This year in New York

I’m currently in the process of leaving New York City. I’m sitting in a Chicago airport* remembering this great year that just closed out. I wanted to share a few specific things I learned and experienced here. This year was my first year on my own, and boy was it memorable! Most of these things I experienced are unique to living in New York City and probably wouldn’t happen in the same capacity had I stayed in my hometown.  New York stretched me in different ways and it allowed me to look at things differently than I did in high school.

This list isn’t necessarily deep. It’s just one of those lists that lets me look at the practical and tangible things I experienced while living in New York City. I'll have a lifetime of reflections from this year, but this is a good (but small) start.

Living Simply. I’ve never been a pack rat, but I’ve always had a large room all to myself and I had no problem filling it. I was looking forward to moving away for the sake of downsizing. I went from having a huge room with a queen-sized bed and large sofa to a room split between 3 other people and a little corner to hold my stuff. I guess most college kids have to do this, but it was definitely a welcomed change for me. Fun fact:  I hardly ever wore jewelry while living in New York. I wasn’t allowed to wear jewelry at my job, and I forgot to bring my jewelry to the city, so I went with out. I might have occasionally had access to a necklace or a pair of earrings, but 97% of the time I had no jewelry on.

My Space

Maintaining long-distance friendships is easier than I thought. I was concerned that I would lose my friends from high school and church. I was worried that people would forget about me and my life would just move on. Understandably, I lost touch with certain people, but the people who matter were still part of my life during the year. Packages and mail were so fun, and I loved the face time, phone calls, and text messages. The fear of losing touch with people should not hold me back if I’m called to do something or go somewhere. It shouldn’t hold you back either.

It’s okay to “treat” myself. I was a bit of a workaholic and saveaholic in high school. I spent most weekends working and studying. My weeknights were always busy with school and church activities, and I tried to get as many babysitting jobs and other random work on the weekends. I rarely did things for myself. It’s been so good for me to go out and do fun things with friends and not feel guilty about purchasing a meal at restaurant or buying that ticket for a broadway show. It was always a big deal for me to spend money or buy things for myself when I was in high school, so I’m thankful that I’ve learned how to not hold onto money so tightly.

Fun Stuff: Phillip Phillips, Cafe Grumpy, and Macaroon Tower

Learned to get around without a car. I guess I was forced to learn this one, but it was really fun learning the subway and bus system. All the colors, letters, and numbers can be daunting at first but it’s cool when you catch on. Walking is also enjoyable. You always hear that you need good walking shoes when you live in a city, and I kind of brushed that fact aside when I moved here. “I should be fine with knock-off Toms and flip-flops. nope.” These past few months I lived in a pair of Birkenstocks and keds tennis shoes. I learned my lesson from when I moved here. Take care of those feet!

Biking is another popular option ;)

Learned to initiate and make friends. Similar to treating myself, it was really good for me to make friends and do fun outings. When I first moved here I thought it would be impossible to make friends because I wouldn’t have much in common with other people and we would all be too busy.  Not the case at all. I made a lot of friends here and even a few close friends. I went on bike rides, to concerts, broadway shows, fun shopping spots, museums, yoga classes, runs, dinners, comedy shows, and pretty much every other fun NY activity I could think of. I even threw a birthday party for myself this year…at my apartment! The friend part was really fun. I’m so glad I put a lot of effort in being social.

Learned to love coffee. New Yorkers are known for not sleeping. I didn’t really sleep, and I worked long days. I hardly touched coffee in high school, now I touch it. A lot

A LARGE cup of coffee

Apartment and roommate life. It was tricky at first, but I eventually figured it out.  Over the year, I lived with five different roommates. One of my roommates stuck with me the whole year, and and the other four moved in over the course of the year. I didn’t love all the roommate transition, but I made it work, and it was fun to meet the girls who moved in. They were each so unique. The second half of the year was very enjoyable for me. So I would say my first year living with roommates was a success.




A glimpse of my roommate life. I love that she says this was "unforgettable experience."

Fashion is fun. I’m not a fashionista, and I’ve never been anti-fashion, but living in New York helped me pay even more attention to fashion and helped me a develop a personal style. I learned to pay attention to fabric and found enjoyment in learning about trending styles and designers. It helped that I had a handful of friends at Parsons and FIT. One thing to note is that I will always be a thrifter. 

Thanks for reading. I heart New York.

*It took me a while to press "publish."

The City I Love

NYC, you're my fave. 

These are various pictures taken at different times and in different places. There is no theme between one picture to the next, only that they were taken in NYC. New York is really just a big jumble of craziness and beauty. It's so full and hectic. Pockets of stillness are rare, but usually lovely. 

