{ the day I broke up with new york }

His name was New York and he was bold and fierce,
yet sweet and loving and I liked that he always kept me on my toes.
There were days when I thought I could never leave him
and nights when I longed for someone
who wanted a different life, far away from the beat of city.  

He was my New York and I wouldn't trade my days with him for anything. 

He taught me how to be me and not to worry about what everyone else thinks. 

He taught me to do things on my own and that it was okay to do so. 

He gave me seasons and gorgeous fall days and tulips in the spring
and cozy nights at home when I couldn't fathom putting on my giant sleeping bag of a jacket
just to cross the blizzard infested street. 

He introduced me to people I don't know how I ever lived without and experiences I will never forget.

He taught me that there's a whole big world out there and that we can all get along. 

He was mine for longer than I thought but some good things are meant to end. 

New York will always be in my heart...but it's time we go our separate ways.

Oh New York.

I've been writing this post in my mind for months now...knowing this separation was inevitable.  

New York is a hard place to leave, but it's time.  

I will miss the pulse of the city and all the characters that became a part of my New York.
My New York constants.
I never knew their names but their faces I will never forget.
The girl at the deli across the street,
the fruit cart guy on the corner who gave me a free banana once,
our favorite neighborhood wanderer with his nightly shouts of hallelujah, glory & I love you
and my favorite faces during my daily commute.  All part of my New York.  

I may not have been born in New York but I could call myself a New Yorker.  

I've walked up enough stairs and paid for enough cabs and have experienced enough
and loved enough of the city to feel like it was home.  

NYC has taught me...schooled me...and made me wise. 

Is there life after NYC? 

Yes. It will be different but a different kind of amazing and I'm excited for it. 

Years from now I'm excited to look back and remember that one time
when I lived in New York and the moments in my life that were worthy of a Hollywood film
about a girl and a city where dreams are made.   

My last night in New York City ended much like it began... 

over sushi with my cousin talking about life, dreams and the future.  

Goodbye New York, hello Reno!  

{ let the pirates go first }

I'm pretty sure I'm a real New Yorker now...

I was on my way to work this morning...the usual apartment to subway to work

and on my way out of the subway, there was a gaggle of pirates, yes

real pirates, blocking the stairs that I needed to walk up to get out.

I started to walk through them when some guy yelled at me and told me that

I needed to wait for the pirates.  What???  I was rushed as I usually am in the

mornings and just wanted to get to work.  20 hot pirates and all I could think

about was getting to work??? What's wrong with me?  Am I turning into the girl that doesn't

stop to smell the pirates??? I won't be doing that anytime soon, but next time, I'll let the pirates go first.

{ snowballs for dinner }

temp and I met for a walk after work for some storytelling & exploring...

one of my favorite things to do in the city.

Christopher was where we started because it's always a good place to begin

we sat in a little park with a fountain and then made our way to a much bigger fountain

and maybe temp decided it was the night to dance in the fountain and then we walked some more

and came across this lovely little shop called Imperial Woodpecker Snowballs

and it was oh so perfect and oh so lovely and we sat and ate snowballs for dinner...so delicious!

The sky was getting dark so we decided to make our way home and outside the subway

it was downpouring and we forgot our umbrellas but sometimes it's fun to just go for it

so we ran as fast as we could...screaming through the rain and still got drenched but it was worth it.

{ so much love new york }

I love new york but sometimes I wonder why I live here....but just when I'm having one of those moments when I've had it with the crowds and the smells and the stairs and the cockroaches...new york reminds me how much I love it.  I get to watch movies with Marilyn Monroe in Bryant Park and take the ferry across to Staten Island to see Lady Liberty anytime I want and watch the sunset along the river, and eat the best tacos I've ever had and I get to explore new neighborhoods and go to the MOMA after work and then and go to a baseball game at a cool stadium with fireworks and shake shack and I get to be a New Yorker and go to brunch and governors island to ride bikes and relax and I get to hang out on the Brooklyn Bridge and then walk to Brooklyn and eat the most amazing ice cream sandwich ever and I get to look up and realize I'm at the base of the Brooklyn Bridge, at a hip hop festival and then Busta Rhymes shows up unexpectedly and then Kanye...yes, THAT Kanye...and I sort of feel like I'm in a dream but it's too real and feels too good to be a dream and I realize that I LIVE here.  This is my LIFE and it feels oh so good.  So much love New York, so much LOVE. And the thing is, the story doesn't end here...there was Williamsburg and the perfect time of day and the best street music and dinner at an outdoor garden with my favorites and then ice cream and a birthday barbeque on my roof and whiffle ball along the river and then........................

my life is so good, and yes, I'm grateful, and yes I know how lucky I am.

