Good lord… I’m not even sure where to start on choosing highlights from this amazing week. From November 6 through November 12th, we had so many incredible experiences, I may need to go day-by-day:

Monday I started the day as a normal Monday: gym, groceries, laundry, and some pre-cooking. But then I took off uptown, Waaaaay up town to the Met Cloisters. That was an exceptional experience. I was not prepared for such an impressive display of medieval art and artifact, architecture, and flora. Truly worth a visit. On the way back from the Cloisters I swung through Times Square TKTS and snagged a ticket for the evening performance of Harmony, which was beautifully performed.

Tuesday was pretty chill. I wandered the neighborhoods between the Y and home, and took care of some correspondence and writings. Then in the evening we went back to the Bowery to see Brent Cobb.

Wednesday I had a broad goal of perhaps shopping for some clothes, but decided on my way I’d try for a spontaneous wander to see where I ended up. I ended up at Tiffany’s, and I think Holly Golightly was on to something. My mood was lifted substantially. From there I found myself Passing and then double backing into the Bartoux Gallery up at Central Park South. They had several pieces of the artist, Carole Feuerman, and I was smitten. It turned out the artist herself would be giving a talk the following evening at Park St and then having a small reception back at the gallery. I was honored to be invited! The timing wasn’t great for me to attend, but I’ll cherish the missed connection with my favorite artist from this visit. After the gallery I found myself at the Museum of Art and Design. A quick little museum with some interesting pieces and a great Taylor Swift exhibit. From there I found myself at Nordstroms. That was the start of an ultimately failed attempt at several locations to shop for myself. But I truly gave it a noble effort. I may not have found any clothes, but neither did I kill anyone or cry in public, So I will try again. Shopping in general is not something I enjoy. And shopping for myself is something I know I am not good at. My clothes basically come from Costco, Stitch Fix, or hand-me-downs from my kid. I don’t actually know what size I am, or what is good quality, or what will be long lasting and durable and stand up to my lifestyle. When I finally gave up and went back to the apartment I took a little siesta because we had 9:30 PM reservations at Dirt Candy. Nine thirty. I swear. It’s like I don’t even know who we are anymore. I’m usually asleep by 9:30. The dinner, while late was inventive and interesting.

I feel like I had an exceptionally full week before Thursday even dawned. But come Thursday, we had our friends Lori and Ronnie come down from Maine to spend a long weekend with us under the pretense of celebrating Larry’s birthday. We caught up over dinner at Hummus Kitchen, explored the neighborhood a bit, had drinks at an incredible rooftop bar, the Broken Shaker, and then settled home to rest up for a helluva weekend.

Friday: Townes started the day with a little work and the Underhills started with a little cardio at the gym. We then set out on an epic day. We started in Brooklyn at Juliana’s Pizza. We walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. We grabbed an Irish Coffee and Reade Tavern and then sesame balls and pork buns in Chinatown. We finally were able to duck into the Chrysler Building’s lobby and admire the incredible art deco. From there we had an amazing and sobering tour at the UN Headquarters. We headed out to meet Lori’s uncle and aunt at McSorley’s pub, which was very crowded and very fun. We came back to the flat to change for dinner at Salina’s, for Spanish tapas. After that we found the Canuk, a Canadian bar. Much shenanigans ensued. Lastly we closed the evening with some Roman pizza from down the block. Bookending the day with pizza and filling it in with our own united nation food tour and an actual UN tour was a pretty amazing start to our weekend.

It might not surprise anyone that we four were moving a wee bit slowly the next morning. There was no gym, but there were bagels, and that made everything right. We then headed out to Roosevelt Island via the arial tram. It was such a bright beautiful day, and Roosevelt Island was a charmingly delightful place to stroll. I loved seeing the skyline from that perspective. On our return, we made our way across town to try an Argentinian restaurant and to hear more details about Lori and Ronnie’s recent trip to South America. We came back to the flat, rested and changed for an early reservation at Babbo, 14 years after wandering in there together for the first time. Dinner was great. People watching was greater. We left Babbo, made our way back to our neighborhood. We walked through Bryant Park Winter Market, and finished out the night enjoying live music and cocktails at the Flat Iron Room. Truly another epic day with our best friends.

Sunday we enjoyed morning coffee before bidding adieu to the Townes. We will see them in warmer climes in January. The rest of Sunday Larry and I spent at the gym, doing some chores, and administrative work. In the evening we were delighted to take Eren, Elliot’s best friend in The Hague who is here with his family for a visit, out to dinner at Shukutte, which was delicious and on a whole different level with fresh breads and dips. Thus ends the summary of last week. And this week is shaping up to be similar, with more great friends arriving on Thursday.