It's good to be back.

downtown Manhattan/Brooklyn Bridge

It's been a whirlwind week but we're here! We made it! Family was in town through yesterday helping us get settled and unpacked (thanks, family!) and things are really starting to take shape around here. We are loving our new place and really loving being back "home" in our city. 

The other night we made a trip to Ikea in Brooklyn (not the smartest idea for my pregnant body after a long and tiring day -- that place is HUGE and exhausting!). On our way back we stopped in Brooklyn Heights for dinner and a quick stroll to the Promenade....sigh....those views! This city! Makes my heart melt every time. It's really good to be back :) 

Farewell, Boston...

The Charles River

So much that I wanted to say in my final weeks here in Boston, but too little time/too much busyness prevented it, I guess. And now here we are....our final weekend before loading up and heading out on Monday morning! 

It's been a grand adventure, a fun year of living a "new" life and exploring something different....exactly what Dan and I had always talked about ever since meeting/dating/marrying....our desire to live a life outside the box, a life full of adventure. There were some hard times, for sure, but I think it is safe to say that this past year fits that bill of adventure and fullness pretty well! And I am incredibly thankful for our time here. 

Now onto the next adventure! (will try to post from NY once we are settled, whenever that might be :) 

top six

Harvard Square
top six reasons to love the new apartment (today):
1) proximity to this beautiful place (above)
2) dishwasher
3) spacious open kitchen (hello, counter space!)
4) oven that works*
5) little outdoor porch right off of the kitchen for morning coffee sipping
6) room for a real kitchen table** for proper sit down dinners (like the yummy one my husband made tonight)

(yes, i'm in love with our new kitchen)

*our oven in nyc caught on fire the first time we used it. it therefore had to be monitored closely whenever we ever cooked/baked. it basically burnt things to a crisp unless the door remained propped open at all times.
**no room for a real kitchen table in nyc apartment, only a little fold up guy, which basically became our mail holder.
(despite those two things, i still miss it. our new york apartment. our new york neighborhood. the city, in general. sigh).

Hello, Harvard!

Harvard building
Tonight we took a stroll around campus, which was pretty dreamy. Such a beautiful place. I still can't believe we are here...that we live here.

And now we are watching Love Story (which takes place in Cambridge & New York City), in order to really get into the Harvard spirit :)

(Oh & turns out our new neighbors one block over are (were) those Russian spies that are all over the news. Welcome to the neighborhood!)

We're here! And have internet!

Charles River ~ taken during our last visit to Boston
Just a quick post to let you know we have arrived safe and sound in Cambridge. And...so far, so good! No major meltdowns, no intense bouts of homesickness, just working hard to get the apartment organized and ready. This is actually one of our first breaks since getting here -- we've been unpackin' fools! But now we are relaxing a bit, sitting in our newly put-together living room (which looks awesome, thanks to Dan) sipping wine and watching The Bachelorette (he is filling in for my NY friends who used to stop by & watch with me. sigh...).

There have been some emotional moments, for sure, especially pulling away from our apartment on Saturday morning. That was hard. But overall, this transition has been easier than I thought it would be (so far, that is -- I do realize it's only been 2 days!). For starters, I LOVE our apartment. Seriously love it. Coming from several years of tiny, old Manhattan apartments (that were charming, yes, but OLD), this apartment is a nice and welcome change. (And the years before that included: living in the attic of an old house outside of Newark, New Jersey; sharing a crumbling, old house in Ann Arbor, Michigan with four other girls (one shower); and living with multiple roommates in an old, former U.S. Air Force dormitory during my time in Lakeside, Montana. The theme here: OLD). So yeah, this is great :) Not to mention there is more cabinet & closet space than I have ever had in my adult life! Wahoo!

I would like to be able to post city photos each day this week, but not sure that it will happen. So far we haven't gotten out much to explore, just quick errands here & there, and we are trying to get as much done as possible before we leave for vacation next week. But I will try!

So until next time....

Farewell (for now)...

girls' night out
Instead of a New York City photo tonight, I thought I'd do a little photo medley of people. My people. My friends. The friends who have made this whole experience so much richer and more fun.

Tonight we had one more night out on the town, hitting up three of my favorite New York establishments on the Upper East Side, my old stomping ground: Cilantro, Elaine's and Brandy's Piano Bar. And they did not disappoint. It was the perfect way to wrap up my time here: w/ friends, laughter and singing!

Tomorrow we pack up the truck and scrub down the apartment, and then Saturday morning we head out very early in the a.m. Goodbye, New York....hello, Boston!

I may be offline tomorrow because, well, we will be crazybusy, but also we are taking the cable/internet boxes back to Time Warner. So...I guess this is it...! I will see you on the other side! Thanks for sharing in my New York journey with me. Really. It's meant a lot...

ps -- & I am not sure what our internet situation will be like up there the first few days, so I will connect again as soon as I can...! Until then...

The Journey.

beautiful Chrysler
I am thinking about the journey tonight....what led me here to the city initially -- the changes, maturation and LIFE I was seeking at the time -- and all that has happened and unfolded since then (all of those things and more).

What is it about New York? Why do so many people (including me) flock to it, craving a fresh start? A new beginning? It seems to be the symbol of so many things: dreams and ambition, for sure, but also growth and enrichment, possibility and freedom. But sometimes you reach that point of enrichment and growth, and then it is time for new experiences, new opportunities of growth.

