A Look Back - November 2024
We can pick up right where October left off. We began our last day in Newport Beach. Unfortunately, Elle wasn’t feeling well, so we decided to cancel all of our plans. We stayed at our hotel most of the day, only going out to get Bear Flag for lunch. On Saturday, November 2nd, Jenn had breakfast with her cousin Holly and Aunt Karen while I walked Elle around and finished packing. From there, we drove to LAX, dropped off our bags, and waited in the brand-new Delta One lounge for our flight home. The lounge was beautiful; we had champagne, sushi, salad, and pizza. We got there a bit early, and with Elle not feeling well, she got a little fussy in the quiet lounge. That worried us for the upcoming flight, but fortunately for us, although she didn’t sleep as much as on the way out to California, she was quiet for almost the entire flight.
When we arrived home, it was a brief sigh of relief. A few days later, it was election day. We were hopeful but worried about Kamala’s chances. I was so nervous I told Jenn I wouldn't be watching any election coverage. I even muted my works Slack channel that had live updates as well. I didn’t want to have the feeling of 2016 all over again. Unfortunately, even with the melatonin and a beautiful walk outside as a family, the results started coming in, and it didn't look good. I’ll never understand this country’s interest/fascination/adoration of the man. I’m genuinely and utterly embarrassed for us as a country, and unlike 2016, I’m not in shock of the results, just wildly disappointed. I’m writing this now, nearly a month after the election, and he’s currently compiling a cabinet of a few sane people and a lot of crazies. As much as I am hopeful for the future, I’m not looking forward to the next 4-years.
Unlike in 2016, we kept moving on. We didn’t let the disappointment in the election bring us down for over a day or two. In fact, on Saturday, November 9th, we had the second trial run with one of the nannies we were testing for Elle, so we took advantage and went out for the afternoon/evening. We couldn’t have asked for a better play to see to lift our spirits. We saw Our Town, starring Jim Parson (from The Big Bang Theory), and it was quickly one of my favorites of the year. We walked on this beautiful late-fall afternoon to dinner in the West Village at Cecchi’s. We got there right when it opened and got a booth in the middle of the restaurant. It was a fine dinner with a nice appetizer and fish and steak. We hoped for something unique but got a good but not great dinner. Jenn rushed home to relieve the nanny while I went to Camp Canine to pick up Frasier.
The next day, we took the entire family to Central Park to enjoy another mild November morning. It was one of those mornings that always makes me wonder why you would live anywhere else but New York. That was until we got to our usual spot, where we played fetch with Frasier. He has been favoring his back right leg off and on for the last month, and, after a few throws of the ball, came up limping both his front and back leg. That raised a lot of alarm bells with Jenn and me, so we carried Elle home in her carrier and put Frasier in the stroller. It wasn’t easy, but we somehow managed to get everyone home. A few weeks later we got Frasier an x-ray that came up negative for anything. He’s currently on some joint medicine that seems to be helping, but it hasn’t entirely gone away.
Monday was also Veterans Day, so I had it off from work, and Jenn still had a few weeks of maternity leave left. We had our last trial run with our now-hired nanny, Tamar. We love Tamar; she has been an excellent addition, and we are excited to have her help us. We won’t have her start full-time until January, but we are doing some part-time work between now and then. She was doing a regular day shift on this day, so we headed out to lunch shortly after she arrived. After Cecchi’s, I was desperate for something similar but better. I found that with The Monkey Bar, a restaurant in midtown I’ve walked past almost every day for 3 years. I started with a Vesper, and we split the shrimp cocktail. Jenn got the steak frites for our mains, and I had the French dip. It was perfect; it was exactly what we were looking for, and it had a beautiful setting. After lunch, we walked a few blocks and spent an hour at MoMa. It is never lost on us how lucky we are to live so close to these fantastic places, and we marveled at it again today.
I left for Miami on November 13th for work, the first time I had visited that office. I took the 7 AM flight from Laguardia and went straight to the office. Ironically, and only by pure chance, Jake was in Miami for work. We met at The Four Seasons Miami (where I was staying) after work. We had drinks (a Vesper for me and an espresso martini for Jake) at their bar and munched on some snacks. From there, we got into an Uber and drove insanely long to Cote Miami. Jake and I love Cote in New York, but it can be hard to get a reservation. It wasn’t nearly as hard to get it in Miami, so we jumped on it. We stuck with the tried and true butcher’s feast, which did not disappoint. It was surreal randomly having dinner with Jake in Miami, but I’m glad we could make it happen. We walked off our dinner before jumping back in an Uber, dropping Jake off at his hotel, and parting ways. I spent the next day at work too late into the evening before going back to my hotel room, ordering room service, and leaving early the next morning for home.
As Elle got closer to 6 months old, our pediatrician recommended starting her on solid foods. We purchased the Beaba Babycook Solo, a steam/processor to make baby food. Elle’s first-ever experience with solid food happened on November 16th and was carrots. She didn’t love or hate them, and she was sort of indifferent to them. We got a few spoon fools in, but most ended up on her bib or face. In early December, I can say that has been the standard response to almost everything except for peanut butter, which she loves.
