After a great end to 2021, we started off 2022 with a bang. From two incredible operas, to an eight-course chef’s table tasting menu, to two big snowstorms this month had it all.

RECAP OF THE MONTH

A new year, a new start and a feeling like anything is possible. That’s what I love about January 1st. It just feels like when you start taking notes in a brand new Moleskin notebook, a sense of wonder of what the pages will be filled with. The year couldn’t have gotten off to a better start as January was simply put a great month. We started off the year with a great breakfast and champagne and a lazy weekend to bring in the new year.

With the Omicron variant spreading like wildfire in the US and the rest of the world I joined Jenn working from home for most of the month. That was good news because we had some really cold and wet days to start off the year including our first of two big snowstorms of the year as well. Jenn who loves snow more than almost anyone else I know took Frasier out to romp in the first snow of the year in Central Park and we did it as a family together at Riverside Park the next day as well.

Even though it was frigid out, the first two Fridays of the month had us trekking up the street to Lincoln Center to see two operas Rigoletto and Tosca. We wouldn’t normally buy tickets back to back but one was rescheduled from when I was sick in November. Of the two Tosca was far and away the one we enjoyed the most but as Jenn and I say almost every time we leave an Opera, there’s something transcendent about seeing an Opera. I’m not sure I understand the medium that well, but the spectacle and talent are enough to take your breath away. They can be long, confusing, and at times boring, but when an Opera hits a moment there’s almost nothing else like it in this world.

We did make our way down to Dumbo in the middle of January for a change of pace and to look at some apartments. We chose not to move to Dumbo but we did have a great day down there walking the streets, enjoying a nice lunch at Cecconi’s and coffee at % Arabica (which just arrived in New York). We even went to go look in Brooklyn Heights the following weekend and had an incredible brunch at Chez Moi and saw some beautiful apartments, although I don’t think Brooklyn is for us.

One of the things I am most proud of in January is how hard both Jenn and I have been working at our new jobs. There’s always a sense that you need to prove yourself when you start a new job and that means longer hours and more stress. Jenn was thrown into the deep end pretty early hosting a Q&A with her boss and the CEO of her company and absolutely killed it. I got to hear some of it from the other room and I have to say I’ve never been more impressed with her poise and intellect, she’s pretty incredible.

The culinary highlight of the month was going to Frevo a chef’s counter behind an art gallery in West Village. We had originally booked reservations at Sixty Three Clinton but they had an outbreak of Covid and had to close the restaurant the night we were going so made a quick change to Frevo a place that’s been on our list since it opened. When we arrived at Frevo’s entrance we were kept in a holding room which was a beautiful small art gallery and then brought back to a chef’s table that sat a dozen people. From there we spent the next three hours enjoying an eight-course meal. I splurged for the wine pairing which was the only bad choice of the night as it was by far the weakest part of the meal. But as tasting menus go it was a great meal in a beautiful location. It wasn’t the best meal we’ve had, there were a few weak courses, but it was a great evening and one that Jenn and I had so much fun at.

The month closed out with me heading back to the office and yet another snowstorm, this one far bigger than the previous. It just so happened to come in on a Friday night and Saturday morning so when it stopped at 2 PM on Saturday the 29th, Jenn had us don our snow gear and we braved it in Central Park. Frasier had an absolute blast running and jumping in the snow. I’ll never forget walking over the baseball fields and letting him run wild with almost no one around us. Jenn took him back the next day while I worked and he had just as much fun in the foot of snow we got that weekend.

And that closed out January. It was a great month. We had a lot of fun, got to spend extra time together while I worked from home, had some incredible theater/opera experiences, and two snowstorms that we took full advantage of. If January is any indication, 2022 is bound to be a great year.

TV WE WATCHED

We watched such good TV to start out 2022. Station Eleven is a book I loved and the show might be even better. Dexter: New Blood is a show that I was really worried about but it brought back what we loved about Dexter and ended much better than the original series. We also finished up a new season of Alone with teams that we really didn’t like, and started a bunch of new seasons and new shows of things like Ozark, The Righteous Gemstones, and The Gilded Age. There’s just too much good TV out there right now.

BOOKS I READ (OR LISTENED TO)

I lowered my reading goal this year to 35. It was a tough decision because I love reading but with the new job and a lot less time walking Frasier I wasn’t sure I’d be able to read as much. But with working from home for most of January I was able to read five books to start the year and they were all great. I genuinely cannot think of a month I’ve read a better assortment of books. The year started with the excellent biography of Dave Grohl, moved on to the classic (for a reason) All Quiet on the Western Front, and the excellent fictional account of the dust bowl, The Four Winds. Those three alone are all five-star reads in my opinion and were followed by two very good books Blood, Sweat, and Pixels and Stillness is the Key both books I really enjoyed.

MOVIES WE WATCHED

Because it was so cold out this month and we had so many weekends with rain and snow we got a lot of movies in. The highlights were The Last Duel and Swan Song, both movies that I guarantee I will be thinking about at the end of the year when I write up my favorite movies of the year.

THEATER WE SAW

I’ve decided not to include the Opera in this portion of the post, mostly because it’s hard to find the Playbill’s for them online. The one Broadway show we saw in January may be the best one we see in all of 2022. Sondheim’s classic Company has been revived and this time switching the main role from a male to a female character and it works brilliantly. It was one of the funniest and most memorable theater experiences I’ve ever had. The sold-out crowd was enamored from the very start and the standing ovation lasted longer than I’ve seen in a long time.

GAMES I'VE BEEN PLAYING

With a new job and being back in the office my video game consumption has gone down quite a bit. I did finally finish Spider-Man (for the second time) and enjoyed it almost as much as I did the first time. When I wasn’t playing Spider-Man I was sipping on coffee and getting a quick game of Madden in.

2022 GOAL TRACKING

Goal #1: Read 35 Books: I've read 5 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: 1 for 12.

A Look Back - January 2022