Friday, March 1, 2013

NYC 1 Year Marker!!!!

Okay - So here is our 1 year down, 1 year to go post.  Our NYC DPP Rotation is officially half way over!  (Well technically, since Scott started 3 months earlier than usual, our rotation is actually 27 months long instead of 24.)  Wahoo.

We are loving living in NYC and to be totally honest it has been an adjustment living in a small space, living in a huge city, and there are still days where we love it and hate it all at the same time. 

It's also been the 1 year mark since I have been staying home and watching 2 kids.  That has been an adjustment too! 

Some things we've learned :
1- You can have anything delivered to you!  Groceries, laundry, take out, McDonalds, etc.  You can even have people come to your home to get your nails done, hair done, take a personal pilates class or get a massage.  You never have to leave your apt.

2- Some of the best food places are those little hole in the wall places you'd completely walk right past if you didn't know it was there.  Also, you can get good cheap food if you go where the taxi drivers and police officers go.  After all, they know the neighborhood's the best!

3- NYC really is a melting pot of people.  Some days, walking around the city I forget we are in America.  There are so many different languages we hear on a daily basis.  In our own personal experience we have met a lot of people that have unusual jobs that we wouldn't typically meet if we lived somewhere else.  For example:  One of our friends is an investment banker, we are also friends with a personal shopper, and an ambassador.  On our floor of our apt. building we know a shrink, a Chinese teacher, and our neighbor works half of every month in Abu Dhabi. 

4- Supportive shoes are a must.  We walk everywhere, everyday and put lots of milage on our shoes.  I've never gone through sneakers as fast anywhere else.

5- Living in such a small confined space you realize that you don't need much to survive.  Half of our stuff is still in storage and while every once in a while I think it'd be nice if I had this or that....I can do without.  We also have to be really organized when shopping for food as we don't have much pantry space or a huge freezer. We buy what we need and nothing extra.

6 - I love being able to do 4 loads of laundry at once and have everything thing washed, dried and folded in 2 hours.

7- I admit that some days I want to go live on a ranch in the middle of Montana with no one around but most days I love the feeling of being right in the middle of all the action.  Going to parks with lots of other excited, joyful kids around puts a smile on my face.  Going for a run in the evenings in Central Park during the spring and summer when there are thousands of other runners makes my runs go by faster as there is so much to look at instead of running on the side of some busy street by myself back in Chicago.

8- Considering this is our 6th home that we have lived in together in 4 different states we have finally come to realize that no matter where we live there is no "perfect" place.  We have liked and disliked certain things in each city and home that we have lived in.  As long as we are together and have a happy family that's all that matters.

9- Having such a supportive network of other KPMG moms has been such a blessing.  They fill our days with playdates, fill our evenings with free babysitters when we need to have some alone time and are always willing to lend an ear when you have to have a conversation with an adult.  We also give each other the scoop on new and great restaurants, which Broadway shows are a must, where to go for certain items, what activities are happening on any give week, etc. We have met some incredible families here that help make NYC feel just a touch more intimate.

10 - I could go on and on but I'm a busy mom with kids to tend too.  Those are just a few things off the top of my head!

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