The Best of April 2025

Spring marches on! Is that good? Bad? I am the wrong person to ask. But May is here so we keep going. Here’s what went down last month!

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

• I compiled a separate list of my favourite White Lotus tweets since the season ended (includes spoilers), too.

• I read and reviewed Viola Davis’ new memoir - as well as Ina Garten’s.

• I did that viral onion ring snack recipe and it was really good. This is definitely an end-of-times recipe, though. Absolutely not fussy in any way.

View fullsize

Viral onion rings snack recipe

• Nathan and I went to Central Park for the first time without Baby Dog and it was brutal but nice at the same time. Why does it feel like every person on earth right now has at least four dogs? It’s an epidemic.

View fullsize

Central Park, April 2025

• The gluten-free restaurant Thyme & Tonic remains my favourite place on the Upper West Side. That popcorn chicken is everything.

View fullsize

Gluten-free popcorn chicken at Thyme & Tonic, Upper West Side

• The mini cubano at Guantanamera reminded me (and fell flat) of how good the best cubano on this planet is at La Cubana in Toronto. So that was sad.

• The summer felt friends were released and I might have bought them all because their faces bring me joy. (Nope, absolutely nobody’s depressed over here.)

View fullsize

Okay, but I would die for them

• The happy hour at STK midtown might be one of the most reasonably-priced places still in this city. With a patio, too!

View fullsize

Happy hour at STK midtown

• I saw a few shows!

  • Death Becomes Her - absolutely wonderful. The costumes were beyond gorgeous and fun. It was really funny and everyone did such a great job. Better than the movie.

  • Wonderful Town - so good! My dear friend Jessie is in it, but I swear I’m not biased at all. I loved the dancing; there isn’t enough modern tap these days.

  • Maybe Happy Ending - a new level of terrible. More thoughts over here.

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

• I started using hydrocolloid bandages (that I cut up to smaller sizes) instead of branded pimple patches (that are more expensive) and they’ve been working so well. Such a cheaper option and they are way bigger than the Mighty Patch ones.

• I made this egg and sweet potato dish that came out great, so I’ve already made it a few more times.

View fullsize

Sweet potato egg boat

• I gave in and bought a night serum: the Trader Joe’s one. Might return it though because my face has been flakier than normal lately, so maybe that’s why? I don’t know what the hell to do with my face. Can I just let it be a face… can that be a thing?

View fullsize

I refuse to learn what retinol is or why I need it please don’t tell me

• I did this plant hack (below) and it really helped, new leaves are growing and it’s wild.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jill Dinnan (@curly_plant_mom)

• I got pistachio milk in a cappuccino the other day and I hope they never stop introducing new nut milks (ick, sorry that’s a terrible phrase). Just when you think they’re done, there’s another one that tastes great.

• The best frozen yogurt (the really tart kind) is back at Madison Fare. Cannot recommend enough.

View fullsize

Madison Fare frozen yogurt

• Levain Bakery has limited edition lemon cookies and black and white cookies right now and they’re so good. Such a perfect host/hostess gift.

View fullsize

I don’t usually endorse cookies that are $5+ but these are the exception to the rule

• Yes the gluten-free pizza at Rubirosa is good, but do not sleep on their caesar salad. Unbelievable.

• And speaking of caesars, L’Industrie Pizzeria makes a special sandwich each Wednesday so I tried their chicken caesar and it blew my mind right to pieces. I was going to request that they omit the banana peppers on it because I thought that I didn’t like them, but I kept them on anyway because maybe my tastebuds have changed (I accidentally had a black olive a few months ago and it actually tasted good??) so of course it tasted incredible. It was honestly one of the greatest sandwiches I’ve ever had in this whole city. The lesson? Maybe you don’t know everything about yourself.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by L'industrie Pizzeria ™️ (@lindustriebk)

• Some things I watched:

  • Leaving Las Vegas - I’d never seen it before and never will again. Just awful. Anyone who liked it might be a moron.

