I love New York.

"I've fallen in love with many cities, but [nothing] could surpass the bliss of my first year in New York."
Truman Capote

You may have been counting, but just in case you weren't, today officially marks one year since I moved to New York. On this very day last year, I packed up two gigantic suitcases, shipped three more boxes via UPS, and boarded a plane to the city. I started work the next day, crashed with Cal for a week, and then moved into my tiny little apartment home where I am sitting right now. I have had three roommates (albeit two were summer sublets), two beds, one job, and more guests than I can count on two hands. It has indeed been a whirlwind of a year.

This sounds cliche, I know, but the time has both flown by and crept along at a snail's pace. On one hand, I feel like I've lived a whole lifetime since moving here a year ago, but on the other, it feels like it was yesterday. It boggles my mind to consider how much I've changed, how much I've learned, how every relationship in my life has grown or morphed in some way. New York City is a powerful force to be reckoned with, and I am convinced that no one in the world could pick up and move here without changing in a truly substantial way.

In some ways, this year has been about surviving. Surviving the winter, and for that matter, surviving the summer. Surviving this world of transportation where I do not drive an SUV and instead rely on an underground web of public transportation known as the subway. Surviving a bedroom that is 7 x 9 feet. Surviving jeers every time I say "y'all." Surviving loneliness. Surviving broken friendships. Surviving homesickness. Surviving a breakneck pace of life that will wear even the most energetic of people down. As Frank Sinatra sings, though, if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere...and I really believe that to be true. The ability to not only survive but to thrive in New York City has prepared me for just about any challenge life may bring in the years to come.

On top of surviving, this year has been about growing. I have grown my collection of furry coats and boots. I have grown a tolerance for a northern accent. I have grown in my career thanks to a job and a boss that I love more than I ever thought possible (although I have not grown my bank account quite as much as I would have liked). I have grown a dependence on iced coffee carts and restaurants that stay open all night. I have grown an incredible circle of friends. And most importantly, I have grown in my faith after going through trials, persevering, and seeing God provide time and time again.

But more than surviving or even growing, this year has been about falling in love. As plain and simple as the t-shirts they sell in Times Square state, I love New York. I remember sitting at Waffle House with Patrick a few months ago and trying to describe my love for this city...I think what came out was "I love it like you love a person." After he finished laughing and rolling his eyes, I think he said it more sensibly than me...I have an emotional connection with this city that cannot be reduced to a postal address. I love the sights, the sounds, the smells...I love my neighborhood, I love the Village, I love Brooklyn...I love walking down the street, I love riding the bus, I love going to the park...I love the true four seasons, I love the marathon, I love Sunday brunch...I love the Chrysler Building, I love the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, I love the aquamarine ceiling in Grand Central's concourse. Indeed, over the course of the last 365 days, I have fallen in love with every inch of this city. I have fallen in love with its streets. I have fallen in love with its skyline. I have fallen in love with its people. And I have fallen more in love with my God who saw it fit in his grand, sovereign, beautiful, tangled plan to open every door to enable me to be where I am today.

So today I echo Truman Capote's words - I am fairly certain that nothing in my life will surpass the utter and complete bliss of this first year in New York. It took many years, many tears, many prayers, many people and one amazing God to get me here, but I am here. Cheers to my first year in New York City, and may the second be just as sweet.

Hot town, summer in the City

"Summertime
And the livin' is easy."
Gershwin

"In the summer in New York, the streets turn into rivers of molten tar, like a Venice from hell, with crazed cabdrivers careening like possessed gondoliers."
David McGlynn

The weather.com high for 10021 has peaked 88 degrees several times, the corner fruit stands are out, my electric bill is climbing, and it's official - it's summertime in New York City.

Ahh, summer. Yes, my make-up is dripping off my face by the time I get to work, but it is summer nonetheless. Although climatically a bit more uncomfortable than the other three seasons (in my humble opinion, summer in New York is more uncomfortable than winter. And more uncomfortable than my air-conditioned Rodeo, neighborhood pool-filled Atlanta summer, too), summer in the City is glorious. It's more than just the abundant sunshine and the fact that my fur-lined boots are stashed under my bed, though. It's an attitude, a mood...a cheery laid-back aura that just fills the streets. In the summer, the pace in New York gets dialed down a notch or two. Sure, we're all still a few (dozen) levels higher on the high-strung, fast-paced, generally-too-intense-and-angry meter than the rest of the country, but the summer season does it's best to subdue the attitude just a smidge. People are tan and rested from vacation and wearing bright pink polish on their toes, and it all makes for one very happy City...

