New York, I love You

People asked me all of the time why I like living here. That is not an easy question. As you know its very difficult to live here. You pay a lot for very little. The weather is less than ideal 8 months out of the year. There is a whole rigmarole about getting from point A to point B. But all of New York's negative attributes dont hinder me wanting to live here. The easiest way to put it is the lifestyle is infectious. Everything you could ever want is within your reach. Even if you cant afford a Birkin, you can get a knock off on Canal and very few people would be able to tell the difference without looking at the label. The best part, besides that it doesnt matter if you have that Birkin or not, the anonymity of the city allows you to be whom ever you want to be. I love that. If on Monday I want to look like a page out of Anthropology catalog, Tuesday's look could be as if I jump off the screen of a Ramones music video and by Friday I could be mistaken for a executive walking around midtown on my way to a lunch with a friend. 

Growing up where no one walks. Even if its just around the corner to a friends house to grab a cup of sugar, we always would get in our cars. Moreover, I have been in hundreds of traffic jams where it takes 2 plus hours to go less than 30 miles. I have come to absolutely love walking everywhere. Especially if the weather is nice. Its the best thing ever if you let it. I put on a playlist and go. I like to think of it as the soundtrack to my life. You rarely find me looking at the ground when I walk. I let myself get caught up in the big city lights, the archways in these buildings that have been around since before my grandparents where alive and the people. Literally, every walks of life are on the streets of New York. People from all over the world are here. Tourists, people that have migrated here, people like myself, moved from some other part of the US and now reside here. Watching people in this town is one of the best sports. 

The obvious reason to love this city is the culture that it has. From the hospitality aspect, the restaurants and hotels are next level and some of the best in the world. To have access to that, at least for this girl from OC, is unreal. Plus the variety of options you have is like no where else. Even other major metropolitan cities like LA, SF, Madrid or Rome you cant find the what you can find here. Even if you can its some half ass version of what you can get here. I was subjected to several dinners at Olive Garden and TGIFridays. The fact that I can eat Dim Sum for breakfast, then a croque madam from lunch and Chicken Vindaloo for dinner is one of my favorite things about the city.  I can even get it all delivered to my house and it is still warm and delicious. 

Growing up in SoCal was amazing and wonderful. Perfect weather 360 days of the year. I could go snowboarding in the morning and be at the beach with my toes in the sand by dusk. Could anyone ask for more, one would think. For me I like the diversity of everything here. Where I grew up it was very white washed. 1% African American... granted we had a shit ton of Mexicans and Asians but they could still be considered white! Literally even the black people where white washed. It was all very one note. From the people, their conversations, the restaurants, the weather..nothing was diverse. I didnt feel like there was history or culture established and never would be. As you are probably aware in CA if something is 50 years old they tear it down and build something new and flashy. Which is nice but you are taking the soul out of the place. I feel like its constantly going through a mid life crisis. "I feel old. A newer model would make everything better." Maybe I romanticize the whole thing, but just because its old doesnt mean you need a new one. If it's not broke do you need to buy a new one? I love the history of the city. Everything from the early immigrants and the tenements to Brooklyn in the 50's to the hip hop and punk scene of the 80's and 90's. I am enamored with it all. I stop and read the historic plack's on the walls all of the time. It makes me feel like I am witnessing history with my own two eyes. 

I want to raise my children here. I want them to be exposed to everything I wasn't. I think they will have the best of both worlds being able to enjoy SoCal when visiting my family and the life experience of living in an ever evolving space. They will be apart of something no matter what just being here. They will be able to have access to some of the world's best museums, restaurants, theater and music. Along with the ability to have a diverse group of friends making them less likely to be prejudice towards any particular race or ethnicity because they will see it all. 

I know all of this was a lot but I have been thinking about it  and felt like I should give you a thought out response. To be honest, I am glad not everyone feels the way I do about this city. Its already crowded enough! Ha!