satc

tonight i stayed up writing a long overdue mass email. i just realized i entitled it "sarah in the city" instead of "sarah and the city". it bothers me, but not worth resending, i suppose...

my dearest compadres.

i must apologize for my absence in prose over the past 6 or so months. and i must thank foxy roxy martin for the kick in the pants that made me stay up and write this tonight. i'm still here. still alive. still live in a small apartment. still have a job. still learning new things. still meeting new people. still paying my bills. still soaking up the view from my roof every chance i get. still loving the city.

there are not enough words nor time to bring you fully up to speed. and i honestly don't even know where to begin. i've seen weird things. done weird things. talked to weird people. a few highlights that come to mind were a day spent at coney island where we spotted a 60 year old drag queen salsa dancing (alone) on the boardwalk and seeing jesse spano shopping in soho (i was tempted to sing to her - "i'm so excited. i'm so...i'm so scared!"). all these things aside, the most important highlight for me and my family is jay and emily expecting their first baby boy in january. i'm on a quest to find the coolest baby hipster clothes in new york city. he'll thank me later. as some of you know, i'm not too keen on little kids, but i think i'm about to be ruined. looking forward to it.

there are many more city stories, but lately my hours and my mind have been with BBH. i am currently working on a new business pitch that is sucking my will to live. ok, not really, but it's pretty intense. i have joined the ranks of working weekends and late nights (early mornings), but at least there's an end in sight. d-day is november 8th. hopefully i will resume a normal sleeping habit and the ability to call people back within a 3-day time frame (apologies until then). we're waiting to hear about several new possible clients, and once we do, i've been assured a promotion is waiting in the wings. i'm ready. ready to not be the lowest rung to which all you-know-what trickles. i'm sticking around, though. it's a good place. and this summer we moved into an office with an amazing view of basically all of manhattan, and there's also a staffed coffee bar. as the natural deduction would lead you to believe - i'm over-caffeinated and distracted.

i passed the year mark both in residence and employment, both equally inconceivable. i have definitely changed, but i am much the same. quite a bit has happened in the past year. i have learned a great deal, but i have realized how much more there is to know. and see. and do. it's funny because you spend years preparing for what everyone calls the "real world". and now i'm here, with one year under my belt. and i still don't know what i'm doing. i think there's only so much preparing you can do. i'm lucky if my shoes are tied and i know what street i'm on. life just gets thrown at you, and you have to run with it. sometimes roll, duck, dodge, whatever. life unfolds whether you like it or not. i feel fortunate to have had an overwhelmingly pleasant and beautiful year. i wouldn't say it was easy, but it was definitely natural. i was convinced i was supposed to move here, and i'm still convinced today. how long will i stay is something i get asked often. my answer: until i'm not convinced anymore. that might not be definitive enough for you, but that's all i've got for now. not to go all AA on you, but i'm a day-at-a-time kind of girl.

i'm sure i'll see some of you at christmas or a wedding perhaps. cheers and much love.

sarah

"experience: that most brutal of teachers. but you learn, my god do you learn." c.s. lewis