The City I Love to Hate

My friend Jenn once compared a person's love affair with New York City to the phases of an abusive relationship.  For those of you not familiar with that cycle, it involves a "tension" phase, "abuse" phase, and "honeymoon" phase.  New York City is clearly the abuser in this scenario.

I have definitely been roped in to each phase of that cycle, and so as I prepare to leave New York yet again, I'm reflecting on the abusive moments and the honeymoons, and all the tension in between.

Let's start with abuse:

• Hearing the echoes of other people's headphones on my morning commute.  I don't need to hear that you're still listening to "Only Girl in the World" by Rihanna on blast at 7:45am, thankyouverymuch.
• Getting up close and personal with my fellow New Yorkers for 35 minutes each way, each day.  In the winter time this involves a mad dash to the subway in 20 degree snow/wind, followed by a stuffy 80 degrees smashed against 50 people, followed by another 20 degree dash, while simultaneously sweating and freezing your a** off.
• No free refills on fountain drinks at restaurants.  3 dollars, for ONE small glass of diet coke.
• The men that leer at me at the R&R Deli next door to my apartment.
• The woman that tries to give me the New York Metro magazine, every. single. morning.
• Lack of enough Target in my life.  Lack of Torrid in my life.  Lack of malls in my life.
• I sleep on a twin bed.  Enough said.
• Lines.  Lines at Starbucks.  Lines at Shake Shack. Lines at the Grocery Store.  Even lines to swipe your Metrocard.
• $13.50 for any movie after NOON.
• Winter. Winter. Winter.

However, like a classic abuser, New York inevitably apologizes, and ropes you back in.  I still get nostalgic about the following:

• The trees in Central Park turning pink in the springtime.
• A fresh slice of pizza or a freshly toasted bagel for less than 2 dollars.
• Seamlessweb.com. Grubhub.com. Menupages.com.  Pizza isn't the only thing that delivers here kids.
• Walking by Orlando Bloom, Julianne Moore, Bill Cosby, Kelly Ripa, Martin Sheen, and the infamous Tyra Banks.
• Dining outside on a fall evening, watching people walk by, enjoying the city lights, the city noise, and the breeze.
• Diversity in it's truest form
• Pancake month at Clinton St. Baking Company
• Hot Chocolate month at City Bakery
• Chelsea Market
• Brunch
• Anything and (almost) everything is within walking distance (see abuse re: Target and Torrid)
• Madison Square Park
• The plethora of pictures I have captured on my iPhone of fellow New Yorkers, including the woman eating Cool Whip at the bus stop, the plus size woman modeling her small H&M dress, the street worker coming home at 7am on the subway, or even the fashionable European couple taking a stroll.

Oh New York.  Inevitably the tension will mount again.  And so I take another hiatus from you.  At least for now.

Operation Cowgirl

Since I can't seem to sit still (literally and figuratively), it's time to write about, and begin, a new chapter in my life.

Let's call it: Operation Cowgirl.  That's right kids, I'm grabbing my belt buckles, spurs, (my boyfriend reminded me not to forget my six shooter), and boarding a plane from JFK to HOU.

I leave for Houston, Texas a week from Saturday.  Despite the fact that for the 2nd time in 6 months I'm shifting my location, my transportation options, and my employer (well, fingers crossed), and that I have a sneaking suspicion I'm a little politically misaligned for the place, I'm looking forward to an adventure full of the following (I like lists, if you didn't know):

1.  Living in the 4th largest city in the USA (so it's not #1, but 4 isn't bad)
2.  Living near (ish) to a coast, and not a cold Northeast coast.
3.  Living 4.5 hours from Baton Rouge, LA and 6 hours from New Orleans, LA according to Googlemaps.
4.  Mexican food (sorry New York, this has been your downfall).
5.  The highest number of restaurants per capita in the US, according to a recruiter I spoke to.
6.  There's always this.
7.  Living in a more centrally located place in the US will lure my friends from both sides to me, wink wink.
8.  The fact that relocating puts the song "I'm Goin to Wichita" in my head for inexplicable reasons.
9.  Finding out just how many interesting things my hair is capable of in high heat + high humidity.
10.  Oh, and my boyfriend might have something to do with this :)

Stay tuned, this is gonna be good.