My Twelfth Month as a New Yorker

I began my twelfth month as a New Yorker taking a ferry to the Statue of Liberty with three of my best friends on the most gorgeous summer day—and it only got better from there. We had amazing weather in June, with a lot of rain during the week but every single weekend was picture-perfect. By the end of the month I think I can definitively say I was "paraded out" after attending both the Mermaid and the pride parades. I visited cemeteries, saw amazing shows, ate wonderful food, drank delicious iced coffees, went on adventures, read creepy books and had some of the best weekends I've ever had.

A few more highlights from my twelfth month:

We climbed to the top of the Statue of Liberty and peeked through her crown / We ate ice cream on Ellis Island and took in the spectacular view / I waited in Central Park for Shakespeare in the Park tickets (Much Ado About Nothing) and then won the online ticket lottery the same day / I went to Gravesend, Brooklyn and continued to see black cats in the creepiest places / Trent and I went treasure-and horse bone-hunting at Dead Horse Bay and then explored Floyd Bennett Field.

After a long adventure day, Trent and I rewarded ourselves with a DiFara pizza, made by the man himself and it was totally worth the three-hour wait / I went to the New York City Marble Cemetery, which is only open a few days a year (not to be confused with the New York Marble Cemetery across the street), and had my first tiny meat pie at Tuck Shop / I visited the Poe Cottage in the Bronx and then walked around Fordham University to hear the bells that inspired Poe to write The Bells / My wonderful coworker, Francesca, gave Mozart an inflatable unicorn horn to thank me for watering her plant while she was away—spoiler alert: Mozart didn't love it / I rode Metro North for the first time to Hartsdale, NY to visit America's first pet cemetery where I laughed at the names and cried at the sentiments.

I caught the rose garden at the New York Botanical Garden in full, spectacular bloom / I finally saw the Coney Island Mermaid Parade—and Dante deBlasio's afro!—both of which were amazing / I considered riding Coney Island's newest rollercoaster, the Thunderbolt, but chickened out / I saw a very long and strange Russian film (Solaris) at the Museum of the Moving Image and explored their collection of movie memorabilia (including Meryl's Auschwitz wig from Sophie's Choice!) / I became mildly obsessed with spotting the Mister Softee knockoffs, Master Softee, and saw three (possibly four) of them in one day / I visited the Morbid Anatomy Museum and Library in Gowanus on opening day and immediately became a member.

I crossed another historical home off my list and visited the Old Stone House in Brooklyn / I had an amazing slice of rhubarb crumble pie at Four and Twenty Blackbirds in Gowanus / I walked through Brooklyn and stumbled on a street with amazing ghost signage / I spent a few blissful hours wandering around the stunningly beautiful Green-wood Cemetery / I bought a Cleopatra wig and put on my favorite cat-face skirt for a Prince of ShEgypt rooftop pride party / I ate breakfast at the adorable Donut Pub (Patti Smith used to write there) and teared up at all the love and support on display in the pride parade.

What really stands out most about my eleventh month, however, isn't a specific place or a thing, but the people I spent it with—I currently have the pleasure of calling some of the best people I've ever met my 'friends' and they continue to amaze me with their generosity, sense of adventure, humor, kindness and all-around awesomeness. I know my blog posts (and photos) are mostly devoid of a human presence, but that actually isn't at all representative of my life here. New York is a wonderful place, but without my incredible friends it would just be a city—with them, however, it's my home.

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New York, PersonalAlexandraJuly 11, 2014personal, recapComment