In a New York Minute: May 2009

And we'll never be worlds apart...

I love New York.

I love that there is always someone passing through the city from one corner of the world to another.

When your friends are thousands of miles away, it's reassuring to be at the crossroads which bring so many together.

Planning many, many reunions over the next couple weeks, both expected and unexpected.

Re-discovering the Dream...

Living the dream.

The mantra we all lived by in college as we planned for our adventures abroad. The energy in people who I surrounded myself with. The decision the shake things up my sophomore year by moving to Paris. The passion that I felt in ordinary, everyday moments while in Colombia. The opportunity to work a dream job with an organization to which I was incredibly dedicated, surrounded by an amazing team of people. How I approached everything in my life.

Living the dream.

What has been missing from mi vida over the past several months.

I realized that I was not heading in the direction professionally that I wanted, which was making me more and more unhappy in my personal life. I've never settled for something that I wasn't passionate about, but it was starting to look like that was the direction that I was heading, which made me feel very...not me.

And so I made some major changes over the past few weeks. I took a risk and left the job that was making me unhappy and which I knew was never going to lead me achieve my goals. Best decision I've made in a long time. Spending some time back in Madison always seems to give me clarity and remind me to not stop pushing until I'm doing what I am completely passionate about, to never settle for less than the best.

I have a few ideas for the short term, which will keep me based in New York (yay! still love this city). I'm playing around with an idea for the next part of the plan, which makes me happier just thinking about the possibility that I ever was at my last job. There may be a bit of nomading involved; time will tell.

Ohhh, life. Love the adventure.

there's no place like home...

It was a perfect Madtown weekend, in every way possible. Though most of my college crew has spread their wings and followed their dreams down different roads, on certain occasions the winds of Madison call us all back together again. The sun shines down on the lake, we bring pitchers of Spotted Cow and Babcock ice cream out to the iconic yellow, orange, and green terrace tables, and it is as if a mere matter of weeks has passed since we were last together.

After deciding a few months ago to run the Madison Half-Marathon, it turned out that several friends - both runners and non-runners - had the same idea, and several reunions fell into place. Others drove to town for the day from Chicago, the Twin Cities, and West Bend, making the weekend even richer.

The race was a memorable one for me. I ran with Simon and Liz and the memories flooded back as we passed the Camp Randall Stadium, the Lakeshore dorms. We saw friends' old apartments and campus buildings where we had spent countless hours in classes. Liz and I remembered many runs together as we turned down the Lakeshore path and around the Union. The course went up Langdon, we laughed and pointed out different frat houses that we had partied at. A couple spectators handed out beer along the course, and the three of us had no intention of turning it down - I love Wisconsinites. Zach was cheering for us near James Madison Park, Jackie at Tenney Park. The final 5k curved around the Monona Terrace and the sun shone on Lake Monona. The last couple miles were tough, but as I turned down the final stretch and pushed my way to the finish line amidst the cheering, I knew that I would PR by several minutes.

In just one long weekend, I saw many, many close friends, wandered up and down State Street, visited some of my favorite cafes and bars, and soaked up every ounce of Madison goodness that I could. I may not return often, but Madison will always have a place in my heart, will always call me home.