Final Week in USA (Post Date: Sunday, June 29)

Want to give a big shout out to the folks made my last week in the US so awesome. It could have been a hellish week (and was in some ways, for example with the movers not actually coming the day they were supposed to), but it turned out to be a really special one. I saw friends from HS, college, bschool, and work, as well as my immediate fam and ‘extended’ Chill family up in NH (having seen the real extended fam and Julie the previous weekend).

Over the course of the week I participated in one of my favorite activities (karaoke) with the Unilever crew; had a girls’ wine & cheese night in; enjoyed a picnic and Philharmonic in the Park with Sternies – a good distraction on my 2nd wedding anniversary; laughed with a few of my favorite people over a few pints and nachos on the UWS; and savored a fantastic bottle of red with Mom *not Mum* and Dad. (I’m flattered Dad deemed my departure special enough for the Duckhorn Cab he had been saving.)

Going backwards… on my last morning in NYC I had a nice UES brunch with Unilever friends Franck and Hope, in between disposing of my third- and second-to-last pieces of furniture to some very dependable strangers. After brunch, Gregory stopped by to help me dispose of the one piece of remaining furniture – which proved to be a bit more difficult than might have been expected – and begrudgingly took my remaining case of beer off my hands. Hope, also of Normandie Court domicile, turned out to be a last-minute angel in providing move-out and moral support. I could not have made it through the move-out without Greg or Hope.

As I left my empty apartment to make my fifth and final trip down to load up the Jetta for one more drive to NH, I tried to conjure up wistful feelings about leaving Normandie Court, but they didn’t come. I tried for reflective as I drove out of Manhattan, but leaving over the Willis Ave Bridge rather than something more made for this Hollywood moment seemed to prevent it. Or it could have been that, for the first time in months, I had nothing left to do at that moment to prepare for the move, at which point I allowed myself to feel nothing other than exhausted. Even in absence of pre-nostalgia, I know I will miss the dormish first apartment Jason & I shared, and a magnificent city in which I leave incredible friends but from which I will take countless fond memories.