Toto, you don't live in Mooresville anymore!

Now and again I will have what friends and I now call "New York Moments" that are clear reminders that I live in the largest city in the US. Some of these moments are breathtaking, amazing and some are mind blowing or even sad.  As I approach three years in the city (Feb. 23rd is my "city anniversary" yippee, I made it!), I can find myself settled into a comfortable routine of which bodegas I shop in, what trains I use, what restaurants I go to or order from, certain routes I walk, etc.  This post is mostly for me so that I don't let my little southern heart forget where I live.

A few recent "New York Moments"

• In the last two weeks I personally know two of the Oprah's Show's Guests (Elisabeth Hasselbeck & Jennifer Ringer)
• Went to a party last night and met a guy who has been in 4 Broadway shows including Wicked & In the Heights
• At an apartment party tonight the conversation I was in with 2 others went something like this, "Well I don't have to be in London until Tuesday, so we can meet up in Strasbourg for a day or two if you want."
• Last week there was an elderly man wearing a hot pink bridesmaid dress in the Times Square subway stop
• When I get to walk home from the office, half the walk includes the west side of Central Park.
• My friend, Kristin, finally got the chance to visit me here in the city. Within an hour of arriving, Kristin in true southern fashion offered to help someone get their stroller over the snow and rain puddles. The lady yelled at her, "I'VE GOT IT!"
• It is a regular occurrence to share stories like war veterans about how we all got our apartments leased. I literally cried multiple times looking for apartment and had to sign more documents & put more money down than I did buying a house in Charlotte.
• Since Trader Joe's opened in my neighborhood, I've noticed 2 new homeless men in addition to the few I already know or recognize.
• I babysit in Trump Tower.
• At a party I played Apples to Apples with a woman about my age who just finished the first round of the Foreign Services Exam and could be placed at an embassy any where in the world in the next few months.
• One of my closest friends here works on budgets for multiple African countries at the United Nations.
• Real friendships here are very difficult to find for many reasons but worth fighting for and waiting for.