 

1) Near Port Authority Bus Terminal

2) Times Square

3) Greenpoint, Brooklyn

4) Cafe Lalo

5) View from the Empire State Building

6) Greenpoint Apartments

Life through Instagram

I wanted to give you little snippets of my life lately. Instagram is a great tool to assist in this.

Fun selfies!

1) Jeff Koons at the Whitney Museum. 2) In the garden at my favorite Brooklyn Coffee Shop, Milk and Roses. 

4th of July Weekend!

1) Van Leewen Ice cream shop 2) KrispyKreme donut. Yum. 

My fourth was fun. I went to a couple fourth of July parties and saw half of the fireworks from a rooftop. By half of the fireworks, I mean the top half of the actual fireworks ;)

I started a full-time nanny job! I love it so much. 

1) skate park 2) juggling in Bryant Park

Games

1) pick-up sticks 2) photography practice with Charlotte

1) tye-dye shirts 2) Japanese bento dish. I enjoy cooking meals with the two girls

Follow me: @abbyanfin

Note-

So I changed the name of this blog. Becoming was getting too vague for me. So I just changed it. Welcome to In the City.

The change will hopefully make it easier for me to write on this space and not feel a pressure to always write things deep or life-changing...although I wasn't doing much of that before. Anyways, the URL is still the same (Becoming95), we'll see if it stays that way.

Model Status

New York City Parks are filled with huge rocks and I think they're the greatest thing ever. I love them so much I wanted to pose with them. Doing so I discovered that I might have a future in modeling. 

Hands on the knee is always a classic.

Rocking that head tilt.

Mixing it up and posing with a bridge

Pop that knee!

Preparing for childbirth maybe?

 Alright... modeling isn't for me.

Check her out! My friend Liz could definitely be a model. 

And I'm pretty sure this girl is an ACTUAL model. There's models everywhere in NYC. Yes, we're still in Central Park, and yes that is a waterfall. A filthy waterfall for that much. 

Sidebar: My entire outfit was thrifted
Another Sidebar: I love the way these bloggers model fun outfits-
Color Me Nana
SaidKelley
Writes Like a Girl
Casey Leigh
Check them out!

Feel free to share your link in the comments if you put fun outfits together! I would love to see what you got.

30 Things: New York City

A list of things that make me happy in New York City, in no particular order and all unique to me.

1. The Endless skyline.  

2. Winter is 10x less cold and snowy than it is in Minnesota (where I'm from).

3. The small spaces. It requires you to be creative with your space and purge your stuff. Hoarders are not welcome here.
4. There are lots of places to by plants. Most of the time you can find plants for sale on the streets, and sometimes you'll discover plant shops like this one:

5. I can afford living here. I didn't think that was possible before.
6. I don't feel lonely in the city 99% of the time and I have made some great friends here.

7. Pictures of James Franco are all over subway stations. I melt every time. He's on Broadway too! 

8. Redeemer Presbyterian Church and the Table Church.

9. All the parks that have the word "square" in them. Madison Square, Bryant Square, Washington Square, and Union Square! 

10. The millions of coffee shops and bakeries. Not including Starbucks. That's a whole 'nother monopoly. It's the city that never sleeps.

11. People I love in Minnesota are only a facetime or phone call away.

12. Art comes in many forms. A pool of grass? A Belly crawl? You'll find it all. 

13. There are some amazing companies, specifically start-ups, that are located in NYC. Some of my favorites are Etsy, kickstarter, Warby Parker, Harry's, Dormify, and Pencils of Promise. There are so many more. 

14. I can get cheap fruit everywhere. Like on every street.

15. I live right by the east river. In fact, I live on an island! How magical.

16. The subway system. I can go wherever I want, whenever I want, and not have to worry about gas or parking. When I'm feeling productive I can even read or write on the subway.

17. All the fashion. And I'm not even that into fashion! New York is an incubator for fashion design.

18. All the art! I think every famous artist that has ever lived has a piece of work somewhere in New York. The MoMa alone will overwhelm any art buff.

19. The fire escapes on apartments. I think they are the coolest thing. They're always the first thing I notice about NYC buildings and apartments. 

20. Elf was filmed here, and that's one of the best movies. 

21. People want to visit me... Even though I know their real motive is visiting the city ;)

22. Holiday festivities. There's currently a Big Egg hunt going on all over New York City and the eggs are beautiful! Let's not forget what goes down on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years!

