1 year down

Today marks the day of my one year anniversary of living in NYC!
If you asked me 12 months ago about this day, I would have said “Only 1 year? Pshh, I have another 5 left”.
If you asked me 8 months ago about this day, I would have said “I’m leaving, and never coming back!”.
If you asked me 5 months ago about this day, I would have said “Okay, I can make it that long”.
If you asked me 3 months ago about this day, I would have said “This is my home now. Bring on another undetermined number of of years!”.

And today, I feel the same way. It finally feels like home. I know the nuances of my neighborhood. The cracks in the sidewalks on my walk home. The bars and restaurants all around me. The best places in the park. The specific place to stand in my Subway stop so water doesn’t drip on my head. It’s become my home. In April, I went to Atlanta for the Final Four and to see some friends, and when I got on that airplane to come back to NY, it really felt like I was coming home. My tiny apartment, with it’s painted walls and creaking floors, is my home, and for the first time, it felt like that.

Don’t get me wrong, my relationship with NYC has been my toughest relationship to date. One minute I’m high on life. The next minute I’m wishing for the steadiness of where I came from. But over time, I’ve gotten better at accepting the lows that come with NYC because I know there is something better to come the next minute, hour, or day.

Obviously, my goals I set for 2013 were never met. My job overtook my life, and I was okay with that. I learned a lot, I did a lot. But now I have a new role at the same company, that will hopefully offer me a better work-life balance. Hopefully that leads to more blog posts (*crosses fingers*).

To commemorate this anniversary, here are the standout moments of my first year as a New Yorker (in no particular order):

• Experiencing New York Fashion Week, twice!
• Celeb sightings, either at events, on shoots, or just randomly.
• Experiencing the city during the Holidays. Literally, everything becomes alive!
• Seaport for the first time. Beautiful!
• Behind the scenes at Yankee Stadium.
• Trip to Atlantic City with some of my favorite people from London.
• Countless visitors (Dad, Mom, Jake, Anna, Abbie, Courtney, Alison, Caitlin, Mallory)
• Mumford & Sons concert with Roman. Enough said.
• Hurricane Sandy weekend with Mallory. Running through Times Square in our PJ’s, discovering Hell’s Kitchen’s greatest bar: McCoys, meeting Paul Rudd, watching a crane collapse, and stocking up like the world is ending.
• Being responsible for 2 photo shoots for essie Looks.
• Filming the Garnier Men’s How-to Videos.
• Seeing the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center go up.
• Trip to Boston with Mom and Dad.
• Walking by Central Park on the first real ‘fall’ day, thinking to myself, “This city is great. I’ll be fine.” only to then get pooped on by a pigeon.
• Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade with Abbie, Whitnie, and Whitnie’s mom.
• Watching the Rockette’s with Anna.
• That night at McCoy’s with balloons.
• Getting my New York license. Nothing says you’re a New Yorker like waiting in line for 5 hours and paying $60 for a license that expires in 4 years.
• Discovering Kashkaval with Whitnie and Roman.
• Jackie’s birthday party, and becoming closer with work friends.
• Playing in the snow in Central Park with Caitlin. And falling down on ice.
• Seeing Cinderella on Broadway, in the same row as Perez Hilton.
• Joining a competitive volleyball league. Easily the best thing I’ve done this year in NY.
• Getting locked out of my apartment for 2 hours, with no phone, in a bathrobe, and wearing duck slippers. Thank God for Whitnie and the whiskey she brought.

Of course I miss the Midwest, and most importantly, my family and friends. But for the time being, NYC has been amazing to me. I’ll continue with the ups and downs, and figure it out day by day.