Today I'm in Virginia at my sister (and boyfriends') place, just hanging while they're at work, having a much needed break from my non-stop life. I'm just relaxing on the couch, letting the sun from the window warm me as I listen to some Edward Sharpe and type and just reflect for a moment of how much I love this. Being able to hop on a train and in just a few hours be here with one of my best friends. In my time in New York it's the ability to so easily leave and in a few hours be in any number of other places I've always loved almost the most. It's something you definitely can't do everywhere and it's something that keeps me sane in the city. And don't get me wrong, I'm more often home in Brooklyn, and loving it, then other places, but in the back of my mind knowing that if I needed to leave at a moments notice (also without breaking the bank) I could.
In a few weeks I'll once again be hopping on a train, this time heading North, to see one of my favorite bands play in Boston. Sure, they're playing in New York, but the thought of seeing a new venue, revisiting a favorite city, taking a 24 hour me get away and just the fact that I can do this, was all too much to ignore.
You may or may not know where I'm going with this and the honest to goodness truth is maybe nowhere, but recently I've begun looking at my time in New York as something that might be winding down, and perhaps faster than I ever expected. Much like George Costanza, I want to leave on a high note, and it's caused me to start looking at the city I've had such an on-going love-hate relationship with through different eyes. No more is it the daily grind, it's doing wild things (well, wild for a little Texas girl)- riding subways, working a block away from the largest building in NYC, visiting all the neighborhoods with such different vibes, walking-walking for days, dodging tourists, going to places that don't exist where I'm from (vegan bakeries- and more than 1, bars with bocce courts, giant sprawling parks in the middle of metropolis' where amazing bands play, cutting edge original restaurants from up and coming chefs)... I could go on for days.
Some of the blogs I've loved the most have been by women who have gone to a foreign place and carved out a home. There's a solidarity I feel with them because it can be a such lonely experience. Even over the years as I've gathered wonderful friends and am the first to jump up and go to a concert or play and just get out an enjoy, there's something lonely about being away from "home". It can be exhausting too, and when life has me a little down, a little too tired I can just channel women like Luisa, who lived and loved and cooked amazing food in NYC and just recently returned to Berlin to the comfort of home. Or Lisa, a fellow Texan, who understands completely the meaning of "the grass is always greener" and marries her current home of New York with delicious Texas recipes to create the perfect balance between the 2. And of course my fabulous sister, who over the years has called Missouri, Maryland, Alabama and now Virginia home.
Also, while not quite so food-centric but rather women doing amazing things with their life blogs, here are a few more inspirations. There's stylish mama Melissa, a woman who just recently moved back near her home in North Carolina from San Francisco with her lovely little-and growing-family and wrote this post just the other day that gave me such an ache because it was an eerie feeling of how I'd feel if I ever left New York. Meg, an amazing girl on who is taking life one step-while running- at a time and who's posts keep me exercising, and doing so happily. And last but not least, Robbie, a truly beautiful girl inside and out, who has one of the most inspirational blogs I've ever read- also the author of the best dating manifesto that I try my best to date by. The above blogs all reflect the stories from strong women who all in their own way are going through their journey of life, and their posts reflect the honest ups and downs I try to emulate in my own writing.
And just like yesterday enjoying the train, looking out the window at the view as the trip from the Northeast to the Mid-Atlantic flew by, and as I progressed South how the signs of spring became more and more prominent. It was a moment that was just beautiful, a moment I will hopefully cherish forever but I know that it's not meant to last forever, just like right now. But until it ends I'm here, my second home away from home and all I want to do is just enjoy this moment I'm having right now.
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