Of the moment // 1.5.18
One of the reasons why I blog is simply to have the space to write: getting things “on paper” helps me to process my feelings and organize my thoughts. I also love having a record of my life over the past few years: a place that holds all of my stories, my photos, the ups and downs of travel. But sometimes, I also just want to remember and share the little things that brought me day-to-day joy. Every Friday, I’ll give you a peek into the book I currently can’t put down, a great restaurant discovery, a fun new product or an inspiring quote: a few things that I think you might enjoy before we all take off into the glory that is the weekend! 
Full disclosure: this post was supposed to report that I was back in sunny San Diego and SO thrilled for a laid-back weekend at home after three weeks in chilly, chaotic New York City. Instead, we spent 13+ miserable hours yesterday at JFK caught up in the snowstorm…and we’re now stuck on the East Coast until Tuesday. In hindsight, we should have changed our flights way earlier–but we were basically desperate to be back in our own bed, so we were far too optimistic and trusting of the JetBlue gate agents. We actually boarded our flight at 9am (we thought we would be just early enough to beat the brunt of the storm), and then had to deplane and endure six hours of our flight getting delayed (so much false hope!) and then four hours of waiting for our bags (the actual one time a year that I checked a bag). I know that JetBlue can’t control the weather, but the situation at JFK was managed poorly with a huge lack of communication and forthrightness. And, of course, the earlier you gave up, the better luck you had of getting on a flight out this weekend. I know that we’re some of the lucky ones–I’m grateful that we had a place to come back and stay, and that we have emergency (fun) funds for a few extra days here–but I’m having a tough time snapping out of feeling bummed. I don’t think I’m ever going to want to leave Southern California in the winter again!
Eats
Absolute Bagels has the best bagels in New York City in my opinion, so I made it a point to detour up there to splurge on some everythings with scallion cream cheese before I left. Best $4 ever spent!
New babes
My good friend’s due date was New Year’s Day, but I had my fingers crossed the baby would come a few days early so that we would have some time to meet the baby: my BabyBookie bets all came true (I correctly predicted the date AND that she’d be a girl), and we got to pop over and meet Jude on the last day of 2017. She was only four days old when we met her (maybe the newest baby I’ve ever held): so beautiful, healthy and tiny (!). I’m so excited to spoil that little thing! Also, unsurprisingly, Gert absolutely loved her–she’s such a fan of babies!
Drinks
Comedy Cellar is without a doubt one of our favorite date nights in New York City: there is so much top talent, and even the up-and-comers are hilarious. This time, the special guest was Ray Romano: I watched a lot of Everybody Loves Raymond in my childhood, and I recently binged Parenthood, so it was so surreal to see him in the flesh. He was also really funny and good at standup, which I never would have predicted. And we discovered this amazing speakeasy cocktail bar tucked away just across the street from it! The Up & Up has a selection of incredible cocktails, but it’s also really quiet (a rarity in this city!) so it’s perfect for a date.
Reads
I’m reading The Ninth Hour for my book club in a few weeks. It’s set in an Irish-American Catholic community in Brooklyn in the early 20th century, and to be honest, it’s not quite as compelling as I would hope it to be! 
Words
“Write because you love the art and the discipline, not because you’re looking to sell something.” -Ann Patchett
This weekend, we’re trying to make the best of the situation: booked a couple of nights at a swanky Brooklyn hotel (where we spent our wedding night!) to celebrate my husband’s birthday on Saturday! It’s going to be SO cold here (“feels like” in the negative teens), so I think we’ll be taking full advantage of room service, Seamless and Netflix.
