On Moving (Up, Out, On?)

Look at that skyline.

Ever since I moved to New York, I’ve had this weird mental block about living in New Jersey (it’s just… not New York). Which is strange, because I know plenty of people who live in New Jersey. And I just think of it as another place to live if you spend a lot of time working in New York. It’s not Manhattan, but neither are Brooklyn, Queens, Connecticut…

So. I’m spending the next year in New Jersey. And I think it’s going to be great.

It’s a little bit frightening, leaving New York. I’m moving in with a good friend of mine from college. We’re planning on exploring a new area (need to find the coffee) and brunching in the West Village as usual. And with all the money we’ll be saving, we might even get a Vitamix.

I really thought we were going to end up in Brooklyn, but this time of year the prices and availability were a huge problem. So I’ll be living in a very modern apartment with a large kitchen (!) and an actual living room instead of a converted. I actually love to cook and lately I’ve been sad that it’s been difficult for me. Also, one of my New Year’s resolutions is not to have any more $13 kale salads for lunch. That just seems wasteful.

I loved my first very official apartment so much when I first moved in. I still love it for many reasons (you still can’t find a better, nicer one for this price), but I’ve also noticed what I don’t love about it, too (notably the 10 month-long ceiling leak that caused our bathroom to flood constantly). It’ll be strange to leave my neighborhood-of-many-years behind. I love the vibrancy and energy, but truthfully I’ve been generally unhappy for several months now.

I’m getting older, and I think living with so many roommates has gotten tiring for me. So has our very very small kitchen. And it seems I have so little time— I can’t even enjoy my neighborhood or see my friends because I’m so busy throughout the week… and then I’m so tired on the weekends that I hide in my bedroom for most of the day.

The day we applied for the apartment, my college friend was the first person I’d seen in a week who wasn’t a coworker or my usual barista.

I spent four glittering, all-day brunching, all-night partying years in Manhattan. But I’m closer to thirty than twenty these days. I’ve known how I wanted to spend my twenties since I was still in grade school. Verdict: my grade school, high school and college self would be proud. I did a good job of it.

Seems like it’s past time to find out how I want to spend my thirties. I’m not sure how that will be, but increasingly I think that it is not what I wanted for my twenties. (Seriously, just no.)

Leaving Manhattan is scary. But everything is going to be okay. In fact, it’ll be better than okay.

Everything is going to be great.

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