We began the month off with a jam-packed holiday weekend with Jake and finished it recovering from two long work trips. It was a very busy September, but that’s how we liked it.

The first day of September was also the first full day that Jake visited us for the long holiday weekend. We started off his trip with breakfast at Clinton St Baking Company a very popular breakfast spot in the city. When we arrived Jenn pointed out that we were seated right next to the one, the only, Guy Patterson, Tom Everett Scott. We didn’t want to bug him but it was really fun to sit next to someone who is in one of Jake and my favorite movies. We all were stuffed afterward, from the pancakes to the fried chicken and waffles. We went to a nearby bookstore before grabbing an Uber to take us to Roosevelt Island.

The Uber dropped us off right at the entrance to the Roosevelt Island tram where we made our way across the East River and to the island. For the next hour, we walked around, and took in the perfect New York day, before returning back to the tram to take us back to the east side. We walked to the Shakespeare and Co bookstore where Jenn bought The Hobbit and Jake bought The Midnight Library. We walked all the way from the east side to the west side back to our apartment. On the way, we made a quick stop at Moscot my favorite sunglass brand where Jake picked up his own pair of shades.

That evening we had a feast at Bom a new chef’s counter restaurant in the back of the one-Michelin-starred, Oiji Mi. It’s a new addition to the restaurant but I expect by the end of this year this separate dining experience will have at least one Michelin star to its name, it was phenomenal. It specializes in beef and is just mind-blowing. We were treated to over a dozen courses, outrageous wine, and some of the most fascinating people watching. It’s one of the best meals we’ve had this year. We all had a great time and will be thinking about some of the beef cuts for a long time to come.

The next day was just as busy as the previous. We left our apartment at lunchtime for a few slices at Emmy’s Squared Pizza where the old diner used to be. From there we walked to Broadway where we saw & Juliet for the second time (first for Jake). It was a brilliant show (more on it below) and from there we walked downtown twenty blocks to the Flatiron District where we had dinner at Rezdora one of our favorite places in the city. Instead of doing the pasta-tasting menu again, we ordered four of our favorites along with mouthwatering dry-aged rib eye. We watched a YouTube interview with the head chef and he touted how good his aged rib-eye was on a and after that were desperate to try it. Needless to say as always at Rezdora it lived up to the hype and continues to be one of the best places to eat in the city.

The day wasn’t done yet because we closed out the night at Django Jazz Club in Tribeca. We arrived just as the first set was ending so hung out around Tribeca before the 9 PM show started. We each got a couple of cocktails and enjoyed an hour of great music. I wish I had written down the band that was playing that night because it was great. We left jazz and took the subway back to our apartment to close out another great day.

If you thought that was too much, we weren’t done yet. On Sunday we grabbed coffee at Common Address before getting in our Mercedes and driving to Long Island to go to two wineries. We started at Sparkling Pointe which you may have guessed by the name specializes in sparkling wine. We got a beautiful spot outside near the vineyard and enjoyed some crackers and wine flights. We got there right when it opened so it was nice and quiet but by the time we left an hour later, it was packed. Our last stop was Macari Vineyards where we pre-booked their wine tasting. The wine here was not nearly as good and we were constantly being attacked by bugs. It was so bad that each table had multiple devices to try and get rid of the bugs. Fortunately, it was a beautiful day so when we were done with the wine we walked the beautiful property.

After a very long drive back from Long Island we picked up Frasier from Camp Canine and we enjoyed the rest of the weekend in the city. That evening we decided to try a sushi spot nearby called Sushi Kaito. It’s a small ten-person Sushi counter restaurant that I’ve walked by over a hundred times and never knew it was there. We had their full tasting menu with a bottle of Sake. I don’t know why it took us this long to do a sushi counter in the city but it was phenomenal. I can’t wait to go back! We closed out our Sunday at the newly opened Wallace Lounge where we all had a drink and listened to the final 45 minutes of the piano performer for the evening. Who knew you could have such a great evening in the UWS?

Jake’s last day was far more low-key than the rest. We started off playing clay court tennis at Sutton East. It took Jake a little to get used to the surface and although he broke Jenn’s handle on her racquet it was so fun to hit the courts again. For the rest of the day we stayed in, and watched three movies (Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret, To Rome With Love, and Groundhog Day) before finishing the evening at Empellon for a great Mexican dinner. and walking Frasier along the river. A perfect Jake visit, the best one yet.

When Jake left the next morning it was back to reality and back to work. September for both Jenn and me was a wake-up call after a quieter summer for both work and work travel. Over our 14th wedding anniversary, we were both away for work. Jenn was in San Francisco at the Four Seasons for a week-long leadership offsite before flying down to Orange County afterward to see her Dad for a few days. I was back in London and Paris that same week for another busy week of meetings and dinners while Frasier was back at Camp Canine.

One of my favorite memories of that trip was the last night in Paris. After work, I went alone to the one-Michelin-starred Restaurant Jacques Faussat. It was such an odd, long, and delicious experience that early on I decided to take notes throughout my dinner given the long gaps between food. It was probably the most liked social media post I’ve ever done and something that even when I re-read it now a few weeks later makes me laugh and puts me back on my solo table looking out at a sea of couples enjoying their Friday evenings.

We were both home together for the last week of September before gearing up for another travel-heavy October.

TV WE WATCHED

This is far and away the least TV we’ve watched in a long time. Between Jake coming to visit and two work trips we couldn’t catch up on many of our favorite shows. We did keep up with Only Murders in the Building our current favorite show and watched Alone and Great British Baking Show during many of our dinners at home. Needless to say, we have a lot to catch up on in October.

BOOKS I READ (OR LISTENED TO)

Two really good books for September. I started with the heartbreaking A Heart That Works about Rob Delaney’s son who passed away at a few years old. You don’t read a book like this expecting a fun read and it wasn’t but for a book about his son’s short life, it was brimming with hope and joy that came from his short life. A brilliant book. The other book I read was Stephen King’s latest, Holly a fun straightforward read that I really enjoyed although not one of his best.

MOVIES WE WATCHED

Given the amount of travel, I got to watch a lot of movies. We also tended to gravitate more to the movies given our schedules. The highlights of the month were seeing Haunting in Venice in London which was a much better murder mystery than I thought it would be. Jenn saw Groundhog Day for the first time which was fun. But really the highlight was watching Before Sunrise twice a movie that I think is as close to perfect as you can get. I watched it on my flight home from Paris and immediately had Jenn watch it with me the next day. It’s a top-10 movie for me now.

THEATER WE SAW

With Jake, we went to see & Juliet again on Broadway, and just like the first time it is a brilliant, fun, and inventive show. It’s not going to push you intellectually but it is clever enough to make for a really good time at the theater.

GAMES I'VE BEEN PLAYING

It has been a long time since I’ve really dug into an Age of Empires game but with the recent release on Xbox Game Pass, I have been playing a ton of Age of Empires IV, and its great. I also picked up NBA 2K24 which is another solid release and have been dipping in and out of Madden once in a while.

2023 GOAL TRACKING

Goal #1: Read 35 Books: I've read 27 books and am well ahead of plan for the year.

Goal #2: Get Weight Under 140: I got back below 140 at the end of July and all of August but need to do more work to continue to give myself some distance from 140.

Goal #3: 12 Monthly Recaps: 9 for 12.

A Look Back - September 2023