[Insert line from song about New York City here.]

You may have heard me say in the past, and I think I've even said in this blog, that if I had to live in a city - besides Binghamton - I would pick Boston. This I chose out of the full-on cities I had spent time in: Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, New York City, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh (but my friends from Pittsburgh are so cool that they could live in a sewer and it would give the sewer an unfair advantage). I've spent time in Chattanooga, Louisville, Nashville, and Toronto, but not enough to officially judge (but I'd pick Louisville). Portland (OR) and Miami can now be added to this list of cities I've spent enough time in to validly judge my desire/ability to live there (Portland wins). What's my point?

I've changed. I've felt it coming on for about a year. I realized it when Tim started applying to grad schools. When deciding what schools to apply to we took into account the quality of the school and whether or not we'd want to live where the college was located. I surprised myself when Boston pretty quickly disappeared from our list and New York City quickly hit the top spot. Tim had picked colleges in noncities too, but for this discussion I'm sticking to cities.

Maybe it's because I haven't visited in a while, but I think I liked Boston so much because it didn't feel like a city to me. Now, I'm ready for a city (though Morningside Heights is decidedly out of the Times-Square-like NYC), and I'm happy it's New York City. Though I never pursued it, I always just assumed I'd live in New York City at some point.

To reassure you, I will not attempt to be a "cool" city dweller. If you've met me even once, you know how hard it would be for me to be a NYC hipster. If you ask me where the new coolest anything is, I will not be able to tell you. I'm looking forward to finding a favorite (1) low key bar with microbrews, (2) place to get bagels, (3) place to get black and white cookies - no these are NOT half-moon cookies, and (4) place to work outside of the apartment. Also, attending a new church will be an interesting and I hope fun experience. My friend Leslie plays handbells at two-blocks-away Riverside Church, so we will definitely be visiting there. Libraries, museums, book readings, people watching, theater, etc. I know will keep me busy and likely make it hard for me to get my work done. I'll try to pace myself.