hey, it's ok.

you know that feature in glamour magazine called it's ok...? {oh, look, there's even a pinterest board dedicated to it. follow board. check.} well anyway, it's one of my all time fave monthly articles and i think of it often when i walk that fine line of an action being ok.

so, yesterday, i crossed it. and it's time to document.

hey, it's ok...

to be at a vip work dinner and see a j.crew item you just have to have from across the table and secretly whip out your phone to order it right then and there. 

always a sucker for x's and o's. thanks, j.crew! you know, your mobile experience could use a teensy bit of work. i'll a/b test for you. xoxo.

so tell me, what are your hey it's okay moments...?

snowflakes.

i've been hanging out by myself a lot lately. is that weird? for some reason it feels right for now, mostly while i get my bearings and kind of catch my breath after all of this change.

amidst the solo time, i watch felicity. it's usually on in the background while i put things away, hammer nails into the wall, and write a card or two. it's oddly comforting, and reminds me of college and how different i was when i watched it the first time around. however, the lessons still ring true. the ones about independence and dealing with whatever life throws your way.

i can't help but feel a bit like felicity as she navigates new york, and a new life chapter. there was a quote that rang oh so true about this city that i have to share, especially in light of alone time and our lovely it's-almost-spring-snow-fall this past weekend.

first of all, new york is the best.

thank god i decided to stay here.

at first it was sort of scary,

even walking down the sidewalk,

it was like being one snowflake in a crazy blizzard.

but then it occurred to me...

everyone is a snowflake.

and that is truly the most unique thing about this place. we are all leading our own separate, self-important lives, and yet we are all connected by our independence.

you might be thinking to yourself, is this a blog only about moving to new york? well, i guess right now it is, huh?

ps. have i ever told you if i wasn't blonde, i'd want to be a redhead?

it gives and it takes.

i had my first good cry today. two of them actually.

and, to be honest, it was about damn time.

i have yet to shed a tear in this whole transition, so today seemed like as good a day as any. what really spurred it was a rough morning and then a surprise visit from an old san francisco co-worker who gave me a hug. and not just any hug, a real one. he somehow became very dear to my heart throughout my almost two years at three three three bush. mostly because of long chats about life and love. the best kind.

i got nostalgic for those days today. they seemed easier.

this particular friend - a born and raised new yorker himself - offered me some very good advice upon moving.

remember, gina, the thing about new york is that it gives and it takes. just don't let it take too much.

so that's where i am at. today it took a little too much. tomorrow, who knows.

*quote found over here.

goodnight, you.

i don’t have blinds yet.

as a result, i find myself staring out the window a lot. i know it's only been three days, but each night i sit in silence for what seems like hours, and just gaze. and think.

the most amazingly fascinating thing about being on the fourteenth floor is that there is a lot to look at. windows, oh-so-many illuminated windows and stories behind them. i see tv’s flickering. oh, the knicks game is on in that one over there. and there’s a woman holding her cat a couple floors down. what are those twinkling lights on the rooftop over there? look at that decorative star blowing in the wind. wow, that room over there has great wall art. i wonder why that guy just went out on his balcony... he must be freezing!

all thoughts that pass through my consciousness. 

gazing off into the distance reminds me that our lives are different, and yet inherently the same. lives filled with conventional things like pets and tv and floor lamps.

something about this nightly routine is peaceful, calming even. high in the sky i watch. and observe. and take it all in.

my favorite part is actually the flight path i discovered. i’m not sure if it's jfk or la guardia or somewhere else, but every few minutes another plane soars by, on the same path as the one before it, preparing to land. i love the monotonous routine of it all. it feels right. and oh-so-very comforting.

we take off. we land. we wake up. we go to bed.

they say new york is the city that never sleeps, but slowly… slowly… the apartment lights start to turn off one by one.

time for bed.

let’s wake up tomorrow grateful for another day.