A Look Back - November 2020
What a triumphant month. After a scary start, we now have a new President-elect, and a very fun month is now in the books. There’s a lot to cover this month so let’s jump right in!
RECAP OF THE MONTH
When I look back on 2020 there will be a few things that will come to mind right away. COVID of course. Moving from NYC back to Newport Beach. And finally, the election of Joe Biden as the 46th President of the United States. That’s really what the first seven days of November entailed. The Szerlip house was one of nerves, hope, and at times dread. But let me back up a bit. From the moment Trump was elected in 2016, both Jenn and I became hyper-aware of current events, politics, and how we could help to get any Democrat elected in 2020. I supported Elizabeth Warren in the primaries (I still believe she’d be incredible at the job) but when Biden won the nomination both Jenn and I went all-in on Biden. We both became volunteers and texted and made phone calls for Biden from June to November.
When November finally rolled in Jenn had just begun her weeklong work as a poll worker here in Newport Beach. After a 12-hour online training and 10-hour in-person training, she was ready to help everyone vote for a week at the Newport Beach Civic Center. I’ll be honest I’m always proud of Jenn, she is an incredibly successful and impressive woman. But the fact that she used her vacation days to go help people vote doing 12+ hour days was a new high for me. She loved it too. After a tough start (insanely long lines) Jenn got into a groove and did a beautiful job. I guarantee you if there was a competition for the best poll worker in the 2020 election, Jenn would have won. Plus the stories she had from her week there will last a lifetime.
When election day finally rolled in on November 3rd we were both a ball of nerves. Unlike in NYC, there are a lot more Trump supporters in Newport Beach. Seeing Trump flags and hats when I’d drop Jenn off or pick her up always lowered our spirits. When election day finally arrived I tried to survive the day the best I could. We were told over and over and over again that in many of the states that Biden needed to win they’d count the in-person votes first and then the mail-in-ballots so we may see Trump ahead in a lot of states that we thought Biden would carry. Well sure enough as the results started to trickle in on the night of November 3rd the outcome looked bleak, almost a direct replica of 2016. I’ll never forget bringing Jenn dinner at around 7 PM and us talking about how the outcome didn’t look good. I’ll never forget the way my stomach dropped when Biden lost Florida and I thought the worst was coming. We went to sleep on November 3rd with about half of the country not called but the map not looking great.
Over the next several days as the votes were counted and the map started to take shape we followed the slow drip of votes coming in from states like Arizona, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Georgia. By the end of Wednesday (Nov 4th) the tide seemed to have turned with Michigan and Wisconsin going to Biden and the other states looking good as well. But the results would not come that day or the next. And so we watched news conferences from local state officials, and waited for each “CNN Breaking Alert.” By Friday it was bound to be called at any minute for Biden and finally on Saturday morning after a tortuous 5 days, CNN and several other outlets called the election for Joe Biden. The elation I felt at that moment is indescribable. After four years of fear, anger, and disgust at what our country had become to see a good and decent man elected as President and even better a powerful, strong woman in Kamala Harris being his VP made us both elated.
That evening as Joe Biden and Kamala Harris prepared to give their acceptance speeches both Jenn and I were hugging, crying, laughing, and feeling all of those emotions at once. We had a bottle of Mumms champagne that we brought back from Paris to open on the night we had hoped Hillary Clinton would be elected. We finally were able to pop that bottle of champagne as we watched two beautiful speeches tears rolling down both of our faces. It’s a moment I’ll never forget.
And like that the election was over and it was time to move forward even if Trump as of this writing still thinks somehow he won and it was rigged. But as weeks keep passing by, it’s fun watching Trump lose the election over and over and over again. As if November couldn’t have started off better, the following week is what I’d consider a “Joel week.” Because even though I already had my Playstation 5 review unit that, that week I also received the Xbox Series X and S as well as the iPhone 12 Pro Max. What a great week it was! Playing games like Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, NBA 2K21, and Spider-Man: Miles Morales made an already good week great.
On the 14th of November, we hosted our first-ever Friendsgiving. It’s something that Jenn has wanted to host for a long time but we’ve never really had space for it. It’s ironic that our apartment that we’re using as a respite during COVID is the one we host in but thus is life. Jenn went into full planning mode. She rented a table and chairs, made and professionally printed menu’s, bought a floral arrangement for the table, and bought some odds and ends for the table. The menu was a collaboration between Jenn and I. We landed on Julia Child’s Coq Au Vin something I made a month or two back and turned out really well. Making it for 8 people instead of 2 was going to be the only challenge. The night went without a flaw. Jenn was an incredible host and we think everyone had a great time. Champagne and wine were flowing. Jenn did an incredible job with making a charcuterie board with meats and cheeses from Whole Foods and fresh bread from our new favorite bakery (C’est Si Bon Bakery). Dinner although not as perfect as I was hoping turned out well with Coq Au Vin and fresh Tagliatelle. We finished with dessert to start with some blue cheese and sherry and then to finish off an Apple Pie from PopPie in Costa Mesa. It was a great night and one I’m glad we were able to do while we’re back out in California. My lasting memory of this night though will be cooking dinner and watching Jenn lead a games of Werewolf. The yelling and laughter that came from the dozens of rounds of the game were the best.
