Reasons to love New York: 2007, 2008

Disclaimer: Big-time cheesy post, but dammit, it's the holidays -- it's allowed.

Last year, on the evening before I returned to New York from Thanksgiving in North Carolina, I chatted with another displaced North Carolinian about our return to the big, bad, (cold) city that we had just begun to call home. She was having a difficult time stomaching leaving the comfort of home, family and friends to return to the place that is at times -- let's be honest -- not altogether welcoming. In response, I decided to write a list of reasons why I love New York, and I sent my list to the twenty-or-so people on the NC-in-NY listserv that we had circulating*.

After reading New York magazine's lovely "Reasons to Love New York, 2008" article this week, I thought I'd dig up my 2007 list as an inspiration to make my own 2008 updates.

Anyway, so here's last year's list, dated November 27, 2007:

Things I love about NYC (in no particular order):
1. living with Lauren and Margaret
2. flying over Manhattan and seeing the light catching the tops of the buildings
3. happy hour
4. taxis
5. one particular bench in Central Park (by the softball fields)
6. free fridays at the moma
7. trains
8. the west side highway
9. the village
10. window shopping (and real shopping)
11. high heels
12. the couple that does my laundry
13. my restaurant on the corner of bank and west 4th
14. being independent from my parents
15. changing seasons
16. dive bars
17. famous bars
18. eating out
19. meeting new people and learning from them
20. opportunities
21. never feeling bored
22. learning the subways (finally)
23. being surrounded by people who don't all look the same
24. people watching
25. celebrity spotting
26. walking everywhere
27. fashion, art, music
28. The New York Times
29. the awkward, red-headed guy that works at the Starbucks on the way to work and knows my order
30. feeling like i'm almost a grown-up

Honestly, I still love these things, and although I'm one year older and wiser and more used to perks such as "being surrounded by people who don't all look the same" and "being independent from my parents," they're no less valuable this year than last...and I imagine that won't change much in the future.

My 2008 list is in the works, so stay tuned. And send me suggestions!

Yours,
EL

*I'm pretty sure most of the guy recipients thought I was pretty lame, but partly I wrote the list as an exercise for myself. I just happened to think it was worth sharing. (By the way, having a blog = no longer spamming my friends' inboxes on a daily basis.)