Movies & Dreams.

UWS/'Shop Around the Corner' scene
One of my favorite New York movies of all time is You've Got Mail. I used to sit in my living room in Michigan back in 2005 (a pretty difficult time in my life) and watch You've Got Mail with tears in my eyes, so praying that one day I would have the chance to live there and walk down those streets. May sound dramatic, it's just a movie after all, but for me New York was a place I strongly connected with due to my past time spent there (to quickly fill you in on that: I volunteered with a missions organization shortly after 9-11 at Ground Zero for about 3 months. It was incredibly intense & emotional and so New York really embedded itself in my heart during that time). Watching this movie at a time that I desperately needed to connect to something again really stirred me up for New York. I was longing for a fresh start, for that sense of purpose and belonging again.

Months later, after I moved from Michigan back home to Virginia, those prayers became more serious, and the thought just wouldn't go away. There were other cities that made more sense to move to, but I kept coming back to New York. I didn't really know anyone, and I would be going alone, but it just felt right for some reason. Like it was where I was meant to be.

And so I took a leap. Worked my way from Starbucks in New Jersey to the law firm in Manhattan, met great friends, played some gigs, made some art, walked these New York streets, met a boy, got hitched. And now...5 years later I live on the Upper West Side...in the very same neighborhood of the movie I used to watch longingly.

The other night You've Got Mail came on TV so Dan & I watched it as we ate dinner. I hadn't seen it in awhile, and was taken aback at how much of our neighborhood is in that movie. But the real kicker was when they showed the storefront of Meg Ryan's character's bookstore, "Shop Around the Corner". It was OUR corner! Literally, our apartment building is around the corner from the Shop Around the Corner! I freaked out. And not because it was a "cool" movie moment. It was so much more than that. It was another tangible reminder that dreams really do come true. God really does answer prayers. Like, literally and specifically....! I mean, I used to think that shop and that street were just so quintessential New York. So charming. So magical. And yeah...I live there now! (for 32 more days, anyway). Wow...

(movie):
(real life. my life):