This past weekend I flew to New York for interviews. I was a little weary at first about being alone for three days in a city that I don’t know all that well, but I ended up having the best time. My mom surprised me and booked a hotel that was only two blocks from 5th Ave called the Quin Hotel. It was absolutely beautiful!

My interviews for the most part were in the afternoons so I spent my mornings wandering and exploring the city. I walked for hours through Central Park and found myself in more than a few department stores. I don’t really know why this time of year had so many sales, but it seemed that every store I walked into was having a 20% off sale, so my suitcase was a lot heavier on the trip back to North Carolina! In fact, when I was walking out of Henri Bendel (where I once again found a 20% off sale), I was suddenly surrounded by tons of paparazzi who were fallowing Bernie Sanders through his tour of NY. Of course I couldn’t get my phone out in time to actually get a decent picture, but I was able to get the top of his head.

I spent about a week in NY during the holidays with my mom and aunt. We had the best food, so I knew that I would be taken care of food wise when I went back this week. But I have to say, the food was even better than I remembered. On my first night, I went to a restaurant that was right around the corner from my hotel called Quality Italian. Since I was alone, I decided to sit at the bar and order dinner so that I would have people to talk to. I had the most delicious chicken dish and made friends with a guy that I met who is from Istanbul (it’s now on my bucket list of countries to visit.)

My good friend who is also my big sister in my sorority, lives in New York so I was able to meet up with her for dinner on Friday night. It was great to catch up with her and hear about her experiences being a recent college grad living in New York.  Needless to say, she LOVES it!

I was surprised at how comfortable I felt being alone in the city. I know that a lot of people say that NY can be lonesome, but for the short time I was there, I felt comforted by the millions of other people who were there walking the streets with me. I enjoyed being alone with my thoughts and trying to see if I could picture myself living there. I have been saying that I am 50-50 when it comes to if I want to live in San Francisco or New York after graduation, but I think New York just pulled ahead in the poll.

Hope that everyone had a great weekend! More later on my continued search for a job and my quest to find my new home.

XOXO,

Rachael Claire