This week has been really hard for me, thinking (nostalgically) about the girl that I was when I first moved here, knowing that I will never have that experience or feeling again of heading into the Big City all by my lonesome, the terror and excitement and anticipation all mixing together, my dreams and hopes for what *could be* looming so large inside of me. (Not that I am ruling out the possibility of moving back here one day -- it could be a possibility -- but the circumstances would be so different the second time around).

But I have to remind myself that THIS is what I was after when I came here. All of this, that I have now. And when I think back over all of the New York experiences I have under my belt -- the off-broadway show, the gigs, the classes I participated in, all of the wonderful friendships made, etc., I am proud of that girl. Happy she took the plunge, happy it turned out the way that it did. And yes, happy for this next chapter to begin. It is time to keep moving ahead, keep growing, to keep adding on those new and enriching experiences. And this time I don't have to go into it all by my lonesome, I have a buddy to go with me. And that makes me *very* happy :)

Sunset.

sunset on the Hudson
moving update: we are officially in the throes of it all, with half of our lives packed up in boxes and stuff everywhere. there's no turning back, now! lots of emotions are spilling out all over the place, but it's okay. even with the difficulty of this transition, there is still excitement. truly.

i have lots to share from the weekend (party at the boat basin + shakespeare in the park) but for now, it's late and so i must sign off. more tomorrow.

A good day.

Grand Central Station
last day list:
~popped up out of the station this morning and saw this view. one more time. beautiful.
~a light day of work in an atmosphere of celebration. emotional, yes, but a really great send-off with a bunch of really lovely people (and champagne!).
~an evening of theater with some off-broadway friends and a lot of talent.
~picked up my copy of the bellevue cast recording (yay!), which i have to say sounds pretty freaking awesome (you can listen to a sampling here!).
~now watching dan excitedly watch the world cup opening ceremony (on dvr). i love seeing him happy and excited.
~can't help but think of the significance and timing of this article being published today. a well-needed boost to my artist's self-esteem and motivation (and just in time). one door closing, another one opening? i hope so.

see? a good last day, indeed :)

Last Day.

midtown buildings
Tomorrow is my last day of work. Even though that is a good thing in a lot of ways, I have been experiencing so many mixed emotions this week -- sadness, nostalgia, anxiety (to name a few). I guess that is normal. Even though this job wasn't necessarily my passion, it's been such a huge part of my life over the last 4 years...such a crucial part of my New York journey. Plus, let's face it: change is hard, people.

And so, in the throes of it all, I am feeling nostalgic, and feeling it deeply, remembering who I was when I first got here...a new and unknown chapter laid out before me.

And that is where I find myself once again. Another new chapter. Another new city. I can only hope it will be as good as this one has been (I have a feeling it will be).

New York Moments.

W. 36th
When you know you're about to leave a place, suddenly even the smallest moments become significant. Like walking down W. 36th Street towards Herald Square on a regular Tuesday evening. Suddenly you remember all the times you've made this walk. All the little regular moments of your New York life...like meeting a friend for a slice of pizza on a rainy evening just months after arriving in the city, everything still so new and shiny; or walking to Penn Station every other Friday after work to catch an Amtrak train to D.C. when we were still doing the long distance thing; or heading to Macy's after work multiple times last summer to tackle the arduous (but fun) task of creating a wedding registry. Ah, the memories. So many New York memories.

Lasts.

office view
Last week of work. Last week of this view.
Eek, the "lasts" are beginning...

Some News...

a magical, nooky street*
So. I have some mighty big news to share...news that I've been putting off sharing on here because we wanted to make for sure for sure it was all really happening...and also because it's hard for me to grasp & fathom & say out loud sometimes! But...here goes: we are moving to Boston!

My incredibly amazing husband & his very big brains have gotten accepted to a Harvard grad program* that starts July 21, 2010. So...what that means in a nutshell: we are leaving our beloved New York in just 34 short days and embarking on a whole new Big City adventure.

There are, as you can imagine, lots of emotions flying around these parts lately. Lots of excitement, some tears, some fear. But mostly we just feel a lot peace and readiness. I haven't talked much about it here, but over the last several months we have both been feeling a bit antsy and ready for a change. I've been in New York almost 5 years now, and though I love it with all my heart, even I was sensing it was maybe time for a change. We were both very open and actively seeking various opportunities and ideas, some in New York, some outside of New York. In the end, this is the door that opened for us, and so we are walking through it, ready for a new city and a new life adventure together.

So far things are falling into place quite nicely. We were up there last weekend looking for a place to live, and successfully settled on an adorable 2 bedroom apartment in Cambridge that we call the Friends apartment (b/c the brightly painted walls & super-cute, cheery kitchen reminds us of Monica's amazing apartment :). It is located on a sweet, tree-lined street just minutes from Harvard Square, a part of Cambridge we immediately fell in love with.

It may not be New York, but Cambridge/Boston just drips with charm and magic (2 of my favorite things) and my hope is that I will fall in love with my new city the way I fell in love with New York. I do plan to keep up with this blog, so perhaps you'll join me on this new adventure and we can all fall in love together?! What do you say? (please say yes -- I will need some friends & support along the way :)

There are lots of things to do and see in the next 34 days, and I plan to live my NY life to the fullest right up to the end! So tune back in for lots of photos and updates.

xo

*surprise -- that picture up there is BOSTON, not New York!! hehe...see how charming it is? I think we will all have a perfectly lovely time exploring Boston together :)

**a random side-note: the program Dan is doing is the same one that Ashley Judd is currently enrolled in. Kind of fun, right? Maybe she'll be my friend :)

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.