What is and continues to be one of my favorite days of any year is the day that we decorate our home for Christmas. There’s something about the moment that we start to bring out the decorations and hear the first few Christmas songs of the year that makes all the stresses of the day wash away. Jenn decorates like an artist working on their masterpiece. It’s amazing to watch. She just glides around the house knowing exactly what she wants to do to make our home festive as her Mom did for her for so many years. We made a point to bring some of our decorations (not all) back with us this year from New York.
We did buy a new tree from CB2 that we are both in love with. Even as I write this we still marvel at how beautiful of a tree it is and how great of a job Jenn did decorating it. We of course accompanied our decorations with the annual popcorn, mixed nuts, and Champagne that has been a staple over the year.
The month ended with Thanksgiving where even with COVID we made it to Riverside and Oceanside all in one day. We went to my parents first and had an early Thanksgiving lunch/dinner with the normal turkey, mashed potatoes, creamed corn, and the like. My Mom as always makes far too much food but it was nice to be home for Thanksgiving something I haven’t done in many years. We drove from Riverside to Oceanside to have dinner with Jenn’s Dad and Joan with a Filet and corn. We were so full by the time we left that night that we barely ate the next day. We were fortunate that COVID kept a lot of people home so our drives weren’t too bad, but by the time we got home on Thanksgiving night we were ready for a long weekend.
And that’s how November came to a close. We did take a photoshoot with Jake at Crystal Cove for our Christmas cards but those pictures will be posted next month. Until then we will close out November hopeful that with a new President, a vaccine on the way, and a great month in the books, that better is just around the corner.
TV WE WATCHED
We watched a lot of TV in November especially considering there was an entire week where all we watched was CNN. I promise we had CNN on our TV’s for 10-12 hours a day for 5-days. Once the election was over we finished the forth season of Better Call Saul which wasn’t as good as 3 but better then 2 & 1. We started and finish the mini series The Queen’s Gambit on Netflix which we both loved. We also started and finished the documentary The Vow on HBO which is about a cult that began in upstate New York. It was fascinating albeit incredibly drawn out.
By far though the highlight of the month was The Undoing on HBO a six episode mini-series with Hugh Grant and Nicole Kidman that was entertaining and suspenseful.
BOOKS I READ (OR LISTENED TO)
It wasn’t my favorite month of books but I did get some good reading done in November. By far the highlight was News of the World which felt perfect to read during and after the election. I cannot wait to watch the movie that’s coming out based on the novel this Christmas with Tom Hanks. I enjoyed Hidden in Plain Sight the second book from Jeffrey Archer for his new series. I’ve also had a hankering to learn more about Genghis Khan and so I enjoyed Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World but it wasn’t as in-depth as I had hoped. The last book / Manga I read was Venus in the Blind Spot which was for GamersRead and I didn’t love that one.
MOVIES WE WATCHED
Finally we sat down and watched some movies this month. One of our new favorite things to do is take Frasier for a long walk, come back home, close all the blinds and make some popcorn and sit down for a movie. Most of these were exactly that. Jenn fell asleep but I loved The Trial of the Chicago 7. We both really enjoyed A Rainy Day in New York even if we felt guilty for supporting Woody Allen at all. We did watch the multimedia experience that was Between the World And Me on HBO which is based off one of my favorite books of all time by the same name.
We also began our 2020 12 Christmas movies with our first three movies Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Love Actually and Happiest Season.
THEATER WE SAW
This probably counts right? Amazon Prime recently released What the Constitution Means To Me on their service which was a recording of one of the live shows from 2019. Jenn and I saw the show and absolutely loved it. We saw one of the last performances before it left Broadway and are so glad we saw it. Watching it a second time reinforced just how spectacular of a show this was. We weren’t there live, but we will take any theater we can get at this point.
GAMES I'VE BEEN PLAYING
What a month for video games! As mentioned above I got both the Playstation 5 and the Xbox Series X/S. And while I played more games on the PS5 it was a busy, busy month of games. I finished Marvel’s Spider-Man Miles Morales which was phenomenal. I’m about ten hours into Assassin’s Creed Valhalla which I stopped playing so I could get further into The Last of Us Part II. I of course kept my normal balance of sports games with NBA 2K21 for Xbox Series X (gorgeous) and the older versions of Madden and PGA Tour. A great, great month of games!
2020 GOAL TRACKING
Goal #1: Read 40 Books: I've read 37 books and am currently ahead of schedule to hit my goal.
Goal #2: Keep Weight Under 140: I've yet to go over 140lbs
Goal #3: 12 Monthly Recaps: 11 for 11.
Something Else
I feel like it would be a disservice not to post the video of both Kamala Harris and Joe Biden accepting their wins in front of supporters distanced in cars. It was a moment that I will never forget and one that when I look back on this post many years from now I will want to remember.
One thing I also don’t want to forget is the several speeches that Biden gave during the days in between the election and the race being called for him. It was so nice to get his reassurance almost every day that the numbers were looking good and that the process should play out. A note any leader should keep in their back pocket for a crisis.
