June was a great month. I got a promotion at work, Jake came to visit, and we traveled to San Diego to watch Tim and Ally get married. It was by far the busiest month we’ve had all year and we loved every second of it.

RECAP OF THE MONTH

This is going to be a long post, there are no two ways about it. This was the busiest month we’ve had since the start of the pandemic and it’s not even close. Even before Jake flew out to visit us I got big news at work. After a multi-stage interview, I accepted a new SVP role at Citi (was previously a VP), something I’ve had written down as a personal goal for myself this year. It wasn’t an easy interview process but I am incredibly proud of how I did and even more so that I was successful in getting the role. We celebrated that night with a beautiful bottle of champagne from SommCellars and continued the celebration when Jake arrived a few days later.

Like every time before we had a full itinerary planned for Jake’s weekend in the big city. Before he arrived Frasier was picked up by Far Fetch to take him a few hours out of the city to a dog camp where he could run around the open fields and enjoy. They picked him up at our apartment and he was whisked away which was tough on both Jenn and me. We picked up Jake at Newark airport that evening and the weekend began.

The next morning (Friday, June 4th) we made our way out pretty early to the new park, Little Island. It only opened a month or two ago and was pretty busy for a Friday morning but it was beautiful. If we lived closer by I could see us walking around there more often. It is such a smart use of a small area and makes you feel like your not still in the city. After nearly an hour of walking around, we headed to breakfast at a restaurant called Cafeteria. It was great with really good food and a nice atmosphere. We walked around, making our way to the Empire State Building before a bit of rain started coming down so we jumped on the subway and back to our apartment.

That evening we returned to one of our favorite (if not our favorite) places in the city, The Musket Room. This was Jake’s second visit and Jenn's and my fifth or sixth time back. Since re-opening after the pandemic they changed their menu and honestly it’s never been better. We did the full tasting menu, Jake and I opting for the wine pairings, and Jenn ordering as she went. The entire meal was flawless. Starting with caviar, beef tartare, and an oyster and finishing off with a beautiful duck and dessert. It was such a delicious and fun evening at this beautiful place that I can’t wait to go back to.

After dinner, Jenn wasn’t ready for the evening to end so she got us reservations at Dear Irving. a speakeasy in Gramercy that she’s been eyeing for a while. We arrived a little after 9 PM and already a bit tipsy but got a great spot in the back where we were able to spread out and relax. I got their take on an old fashion and honestly, I have no idea what Jenn got but it was delicious. The entire experience was such a nice breath of fresh air and had such a beautiful interior that made it feel like it was from a hundred years ago.

We called it a night before going back out the following morning to one of our favorite spots in the city, Dumbo. I think we’ve gone there on almost every single visit and it continues to be a great place to walk around, take pictures, and take in downtown Manhattan. After an hour of walking around, we made our way back to Manhattan walking over the Brooklyn Bridge and to brunch at Balthazar a french bistro in Soho. We took a taxi back to our apartment afterward where we spent the rest of the afternoon down at our gym in the basement of our building taking fitness photos of Jake.

That evening we made our way to the New York City classic and Michelin Star-rated Italian restaurant, Carbone. It’s been on our list since we first arrived in the city three years ago and we finally made it. We started off with drinks and the prosciutto and mozzarella and the calamari which were to die for. They also passed around fresh parmesan and bread that head our heads spinning. The star of the show and any visit to Carbone is the Spicy Rigatoni Vodka which was one of the best pasta dishes I’ve ever had. We rounded out this massive meal by splitting the veal parmesan which was enormous and delicious. For dessert which we all were almost too full to enjoy we had the lemon cheesecake. It was such an incredible feast and one that I can’t wait to enjoy again soon.

We were all so full and so over food after dinner that we skipped going to another speakeasy and made our way back home for a restful evening. We woke up the next morning bright and early grabbed a quick breakfast at Starbucks, picked up our car, and drove 2 hours out of the city to Southhampton. We had trouble finding parking when we arrived having to hope not to get a ticket (we didn’t) and enjoy time at a beautiful beach. We took pictures, laid on our towels, and enjoyed a cool early summer morning. We were there for a little over an hour before jumping back in the car and making our way to a local winery.

On our last trip to the Hamptons, we were pretty keen on visiting a winery but had to choose one that was dog-friendly. This time with Frasier enjoying his time in the vast fields of upstate New York we were able to visit Wolffer Estate Winery. We arrived right as they opened and got a table overlooking the vineyards. We were pretty hungry by this time so we started off with both cheese and charcuterie plate. Jenn went with the rose tastings while Jake and I had their white/red combo. It was not the best wine any of us has had but it was such a beautiful day and the food was so good that I’m not sure it mattered all that much. We left the winery went to Easthampton beach for a few minutes before driving back home and grabbing McDonald’s for good measure.

