View of St. Patrick's Cathedral and Rock Center on my walk to work

As I thought about the move I realized that we’re not just leaving any city, we’re leaving THE city. If you’ve ever been to NYC you’ve probably heard it referred to as “the city”. When I first moved here I couldn’t comprehend how ridiculous (and egotistical) that sounded. The city, as if NYC was the only city in the world. Well, after nearly 7 years in the city I can attest that it is a city like none other. We're going to miss a lot of the great stuff that New York has to offer. Food, music, museums, local bars and hangouts, concrete and honking. Not so much those last two, but you get the drift.
 
The thing we'll miss the most, however, is our friends. Over the years we watched a seemingly endless stream of friends come and go. If ever there’s a transient place, it’s NYC. As friends moved on I wondered what it would be like when we finally left the city. It's the only place I've lived and worked since college. Perhaps fortunately, it was clear from day one that I would not live in the city forever and I honestly never thought it would be too difficult to leave. Over the past 2-3 weeks though I started to understand just how much I may have underestimated the attachment. It's not easy to uproot your entire life for the past seven years and move it far, far away.

We still have three weeks to go before the move is official, but it’s starting to sink in. Our weekends and weeknights are packed with stuff to do (see you next weekend Edgwick!). We want to say our farewells to everyone, so the goodbye dinners and drinks are well underway (didn't plan enough for that expense!). We have so many great friends up here that make it makes New York seem like home despite the complete lack of pretty much anything else that could be considered home-like. If it weren’t for our friends NYC would be an impossible place to live. The concrete and asphalt jungle would overwhelm us. Without friends to hit the new restaurant or commiserate over beers until the wee hours we definitely wouldn't have made it this long.
 
When I first started writing this post I thought I was going to write about the city and all the wonderful things it has to offer. At the end of the day though none of that would be any fun at all without the people we’ve shared it with. It’s tough to say goodbye, but it’ll be even more fun when y’all come and visit!