A World of Its Own

It may be hard to believe, but this is the first time I've lived in an apartment building. After living in the dorms for two years in undergrad, three friends and I rented a small house and never looked back.

There were many reasons we felt houses were superior to apartments:

*Having a yard meant we could own a grill and host summer parties
*Lots of basement storage
*Driveways and parking out front
*Being able to be as loud or as quiet as we wanted anytime
*And,in all of my houses before Boston, we were lucky enough to have our own washer and dryer

So to me the move to an apartment was both exciting and sad at the same time. Living in a ridiculously small, old and overpriced apartment in Manhattan is the dream. If you are lucky enough to find one in a great neighborhood like Gramercy, you are envied every time someone hears you mention your address.

Our apartment building was built in 1902 and is pretty large by Manhattan standards. We put up a wall and converted a two bedroom into a three bedroom. The walls are thin so you are always conscious of the fact that you can't be too loud. But living in the city you get pretty used to the idea that you really have no privacy anyway.

We have very little storage space, but we've gotten creative. The lack of space though is positive. It has made me eliminate a lot of possessions and now I always think twice before purchasing things. I will be all set when it comes time to move out :)

I enjoy passing my neighbors in the hallway and trying to deduce what their lives are like through brief exchanges and observation. I know there is an older Irish guy who lives on the top floor. I know the three girls next door love karaoke and I also know the guy who lives above me works in Midtown because I've seen him on the bus. I know the mailman and the housekeeping lady.

I still miss having a yard and having more space, but when you live in a city as large as NYC, sometimes your apartment building makes the world seem just a bit smaller.

Remembering Who I Am

"I've always liked the time before dawn because there's no one around to remind me who I'm supposed to be so it's easier to remember who I am."
-Story People (http://www.storypeople.com/storypeople/Home.do - for those of you unfamiliar with their amazing stories.)

This quote is so perfect for my life right now.

Each morning I get up at 6 am to do yoga before work. The city is finally "quiet" in these moments and all I have to focus on is me. In those moments everything I want and want to be is clear.

Growing up in a small town I felt as if I was always being told who I was supposed to be but living in the city makes me constantly have to make an effort to remember myself.

It took me leaving home and all the hard times along the way for me to fully realize who I am and who I want to be. The hard part for me now is knowing that and knowing that that me can never be found in NYC.

I don't <3 NYC

It seems everyone's first question upon learning I am fairly new to the city is how do I like it. I usually answer with the standard I'm still getting used to it but I recently realized the true answer is that I don't. Yet, I always hesitate to say it and keep finding myself feeling forced into making myself want to like it because everyone else just seems to love it.

And you know, I did love it...when I could visit but didn't have to live here. When I could spend money on fun things in the city instead of a $6 box of crackers. When I could go out until 5 am and not be irritated with the noise at 4 am when all I want to do is sleep. When I didn't realize that the overflowing trash cans in the Subway stations weren't just a weekend thing.

I do love city life, but I'm just not sure NYC is the right city for me...and maybe it's about time I was ok with admitting that.

Reflecting on past lives

There are a few moments in my life that I can close my eyes and recall so clearly that it is almost as if I am back in the moment. These snippets are of many different "stages" in my life and in some ways it's hard to look back now and feel like some of them were my life. Some because I was a very different person and some because so much time has passed.

I have loved each and every adventure and, at the time, each and every adventure was something I never wanted to give up. Also, If I would have never given them up I would have never gotten the chance to go on to the next.



It always breaks my heart to give up the things I love in these situations, but in doing so, I have been lucky enough to keep close the people I've loved along the way and have also discovered other things along the way that I love.

I am still struggling to find complete contentment but remembering this gives me the courage to take risks and make changes that I may not feel I want to make, but maybe need to make.

Snow days and grateful to be a true Midwesterner

I woke up this morning to the most snow I've ever seen in NYC...and by that I mean maybe 8 inches. Which, granted, is a good amount, but given the fact that there has been no significant snowfall to date that this piled on top of, it really doesn't seem like the end of the world.....I guess unless you haven't been raised in the Midwest.

Schools in the city were canceled today. People were calling into work...even though they ride the Subway and take city buses. I took a call or two today asking if Cornell was closed.

I can recall only one day in my entire undergrad career where classes were canceled and that was only after making us all suffer through morning classes. And I can assure you, those 10 inches that fell that afternoon were magnified by the 20 inches or so that had accumulated by mid-March.

In the Midwest people will get up and drive 25 mph through white out conditions to make it to work.

To be fair, we get more crappy weather - which we all like to complain about. But you know what, today I was grateful for all those experiences. I was probably one of the only people in the city smiling on my way to work today. Smiling because I was reminded of home...and to me this really didn't feel that bad.

Shopping in NYC

I am always struck by the uniqueness of everything in NYC. It seems everything in the city is an exception to the norm. One thing that still amuses me is going into a store and seeing the escalators for shopping carts. You will find these curious conveyor belts in grocery stores, the Target store and even Home Depot.

To make the best use of space, stores are often multilevel and it's easy to get people up and down using traditional escalators, but if you want to take your purchases with you you must push your cart onto the adjacent belt and when you get to the bottom, your cart is magically waiting for you.



I don't think many people find this nearly as interesting as I do...I guess I am easily amused...

...and easily annoyed.

I generally don't shop much in the city because it is also hard to browse in such cramped quarters. For example, I found myself in The Container Store on Saturday with no intention of buying anything. I had never been in the store before and just wanted to see what they sold. I ended up walking out about two minutes later after getting trapped in nearly every aisle I walked down.

But the ultimate annoyance here is grocery shopping. It's not much fun in general, but is especially frustrating at Trader Joe's and the store in Union Square in particular. Because Trader Joe's is so much cheaper than any other grocer in the city and because there are only two in NY (this the only Manhattan location) it's often as crazy as a Best Buy the day after Thanksgiving.

There have been days I have waited in line outside the store to even get in and nights I have gone to the store only to find completely bare shelves and nothing that I am looking for. The lines to check out often wrap around the entire store and although they always move fairly quickly it makes it difficult to browse the aisles.

So while I could shop for probably anything I've ever wanted in NYC, I don't. My empty kitchen cupboard can attest to that.

Working Girl!

After not really working full time since last March I am so happy to be a working girl again! The on again, off again job hunt and freelancing bit was getting a bit old and this week I started my new job as a Website Coordinator for Weill Cornell Medical College.



It makes me so happy to get up in the morning and feel like I have something meaningful to do every day. I know I walked to the train stop this morning with a big smile on my face.

Luckily, the 6 train stops at Union Square so my commute each morning is a painless five stops - a far cry from my daily battles with icy hill of death and my 45-90 minute T ride each day in Boston!!

I work in an office of about 12 and everyone there is incredibly nice and made me feel at home immediately.

My job in particular is to assist with the newly redesigned Website. I get to write content, proof, and update the site. This afternoon was my first chance to get in and work with the site. I was able to help create a style sheet and I already have a list of changes I want to make.

I am excited to make the site the best it can be and look forward to everything ahead of me in this new position.