Not What I Ordered

Exactly one year ago today, I arrived in New York. The night before, my mom and I packed all we could in her car in the middle of a rainstorm. I cried a lot that night. Partially for the belongings that I left behind. Partially out of fear. Partially out of excitement.

We came to Brooklyn, from Chicago, by way of a 14-hour drive. Overnight. I seriously have never eaten that many gas station hot dogs in my whole life. But we made it without much of a hitch. We only managed to get lost once. Seriously Google Maps, you have to make directions to the Holland Tunnel a little clearer. This is the second time I’ve had to guess my way through it. Did I mention it was also raining here?

So here I am, a year later and I honestly can’t believe it’s been a year. And, I have to say that I am pretty darn happy. I’ve had some fun times and some not so fun times. But, Brooklyn feels like home. I feel like my life is here (that’s still really hard for me to say).

All in all, I think moving here was a lot like how I expected it to be. And, you’re stuck with me for another year Brooklyn (and I’m pretty sure I’ll be here a lot longer). So, with all that, let’s take a happy anniversary stroll down memory lane. Shall we?

A few days after moving here, I met up with a guy from OkCupid. A few days after that, the guy came over to my apartment, touched my boobs, and then left. True story.

I discovered a tattoo place near my apartment that only has a $40 minimum -- that's a rare gem in NYC. Really lots of places for that matter. But I also discovered that I have no self-control when it comes to visiting said tattoo shop.

I dealt with a couple of crazies from OkCupid. One who, after I rejected him, said he was just taking one for the team anyway. And the other who said he'd like to have sex with me, but I might make his penis look too small.

I dated a freegan who liked to dig things out of the trash who also ended up in the psych ward just after I ended things with him. Though, I don't think being a freegan had anything to do with that and I am not sure if ending things with him did either. That's a story that I haven't had the courage to share yet. Another time, another place.

I tried fried pickles. Then, went to Hoboken and had them again. And made a little trip to the Brooklyn Bridge.

I went to The Strand where I found cheap copies of Are You There God? It's Me Margaret, Silence of the Lambs, and that book about men and women being from different planets -- whatever it's called. Something about Mars and Venus. It was $1.

I discovered that Brooklyn is a pretty amazing place to live. In fact, I really love it here. And, no, it has nothing to do with that damn hologram Jesus. I am pretty sure they have those everywhere.

And let's not forget about the Badoo Project.

I also realized that Mr. BST can suck it (am I allowed to say stuff like that when I'm almost 32?). I'm not technically sure if that has anything to do with being here, but I think it helped some.

I've made trips to Central Park and Prospect Park. And, had more than my fair share of drunken nights (not in the park). One where I didn't get home until 7am after making out with some guy in the bar and being proposed to by the cab driver. Though he was the only one after three cabs who would actually take me to Brooklyn, so maybe I should have married him. Also, the guy at the bar wanted to take me home but Taylor wouldn't let him because she said (and I quote) "he's going to murder you."

I met a guy who I actually considered seriously dating. It didn't work out, but we've managed a friendship. It's a good friendship and he's actually becoming one of my most favorite people to hang out with. And that's not because he has a car and took me to Ikea (and bought me two hot dogs). He's also super creative so we are working on a really cool project together. Stay tuned for all of that.

I met the most amazing hairstylist named Rocio who works at a salon called Rare in Tribeca. Seriously, she does awesome things to my hair. And I'm not just saying that because she tells me how cool I am and how much she loves when I come in for a hair cut. She also did not pay me to say that.

I met a guy off of OkCupid locals. He was a refugee from hurricane Katrina. He took me to all these crazy old man type of clubs (and was also a little offended when said old men kept checking me out). We ended up going back to his place and it was the scariest thing I have ever seen in my life. I didn't stay very long.

I finally had the courage to rock red lipstick. And, figured out that it suits me pretty well.

I've also met many amazing people and made lots of friends. There are too many of them to name in this post (especially since it's already 994 words long). But, they know who they are. And, they are largely responsible for all the awesome experiences I've listed on here.

So I am here in Brooklyn. And I swear I have started to write this post like a million times. I wasn’t really sure how I felt or what I wanted to share. It’s not that anything is bad I just couldn’t really get my thoughts together on what I am thinking. But part of this blog is having an outlet even if I am not positive on what to say.

I made it here safe and sound without any major snags. Not bad for an 800 mile trip. And I have to say that Brooklyn is quickly winning my heart.

When I first got here and started unloading all my stuff into my apartment I had a moment where I thought “what have I done?”. I didn’t want to admit it at first because it made me feel a little guilty. Like maybe I was betraying my dream or something. And I think it made me afraid that I wasn’t really going to be happy here.

But the more I thought about it I realized that I think it’s perfectly normal to have to moment where you think holy crap. It’s that moment where it’s all sinking in. I left everything I knew and things are still totally unfamiliar here. Plus, I had just made an 800 mile trek and I was running on like an hour of sleep.

Then last Friday was a little hard too. I felt a little sad for most of the morning but I think it’s because it was the first full day without my mom and she was officially back in Indiana so it made me realize how far away from everything I am now.

But again, I think that’s normal. I mean, if I was all happy and everything was perfect then that would be weird. Just because I miss my family and Chicago doesn’t mean I am not loving it here. This isn’t an either or kind of situation.

It helps having amazing friends here who are always making sure I am doing fine. I also have a pretty awesome roommate. We had a little date night complete with Mexican food and tequila. So yeah, I think I am going to be just fine here.

So I am getting back into the swing of things. And I have been inspired by another blogger friend, the lovely Miss Taylor Cast, to start a little something called the 30-Day Challenge which is where I will write for 30 days using a list of given topics. I figured since I took a tiny break from the blog to move, why not jump back in with something to mix things up a little. I thought it might be fun and maybe even a little different. After all, different is good.

I’ll be starting the challenge on Friday and my goal is to do it everyday.