Me & NYC

It's pouring rain. I simply couldn’t drag myself to brunch on the Upper East Side with my friend Catherine – so we had a phone brunch instead. I sat in my PJs watching the rain wash down the window and catching up with her. When we talked about my decision to leave the city, I said that I'd never really thought of New York as my "home." "Really?" she asked. "You seem like such a New Yorker to me." It was great to hear. "Thank you!" I said. New York has been my home, really, and I am a New Yorker – mostly.

Since I graduated from college, the main thing I have done with my life is move to New York. Asked what I planned to do when I was 22, I answered, "I'm moving to New York." My whole schtick is that I moved here with $1000, no friends, no job and no place to live – and I survived. For many years, surviving in the city was all I cared about. No matter what happed – broken hearts, shockingly low bank statements, layoffs and loneliness – I stuck it out in New York. As friends came and went, flirted with life in the city, I was always here. But now I'm ready for a new adventure.