New York, New York

Illustration by Carolyn Gavin

I have spent this entire year crafting a post to accurately explain just how much my life has changed since I moved to this crazy, crazy place. It's been both the best and worst and most epically different year of my life. I never use this blog to complain, so I certainly won't do that. But when you think about starting over in a completely new place, moving in with 3 new roommates, making new friends and meeting new coworkers, starting a new job and then subsequently phasing into about a 60-hour work week in no time flat...it's made these nearly 365 days in the city go by in the blink of an eye! Take something similar to the fall semester of your freshman year of college and multiply it by 50x more stress and 30x more fun, subtract ALL of your paycheck when you realize that you will now burn through shoes at the rate that an F1 racecar burns through it's tires...and then add 25% homesickness and 25% friendsickness, divided by the square root of Pi, for good measure. That leaves you with a pretty strange equation that equals my new life in New York City.

I explained to my roommate once that I was a bit depressed that I never got to see or do the things I thought I'd certainly have crossed off my to-do list in the first year. Things like walking across the Brooklyn Bridge, or eating a Nathan's Famous Hotdog at Coney Island, or freezing my butt off watching the Macy*s Thanksgiving Day Parade live and in-person. But then, he said something that really got me thinking...Jenna, you LIVE here. And you've LIVED here for a year. And that doesn't mean going to tourist attractions or vacation spots everyday. It means going to work, sitting on the couch, watching TV and eating takeout. It means paying way too much for a cab home because there is now nothing at all whimsical about riding the subway after a long, hard day. It's not about going to the hottest gallery openings, or taking vacations aboard Ramona Singer's yacht. Because life in New York is not a TV show. It's just life.

And for those of you who are curious about what I HAVE done in my time here, below is a list of things I am incredibly proud to have done/seen/accomplished:

1. I took a surfing lesson on Long Beach
2. I drove an actual racecar (!!!) in New Jersey
3. I got to sit in a floor-level box to see Madonna perform at Madison Square Garden (where Psy also made a surprise experience)
4. I added Hellmann's Mayonnaise, American Express, Klondike, and Dove Style+Care to the list of clients I've worked with
5. I drank a Black & Tan in the same bar that Abraham Lincoln used to hang out in
6. I saw Bon Iver perform at Radio City Music Hall
7. I saw about a bazillion shows on Broadway. Some favorites include: Newsies, Anything Goes, Porgy & Bess, Bring It On! The Musical, Peter and the Starcatcher, The Heiress (Starring the dreamy Dan Stevens from Downton Abbey...sigh), A Christmas Story, How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, and maaaaany more.
8. I had visitors in the form of friends from high school, friends from college, friends of friends, my aunt, my parents, and friends of my parents...
9. I rode the Long Island Railroad and then took a train to Connecticut all in the same weekend
10. I got sunburnt to a crisp on the 4th of July on the beach at Fort Tilden Park
11. I danced the night away in a basement bar on Bowery street (a few times...)
12. I took the Chinatown bus back to Columbus for an incredible weekend
13. I made it through a major natural disaster relatively unscathed and sent many prayers to those who felt it's effects more closely
14. I have made incredible memories with incredible friends that I didn't even know existed only a year ago
15. and I have made an incredible, lasting bond with friends I did know existed but now I know them a whole lot better

It's been an incredible journey. One that I haven't been too communicative about...apologies about that. But while my plans of documenting my first year didn't go so well, I like to say that it's because I was too busy experiencing everything. And next year comes the writing!