Saying “au revoir” to Mt. Rainier.

No more are the days of me lugging two large suitcases through the city streets while simultaneously trying to read a map and avoid getting pick-pocketed, because now I know that light packing is the number one key to success.

Although to tell the truth, I didn’t actually pack lighter for my first year in New York, I just had two helpers (my parents) to drag suitcases with me. All in all, moving into a new city is easier with parents.

The view from my dorm room balcony.

So here I am, sitting in my dorm room on the 10th floor of Coral Towers (snazzy name right? Pretty sure that’s the only reason I chose to live here) looking down onto 3rd avenue and watching taxi drivers almost hit pedestrians. It feels good.

For being in such a busy city, I feel incredibly relaxed. Maybe it’s the fact that I arrived early with my parents and had time to adjust and have some fun before moving in, or maybe it’s the fact that I already have friends here that I met while in Paris. Or maybe I’m just better at traveling and moving and adjusting then I was a year ago.

It’s been a whirlwind weekend marked by the collision of summer vacation and the start of fall quarter. Saturday I was playing symbols at the Guggenheim with my parents, and seeing Micheal Cera in This is Our Youth on Broadway. Sunday was a completely different world of dorm check-ins and an insanely crowded, yet amazingly efficient trip to Bed, Bath, and Beyond. (I could write a book about Bed, Bath, and Beyond on NYU move in day to be honest. It was incredible, yet it made me feel slightly delirious.)

The Guggenheim.

This symbol mobile was part of a really interesting Latin American exhibit called Under the Same Sun.

But now my parents have departed back to their island life in Coupeville and I have a week before classes begin to explore this amazing city with reckless abandon. I can already tell that I will never be bored.

In Central Park.

XOLily

PS: Anyone remember how my sister Lois and I made those #ParistoSeattle videos? Well, we plan to keep it up this year as well. Stay tuned for for my video this week, which I will post on Thursday! #NewYorktoSeattle!!!