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🍬 Sugary Scoop: Until the Sun Comes Up
Where you belong when work is done :)
Sugary
January 06, 2025
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Welcome to the Sugary Scoop, my free biweekly newsletter where we help you see and experience the magic of NYC that I love so much through curated events, experiences, artists, and community stories.
Let’s get to this week’s Scoop!
UPCOMING SUGARY EVENTS
Wednesday 🍬 1.15
6:30 PM (Williamsburg) - Winter Wonderland, On Ice - Given the season, it's the perfect time to be outside, and we'd like to invite members of our community to join us for an evening of group ice skating.
This will be followed by us gathering at a local establishment for hot refreshments and a cozy setting which we'll get us started on.
Don your best winter garb and come join in the winter revelry!
Tickets are just $6 + $6 for skate rental For NYC Residents (w/ proof of ID).
Follow the link below:
Sugary members, we'll pick up tab on first drinks for the evening and some light bites for us all to enjoy!
Everyone else is welcome to join as well!
Let's glide into 2025 together!
NOTABLE NYC EVENTS FROM FRIENDS
January 2025
Sundays at 12pm-1:30pm - The Sensitive Silly Men Summit - Explore the power of your anti-resume, gain new wisdom on your dilemmas and hot topics, and find a new hilarious and accountable community of friends to become the best silly man you can be. Virtual + In-person options are available. You can email David Metler for questions at [email protected].
More Info & RSVP HERE
Tuesday 🍬 1.7
6:00pm (Tribeca): Opening Reception for Al Freeman: Room Service - Join us for a whimsical evening as we formally celebrate the opening of Al Freeman’s latest exhibition
NO RSVP NEEDED
Friday 🍬 1.10
6:00pm (Tribeca): Opening Reception for Nick Cave: Amalgams & Graphts - Jack Shainman Gallery is pleased to present Amalgams and Graphts, an exhibition of new work by Nick Cave. Marking the inaugural presentation at Jack Shainman Gallery’s flagship Tribeca location, Cave introduces two distinct series that push his singular style and vision to an epic realm, while maintaining an intimate and personal conversation with his audience.
NO RSVP NEEDED
Sunday 🍬 1.12
10:00am (Manhattan): Olive Tree Writing Club Season 5 Kickoff Event - Join us for our first session Season 5!
OTWC is an NYC-based writing community for writers to write, exchange ideas, and get inspired. Our sessions look like this:
1. Introduce yourselves and talk about what you plan to write
2. Focused writing session
3. Get together in small groups and discuss how the session went
Snacks and drinks will be provided!
If this price is too steep for you for any reason, email us by clicking "Contact the Host" on the left and we’ll give you a pay-what-you-can ticket.
RSVP HERE
Tuesday 🍬 1.14
6:00pm (Midtown): Kickstart 2025: Turn Your New Year's Resolutions Into Achievements - The New Year is here—are you ready to turn your resolutions into reality? This is your chance to set bold goals and create a powerful plan to make 2025 your breakthrough year.
With the right tools and expert guidance, even the goals you’ve overlooked in the past can become milestones of success. Join us for a transformative Goal-Setting Workshop and take the first step toward achieving what matters most to you.
Join Rich Bello, COO of Blue Ridge Capital and CEO of Arootah, Yohan Kim, CEO of RFA, and Christina Lobraico, Director of Executive Coaching of Arootah, for an inspiring and immersive evening of goal-setting.
Sugary subscribers get free admission which includes dinner, drinks & networking
RSVP HERE
WHAT’S NEW?
“I Want You To Know That…” I’m now a co-founder.
So I feel it’s apt that I announce a significant development at the start of this new year.
As many of you know this past year I rallied the community around a project that began with a modest little wooden mailbox that would eventually become the “anonymous refuge for your heartfelt stories, whimsical musings and orphaned thoughts to have a home.”
This social invitation to New York City to “get something off their chest”, became the Unsent Letter Project.
Artist Sofia Kavlin created the project, and when she shared the idea with me in a little quiet café called Paquita in the West Village, I just felt there was something special.
So with her blessing, I set about expanding the project, both in terms of its creative lens as well as its scope and reach.
Together, this is a list of what we accomplished:
Nearly 700 anonymous letters collected
16 pop ups in 9 public locations across NYC.
1 gallery exhibit at Open Source Gallery
2 news features (Secret NYC & NBC's nightly news)
6 Write to Read Salons
6 guest performing artists featured
As we turn the page to 2025, I’m thrilled to announce that I have officially been invited to be Co-Founder for the project!
I will continue to expand upon the project in its hometown of NYC while Sofia expands the project to Austin Texas, where she will be based for the foreseeable future.
This project after all was always meant to be a global movement inspired by the most global city in the entire world.
I consider this a huge honor and I’m humbled that Sofia would not only instill her trust and faith in my vision to help steward the Unsent Letter Project forward, but would also invite me on her own volition to share the stage with equal billing as recognition of the contributions to the project I have made this past year.
