I had my first taste of normalcy this week. It was fleeting but it felt great! Hints of a post-pandemic life are in the air.

A slow RETURN TO NORMALCY

Glorious weather and my renewed Citibike membership kicked off a great weekend zipping around town. And I loved seeing restaurants opening and serving slews of happy diners – al fresco style out on the street, of course. It felt good to be around people. And while many of the protocols we now live with feel alien, it’s the spirit of the people that exudes the normalcy.

My horoscope even signaled un-pause was in my future

“This is a time of personal growth and self-discovery that can be quite significant in your psychological development, as well as being positively exciting and interesting.“

Astro-Dienst

Scroll down for the week’s top 10 highlights and recommendations

1. Baby Steps to normalcy: Leaving the house Is Step 1

On the Risk Spectrum, we’re all trying to figure out our comfort levels. I had been anxious about taking the subway (not because of the corona but because of a huge spike in crime as ridership dropped by 90%).

What I discovered on Monday morning was the most beautiful subway I had ever seen. Never has it looked more sparkly and clean.

It made me wonder what was going on with the woman (above) that she was so apprehensive. The rain poncho (against corona droplets) along with goggles, mask, and gloves seemed to be over-the-top but one never knows.

But I did more than just ride the subway.

I got my botox and had a fun catch-up with my dermatologist.

And then the highlight of the week: A quick drop-in at my friends’ fabulous new apartment in midtown. All at a safe “social distance” of course. Life is definitely looking up.

2. TAKE-OUT cocktails (AND FOOD)

I finally bit the bullet on take-out cocktails

What prompted me to go for it was a scheduled FaceTime with my friend, Nick Belperio (my “Weekends in America” travel companion) who is also known for his love of Negronis.

I ordered from Il Buco Alimentari & Vineria (highly recommend). Beyond the Negroni, my splurge extended to Alimentari’s fabulous house-made salumi and the most delicious house-baked focaccia fino. Not only a $$$ splurge, but a calorie splurge. Absolutely worth it!

3. ECONOMic WINNERS

Bicycle Sales are booming: Doubling Since Last Year

• Nationwide sales of bicycles, equipment, and repair services doubled in March compared to the same period last year. Sales of commuter and fitness bikes increased 66%, leisure bikes jumped 121%, children’s bikes up 59%, and electric bikes up 85%.
• Brooklyn’s King Kog bike shop has done four years’ worth of sales in two months.
• A chain in Phoenix is selling 3X the number of bikes it typically does.
• A retailer in D.C. sold all its entry-level bikes by the end of April. They have more preorders than they’ve had in 50 years.
• Requests for bike maintenance are way up.

More people Fishing leads to a nationwide shortage of bait and tackle (Source: KomoNews)

“Really the hardest thing has been the live bait, we ran out of crickets a couple of weeks ago, the first time we’ve ever been out in 35 years.”

Lisa’s Bait Shop, Benton Arkansas

ONLINE ART SALES are booming

After resisting for years, the art world has gone all-in on digital as museums and galleries remain closed.

“We had more people log on in the first 15 minutes of the VIP preview this year than we had walk into the fair during the first 15 minutes of the VIP preview on Randall’s Island last year.”

Loring Randolph, Director, Frieze New York

Shortly after Frieze’s preview launched on May 6th, galleries reported a slew of sales in the six- and even seven-digit figures—Hauser & Wirth’s sales alone from that first day clocked in at more than $5 million.

4. MUST WATCH:  ‘Echo in the Canyon’ (2019)

Explores the California music scene that grew up around Laurel Canyon in the late ’60s. Great interviews and performances of those early hits by contemporary musicians, e.g., Jakob Dylan, Fiona Apple, Beck, Regina Spektor, and Cat Power. HIGHLY RECOMMEND.

Two other recommendations.

5. Drive-In Concerts? This Sunday in Mesa, AZ. Tickets are SOLD OUT!

Spafford will perform a live drive-in concert on May 24 at Digital Drive-In in Mesa, AZ

The Arizona-based band’s first show since the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic will also be live-streamed on the JamBase Livestreams Calendar, Spafford.net, Facebook, and YouTube.

6. FOLLOW Gratefullary On Instagram

I was introduced to Larry and his wife, artist Ann Wahlstrom in 2018 when I was planning my Nordic trip.

Larry and Ann live in Stockholm and I LOVED visiting them. We had lunch at their house, we visited Ann’s studio, and I got to meet many of their friends as we took a stroll around the neighborhood. It was a highlight of my stay!

Larry’s daily Instagram provides a glorious look into Swedish life. Larry and Ann are quite the gourmands and he often focuses on their dinner prep which is always accompanied by a soundtrack complete with album cover. Yes, Larry plays vinyl.

This Instagram account has introduced me to what has turned out to be the soundtrack of my life in NYC nowadays. My newfound passion for jazz comes directly from Sweden. Strange how that happens but proof positive that inspiration is all around us. It can come from anywhere, at any time, from anyone!

Thank you Mary Clarke for the intro!!

7. #lastnormalphoto

Kudos to the BBC for coming up with this idea and for having people share images of life before lockdown. It’ll be quite the time capsule.

Here’s my #lastnormalphoto

It’s from March 11. taken at the opening of The Edge at Hudson Yards.

8. READ: “21 Lessons for the 21^st Century” by historian and philosopher, Yuval Noah Harari.

Bill Gates and Jack Dorsey both list this as one of their favorite books.

Blinkist (where I read it), focuses on aspects of the book that help us to future-proof ourselves to be ready to navigate uncharted technological and social territory. Oddly, most of the reviews I’ve read of the book focus almost entirely on how meditation is essential to solving our 21st Century problems which is not mentioned at all in the Blinkist recap. Strange right? I definitely prefer Blinkist’s take.

9. MORBIDLY OBESE? I can’t believe Nancy Pelosi opened this can of worms!

Her “concern” for the President’s weight drove a few news cycles and got her a few chuckles. But it also sparked a Twitter storm calling out “Dem hypocrisy” around “fat-shaming” and “body positivity.” Hello, what say you, Stacy Abrams? Gov. Pritzker?

10. POST-PANDEMIc Musings: is it too early for this?

Lots of speculation on how the world will look as we claw our way out of this pandemic.

Most of what I’ve seen needs to be taken with a grain of salt. However, this article on the post-pandemic economy is one of the best and most thought-provoking I’ve read.

The topics I’m most curious about:

• Will city-dwellers permanently move to the suburbs?
• Is #wfh here to stay or will people return to offices and cubicles
• How much will business travel be cut? What kinds of events will people travel for, e.g., are conferences history? Are Zoom job interviews here to stay?
• Telemedicine vs. doctor visits? (About 1 billion telemedicine visits are expected to be conducted in the U.S. by year’s end, according to Forrester Research; 900 million of those will be related to Covid-19)
• Education – remote vs. the classroom. And will parents pony up the big dollars for a virtual education?
• Robots vs. workers
• Discretionary spending? What’s worthwhile and what isn’t, e.g., I love restaurants but may decide it’s not worth it based on new dining-out protocols.
• Retail? What will cities look/feel like with miles of vacant storefronts?
• When will I be able to go on another international Nat Geo trip? I’ve heard it may not be until 2023!!

Bottom line.

The universe has been giving me (us?) a masterclass in resiliency. I, for one, can’t wait for this schooling to be over. I am so, so ready to re-acclimatize to the outside world.

And as is true every week, major shout out to my FaceTime friends – you guys are the best! It’s what keeps me positive, connected, and tapped into what is going on around the country (and the world).

THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART. 💕💕💕