tourist in my own city

For those of you who follow me on Instagram, you know that I have been loving [emphasis on loving] being back in New York. Whether it be catching up with old friends-besties from college and from high school, or simply the energy I feel when I take the subway-all the different people in their different outfits, haircuts, and acrylic nail colors speaking all the languages; it’s all just so energizing to me.

As I’ve mentioned before, since New York is home, it’s where I grew up for 18 years before heading to college in Philadelphia. For two summers in college, I interned at Google, so I spent my time in the Bay Area and then moved to San Francisco after graduation. Point being, I've never been an adult in New York. I’ve never had my own income, never not lived with my parents; none of the real #adulting things. So in more ways than one, moving back to New York is a new journey for me. The boyfriend (who also moved from San Francisco- how lucky am I?) has never lived in New York. [Yes, there were the family trips to the city over the holiday here and there, but nothing permanent.] So for him, this is totally a new adventure.

This might be the software engineer in him showing, but while we lived in San Francisco we had a  spreadsheet [a ‘trix’ as we googlers call it-don’t ask me why!] where we listed all the places we wanted to go- restaurants, outings, trips, really anything. And one by one we would check them off. Whenever we had a spare night or no dinner plans, we’d pop into the trix and look for a place we hadn’t gone to yet. As I think back on it, all of the beautiful cities I visited last year-Nashville, Maui, Oahu, I would ask friends for recommendations on the best things to do in those cities. And I guess I did that because we only had a finite amount of time and I’d never been there before. But what if we were to apply this same mentality to the place that we call home? 

So, that’s exactly what we do- we like to call it being tourists in our own city. We move through New York like there’s always something new to do, see, visit [because hey, it’s New York, and there is!] That’s what lead us on this trip to Central Park one Saturday. Confession- as a native New Yorker I haven’t spent that much time in Central Park [and as Brooklynite, it was ‘too uptown’]. We visited the boathouse [we got lucky and landed a high top table along the pond and enjoyed a nice summer drink], The Mall and Literary Walk, Belvedere Castle [there’s literally a CASTLE in the park!?], and of course, the beautiful Bethesda Fountain and Terrace [aka what I knew as where Blair, dawning that beautiful mint green Ellie Saab dress, married Chuck.]

It was all so beautiful- so beautiful that I had to return. And then I thought, what else am I missing? What else is there to see in my own backyard that could literally take my breath away? So now, it feels like adventure awaits around every corner, and I’m excited to embrace my inner tourist [sans fanny pack and glacial pace of walking, of course!] So send me your recs!

Dress: Rent the Runway//Shoes: Enzo Angiolini//Bag: Kate Spade Saturday//Sunglasses: Dolce & Gabbana