We arrived home, rested up some more, and went out for our last big meal of the trip. One of Jenn's and my favorite memories was going to the “secret” restaurant, Bohemian. We thought Jake would like the experience and the cuisine so we were able to snag a Sunday evening reservation and took the subway there that night. We started off with incredible and sort of odd drinks, vegetable fondue, and the best sashimi any of us has ever had. Jake and Jenn both got different rice and meat dishes while I went with the duck. The portions at Bohemian are on the smaller side so we got an order of fried chicken to round out the night. The food at Bohemian is so good, even a bit understated, but we have always left looking forward to our next visit. We made our way home but did make a stop at Levian Bakery to grab a chocolate chip cookie before calling it a night.

Jake’s last day with us had Jenn back at work and Jake and I driving to Philadelphia. I’m still sort of shocked I’ve now been to Philly three times in 18 months but it’s so close by that it just made sense for Jake and me to make the quick trip out there. We spent so much of our childhood watching and re-watching all of the Rocky movies that not going with him to see the steps that Rocky Balboa ran up and down would have been a shame. Unfortunately, the day we went was 90 degrees by the time we arrived a little after 9 AM. We parked near Independence Hall and took an Uber to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, aka the “Rocky Steps.” We got some great pictures of us in front of the statue and a video that will always make me laugh of Jake running up the steps. We walked through a graduation for a nearby college and to City Hall before grabbing another Uber to take us back to Independence Hall. It was much busier than the last two times I had been there so we didn’t wait in line to see the Independence Bell but we did go to the nearby portrait museum which I had missed on my last two visits. We had lunch and got two Philly cheesesteaks before jumping back in our car and heading back to the city.

We had one last dinner with Jake, our favorite dumplings delivered, and finished the evening with a beautiful walk at Riverside Park where Jake bought me a bottle of wine at Somm Cellars for my new job. The next morning he was off to the airport and we were back to the work grind. The following Friday we began to bring back our old Friday night date nights and finally went to try the excellent restaurant, I Sodi. We had a phenomenal meal starting with mozzarella and charcuterie, pasta and finished the meal with rabbit. It was so nice to be back out in Soho and enjoying a great date.

One of my favorite memories of the month was Jenn and I taking a long lunch on a Friday and trying out a “new to the area” restaurant Chama Mama that highlights Georgian food (the country not the state). We had an incredible bread and egg dish to start and two really special chicken dishes afterward. It was so nice to go out and enjoy a beautiful Friday lunch rather than our normal eating at home. We loved it so much we did it again the following Friday at now one of our favorite places to eat in the city, Abaita. It’s a Jewish pizza place on the east side that completely blew our socks off.

On the last week of June as I finished off my time in my current job we sent Frasier back off to camp and packed to go to San Diego for Ally & Tim’s wedding. We left our apartment over four hours before our Alaskan Airlines flight was set to depart and unfortunately never made it to Newark airport. We spent over two hours going about 15 blocks and never even made it to the Lincoln Tunnel. We knew pretty quickly we weren’t going to make our flight so Jenn called and rescheduled us for the next day while we canceled our Uber ride and walked most of the way back to our apartment before grabbing a taxi. It wasn’t fun, nor was it that easy, but we knew it would all work out and now writing this we know it did. To drown away our wounds and lost time in San Diego we went out and got fondue at a new restaurant at Lavaux. It was absolutely delicious and to pair that with a beautiful wine flight, bread, and an assortment of meats did take the sting out. We even made a quick stop at Gelateria Gentile before heading home and getting ready to try the flight again the next day. We couldn’t find an earlier flight to San Diego so we had a day to kill at home. We walked over to the UES and had lunch at The Penrose and Jenn got a spray tan. We took our time walking back through Central Park before grabbing an Uber and getting to JFK three hours before our flight departed. We flew first class on Alaskan Airlines and made it to San Diego in a little over five hours. From there we grabbed our suitcases, took a taxi to the Grand Hyatt, unpacked, and called it a night.