  • Black Mirror (newest season) - my favourite episodes were definitely Common People and Eulogy. The Issa Rae one was appallingly bad.

Some things I’m looking forward to this month: there’s a wedding at the end of the month that’ll be a nice weekend getaway so that’ll be fun, I really want to see the new Stranger Things on Broadway, and Marla comes for a visit! All great things.

You can read last month’s roundup over here.

View fullsize

Sunset in Queens

September Shenanigans 2022

View fullsize

Early fall sunsets are easily the best ones all year

Officially the latest monthly post I’ve ever done, I’m sorry! I promise it will never happen again. We’re right in the middle of autumn and everything is overwhelming, but a good kind of overwhelming. Here’s what went down in September (oh god that feels like a year ago).

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

• I finally went to visit the video rental space Kim’s Video downtown.

• I made a collection of my favourite photos from the summer.

• I recapped what I did off my summer list of things to do.

• I wrote my autumn list of things that I intend to do this season.

• I did a podcast with Nathan that can be heard over here.

• I know I’ve mentioned how good Aquaphor is for ashy elbows, but I’ve also discovered that it’s incredible at healing damaged pimple areas. For instance, when you pop one and it goes so wrong. I did this recently and then put some of it right on top and it was completely healed in two days.

• I’ve tried the Carbone jarred pasta sauce and it was great! It’s overpriced, so I’d only buy it on sale. And some flavours can be a little too oily, but overall it tastes great.

• I finally saw Nope and I think I liked it. It’s probably my least favourite of his movies, but it was enjoyable to watch. That shoe standing upright bothered me for way too long before I looked it up and connected the idea of “bad miracles” but other than that, it was all right. Love the way that man promotes a movie.

• I had dinner at Fiaschetteria Pistoia and the duck ragu was really good. It’s an aggressively tiny restaurant, but the food made it worth it.

• Since it’s illegal to operate any cashless operation in New York City, if you ever see a place trying to tell you otherwise - report them! To consumers@dca.nyc.gov - I do it all the time.

• Some things I watched:

  • The Woodstock documentary on Netflix: only three episodes, great watch. You will hate all concert promoters by the end of it.

  • Volcano: okay, I can finally settle this debate. It is NOT better than Dante’s Peak.

  • Never Have I Ever (newest season): I almost wanted to hate it (why? I’ve watched all the seasons? I can’t explain this?) but I keep loving it. I can acknowledge that younger people have every right to hate this show. The supplementary characters just keep getting better and better.

  • The Keaton episode of New Girl: I’ve never seen this show because it looks bad and I wouldn’t like it. That being said, I watched this one because it was a Halloween episode and I also thought there was a chance of Michael Keaton being in it. God, what a mistake. This episode only confirms what a terrible show it really is. Can we retire fat suits already?

  • Killing Me Softly: honestly just a wild ride of a movie. Everyone should watch it.

  • Hocus Pocus 2: okay, let me start this by saying that this movie isn’t for me. It’s for children. And I can respect that. I just wish that more characters from the original were in this one, that would’ve made me so much more into it. Nothing will beat the original in my mind and that’s perfectly acceptable.

• So I went to Las Vegas again and I got to eat at the new Martha Stewart restaurant The Bedford. Of course my expectations were high because 1) I love her and 2) she’s never opened a restaurant before. The servers are extremely well trained (which is wonderful, I love this detail) they have even been taught to say “cheers” in Polish. The attention to detail on the decor of the individual tables as well as the entire space is perfection, even the temperature was just right. However, there had to be cons. All burgers should have round buns, what reason is there to mess with that simple fact? The smashed potato (which is smashed table-side) is an incredibly stupid idea and almost seems like a joke on the white people who would actually enjoy it. Small side orders of sauces should absolutely never cost $9, that’s ludicrous. The fries were wildly overcooked in overused oil (how does one mess up french fries?) and the prices, sure, they were outrageous but that fact tracks since it’s in Las Vegas. The homemade mustard was really tasty (maybe because you never come across homemade?) and her béarnaise sauce was perfect. The oysters Rockefeller were good, if only a little bit chilly. All in all, it was an experience. One that I’ll happily never have to have again.

