Two work trips for Jenn (Portland and Nashville) and one for me (London and Paris). That meant that although we spent more time apart than together in March we did a great job of finding moments and memories in the time we did have together. It was a busy month, but still a great one.

We started off March back at home and gearing up for a very busy month. One of my favorite memories of the month was when Jenn came to meet me for dinner after work which happened at the start and end of the month. She met me at one of our favorite places in New York, Abaita in early March and on the last Thursday of the month, we tried out the newly raved-about Indian kebab restaurant, Kebab Aur Sharab. Finding these moments in very busy work weeks is the best.

One of the great things about living in New York is how much it opened our eyes to the arts. One of our new favorite activities is getting a cocktail and enjoying live Jazz. We started off March by seeing Tierney Sutton who played a very emotional and moving hour set at Dizzy’s Club in Lincoln Center. Were Jenn and I the youngest in there by 30 years, absolutely, but did we enjoy every second, most definitely. Exactly a week later we were back at David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center for a symphony. Sadly it was probably the least favorite one we’ve seen there but it was still a beautiful evening watching some of the best musicians in the world play.

One of the things that we did better in March was making sure we spent the weekends together as much as possible. Whether it was walks in Central Park or Riverside Park or going to see Creed III and Broadway shows we kept the weekends busy. Jenn ended up flying to Nashville over the first week of March where she spent the week at a conference for work. That meant it was a father and son week where Frasier and I got to enjoy some bonding time together and I tried out a number of new places to eat. I always tell Jenn that the first few hours of her being gone is fine but after that it just gets lonely and boring. Fortunately she was only gone for a few days. Frasier and I were very happy when she finally got home.

Unfortunately, a few days later I was back off to London and Paris for a week. I spent the first three nights in London and the last two in Paris. It still isn’t beyond me that I am traveling to these places every 6-8 weeks but I never take it for granted. It was a very busy week and by the time I was having my last dinner in Paris (at L’Abipo) I felt the weight of the week on me and I was beyond ready to get home. One memory that I also won’t forget is walking back from that dinner and the protest against raising the French retirement age was in full effect and the French army was out in full force. They yelled at me a couple of times in French (no idea what they were saying) but I just followed the crowds and did my best to navigate back to my hotel. I’ll never forget the feeling of taking off from Paris and a massive sigh of relief that I was almost home. I haven’t felt that content in a long time.

A few days after I returned home from Paris, Jenn was back on the road to Portland for her leadership team meetings. Gosh, there was a lot of traveling this month. Jenn had a good trip and even though she hates that she’s traveling this much seemed to handle the travel on this trip better than the last few. That left me and Frasier again to hold down the fort. I had Frasier try a different daycare while I was at work which meant I got to walk through Central Park to work every day just as winter was turning to Spring.

That was it for travel for March and as Jenn was coming back from Portland, March was just wrapping up. We went to see Camelot (an early contender for favorite show of the year) and saw our first Brooklyn Nets game thanks to free tickets from work. It was an insanely busy month that is only going to be followed by an even busier one in April.

TV WE WATCHED

With both Jenn and I traveling for most of March I am sort of amazed at how much TV we were able to get in. But when I look back on March I realize that we used the weekends to often recover and get ready for the next trip and we watched TV then. The highlight of the month had to be the first season of Shrinking which albeit a bit cliche was a ton of fun. We’ve made our way further into the first season of The Last of Us which is just as great as I remember the game. And we have just got started on the last season of Ted Lasso and Succession two of our favorite shows.

BOOKS I READ (OR LISTENED TO)

This is one of those months that I fell back in love with reading again. It happens a few times every year when I catch the bug again and March of 2023 was that month. It began with the incredibly moving book The Choice and finished with Nothing to Envy. Every book this month was a 4/5 but all were ones that I went out of my way to find time to read more. It was such a good reading month that I spent a ton of time looking for new books and refreshing my lists for what to read next.

MOVIES WE WATCHED

I remember walking home from the AMC in Lincoln Center and telling Jenn how crazy it still is to me that I get to go to a movie theater and watch a movie that takes place in the Rocky franchise. When I fell in love with the franchise it was long done and I was watching them on TV with commercials. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d get one Rocky movie to see in the theaters but now 4 (Rocky Balboa and 3 Creed movies) and all of them are quite good. I enjoyed Creed III which we saw on a beautiful IMAX screen. I can’t wait to rewatch it soon. I also watched Luther The Fallen Sun a higher budget and longer episode of the show on my flight home from Europe.

THEATER WE SAW

I wish I had all the money because I think I’d spend it all on going to see shows. We saw two this month and I adored them both. I left Pictures From Home a beautiful retelling of a son’s relationship with his parents told through photographs that I found moving and beautiful. I was balling by the end of it.

And then we finished the month with one of my most anticipated shows of the year, Camelot, which was re-written by Aaron Sorkin. It was a tremendously funny, witty, and beautiful musical that I have been recommending to anyone that will listen. I adored it and now I just need to get Jenn to go see it again!

GAMES I'VE BEEN PLAYING

The only new one to the list this month is MLB The Show 23 which came out at the end of March. It is quite a good game of baseball albeit not that different from past versions. I wonder when I will sink my teeth into a game that isn’t a sports game, or maybe that time has passed me by.