Surviving in New York isn't easy.
Between winter blues, the high cost of living, annoying subway delays, and the ban of extra large soft drinks, I still manage to love this city. Perhaps it's because I can't live without Tacombi at Fonda Nolita tacos, people watching from R Lounge in Times Square, dreaming about the Elizabeth Arden Red Door Spa or randomly spotting the Naked Cowboy with his guitar. The jury is out on that last one... I suppose Nashville could be an option.
I will say: If there is one thing I despise more than graham cracker frozen yogurt being occasionally unavailable at 16 Handles, it's moving residences. Apartment hunting at the end of the month, hiring a mover, packing, unpacking and settling into a new place (which many times means a new part of the city) is exhausting. It's like transferring to another state, which involves finding a new grocer, a new pharmacy, a new route to work (new subway, bus, ferry, PATH or traffic delays) and saying goodbye to a familiar face behind the counter every morning. Au revoir David's Tea. Bonjour Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.
With signing a new lease, I've signed up to make myself a little insane, and by doing so, the three-ring circus has begun. Thankfully, this isn't my first rodeo, so I've started packing early, enlisting friends to help, and finding my knights in shining armor to move my armoire. Cue Unpakt.com, the equivalent of online speed dating for movers. Genius... and sexy.
To brighten my mood and my room -- when I finally force myself to veer away from Piperlime.com shopping -- I'm eagerly roaming Art.com for ways to enhance my new, blank walls.
I suppose the beauty, even within the chaos of moving, are the blank walls -- the ability to start with a clean slate. New York City remains consistently busy and bustling day after day, and therefore, the opportunity to recreate oneself (as the city does in bits and pieces) is always an option.
Between work, play and life, sometimes we become complacent with our imperfect circumstances, until something -- like a mice infestation -- forces us to reevaluate, reexamine and, in my case, relocate our situations.
Moving means sorting through the accumulation of one's ancient artifacts and present property. It's deciding what parts of the past (physically and figuratively) are worthy of the future. It involves literally casting the unnecessary, unhealthy and/or unsanitary, parts of one's existence into the trash.
Though I'm leaving my abode, I'm not abandoning New York. It is still home and suits me just fine. The mice, select items from my past, and some other city injustices, though, I think I can live without.