3 years isn’t a whole lot of time if you look at the big picture. But I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s a short time period, especially if you’re talking about the length of time one’s lasted in New York City. Which I am. Am I getting too complicated about this? I do that sometimes.

I’m all about celebrating life. We live each day moving from one task to the next — work, workout, friends, sleep, repeat. It’s easy to move through these motions without blinking and then wake up one morning and somehow miss a whole year (or more) slip away. For this reason (and oh so many others) I think it’s incredibly important to mark the big (and most definitely small) anniversaries, birthdays, key moments, etc. For example, Monday’s are always celebrated with a little meditation welcome.

I could ramble for paragraphs on why I think it’s oh so important to remember to be grateful for the little things, but today I’m starting a celebration of something bigger. May 19th marks my 3rd year anniversary with NYC. My love affair began instantly when I walked out of LGA with my plaid button up and my green felt hat. Two suitcases, a camera bag and a whole lot of expectations that would never be met. One thing I knew for certain, this was going to be my home.

I don’t think you can call yourself a New Yorker until you’ve really lived here, you know? I’m not sure exactly what that means, but it definitely requires a few years of actually living here. Working here. Commuting to work here. Eating all the dumplings here. Grocery shopping here. Surviving a winter here. Moving from apartment to apartment here. Because doing these things in NYC is nothing like anywhere else. It’s fucking hard. Until you do it so many times it just becomes life. And maybe that’s when you can call yourself a New Yorker. Maybe? Does 3 years qualify me for this title? I hope so, because I’m going to go ahead and take it anyway.

So, for every day until the 19th I’m going to write a little something about my NYC encounters from that day. One of the benefits of living in this city is the unusual experience of the ‘every day’ life that this city has to offer.

It’s been a hot minute since my last post and admittedly I’ve had trouble keeping up a regular posting schedule since my 1 year anniversary. But…  I’m doing this because I honestly need a reminder to pay attention to the little things again. Also, I haven’t written in ages.