January 12, 2024

2024 Resolutions

It’s 2024. Why.

Before I let you know what my 2024 resolutions are, here are some other things of note that you might be interested in doing right now.

Every January I make sure to:

Mark down all important anniversaries/birthdays/holidays/weddings (also Daylight Saving Times, Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, Thanksgiving) on my calendar.
Check expiration dates for my passport/license/health card/insurance/vet vaccinations and write down any important renewal dates.
Schedule all my doctor, dentist and hair cut appointments for the entire year.
Go through my entire fridge and throw away anything expired (this should really get done every month, but I’ll tell you right now that I never remember to do that).

RESOLUTIONS

Read at least one book per season.
Take Baby Dog on an adventure at least twice a season.
Properly go on a date with Nathan at least once a month.
Try at least one new restaurant each month.
Go on a solo trip.
Style outfits with more care. (I’ll forever have that Bill Cunningham quote floating around my head, “Fashion is the armor to survive the reality of everyday life.”)
Have a final manuscript in my hands that I will continue to submit until someone wants to publish it.
See at least twenty of the movies that have been on my to-be-watched list for literal years.
Stop agreeing to things that I don’t want to do.
Continue to photograph all of the things that bring me joy.

BONUS: Reread and remember these resolutions at least once a month.

If these seem like frivolous and unserious goals, then we probably wouldn’t make great friends. I make these resolutions intentionally because they’re important to me and to my well being. And I encourage you to make your own in the same fashion. I don’t mean to sound preachy, but everything gets harder with each passing year, so I think it’s best to carve out time for the things that make you happy.

You can see how I did with my 2023 resolutions over here, if you’re interested.

And if you’re looking for more resolution ideas, here are some past ones of mine: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014.

January 11, 2024

2023 Resolutions Revisited

by Liz Heather in Personal

Time to revisit the resolutions that I made in 2023! This is definitely my favourite post of the year because I will forever love accountability. The best part about making resolutions is going back and seeing how they went in reality. Why are people so anti-resolution? My guess is because most of us think that resolutions are supposed to be serious and not at all fun. Well, news flash - I’m here to tell you that you’re allowed to make fun ones. Also I’m bringing back “news flash.”

Throughout the year, I kept making my seasonal lists (spring, summer, autumn, winter). I got really into making reels, Nathan did his second Tonight Show, I got to visit the abandoned City Hall subway station, I toured the gorgeous Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, went to a tulip farm in New Jersey, we celebrated my dad’s 100th birthday with a giant party and a family trip to Scotland, I saw a ton of shows on Broadway (Death of a Salesman, Moulin Rouge, Shucked, Pictures From Home, Bad Cinderella, Hamlet at Shakespeare in the Park, Six, The Shark is Broken). I started the Summer Saturdays series, as well as Fall Fridays. I saw the Lagerfeld costume exhibit at The Met, I got to see this incredible private rehearsal of a play with Michael McKean, I flew in a Harvard plane, I continued my domination of Halloween, Nathan had three pretty significant pieces written about him in The New York Times, I compiled my favourites of 2023, and I found my favourite summer photos as well as my favourite photos of the year. And here’s how my 2023 resolutions went.

1. Read at least one book per season.

Spring: Keep Moving by Dick Van Dyke

Oh my god, that’s it. I read one book last year. Nobody tell my dad because that’s embarrassing as hell. That’s the worst I’ve ever done with my reading goals. Definitely aiming to better about that this year.

2. Take Baby Dog on an adventure at least twice a season.

Done! She went to Canada a total of three separate times this year, and I took her on Central Park walks each season. She also did her pet volunteering a few times and I also took her to the air field where my brother and I got to fly in those planes.

3. Try at least one new restaurant each month.

January: Carne Mare (such a beautiful space, it’s perfect for a special occasion, caviar mozzarella sticks were slightly overrated but everything else was good), Little Ruby’s Cafe (so great for lunch) & Bistro Eloise (had the best onion soup in all of NYC, that broth was unreal, escargots was fantastic)

February: The Bar Room (the grilled chicken on top of their caesar salad was unparalleled), Nubeluz by Jose Andres at The Ritz-Carlton (everything was great, view is perfect), Golden Unicorn (suck city, don’t go) & Olio E Piu (so terrible, begging you to never go)

March: The now-closed Quality Eats (that short rib hash was great), Wayan (best dishes: the corn fritters, the spring rolls, the lamb kebabs and the chocolate chip cookie with cheddar ice cream) & The Grill (the MP pasta appetizer was the most incredible thing we ate - they used this crank-type machine table-side to make the broth for the pasta sauce out of MEAT BONES and I’m still thinking about it, other highlight was the gluten-free zucchini cornbread)

