8 hours in new york city

I’m currently writing to you from New Jersey, after four days of family wedding festivities. There was a mehndi party, song/dance night, and blend of Jewish and Indian traditions — but I’ll get to all that on Wednesday. Today I wanted to share a peek of the half day I spent in New York City before the wedding events began.

I flew in late last Tuesday night, seriously regretting this 8 am bus to Manhattan, but I didn’t know if I’d be back East again this year and figured I’d make the most out of this trip. It was also a good way to tackle the awful 3-hour time difference head-on. In my measly eight hours, I got to see one of my best friends for lunch/ice cream, walked around the West Village on my own and met up with old co-workers, who continue to be the nicest, most caring bunch.

So what was it like to go to my old stomping grounds?

I didn’t think it’d be weird to go back to New York. I had told Eaman the week before that New York is so ingrained in my being that it’ll always feel like home. Well, it didn’t, and I felt like an outsider for the first time. There wasn’t anything bad about it, but it dawned on me: “This place isn’t for me anymore. I’ve outgrown it, and it’s probably outgrown me, too.”

It’s funny because as much as I’m liking San Diego, I didn’t realize just how much I liked it until I was pulled away. New York and San Diego are really different. (Duh.) But I could finally feel the differences in attitude, pace, lifestyle and general vibe. Nothing horrid happened in New York; it was just a feeling of these shoes being the wrong size. It was also wonderful validation that I’ve made the right choices in life at the right time.

Of course I had my share of typical New York-isms even in eight hours: I stepped on a cracked sidewalk tile and dirty water splashed up on me; a Sephora saleswoman bluntly gave me unsolicited advice about my uneven complexion; I searched far and wide in the Union Square Whole Foods for a specific lotion, and of course they were sold out; a homeless man grabbed my arm to tell me something; another homeless man asked me if I was Jessica Alba (nice try).

That’s the kind of stuff that made New York so New York to me. That, and my favorite coffee (cardamom coffee from Hampton Chutney), walking around my old neighborhoods of Nolita and the East Village, seeing what a trendy food craze was all about (it was sold out, natch), going to the farmer’s market and eating dessert at Big Gay Ice Cream — they now have a storefront! — on the most impeccably beautiful day.