Hi beautiful ones! It’s been a full week, to the day, since my last blog post. As far as my typical posting schedule goes, that’s a long time for me… And I would be lying if I said I didn’t miss blogging this past week and interacting with all of you through comments and email! But it was also kind of nice to step away from the computer and allow myself to be fully engaged in New York with my packed schedule of book meetings, celebrating one of my dearest friends’ weddings, and squeezing every last ounce out of the magical city of NYC.
On the roof of my home away from home – The Standard East Village. 360 views of utter perfection
Shop Free People Dress || Shot by Jennie Finken
Sometimes you just need a screen break! I even took half a week or so away from email… And boy was that a treat. But the nice thing about my job and being so ingrained with sharing my life with all of you on the Internet, I’ve still been posting up a storm on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter and have been interacting with you all there! I also got back to my emails this morning, and WOAH BABY am I blown away at the king, inspiring, insightful things you have been writing to me. What a lucky, lucky blogger gal I am. But for real. I think I have the best job in the world.
There is SO MUCH I want to write about today, but for the sake of being sliiiiightly cohesive, I am choosing a topic. But I am also making notes on the mounds of other things I want to share. Today’s topic is pretty much an NYC recap mixed in with how freakishly happy New York City makes me. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again (and again and again): New York is my spirit city. It makes me feel alive, present and charged with energy in a way that no other city has yet to make me feel. The closest thing to it is MAYBE the energy of San Francisco… So I guess my soul relates to a fast-paced, urban, walkable kind of city. But really, nothing holds a candle to NYC.
I mean seriously, the city makes me dance in the street. It’s just that good.
My schedule was packed to the BRIM on this trip. I got to do so many incredible things book-wise, like meet with a bunch of great journalists, magazines, authors and media outlets (Seventeen! Shape! DailyBurn! Andie Mitchell! Kathryn Budig! So many more!) and show off our advanced reading copies of Breaking Vegan. I attended a BEAUTIFUL WEDDING in Central Park for my dear friends Paul and Jeff (see below), ate at heavenly places like Buddakan, Pure Food & Wine, Peacefood, Oatmeals, Chalait, Bluestone Lane and Souen, and got to catch up with so many amazing people that I love.
But the point of this post isn’t really to go into great detail about all things New York. If you follow me on Instagram or if you know me at all, then you know I love (A LOT!) New York. I lived there for a year and there’s a big part of me that believes I may move back at some point — and I have been pretty successful at being semi-bicoastal ever since I moved back to LA.
Make Your Own Magic
What I want to talk about today is making YOUR OWN magic, in any city that you live in or that you visit. In other words, being happy wherever the heck you are – since many of us don’t have the opportunity to jet to NYC whenever we feel like we need a little boost of inspiration. In OTHER words, making your city your bitch. (Excuse my language, but it’s kinda perfect here… You have to admit.)
New York makes me really happy. So happy, in fact, that every time I leave the city I get a little depressed. I actually cried a little when my plane touched back down in LA, and I don’t even dislike LA. I actually really like it. But I feel so deeply connected to New York, and my heart and mind blossoms so much every time I’m there, that it’s hard not to mourn the departure a tiny bit each and every time.
(The good news is, I woke up the next morning with a huge appreciation for the sun bursting through my windows, my palm-tree lined street, and being a stone’s throw away from the beach. Oh, and my family and close friends in LA, of course. But I was still missing NYC and yearning to book another trip back.)
I love it, but I also moved back to CA for a reason, and I knew there was no reason to be so down about not being there after just having had a wonderful, productive and incredibly fulfilling time in NYC.
Basically, my belief is that we should all be ridiculously happy everywhere we are, in every moment, in any city. I am someone who is DEEPLY effected by my surroundings. If the energy of a person, place, or thing is not fully positive, then I feel off. I soak in the energy of my surroundings, and I harness it into everything I do. That’s why I have a particularly hard time (read: zero tolerance) for negative people, unnecessary shit talking/complaining, uninspiring atmospheres and even for dimly lit rooms (laugh if you must).
When I got back to LA a couple days ago I really got to thinking: “What do I need to do in order to feel that magical feeling NYC sparks within me, even when I’m not there?”
And all of the sudden the answer seemed incredibly clear. I know what I like about New York: the energy. It sucks me in. I thrive off of it. So if in California I surround myself with people who radiate that type of energy, projects that excite me to no end (the book, the blog, TBV Apparel, fun collaborations, yoga/exercise that I love), and make a point to recognize and acknowledge what I love about the city I live in each and every day — by actually IMMERSING myself in it and soaking in the goodness it has to offer, then the magic is there.
It’s not that hard.
Laughing with my sweet Tara in NYC… My spirit twin!
Same in Sacramento, where I am sitting right now as I type this! I had a moment when I was driving through Central California farmland to get from LA to Sactown yesterday (where I did happen to get lost for over an hour after I pulled off the side of the road to take this Instagram photo…) where I said out loud on the phone to my mom: “How are Tupman [miniscule farm town in the middle of CA] and New York City even part of the SAME PLANET, INHABITED BY THE SAME HUMANS? It literally makes no f*****g sense to me.”
Yeah, I was a little angry due to being very lost and turned around. I will admit. But still.
Even there: there is beauty. A lot of it, actually. The rolling landscape, the ease of life, the absolute nonexistence of materialism, zero fast-paced stress, etc. There is magic in mid-California farmland just like there is magic in bustling downtown NYC. Sure, some people will prefer one over the other, but there is magic everywhere and no two places are the same. It’s kind of like no two people or no two bodies being the same.
If you’re looking for negativity, you’ll probably find it. If you want to be sad and bummed out and annoyed that where you live doesn’t feel as cool and inspiring as New York or doesn’t feel as relaxing as a place like Costa Rica or Hawaii… Then you WILL be sad and bummed out and annoyed. If you want to remedy that, it takes a bit of work. Take the time to think about what it is that you desire about that place, and recreate it for yourself right where you are.
If you are looking for community and connection? Join a group in your area that is interested in something you love. If you’re looking for an inspiring atmosphere, go to a late night coffee shop with a cool vibe… I promise you will feel a little recharged just by being somewhere new.
Because after all, you have the rest of your life to go to these different places and different cities. You only have right now to live in the moment.
I still have a long way to go to fully live in the moment all day every day, but I am trying! Trying hard. It’s so worth it. And I’m not saying there is anything wrong with travel… travel ROCKS. I travel all the time and it’s another thing I thrive off of. I fully support planning trips and having them to look forward to — but there is also this little thing called the in between. In other words, life. And it’s oh so important.
Who’s with me?
Time to make our own magic!
PS, Free People Dress. Cutest ever:
