February seems like a lifetime ago, but I keep remember how wonderful and happy it was. February 2020 was SO. FETCH. and I’m so grateful that I had so much quality time with family and friends before this pandemic started.

It seems like a good way to spend a very rainy, VERY windy day - looking back on a month filled with all of my favorite things. A moment in time when I was in NYC, happy and healthy and full of appreciation for all the incredible things I get to do in this life! I don’t care how cheesy it sounds.

2 Hockey Games!

The 3rd Annual Brunch & Barclays! Making all my favorites wear Islanders swag, getting good and tipsy, and going to a hockey game! It’s always one of my favorite days. This year, we started with brunch at Miti Miti, a Mexican spot in Brooklyn. The bottomless brunch was a good deal, though the food itself was pretty pricey. But they had a ton of vegan options, which was a definite bonus!

The game coincided for the second year in a row with referee appreciate night - something that I definitely think we should participate in next time!

The Islanders scored with about :25 left in regulation to bring the game to overtime and I was overjoyed…for a few minutes. Until we lost just a minute into OT. C’est la vie.

I got to go to a second Islanders game just a few days later when work gave out free tickets. This time, we got the W! I’ll definitely miss how easy it is to get to a game at Barclays if the team doesn’t play there next season.

My third Islanders game of the season was technically in March, but pre-quarantine. The annual trip with my parents and Allison and her family to the Coliseum! We were able to pre-game in the hotel and even had a cute little balcony overlooking an empty pool! There was a lot of hand washing but it was still such a fun day - we even did dinner together afterwards before heading back to NYC.

Family Time!

My mom, dad, sister, aunt, uncle, grandma and grandpa were all in the city in February! This is a BIG DEAL.

My sister joined me for brunch and the Islanders game and my parents drove in to give me my Christmas gifts that I wasn’t able to travel with after the holidays.

Then, my aunt and uncle drove my grandparents in over President’s Day Weekend and I met up with them and my cousin for a great dinner with lots of red wine.

Being able to see everyone I love without leaving the city was a very big treat.

Apartment Upgrades

I really wanted to challenge myself to use the time I’ve been home to organize and “purge” in my apartment. I did a ton of purging in my kitchen, a decent job at purging my drawers and closets, my bathroom is in really good shape - but there are definitely a few more things on my to-do list.

That being said, my apartment is feeling comfy and cozy.

I bought myself some plants on Amazon that I’ve managed to keep alive (for now).

I have a new comforter and pillows and my bed feels luxurious.

My Tupperware drawer is a DREAM when I open it.

This new fruit basket makes me smile and I feel super organized with my “swim” “bike” and “run” bins set up under my bench!

Nothing sparked joy more than steam mopping my floors!

Vegan

For the month of February I experimented with veganism. I’ve been wanting to start eating a more plant-based diet for awhile not, mainly because of the environmental benefits.

I had meant to read Jonathan Safran Foer’s “Eating Animals” during my vegan February and if I had, I probably wouldn’t have eaten a turkey sandwich on March 1.

Though I’m not longer eating vegan, I definitely have a new-found appreciation for lentils, beans, tempeh and tofu.

For three weeks I ordered meals from Territory Foods which made it super simple - I didn’t have to think about cooking or eating vegan I just had to pop a meal in the microwave. And the meals were SO good. I was worried it would just be all tofu, but there was a ton of variety from week to week. I liked the meals 100X more than Kettlebell Kitchen’s.

Some of my favorites were

Spicy Baked Tofu with Cabbage and Brown Rice
Ethiopian Style Lentils & Braised Collards
Golden Noodles with Coconut Grilled Tofu & Veggies
Smoky Maple Tempeh with Sweet Potato Corn Hash & Swiss Chard
Roasted Tofu with Persimmon Chutney, Brussels Sprouts & Butternut Mash
Bok Choy, Carrot, Mushroom & Tofu Stir-fry

Plus, they deliver right to my gym and I found the cost super affordable. They also offer vegetarian options, keto, paleo - basically they’ll cater to any diet. (You can use the code PBBF at Territory Foods for $25 off your first two weeks!)

It felt a little bit like cheating though, so I did cook myself my own meals too. Some of the recipes I used were -

Ginger & Coconut Split Pea Soup from Food52
Turkish Lentil Soup from Gimme Some Oven
Cashew Tofu from Gimme Some Oven

And then my own concoction of white beans, kale and soy chorizo.

I realized that I already cook a lot of vegan dishes anyway. The biggest thing was not being able to add an egg on top of a grains and veggie bowl or chicken to my stir fry.

Eating out was definitely harder, especially when my parents came into the city. We ended up eating at a Georgian restaurant! Oda House on the Upper East side actually had a ton of vegan options (though communicating with my waiter was a little challenging at times).

My favorite part of the meal was a tie between the lobiani (mashed pinto beans baked inside yeast dough) and the khinkali (the Georgian equivalent to pierogies). I would love to go back and try more dishes here.

I had high hopes that being vegan would curb my sweet tooth - instead, I just ate boxes of Oreos and Thin Mints (both vegan!) and pints of Van Leeuwen’s ice cream (the chocolate oat milk cookie dough chunk was my favorite of the three pints sampled in February).

All month I thought I was going to stick with it beyond February - and then I ate a turkey sandwich and haven’t looked back. We’ll see. I’m definitely still going to read that book!

Writing Class

I was finally able to sign myself up for a writing class, the Creative Nonfiction 101 at Gotham City Writers. It was a great value - 6 weeks of classes, 18 hours of instruction and we learned about writing op ed pieces, memoirs, travel writing, reviews and features.