April: Hawksmoor (flashy and beautiful inside, but no real substance), Pete’s Tavern (space is great, food is fine and service was attentive but odd) & Figlia (best Italian in Astoria, by far)

May: Spirit Tree Estate Cidery (so wonderful, can’t wait to go again)

June: S& P (fine, absolutely nothing special) & Sojourn (the duck spring rolls are insanely good)

July: Superiority Burger (veggie burger was great, everything else was just average), Modern Bread and Bagel (the gluten free latkes and french toast sticks were unreal) & Rubirosa (great space, great food)

August: 111 by Modou in Glasgow (fantastic!)

September: Shukette (truly special), Margaritaville in Times Square (the key lime pie is legit here) & Shopsin’s (great chicken sandwich)

October: Beetle House (too fun) & Oscar Wilde (so seasonally perfect)

November: Kaia Wine Bar (insanely good birria tacos and a great happy hour)

December: Mel’s (good, but never need to go again)

4. Properly go on a date with Nathan at least once a month.

Did it! Some of the dates included: going to see Death of a Salesman on Broadway, which depressed us so much that we silently went home and immediately to sleep. He made me see Scream VI against my will, we got drinks at Sunken Harbor Club, went bowling in Astoria, had a night at Rec Room in Square One, saw Talk To Me in theatres, went to Shot of Art together, devoted each Sunday in October to horror movies, we saw The Shark is Broken AND LIFE WAS CHANGED FOREVER (we loved it) and we also went to Maryland for New Year’s Eve.

5. Every month, cook something I’ve never cooked before.

January: penne alla vodka (this recipe sucked, but I want to try it again) and lasagna soup (wonderful, definitely would make again)

February: greek chicken meatballs (hard pass, too bland)

March: chicken marsala (I’ve made this at least ten times since March, favourite recipe of the year) & tres leche cake (heavenly)

April: steak Diane (really, really good) & asparagus soup (phenomenal)

May: lemon almond pudding cake (pretty boring, wouldn’t make again) & a classic bread pudding (simple and great recipe)

June: strawberry cobbler bars (good, but nothing to make again) & this dark chocolate cake with this icing (unbelievably tasty)

July: nothing this month (I’ll blame it on traveling)

August: stuffed summer shells (so, so good) & homemade pizza (which I promise to shut up about after this post)

September: tomato tart (good, but a ready-made puff pastry would’ve tasted better here) & pecan pumpkin chocolate chip cookies (meh, don’t need to make again) & pumpkin spice syrup for iced coffee (wow)

October: apple cider doughnut cookies (good!) & a coconut chicken tikka masala (good but I never need to do it again)

November: a rice krispies pumpkin pie (hilarious)

December: espresso martini cookies (good!) & a mushroom loaf (truly great) & chocolate pistachio shortbread cookies (the worst! I think I just messed up the recipe though so this is on me)

6. Go on a solo, alone trip.

Biggest regret on this whole list. I’ve wanted to do this for years, so I might just keep it on the 2024 list.

7. Have at least one advertiser on this site.

Not yet! But I’ll keep trying.

8. On the first of each month, try something new.

Jesus, these resolutions were lofty! Big nope on this one.

9. Buy a keyboard and start playing piano again.

Hahahah, not even kinda. Great idea in theory. I did play piano each time I visited my parent’s house, though, so that’s something. A pathetic something, but a something. Don’t worry, I won’t try to take a half point here.

10. Have my book in at least one bookstore by the end of the year. Even if I have to self-publish and then physically put it on a shelf myself.

Okay, truthfully I didn’t even remember this was a resolution, so I didn’t even submit it anywhere for at least half of the year. But this is exactly why I need to revisit my resolutions list at least once a month. (It’s not lame if that itself is one of my resolutions, yeah?)

One thing that I’m so happy that I kept doing throughout the year? My monthly roundup posts. They’re basically little monthly journal entries that make me realize how good I have it sometimes, and I’m so grateful that anyone wants to read them. Here are the links to the last twelve months of them: December 2023, November 2023, October 2023, September 2023, August 2023, July 2023, June 2023, May 2023, April 2023, March 2023, February 2023 & January 2023.

And here are all the best tweets posts from 2023 as well: January, February, the best Valentine tweets, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, the best Halloween tweets, November, December and the best Christmas tweets.

So if we’re keeping score (we are), I did 4/10 on my resolutions (dear god). But see the thing is - this was one of the best years I’ve had in a very long time, so that’s important to note. You can brutally fail at resolutions and still make some progress because this felt like a very full year with a lot of things that went in the right direction.

