The Best Seat in the House
*Shortly after writing this newsletter we received the news that our dear friend and neighbor Mike had passed away. Mike was our 73 year old friend referenced below, that celebrated the New Year with us. He lived in the townhouse directly next to ours. Moving into a townhouse with a toddler and a dog means you need to get to know the people you share a wall with. Mike became our first friend in Boulder. He was nothing but kind and generous to us. We shared stories, beers and baked goods with him on a very regular basis. Mike was a retired marine and had worked as a specialized Hydrologist for the USGS. He spent years in Afghanistan working to find and move water to remote communities. He was truly a great human. He loved 70s rock and feeding peanuts to the squirrels, that then scampered back to my flower garden and wreaked havoc attempting to bury the peanuts for winter. I never said anything because Mike loved feeding the squirrels and we loved Mike. He will be deeply missed in our house and I’m sure in the community that he spent much time serving.
Welcome to the bright side of what we hope to be a great year! We’re starting strong with natural disasters across the country, a Covid variant called Kraken and government that can’t seem to get it’s shit together long enough to help the people out! We just want scrambled eggs for breakfast and universal healthcare! Is that too much to ask? I really am excited to see what this year brings. I try to sit back and reflect a bit in December. Thinking about what worked and what didn’t really sets me up to start fresh in February. I make no promises for January, ever. We had a small New Years Eve dinner party and our guests ranged in age from 2 years old to 73 years old*. It felt so adult and also so casual. I looked around at one point and was grateful for every face in the room. We made Colorado our home in 2022 and in the span of 9 months we’ve reconnected with old friends and made new friends that we love dearly. It feels right and that is an accomplishment in my book. Plus, your girl loves to feed people and having friends makes that so much easier and more fulfilling.
In my December reflection I always think about what I’ve had the pleasure of eating throughout the year. There have been some great meals, dishes and even just singular bites. Good food and good experiences are my oxygen. They inspire my own creativity and enrich my soul. I always quickly take a note in my phone when something really feels magical. I want to look back and remember it exactly as I felt it in that moment. A note in my phone from early December reads – “The corner bar seat, in a busy restaurant, is the best seat in the house.” This note was taken while sipping Negronis and sharing an Affogato with Aaron before heading to a concert, which to our delight turned into a life experience imprinted on my soul (more on that in a moment). Snagging two seats at a packed bar in an incredibly busy restaurant is the result of pure luck or knowing the owner. For us it is often knowing the owner. We rarely ask but are often the recipients of the quick head nod to the bartender, who slips a reserved sign onto the next available seats and then they are ours. This is a serious privilege and that is never lost on me. When you’ve spent most of your life hustling in restaurants and are a good kind person, the benefit often comes with a hard-to-get table or seat, extra food from the kitchen that you didn’t order or a friends and family discount on the bill. I’ll take the bar seat over all other options, any day.
It's the most perfect vantage point to watch the happenings and experience the full energy of a restaurant. You can always hear the music at the bar. The corner seat almost always overlooks the other guests in the dining room - perfect for people watching. If you know service you know the drinks are usually picked up at the end of the bar, meaning the bartender frequents that area often, meaning quick service for you. This seat isn’t everyone’s favorite, it’s busy and doesn’t offer much privacy. For me it’s all about the energy around you and if I’m walking into a restaurant on a Friday night, without a reservation, it’s because my mood is flexible and fun. This night in December certainly meant fun.
We were on our way to the Nathanial Rateliff concert, our first concert in years. We had great seats at the show too. We were hanging out, waiting for the show to start, having a stadium beer (superior to many other beers), when this guy walked out on stage. He looked like a stage tech. He picked up a guitar and said, “Hello everyone I’m Marcus” and then he just started singing. It was Marcus Mumford and he stood up there and sang his heart out for half an hour. I teared up. It was unexpected and so emotional. Watching a talented human do their thing, all alone can be awe inspiring. This was one of those moments. Not to mention I walked down the aisle to There Will be Time by Mumford and Sons and Baaba Maal and a beautiful photo montage at my grandpa’s funeral was to Fare the Well by Marcus Mumford. Without realizing I was already a huge fan; in that moment my fandom was confirmed.
In this rambling opinionated story where I tell you about the best seat in the house being one you may not be able to obtain without knowing someone, I want to conclude with the idea that maybe the best seat for you is entirely different than mine. Think about what inspires you, what brings you joy with minimal effort. Think about who you want to sit next to or who you don’t want to sit next to. Think about what makes you feel like an energized and robust version of yourself and seek out that seat. That’s how we want to start our year and hopefully we can carry some of that to the months to come. If you lose it halfway through, start over and find it again. It may even look different because we are always changing and what we need is always changing too. I know I change with every season. Don’t set yourself up to be disappointed. Set yourself up to be surprised. Remember to feed your soul as often as you can. It is the larder that keeps us going, keeps us humble, keeps us creative. Cheers to a new year and a healthy soul!
Here is a reprint of some questioned I posed last year. It’s a list I go back to when I need to reflect and feel whole again. I love people’s responses so feel free to share!
-What is the most successful thing you nurtured last year?
-What is the best advice you received?
-What is the best impromptu experience you had?
-What is the most memorable thing you ate?
-What is the most memorable thing you drank?
-What is the best thing you read?
-What is the best thing you listened to?
-What is the most satisfying nagging task you tackled?
-What one thing do you think everyone would be better off if they did? Stopped doing?
-What is the most important thing you’ve been searching for but haven’t yet found?
Cozy Italian menu for long winter nights :