I'll Take Manhattan

I have a unique relationship with New York.  Everyone says that, I guess, but that doesn't mean it's not true for each of us.  My parents both grew up in the city and my grandparents still live there; as a child, we spent so much time in Manhattan that it felt like a home away from home, and then when I went to Columbia it became, in fact, home.

Living in New York for those four years was amazing - and I never want to live in New York again.  I love heading north to see my family and friends and to rediscover my old haunts, and my heart swells every time the skyline appears, but it's somewhere I'm really happy to just visit often.  I love stepping back into that life I had, throwing myself into who I was and remembering how incredible it was to be a New Yorker.  And then I love going home, and being who I am now.

All that said, I had a wonderful weekend in the city.  I gallivanted up and down Lex on Saturday with two of my bests from college, enjoying bloody Marys and spa treatments; the wedding in the evening was absolutely beautiful and such a joyous way to reconnect with old friends.  On Sunday, my father and I had brunch with my aunt and uncle before going to Grandma's old apartment to continue the process of saying goodbye.  We had time before catching a train back to DC to walk the length of the High Line, which I'd never explored before.

As they say, we'll turn Manhattan into an isle of joy...