The Rest is Still Unwritten

Karaoke, Korean Barbecue and Soft Serve

Jul 21, 2025

I kicked off the weekend doing karoake for Julia’s birthday. There’s something so earnest about karaoke. Deep cuts are fun, but what makes it special is the classics everyone can sing along to, with themes that apply so broadly—it’s cheesy in the best way. In a dark room with no windows, we can all find a little release in singing off key. We covered a lot of ground (Since U Been Gone, All Too Well, All The Small Things) and I left the room feeling lighter and happy. Julia wrote a birthday poem that touched on what a crazy year it’s been for just about everyone. At the end of the day, we will see each other through (friendship is the gift of a lifetime) and it makes the happy moments that much more special. Birthdays are also powerful reminders of how much can change year to year. After all, the rest is still unwritten.

If you’re looking for more summer fun, come to a Cyclones Game with us on August 15th! It will be a lovely Friday night with fireworks, ballpark eats, and wholesome entertainment. Buy your tickets here to sit with us and RSVP here.

Thursday’s newsletter will be about when to replace stuff in your kitchen, something I think about a lot.

Now, let’s dive in.

Something to cook:

Julia and I are so back (watching Bachelor in Paradise) and she made us

Caroline Chambers

’s white bean caprese salad with burrata from her cookbook. It was absolutely delicious with crusty bread and perfect for the hot weather.

When they say eat the rainbow, this is what they mean

I used to make this

deb perelman

zucchini and chickpea recipe all the time and I gave it another spin, without the chickpeas and with a fried egg with some toast. I added some za’atar for an easy summer dinner, with minimal stove time.

Isa, Frida, and Leslie came over for lunch (a real treat). I put on a One Direction playlist and Frida brought her CSA bounty. I made a pasta with CSA onions, garlic, summer squash, cherry tomatoes, basil and feta. I served it with chili crisp salad sprinkles and calabrian chiles. We also made a salad with a sherry vinaigrette, CSA lettuce, cucumbers, and radish. Saturdays are for the girls.

I love my Le Crueset, which my mom found on Facebook Marketplace

I did some Sunday afternoon meal prep to use up some pantry items. I made a farro salad with white beans and feta, and my trusty granola.

Something to order:

Leah, Priya, Kira and I had a long awaited reunion over gelato at Fortunato Brothers. I got the cannoli, which has great ricotta flavor. It was great to catch up and ice cream places with seating are rare!

The pieces of cannoli shell are the best

Isetta celebrated holiday in July with a fabulous event at the Annex. We enjoyed many tasty treats from our clients, including Tate’s blondies, watermelon GoodPops, Ghia’s Le Fizz and Cafe Aroma x Chopin Espresso Martinis, and great company. The team at Ru’s Workshop helped bring it all to life. It was so much fun to see everyone in person since we all talk so much on email.

Rose kindly invited me to be her plus one at the soft launch of Hani’s Soft Serve, which is now available on Friday and Saturday nights from 6-10. It is absolutely delicious—there’s one flavor available with four toppings: blueberry pie, raspberry merengue, brownie, and as a float. The blueberry pie was my favorite—it has pistachios and pie crust. If the soft serve is not available, you should still go to Hani’s for the chocolate chip cookie and egg sandwich.

They also had bowls of lactaid, how thoughtful!

We fueled up for karaoke with Korean Barbecue at Jongro, which is in the same building as Karaoke City (so convenient). I was well fed as a vegetarian with a delicious bibimbap, tons of grilled mushrooms, tteokbokki, and all the banchan.

To go with our veggie forward lunch, Leslie and Isa brought doughnuts from Fan Fan, which were so good. I love sharing doughnuts so you get to try more flavors.

I love any excuse to use the one platter I own

On Sunday, Teal and I did yoga and then got brunch at Pura Vida in Noho. Their fire egg wrap is always good and the tomato bagel was a nice complement to it (I love to get two items and share). It’s always busy, but the service is great. We window shopped afterwards and I got a cute bag on sale at Wolf & Badger, a fantastic store full of independent brands.