View fullsize

The Bedford in Las Vegas

View fullsize

Oysters Rockefeller at The Bedford in Las Vegas

View fullsize

Am I wrong or does this burger bun belong at Wendy’s?

• I also ate at Bazaar Meat By Jose Andres in Vegas and it was spectacular. I got the cotton candy fois gras, the patatas bravas and the meatball. Love this man. Love his food.

• I tried the tacos at Dirty Taco (an LA street-style taco place) in Grand Central Terminal and the duck skin tacos were only all right, but the steak ones were fantastic. The tortillas were also great. Also, maybe it’s a bad idea to have the word dirty in your name?

• I made these pumpkin lasagna rollups that have the exact right amount of pumpkin in them.

View fullsize

Pumpkin lasagna rollups

• Also made this blueberry buckle that tasted especially good with some maple syrup on top.

View fullsize

What’s a buckle? Basically cake… yeah it’s just cake.

• I finally went to the Manhattan location of The Alamo and this theatre is great, but impossible to find. It’s also where the new Kim’s Video is hiding.

View fullsize

Who on earth is expected to easily find this place, you tell me

• I had brunch at Sala in Astoria and just wow. I never thought I’d have the best BLT of my life at a tapas place. Everyone needs to go.

• I read the Chloe Hilliard book Fuck Your Diet: And Other Things My Thighs Tell Me and… meh. Can we all make a pact to never use the phrase eating clean ever again? The book was really very okay, I think I just wish it was more about her being a comedian and less about body stuff. It’s obviously my fault since the title really does say it all.

• If you aren’t watching the Halloween episodes of Bob’s Burgers this month, you may not be cooler than I am.

View fullsize

Some things that I’m looking forward to doing this month: oh god, so many Halloween related activities, I can’t wait to finalize our costumes, I’m definitely going to make these pumpkin cookies again, I’d love to make garlic chicken meatballs with orzo for dinner on a rainy night, I really want to walk around Central Park with Baby Dog since all the leaves are changing and I’d really love to have next month’s roundup post written on time. Fingers crossed. Oh and here’s a link to all of the fall festivals happening around NYC right now.

If you have any interest in what went on in August, come on over here. I also have an autumn highlight reel on Instagram if you care to see what I’m up to this season.

View fullsize

Baby Dog with the last of the summer sunflowers, September 2022

Manhattanhenge

Manhattanhenge: when the sun aligns spectacularly with the NYC street grid.

For 2014 the dates for Manhattanhenge fall on May 29th and July 12th, when the setting Sun aligns precisely with the Manhattan street grid, creating a lovely glow of light across the backdrop of the city, simultaneously illuminating both the north and south sides of every cross street of the borough's grid. 

For these two days, as the Sun sets on the grid, half the disk sits above and half below the horizon. The day after (May 30th) and the day before (July 11) also offer Manhattanhenge moments, but at sunset, you instead will find the entire ball of the Sun on the horizon.

Half Sun on the Grid Times

Thursday, May 29 8:16 P.M. EDT
Saturday, July 12 8:25 P.M. EDT

Full Sun on the Grid Times

Friday, May 30 8:18 P.M. EDT
Friday, July 11 8:24 P.M. EDT

If you're going to check it out, then arrive a half-hour earlier than the times given above.

For best effect, position yourself as far east in Manhattan as possible. But ensure that when you look west across the avenues you can still see New Jersey. Clear cross streets include 14th, 23rd, 34th. 42nd, 57th, and several streets adjacent to them. 

“If you have a window in your washroom, take a shower at sunset. Best part of the day.”

— #lizadvice