Thursday, September 17, 2009

awesome thing #1 about boston

Since Boston is the birthplace of America, there's obviously a lot of cool historical stuff to do here.  Yes, the Freedom Trail is fun and all, but to me, the most exciting thing about Boston is the beer.  Boston is home to not one, but TWO amazing breweries.  So my big plan for when K visits this weekend is to go to the Sam Adams brewery in JP.  Historical AND delicious.

sometimes i wonder...

Lately, my life seems to be an endless series of cliches.  You know that annoying saying, "You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone?"  I often feel like that on a daily basis.  When I was growing up on Long Island, all I wanted to do was get the hell out of there.  So where did I end up going?  New York City.  Huge change, I know.  But during my wonderful four years in NY, I felt so comfortable, so at ease, so much at home.  But nearing the end of senior year, I started to get this weird itch (no, I didn't have to run to Duane Reade for some Monistat).  I wanted to leave NY (I think I must have been slightly delusional), and I wanted to go live somewhere that I had never even imagined I would end up.  After seriously entertaining the idea of packing up and moving to New Orleans (which I still think about every now and then), I started to toy with the notion of moving up to Boston.  Not because I loved the city so much, but because it would be a change of pace and I would get to be with S (awww).  And so I made it happen -- I applied to jobs, then flew off to Europe, then came back and was offered a great position.  I took it, packed up my life, found an apartment, and moved 300 miles away from home.  All of this happened in the span of 3 weeks, and yet it takes me almost that long to decide whether or not I should buy a B. Makowsky bag on sale at TJ Maxx.  Sometimes my priorities confuse me.

That long-winded explanation brings me back to my first point.  I was excited to start my new, fabulous life in a new place, but I couldn't shake this nagging feeling of homesickness.  I had such a great life in NY -- amazing friends, a great job, and most importantly, happiness.  I realized that I had actually left my fabulous life back home (who doesn't feel fabulous going out in Manhattan on a Saturday night?) while I was now stuck in this unfamiliar place where the trains don't even run past 12:30.  I was so eager to move away and try something new, but all I want to do now is just go back and reclaim the life that I put on hold.

But don't get too excited, I have no plans to quit my job, throw all my clothes in a U-Haul and hightail it down I-93 until I see the Manhattan skyline (...yet).  I'm going to give living here the old college try and find things that I really like about this city.  I have yet to find anything extraordinary here that isn't something I could find in New York, but these things take time.  Hey on the bright side, there is this great Mexican restaurant just across the street...

(SIDE NOTE:  I'm watching What Not to Wear and the only thing I like about this annoying biotch of a woman on the show is her great dark burgundy nail polish.  Then Carmandy shows up and says "Let's get that nasty color off your nails!"  She then proceeds to paint her nails pale pale pink and tells the woman to only stick to neutral nail polish.  WTF Carmandy??  Seriously??  OK, let's get back to the matter at hand.)

I think one of the best things about moving here is coming to the realization that New York is more than the greatest city in the world -- it's home.  I miss it in the way that you can't truly miss something unless you get away from it for a while.  I miss the hustle and bustle, I miss my friends (I can't even describe how much I miss them), I miss walking down Broadway in the middle of the day, I miss making bad decisions at 2am, I even miss waiting for the 1 train in the middle of the night.  I guess absence does make the heart grow fonder (see what I mean about the cliches?)  And hey, just because I live in Boston for 2 years won't make NY any less wonderful when I finally do come back.  It's just hard to see the city on TV or in movies without feeling a pang of sadness.  I don't live there anymore.  I'll be back (hopefully sooner rather than later)...but first I have to begin my adventure up North.  And now I know that I would never want to live anywhere else other than good old NYC.

I love New York.  That will never change.  But maybe I can love Boston too.