One year and counting

Can you believe I've already been in New York for a year? I guess that's not really a lot of time, but it is one of those time periods that people take note of. Birthdays, anniversaries, parole hearings... cause for reflection. And as I reflect on the year I've spent in New York a few things come to mind:

• I like this city more every single day. It will wear you down, steal your soul and destroy your faith in air conditioning, but at the end of the day anything can happen here. Any day. When I leave the apartment in the morning I'm never surprised anymore where I end up and who I end up with (more on this feature later).
• I like living alone here. I came here with someone I was expecting to live with for a while, and that didn't work out. At the time it was heartbreaking because it's what I thought I really wanted. Back in Chicago I hated being single. But here, not so much. I'm delighted living on my own and experiencing this city however I so choose. I go out with who I want, come home when I want and pass out drunk in the middle of the bed again.
  
• I love my New York family. In NY people don't see their actual families as much as they do elsewhere, so they create very close knit groups of friends and seem more open to letting new people in. At least, this is my theory. Whatever it is, I've made some very close friends very quickly here, and I love all of them so much. You know who you are.
  
• I'm finally happy with my career. Sure, I had to start over and take a leap of faith that I would find a job here, but it was worth it. Things are still in flux, but it's looking like I've finally moved into something that keeps me in the creative realm but also makes use of all my marketing and communication skills from my past life. And I love the company I work for. Many of the aforementioned friends can be found here, so it makes for a great work environment. Dysfunctional, but great.
• I do still miss Chicago. New York is fabulous, but Chicago will always be the gold-standard. My family is there. My oldest friends are there. Oberweis ice cream is there. Garbage is stored in cans in the alleys. The heat in the summer doesn't make you want to kill yourself. Snowstorms don't shut down the city. Strangers are nice. Da Bears. Wrigley Field. The Bean. The Lake. A lifetime of memories. Yeah, Chicago is still #1 in my book, and I'm sure I'll be back, it just might be a lot longer than I thought. But that's okay, Chicago will always be there, an oasis of awesome in the middle of the country.

And now, bragging time. On Wednesday, I was surprised with a very cool perk from one of my clients, The Yankees. I was joking about my embarrassment at the White Sox's 16-3 loss from the night before when my contact asked if I would like to go to the game that night. "Hell yeah!" was my response. I brought Andy, the new guy from London. He's never been to a baseball game and I thought he would have the most fun. We got to the stadium and when we picked up the tickets at the executive entrance the guy asked us to follow him and he would escort us to our seats. Holy hell, we were being escorted... these were going to be good. We entered behind home plate, and kept walking towards the field. Closer and closer. I was looking at Derek Jeter's ass. Our tickets were second row behind the plate. We were both in shock. We spent a fortune on food and drinks that we ordered from our seats that came right to us. We had hot dogs and peanuts and beer, just like you should have at a baseball game. I might have snuck in a cosmo first, but that's only because I have to have something taste good before I can switch to beer.

It was an amazing night, and I had no idea it was coming until the very end of the work day. Of course, it was the one time I didn't have my camera with me. I was kicking myself. Andy made sure to send a picture message to our boss saying "wish you were here." He he. He's going to fit in well at the office.

I considered the game my one-year anniversary present from New York City. Happy Anniversary New York, I heart you too.