6 Months in Manhattan!!!

Today marks 6 months that I have LIVED in New York Freaking City, the city of dreams.  One thing I’ve learned about NYC is that it breaks you down, and it does so quickly.  Its strips your outer shell off and gets to your core.  It forces you to examine who you are, not who you’re pretending to be, not who you have been, not who you want to be, not who your parents know, not who your friends know; it forces you to really examine yourself for who you are in this very moment.  There is no hiding from what it reveals.  You can try to fight it, to protect yourself from dealing with the truth about yourself, but it won’t let you, you will inevitably cave. You should cave. You have to let New York work its magic on you, it may feel like black magic and suck the big one, but, I think there’s a method to its madness.  Living in New York is like living in the middle of the refiners fire.  Right now, I am in the middle of the heat, being melted and sculpted, I’m convinced this is as hot as it gets, but I’m sure I have a few more degrees before I start to take shape.  But I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Somedays you feel like a shell of the person you used to be, the person you thought you were.  Those days are lonely days.  Its crazy to think that you could be so lonely when you’re in a city so big, full of so many different kinds of people, but it happens.  It happens a lot.  I don’t know what I would do without the Gospel of Jesus Christ in my life.  I give so many kudos to young people who move to NYC on their own and literally know no one and have to start from scratch.  I already had a base built in because of the church in my life.  I joined all the Young Single Adult facebook groups before I stepped foot off the plane, I had some sort of community that I could crash, without having to figure out where to start.  I’m so thankful for that.  That is my favorite thing about the church, is that you have this built in community all over the world, not just in major metropolitan areas.  That’s so comforting.  I’m not saying you’ll click with everyone in that community, and that you’ll want to even be friends with them, but knowing that they’re there is  comforting.  Anyway, enough with the fluffy, mushy, boring stuff.  Let me recap my last 6 months for you.

NYC by the numbers

Number of Pizza Slices: 19

Number of Pizza places tried: 6

Number of Restaurant tried: under 10 ( this doesn’t include pizza, or delis, just sit down places)

Number of Cabs hailed:0

Number of Cabs taken: 5

Number of cars ridden in that wasn’t a cab :2

Number of buses taken: 200

Number of subway rides taken: 400+

Number of Boroughs I’ve been to: 4 (out of 5)

Number of times I’ve been lost: 13

Number of Jobs I’ve had: 5

Number of Jobs I’ve applied for: 300+

Number of times I’ve fallen: 1

Number of times I’ve tripped: Under 20

Number of dates I’ve gone on: 3 ( maybe, I’m not sure what they were)

Number of little crushes I’ve had: 3

Number of times I’ve made out with someone: 0

Number of time someone’s made out with my cheek: 1 ( refer to past blog post about quiet clubbing)
Number of Babies I fell in love with:1 ( Ari my lover)

Number of strangers I’ve hugged: 5

Number of People I've seen sleeping in public: 100+ ( I'm starting a People of the subway album)

Number of Broadway shows seen: 6      

Number of movies I’ve seen being filmed: 3

Number of movies in a theater I’ve seen: 2 ( Meet the Mormons & Imitation Game.  Dollar movies are of the past)

Number of times I’ve been to Central Park: 4 (Haven’t had time to go more, it’s a goal)

Number of homeless I’ve given money to: 10

Number of times I’ve panhandled: 1

Number of time’s I’ve been to the west side: under 20

Number of people I’ve yelled at on the subway: 1 ( it was a hard day)

Number of times I’ve cried in public: 10+

Number of ferry rides I’ve taken: 3

Number of wardrobe malfunctions: 3

Number of times I’ve been to the beach: 1

Number of times my phone broke: 1

Number of times my credit card # was stolen: 1

Number of times I forgot my umbrella:13

Number of times I’ve bought an umbrella: 3

Number of Shoes I’ve gone though: 2

Number of new shoes I need: 5

Number of miles I’ve walked: 400+

Number of Chobani yogurts I’ve eaten: 32

Number of visit to Rice to Riches: 5

Number of time paid for over priced, over ripe food: everyday

Number of times I questioned if I should be here: my whole first month

Number of times I knew I shouldn’t be back in Utah: my last 5 months

Number of times I wish my best friends were here: ALL THE TIME

This is just a small sampling of some of my NYC highlights.  Hopefully more great ones to come.

Much love,

Lolo

Sending love from the Big Apple