{ moma free fridays }

E was in town and what better way to spend a Friday evening then walking around the MOMA for free.

It was packed but not much in NYC isn't packed. It was a perfect night of walking & talking amongst
Rothko, Still, Guston, my always favorite Pollock & counter space: modern kitchens. Thank you NYC.

{ nyc ballet }

oh. my. beautiful.

k and I went to the NYC ballet last night

glass pieces

seriously...amazing.

even our twenty dollar cheap seats in the back were perfect.

{ images found via oberon, the winger, & the ny times } 

{ freezing in new york }

times square 1.27.11 

dear anyone who cares to listen to me complain, 

I'm freeeeeeezing!

new york is cold and there's way too much snow for me. 

Don't get me wrong, I love the snow. 

I love snowcapped mountains and sitting inside on a snowy night cozy by a fire

and snowball fights and sledding on snow and skiing on snow and shaved ice snow and 

snow patrol and snow bird and snow white and snow days

but NEW YORK snow makes me grumpy

it looks pretty when you're up on the 21st floor 

and you feel like you're in a snow globe

but on the streets it turns to slush, mush, shush...blah.

It's not the pretty, flakey, powdery snow of your dreams

Life is good, I really shouldn't complain

but I'm freeeezing and my skin misses the sunshine 

I'm about as white as snow now 

and although white is supposed to be the new tan. 

I need some sunshine...just a little sun kiss. 

love, 

freezing in new york 

photo may appear worse than it really was...

I just want all my eighty degrees and sunny west coast friends to feel sorry for me. 

{ subway confessions }

I don't often talk to strangers on the subway

I'm sure half the people on the train are perfectly normal 

but it's NYC, there are crazies here

so I'm usually found riding with my ear phones in or a book in my hands

Friday night though I was coming back from PBR

(professional bull riders-the greatest show & the hottest guys at madison square garden) 

and waiting at 96th street with my roommate for the subway

and this woman just started talking to us 

first things out of her mouth were...

so, I work at a bank and we were robbed today

what?!?
she just started talking, like we were old friends
and showed us her bank badge, so we wouldn't think she was crazy
she needed a friend, just someone to talk to and I'm glad we were there for her
bank robbery though, what?
scary.
she was crying.
The good thing I told her was that the chances of this ever happening to her again are SLIM!
I hope she had someone to go home to and a good friend to call.
ahh, only in New York City.

{ dyker lights }

dyker heights, um, I mean dyker lights! 

it was a last minute trip and there were too many of us but we packed

ourselves in nice and cozy into Dozier's Soob and made our way to the lights!

It was freezing but well worth the trek because it felt like Christmas there...

{ bergdorf oh ten }

bergdorf never ever fails to impress...

{ hudson skate party }

I was proud of myself tonight...

i pulled the mormon card, almost literally

and got my friend into a club 

even though she didn't have her id

the hudson hotel opened it's basement 

to a slew of roller skaters

and we were some of them

so random, but a fun night out

and yes, we walked to 7-11 in times square for slurpees afterwards

who does that?!? apparently we do. 

{ wedding stache }

mustaches look good on us! 

happy wedding day abby & travis!

{ twenty nine degrees }

my phone says it's 29 degrees right now 

but it feels like ten

it's freeeeeeeeeezing 

I'm getting wimpy again 

the cold was fun for awhile but I'm over it

please take me anywhere where I don't have to wear my big, puffy

down filled sleeping bag that some call a jacket

{ images courtesy of vincent laforet }