A friend living in NY said that 6 weeks would be just enough time to settle in and start feeling like a local. And he was right. I left NY, not quite kicking and screaming, but close to it. Even with the promise of skiing and Vegas ahead of me, I was miserable at the realisation that it had all come to an end and choked up as we drove out of Manhattan and towards the airport.
However, blogs full of emotion and nostalgia are boring. Especially amateur blogs.
In summary, here are some of the things I'll miss and things I'm happy to leave behind (in no particular order)...
Miss:
- Walking the streets of East Village
- Having the freedom to be selfish and only think about me
- Trying somewhere new for dinner and drinks every night and the range of amazing and hole-in-the-wall restaurants on offer
- Chicken salads and Pinkberry with Mel and Juey
- Egg whites in a carton
- Gina's exclamations and laughs of disbelief echoing down the hallway
- Weekends walking around Soho, Noho and Nolita
- Trying everything local from Beer Pong to Mac and Cheese, from Ditch Dogs to Root Beer Floats, from Tide to Go to Thanksgiving Pumpkin Pie
- The shoeman at work
- Feeling like a local because everyone comes to New York
- Monday night dinners at Village Naturals with Mic and Gaby
- Cheap cab fares
- Five Guys lunchtimes with Vanessa and Burrito Bowls with Travis
- Walking through West Village to get to work
- The calibre of artists and exhibitions here and the plethora of museums, galleries etc
- Wandering the aisles of Wholefoods, Duane Reade and Westside Market
- Dinner Club catch ups
- R&B and Hip Hop being played in clubs everywhere, it's not just for wogs in their hotted up cars on George St
- Kerri's LES apartment (my temporary home)
- The Remedy 24hr diner across the road
- Laughing at Americans with my Australian-living-in-New-York friends
- And most of all, my friends who made the city what it was. To the new and the old, to the locals and to the ones from home, you know who you are and I can't wait to see you again soon
Happy to leave behind:
- Crazy cab drivers
- The time vacuum - too many things to do and not enough hours in the day
- The silence in the lift at 'The Bank'
- People exclaiming at 'how far' I've come from Sydney and that it's too long a trip for them to ever consider (come on America, harden up, let's get that "75% of people have never travelled outside the US" statistic down)
- The long wait for the F and L train
- Shallow toilet bowls
- Rats hiding in garbage bags
- Having to test every piece of creative before you can run it in market
- NY men who talk about themselves the whole time and think they're the best thing that's happened to you or that they are the most educated people you've ever met
- The lack of fresh air
The list above would never have even been created if it weren't for Amy and Sas in NY (Sas for introducing us, Amy for pushing so hard to get approvals on her end), my Saatchi NY team for so willingly taking me on despite extreme pressure and already being short staffed, and my Saatchi Sydney team, Alex, Dan Smith, AJ and Dan Spencer for agreeing to Switch so quickly and making it happen so smoothly.
It's been incredible. Thank you all so much.
The end.
NY i'm already missing you:
Final Saturday night - Paulie's B'day:
Leaving our mark. American Eagle Outfitters
10-storey billboard in Times Square:
Final Dinner Club at Bri's house:
Goodbye NY, Hello Park City.
Heading up the mountain:
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