I Love NY... what the...?!

I have always dreamed of going to New York. I still dream of eventually getting there. Just a bit vaguely now. I can't remember when that bit of a dream began in my mind; I'm sure I was a child. How it got there and why I just never gave much thought to.

It must have been the influence of my Godmother, who moved to the big A when she was in her 20's -- right after she got her college degree, I believe. She would write, send postcards, send me trinkets and souvenirs, along with the usual presents for a little girl -- dolls and dresses. That must've been when I got bitten by the bug.

Hollywood films definitely did a lot to build the image in my mind into some place so intriguing I wanted to know more. Then the dream dug deep into my heart as well. As I grew, I just gravitated towards books about New York, or stories that were set there, especially as I was also growing to love ballet, theater, dining, and the cosmopolitan lifestyle.

Ironic because I was growing up in a "3rd world" country, but the dream just stayed on. Pretty soon, it was consuming me -- I just needed to feel, smell, and taste New York. In a way, it made me different, not really quite into life here, and developing different tastes. While attempting to chart our adult lives, I told my cousin NY's the place to live our dreams after college, not in Spain where she set her eyes on living the life.

Then life must've happened. Real life. All things turning out as they have, I really can't complain. I missed out, but in missing out I met the man I was meant to marry, having the children who were meant to be brought into this world through me, and living it out here where I am right now.

Where I have been all my life.

Through all these developments, the New York dream took the back seat. But I have never really dropped it. I still dream of New York. Living there, not just visiting. Not that I've really done anything about it. And yes, at this time, there is no one else left to blame than myself. But hey, it can still happen.

Maybe, huh?

Here are the top things I love --- from a distance -- about New York:

1. It's the city that never sleeps... I'm the girl who peaks when everyone around me is slowing down.
   
   
   
   
   
2. It's ok to wear black. There have been times and situations in my life when I was told I wear too much of it too often. But I love black, and not necessarily goth fashion-type black.
   
   
   
3. The glam, the glam --- Broadway, Greenwich, and the artsy-fartsy-ness without ever being in denial of the nitty-gritty that comes with it.
   
   
   
4. NY pizza, cheesecake, Bobby Flay, SATC, martinis, the mix of modern and traditional (think skyscrapers and rows of old brownstone apartments, Wall Street and Greenwich and Soho) the sea of all the faces of different races, and all those icons of NY! *enter Liza Minelli's New York, New York*
   
   
   
5. Walking, taking the subway, and not minding it.