I have loved and admired New York City for all of my life and in May 2019 I made the move into the Big Apple from the Dirty Jerz. (New Jersey actually has some really nice areas, we just got a bad rep because when people drive through NJ on the turnpike, it showcases the worst of what we have to offer). I wanted to share my learnings, favorite places, and questions about my first experiences.
Currently, I live in Gramercy and I love it. I am within walking distance to so many cool bars and restaurants that it is hard to choose where to go first. I have created an intense spreadsheet of all of the places I want to try. As I explore, you will hear about it.
Biggest Challenge: Laundry Day
One of the biggest changes from living in a suburb to living in a big city is laundry day. In less popular opinion, I love laundry day. There are fewer and fewer laundromats around and more services where they do it for you; some will even pick it up from your apartment and deliver it back to you.
We live in a world where everything needs to be quick and we are always in a rush to be doing something else, always onto the next thing. Well, on laundry days I have no choice, but to sit in one spot for an hour and a half. I get to catch up on reading or work on the blog you are reading today. It is a moment when I can get my finances in order or just take the time to call my mom.
Laundry days give me a chance to relax and feel productive. I only wish it was socially acceptable to bring a bottle of wine to the laundromat. I swear they could replace working in coffee shops if they just provided WiFi. This is such an interesting business idea—> someone reading this, please open a combined coffee shop and laundromat. I would love a nice latte while I wait for my clothes to be cleaned. **Since writing this post, my sister told me that this concept exists in Brooklyn. Share it with Manhattan, please!
Recommendations Needed
Being in Manhattan, there are so many options that it is hard to know the cool & hip places you want to go. I have searched and searched the internet for a blog that rates or ranks all of these places in detail. Having failed to find one, I am going to start a running list of places I go to and my personal opinions about them. I have tried to make this section easy to navigate by splitting it up by cuisine & location. Let me know your thoughts! Do you have any places that I should try?
