Awaiting the Thaw ...
And hanging onto moments of warmth.
We’ve been trapped in a deep freeze for too long. It’s misery. The country at large is also in the midst of a collective crisis. I feel physically cold and emotionally overwhelmed, and I suspect that many of you do too. So, how are we all handling this? What can we do to help ourselves? Our families? Our communities?
Honestly, I really don’t have answers to any of those questions. If you do, please share. But here’s what I have been doing: I have been cozying up to my loved ones. Laughing with friends over drinks. I have been dancing, and cheering on Olympic athletes. There’s also been no shortage of emotional eating. That’s okay, too.
Here are 10 things that have made me happy so far this (brutal) winter:
Tony’s Chocolonely Milk Chocolate Bars (Shout-out to my girl Porto, who gifted her wedding guests each a full size bar and thus began my love, nay, my obsession with this chocolate.)
I went to a millennial dance party in NYC. My childhood friends and i grabbed our spouses and our comfiest sneakers and danced to 90s and early 2000s hits. Oh yes, it was from 5pm-10pm and there was all-you-can-eat pizza! Did I leave with a whole pie? You bet your ass I did.
I enjoyed a fancy cocktail + a queer book, all alone at the bar. Il Figlio makes an excellent cocktail, and it’s the perfect place to snag some alone time.
I’ve been recording Season 2 of (Un)seen: Queer, Millennial Life, Unfiltered, with my friend and co-host Erica Bacon. We have new guests, unhinged conversations, and it’s been oh-so-fun.
I’ve been watching Heated Rivalry again and again and again. It’s the dopamine hit that I need and deserve. If you haven’t let it rewire your brain yet, subscribe to HBO Max NOW.
I got bangs! My botox budget ran out, so I spent $20 on bangs. No regrets.
I played in the snow at one of my favorite spots in the Hudson Valley, Little Stony Point in Cold Spring. I’ve long been one to embrace winter, so I don’t like to let a little snow and cold stop me … although at this point, consider me stopped.
I’ve been following through with seeing friends. We all know how hard this is, but in the past few weeks I went to see a friend’s band perform—shout-out Liz Kelly!—attended a Galentine’s Party—where my pal Blair gifted us all “permanent” jewelry by Bond & Glow—brought cupcakes and ice cream to a friend’s house for take-out, went to eat lunch and work and gab at a friend’s house, and even Uber’d home from a friends house after an evening of tequila and karaoke. Let’s normalize just going over to each other’s houses, okay?
I joined Transforming Lives, a writing mentorship program for incarcerated individuals. I have been paired with an individual in New York State. We send each other letters and I get to read some of his work, and it’s bringing me a great deal of joy.
I’ve been enjoying quite Friday nights on the couch with my wife and kids. Movie nights are back and better than other. We have been making pasta or something cozy, getting in our jammies, and snuggling up together. Here’s a one-pot favorite that I really recommend: Creamy Chicken Fajita Pasta.
Stay warm. Try to enjoy life’s little pleasures. Spring is coming.
Tony’s 4eva