Texas Girl Dinner & Enjoying My Rent
Austin, Beyoncé & Lots of Rest
It’s June! I can hardly believe it. The amount that happened in the first five months of this year makes my head spin, both globally and personally. My expectation of the year on January 1st were fully inaccurate and I’m navigating a new reality. I also have gotten to do really cool stuff, like travel to Sri Lanka, The Hamptons, and Austin for work and see Beyoncé. It’s been a wild ride and has also knocked the wind out of me. This weekend, I really felt that toll. In between seeing friends, I slept in, read in bed, and took it easier than usual. My body and mind (crying is exhausting) needed a little bit of space and honoring that is one of my goals for the summer, besides enjoying my rent.
On Thursday, I’ll get more into how I’m feeling these days and what feels the hardest (and what feels good). And we will talk about And Just Like That, which I’m so happy is back.
Now, let’s dive in.
Something to cook:
I came home from Austin late and made breakfast tacos the next morning. I had three eggs and initially cooked two. One of them fell right on the floors as I was putting it on my plate so I had to use my backup (one of those days!). Eggs, cholula, and shredded cheddar make for a great taco.
Smoothie season is kicking off and I made a nice PB&J smoothie with peanut butter, frozen banana, strawberries, oat milk and chia seeds. Always salt your smoothies.
My parents hosted Shabbat dinner with Deb and Bob, who were in town. It was so nice to see them and we ate well, of course. My mom made a gorgeous challah and my dad grilled halloumi, chicken, steak, and tons of vegetables (the eggplant was my favorite), all served with pesto.
For dessert, we had
’s ice cream sandwiches, a house favorite.
One of the nicest things you can do for someone is get them groceries after they’ve been out of town. My mom helped me out so I finally have food in the fridge and I am so glad. I made some granola and roasted some cauliflower for the salads for the week ahead. My dad baked pumpkin bread, which always helps my freezer feel stocked.
Alli had a Nickelodeon themed birthday party complete with so many theme snacks (like berries for the Wild Thornberrys, pickles for Tommy Pickles, All That and a bag of chips in honor of All That!). Themes are very fun but I left before any sliming took place.
Something to order:
I had only 30 hours in Austin and the weather was a little rough (tornado watch and flash floods) so I will have to return to see and eat more. I was there for something very exciting with my client GoodPop (will share it here soon) so I had some pops, of course. My current favorite is the watermelon. My first stop from the airport was Veracruz All Natural at the Line Hotel (it was open later than other locations and came highly recommended). The migas tacos were incredible and so were all the salsas. I also had a green juice with cucumber, pineapple and spinach.
I stayed in East Austin and walked to Suerte for dinner (thank you Shelby for recommending their sister restaurant, which helped me find this). I had a Texas girl dinner, which is a caesar salad with guac and chips, instead of fries. The guacamole was incredible—it had sesame in it and was served with giant sheets of chips. The caesar salad had pickled tomatillos, so good.
The next day, we took a work break for lunch at Local Foods downtown. Everything looked so good—I got the vegan bahn mi with housemade old bay potato chips (get those as the side no matter what you order).
Back in New York, Frida and I went to the Cowboy Carter Tour! I saw Beyoncé back in 2013 and she is even more incredible now. It was a rainy night and she and her team did not miss a beat. My MetLife routine is this: eat before you go (I like NY Pizza Suprema on 31st and 8th, which has veg and vegan options), take NJ Transit, and if you’re cold and/or wet, buy hot chocolate from Dunkin, which they sell at all the stadium hot dog stands. We had really easy transport journeys both ways, which was great.
Oset hosted the second Prix Fixe Suite in Williamsburg and it was incredible! I got to try so many goodies, including Rummo Pasta, Almare Spritzes, and Homecourt soap (their stuff smells so good). Proud of her!!
and I caught up over coffee at Maman and it was the best. Her newsletter is one of my favorites to read every week and she’s even more thoughtful and funny in person.After a long morning of doing nothing, Leah, Erika and I took a walk to stimulate the local economy (aka buy ice cream at Screen Door). I got a flurry with butterfinger and oreo crumbs and omg, it was so good.
Hillary came over to meet Este and then we got dinner at Kellogg’s diner. I finally tried their flat nachos, which are almost a tostada nacho hybrid as each chip has its own toppings, instead of being stacked. Delightful.
Rose and I grabbed coffee at Larry’s CaPhe, which is so good. I got my typical iced Americano but need to try their speciality drinks. Instead of buying breakfast, we hung out at my place because this is enjoy your rent summer!
Leah, Erika and I did end the weekend at Esters—they had never been, so we split two pizzas and giggled about things I will not share here! The Esters is a great neighborhood spot and also very dog friendly.
Something to read:
Loved this from
: Small things that make life feel rich. said Let’s Make Halloumi Burgers and I’m down. Grating the halloumi is so smart.Frozen yogurt is back, baby! It never left in my heart.
What’s a kind thing someone has said or done for you?
I will never get an Oura ring because my anxiety could not handle it. Such an interesting read on the anxiety these devices can cause
What idioms reveal about food scarcity
Inside the Arms Race to Create a Better Lactose Intolerance Pill
Losing my hair sucked. Trying to regrow it has been even worse.
Normalize just dropping by again. I’m trying to have people over more as part of my “enjoy my rent” summer and being less precious about it is important. People are not judging your space with a magnifying glass.
From
: A practical guide to not eating meat. One goal of this newsletter is to showcase how well you can eat without meat (I’ve been vegetarian for 12+ years) and Kara’s always got great ideas and recipe inspo.What Do We Do With All This Consumer Rage? A good reminder that annoyance is the price of community and leaving your house is worth it.
72 specific summer reading recs from
Will 2025 be the year restaurants take addiction seriously?
’s guide to a joyful summer is required readingTake care my friends! Hoping for brightness and joy in June!
xo, Abigail
Salt your smoothies whaa will this change my life 👀 all these meals look incredible as always!
Thanks for the mention, Abigail!