2024 resolutions coming tomorrow!

January 16, 2023

2023 Resolutions

by Liz Heather in Personal

It’s 2023. How.

Before I let you know what my 2023 resolutions are, here are some other things of note that you might be interested in doing right now.

Every January I make sure to:

Mark down all important anniversaries/birthdays/holidays/weddings (also Daylight Saving Times, Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, Thanksgiving) on my calendar.
Check expiration dates for passport/license/health card/insurance/vet vaccinations and write down any important renewal dates.
Schedule all your doctor, dentist and hair cut appointments for the entire year.
Go through your entire fridge and throw away anything expired (this should really get done every month, but I’ll tell you right now that I never remember to do that).

RESOLUTIONS

Read at least one book per season.
Take Baby Dog on an adventure at least twice a season.
Try at least one new restaurant each month.
Properly go on a date with Nathan at least once a month.
Every month, cook something I’ve never cooked before.
Go on a solo, alone trip.
Have at least one advertiser on this site.
On the first of each month, try something new.
Buy a keyboard and start playing piano again.
Have my book in at least one bookstore by the end of the year. Even if I have to self-publish and then physically put it on a shelf myself.

God, I love a resolution. Everyone should make at least one resolution for themselves, even if it’s something small or something purely aimed at one’s frivolity. We’re all headed the same place, shouldn’t we enjoy some of this time right here and now? Happy new year!

You can see how I did with my 2022 resolutions over here, if you’re interested.

And if you’re looking for more resolution ideas, here are some past ones of mine: 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014.

(UPDATE: To see how these resolutions went, come on over here.)

December 30, 2014

2014 Resolutions Revisited

by Liz Heather in Personal

I'm a big fan of resolutions. New Years ones. Birthday ones. I think I just love any type of list. And it's extremely hard to keep your New Year's resolutions, yes. But I think the real problem is that we're not making the right resolutions. In order to avoid the cliched and terrible resolutions we've all heard a billion times, I think the secret of making good resolutions is to make ones that don't automatically set you up for failure. Example: Vowing to "Go to yoga more" is a lot less daunting of a resolution than promising to "Go to yoga two times a week." Does that make sense? Another tip? Don't make monthly goals, make seasonal goals. Four seasons sounds a lot roomier and more relaxed than twelve months do in my mind, but maybe that's just me.

In any case, I try to come up with good resolutions and here are what my 2014 ones were, if you were interested.

Check Facebook only once a day and take Sundays off.
- Did this happen? Not even close. But I definitely went on it way less than in 2013. This is where I learned that I shouldn't be so restrictive since I'll be less successful in the long-run if I have ridiculous expectations.
Watch at least three documentaries a month.
- This resolution might make me sound like a loser who yearns to be cooler by being more into documentaries and that's exactly right. I did it and yet I'm not cooler than you somehow.
Read at least two books a season.
- Did it! Yeah!
Try two things off Pinterest a season.
- Did it! Gonna do it again.
Apply for editor jobs at least five times a week.
- Hahahah, didn't even remember this was on the list. Tip #2: Don't make long resolution lists.
Volunteer at least once a month.
- Did it only for the first seven months. Fuck.
Do pilates at least five times a month.
- Did this every month with the exception of stupid September. Goddam you September.
Juice at least four times a week.
- Nope! Nowhere NEAR that many times. This one was way too lofty. Gotta aim lower for next year.
Never Google Kim Kardashian again.
- COMPLETED! And this one felt good. I used to Google her a lot in 2013 to see her different outfits and pretty face and body and etc., but it was harming me more than helping me so I wanted to stop and I did.
Stop reading The Frisky.
- This was a hard one, but I accomplished it. Maybe it doesn't seem difficult to you to stop reading something, but it was. I used to go on that site maybe twice a day, every day. And then somewhere along the way it became way less about women-centered topics and interesting articles to focussing more on pregnant celebrities and top ten worst dressed lists. I had to stop.

As you can see, I wasn't entirely successful - but the things that did happen? I'm pretty proud of those. I also wrote down every day that I either went to the gym or went to pilates last year and figured out that I went 137 days out of 365. That's 37.5% of an entire year that I was at the gym. Do you know how insane that is considering I hadn't given a fuck about exercise for, oh, say 27 years? 37.5%! I think that's incredible. And obviously I'm not saying that everyone needs to go to a gym, but, like, that's insane for me and makes me crazy happy to accomplish something so (typically speaking) out of character.

I'm still thinking of some new ones for 2015, so when I do there will be a post about that in a few days. This was an especially self-indulgent post AND I'M NOT SORRY!