Hi friends, welcome back! I shared in my What’s Up post that May marked my five-year anniversary of living in NYC and I thought it was worthy of a separate post. Growing up in the suburbs of Michigan, NYC used to be the last place I ever pictured myself living, but now I can’t imagine living anywhere else. I’m fully adjusted to life in the Big Apple and I’ve embraced the chaos and fun of living in a big city. I used to post more frequent updates after I moved, but I somehow haven’t done one since my two-year NYC anniversary. The world has changed a lot since my last update in May 2020, but the things I love about NYC have mostly remained the same.
The most obvious way to begin my favorite parts of living in NYC is with all the abundance of delicious food, and being able to get anything we desire 24/7. Jon and I are lucky to get to try out all different kinds of restaurants, and we’ve been having a blast! I love trying out new places and exploring new neighborhoods. We also love the convenience of having anything we need delivered within an hour.
HI! This is Jon stepping in for a second. I have to agree with Lyssy and say that the abundance of great food is one of the things that really sets NYC apart compared to other places that we have lived. We feel like we have barely scratched the surface of all that the NYC dining scene has to offer, which is one of the reasons that we rarely visit the same restaurant twice. You can follow our culinary adventures here if you would like to try and keep up!
Another favorite part of living in NYC being able to enjoy the holiday season for longer than a weekend. Christmastime is so magical here, and I love that I have the luxury of seeing it as much as I want and can easily retreat home when the crowds drain me.
In my last update I said Governor’s Island was my favorite spot in the city, but I’m changing my answer to Central Park. Now that I’ve had time to experience all the seasons, it’s the clear choice. The park is such a luxury in the city, I just wish it was closer to me so I could walk through it every day.
I also love walking everywhere (unless it’s raining, 0 or 100 degrees). There’s always something new to see or a movie set to walk through, it’s an adventure every time I walk out my door. I enjoy the challenge of figuring out how to get places on the subway. I’m a bit directionally challenged, so getting off at a new stop can get me turned around until I can spot the skyscrapers as my reference points. People ask me for directions more than they should so I either look very friendly or like I know where I’m going.
One of the best things to happen since my last post is that we’ve made quite a few friends in the city! Even though there’s so many people in a big city, it’s hard making friends. I’ve met just about all of them through my food Instagram and events I go to. I’ve become a little social butterfly since the lockdown much to the dismay of my inner homebody.
One of my goals from my last update was to make our apartment feel like home, and I think we accomplished that. We love our apartment and it feels like the perfect amount of space for us. We moved in at the end of October, so I’m already looking forward to decorating it properly for Halloween.
Of course it’s not all sunshine and rainbows every day living in NYC (although sometimes it is). There are days when I’m drained, the subway says the next one is twenty minutes away, and then I finally get on and it says it’s making local stops or someone is playing a loud boombox. Those moments I really miss being able to drive everywhere. We also enjoy golfing and hiking, and it can be such a pain to get out of the city that we avoid the headache and fun activity. Lastly, July and August can be pretty brutal with the building trapping the heat, and the heat magnifying the unique city smells.
Our eventual plan is to live in the suburbs near NYC so we can have a house and a yard, but a relatively easy commute into the city. We look forward to a home so we can have a golden retriever, Traeger grill, pizza oven, and an attached garage. Our current lease is through April 2024, so it’s anyone’s guess whether we renew or migrate. Until then, we are going to make the most of living in NYC!
