I cannot imagine a better month than April. Starting with a quick trip to Paris and ending with a week in California, it was a month that I won’t soon forget.

RECAP OF THE MONTH

If I was to draw on a whiteboard my ideal start to a month, I would be arriving on a train to one of my favorite cities in the world, Paris, meeting Jenn at one of our favorite hotels, and exploring the city of love until the wee hours of the morning. And that is exactly how April began with me wrapping up a work trip by meeting Jenn in the city of lights for four magical days that made me feel 25 again. I’ve recapped the entire trip but needless to say, it’s a memory that I will cherish for the rest of my life.

I arrived back from Paris a day ahead of Jenn who due to plane issues was delayed an entire day. So while Jenn dealt with United Airlines and airport hotels I picked up Frasier and tried my best to get back into the work mode. Jenn arrived home on the exact same flight a day later and we were all reunited. That Friday we went and saw American Buffalo on Broadway and spent the rest of the weekend recovering and enjoying a stunning spring day in Central Park with Frasier.

The following Friday was Good Friday which meant I was off from work and Jenn joined me for a day off. It was nearly two years ago to the day that we took our first trip from Manhattan to the Hamptons with Frasier and since then we try to do it a few times a year. Although it’s a long drive, Frasier’s smile when we arrive is worth every mile. We left a little after 7 AM and made our way to East Hampton where we brought out our beach towels and spent two hours on the beautiful brisk sunny day letting Frasier flirt with the water and dig until he couldn’t dig anymore. I’ll never forget Jenn and I both running with Frasier and seeing him fully run free. It was a beautiful day and by the time we left a few hours later Frasier was exhausted and we had gotten our fill. That evening after a long drive back we made our way to the Hudson Theater to watch Plaza Suite which was the only disappointing part of the day.

I’ll never forget the walk on Easter Sunday. Winter felt like it was still clinging on for dear life but as we walked on Easter the trees were all in bloom and we walked our favorite Riverside Park walk that brings us so much joy each time we do it. When we got back from our 3+ mile walk I made us a simple but delicious Easter breakfast of eggs with mushrooms (Jenn’s favorite), bacon, and bagels/toast with great champagne.

A few days later it was time to hit the road again. The night before we departed for California we enjoyed a great French dinner at Le Bonne Soupe a small French Bistro in Midtown East near my work. We were scheduled to go see Mr. Saturday Night with tickets we had won on the broadway lottery but had to skip it with some massive work to finish before we left the next morning.

Wednesday morning we jumped into a Uber and made our way to Newark where we had a non-stop flight in business class to LAX. The flight was on-time (shocking for United) and we enjoyed every last second of their business class offering. It is actually the same flight we took with Frasier during the height of the pandemic, so now going for better circumstances made the flight that much sweeter. We arrived in LA a little before noon and got on the Avis bus to take us to the packed Avis lot where we were fortunate to have Preferred access and got our Lexus SUV for the next five days. From there we drove to Orange County where we drove to In & Out at UCI and then to our hotel, the Renaissance Newport beach. That evening we met at Jake’s apartment and had dinner at South of Nick’s with Jake and Kayla, their favorite Mexican spot in the OC.

Thursday the 21st we headed down to Riverside after picking up an obligatory Iced VTM from Blk Dot where we spent the day with Amy, Cam and Gracie. My parents came for lunch and so the girls could go enjoy Gracie’s first experience in the train at Spaghetti Factory. That evening we made our way back to Orange County to have dinner with Jenn’s Dad and Joan at the delicious French restaurant, Marche Modernne, a restaurant that was one of our few outings in the early days of being back in California during the pandemic. It was a beautiful evening, we all indulged maybe into a few too many cocktails (I really enjoyed their Manhattan) but it made for a really nice evening and visit.

We had a bit of free time on our Friday morning so Jenn and I went back to one of our happy places, Crystal Cove where we did the 5-mile hike loop that we’ve probably done 50 times at this point. It was no less enjoyable this time and after we wrapped it up we rewarded ourselves with the delicious poke burrito and chips at Bear Flag before heading back to our hotel and getting ready for the evening.

