Hi all, hope everyone is doing well!
My parents are in the city this weekend and I’m excited to see them and maybe eat outside at one of the restaurants in our ‘hood that is offering socially distant dining options. It’s been cute seeing all the restaurants setting up makeshift space on the sidewalk and street.
Otherwise, my only plans are to lounge on the roof deck and read. Not a bad plan.
Here are some of my recent favorites. I realized I haven’t done one of these posts in about a month so there are a lot of great things to share. Enjoy!
Vegan Soft-Serve Ice Cream from Whipped – Urban Dessert Lab
Whipped is a minority and women-owned vegan ice cream shop offering oat-milk based soft serve. As someone that’s lactose intolerant but LOVES ice cream, I like to think of myself as a vegan ice cream connoisseur. If it’s dairy-free and in NYC, I’ve probably tried it.
I gotta say, Whipped might be my all-time favorite for vegan ice cream. The ice cream itself is creamy but not too “heavy” like nut-based alternatives. It’s perfectly sweet and I love that they add LOTS of toppings on top and on the bottom.
It’s a bit pricey, and a bit messy, but it’s been a lovely splurge once a week. Heads up, the NYC store is only open Friday – Sunday. They also have a store in Boston!
Urban Vegan Kitchen
Urban Vegan Kitchen is a black-owned restaurant offering vegan comfort food. I’ve gotten food from them twice now, once via Postmates and then a friend and I did pick-up for a socially distanced picnic on the water.
I’ve been doing the create-a-bowl option with mac n cheese, crispy brussel sprouts, and southern fried seitan with ranch dressing on the side. Everything about the bowl is delicious. I want to try other stuff on the menu but I have a feeling I’ll keep ordering the same thing because I like it so much. The food is pricey compared to other vegan places, but the servings for the bowl are fairly large.
Silk Face Mask from NIGHT in Gunmetal.
Get $10 off your first order using this link.
Never in my life would I have thought I’d be sitting here reviewing face coverings, yet here we are in 2020. I’ve been alternating between the same cotton masks (which I love!) but wanted to buy a few more since it looks like we’re going to be wearing masks for awhile. I was totally influenced to buy this silk face mask from NIGHT by the Bad on Paper podcast. The mask features a nose clip which means NO FOGGING UP GLASSES and you can adjust the ear strap.
I gotta say, the silk feels SO nice on my face and I appreciate the nose clip. On a super hot + humid day I think I still prefer the cotton mask as it almost soaks up more of my sweat (gross, I know) but for normal summer days, the silk mask is the way to go. I already bought a second mask in blush.
the perfect white jean shorts from J.Crew.
Not gonna lie, wearing white shorts feels like a recipe for disaster when you’re a hot mess like me… but I’m still really obsessed with these shorts. They’re high waisted, have the perfect amount of stretch and I find they’re the perfect short but not too short length when I roll them up a little on the bottom.
Honey – Plugin
Honey is a free plugin you can add to your browser that finds you discount codes to use when you’re shopping. So let’s say you’re checking out on JCrew.com, when you’d usually enter discount codes you can click on your Honey plugin and it finds the best discounts for you to use. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how much money it’s saved me on various websites.
According to Honey’s website, they do not share your data. which you can read about here.
Megababe Hand Sanitizer
Hand sanitizer is another thing to add to the list of “things I’m REAL passionate about in 2020.”
This hand sanitizer from Megababe is the best. It’s smells delightful and is legit magical because it doesn’t dry out your hands, unlike other hand sanitizers. I’m dead serious, my friend used some when we were in Montauk and commented on how it made their hands actually feel nice.
these pajama bottoms from Old Navy
I’ve been on a quest to find simple cotton pajama bottoms. Turns out they are harder to find than you’d think — and especially so during a pandemic when everyone is buying comfy clothes AND you can’t shop in-store. I finally found the perfect pair of pajama bottoms and they’re only $16 from Old Navy and come in a bunch of fun patterns. I just wanted something simple and cotton to wear during the summer when it’s hot but I don’t want to wear shorts.
They’re a bit long on me (I’m 5’2″ and bought an XS) but I just roll the bottom up a few times and it’s fine.
Mike Birbiglia’s new podcast Working It Out:
Mike Birbiglia is hands down one of my favorite comedians. I was super excited to see he now has a podcast where we works out his new material with his very funny friends like John Mulaney. It’s as excellent as I hoped it would be.
Rom Com Pods
I’ve never listened to a fiction podcast before but was intrigued by this one from Becca Freeman. It’s like a rom-com book, but in podcast form and I’m LOVING IT. Every season is going to be six episodes and a different story. The first season is “Honeymoon For One”.
Claire is about to marry her college sweetheart. She then finds out he’s cheating on her in the absolute worst way imaginable. She decides to still go to Italy on what was supposed to be their romantic honeymoon. On this romantic tour she ends up meeting a cast of ridiculous couples.
I also was supposed to go to Italy this month so while it makes me a bit sad, it’s giving me a bit of an Italy fix.
If you love romantic books and are looking for a fun, light podcast, I highly recommend.
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