After going to MoMa the week prior we decided that it would be a great opportunity to take Elle there as well. We walked from our apartment the 25-minutes to MoMa. Navigating the museum with a stroller made things take longer but seeing Elle light up at all of the beautiful art was worth it. This is the third or forth art museum we’ve taken Elle to and they all have been hits. She is mesmerized by the beautiful colors and people. She only lasted an hour until she fell asleep and we went to the gift shop and bought her some books before walking home.
That led us to the week of Thanksgiving when Jenn was wrapping up her maternity leave, and I took the week off of work. One of my favorite memories of the week was walking with Jenn, Elle, and Frasier to Central and Riverside Park. We even took Elle on her first swing set; she lit up instantly. Having the time together without work or distractions before the whirlwind of the holidays hit was perfect.
Speaking of the holidays, Thanksgiving arrived. Jenn was convinced we should take Elle to Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, rain or shine. Unfortunately, I don’t think Jenn was expecting it to be the onslaught of rain that arrived. We looked outside first thing in the morning and realized that no matter how well we dressed her, sitting out in the pouring rain would be a lousy idea. Instead, we turned on our TV, watched the parade from the comfort of our bed, and saw some of it from our dining room table. Like last year, we decided to enjoy our Thanksgiving feast at Gramercy Tavern. We drove our car and parked near the restaurant. Elle was in between naps, and our goal/hope was that she would sleep through most of lunch. Instead, she fell asleep during the last few minutes of the drive over and woke up pretty unhappy to start the experience. Fortunately, Jenn had the magic touch, and by the time our beautiful appetizers came, she was happy and mesmerized by everything around her. Jenn, who hasn’t drunk a drop of alcohol in months due to her ongoing infections, had her first glass of beautiful champagne while I went with their Manhattan. We enjoyed the entirety of the three-course meal, but the show's star was their stuffing. It was out of this world. Elle switched from us holding her to sitting in her high chair and did fantastic. We left Gramercy Tavern a bit heavier, and so happy we made an effort to come to enjoy Elle’s first Thanksgiving here. By the time we got on the west side highway, Elle had fallen asleep and couldn’t be bothered to wake up even when we got home.
On Friday, November 29th, it was our annual Christmas decorating tradition. After a few runs to our storage unit, we had all our decor and were ready to decorate. I remember last year when Jenn and I talked about what it would feel like to have a 6-month-old baby with us as we decorated. Well, I can say with certainty it was the best. Sharing something Jenn’s Mom instilled in her, a love of Christmas and decorating, was beautiful to watch. Jenn spent most of the time narrating to Elle what she was doing and why her Dad was relegated to the back of the tree. We shared a beautiful bottle of champagne and had some popcorn and nuts to accompany it. We soaked up every minute, from putting up Elle’s stocking to now having three special ornaments to hang on the tree. It was a great afternoon.
And that wrapped up November. Jenn was enjoying her last few days of maternity leave, and I was just about to leave for my final work trip for the year. I can’t believe we have a 6-month-old daughter with whom we celebrated Thanksgiving and decorated her first Christmas tree. Life is good.
TV WE WATCHED
We are a few months late to it, but we devoured the 10-episode romantic comedy Nobody Wants This on Netflix. It was the perfect show to watch post-election. Speaking of after the election, we have, at least for the time being, stopped watching our favorite political shows like Last Week Tonight, Bill Maher, and The Daily Show. I think we both just needed a break.
Towards the end of the month we started to catch up on new seasons of some of our favorite shows like Shrinking, Bad Sisters, and Silo.
BOOKS I READ (OR LISTENED TO)
Earlier in the year, I read the hefty The Winds of War, the first of a duology from Herman Wouk about the Henry family during WWII. Both books are over a thousand pages long and beautifully written. I love stories from multiple perspectives, especially when their timelines cross significant milestones. In this case, the Henry family is spread worldwide before, during, and directly after WWII. I found the second book more chaotic in the timelines and less character-focused than the first. But I still devoured the book and found the entire journey a triumph. I’m so glad I read these books.
After finishing such an epic, I wanted to go to something a bit easier, so I read We Solve Murders by Richard Osman. Maybe I went too far on the other end of the spectrum because while it was a fun murder mystery, it was so cookie-cutter that I came away feeling less than satisfied.
MOVIES WE WATCHED
Jenn told me over and over again that Twisters was a good movie. I barely finished it. I did not enjoy the sequel to Twister as much as I had hoped. Oh well. At least we started our 12 Christmas Movie tradition this year with our go-to Planes, Trains and Automobiles on Thanksgiving. We unfortunately didn’t get to Love Actually on Black Friday after our tree decorating like we normally do but we did watch Miracle on 34th Street which we still love.
GAMES I'VE BEEN PLAYING
I realize my gaming time has been so sports focused over the last 6-9 months that I had the urge to go back and finish Spider-Man 2. And the good news is as of this writing I’m almost done and its got its hooks me in again. That’s not to say that when I only have 10-20 minutes I don’t just jump into a game of Top Spin or Madden, because that was still the majority of my gaming in November.
2024 GOAL TRACKING
Goal #1: Read 35 Books: I read 39 books and completed my goal to read 35 books this year.
Goal #2: 12 Monthly Recaps: 11 for 12 and hopefully no end in sight!
