2022 Resolutions Revisited

by Liz Heather in

Time to revisit the resolutions that I made in 2022! This is probably my favourite post of the year because I love accountability. The best part about making resolutions is going back and seeing how the hell they went in reality. Also why do people think resolutions can’t be a mixture of regular goals and FUN goals? We’re all barreling towards death, why on earth wouldn’t we prioritize the things that make us genuinely happy as well? Resolution doesn’t have to be a dirty word. In any case, here’s how my year went.

Throughout the year, I kept making my seasonal lists (spring, summer, autumn, winter). I walked through a deserted Central Park in the middle of a snowstorm, I wrote about the best snow day sitcom episodes to watch, I went to the beautiful New York Transit Museum, I did Nathan’s podcast twice (‘Who Hurt You?’ and ‘Happy Wife, Happy Life’), I saw a ton of shows on Broadway (Phantom of the Opera for the millionth time, MJ: The Musical, Come From Away, Harry Potter, Birthday Candles, American Buffalo, Mr. Saturday Night and A Christmas Carol). I went to as many fashion exhibits as I could (The Met’s In America: A Lexicon of Fashion as well as when they updated that same exhibit a few months later, the truly disappointing In America: An Anthology of Fashion and the Thierry Mugler exhibit), I compiled my favourites of 2022, and I found my favourite summer photos as well as my favourite photos of the year. And here’s how my 2022 resolutions went.

1. Read at least one book per season.

Winter: Taste: My Life Through Food By Stanley Tucci & Yours Cruelly, Elvira: Memoirs of the Mistress of the Dark By Cassandra Peterson

Spring: Still Me By Christopher Reeve

Summer: Fuck Your Diet: And Other Things My Thighs Tell Me By Chloe Hilliard (I didn’t do a review because there wasn’t that much to say about it)

Autumn: The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music By Dave Grohl

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

Winter: I took her to Canada with me for Christmas and we also went to Central Park once in February on an unseasonably nice day.

Spring: I took her to Cooper Beach in the Hamptons and to Central Park as soon as the cherry trees started to bloom.

Baby Dog Cooper Beach Hamptons Liz Heather chihuahua dog

Baby Dog at Cooper Beach, The Hamptons

Summer: I took her to Astoria Park, to the American Dream mall in New Jersey, to see the Amityville House on Long Island and we also took her to Las Vegas.

Autumn: I took her to Canada for Thanksgiving, to Los Angeles for a wedding and to Central Park again for Halloween.

3. Try at least one new restaurant each month.

January: Alidoro (super sucked), Mamo (good but nothing special) and The Regency Bar & Grill (service and food were both lovely)

February: Sarabeth’s (pear salad & mussels were fantastic), La Petite Joie (love any place that does oysters Rockefeller every night of the week), The Independent (again, great mussels, I’m easy to please mussel-wise), Suprema Provisions (good, but I never need to go again), Vam Dam Diner (loved it) and Sotto Di Luna (hated it, who cooks PIZZA badly??)

March: The Palm Court at The Plaza (just for drinks, love a fancy drink at the beginning of an evening), The Dowlings at The Carlyle (FINALLY somewhere that has steak Diane!), Robert (nice view, but the food was nothing spectacular and the decor was confusing), Vallata (the lunch special is the main reason to go), Rezdora (incredible pastas), Raoul’s (their burger au poivre might be the sexiest burger in NYC), Glass House Tavern (I still dream about the roasted corn and couscous risotto)

April: Peak (great view, food was good, but Manhatta is the better option here)

May: Bar Crudo (wonderful, must go again)

June: Ristorante Pizzeria Eden in Barcelona (literally the best veal lasagna I’ve ever had on planet earth, the pizza was crazy too), Encercle in Barcelona (the best calamari OF LIFE), Padella in London (great pasta), Cottiers in Glasgow (had an incredible Sunday roast)

Calamari from Encercle, Barcelona

July: Bar Marseille (great food, near the beach) & The Grid at the Great Jones Distillery (really not worth it)

August: Riverpark (food was great) & The Wild Tart (for tea service, so good!)

