As the old decade came to a close a new one sprang up in its place. We’re now 30+ days into 2020 and its been one odd and stressful start to the new year. But as the month has finally come to a close it does seem like things are getting back on track.

RECAP OF THE MONTH

There might be nothing better than waking up on the first day of a new year. The world feels like its within your grasp all you need to do is put your mind to it and reach out and grab it. I’ll never forget going for a quick run, and meeting Jake and Kayla that morning. We went to the diner, took a walk through Central Park with Frasier and even took the little guy into the new Nordstroms near Columbus Circle. It was such a nice start to the new year. We saw them off that afternoon to the airport and we had a couple of days before having to get back to work.

On the 3rd of January, we went to a new restaurant in town called Portale. Considered to be one of the best new Italian restaurants in the city. It was phenomenal but for some reason a meal that we ordered multiple courses for ended far quicker then we anticipated, in less than an hour. So we left the beautifully designed restaurant, went home, and then back out to one of Jenn’s most anticipated musicals since we moved to New York, Moulin Rouge. The show was quite the spectacle although it wasn’t able to capture the same magic for either of us as the movie. But it was a ton of fun.

Two days later we fulfilled another one of Jenn’s dreams, eating at Tavern on the Green for brunch. The place is always packed and so we had to book the reservations a month in advance. It’s a beautiful place that absolutely capitalizes on its Central Park location. The food was fine, but the experience was so much better. While we were at brunch Frasier was doing a trial run at a new boarding place we found in Manhattan. He seemed to love this new place and to pick him up Jenn and I walked over two miles from brunch on what was one of the most beautiful days in January. We’re still looking for the perfect place (this might be it) for him when we go on trips.

Speaking of trips. You may remember in the last two months we booked a trip to Banff (more specifically Lake Louise) that we were scheduled to go to over the MLK holiday. A few days into the first full work week Frasier became violently ill. It started with vomiting and diarrhea and continued with lethargy, not eating, and more vomiting. It was far worse then what had happened in September and it truly shook both of us. To see your dog not eat, not drink water, and just sort of lay there at 10 months old was not what we wanted to see. We gave him a few days, things didn’t improve and so we had to make a tough (although rather easy) decision of canceling our trip. Thankfully AMEX came to the rescue and refunded our non-refundable hotel and we were able to cancel everything else after that. After four regular Vet visits and an emergency room visit and a week and a half of ups and downs, Frasier finally turned around and went back to normal. It was a truly long week and a half. I’m thankful to say he seems to be back to his normal state now and we couldn’t be more grateful.

I am grateful that we were home because on January 16, 2020, at 2:08 PM Pacific Standard Time, Ryan & Amy welcomed Gracelyn Elizabeth Nordbeck into the world. She weighed 8.1oz and had an army of people ready to welcome her both at Kaiser in Riverside as well as across the country in Manhattan. We woke up to a text from Ryan at 7:04 AM (eastern) saying it was go-time and that afternoon she was here. Before everyone left for the evening we got to FaceTime in and meet Gracey for the first time. It was far and away the hardest day to not still live in California. I’ve never felt further away. Over the coming days and weeks, we got to FaceTime in for various updates of Gracey and Ryan/Amy which were always fun. It’s crazy to think that as I’m writing this we are Aunts & Uncles. I can’t wait to meet Gracey next month.

To celebrate our new niece and our recovering pup Jenn and I went to another new restaurant called Red Paper Clip. The name alone grabbed us but what really brought us in was that it was known as one of the better tasting menus in the city. This was great because Jenn and I put a goal this year that instead of just limiting ourselves to “Michelin” restaurants we’d go for broader “tasting menu’s” our favorite sort of dining experience. Without recounting each course it was easily one of the best meals we’ve had since moving here. It was around eight courses with oysters, deconstructed everything bagels, lobster, pasta, rib eye, and dessert. Just looking at these pictures again makes my mouth water. It was such a great night and meal.

One of my goals since moving to NYC has been to go to the Met and see an opera. When tickets became available for this season shows we purchased tickets for Porgy and Bess. What an opera it turned out to be. We both got dressed up and met for dumplings near our apartment before walking up to Lincoln Center. We had incredible seats in the orchestra for the three hour and thirty-minute run time. One of the first things we said after we got out of the opera was when can we go again. I expect we have at least one more Opera in our future this season.

