2021: And So This is COVID, I Hope You Have Fun

Despite a bit more freedom to move about safely this year, it doesn't feel quite like the holidays, does it? With New York in the middle (or at the start, more like) of a surge of COVID cases due to the Omicron variant, it feels like March 2020 all over again and, I'll be honest, that sounds exhausting especially after nearly two years of living that pandemic lyfe.

All that aside, 2021 was really good to me -- or "net positive" as Brett would say -- and most importantly I and everyone close to me stayed healthy, barring the occasional COVID scare.

Early in January I had a fleeting thought: "What if I worked remotely from Hawaii?" But it wasn't until I was having a conversation with a friend of mine over [outdoor] brunch that it became more of a possibility. "Go for the month of February," she said. "You're not missing anything in New York in February."

So that's what I did -- I spent the month of February working from Oahu, and ended up extending my stay by another month through the beginning of April. With COVID rates being what they were in Hawaii at that time and the ease of being outdoors, it felt like an especially safe place to be, though I didn't make any inter-island trips just to be on the safe side. Working 5 and 6 hours behind everyone else was a lot harder than I thought it would be -- those 4.30am team meetings were a real bitch -- but I got to see my brother, Kevin, nearly every day and spent more time with him than I had in my entire adult life.

The Airbnb I stayed at was 4 houses down from the beach entrance to Lanikai Beach, so I went for a walk on the beach every day once my work day was done (sort of) at around 12 or 1pm, and it was an easy walk or bike ride into Kailua. Anyone who knows me well knows that I'm a proponent of rituals, so I instituted a weekly ritual of going to Maui Brewing Co. in Kailua Town for Wednesday burgers and beers (rain or shine), and more often than not, Kev would join me. Generally speaking, when I wasn't working I was spending time outside on the beach, hiking, or on the water -- usually with Kevin -- or I was binge watching Ted Lasso.

(Scroll to the right in the gallery if you want to see more pictures.)

One of the few good things that came out of the pandemic was the shift into remote working, and thanks to that I was able to spend two months in one of the most beautiful places on Earth with one of my favorite people on Earth. I consider myself very lucky to have had the means to experience that and I'll never forget it. Of course, out of all the pictures I took, I never got one of Kev and me, and I know my mom is up there somewhere giving me an exasperated look.

Coming back to New York in the springtime was pretty great timing -- I was able to get my first dose of Moderna within a couple of weeks of getting back to the city, which allowed me to heave a sigh of relief, and the weather was just beginning to get nice again. I went on long walks with cute puppies and got to play with cute bébés. I was grateful to be back amongst my New York friends and family, not to mention the joy of being back in my apartment and in the same time zone as most of my colleagues. I never did get used to that 4am wake-up time and, honestly, thank god for that.

I took a break from dating through the holidays last year and while I was in Hawaii, so once I got back, I fired up the ol' dating apps again and readied myself for another soul-crushing season of COVID dating. A couple of weeks after I got back in April, I went on a relatively last minute date with a guy on a particularly cold (32-degree) spring day, and even though my fingers and toes turned blue, it ended up being one of the best dates I've ever had. I didn't want it to end, and luckily for me it hasn't. Matt and I are still going strong 8 months later, and I don't think I could have found a better match or a better partner than him.

In an effort to get you up to speed on all-things-Matt, I'll do some rapid fire answers to your questions below:

"Miami, but he's lived in New York for over 20 years."

"5'10."

"Ha... yeah... I know it's not hard to be taller than me. Good one."

"A few years older than me."

"Gemini."

"Well, when we met he was the general manager of a restaurant downtown, but last month he and his best friend, Zak, opened Sally Can Wait, a bar that serves food with a Latin-Jewish flare."

"It's from Don't Look Back in Anger by Oasis."

"The Cuban sandwich... and the yucca fries."

"Yes, he's vaccinated."

"Bumble."

"Sally, and she's the cutest dog on the face of the planet."

"Um... I'm not sure?"

"No, not yet."

"Where'd you hear that?"

"I think we're getting off topic."

In any case, if you haven't met him yet, hopefully you will soon. He makes me laugh, he makes me breakfast, but most of all he makes me really, really happy.

Come June, I was able to visit my dad in Walla Walla on my way back home to Anchorage, the first time I'd seen him since before the pandemic. I always love spending time with my dad, but this time around I was there to meet my dad's younger sister, Jeanne, whom none of us had met yet -- it's kind of a wild story and deserves more care in telling it than a simple paragraph in a 2021 round up, so be sure to ask me about it another time. In any case, we saw pretty clearly that the Rogers' genes run pretty deep, as evidenced in this picture, and I'm excited to spend more time getting to know Aunt Jeanne and her family.

It was great to be back home in Anchorage after four years of being away, and even better to see one of my oldest and dearest friends get married. I also got to spend much needed time with friends and my friends' families.

And obviously I ate my face off. The day that Twin Dragon ceases operating will be the day that a small part of me dies.

The rest of the summer was met with the occasional trip south (as in South Jersey, Maryland, or Brooklyn) for a bit of R&R and time with friends, more time with bébés who'd just been born, and a whole lot of time with my stepdog, Sally, especially while her dad started working on building out the bar.

After Labor Day, I made the decision to leave my job as COO of The Cru after being there for a little over a year -- it was a tough decision, but ultimately the right one for both me and the greater good of the company. I learned a ton from that role and those lessons, plus the amazing people I met while I was there, especially Tiffany, will stay with me always. In the meantime, I'm happily back to consulting, most recently partnering with a friend and former Harry's colleague on some cool projects, and crossing my fingers that the same luck I saw in 2019 rears its delightful head in 2022.

My last trip of the year was for my birthday -- Matt, Sally and I flew out to see my dad in Walla Walla. We ate, we drank, we ate some more, and Sally developed a new found love for chasing butterflies and squirrels off-leash. It was a lovely weekend and I'm glad we were able to make it out there before things got crazy with the bar. (Shameless plug: buy some Sally Can Wait merch while you're here.)

On the family front, everyone is healthy and doing well, as is the case for our family text thread. Megan is in her junior year at Stanford and is on her way to Oxford in the spring, Alison graduated from high school and started her freshman year at Stanford, and Tyler is a sophomore in high school and has taken up hockey in addition to his burgeoning roller derby career. And I continue to go on TikTok so that I can stay relevant.

I always enjoy writing these updates since it's an opportunity to sit down and reflect on the last 12 months. There were some sad moments -- a couple of my friends lost parents this year -- or trying moments -- watching Matt and his business partner deal with the ups-and-downs of opening and operating a bar has been hard to watch from the sidelines -- and frankly I'm exhausted as we enter year 3 of the pandemic. But while there were a few lows, there were also a number of highs, and you can't appreciate one without the other.

Of course, the other reason I enjoy writing these is because it allows me to express my gratitude to all of you for being by my side in one way, shape, or form, celebrating the highs and lending a sympathetic ear for the lows. I couldn't have made it through the year without you.

So here's to you. Wishing you and yours a very merry holiday and a hopeful 2022 -- stay safe, stay healthy, stay funny, and stay amazing.