It is then also important at this time to recognize and give special thanks to DK for his commitment to supporting the project and backing my choice and gut instinct to champion this project from its inception.
That said, the Unsent Letter project will continue “turning anonymous words into authentic human connection through installations, salons, dinners and new collaborations all across NYC.”
As we expand, we're seeking volunteers to help us fan the flames of this momentum that we have created. If you’re interested, please fill this form out to help shape our next chapter.
Next year is gonna be amazing and I can’t wait to share what’s in store!
Thank you all for your support of the project and helping to turn “…anonymous words into human connection.”
THE SUGARY EFFECT
Should all acquaintance be….remembered…
Until the Sun Comes Up…
New Year’s Eve 2024.
It was to be a well orchestrated evening complete with a retinue of activities, concluding with a post ball-drop group karaoke session in K-Town.
Well that was how it was SUPPOSED to go anyways…
Then as the evening approached, people began flaking, plans started shifting, and straggling friends seeking a last minute savior for their NYE plans (or lack thereof) started cropping up.
In short, what was a coordinated program started falling apart at the seams…where there was order chaos all of a sudden reigned supreme.
I’ll save you the suspense though, in a twist, by the end of the night I still ended up having an epic three part evening, befitting the occasion despite all the hiccups that forecasted a much different outcome.
How did that happen when it seemed all was lost?
These developments obviously vibed me out a bit and there was definitely a part of me that started to feel bummed out at the last minute fails that were adding up.
Though it was out of my control, in my head I thought for a half second, “maybe I should just stay home and call it.”
But I made a determination that I wasn’t going to let other people’s reticence dictate how my evening was going to go.
Circumstances may have changed, but I decided to take agency in the outcome of my evening.
Instead of letting things happen to me, I managed to resuscitate the spirit that I had at the start of the day and harness it into making the most out of these new conditions.
I remembered a philosophy that I spent a lot of time perpetuating which is that, “NYC is a participatory sport”…that is to say when you put yourself out there in this town, good things tend to happen.
This was a PERFECT opportunity to test out my belief…
By 8:00PM I was out the door, armed with a brand new blazer, a holiday appropriate pin and a sack full of champagne to share across the evening.
I even managed to help a few friends to tag along.
First stop, 9pm, a penthouse party in soho, which was a perfect preamble to the actual ball drop. Had a lovely time meeting a variety of new humans and it was an elegant affair.
Next stop, 11:30pm, a studio party in Bushwick with the Tienda crew at Boerum Studios. A younger crowd that had the perfect energy to match the fervor of the actual ball drop. There, over an ample amount of champagne we reveled in the turning of the New Year as we watched a massive wall size projection of the Time Square ball drop provide a measure of grandeur befitting the occasion.
As this was happening, I got a text from one of the friends who was originally going to my karaoke event and as it turns out they had setup karaoke at their home and if I wanted I could bring my friends with me to come and sing the night away.
Say less.
This was amazing and the night was turning out to be pretty awesome after all.
We hopped in a cab and under a canopy of rain and lighting we made our way to our final destination.
At 1:00AM, we opened the door to a raucous scene as “In the End” by Linkin Park was being sung by everyone in the room…how fitting.
We literally all started screaming along with the group and in 1 song I blew out my voice with glorious abandon.
It was epic and by the time things wrapped up at 4:45am, we’d had the time of our lives.
As I was on my train back home, a deranged woman of Caribbean descent screamed epithets at my entire passenger car claiming we were certainly demons, yet it didn’t bother me because I was on cloud nine.
As I arrived at my doorstep, I could tell the sun would be rising by shortly on the first day of the year.
What a way to kick off the New Year right and I was so happy to be able to live out my philosophy and create a fantastic evening by setting the right conditions to allow for that possibility.
I look forward to carrying this same energy with me so that my carpe diem would manifest into carpe annum instead.
It’s gonna be a magical year, game on…
PAST EVENTS
No past events this time…that was all last year ;-)!
AND DON’T SAY I DIDN’T TELL YOU ABOUT…
Deliverance in truth, Salvation in love.
DK rang me up a couple weeks back to ask if I had seen the latest comedy special that Jamie Foxx put out on Netflix.
At the time I had not, but DK was particularly passionate about this production and told me that I absolutely had to check it out.
Now full disclosure, I am already a fan of Jamie Foxx. He’s a quintessential multi-hyphenate of our time, and packages it all with a natural charm and charisma that’s just super rare.
So I made it a priority to check it out and after watching the special I gotta say… DK was absolutely right.
In fact, I would go so far as to say this might be the best special that Jamie Foxx has ever produced.
…in fact, I would go so far as to say that this special might be career defining for Jamie.
…in fact, I would go so far as to say that this special should win an Emmy.
It’s that good.
Why is it that good?
Because he manages to walk that fine line between charismatic humor and vulnerable introspection at the most genuine and powerful of levels.
