Summer in the City

It’s another muggy summer morning in the city and I’m sitting in one of my most favorite coffee shops in the city, where the jazz age/art deco vibes are just as strong as the coffee - plus I just found out it’s actually all a front for a new immersive theater performance during the evenings - I’m officially not cool enough for this place now. All jokes aside, Conwell Coffee Shop might be one of the most stunning coffee shops I’ve ever been in and yes, that’s a thing that you can be uncool for almost half of the things that happen in a city like New York. 

My iced coffee is a reprise from the sweaty walk and subway ride that takes me from my Upper East Side Apartment to my downtown office, just off of Wall Street. It’s about a 45 min-1 hour commute door to door, depending on the day and how lucky I get with the subway (BTW today was super lucky because not only did I time my subway perfectly, I got seats on BOTH-wohooo!).  

I have been blessed to be at my company for almost two years now. Working for a tech company is not a smooth ride right now, but I’m fortunate to still be here, learning and growing and working with some great people along the way. My company holds an office in the Financial District in New York City. It’s more on the eastern edge of downtown, but we’re on the 36th floor of a building that has been around since the filming days of most 90’s New York shows and movies (I can spot the building in almost any east view shot of the city). Our floor has floor to ceiling windows and a 360 view of the city around us. The views are incredible. 

Remote work is still in full swing at my company, which I’m thankful for, because even to get myself down to the office once or twice a week is an accomplishment. My coffee shop stop along the way to the office is usually the motivation for the commute, oh and of course to live a day in the life of an “office girly” in NYC. Strolling by the NYSE with your tech backpack, dressed in business casual, while you side step tourists snapping pics (with an eye roll of course) never ceases to thrill me. 

I don’t know if this is good or bad, but I have adapted to the “New Yorker” attitude quite well.  There is a freedom that people are not “socially nice”, they tell and show you how they feel and you can do the same. It’s pretty epic that I can now ask people to, “please move” when they’re standing right in the middle of the only route across the street. Oh yeah, I’m a super rude, gruff, true New Yorker now. 

Season wise, we are now in the thick of summer in the city. Summer in New York is HOT and HUMID. There is no sugar coating that, but I’m not sure if it’s being outside more as you walk and commute places, or the weird time traveling sense the city can give you that I mentioned in one of my first blogs, but summer in the city is nostalgic. It can feel like a childhood memory of a warm afternoon, watermelon juice dripping down your face as your hair dries crunchy from the pool you just spent all afternoon swimming in. 

I also turned thirty this summer. Isn’t that crazy. It’s official. I’m old. However, I’ve been told a New York 30, is 25 anywhere else, so that is how I fix my denial. I spent a lot of time in June thinking about my life and where it’s taken me, especially in the last decade. I will say this, I have spent most of my twenties in love with places vs people (until Kyle entered the picture last summer). From Nashville, to Carpinteria and now New York City, I have fallen in love with three very distinct places over the last ten years. The country, the beach and now the city. 

The funny thing is 16 year old Dominique would have probably thrown a mini fit over the fact that she’s living in New York City right now, or shocked that she loved a little CA beach town so much she stayed for seven years (OR the fact that she can’t live without coffee). The “country lifestyle” was always the plan and it got to be the reality for a few years after college. Deciding to leave that reality broke my heart in a big way, but had I not left, I would have missed out on so much, one of the big things being, my growth. I have changed. I have different desires, dreams and plans than I did ten years ago. The essence of who I am is still here within me, but growing up is a real thing (who’d have thunk?).

We can all change SO much. We can all love different things, places and people that we never could have imagined for our lives. There's magic in that. The magic of discovering home, yourself, joy and purpose in a million different places and ways. If we allow it, it can lead us to live with such an open heart. If we don’t see that magic, life can be pretty terrifying, thinking of all the possible changes ahead (something I’m still guilty of). But let’s just remind ourselves of the moments of magic ahead, the change - the next time you stumble down a street because you take a wrong turn on your way to work and come across your next favorite coffee shop - after all that’s how I’m sitting where I am today.