"Life is a lot like jazz ... it's best when you improvise..." - George Gershwin

Last night I spent the end of a glorious New Year's Day in Blue Note downtown New York.

I was lucky enough to be seeing Chris Botti with phenomenal supporting artists including phenomenal fretwork from Leonardo Amueda, beautiful playing by violinist Caroline Campbell, and a stunning vocal performance by Sy Smith.

If you don't know who any of these guy are, shame on you. Look them up right away.

I was feeling a little sleepy. Post brunch at DBGB (more on that later), I admit I had a bit of a nap at the hotel. My other half was torn between waking me up and just letting me doze on. I'm very glad he made the right decision and dragged me out of bed and into an outfit worthy of a jazz night.

Upon arrival, we realised that what we called getting there early, just didn't cut it. Stuck at a cramped table that they were expecting to seat 6 (it was for 4 at best), Boy and I held hands awkwardly whilst trying not to move. He made a subtle request to our waitress for a table upgrade - bribery's a charm. $40 later, we had some genuinely decent seats right next to Leo and we were ready to go. At this point I was still a little groggy. What can I say, we didn't get an early night! Having sworn off alcohol for the evening, I soon found myself with a cocktail ... note to self: work on will-power.

It perked me up a little and, when the music started, I almost forgot how bloody tired I was and settled into some totally brilliant live music.

I used to be in band and I sat in front of the trumpets, so I can't say I have a soft spot for brass BUT Botti really blew my mind. Some seriously good high notes and long notes, plus some stellar improvisation.

Boy & I held hands for the whole gig - super cute. I'm a lucky girl. And when the romantic tracks got going, we shared a few tender looks and he had some adorable thumb stroking going. There was an utterly gorgeous rendition of Morricone's theme from Cinema Paradiso. I really found myself getting into the music, and we were quite tempted to sneakily stay for the second set. Sadly it would have been a bit obvious and we were both hungry and ready for a good night's sleep.

But the evening was only just beginning. We headed to the hotel restaurant - seemed a sensible option for two sleepy people who were a little like homing pigeons for the hotel. What a brilliant choice it turned out to be. So brilliant that it deserves its own post......