23. The amount of NYC tourist buses I see go by. It reinforces that I live somewhere special.

24. The majority of really good slices of pizza cost .99 cents per slice. 

25. I've said this before, but the ONLY Target in Manhattan is two blocks away from me. Life is complete. It also makes NY feel a little more like my home in Minnesota.  

26. The smell of the Nuts 4 Nuts carts. I don't even like nuts that much, but the aroma of these carts get me every time.

27. Parks like this one exist. Those are two of my 6th grade students at Washington Park. Aren't they adorable?

28. A bunch of movies and shows are filmed here. It's pretty normal to find streets and parks closed down because of filming. 

29. All the bridges. Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan Bridge, Williamsburg bridge. They are all beautiful. 

30. The culture and diversity here is like none other. You'll meet every type of person on this planet in this one city.

That was fun to write. Stay tuned for my next post which will be 30 things I hate about New York City.

Just kidding! What's there to hate about it?! 

And I certainly wasn't kidding about James Franco. 

A Cheesy Spring Photo

My friend made me pose for this.

Spring has sprung here and I like life. Today I went searching for Easter eggs with a little friend (literally little, she's only 9 years old). Searching for Easter eggs really means walking all over the city looking for, and then scanning the QR code, on  fancy egg sculptures. Today was also a Monday and it happened to be a Monday that I was not in a middle school. Hallelujah for one day of spring break! I do not mean day one of Spring break, I mean one day of Spring break. That's okay though, people with real jobs don't get a spring break either. I guess you could say I have a real job.    

There are 260 eggs "hidden" in New York City. We have found 60 eggs so far. 

March Feature | Seasons

March gets me thinking about seasons. We all have this idea in our heads that March is the beginning of Spring, but in reality it's just a balmy continuation of winter. I know that Spring is a favorite season to most, but Fall is my favorite. I'll explain why. Good news for those who love Spring, a blogging friend of mine is here to share a little bit about it. 

Meet Jessinia! 

(I know if we knew each other in person, we would be friends.) She's a Minnesota girl taking a gap year in the Dominican Republic. (I LOVE the DR, and that's only place I've been to for an overseas mission trip!) She studied art at Bethel University for a year. Yes! yes! And she loves the Lord. She also blogs (obviously): "My blog reflects on my time in the Dominican Republic. I would love if you visited and read along on my journey." She will attend Seattle Pacific University next year.

Jessinia Images

Here's what she has to say about spring: My favorite season is spring. I grew up in Minnesota so in  the spring the snow starts to melt, the flowers start to bloom. It's a beautiful picture of new beginnings, anticipation and of promises. We are promised that after winter comes spring. The earth gets a new beginning, an uncovering. This year, I've been living in the Dominican Republic. I haven't seen this drastic change of the melting snow, but I am experiencing anticipation of a new beginning. I have learned so much over this past fall and winter and anticipate my coming home to start anew.

Jessinia Images

Check out Jessinia's Blog: A River of Joy / twitter

My turn!

I love fall. Spring is a season that I want to like, but I just don't. I don't like all the rain. I hate longing for warmer weather, and not having it come 'til at least half way through April. Growing up in Minnesota, spring usually doesn't start til May anyways. Aside from the weather, my mental state is much better in the fall than the Spring. The Fall has always felt like a fresh start in my life. This seems counter-intuitive to the season's patterns, but new things are always happening in the Fall for me. Plus, I always go into fall with great energy after having a "break" in the summer. I start a new year of school and sometimes a new job. Church usually ramps up in the fall. Everything just feels fresh. I'm definitely a better starter than finisher. 

Central Park in the Fall

Once fall comes, I don't mind the cold at all. I actually kind of like it. I get to bundle up in cute sweaters and wear earthy colors. I know that the holidays are approaching and everything just feels right. Fall just fits my personality. 

Central Park in the Fall

On Twitter or Bloglovin' ?  I would love a follow! 

Are you a fall or spring person? If you took a gap year, would you go to New York or the Dominican Republic? :) 

Hunts Point | Up Close

The school I serve in is located in Hunts Point (the South Bronx). I like taking a closer look at the community I spend most of my time in while living in New York City. The area continues to fascinate and puzzle me. 

East Harlem

I have the privilege of living in a colorful area in New York City. East Harlem is also known as Spanish Harlem and it's full of culture and vibrance. I love it for the cheap food, cheap(er) apartments, and close proximity to my school in the Bronx and all the fun stuff in Manhattan. I'm pretty much right between downtown and the Bronx, which is great. There's always loud music blasting and plenty of chatter. It's the perfect place for me!

Want more East Harlem? Check out this post from the archives: Signs and wonders of East Harlem.