Broadway is back, the weather is perfect, the leaves are starting to turn, and I couldn’t think of a better month this year then October. It is one of those months that when I picture in my head living in New York City, this is what I imagine.

RECAP OF THE MONTH

If anything was going to make us feel like we were starting to get back to normal, going to our first Broadway show in almost two years was a massive step in that direction. A few weeks after Broadway re-opened its doors Jenn and I got tickets to see Come From Away. As I mentioned in the theater section (below) the minute they welcomed the nearly sold-out crowd back to Broadway the place erupted and you could feel the gratitude to be back in a place and environment we all loved.

That same weekend was jam-packed. Jenn thought it would be a good idea to walk from our apartment to a cookie shop she heard was out of this world, called City Cakes. It was a nearly 3-mile walk all the way to 18th street but luckily it was a beautiful fall day and the walk with Frasier down there was picture perfect. The good news to is the cookies were out of this world.

The next day Jenn made us reservations at Outhouse Orchards to go apple picking and to get pumpkins for Halloween. It was one of the rare ventures out of the city for us but it felt great to get out. It was a beautiful albeit a bit overcast day and we arrived for our allotted time after lunch. We’ve only gone apple picking one other time and it was in Oakglen which had far fewer apples to pick than here. The number of apples and people was staggering but we were able to load a bag of apples and grab a few great pumpkins while we were there. Frasier enjoyed every second of it wanting to eat everything on the ground but was well behaved and seemed to also enjoy being out of the city.

After the jam-packed weekend, we had planned a rather quiet intimate weekend at home but on Friday night (October 8th) we received an e-mail with last-minute tickets to go to the Met Opera to see Boris Godunov a Russian opera that was playing in the afternoon on Saturday. We picked up tickets for the second row in the orchestra and made our way there on Saturday. It was not our favorite opera, but being back at the Met surrounded by opera enthusiasts was surreal. It is one of the most beautiful venues in the US and one that I can’t wait to go back to now that we have more tickets to see operas throughout the rest of the year and into next year.

The rest of the month was rather uneventful. We made our way to our first movie in theaters in nearly two years seeing No Time to Die at the iPIC in Fulton Market. Although Jenn didn’t love the movie I did and it was the perfect place to go see a movie with great recliner seats and even a blanket for Jenn who loves to snuggle. We saw two more shows in October. Aladdin which we won tickets for in the broadway lottery ($30 a ticket) and Lackawanna Blues which Jenn’s friend helped score us tickets for.

We did go back to an old tradition of painting our Halloween pumpkins this year. I thought it would be helpful to buy stencils to make it easier to paint but I actually think that was harder and more work than just trying to do it by hand. Jenn managed to pull together two beautiful pumpkins while mine looked like a 5-year old started to paint it and got bored and moved on. We did pass out candy this year and gave away a ton with all the building kids going floor to floor enjoying a much more festive celebration this year. Frasier dressed for the occasion in a very cute blue shark costume that was a hit.

And that ended October. It was such a beautiful month. It almost felt normal again with shows, beautiful weather, and the start of the holiday season just right around the corner. I even got the iPhone 13 Pro Max, keeping my annual new phone tradition alive.

TV WE WATCHED

What an excellent month of television. We wrapped up the second season of Ted Lasso which although not hitting the highs of the first season continues to be one of (if not the) best shows on television. We also wrapped up the first season of The Sopranos and when the major TV release schedule slows down I am sure we will be back to it.

The two big surprises this month though were Squid Game, Netflix's most popular show ever, and Only Murders in the Building on Hulu. Starting with Squid Game for a show as popular as it is, we absolutely loved it, dark, sadistic, but an interesting commentary on humanity and capitalism. Only Murders in the Building the complete opposite was a smart, witty, and super fun murder mystery that we couldn’t get enough of.

BOOKS I READ (OR LISTENED TO)

Another excellent month of reading. I finished The Midnight Library shortly after coming back from the Maldives and it will easily be one of my favorite books of the year. Lux was a new book in the Steelheart franchise and although it’s an off-shoot from the main series it was enjoyable. In anticipation for the TV show coming next month, I did finally read The Wheel of Time’s first book The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan considered a classic fantasy novel, I really enjoyed it even if it didn’t reach the highs of The Name of the Wind or Game of Thrones.

MOVIES WE WATCHED

Although the weather for most of October has been beautiful here in the city we did catch a few movies including our first back in the theater, No Time to Die, the latest James Bond movie, and the final one for Daniel Craig. Before that, though we had to catch up on Spectre and so the weekend prior to going to the theaters we watched that. No Time to Die was the perfect movie to go back to the theaters for, fun, action-heavy, and beautiful on the big screen. The best movie of the month though went to Dune which I wish I had seen in theaters because it was stunning, much better than the book which I did not enjoy.

THEATER WE SAW

BROADWAY IS BACK!!!!! Well, it was actually back in mid-September but it was officially back for Jenn and me on October 1st when we went to see Come From Away at the Gerald Schonfeld Theater. It was the perfect show to go see as a re-introduction to broadway with its beautiful message, great singing, and our near-perfect seats. Jenn and I both teared up as the announcer welcome us back and the crowd erupted before the show. The standing ovation after the show was just as much for the actors as it was for the crowd being thrilled to be back.

We also saw Aladdin thanks to the broadway lottery and Lackawanna Blues thanks to one of Jenn’s friends and former co-workers. Aladdin was OK, a bit commercial, but fun to see the famous songs on stage. Lackawanna Blues was a fascinating one-man show that outside of a lady whose cell phone went off multiple times in the show was a very good show. More than anything it was just surreal to be back at Broadway and seeing a show.

GAMES I'VE BEEN PLAYING

Although still primarily sports-focused I did sink into Far Cry 6 a game that took a long time to warm up on me but eventually got its hooks in me. Now I am probably 10-15 hours in and although I may not finish it I am really enjoying it now.