Beeeaaccheess

There are so many songs about New York City.. 

obviously my favorite being Empire State of Mind by Jay-Z :) 

But another great one is "New York State of Mind" by Billy Joel.. here are part of the lyrics:

"I don't care if it's Chinatown or on Riverside..

I don't have any reasons..

I left them all behind..

I'm in a New York state of mind.

It was so easy living day by day..

Out of touch with the rhythm and blues..

But now I need a little give and take..

The New York Times, the Daily News."

When I first flew out here last weekend, I didn't feel excitement. In all honesty I felt nearly overwhelming sadness. I wasn't necessarily scared of the city because I know I love it here and I knew before I made the decision to come. I was scared of leaving nearly everything familiar to me. I kept running through all the reasons what I did may have been a huge mistake. I was leaving an awesome job that I loved, I was leaving an amazing city, but most of all I was leaving my family and Jenny. For so long Jenny and I had done the back and forth, not being able to let go but knowing that our paths were going in separate directions. Knowing that I would lose her was the biggest cause of my sadness. I knew the incredible person I had spent the past four years of my life with was no longer going to be my security blanket and it left me feeling empty. But reading these lyrics, and being in this city makes me realize I WAS living day by day. I was existing and not LIVING. I originally made the decision to come here because I wanted a challenge and I wanted something completely different than I had before... now is the time. Now is my chance. To re-invent.. to change.. to be the person I want to be. If you can't do it in New York City.. where CAN you do it?

So from this day forth I am embracing my decision. I'm accepting my challenge. I'm going to strive to be a better me, not just a person existing in the day to day. It's probably not going to be easy. I will most likely shed tears, have an anxiety attack or scream in frustration, but I didn't move here to take the easy route and I'm certainly not going to let New York take me down with a fight. No more running from change, only embracing. It is time to be the person I know I can be and the person I came here to be.

With all of that said! Here are a few pictures from the last couple of days! Hope you enjoy!

Amanda and I at Brighton Beach in Brooklyn:

And again:

Waiting on the subway to go home:

 The next day I went to the New York Public Library to get a library card (panorama):

Then went over to Times Square (panorama):

Another view of Times Square:

Me sitting on the famous red stairs in Times Square:

NYC mixes at the M&M store:

Had the pleasure of seeing the Naked Cowboy!!:

Clearly, the Naked Cowboy works out:

I ate THE MOST DELICIOUS pepperoni and cheese rolls. SERIOUSLY AMAZING:

I would hate to be the unfortunate owner of this former bike:

Had dinner at a place called Hill Country BBQ, they had Texas flags, Sweet Tea and BBQ. Almost felt like Austin!! Except it was super expensive haha:

BBQ chicken, macaroni and bread:

I went for a bike ride through Queens and snapped a couple pics along the way:

Another beach pic that is out of order:

This seagull wanted my goldfish but was scared of Amanda:

Queens again:

That's it for today! Hope y'all have a great weekend! :):):)