So we meet again...

Yesterday I found myself in familiar territory…in a place I once loved, where I used to commute every day, and a place that changed my life. That magical place is Manhattan. It was interesting being back for the first time in four years. It was a strange feeling to exit the train at Penn Station and make the walk I made so many times in 2005 when I used to work in the city. The whole day was sort of déjà vu. It all reminded me of my time there, which sadly was the worst time of my life so far. I hate that so many bad feelings are tied to a place I dreamed of living my whole life. I hate that New York is in a way tainted because the time I spent there was just so damn bad.

At the time, everything sounded perfect and I thought I had managed to make all my dreams come true and so early in the grand scheme of my life. I was finally living with my boyfriend of four years and thought we were on the path to getting married, I had taken a stand with my family, I was living on the East Coast and had landed a writing job in NYC. But my how things aren’t always what they seem. Within a few months it all unraveled and taught me a lot about what I really wanted and what actually made me happy. For that, I look back on New York fondly.

Yesterday, I returned to the city in a totally different –and thankfully much happier place in life. I was attending a meeting for a job that I truly love and returning home to a cozy apartment I adore and share with the #1 male in my life, my dog in DC. I also stayed in NYC and had dinner with an old friend from college and it was fabulous! New York will always be a place where I learned much about life and myself and I hope a place where I will soon have many good memories to outshine all those less than fabulous ones from 2005.