Muzzys Take Manhattan

When I made my list of things I wanted to accomplish in the next year, traveling to new and old places made it to the top. I love to travel and I have many friends in many fun places so I really wanted to take advantage of their hospitality.

I started the year off by visiting Phil in San Francisco, a new city with an old friend. I had a fabulous time in the city and visiting wine country. I decided this year I wanted to visit both coasts so when cousin Lucy invited the Muzzy cousins to stay at her Manhattan apartment over the summer, I couldn’t wait to make the trip. Unfortunately the Muzzy cousin trip turned into Niki and the Maryland sisters, but that wouldn’t stop us from having a good time.

Saturday we saw much of the city by foot. We love to walk, so we did. I have no idea how far we walked, but I do know that we spent five to six hours walking that day. We only stopped walking to sit down and paddle kayaks on the Hudson River. What an incredible way to spend the beautiful day.

That night we enjoyed great food, great drinks and great friends (both Lucy’s and mine!). We tasted delicious pizza at Number 28 and enjoyed the view from two different rooftop bars. I especially enjoyed the time Lucy, Rachel and I spent preparing for our big night out. It reminded me of college the way we kept changing dresses and shoes and purses until we came up with the perfect trio of outfits. I loved the girl time and we ended with a stunning result:
















I made it my mission to not only spend as much time as possible catching up with my cousins and seeing the city, but to also see as many college friends as possible. And I think I did pretty well. I celebrated Jessica’s birthday dinner with her Saturday night.






Sunday afternoon I went to brunch with Annie and Kim and then we walked around Central Park.








Sunday night Hannah, Steve and I stuffed ourselves with sushi.










Monday morning I met Jessica again for breakfast.










And then I met Adam for lunch and cupcake Monday afternoon.










I really appreciated being able to catch up with so many friends from Northwestern. I loved my years at NU and spending time with those friends takes me back to those great times. Unfortunately, I made lots of close friends over my tenure at Northwestern. This made it very difficult for me to keep up with everyone and even more difficult to choose who I wanted to keep contact with. I really wanted to keep track of everyone (thank goodness for Facebook!), but living in South Dakota made that so difficult. Now that I’m back in Chicago I feel so much more connected to my college years and college friends. It does help that I have college friends right here in the city!

I also appreciated the opportunity to spend time with my cousins Lucy and Rachel. Because they lived in Maryland and I lived in Minnesota, growing up we only saw each other at large family gatherings and never had much time to talk to each other. Turns out we have a lot in common and I’m glad we were able to finally connect after all these years. As much as I wanted all of the cousins to make the trip, in the end I was glad it was just the three of us.

Traveling to new places, meeting new people and reconnecting with old friends have all helped me focus in on what I want out of life and what path I want to take. The more I do it, the more I realize just how important it is. I can't wait to take the next trip! Vegas here I come.