June 20, 2024

Summer List 2024

Welcome to the absolute worst time of year! Rather than ranting about exactly why this is the worst season (ie. sweating into the sheets as you sleep, the buzzing of mosquitoes near your ears, the awful body odor of strangers too close to you on the subway), there may be just a few things that can be enjoyed this time of year. Unexpected summer rainstorms, late sunsets, ice cold pools, sandal tan lines, frozen pina coladas, absolutely all of the produce in season and children that you love not having to go to school. And best of all - eating as much heirloom tomato toast as humanly possible.

So let’s try to get through these next three months as best we can until the sweet scent of September arrives. Here’s the plan.

Go to a carnival.
Eat the soft serve at either Seed + Mill in Chelsea Market or at L’Industrie.
Get out of town somewhere fun to celebrate our 15 year anniversary.
Go swimming at least five times.
Make this truffled garlic bread with ricotta.

As always, I beg you to make a list of your own. If you’re looking for some ideas, here are some past summer lists I’ve made: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017 and 2015.

June 27, 2023

Summer List 2023

by Liz Heather in Best of NYC, Personal

Summer is awful for countless reasons, but let me count a few. Sun burns, endless humidity, children off school so they’re everywhere, the worry that you’re not enjoying it as much as everyone else, mosquitos that somehow get through my window screens, overcrowded patios, the underground hot, stagnant air that accompanies any subway wait. I could go on, but this is getting depressing.

On the other hand, there are the tiniest amount of great things about this, the worst season of all. Summer rainstorms, late sunsets, pools, frozen pina coladas, sandal tan lines, oh hell the perfect corn and tomatoes and nectarines and strawberries. Christ, I always forget about the produce, it’s unmatched. That being said, let’s try to get through these next three months as best we can until the sweet scent of September arrives.

Here’s what I’d love to do this summer (in addition to watching some of these and definitely some of these).

Bake some sort of tomato pie.
Go jet skiing.
Eat at the new Superiority Burger.
Finally visit Smorgasburg.
Swim at least five times.

As always, I encourage you to make a list of your own because as I’ve said before - we are all barreling towards death. So have some fun.

If you’re looking for some ideas for yourself, here are some past summer lists I’ve made: 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017 and 2015.

June 24, 2022

Summer List 2022

by Liz Heather in Personal

Welcome to hell.

It’s officially the most disgusting time of year! Other than eating this tomato sandwich on repeat or watching these vacation movies or these TV episodes or these perfect summer movies, what shall we do to pass the time until the best time of the year arrives?

Tan on Governor’s Island. I have to get a tan somewhere, so why not there? I love the idea of renting a bike, taking the ferry, riding around that car-less paradise and then just lounging anywhere in the sun. Shit, is that maybe the answer… to life?
Make a summer buckle. I never have before and the main reason I want to? It has a fun name.
Visit Storm King. See what the big deal is.
Go swimming at least five times. This is really for my sanity, I need to be in water.
Visit the new Kim’s Video because it seems cool as hell.

Again, I encourage you to make a list of your own because this life is not long and you should maybe eat a buckle while you still can.

And if you can’t think of ideas on your own, here are some past summer lists of mine to peruse for inspiration.