Cali Girl in the Big Apple

A feeling of accomplishment settled over me last night as I set down the last of the Sunday New York Times. My first New York Times, read almost in entirety as an official New Yorker (emphasis on the New). It is this accomplishment that brought me to write on the morning of my sixth day in the big apple. I am enthralled, enamored and enthusiastic (sorry for the triple 'E' adjective streak, I was on a roll) with the city and about the city. It is a mad, mad world, and I am happy to be apart of it.

Leaving California, I received an overwhelming combination of well-wishes and warnings from family and friends. "You'll do great" "Enjoy yourself, be safe" "Don't walk around late at night" "Keep mace and a flashlight with you" "Avoid the subways at night" "Be wary of Central Park at night" "You'll be back here in no time, so enjoy it while you can"- well, that would be enough to send the most seasoned traveler running for the airport check-in, but I, a very unseasoned traveler, took the good with the bad. On moving day, I had a smile on my face and my carry-on in hand (and more in tow...I did move across the country) and headed for Manhattan with all the excitement and jitters of a middle school girl on the eve of ninth grade.

Once in the city that never sleeps, I reflected on what my co-traveler and insightful friend Chelsea says, "It is what it is," meaning, take things a day at a time, live your life the way you want to live it and enjoy life for what it is--the final destination. While that may seem a bit morbid to some, like someone with more life experience than me said once, "You have to live your life ever day with the appreciation that it is not guaranteed--or you are not living." I can admit, amidst my looming job hunt, all-hours social scene and exhaustive, but yummy quest for vegan food, I am living my life with the most zeal that I can, and I am also looking for something. What, I'm not really sure. Experience: Yes. Adventure: Definitely. Love: Eh. I am a believer in fate and serendipity (not to be confused with the John Cusack, Kate Beckinsale movie, even though I'm a beleiver in that as well), so whatever comes my way I will take it in and (hopefully) be better for the experience.

Of course, there are those that view my optimistic and care free personality (with no job to speak of yet and only enough moolah in the bank to get me through another month or two) as downright crazy. I, however, like to live life on the wild side. I feel that you have to roll the dice of fate, and win it all or lose it all, take the risk and at least try. Call me naive, crazy, or an amazing forward thinking strong-willed adventurer (that last mouthful was just for my own ego), but I am what I am. I want life experience, adventure, great stories to tell, plus so much more-- and you know what? I think I can have my (egg and dairy free) cake and eat it too.