My Tenth Month as a New Yorker

April was the first month during which I actually started two separate Facebook albums to accommodate all of the photos I took on my various trips and adventures. I only spent two of the four weekends in New York, but that didn't stop me from making the most out of them. The other two were spent in Texas and Ohio visiting friends and family, which was wonderful but also served to remind me just how much I really adore being able to call New York my home. I also had four days off during the week for Passover, which is a delightful perk of working at a Jewish organization.

The city definitely started to come to life during the past month, even if it has happened much slower than normal and there's still quite a bit still left to bloom. Spring is the last "uncharted" season in the city for me — I've spent two winters, part of summer and one entire fall here thus far, but my spring trips were few and far between and I left at the beginning of March last year. I went to the Brooklyn Botanic garden twice in April and I've still yet to see the cherry esplanade in bloom — if their map is to be believed it still has a few days or even weeks to go before it reaches its peak. I'm definitely trying to make the most out of this prolonged blooming season and surprisingly I've yet to pet spring to death although I'm sure it will happen soon enough.

A few more highlights from my chilly but colorful April:

I randomly walked by a phone kiosk ad that I designed on the Upper West Side  /  Jim and I went to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and found that not much was in bloom but the Bonsai Museum was a delight as always /  We went to Tom's in Brooklyn, and admired their naturally occurring rock speakers   /  I visited the First of three cemeteries of the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue and stumbled on another cemetery in Manhattan that I didn't even know existed.

I continued my love affair with the bubble-makers in Washington Square Park and watched as hundreds of people celebrated International Pillow Fight Day  /  I crossed the no. 4 stand-alone diner off my list and saw Ice-T as we were leaving / I participated in the Big Egg Hunt all over New York and braved the crowds for Macy's flower show  /  Jim and I got coffee and photo-boothed (his first!) at the Ace Hotel.

I went to the last of the three cemeteries /  I continued to be oddly obsessed with pretty manhole covers around the city  /  Jim and I walked the High Line  /  I met Jim and his friends from the UK at the most amazing rooftop bar where we watched the sunset over the Empire State building and drank embarrassingly expensive cocktails  / I crossed the last stand-alone diner off my list - Star on 18 /  I went back to the High Line where the wildflowers were just starting to bloom.

I finally found my favorite egg- one made from street signs in TriBeCa  /  I spotted an ad I designed in the TriBeCa Trib  /  Jim and I took his friend from the UK (it was her first time in the US!) on a tour through Central Park where I spotted the best group of tourists and some delightful blooms  /  We went to opening day of Coney Island, rode the Wonder Wheel for free and I ate my first Nathan's of the season.

I finally got to see the New York Marble Cemetery and we had a drink (or four) afterwards at McSorley's Old Ale House  /  I had a few days off for Passover and went to Tom's in Brooklyn for pancakes and coffee, and then back to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden to check on the blooms— the cherry trees were breathtaking  /  I visited the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, which is always perfect.

The Empire State building was lit up like an Easter egg  /  I went to Texas for Easter weekend to spend time with my sister, brother-in-law, niece and their incredibly adorable new rescue dog, Penny  /  We stopped to take photos in a field of bluebonnets, dyed Easter eggs, visited the flower mound in Flowermound and I had my first-ever Butterbeer (it was kind of gross/good?).

As soon as I got back from Texas I dropped off my luggage and headed right back to Queens for the 50th anniversary of the opening day of the World's Fair, where I tried (unsuccessfully) to get into the New York State Pavilion and discovered even more remnants of the fair  /  The cherry trees along the reservoir in Central Park finally started to bloom  /  I went back to LaGuardia once again on my way back to Ohio with some recent library scores  /  I made cookies for 427 Design's open house party  /  I managed to squeeze in a cemetery visit during my short Ohio trip, to Glendale in Akron.

I definitely teared up a little landing back in New York when I realized I was home /  I spotted (and smelled) my first lilacs of the season in Central Park and made the Conservatory Garden part of my morning (and evening) commute  /  I waved hello to the lone yellow tulip in the Park Avenue median of tulips every day on my way to work and ate my lunch under the blooming cherries  /  I had my first-ever chicken and waffles at Sylvia's in Harlem and loved it.

I have a lot of fun plans for May and the rest of the summer and I'm hoping that the weather cooperates. I'm planning on heading back to the BBG this weekend to check on the cherries and I definitely need to make time for the NYBG as well. I read a blurb in New York Magazine that warned of the Farmers' Almanac prediction that New York is going to "feel like Louisiana" this summer which I'm alternately dreading and looking forward to.

I can't believe that my one year New York-iversary will be here before I even know it — it feels like just yesterday I was booking my one-way ticket without a job or a place to live. Well, now that I've been here longer than it would have taken to fully gestate a real life human being I think it's safe to say that I couldn't have dreamed of a better outcome — it's all so much better than I ever imagined, and improbably getting better every single day.