{"id":321,"date":"2008-12-31T16:04:53","date_gmt":"2008-12-31T16:04:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zuschlag.us\/?p=321"},"modified":"2025-01-12T23:40:24","modified_gmt":"2025-01-12T23:40:24","slug":"2008-christmas-letter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zuschlag.us\/?p=321","title":{"rendered":"2008 Christmas Letter"},"content":{"rendered":"

December 31, 2008<\/p>\n

Yet another Installment of My Fabulous Life!\u00a0 Starring ME!\u00a0 All about ME! ME! ME!<\/p>\n

Dear Friends & Family –<\/p>\n

Well 2008 has certainly been anything but dull.\u00a0 For myself personally it wasn’t quite the Elizabethan “annus horribilus<\/a>” it was for others, but it definitely did have its moments – $4 a gallon gas,\u00a0the loss of some dear friends, appalling\/energizing political campaigns, stalled real estate markets, and financial and economic meltdowns – when I thought I might not have much fun stuff to write about.<\/p>\n

And yet, there were a few memorable occasions perhaps worth wasting a bit of your time:<\/p>\n

(<\/em>Editor’s Note<\/strong>:\u00a0 Before you begin this annual long-winded tale of my life’s minutiae, there’s a bit of explanatory background in order.\u00a0\u00a0 For some reason a new player<\/strong> in the cast of characters takes up an extraordinary amount of space in this missive, and you might be thinking to yourself, “Huh?\u00a0Where did this joker come from<\/a>?”\u00a0\u00a0 The truth of the matter is, he’s actually a hold-over from Autumn 2007 but wasn’t introduced at the time of last year’s letter because the editorial review board hadn’t yet officially assigned him a permanent role in this annual saga.\u00a0 A year and a half later, we’re pretty sure he’s here to stay.)<\/p>\n

January<\/strong> started off quietly as most January’s do – with a fantastically elegant New Year’s day brunch at Russ & Dudley’s house.\u00a0 While the year was at least started in proper fashion, I’m not entirely sure the black-eyed peas<\/a> did the trick, though the bloody marys and eggnog sure helped ease the transition.\u00a0\u00a0 After that, Jerome & Lucille’s annual Christmas tree bonfire<\/a> was its usual roaring success, and Jon Rauch<\/a> and Michael Lai<\/a> stopped by the farm for a fun lunch one afternoon.<\/p>\n

Towards the end of the month Keith decided that I needed to be shaken out of my semi-reclusive farm existence and dipped back into the urban hustle and bustle a bit more often.\u00a0 To accomplish this, he performed a bit of shock therapy – before I knew what was happening we were checking into a great suite on the 44th floor of the Times Square Marriott Marquis<\/a> with an awesome view of Broadway<\/a> (note: the great white way does not disappoint from 44 floors up).\u00a0\u00a0 Unfortunately it took me a little too long to switch my attitude over from trusting country rube to wary city slicker and my camera ‘disappeared’ in the hotel lobby when we arrived, so only a few cell phone photos of this trip exist. The visit was a quick one, but action packed.\u00a0 After a great lunch of oysters, fish, and white wine at Metrazur<\/a> we played tourist for a couple hours along 5th Avenue.\u00a0 Then a quick stop at Petrossian<\/a> for a small gift for Gray and Brian, who had very graciously decided that my return to NYC after a more than 5 year hiatus deserved to be honored by a cocktail party.\u00a0 A stellar crowd of New York’s elite to turned out to greet us and it was great catching up with old friends (note: there’s something about the Manhattan air that keeps people remarkably well preserved – either that, or farm life ages one more than I had realized).\u00a0\u00a0 After taking leave of our hosts, a late seating at Craftsteak<\/a> saw us in front of a terrific steak dinner – with all the big boy trimmings – red wine, mushrooms, onion rings – but at an astounding price tag that still makes me shudder (at least I wasn’t paying – thanks Keith!)\u00a0 The next morning was spent cruising around the shops of SoHo<\/a> in a cold and drizzly rain.\u00a0 By the time we were wandering through Dean & DeLuca <\/a>we started to get pretty hungry – so we headed over to what immediately became our new favorite restaurant in the world – Momofuko noodle bar<\/a> –\u00a0 an absolutely perfect place to hang out on a cold rainy day for a late lunch.\u00a0 We ate at the counter and watched the cooks on the line make these great noodle bowls while stuffing ourselves on steamy pork buns.\u00a0 Fully sated, we waddled on to the train back to DC.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I decided city life still retains some charms, but only in small doses…<\/p>\n

January Photos\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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