back to the city

I don't start my practicum until June 9, but I am getting really excited for it, even if I am really nervous, too. I'm excited to be back in the city with old friends, and looking forward to living on the opposite side of the Park this time. It makes me think of some of my favorite things/memories about life in New York, like....going to H&H bagels and snagging the last everything bagel....Starbucks on every corner....getting the Sunday Times on Saturday night....the new definition of crowded during morning rush hour in the subway - and all the time on the 6....used booksellers on the sidewalks of the Upper West Side....empty cabs everywhere except when you need them.....trying to figure out the cost of every apartment you're in....suffering through the summer heat...hoping you don't fall down OR trip up the subway steps....cynical city kids.....frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity, followed by a trip to Dylan's Candy Bar....CPW....getting everything possible through delivery.....apartment envy....Tom's Restaurant...black and whites....never leaving Manhattan.....NYU kids hanging out in Washington Square Park....Sarabeth's....Lincoln Center....never having ENOUGH money....Century 21....the Met....Zabar's and Citarella....the Hungarian Pastry Shop....somehow managing to run into people you know in the most random places....Magnolia Bakery....unannounced subway rerouting, usually at 2am....malfunctioning MetroCards, especially at rush hour....Eloise and the Plaza....sample sales...the Village Voice every Wednesday....the spirit of survival and recovery of Manhattan....learning the city's grid....hating Times Square....NY restaurant week....Gramercy Park....the Village Halloween parade....brioches from Balthazar....navigating the sidewalks in the rain without getting your eyeballs jabbed out by umbrellas.....the subway arriving just as you go through the turnstile...Tavern on the Green, even though it's so touristy.....strawberry egg creams at 1am....Chelsea Piers....loving and hating the city simultaneously....getting lost in the Village....bands playing in the subway....St.Vincent's, with the "Missing" posters from 9/11....unexpected pockets of kindness and gratitude....the possibility of anything and everything happening....sitting on the steps of Low Library at Columbia, looking over the Quad....eating brunch outside on the sidewalk....endless debates about which is better, Tasti-d-Lite or Cremalita....fierce loyalty to your neighborhood....the Union Square Greenmarket....Barnard in the springtime....Riverside Park....car alarms at 5:30am....pumpkin waffles and french toast at Sarabeth's....Italian dinners at Lisca...FreshDirect....the last second dash off the local train to the express....Peanut Butter and Co.....vegan goodness at Angelica Kitchen and Candle Cafe....the carousel at Central Park....Crumbs cupcakes....complaining about Manhattan (and even Brooklyn) real estate....dirty feet whenever you dare to wear flip-flops....the Flatiron Building....authentic cannoli in Nolita.....Saturday afternoon walks in Soho....and just so much more. 

It should be a good summer.