Despite ending on Monday nights at 10 PM, I remained motivated to show up. It was a small, interactive class with a professor who reminded me of our Eurotrip tour guide. I didn’t learn any life-altering writing tips, but it was a good way to get me writing every week for the homework assignments.

It was also interesting to see what I ended up writing about for each assignment. For the memoir, I wrote about how grateful I was to have the experience of growing up with a best friend who was Muslim. For my profile piece, I wrote about Jenny Donnelly and how the running community has led to a increase in fast female runners competing at this years Olympic Marathon Trials. For my review, I wrote about Becco, one of my favorite New York City restaurants. For my op ed, I wrote about why US airports are so much more miserable than airports in other parts of the world. And for my travel piece, I wrote this listicle!

Our last class was unfortunately conducted on Zoom once I was already back on Long Island - but I’m glad it still happened.

2 Piano Bars

Brandy’s

I finally got my parents to Brandy’s After a short wait outside on the sidewalk, we entered the small, cramped piano bar on the Upper East Side that serves me tequila cosmos and sings the perfect blend of Billy Joel, showtunes and Jimmy Buffet (when I request it).

As usual, the time flew by and we spent a happy few hours here singing along to song after song.

Marie’s Crisis

I spent Valentine’s Day with two of my lifelong friends singing showtunes in a West Village basement and it couldn’t have been more perfect. We spent something like 4 hours at Marie’s on a Friday night and I’m very thankful that Lana and Allison put up with my constant “just one more song…”

Highlight? A medley of Ragtime songs <333

Brandon James Gwinn was the pianist and I highly recommend finding out his schedule so that you’re guaranteed to see him! You not only get showtunes, you get a comedy show.

2 Musicals

Luckily, I had a good amount of live musical theater in February before Broadway theaters went dark. The theater community has been especially hard-hit with the coronavirus - we’ve already lost legend Terrence McNally and many more theater stars have been fighting the virus including Aaron Tveit and Nick Cordero.

Meanwhile, the Dear Evan Hansen performance on James Cordon’s #HomeFest and the Hamilton casts reunion on John Krasinski’s “Some Good News” have brought moments of joy to many while simultaneously helping with fundraising efforts to help the shuttered theater industry.

Little Shop of Horrors

Allison and I first went to see Little Shop of Horrors because once I read the New York Time’s article about Gideon Glick’s portrayal of Seymour - I knew I needed to go! Gideon has been one of my favorites since I saw him in the original cast of Spring Awakening and last year I got to see him as Dill in To Kill a Mockingbird.

Though Little Shop is one of the most kitschy shows I’ve ever seen, I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Jagged Little Pill

In January, I saw Alanis Morisette live at a work event and it was an exhilarating thing - standing at the very front of the stage, suddenly realizing that I still knew almost every word to the entire Jagged Little Pill album. When she broke out the harmonica, I went wild.

I knew I had to buy tickets to see Jagged Little Pill when I got home! Though the show took on a lot of hot button topics, I enjoyed the singing and obviously already knew I loved the songs. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see Lauren Patten who supposedly brings the house down during You Oughta Know, but Ezra Menas as an understudy was also amazing!

2 Concerts

DERMOT KENNEDY DERMOT KENNEDY DERMOT KENNEDY! If you haven’t yet listened to this man’s voice - stop reading right now and GO LISTEN.

I can’t remember the last time I was so obsessed with someone’s music.

And in February I got to see him in concert TWICE.

The first time was a super intimate acoustic concert thanks to one of my friends getting me on the list and I am eternally grateful It was amazing being so close in such a small room.

The second time was at Radio City and it was totally different with the full band and a huge crowd. But both concerts were incredible and made me feel more in love with Dermot.

He’s been going live a lot during this quarantine and it’s wonderful

Skiing

Allison and I took an amazing ski trip with OvRride and I highly highly recommend them. I definitely plan on taking a trip again next year, and hopefully more than one!

We got picked up right on the upper east side, had no problem getting a seat, and were given bagels and water as we drove to Windham Mountain. The cost included bus transportation there and back, bagels, water, granola bars, beers on the ride home, a lift ticket and rentals.

We had a solid day of skiing and I felt much better than I did last year when I put skis on for the first time in 12 years. It was a beautiful day - we were even warm at times.

And back to my apartment by 8 PM after bus brews! Such a great day.

Trail Running

I had some awesome trail runs in February - it’s definitely my new favorite way to spend a Saturday or Sunday, though I sometimes still feel like a baby deer with wobbly legs and twisted ankles. Especially on the downhill!

I headed to Prospect Park for another trail run with Trail Women BK on a gorgeous day and Abby and I ran almost 8 miles on a trail in Connecticut during a weekend trip!

In Central Park, I stuck to the trails as opposed to the road as much as I could.

A Quick Trip

In February I even got to take a quick weekend trip out of NYC to a friends family house in Connecticut. We all were questioning whether it was worth the effort of renting a car for just a quick weekend trip but by the end of the weekend we all agreed that even for 48 hours it was BEYOND worth it.

We played board games, cooked in a giant kitchen, went for a trail run/hike, went to a cute little town for fresh baked bread and ice cream and on our way home went to Beacon to a farmer’s market and to walk through the cute town.

I think it left us all feeling rejuvenated!

2 Breweries

Strong Rope Brewery

We stopped by this brewery in Brooklyn after the Islanders game and played cards - it was great and I cant wait to be this close to all my favorite people again, drinking beer!

Housatonic River Brewing

I was thrilled to find a brewery near the house we stayed at in Connecticut - what is better on an unseasonably warm afternoon after a trail run than some flights outside?! Nothing.

I miss you February, you were really wonderful and I’m grateful for the memories!