September: Fiaschetteria Pistoia (the duck ragu was great, but the space isn’t inviting), The Bedford by Martha Stewart (good but overpriced and overrated), Bazaar Meat By Jose Andres (stellar) and Sala (too, too good - both brunch and dinner)

October: Ozzy’s Burgers (crazy good), The Arch (beautiful place, but the food was nothing to return for), Tocoya (tacos were phenomenal), The Hearth By Lynn Crawford (surprisingly great for an airport restaurant)

November: Don Angie (the lasagna is everything you hoped it would be & more, but skip the desserts)

December: Soothr (great new (to me) Thai place)

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

Okay, it’s none of your business exactly what we did but actual dates only happened six out of twelve months of the year. They were good dates (trips, plays, bars) but still. I really want to do better this year, we spend so much of our boring/everyday time with our significant others that it’s easy to stop trying to have fun and I refuse to settle for that.

5. Make a receipt box to track monthly expenses.

I did this one! Now I just have to take a few hours and see how much money was spent on what… oh no.

6. Go on a solo, alone trip.

I didn’t do this and it’s my biggest regret.

7. Wear FUN clothes.

I think I did! I mean, one can always do more but this was a great start.

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

January: Ate pork because of how lucky it is to eat on New Year’s Day (and you know what? It turned out to be a great year. Why doesn’t everyone listen to me?)

February: Forgot.

March: I made scallops at home for the first time. Never again, I’m not a skilled enough cook to make them well.

April: I went to an antique shop in Chelsea that underwhelmed.

May: Forgot.

June: Forgot.

July: I swam first thing in the morning, even before breakfast. Loved it.

August: Forgot.

September: Forgot.

October: I went to a random wardrobe sale downtown Toronto (it sucked).

November: I watched a new horror movie AFTER Halloween for the first time (Halloween Ends) and it. was. terrible. LESSON LEARNED.

December: Went to a new museum. Loved it.

9. Vow not to do eyelash extensions ever again.

I absolutely did not do any extensions… until June came around. Then I went nuts. What can I say, I had that huge trip coming up and I was weak. But no excuses! Vowing again to never do them again, starting NOW!

10. Have my book published by the end of 2022.

Eep. Okay, I’m days away from having a manuscript in my hands, so I’m counting this as progress. I still failed at the resolution, but the progress of being further along than last year is making me hopeful.

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 2022, November 2022, October 2022, September 2022, August 2022, July 2022, June 2022, May 2022, April 2022, March 2022, February 2022 & January 2022.

And here are all the best tweets posts from 2022 as well:

Sidenote: I think I’m gonna go back to just posting those best-of tweets once a month.

So if we’re keeping score (we are), I did 6/10 on my resolutions (oh god). But I only intend on doing even better this year, so let’s start this, baby.

2023 resolutions coming tomorrow!

A-Z Foods For 2021

by Liz Heather in

As part of my new year’s resolutions this year, I want to make everything on this list throughout 2021. I’ve never made any of them before (mostly because they either seemed intimidating or time consuming), but I’ve always wanted to. I’ll document all of the progress on an Instagram highlight over here, incase you want to see how it goes. Also, I won’t go in alphabetical order since some things are better made when it’s seasonally appropriate.

2019 Resolutions Revisited

by Liz Heather in

2019 was actually a pretty great year. Some highlights? I moved in a great new apartment, Nathan did The Tonight Show, I went to Niagara Falls with most of my family, I celebrated ten years with Nathan by going to Vermont, I spent Thanksgiving in the Bahamas with my parents, I went to New Orleans with Jenn, I went to Canada for the holidays, and there are so many great photos that I love (and I started using the free Google Photos so I never lose my photos again). As you may recall, I made some resolutions last year, so let’s see how they went.

  1. Read at least one book per season.

  2. Go to the gym or do some kind of physically strenuous activity at least ten times a month.

    • I crunched the numbers and let’s just say that I didn’t quite hit my target. This was the first year in a long time that I really just hated going to the gym and I’ve gotta change something about that because I used to love going to my old gym (they had a wicked pilates schedule, but unfortunately closed down). I miss pilates. I hate NYSC. I’ve got to make some changes this year.

  3. Juice at least five times a month.

    • January: 11 times

    • February: 7 times

    • March: 8 times

    • April: 3 times

    • May: 1 time

    • June: None

    • July: 2 times

    • August: 2 times

    • September: 9 times

    • October: 2 times

    • November: 1 time

    • December: None

    • Yikes. I mean… I started off strong and then fully fell off the wagon. Will try harder in 2020.

