After a busy April, we knew that the craziness wasn’t going to let up in May with two big work trips and my parents visiting from California, it was going to be a jam-packed month.

RECAP OF THE MONTH

A few days after arriving home from California it turned to May and with it came beautiful weather and a lot of long walks through Riverside and Central Park. I’ll never forget coming back from one of these walks and getting a FaceTime from Jake who was at my parent’s house when we realized that somehow we had gotten our days mixed on when they were arriving in New York. They were coming a week earlier than I had put down in my calendar, so we were set after some quick flight changes for work.

That first weekend we enjoyed seeing Daniel Craig (better known as 007) in a very odd performance of Macbeth from the front row. Being a few feet away from the British spy was completely unreal. That weekend we enjoyed our first meal at the newly opened Bellini which “finally” opened at Waterline across the street after a grueling 3-year wait. Sadly the food did not live up to the hype but it’s great to have some nice places to eat near us now. Before my parents arrived the following weekend we met for dinner after work and had a phenomenal meal at Abaita one of our favorite places in the city.

My parents arrived on the back of a red-eye flight from Ontario and after some breakfast at Friedman’s we were off. The first journey was to Patterson New Jersey where my dad was born to see some of the houses that he and my Grandma lived in before coming to California. Before getting there we went to visit where his Grandpa, Nathan Summer was buried. Next to a massive stone that said “Summer” were several family members including Nathan. From there we drove to a few different houses, including the one my Dad was born in, and then made our way back to Manhattan. That evening we had an early dinner at Pomodoro Rosso where we had a great meal without even realizing that it was a major part of a great episode of Seinfeld.

The next morning we picked up my parents at their hotel and drove to Greenwich Connecticut and Rye, New York to see places that my Mom wanted to visit. I think everyone was far more impressed with Greenwich but we did get to experience what can only be described as an Irish pub in the living room of an old house in Rye that will give us all memories for a lifetime. The highlight for my Mom was getting a free book from a book exchange near a beach in Rye. From there we dropped my parents off at their hotel so I could pack for my work trip and they could go to Central Park. That evening we met them for dinner at Empellon across the street which continues to be some of the best Mexican food in the city. It was great having my parents out and the weekend with them flew right by.

Right after dinner I said goodbye to them and Frasier and Jenn and was picked up to grab a United flight from Newark airport to take me to Paris. The drive to the airport was quick but unfortunately, my flight was delayed a couple of hours meaning I was going to have to really hustle to make some Monday afternoon meetings. I dealt with the delays in the Polaris lounge sipping champagne and getting ready to sleep. When I got on the flight I put up my bags and once we were at cruising altitude I fell asleep until the flight landed.

I spent the next three days in Paris working, going to a lot of meetings, and dinners. From Paris, I was off to London via the Eurostar for another full day of meetings and meals. Both in Paris and London, I tried to make sure that when I did get free time in the evenings I enjoyed the city, and fortunately, the weather abided in both cases, and was able to have a great walk to the Eiffel Tower and Buckingham Palace. It is not lost on me how much travel I am doing to two of my favorite cities in the world and although it’s exhausting I feel incredibly fortunate to do it. I arrived back in New York on Friday afternoon to an excited Jenn and Frasier and was ready for a relaxing weekend.

Only a few days after I returned to New York, Jenn was boarding an Alaska flight to San Francisco where she spent the next four days at an offsite in Sausalito. That meant it was just Frasier and I holding down the fort and eagerly waiting for Jenn’s return on Thursday. The fact that we are both traveling as much as we have so far this year hasn’t been easy but we’ve made it work and always find time each day no matter how busy to find out how the other is doing and wish each other a good morning or night. It’s tough but we’ve gotten better at it and also realize its not going to ease up anytime soon.

To close out the month we were fortunate enough to have a three-day weekend with no real plans outside of seeing Birthday Candles on Broadway. We spent much of it walking Frasier, watching Stranger Things and the French Open. We’ve started this new routine on weekends to do an at-home brunch with champagne and its become a new family favorite. What could be better then a champagne nap to end a weekend and a month.

TV WE WATCHED

Given how much travel we did this much its short of shocking how much TV we were able to watch. We wrapped up both Season 2 of Bridgerton and Ozark Season 4. Both were quite good. The best new show of the month was Severance on Apple TV+ and Heartstopper on Netflix. Severance is a weird, science fiction show that we were completely engrossed in, and Heartstopper was a beautiful high school love story.

BOOKS I READ (OR LISTENED TO)

Given all of the travel I was able to get three books in this month which was quite the accomplishment. Far and away the best book I read was Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel who also wrote Station Eleven. A book that takes place over hundreds of years but is short and very beautifully written.

MOVIES WE WATCHED

Only two movies this weekend, and neither of them are really worth recounting. Licorice Pizza I watched on my flight back from London and neither Jenn or I enjoyed Ricky Gervais new special, Supernature.

THEATER WE SAW

If you had asked which show I thought we’d enjoy more ahead of May, I would have guessed Macbeth with Daniel Craig. However by the time Birthday Candles ended its 90-minute run time I and much of the audience were wiping away tears for what was a beautiful show about a woman’s 90-year life in 90-minutes.

GAMES I'VE BEEN PLAYING

When I was home I was spending the majority of my time play MLB The Show 22, specifically the road to October mode where I have yet to actually win the World Series. Otherwise I’ve dipped in and out of both Horizon Forbidden West and NBA 2K 22.

2022 GOAL TRACKING

Goal #1: Read 35 Books: I've read 14 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: 5 for 12.

A Look Back - May 2022