It doesn’t get much better than October in New York City, it’s too bad we haven’t been home for a lot of it. But whether it was traveling to California to visit family or our work trips we were very busy this month.

October picked up right where we left off in September and that was on the road. After receiving my iPhone 15 Pro Max a few weeks after release we boarded a plane to California to visit family for the first time since April. We left first thing in the morning on October 4th out of Newark picked up our Tesla at the Santa Ana airport and were off. We grabbed In-N-Out and Blk Dot just like we had never left and drove over the Fashion Island so Jenn could get some shopping in.

That evening we had dinner with Jake, Amy, and Ryan at one of our favorite restaurants in Orange County, Vaca which was nicely situated across a walkway from the Westin (where we stayed on this trip). The next day we spent it with Jenn’s Dad and Joan at their new home in Laguna where we went back to South of Nicks and walked around Dana Point for the first time in many years.

One of the highlights of the trip was driving down to Hollywood to go to Universal Studios Hollywood with Amy, Ryan, Gracie, and Cam. The kids were dying to see the new Mario World and so after entering the park and doing a quick ride, we made our way to the packed Super Mario World. I think I was just as in awe of the new part of the park as the kids were. And although we didn’t get to ride any rides it was so neat seeing the recreation of my childhood memories come to life. Unfortunately it was 90+ degrees in October and we were all grateful to leave that world after an hour. We had lunch, went on the backlot tour and rode one more ride before the kids were exhausted and we all called it a day.

After a 2-hour drive back to Orange County we had dinner with Jake and Kayla at Spaghetti Bender which was the perfect shot of nostalgia we needed. Over the next two days, we drove to Menifee to see the entire family including Grandma, and back down to Riverside the next day for more family time before finishing our weekend with Jake and Kayla eating Thai food and playing board and card games.

On Monday Jenn and I were back at John Wayne Airport where I took a flight back to Newark and Jenn went to Denver for her teams offsite. It was hard saying goodbye to Jenn but I was off to pick up Frasier and get back to work for the week. Jenn arrived home that Friday absolutely exhausted from her week and over the next few weeks we scaled back everything, stayed in most nights and weekends, and enjoyed what is one of the best months of the year to live in New York.

By the end of the month, I was back out to Paris and London for work and Jenn’s Dad came to visit her here in New York and spend a couple of days with her. What a busy month October ended up being.

TV WE WATCHED

After a very low TV month in September, we were back with a bang this month with a lot of great shows. We finished Sex Education’s final season which was not as strong as the three before it. We also wrapped up the third season of Only Murders in the Building which continues to be one of the best shows on TV.

The biggest disappointment of the month had to be the Frasier revival which feels like such a missed opportunity and doesn’t capture what made the original series such a classic. We will keep watching but it’s not hitting the mark.

BOOKS I READ (OR LISTENED TO)

Six books in October and they were all good. I’m going to easily pass my goal of 35 books this year because of how many books I finished in October. Jenn recommended Lessons in Chemistry which was a fun easy read and I can’t wait to see the TV adaptation. I continued the William Warwick series from Jeffrey Archer which albeit forgettable are good reads. I did finish reading the physical copy of Notes from a Young Black Chef that I got from Kwame’s restaurant Tatiana.

Two books that I thought that I would love more were The Covenant of Water and Black Cake two books with great concepts that I just didn’t love. Not bad but not ones that I will remember years from now.

MOVIES WE WATCHED

All but one of the movies I watched this month were on a plane. We started the month watching the new Flora and Son movie on Apple TV + which was OK. The best movie I watched this month was Living which I started on a plane over the summer and finished on my flight to California.

THEATER WE SAW

Given all of the personal and work travel this month we didn’t see any theater this month but I expect that will change during the last 2 months of the year.

GAMES I'VE BEEN PLAYING

The majority of my video game time in October was playing the new Assassin’s Creed Mirage which I love. A smaller back to the roots game that hits my video game sweet spot. When I had less time I played a few quick games of Madden or NBA 2K.