Chinatown Find

Coming soon in an (early) birthday present for you dear Shiloh!

Ways to Charm Me

cold, cold air!

Selling Myself

I start my new job tomorrow and am feeling both excited and nervous about the whole thing. This job makes my living in NYC more permanent which scares me a bit. Over the past few weeks I have caught myself thinking or acting like I am on vacation, and in some ways I have been, but paying rent and getting a job makes this trip a bit more real. I also can't help wondering if perhaps I should have held out for another job, I was so set on doing something new, non-sales related and here I am doing the same thing. I have to remind myself that this job, like any new experience, is going to be full of challenges; a new city, a new portfolio, new contacts. What I don't want to lose sight of are some of the goals and ideas I have formulated over the past few weeks.

Thinking

One fan in room is not enough, must go buy another, larger one to get through the day.

Fire!

Nothing but excitement since I moved into my new place!

Thinking

How cool it was to walk down Broadway this afternoon and find both The Dragons of Blueland and Miss Hickory gracing the bookseller's tables. This is a sign that this is my neighborhood.

Listening

The New York Philharmonic live in Central Park. Looking up and finding a few stars.

Way to Charm Me

Fresh mint in my iced tea.

On Moving

"A place belongs forever to whoever claims it hardest, remembers it most obsessively, wrenches it from itself, shapes it, renders it, loves it so radically that he remakes it in his image" (Joan Didion)

I was so concerned about returning to San Diego and although I did cry as I landed (my first glimpse of a purple jacaranda tree set me off) and again as I took off (just getting to the airport required several glasses of wine) I am so happy to be back in NYC today I almost started skipping when I walked into Central Park this morning. It was good and nourishing to see the Pacific Ocean, the familiar stores up and down Garnet, my lovely friends and their smiling faces, good to ride a bike, pick a lemon, jump into a pool and soak up some California sunshine but I am ready to be here. I guess what I now know is that all of those things I love about and in San Diego are not going anywhere and I can easily slip back into the rythm of the place. Just as I can easily slip back into NYC.

Thinking

I wish San Diego was NYC's sixth borough.

Sipping

2006 Lemelson Pinot Noir "Theas"
Dark, with a delicious nose full of baking spices, a weighty pinot.

Listening

To the birds at westknoll instead of the usual whistles and honking horns.

Thinking

How did I forget about San Diego's purple trees?

Reading

Free Food for Millionaires by Min Jin Lee. Excellent, delicious and satisfying read.

Thinking

Escalators can never really be broken. Signs should read: escalator now stairs.

Sipping

This stuff is delicous!

Eating

Perfectly ripe cantelope. The taste of summer.

Battery Park City

It's strange, but after a few short weeks this part of the island is beginning to feel like home. Here are some shots of the local flora, Chrissie style.

25

Today is the most important day of the year. Or so I have often heard from my dad. I would like to argue that there are two other holidays in competition with Father's Day; March 25th and November 22nd, the days my dad's girls were born. I am partial to the 25th, in no small part because this is a number I share with my dad (and with Christmas!). And this number is just the beginning. Over the years I have realized that some of my best qualities come from my father. My sense of humor comes from listening to my dad at the dinner table, entertaining all with his storytelling and humor. When I laugh, really belly laugh, I sound like him, something that used to bother me (I sound like a man when I laugh!) but now I am rather pleased by. My love of books came from watching him devour novels and it was from my father that I learned the importance of an afternoon nap! Thanks Dad, for all of these things that make me, your daughter, a better person. And thank you for your unwavering love and support, it means the world to me.

Dark N Stormy

I'm sitting here watching a huge storm come in, lighting is flashing across the sky and all of the boats have stepped it up a notch and are scooting across the water at warp speed. It's been hot. My first taste of the hot and humid summer weather everyone loved to warn me about. I have now sweat in places you would not believe(sorry for that gross mental image). Now this huge storm has moved in and tomorrow should be at least 10 degrees cooler. A whole new city will await me in the morning, the heat having been washed away. Kind of like the good cry I had this afternoon while finally talking to a dear friend I was missing like crazy. Funny how that works, sometimes something just has to give and when you allow it break the balance is restored once more and the world feels cool, fresh and clean.

California Dreamin'

I'm a little nervous about returning to SD next week. I feel like I am out of the loop and like I will be a visitor in a very familiar place. I don't really know what to expect and right now, contrary to the last post, I feel very disconnected from my girlfriends. I can imagine what they are doing because not that much can change in a month (right?) but when I try and reach them the timing never seems right. Is this karma because I was not good at keeping in touch with friends who moved away? Now it's my emails that are going unanswered? I can't help feeling forgotten, or replaced (impossible!). I feel so muddled right now, I am scared to go back to the warm, comforting place I just left, a place I called home for close to nine years and at the same time, my life and future here in NYC has yet to solidify. I am suspended in no-mans land, no real place of my own, no job, no favorite places etc. Although I feel like everyday that I'm here I become more attached to the city and more sure that I belong here right now. All I need is a shout out from SD to make me feel more at home in the world.

can you tell I cried during sex and the city?

What I've been missing most about San Diego are my lovely girlfriends. I think that I thought you would all be here with me, and you are (in my heart and in my thoughts, prodding me along) but it's not the same. Everyday there is something I wish one or more of you were here to share with me, usually it's something silly but those are the important things right? I was so spoiled, living with some of you for so long, and others within easy reach. I am so looking forward to coming back for the weekend, I can't wait to laugh until my stomach hurts. I think we are our best when sourounded by friends, soaking in their love and support and company. I miss you ladies, you all mean the world to me.

Profile-less

It struck me the other day while updating my facebook profile (yes I am a huge dork) that I don't know what my interests and activities are anymore. I seriously could think of nothing to put down because everything has changed. In San Diego, I had an identity and a routine and clear opinions and likes and dislikes but here in NY I have yet to get my bearings or created an identity (read life) for myself. My interests in San Diego immediately spring to mind; cooking for my friends, drinking wine, walks along the boardwalk, laughing with the girls in the purple room, and while many of those things should have moved 3000 miles away with me they have yet to arrive. I should be excited, there are nothing but possibilities and opportunities and new interests ahead of me. And just think you will all be able to keep up to date via facebook!

Free Time (too much of a good thing?)

So, I have been in NYC for almost a month now. There has been no mass group email and there has been silence blog wise but those of you I have missed desperately have gotten an ancient form of communication, mail. Part of the reason for the silence here is that I have yet to come up with a reason for this blog's being (although I have been toying with the idea of "best public restrooms in Manhattan" as I am becoming quite adept at locating them but i'm sure it's already been done). The other piece is that this move has been a huge trip and I am just now coming to terms with what I have done. This is not just a vacation but my new life. So, rather than bore you all to death with the emotional details of the past month I was inspired by an email from Chrissie who wanted to know three exciting things that happened to me in the past week.

In no particular order (and more than 3):
I stood in line for two hours for a sneak preview of a movie..........and didn't get in.
I read a delicious book and ate my first cherries of the summer in Central Park.
I had a most excellent drink (white rum, honey and lime juice) at a cool bar with great company. I want another (two).
I bought a great pair of shoes that seem to match everything I own.
I walked across the Brooklyn Bridge and marvelled at the city I now call home.

Thank you Chrissie, for helping me put things in perspective.

More soon.