We just recently celebrated our 2-year-anniversary as New Yorkers and I can't fathom how time has passed so quickly but also feel kind of like we have lived here forever. Our kid officially sounds like a total Brooklyn kid and says the following phrases with confidence, "I'm wahhhhlking here", "Whattyatalkkkinngbout", "Get online (instead of in-line)", "Ma, I'm taking out the Gaahhhhhbage", among other hilarious Brooklyn phrases. Also, we have a serious laugh developing here. Just trust me that it's a tiny bit like Fran Drescher on "The Nanny".
a little subway notebook / sketchbook entry by @artbyipa
A 2017 interview with my favorite little lady (LL):
(Read last year's interview here.)
Me: What's your favorite thing about NYC?
LL: The playgrounds, the food, and the museums.
Me: Where's your favorite place in NYC?
LL: "Gino's (Pizzeria in Bay Ridge)."
Me: What's better, Brooklyn or Manhattan?
LL: "Manhattan because there are lots of parks there. Brooklyn because there's stores nearby."
Me: What's the best food in NYC?
LL: "The pizza."
Me: What's the coolest part of riding the train?
LL: "That man who plays music on his guitar or any instrument"
Me: Do you miss Maryland?
LL: "Kind of."
Me: Where should we go next in NYC?
LL: "To all of the parks and the playgrounds and some new museums"
Me: What's the best part of living here?
LL: "That we can scoot around and can ride bicycles instead of driving in the car. New York City has lots of good museums and lots of questions to answer."
Me: Do you remember the day we moved here?
LL: "Yes. Hard. We didn't find any of our plates or silverware or forks or anything!"
Me: Who are your best friends in NYC?
LL: "June, Amina, Lukas, Jude, Teddy, Nicholas, Violin Nicholas, Miss Sotiria, Ivo, Nessa, Louise, Vesper, Alessia, Eli, Esteban, Cody, and Adam."
Me: Do you like New York?
LL: "Yes!"
A list of things that will never, ever get old about NYC:
- When the nice Mariachi guys come on the train and serenade us on our ride home.
- Ordering any cuisine or wine online and having a nice guy on a bicycle bring it to you like a genie.
- Hearing 25 different languages at the park and wondering what everyone's unique story is.
- Being asked if I speak English. Do I look like I am from somewhere else? I am still confused.
- The food: OMG.
- Coffee Shops: The hidden, secret good ones.
- Family adventures all over the city: Picking a spot on the map (or subway map) and just going!
- Central Park & Prospect Park. Every single time we walk through them, we find something new and awesome to explore.
- Christmas in NYC.
- Springtime in NYC.
- ok, fine, I am completely in love and there's literally no day I hate in NYC. Except the days where the snow has melted just enough to create ENORMOUS puddles of slush. Those days are gross. Oh and the days where we catch mice in the mousetraps and I have to call neighbors and ask them to come rescue me like Rapunzel in her tower. But otherwise, yea, it's amazing here!
But the biggest lesson learned in 2017 is as long as we are all together, anywhere feels like home!
photo by Chi-Chi Agbim of Two Twenty
“Home is wherever I’m with you.”