New York City + 5 years

As I look forward to a long (and busy) holiday weekend on Fire Island, I am at home in Bushwick reflecting upon the fact I moved to New York from New Hampshire five years ago today.

My good friends almost know the story of how I ended up in the five boroughs by heart--I called my former roommate, who lived in Hell's Kitchen at the time, one night to say hello and I simply told him I'd move to the city after he asked me if I wanted to. It's almost a bad cliche to say the last five years have flown by, but indeed they have. As a teenager, I honestly wanted nothing more than to leave my native New Hampshire and live in a more diverse and frankly exciting place. Brooklyn--and in particular Bushwick--certainly fit the bill! From my first full-time reporting job at the New York Blade, to my first summer on Fire Island, to working at GLAAD, to getting mugged, to traveling to Morocco and the Dominican Republic and learning how to embrace my inner Julia Child in the kitchen, the last five years have provided me a bounty of experiences that will surely last a life time.

I am a restless person by nature with an insatiable curiosity and even stronger sense of independence and self. The road that lays ahead will certainly be an interesting one that will obviously bring the unexpected, but I remain blessed to have experienced the last five years of it in New York.

P.S. I would also be completely remiss not to congratulate my parents on their 31st wedding anniversary.