Jamie's Top Ten Favorite Things About New York City in the Summer, by Jamie
10. Ice cream. Shake Shack, one of my favorite New York spots, is only open during the summer months. Here, raving fans stand in line in Madison Square Park for an hour to order the most delicious hamburgers and frozen custard known to man...totally worth it. Closely behind Shake Shack is the ever popular Mister Softee truck, conveniently located on every single corner of Manhattan. Recommended: vanilla cone with rainbow sprinkles. Actually, rainbow sprinkles could get their own line item in this list. Consider them 9.5.
9. Summer Fridays. In the summer, many New York offices hand out freebie days off. My company gives us 3 extra Fridays off between Memorial Day and Labor Day, but others are known to close every other Friday or even every single Friday at noon. Sunshine + no work = one of my favorite things.
8. Concerts, movies, opera, etc in the parks. Summer is concert season...Bryant Park, Randall's Island, Jones Beach...and there is always some great band to see. On top of concerts, though, at least 3 different parks offer outdoor movies, one of my favorite things in the world. Add the Metropolitan Opera and Shakespeare in the Park in Central Park, and you have all the entertainment you could ever need, right here under the stars.
7. Rooftop parties. I don't have a said rooftop, but I have friends who do, and nothing says summer like those big outdoor Christmas lights suspended over a roof in the City. Throw in a "Summer '07" iTunes playlist, a garbage can of drinks and an evite, and we're set.
6. Sundresses. I feel so sad for boys who don't get to appreciate the pleasure of throwing on a dress when it's close to 100-degrees...when even the thought of 3 inches of material on my shoulders seems too much to handle. Whoever invented the sundress, I thank you. Real American hero, you are. (Hmm, I guess sundresses in and of themselves aren't really unique to summer in New York City. Perhaps $9 sundresses from H&M?)
5. The beach. It still feels counterintuitive to me, but I am just a 45-minute train ride to a sandy Long Island beach. No, it doesn't boast the turquoise water and white, powdery sand of the Gulf of Mexico, but it's nice to know that a trip to the beach is just a day trip away.
4. Extra daylight. Yet another element that is not exclusive to New York City, but it is magnificent nonetheless. It almost feels like you've worked a half day when you leave work at 6:30p and still have a good 3 hours before it's dark. Yippee!
3. Street fairs. Every Saturday, somewhere in Manhattan (yesterday, it was right outside my door on 2nd Ave), there is a 20-block street fair. It almost feels like some type of small town fair, with vendor after vendor selling lemonade, jewelry (I bought 3 pairs of earrings yesterday for $6), sheets, clothes, toys, mops, grilled corn, shish-kebobs, t-shirts, and, my favorite, Nutella crepes. You can wander for hours, looking at the same exact stuff you saw last weekend, but for some reason it never gets old.
2. Baseball games. First, let it be known that I am a tried and true Braves fan, and that from a competitive perspective HATE both the Mets and the Yankees. However, from a social perspective, baseball games at Shea or Yankee Stadium make for a great Saturday afternoon. You get to watch baseball, get a tan, eat a $572 hot dog (and, if you have any money left over, ice cream in a plastic baseball cap), and get assaulted by hundreds of your closest intense, jersey-wearing New York neighbors from the Bronx or LonGIIsland, depending where you are. What's not to love. (Bonus points for going to a Braves/Mets game and watching the Braves dominate the ole Mets. And then bragging about it to your boss.)
And my number one favorite thing about New York City in the Summer is...
1. Fourth of July. Yes, it is just one day in the midst of almost 100 days of summer, but Independence Day in New York City is one of my favorite things in the world. There's just something about the Macy's fireworks over Manhattan, whether you're watching from a rooftop or from Brooklyn, that moves deep within your heart. It's my third-favorite holiday (surpassed only by Thanksgiving and Christmas), and when you combine that with my favorite city and the normal festive holiday fare (iced tea, pie, little flags, brass bands, etc, etc), you have a fantastic holiday at the apex of a fantastic season. Only one month to go! :)

Yes, there's plenty to complain about, like the aforementioned melting make-up, the 10,000 degree free saunas known as the subway stations, and permanently black feet from flip-flops. But summer in the City is still just simply fabulous.