From West to East

After seven hours of traveling, 175 pounds of luggage and a few tears later, I returned from New York City this weekend. As the Brooklyn Bridge faded into the distance on my cab ride to La Guardia, I reflected on my incredible summer.

Instead of checking items off a bucket list, I vowed to live every day to the fullest — regardless of where I went. I never made it to the Statue of Liberty, but I did sneak into VIP at the city's hottest rooftop club. On the night I would have gone to the top of the Empire State Building, I dug into fish tacos at the city's best kept speakeasy, La Esquina. No, I didn't boat out to Ellis Island, but I did comb through vintage jewelry at a flea market in Williamsburg. I knew this was my first summer living in New York City, so I tried to live it like a New Yorker. As a result, my view of the city changed. In a city as big as New York, I started to find joy in the little things:

1. Feeling a quick gust of cold air when you walk by a building in a 105-degree heat wave
2. The 9 a.m. sea of starched shirts coming out of the Wall Street Subway stop
3. Thinking it's raining and then realizing it's only a sweating air conditioning unit above
4. Taking the long way home and discovering your new favorite restaurant
5. A double-take on the sidewalk
6. Walking by a Mr.Softee and actually having the cash to buy a sprinkled cone
7. Discovering the perfect LBD in a thrift store in Brooklyn
8. Three letters: VIP
9. Waking up to the print edition of Women's Wear Daily
10. TRADER JOE'S (seriously, thank you for keeping me alive this summer)

From concerts in the park to 4 a.m. cab rides, I can't even begin to explain how much I fell in love with the city this summer. Even my mom picked me up from the airport and said "You look like New York." It was a West Coast girl's perfect beginning to a new life on the East Coast.


See You Later NYC,

Voguerrilla