Thank You NYC

For the last 11 years I had the same address and one I was so proud of for many reasons.

At 23 years old with the guidance of my parents I invested in my first home. It was the most perfect studio apartment in Gramercy Park looking over what was once the backyard of Pure Food and Wine. 

At the time I was working at Creative Artists Agency and I remember coming across the listing for this apartment on Craigslist, yup that’s right! A no broker apartment in Gramercy Park that a couple was ready to leave because they had just gotten married and found a new home.

Well the day I saw the listing online I scheduled to go see it. Coincidently one of my girlfriends from college had went to see it with her sister who was looking for an apartment but decided it wasn’t for her, and that because it was for me!

When I walked in it was a mess, but I closed my eyes and used my imagination. No longer did I see the low ceiling in the bathroom, the putrid green carpeting lining the apartment or the walls painted in a chartreuse tone, not even all of the boxes, king size bed, oversized couch, closets without doors and old appliances in the kitchen stop the vision I had. 

Now, I had looked at quite a few apartments already and some were beautifully renovated and ready to move in, but this place, there was something that stirred inside of me. 

As I walked from one end to the other I arrived at the giant windows which were overlooking the courtyard to the building as well as Pure Food and Wine. Now for those of you who lived in Manhattan when Pure Food and Wine was around you will remember the twinkling lights, beautiful garden and bustling New York City atmosphere. As I looked out the window, I knew I was home.

From that moment on this apartment, my first home of my own became one of my greatest teachers.

It first brought my mother and I together for months of renovation and design fun. My mother and I have always been close and this journey brought us closer. While I was moving into m own home it was also a sign of setting roots in the same city as my family after 4 years in the midwest.

Once I was able to move in this apartment really began her magic. She held space for countless hangouts with friends, dinner parties, happy hours, smoke sessions, secret Santa’s, Shabbat dinners, New Year’s Eve parties, I even once threw a ritz cracker party there to cheer up a friend aka all of the evenings snacks were served on ritz crackers. It’s safe to say there are lifetimes of laughter between those four walls.

There were periods of time where love lived in this home and also times where I thought I couldn’t go on. While I shared years worth of friendships, family, love, partnership, growth and respect in this home and I am thankful for it all, sometimes we need to close a door to walk threw a new one.

Over the last 2 years I left New York, but my home was always there for me to come back to. I always knew even with the wild adventure that I was on that I always had a home to go back to, but here I am over 2 years later and I don’t want to go back.

It was a visit home for Thanksgiving in which I realized that the girl who grew up in that apartment, is no longer here. I am an evolved version of that young woman and no longer can those 4 walls hold me in and with that realization I did some cord cutting and set intention to say goodbye to my first home.

A few weeks ago I signed a contract, a contract to sell my apartment. To let go of my safety and security net and to blindly trust the universe just as I did when I closed my eyes as I entered my home.

I have seen myself change, I have seen my building change and it’s safe to say that we are both getting better with age.

This blog post is truly a thank you to 130 E 18th St. For being my everything when I didn’t know that I was my everything. For holding me and supporting me and providing me the space you did. 

I am grateful to all that entered my home, the family, the friends, and over the last two years the clients I opened my space it. Whether or not we are still in each others lives know that I love you, and I wish you all of the best as we all continue on our journeys. 

As Ram Das says “We are all walking each other home” and I am thankful to continue my journey down the road here in Miami Beach.

Sending you all much love and light today and always.

xo,
L