moving day.

from the east side...


{old UES rooftop}

to the west...


{new UWS rooftop}

it's official. i've moved.

The end of an era...

katie & cynthia circa 2006 ~ first roomie outing

I am feeling a range of emotions as I sit here at my desk today. It is a normal kind of day with typical boring-ish busy work here and there, some wedding to-doing, some coffee drinking and some pandora listening (currently playing: The Beatles station. All Beatles. All the time. Bliss). But in the midst of all that, I am acutely aware of the changes that are coming in the next few days. At the end of the week I will be packing up my life on the east side for good, saying goodbye to my roomie of the last 3 years, and moving myself over to the west side.

This is something I have been waiting for -- looonging for -- for months. Ever since Dan moved in across the park, it has become harder and harder to tear myself away from him at the end of a night. Hard to feel like I had one foot in my old east side life, and one foot in my new west side life. Hard to not fully settle into my new "home" which started to feel more like home than my east side place simply because Dan was there.

But now, after packing up boxes over the last week, trying to figure out what is mine and what is hers, that wave of nostalgia has started to rise. I think about how, 3 years ago, when I was living in Jersey and desperate to be in Manhattan, I randomly answered an ad on craigslist, hoping she wasn't crazy, never imagining that I'd find not only an amazing roommate, but a good, good friend who felt more like a sister than a roommate....someone who helped me find my footing in this great big city, who always challenged me to try new things, and who constantly reminded me to believe in myself and dream big. I am convinced that had I not found myself in this particular apartment with this particular roommate, my New York experience would have been WAY different, and probably not nearly as life-changing and fulfilling. After all, would I even know Dan or have gotten to experience acting in an Off-Broadway show if it weren't for her? Probably not (it was her nudges...ahem -- okay, shoves!...that got me to dip my toe into the world of online dating which ultimately led me Dan...and it was her late night butt-kickings pep talks that got me off my butt and chasing crazy new dreams like acting, which ultimately led me to the show). So. As you can see. It's been a life-changing 3 years, with a life-changing friend.

I know it is time to move on to new chapters and new beginnings. Both of us are on the brink of very exciting things. But that doesn't take away the twinges of nostalgia and sadness. After all, it's the end of an era, people!

So while I am a giant ball of excitement right now at the thought of marrying Dan and getting to spend all of my days and nights with him in our lovely home on the Upper West Side, I will savor these next few nights with my roomie, my sister, as we pack up and reminisce and watch episodes of Friends together.

The end of an era, indeed.

time is a-flyin'...

© Kevin Clark

Remember a few months back when I posted this?

Yeah...umm...somehow FIVE WHOLE MONTHS have managed to fly by since then and now we are here. Down to the wire. ONE MONTH TO GO, PEOPLE!!!!!!

I am having trouble wrapping my head around the HUGE-ness of all of this and mentally preparing for the change that is coming. I mean, how does one mentally prepare for marriage? We've done the pre-marital seminars and counseling sessions, and we've talked at length about our future and expectations and children and lifestyle and where we'd like to live, and etc. etc...And yet I feel like I should be doing MORE! Journaling?? Reading books?? Bombarding my married friends with questions?? Praying more?? (certainly yes)...

I suppose all I can really do (in addition to some of those things, perhaps) is take each day as it comes, do the things I need to do for the wedding, and thank my lucky, lucky stars I have found someone who loves me more than I thought it was possible to be loved, and who I love more than I thought it was possible TO love. And acknowledge the fact that, contrary to what I may have believed back in those dark B.D. (before-Dan) days, God was listening after all :) -- throughout alllll the years, to all of those miiiiiillions of prayers uttered from the various places of my heart (both the dark and light-filled places) -- He heard them all and in the end gave me something better than anything I could have asked for or dreamed up.

This is what I need to focus on. This is what matters. Remembering (with gratitude) this gift I've been given and the path God has carved out for me to get here, trusting that He will continue to lead my steps and carve out new paths -- THAT is how I prepare. OK, well that and perhaps some question-bombardment and preparing-for-marriage-dishing with my girls, which I plan to do this weekend at the beach where we are gathering for a celebratory weekend of fun in the sun!!

