When my husband and I first got together, and pretty much immediately realized we were going to get married, we started having The Talks. Do you want kids? How many? What are your goals for the future? Where do you want to live? (Secret: These questions, with the right person, actually aren't excruciating.) New York City was not either of our answers four years ago, but we obviously changed our opinion and thankfully grew into this idea together. (Secret: Changing is okay.) School was our excuse to move here for a year and is now our excuse to stay here, but we like it here as a home. When talking about where we were going to live, what the hubs and I initially didn't completely agree on was where we wanted our house to be, in town or in the country. I always voted in town; he liked the country. What this discussion really revealed is that we assumed we buy a house someday.
The idea of home ownership didn't appeal to me four years ago, but I figured I was just being immature and I'd get over it. I'm almost 30 and I still don't want to own a home. Just thinking about it makes me tired. Owning a townhouse here in the city or being part of a co-op is stomachable, but moving away from the city and needing to drive everywhere is not. This is probably why I always leaned toward living "in town." The hubster right now feels the same way; the "country" can be vacation, not home. You'll of course be the first to know if this changes.
I'm not raging against the machine or judging homeowners with lawns and fences and car seats (well, maybe a little, at least the belief that all normal people want this), but I am saying this isn't for me now and maybe never will be for me, and I'm okay with this. Turns out, a lot of people are okay with this, according to this New York Times article. Yes, we plan on having children. (Secret: It's okay to have children in the city.) We even plan on having a dog. For the same reasons we like living in the city we'd like to raise kids in the city. This doesn't make me better or worse than the proverbial you, just different. Or maybe not that different.
Thursday, January 07, 2010
Some updates
Whether or not I promised to update or whether or not you care, here are some updates, mostly lacking in juxtaposition.
First of all, I survived Christmas. We spent eight days in our hometown catching up with greatly missed friends and family (and breaking the news that we'll be in NYC for awhile - everyone should just move here). I had a goal of buying Christmas gifts for which some of the proceeds would go to charity, and I succeeded in all but a few, and everyone got something to unwrap. Before you go thinking I'm a good person, next year's gift theme is that it has to be sold on TV. Because this is awesome, Christmas shopping may not make me want to drink this time around. Only maybe.
We did go see the balloons being blown up on Thanksgiving Eve. It was rainy and packed full of people, but still worth it. Well, worth it to see half of the ballons and then go get pizza and cupcakes. And we did go Thanksgiving morning to the parade. The day was warm, our location was good, and I actually ended up wishing that we'd shown up earlier to see more of the parade. The police block the parade route off a block away from the route, so parade watchers have lots of space to set up ladders and see the parade without being in anyone's way, the kids can run around without getting hit by cars, and vendors can sell pretzels and hot dogs and coffee etc. Everyone cheers when a balloon goes by. It's fun.
I didn't go see Jonathan Lethem read the final part of Chronic City because my sister-in-law came to visit that weekend. While there are far worse ways to spend an evening, many can think of better ways than to listen to someone read a book (as silly as this seems to me). So we went to the Brooklyn Brewery instead and got her drunk. This night also included pizza and cupcakes. I got many Jonathan Lethem books for Christmas, so I'm hoping he does some more readings of some kind and that I turn into a big groupie.
Because of all of the pizza and cupcakes and my inability to walk by a bakery without going in, my body has become what you'd call a little soft. (Don't worry, my heart's as hard as ever.) I'm looking forward to marathon training for many reasons, but one them is to watch and feel my body change. This was fun for the half marathon, so if my math is correct it should be twice as fun for a full marathon. The consciously eating more healthy - which means not changing my consumption patterns but adding more healthy food to them - helps with the desoftening too. Food consumption itself earns a different meaning when you're paying attention to the amount and kind of energy it will give you. What I'm not looking forward to is running outside in the cold. A gym membership to use the treadmills because I'm a wus doesn't really seem justified. Likely you'll be hearing more about this since it will likely be the most interesting thing about me until June.
First of all, I survived Christmas. We spent eight days in our hometown catching up with greatly missed friends and family (and breaking the news that we'll be in NYC for awhile - everyone should just move here). I had a goal of buying Christmas gifts for which some of the proceeds would go to charity, and I succeeded in all but a few, and everyone got something to unwrap. Before you go thinking I'm a good person, next year's gift theme is that it has to be sold on TV. Because this is awesome, Christmas shopping may not make me want to drink this time around. Only maybe.
We did go see the balloons being blown up on Thanksgiving Eve. It was rainy and packed full of people, but still worth it. Well, worth it to see half of the ballons and then go get pizza and cupcakes. And we did go Thanksgiving morning to the parade. The day was warm, our location was good, and I actually ended up wishing that we'd shown up earlier to see more of the parade. The police block the parade route off a block away from the route, so parade watchers have lots of space to set up ladders and see the parade without being in anyone's way, the kids can run around without getting hit by cars, and vendors can sell pretzels and hot dogs and coffee etc. Everyone cheers when a balloon goes by. It's fun.
I didn't go see Jonathan Lethem read the final part of Chronic City because my sister-in-law came to visit that weekend. While there are far worse ways to spend an evening, many can think of better ways than to listen to someone read a book (as silly as this seems to me). So we went to the Brooklyn Brewery instead and got her drunk. This night also included pizza and cupcakes. I got many Jonathan Lethem books for Christmas, so I'm hoping he does some more readings of some kind and that I turn into a big groupie.
Because of all of the pizza and cupcakes and my inability to walk by a bakery without going in, my body has become what you'd call a little soft. (Don't worry, my heart's as hard as ever.) I'm looking forward to marathon training for many reasons, but one them is to watch and feel my body change. This was fun for the half marathon, so if my math is correct it should be twice as fun for a full marathon. The consciously eating more healthy - which means not changing my consumption patterns but adding more healthy food to them - helps with the desoftening too. Food consumption itself earns a different meaning when you're paying attention to the amount and kind of energy it will give you. What I'm not looking forward to is running outside in the cold. A gym membership to use the treadmills because I'm a wus doesn't really seem justified. Likely you'll be hearing more about this since it will likely be the most interesting thing about me until June.
Wednesday, January 06, 2010
New Year's Resolutions
Because I know you've been wondering, the following are my New Year's resolutions:
Eat more cupcakes
Have more sex
Be more giving
Run a marathon
I live in New York City, the cupcake capital of the world (or something like that). I will be trying many different kinds of cupcakes in 2010. My second resolution is self-explanatory, I think, and will likely take care of resolution #3. Running a marathon also precludes me needing to make eating healthier - even with the cupcakes - and exercising more their own resolutions. I'm registered for the Lake Placid marathon in June. Training begins next month. You know you'll be hearing more about this.
Eat more cupcakes
Have more sex
Be more giving
Run a marathon
I live in New York City, the cupcake capital of the world (or something like that). I will be trying many different kinds of cupcakes in 2010. My second resolution is self-explanatory, I think, and will likely take care of resolution #3. Running a marathon also precludes me needing to make eating healthier - even with the cupcakes - and exercising more their own resolutions. I'm registered for the Lake Placid marathon in June. Training begins next month. You know you'll be hearing more about this.
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