The next morning I woke up and went for a run and we left a little before 8 AM to walk to Richard Walker’s Pancake House around the corner from the hotel. We had gone there several times when we stayed at my Grandma’s apartment and it continued to not disappoint. From there, we walked to Avis and picked up our Chevrolet Malibu, and drove to Carmel Mountain for Ally’s rehearsal. We spent an hour going through the motions of the big day before heading off to their rehearsal lunch. After a nice multiple-course meal, we finished off the day’s wedding at a small winery.

Jenn and I drove back to Downtown San Diego, stopping at In & Out for dinner. We were in a bit of a time crunch as we had our first tickets for a performance in over a year and a half. We had purchased tickets for Friday night but given our flight debacle we had them moved to Saturday. Luckily the second time was the charm and a little before 8PM we sat down at the beautiful outdoor Globe Theater and watched two hours of incredible music and performance by Carmen Cusack. She played music from her career and upcoming productions (one we had tickets to before the pandemic postponed it) and it was one of the most magical evenings of 2021. It felt surreal to be seeing a live performance with other people. Jenn and I both got incredibly emotional throughout the entire performance.

The next morning was the big day, Ally & Tim’s wedding. We left early to drop Jenn off to get ready with the other bridesmaids. Jake met me shortly after and we headed back down to our hotel to have lunch across the street at Puesto and then get ready ourselves. The wedding began a little after 4 PM with a little under a hundred guests on a crystal clear warm summer day. It was a beautiful ceremony followed by a dazzling reception where we all danced the night away. Much like seeing a live performance the night before, being at a wedding with all of these people made life feel normal again. We couldn’t be happier for Ally and Tim they looked so happy the entire night and got to enjoy 10-days in Hawaii right after.

Our last two days in San Diego went by like a blur. We had some incredible meals at places like Queenstown Public House, King and Queen Cantina and The Lion’s Share. We even had a great night with Jenn’s Dad and Joan at a small Italian restaurant in Gaslamp. It was a beautiful and relaxing two days in San Diego before we left Wednesday at noon back home. We did have a nice upgrade on JetBlue to try out their mint experience which had us lying flat, drinking maybe a few too many cocktails, and for me at least watching every minute of Wimbledon I could. We arrived back to New York late Wednesday night to a massive rain storm but luckily were able to get home and close out or trip and month. And what a month it was!

TV WE WATCHED

What a month of TV! Whether it be the amazing end to Mare of Eastown or The Handmaid’s Tale or the great first season of Hacks. With a bit more time on our hands we have watched a bit more TV in June and its been fun especially on those hot/rainy summer days to sit down and watch a great TV show.

BOOKS I READ (OR LISTENED TO)

One of the things that continue to bring me the most joy in 2021 has been reading more. With a goal of 45 books this year and maybe even 50 when it is all said and done I continue to read 3-5 books a month. This month I read three fantasy novels and one non-fiction. By far the two standouts were 1861 The Civil War Awakening and The House in the Cerulean Sea.

1861 is a novel about what brought us to the Civil War. When I learned about it in history class it always felt like it just happened but this novel goes through a lot of the small and large moments that led to the south seceding from the union and the start of the Civil War. I have never been more engrossed in a history book before. The other book was The House in the Cerulean Sea which was just an absolute delightful fantasy novel that I adored.

MOVIES WE WATCHED

We really haven’t watched that many movies in 2021 but that changed this month. It’s funny you’d think with quarantine over we would be out and have no time for movies. But what we’ve found is that after going out we like to relax by watching a movie and eating popcorn. All the movies we watched this month were great but it was pretty special to watch In The Heights after seeing it on a traveling broadway show in 2010 in Orange County.

THEATER WE SAW

We saw theater. Maybe it wasn’t on Broadway but we are headed in the right direction. After over a year of Broadway being shuttered going to the San Diego Globe Theater to watch Carmen Cusack was nothing short of magical. We have been dying to see any sort of live performance and this far exceeded our expectations. She has such a beautiful voice and her ability to command the stage was magnificent. I really hope we get to see her this year at Lincoln Center for Flying Over Sunset a show we had tickets for in April of 2019 before it was obviously postponed.

GAMES I'VE BEEN PLAYING

Given how busy the month was I didn’t get a ton of time to play games this month. I continued to slowly make my way through Assassin’s Creed Valhalla a game that one day I will finish. I also put quite a bit of time into Mario Golf for Switch on both the flight to and from California.

2021 GOAL TRACKING

Goal #1: Read 45 Books: I've read 25 books and on track to hit my goal.

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

Goal #3: 12 Monthly Recaps: 6 for 6.

Goal #4: Create 6 travel books: China Trip complete, 1 down 5 to go.

A Look Back - June 2021