YAY for beach vacations, love & marriage, and the ONE-MONTH mark!!! eeek!!

Book Love {Part 2}

Right now I am reading a book by Dean Koontz, an author I haven't read in years and don't think to pick up very often anymore. But I was done with my last book and in desperate need of a new one on my lunch break, and the little bookstore/newsstand in Grand Central Station had slim pickins that day. Revisiting this author who I used to enjoy so much in my younger days (Strangers, Watchers, etc.) has stirred up memories for other old favorites and has gotten me thinking: wouldn't it be fun to go back and read some of those old favorites? And not just those classic thrillers from my high school days (Koontz, Christopher Pike, Lois Duncan) but reaching back even further, to the books of my childhood that were such a part of me and those pivotal growing-up years.

Some that come to mind:
the Ramona books
Superfudge
Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself
Just as Long as We're Together
Bridge To Terabithia
Anne of Green Gables
Where the Red Fern Grows
Secret Garden
Stranger With My Face
Locked In Time
Last Act

Do kids today still read authors like Judy Blume and Beverly Cleary? Or classics such as Anne of Green Gables and Secret Garden? I was lucky to have an English major/teacher mom who started reading aloud to my brother and me at very young ages and introduced us to some great books, and also (fortunately) attended good public schools that highly encouraged reading.

Just writing this post has made me so nostalgic! It's been a looong time since I've visited these familiar titles. I think I might just need to go dig through my old trunks in the attic next time I am home and start making my way through this list of favorites again. You know you'll hear about it if I do :)

Book Love {Part 1}

When I was a kid I was quite the bookworm. I loooved books and everything about them. That musty library book smell, the way they felt in my little hands, the crinkly sound of those clear, plastic book jacket covers. Loved it all. And I was always so enchanted by the way a book could take me to some far-off place in an instant. I recall one family vacation, being so enthralled with my Sweet Valley Twins book as we drove through the countryside of Australia, that I not only missed my once in a lifetime chance to see such amazing scenery but also made myself thoroughly carsick by the time we reached our destination. So yes. I was a bookworm, through and through.

This love continued on through junior high and high school but began to seriously dwindle in college and beyond. It wasn't until I moved to New York that my love of books was rekindled and I began eating up fiction again like it was my job (ooh, could that be my job? hmmmm...).

I am convinced that books have transformed my daily life for the better in this (sometimes) tough-as-nails city. For example: 1) waiting on a platform for a train that WILL NOT come on a sweltering hot summer day is QUITE stressful and annoying, but much more bearable with a good book; 2) train rides can be a frickin' circus some days, but again, with a good book in hand, the crazy can be blocked out almost entirely (as long as I am physically able to open my book a crack since often times there are several thousand sweaty bodies participating in the hoopla that is NYC subway-riding; and 3) if I've had a bad day at the Day Job I can take my book down to a cafe on my lunch break and escape to some other time and place, briefly forgetting about all my boring office woes.

See? Books = Good.

Two of my recent favorites (aside from Firefly Lane which I wrote about here):

The Sonnet Lover by Carol Goodman (fantastic story. I am convinced this will make a brilliant film), and Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella (light and fun. a good beach read. also good for reading on the subway to make you feel like you *could* be on a beach instead of slowly inching your way down the bench from a man who smells like pee.)

Up next for me:

Either Ya-Yas in Bloom by Rebecca Wells or Swapping Lives by Jane Green (both good summer reads, I should think)

***
And while we're talking about books, I must say I am very excited for two book-to-film adaptations coming out soon, although I've not yet read either: Julie & Julia and The Time Traveler's Wife.

Especially Julie & Julia. I am completely prepared for an array of emotions and chords to be struck as I watch a familiar story unfold on the silver screen. Girl living in New York...pushing 30...trapped in a dumb administrative job...decides to spice things up with a project and a blog...and then (this is where we part ways) that blog is becomes a HUGE success transforming her from Office Drone to full-time writer and SUPERSTAR! Since I am feeling sensitive about this topic at the moment (my job, my direction, my "career" path, etc.) I am preparing myself for possible tears, maybe a minor meltdown, and hopefully a healthy does of butt-kickage. I am sure it will be good times all around.