A New Start

OK, so I got through moving without a scratch and miraculously under-budget given today's low ball estimate movers. The new apartment is cozy and small, yet it is charming and almost my idea of a starter New York City apartment nestled in a brownstone neighborhood. Kids play on stoops, families eating at cafes of 7th Avenue, young activists getting others involved on the streets, and all this a short subway ride from Manhattan. Over the past 2 years all I've wanted was to live in a more vibrant area and I'm pretty sure that has been done.

So to start off my time in NYC, there is no better way to do it than to celebrate 4th of July (and the rest of the long weekend) with friends. Post-lunch housewarming, Macy's fireworks, Salvador Dali exhibit at the MoMA, a hot bowl of shoyu ramen, a corned beef and adobo rice dinner, and watermelon on a Tribeca apartment rooftop overlooking the Hudson River. How New Yorker-ish, you could say.

But reality starts when all the festivities end, and life starts to set in. Made my final goodbyes to friends and family last night in Penn Station, with the sea of people going back to where they came from. I took the lonely 2 train back to Grand Army Plaza and walked right into my new "home" for at least the next year.