And like that the month came to a close. Both Jenn and I have had an incredible but busy start to the year. My new role at Citi was officially announced in an e-mail and with it has come some late nights and early mornings. I’m proud of what Jenn and I have already accomplished in our short time here and can’t wait to see where the road takes us from here.

TV WE WATCHED

Given how much we’ve been working we haven’t watched nearly as much television as in past months. By far the highlights of the the first month of the year were The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel in its third season and Sex Education in its second. Both shows we flew right through and were both a great combination of humor and heart.

BOOKS I READ (OR LISTENED TO)

I set out a very ambitious goal of 40 books in 2020. Who knows maybe I’ll do 50 in in 2021. But even to hit the goal of 40 in 2020 is going to require me to have a level of dedication and endurance to hit the goal. I started out the year strong with 5 books, 2 which I’d give a 5/5 and one that I’d give a 4/5. The standout novel this month and one that will stick with me for the rest of my life is Know My Name by Chanel Miller. That book should be required reading for every male from the ages of 14-100.

MOVIES WE WATCHED

Two great movies this month. The first was a one-man show from last years Broadway season that somehow both Jenn and I missed. But I am so glad they brought it to Netflix because The New One by Mike Birbiglia was phenomenal. The other movie was the Oscar nominated movie Parasite. I went into the movie without knowing anything and that’s absolutely how it should be. Its such a good movie.

THEATER WE SAW

I’ll never forget coming to the small theater off-off-broadway to go see The Thin Place when we made our way to the front row in a very intimate theater. As the show began one of the actresses who was playing a psychic looked at me and said she liked my jeans but then locked in on Jenn saying she reminded her of her Grandma. The play went on and was quite good. And at the end she focused back on Jenn and tried to “relay a message via telepathy” which actually meant a small directional speaker next to Jenn was saying the word. Jenn and I both couldn’t hear it clearly but the word was Elephant and we both only heard “Ellen.”

The other theater highlight was going to our first Opera at the Met and thank goodness it was a great one in Porgy and Bess.

GAMES I'VE BEEN PLAYING

I felt like I needed to play something different to start the year. One of the early releases of 2020 was AO Tennis 2 which I thought would be quite bad but turned out to be quite good.

2020 GOAL TRACKING

Goal #1: Read 40 Books: I've read 5 books and am currently ahead of schedule to hit my goal.

Goal #2: Run 300 Times: I’ve run 29 times so far in 2020. On track.

Goal #3: Keep Weight Under 140: I've yet to go over 140lbs

Goal #4: Eat at 13 Tasting Menu’s: 1 so far, on schedule to hit 13.

Goal #5: 12 Monthly Recaps: 1 for 1.

Something Else

One of the things that scared me the most in November of 2016 was that Trump being President would wear the electorate down to a point that we wouldn’t care anymore. And at the start of 2020 as we see Democratic primaries begin it seems like he’s done just that. I’ll never forget Adam Schiff’s several brilliant summations in the impeachment trial.

Without rehashing the entire impeachment trial it blows my mind how much the norms of before are gone. The “Presidential” ideal that we always strived for have become a dumpster fire. The candor of our President is gross, juvenile, petty, and is a cancer on our society. You constantly hear about dictators using terms like “fake news”, “enemy of the people”, and using Trumps words to take away the rights of their citizens. We’ve become a country obsessed with itself and not being the shining light of the world. Instead, we’re an embarrassment. We’ve become in 3 short years a nation of fear, anger, and hatred. The bar has become so low for future Presidents that I often wonder if there’s ever coming back from this.

I say this all to say that when did we start being OK with all of this? When did we be OK with becoming a bad reality television show. We now cling to some fake ideal from the past rather than grasping to the future. I don’t see the “Change and Hope” of Obama’s 2008 campaign but I do see very capable individuals running for the Democratic nomination. And whoever that ends up being I vow to anyone reading this that I will do everything in my power to vote and advocate for that nominee to take Trump out of office before its too late.

Something Else (One More)

I’ve never been the biggest NBA or Laker fan. But when the news that Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash in January of 2020 it hit me. I don’t have any great Kobe stories other than to say I remember pretending to be Kobe when I shot hoops in my driveway growing up. Kobe always seemed bigger than life and his death the day after Lebron James passed his career scoring mark just didn’t’ feel real. Even as I write this his death just felt like one of those moments in your life that you won’t forget where you were when it happened. RIP Kobe.

A Look Back - January 2020