A Look Back - July 2025
We began July flying from beautiful Munich to the equally beautiful Stockholm. Elle did incredibly well on the flight over, and we were fortunate to have nearly flawless weather for our last four days of the trip. I, of course, recapped each day in excruciating detail. What I didn’t capture was July 5th, our journey home. We departed our hotel at 6:30 AM and made our way to the airport for our first flight to Newark. After having a quick breakfast in the AMEX lounge, we boarded the United flight and were fortunate to have a newly retrofitted business class seat. Elle didn’t sleep much on this flight, and Jenn did the bulk of the entertaining, but needless to say, it was a very long flight. We arrived to Newark early and had a 4+ hour layover. After going through customs, retrieving our bags, and dropping them off, we made our way to the United Polaris lounge. It wasn’t the most baby-friendly, but we were able to find a spot for Elle to wander around a bit and stretch her legs while we ate. Fortunately, our flight to LAX was on time, and Elle did sleep for about half of this flight, making the 5 hours much easier. By the time we reached our Mercedes, it felt like we had accomplished a massive milestone. We grabbed Del Taco on the way home and were quickly reunited with Frasier the next morning.
Unlike my 20+ trips to Europe for work, it took both Jenn and me a few days to get fully back on the Pacific Timezone. Elle, on the other hand, was ready to go day one. We spent most early mornings watching Wimbledon while Elle played with her toys. We decided before the trip that we needed to upgrade the TV that came with the house, which was a cheap LG that had some of the worst picture quality I’ve ever seen. I landed on the LG 77” C5, which we had installed a few days after we arrived back, just in time for the latter rounds of Wimbledon. I wasn’t the only one with new toys, though. Elle is starting to stand more and showing an interest in walking. We bought her both a walker and a play table that have been her two favorite toys in July.
One of my favorite memories of all of July was a few days after we got back from Europe. Jenn took the week off to rest and recover, and we decided that after Frasier’s long boarding stay, he deserved a beach day. We drove the entire family to the Huntington Beach Dog Park, which even after five years, Frasier remembered. He ran straight for the water and, for the next 90 minutes, would dart in and out of the water, check in with us, and run straight back in. Elle loved it as well, cheering him on and pointing out every dog that passed by.
Jenn and I were able to go on several dates throughout July. We did a KBBQ lunch in Irvine Spectrum at Kalbi Social Club. We had lunch at Joey’s at Fashion Island and saw my favorite movie of the month, Superman, at The Lot. And my favorite date of all was when we saw Giselle after purchasing season tickets at Segerstrom. It was a beautiful, fun, and sold-out ballet that had one of the most intense crowds I’ve ever seen at a ballet. The place erupted several times in loud cheers for some truly spectacular sequences. We also had an amazing date night dinner at Darkroom in Santa Ana. It was the first meal we’ve had since coming back to Orange County that felt like a NYC restaurant. If you get passed the fact that it’s in a strip mall, the food and wine here were spectacular. From the beef tartare, to the mushrooms, fresh lasagna, fried chicken sandwich, and pork belly. It is a restaurant we can’t wait to go back to.
As I started to transition from working full-time to being a temporary stay-at-home Dad, coming back from Europe meant that I took on that role in earnest. Much of the first month or two has been a transition from New York. But now that our house is furnished, our routines are settled, it was time for me to get Elle and me into a better rhythm. As Elle has transitioned off of formula this month (7/23 was her last bottle), that meant Jenn and I would take turns making her breakfast (often eggs, pancakes, fruit, or toast), and I would make her lunch and dinner. It’s been nice to see her grow, feed herself, and see her personality come out even more. Elle has also gotten closer to Frasier since we’ve returned. With Elle a bit more mobile now, they have been playing more. It’s not perfect, but it gets better every day.
I tried to keep Elle active. We went down to Riverside to see her cousins at Amy’s house. We also met them and my Mom at the Santa Ana Zoo for a morning adventure. Elle continues to love the zoo even if I find them a bit depressing. She was most in love with the monkeys and the butterfly exhibit. Although the zoo was small, Elle seemed to really enjoy it and the time with her cousins.