That night we met up with Jake, Ryan and Amy at Puesto in Irvine before going to the 2022 California Wine Festival at the Ritz Carlton in Laguna Beach. Because Saturday we were going to do a late family dinner/Passover we chose to do the reserve event on Friday night. When we arrived at the Ritz Carlton we went through the lobby to a beautiful courtyard overlooking the ocean and a stunning California sunset. For the next two and half hours we enjoyed wine, food, live music, and a ravenous Orange County wine community. I’m happy to report that none of us got COVID from the event, but it was packed so it wouldn’t have surprised any of us if we had. It felt so good to be together again and to be out enjoying something that we used to do pre-pandemic. It was a phenomenal evening that I hope we can replicate again next year.

With only one full day left in our trip to California, we tried to cram as much as humanly possible in it. We checked out of our hotel early on Saturday morning and Jenn and went in split directions for breakfast. Jenn went with her cousin Holly to breakfast in Tustin while I met Cory & Ryan in downtown Orange.

We all had a great time and from there we went to Riverside to spend some time with Amy & Ryan before leaving to drive to Menifee to go visit the rest of the family. We had our annual delayed Passover cedar with the entire family which is one of my favorite moments of any year. Ally is now only a few months from having her first child (Abigail) and was glowing. It was really nice to have the entire family back together, even if only for an evening.

We left Menifee a little after 8 PM and made our way to LAX to drop off our car and spend the night at the Renaissance LAX before hopping on a flight back to New York the following morning. Our flight was once again on time (shocking again United) and we arrived back home, had Chipotle, and got ready for another work week. Sadly it wasn’t long after we got back that we both came down with colds and missed a few days of work. But if some minor colds are the price to pay for a month like April, I’ll take that deal any day.

TV WE WATCHED

With all the travel in April, we slowed down our TV viewership but were able to finish the very funny murder mystery After Party on Apple TV+ and enjoyed the start of both WeCrashed and Bridgerton Season 2. The real highlight though was tipping back into our comfort watch, The Amazing Race which finished its 33rd season after a nearly two-year hiatus due to COVID.

BOOKS I READ (OR LISTENED TO)

This month’s reading was a mixed bag. On one hand, I read Conversations with Friends a beautifully written albeit flawed and somewhat monotonous read. I’m not the target audience for this book, and although I found the writing inspiring the plot and story left me less than enthused.

The book I do want to talk about is Black Edge a book about Steven Cohen a hedge fund manager and the business he built doing things that were probably not legal. The book although non-fiction read like a thriller and now that I have a bit of a better understanding of the industry I found the entire book to be captivating.

MOVIES WE WATCHED

With travel came a lot of time for airplane movies. The majority of this months watches came on planes to Europe or California. The highlights of the month were Good Will Hunting (a moving I had never seen), Belfast, and Coda.

You might be surprised to read that I found the latest Batman movie to be a bit too long and dark for my taste, although still an interesting take on the character. month's

THEATER WE SAW

I love the theater, but there are times when it just doesn’t hit as well as you’d like. We have had tickets for Plaza Suite starring Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker for two years and after many reschedules we finally were there to see the show. Sadly SJP was still sick with COVID so we had her understudy and I don’t know if it was the play itself or the chemistry on stage but the show fell flat.

On the flip side, we enjoyed American Buffalo from the front row of the Circle in the Square Theater where we were mere feet from Laurence Fishburne who along with Sam Rockwell put on world-class performances in a great play.

GAMES I'VE BEEN PLAYING

Very very light gaming this month. I don’t know what it is but I just cant’ get myself to play or dive into Horizon Forbidden West. It’s a game perfectly made for me but I just can’t seem to really care. For the most part, I’ve bounced between NBA 2K22 and the latest release of MLB 22 The Show.

2022 GOAL TRACKING

Goal #1: Read 35 Books: I've read 12 books and am on track to hit my goal.

Goal #2: Keep Weight Under 140: I've yet to go over 140lbs

Goal #3: 12 Monthly Recaps: 4 for 12.

A Look Back - April 2022