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

    • I only managed to take her on only one outing per season. I can do better. I must do better.

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

    • I just looked over the entire yearly schedule that I keep and holy shit, we completed this. The only months we didn’t do were October and December which were arguably the busiest ones when I look back at the calendar. This is great! Some of the dates included: dinners, drinks, movies, museums and a Raptors game.

  6. Go on an alone trip.

    • I really, really wanted to do this one but it didn’t pan out because of other trips that were taken. I will do this one day!

  7. Clean makeup brushes on the first of each month.

    • There were only four months that I didn’t do this one! That’s a fucking miracle! And when compared with my numerous zero-times-a-year statistic, I’m counting this one as a raging success.

  8. Try at least one new restaurant each month.

    • January: Emily (love this place, such great pizza, the burger is good but wildly overpriced), Xi’an Famous Foods (really good, one entree is enough for two people for sure), The Dutch (which has one of the best steak tartares in this whole damn city), Tavern On The Green (it was very okay but the service was great) and Dough (too dough-y! Ugh!)

    • February: Ten Bells (the food was average, the service was surprisingly good since the place is so crowded), Charlie Palmer Steak (nothing great, needn’t go again), The Huntress (great wings and I’m a wing-hater), Scarr’s (too inconsistent, won’t return), Empellon Al Pastor (too expensive for Avenue A, not really worth it), Mama’s TOO! (as good as they say) and Sardi’s (I ordered badly, which is my fault, but the service was impeccable)

    • March: Manhatta (fantastic for lunch, phenomenal view), Lilia (for my birthday, great pasta, though mafaldini is way too al dente), Pulqueria (pretty good!), Lions & Tigers & Squares Detroit Pizza (just a party, so so good), Raclette (nothing special, won’t return), Al Di La (again, nothing to write home about) and Daily Provisions (big fan, but hate the no-cash aspect)

    • April: Cactus Club in Etobicoke (fucking in love with the short rib pappardelle)

    • May: Cronuts at Dominique Ansel Bakery (good but way too sugary) (and yes, I’m six years late to this trend, SUE ME) and La Contenta (disappointing)

    • June: The Astorian (insanely good poutine - just shockingly good), Chama Mama (decent but there’s no reason to ever go again) and Whit’s End (good but I wish the burger was larger)

    • July: Misi (it was good, but it’s in Brooklyn so I’ll likely never go again), Pat LaFrieda’s Original Filet Mignon Steak Sandwich (really good for a stadium sandwich) and Village Yokocho (crazy good)

    • August: I was going to name this one dive-y place that my brother took me to for their calamari but it’s so aggressively average there’s no point in me listing it here, I hope you’re reading this, Robbie.

    • September: The Happiest Hour (super forgettable, you’d think that a place with this name would have cheapish food/drinks, THINK AGAIN) and Bar Sardine (hard pass)

    • October: Fish by José Andrés (one of the best meals I’ve ever had, the service was perfect), Drago’s (charbroiled oysters aren’t for everyone), Commander’s Palace (very lovely), Luke (great oyster happy hour), Mr. B’s Bistro (great service, great food), Brennan’s (the bananas foster is much too sweet but the performance of making it is fun?), Meril (decent), Delmonico (the service was so odd and not good and the food was equally unimpressive)

    • November: Mister Paradise (complete bullshit) and Joe & Pat’s (the service is laughably mean/bad, which is fine since the pizza is the most average slice in maybe the whole city? Staten Island can keep it)

    • December: Uncle Tetsu’s cheesecake (weird, kind of fun, but ultimately nothing special)

  9. Limit online shopping to once a month (exception being Christmas).

    • I think I was actually pretty great at doing this. It helped that I developed an intense hatred for Amazon specifically, so this really worked out.

  10. Write for at least two hours per week & submit pieces to publications at least five times each month.

    • Now this? This makes me feel like shit. I’m going to make this resolution again and try my goddam best to keep it. No more excuses. I sporadically did this on and off all year but man… this is the year. I’m gonna do it this year.

2019 was really a great year. Thank you so much for continuing to read all of the thoughts that I post on here, it really does means more to me than you’ll ever know.