New York, I love you

Have you ever had this conversation:

Person 1: So, where are you from?
Person 2: I live in (insert city name here).
Person 1: Cool! Have you ever done (insert city specific activity that no one who actually lives there has done)?
Person 2: Ya know, I actually have never done that.

I think too often we take the places that we live for granted. Over the past few months I notice Chris and I getting into conversations with out of staters or even New Yorkers about the negatives of being a New Yorker in this sort of joking-but-lauging-through-the-pain way.

"Oh the smell of New York in summer...ha ha..." meanwhile their eyes are welling with tears at the pungent odor of hot garbage.

"I held the door for someone today and ended up having to hold it for 10 other people because no one noticed that a person was holding the door for them. Isn't that funny?" meanwhile they are questioning their visibility in this vast city.

I'm now on a mission to change that. On the way home from a weekend away we decided to come up with a "New York we love you, but your bringing us down" list of things we want to do to help us realize how incredible the place we live actually is. We started listing all of the things New York is famous for and more often than not we hadn't tried them, so we wrote them down. Now, we have a jar full of little slips of paper with some things New York is famed for, some things we have always wanted to do but never got around to, or things that people recommend. I'm looking forward to falling back in love with this city. The point of the list is to not only spark that love, but also so that when asked if I have had a ramen noodle burger bun (really...just the bun...I don't eat burgers haha) or if I have been to the Statue of Liberty, the Planetarium etc. I can say YES I have done all of that and more! I suggest where ever you are you think of at least a few things you want to do...a short list or a long one to make you appreciate the place that you live.

I made mine on little slips of paper. To make them look cute I put down two pieces of washi tape so that you can't see through to the other side when you are picking at random. Then pick a person, pick a time and pick an activity!