Urban Outfitters Cherry ICEEEE nail polish.

The coolest job of life would be to come up with nail polish names

Obsessed with making this heirloom tomato toast as long as it’s in season.
Made these stuffed summer shells that I’d definitely make again. Summer pasta is underrated.

Went to a Blue Jays game with my brother Robbie and some of his kids and it was so great.

I need to bite the bullet and just buy the Lemax pumpkin patch train, right?
Maple syrup greek yogurt? I never knew how much I needed you.
Also made cake pops for the first time with my niece Maya and they turned out perfect. Halloween cake pops up next.
At my parent’s house, I found myself constantly making pizza (with store-bought dough) and it’s so much better than I remember homemade pizza being. Maybe it’s because you need to heat the spread-out dough (on parchment, with olive oil rubbed on top) for ten minutes at 450 degrees and THEN put all the sauce/toppings/cheese on it and put it back in for another ten minutes at 500 degrees.

If you’re anywhere near Woodstock, Ontario then you need to get these incredibly squeaky cheese curds.
Went to the Humber Bay Shores Farmers Market and got this great honey soda.

My greatest discovery this summer? Sponge toffee is ungodly perfect. NO ONE TOLD ME.
In my shopping cart:
- These gorgeous creamy nude polish collection.
- Snow globe Christmas stamps from the USPS.
- Warm Apple Pie candle at Bath & Body Works
- Witches dancing in the moonlight from Lemax (okay, I legit might have a problem)

I’m in love with the Silk Creamy Maple Almond milk flavour for iced coffee.
My dad got a letter from King Charles for his 100th birthday, which is a big deal whether you care about the royals or not. And since his coronation was in the middle of May and my dad’s birthday was the first week of June, there’s a very good chance that this was the very first 100th birthday letter signed by THE KING OF ENGLAND, which is absolutely the neatest thing on the planet.

Dad’s 100th Birthday letter from King Charles

I went to the CNE with my mom and it was lovely. Tried the footlong freak fries that were texturally amazing. I was intrigued by the street corn soft serve but was unwilling to spend over $5 for it. And nobody should pay over $20 for a pina colada in a pineapple so we made them at home instead.

I tried the Benefit brow pencil (because I was temporarily out of the Colourpop one I love) and it was absolute trash. Returned it immediately.
Also flew in a Harvard airplane!

Some things I watched:
- Barbie (for the second time): would honestly go a third time if anyone’s into it.
- The Summer I Turned Pretty (season two): I think I loved this season even more than the first. I loved that almost every episode had some fun event that took over the entire episode (the carnival one, the house party one, the motel one, etc.).
- Outer Banks (first two seasons): I can’t explain the grip this show has on me. The disgust-turned-to-love I have for JOHN B confuses even me.
- Simply Irresistible: so laughably awful, I’m surprised Sarah Michelle Gellar got any work after this. The magical crab was the best character.
- M3GAN: first of all, it’s not a horror movie so it’s weird it was sold that way. It’s really not good, but also very fun to watch with kids.
- Who Framed Roger Rabbit: I forced the kids to watch this one because my brothers and I saw it about ten thousand times when we grew up. Heathers love this movie.
- Junior: how did I never see this 90s classic? It should be law to watch one 90s movie each month. They’re so uncomplicated and good.
- The last ten minutes of Beverly Hills Chihuahua: I came home to my niece Tianna watching this with my mom and Baby Dog and I saw literal minutes of it and cried. I can’t see pretend-dead-dogs even when they turn out to not be dead. I’M ONLY HUMAN. (The movie itself seemed actually adorable, maybe.)
- And So It Goes (the Michael Douglas/Diane Keaton movie): ugh! So bad. When you get Rob Reiner to do a job meant for Nora Ephron - you get this piece of shit.
- And Just Like That (season two): are there people out there who don’t see what a train wreck this show is? I want to talk to them. Also, Carrie is not a cat person. Whoever made that choice truly does not understand this character. Since when does Steve speak Italian? Charlotte was the real winner of the season.
- Only Murders In The Building (season three): love how it’s starting out so far, but it’s not really as exciting as the previous seasons.
- Summer Rental: truly the worst John Candy movie of all time.
- Talk To Me: good/original, but too much gross-out horror for me.
Since it’s the first day of school today, I always think of what we should’ve been learning in school instead this time of year.
I got Baby Dog’s teeth cleaned for the first time in her life and it was a phenomenal experience. I was at Pet Valu and saw that they worked with an organization that cleans your dog’s teeth without putting them under anesthesia. The team at KissableK9 Care was beyond impressive and kind and the whole thing took thirty minutes. I have before and after photos that are pure insanity. I would post them here, but like… even a chihuahua likes her privacy sometimes. Cannot recommend KissableK9 enough!
Visited the Applewood outdoor pool in Mississauga a few times and I can’t wait to try their lane swimming next summer.

My babies! (Yes their boyfriends are my babies too I guess…?)

Some things I’m looking forward to this month: putting the final touches on my Halloween costume, creating an autumn list of things to do, taking Nathan to see The Shark Is Broken on Broadway and I really want to eat the tomato salad at Shukette.

If you’ve got any interest in reading last month’s roundup, you can see what went down in July over here. And my summer highlights on Instagram can be seen here.

This post could also be known as The Things They Should Have Taught Us In High School but I can't agree on who's precisely to blame here, so I'm blaming us all.

I'm not saying that the things we're taught in high school and college are useless - some of those things are crazy important to know. But we're definitely not being groomed to be fully functioning adults by the time they let us out on our own at around age 22, if not at a younger age.

In a perfect world, these are the courses they should have made us take.

Doing Your Taxes 101
Internships: A Modern Slavery
Making Friends As An Adult
The Ins and Outs of a Mortgage
Cleanliness and You: The Study of Personal Hygiene
The Convergence of Love And Sex
Interpreting Family Relationships
The Normalization of Drug Dependency
How To Date Many People Before Committing To Marriage
Adult Onset Body Image Issues
Balancing A Work Life and A Social Life
The Wonders of Travel
Career Change in Unstable Economies
Understanding Divorce
Kindness: A Gentle Analysis
Healthy Meal Planning
The Struggles of Depression
The Realities of Single Parenthood
Body Maintenance
The Glorification of Alcohol
Finance Organization
The Exploration of Alternative Lifestyles
Managing Unemployment
Dealing With Emotional Unavailability
The Importance of Debt
Child Development (yes this exists, IN CHILD STUDIES PROGRAMS, but everyone needs this course)
The Effects of Grief
Maintaining A Savings Account
Elderly Planning

If we were exposed to any of these classes growing up, who knows what kind of a society we'd get to live in now. I'm just saying.

A math teacher once told me why he thought kids would benefit from taking math (and I'm talking about the more advanced math that gets taught in the later years of high school). He said something along the lines of, "We don't teach it because you need to know this stuff later. We teach it solely because people find it difficult. You're going to encounter difficult things in your life and it ultimately comes down to how you're going to choose to solve them. Whether you give up or try the best you can to figure it out, that's always up to you. That's why math is important."

Now maybe you think that's a lame thought, but I really loved it and still do. Though, we'd have all definitely benefited from any of those courses I listed above. When I'm running the world, you better be damn sure those are getting taught. MAD TAUGHT.

August Actions 2023

The Things We Should Have Learned In High School