And that, for the most part, wraps up July. Jenn and I were able to get out quite a bit and have time for the two of us. It’s been challenging not working, but also incredibly rewarding being Elle’s Dad. She’s such a beautiful, smart, and kind kid. Watching her grow before our eyes has been an incredible honor. One last memory from the month is our two trips to the library. We got our library card and each time I let Elle pick out a few books and we go home and read them. Elle both times has had a book with her in her car seat and she pretends to read it as we go home. That’s worth the trip right there!
TV WE WATCHED
We continue to be on a downward trend in our TV viewing. Between our jet lag and a very busy second half of July for Jenn’s work, we didn’t watch much TV. I wrapped up the third season of The Lincoln Lawyer, which might have been its weakest, but still a very enjoyable show. I could say the same for the final season of The Righteous Gemstones. It has moments of pure brilliance, but this season felt very long in the tooth.
The worst show we watched this month was the final season of The Handmaid’s Tale. The budget must have been slashed from the show because it was often so dark that it was hard to watch. The ending also felt so anticlimactic given the journey the show put us on. Luckily, things turned around at the end of the month. I started the final season of Squid Game, which continues to be incredibly dark but well-made. The Gilded Age third season has started incredibly strong, and although we are only one episode into the final season of Acapulco it’s great to be back.
BOOKS I READ (OR LISTENED TO)
What an eclectic month of reading. I’m not sure how I concocted such a diverse reading list. I started the month off with The Marriage Portrait. It has two timelines: the main character’s childhood/upbringing and her current state in a marriage that she believes will end in her murder. The two timelines converge throughout the course of the book. I loved the setup, but the execution felt rushed and scattered. I loved the setting, the characters, and even some of the writing, but it always felt like you were only getting some of the picture and not enough of it.
In Memoriam was a tremendous book. A story of two friends growing up in the UK who become more than that through the course of school and into the First World War. It was sad, poetic, and oftentimes funny. The conversations of one of the friends, still at school, writing to the other about how heroic and glorious war is, only to find that when he gets in it, it was anything but that, to be one of the most tragic things I read all year.
Sunrise on the Reaping is exactly what you want from a Hunger Games book. Not much else to say, super enjoyable. Migrations was my least favorite book of the year. It had some interesting twists, but the characters in this book made some of the dumbest and unbelievable decisions I’ve read in a long time.
And finally, The Obstacle in the Way was the right book at the right time for me. I’ve been thinking a lot about how life has changed in a year, and what I want next. It was nice to read a book about some of the smartest people in history, specifically ones who studied Stoicism, and some of their insights. It wasn’t a magic bullet, but I found a lot of solace and wisdom from it.
MOVIES WE WATCHED
Even though we didn’t watch a ton of TV this month, we did get a good amount of movies in. We officially started our “Friday Movie Night” where we switch off selecting movies on Friday nights. The idea was that we’d have some wine and popcorn with it, but all three times, we didn’t even bother knowing we’d likely fall asleep if we did. The first three were:
Carnage (2011) - Jenn’s Pick
Theater Camp (2023) - Joel’s Pick
Dead Poets Society (1989) - Jenn’s Pick
I mentioned already that we saw Superman in theaters. I loved it, and Jenn liked it. Jenn also gave me a free afternoon in late July when I went to see The Fantastic Four: First Steps, which I did not love. The only other movie worth mentioning was Sinners, a movie I have been dying to see. It was good, but not as good as I think the hype surrounding it was. Although wow was Michael B Jordan was good in it. I think I’ll watch anything he’s in at this point.
GAMES I'VE BEEN PLAYING
When we got back from Europe, I spent most of the first few weeks going between MLB The Show 25 and Assassin’s Creed Shadows. Unfortunately for the latter, I’ve slowed down with it. I’m not sure I’ll finish it at this point. Later in the month, College Football 26 came out, and that pretty much overtook everything else.
2025 GOAL TRACKING
Goal #1: Read 35 Books: I’ve read 36 books and am on track to read over 50 books this year.
Goal #2: 12 Monthly Recaps: 7 for 12!