The typically affable and exclusively lighthearted nature of Jamie‘s typical specials is instead replaced with a far more reflective and profound vibe; the special is framed around the fairly recent stroke that Jamie had suffered quite suddenly and near fatally without warning.
As we are invited to hear Jamie’s story in his own words, we are drawn in by his authentic reflections on life, his relationship to God, and the significance of what true family and friends mean.
But before you think this is a somber theatrical memoir in the classic sense, Jamie’s sustainable quick wit, side-splitting jokes, and spot on impressions remind you at the end of the day he IS still all about making sure you can laugh along with him at this thing called life, even at it’s most dire of circumstances.
On full display through this process all at once is just how talented this man is. I think many people including myself forget just how gifted Jamie is because we typically experience Jamie in compartments, meaning that we see his achievements in music, his achievements in film, his achievements in comedy separately from each other and what this special does so well is that it brings all of his skills under one roof, skillfully woven into an unforgettable production about the most personal of stories anyone would ever dare to share publicly.
A consummate storyteller, I guarantee you that you will be drawn in right from the beginning and at that point you’re just gonna be there until the ride is over because the effort is hypnotizing and it really is must see TV.
So do yourself a favor, find a moment, especially at the start of the year, which the special is perfect for and take the time to watch a master storyteller in action.
I promise you, this is an iconic piece of work.
ARTIST SPOTLIGHT
Vocal dexterity that is damn near immaculate.
This NYC based indie R&B artist who grew up in a musical family, is truly a gift to the entire music community.
Armed with a simple guitar and pristine vocals, to listen to Peter perform is to voluntarily stand in the presence of a soulful genius. It is a marvel to experience his musical mind as translated through an astoundingly agile and angelic vocal delivery switching constantly between full chest volume to an ephemeral falsetto that is second to none.
The singular vocal dexterity by which Peter renders any song is utterly unique (I truly haven’t heard anything like it in my life) and you absolutely feel a sense of a deep seated spirituality that guides his every musical choice which he seeks to impart unto his audience.
I had first discovered Peter for myself on TikTok and IG where he has amassed a legion of followers on both platforms and immediately his artistry grabbed my attention. I went to the now shuttered Rockwood Music Hall to check him out live to see if he was the real deal and the man did not disappoint.
This isn’t a case of “je ne sais quoi” at all…you will know the “quoi” quite immediately…either that or you’re deaf…those are you only two choices quite frankly.
As Peter continues to amass a greater following digitally, I truly feel he is just one hit song away from true stardom, for with his gifts, he surely has a place among them.
Become a Curator for the Unsent Letter Mailbox!
The Unsent Letter Mailbox is a grassroots storytelling movement creating anonymous spaces for vulnerability and radical honesty in New York City.
Over the past six months, we’ve hosted 18 park installations, 5 sold-out salons, we've seen over 15 people cry in public, and received over 500 unsent letters capturing the full spectrum of human emotion.
We’re thrilled to launch our pilot Curator Program, inviting like-minded folk to host anonymous gatherings in their communities. If you're keen, fill out this form!
Unsent Letter Salon Event
Fabrik Community Space in Tribeca
Connect IRL. Experience Fabrik.
Get in touch with NYC’s brightest communities and make new friends.
Fabrik is a home for communities and where everyone has a place to belong. With spaces designed to feel more like your living room than your office, Fabrik’s 'third spaces' are vibrant hubs where you can come together in real life, explore interests, forge meaningful connections, and enjoy a sense of community.
Sign-up here to experience a day pass at Fabrik.
Weekly events at Fabrik HERE
Located in Flatiron, NYC
Othership offers immersive sauna and ice bath experiences that help human beings feel good now. A sanctuary for social self-care to move you from city buzz to inner calm.
Dive into the largest performance saunas in North America, experience otherworldly ice bath spaces and connect in an intimate amphitheater-style tea lounge surrounding a cozy fire place for socializing.
Expect towel-waving performances, aromatherapy, guided breathwork, visualizations, and somatic release to help you shift your state and regulate your emotions, in a world that can’t be regulated.
The founders of Othership have gifted us a New York 2 for 1 Deal. Get yours while they last!
EMPATHY PROJECT
Support the Empathy Project by purchasing any of the items from the collection. Be a part of a unique initiative that empowers seven diverse artists to create one-of-a-kind empathy-inspired t-shirts. These shirts serve as iconography tied to our identity, promoting compassion-driven societal impact.
Each artist picked a 501(c)3 charity of their choice to donate a portion of the sales of their t-shirt design. Your purchase also empowers voices, amplifies the message of empathy, supports charities, and elevates storytelling within our communities, all while building a network for compassion-driven societal change. Join us in making a lasting impact through art and empathy.
You can check out and purchase the 7 different empathy tees HERE
Thank you for taking the time to read to the end!
I hope you found something inspiring and meaningful in my content and until next time, explore the possibilities of NYC.
-Sugary
🍰🍭🍩🍦🍫🍪🍨🧁
PS. Don’t be shy and hit reply and tell me how you’re doing!
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