We're NYC Residents! What?!

Central Park

We made it!  We're back in the States and we're loving every minute of it!

Our journey started on 2 January, around 6:40am.  We took all our worldly belongings to St Pancras train station for the Eurostar to Brussels where we would be spending our last night in Europe.

Our last visit to Brussels, back in June, did not leave us with a favorable impression.  We actually hated it.  But, third time's the charm and, after spending another day and night there, we now have a much more favorable opinion.  However, our recommendation would be to not spend more than a day there.

Our new home

Early on the 3rd we made our way to Brussels Midi station for our train to Dusseldorf Airport where we would be catching our Air Berlin flight to JFK.  Our flight was pleasant enough and we arrived in our new city around 4:45pm.  We took a taxi into midtown Manhattan, seamlessly checked into our apartment, and were home by 7pm.

Our studio apartment is located in the basement of a brownstone in the Meatpacking District / Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan.  Our neighborhood park is The High Line, definitely one of our favorites.  We love our new neighborhood.

My lunch spot

We had the weekend to wander as tourists before hitting the job hunt on Monday morning.  True to form, I had a job by Wednesday.  My office is in Rockefeller Center.  I walk past the Today show filming on the street every morning.  My lunch spot is the sunny bench overlooking the ice rink.  I'm loving NYC!

Happy New Year!

NYE 2011

Last year at this time we were watching the last sunset of 2011 over the Mediterranean in Rome.  This year we'll be bidding 2012 adieu from a friend's abode in London.  Though we're thankful for many things from this past year our new friends may be our most cherished.  After two rather solitary years in Dundee, we are both now very aware of just how valuable friends are and we're grateful to have made such good ones in our short time here in London.

Best holiday ever.

Overall, though 2012 was a bitch at times, it has been a good year.  With all the challenges and obstacles and shit 2012 threw at us, it also gave us some of the best days of our lives.

We didn't get to travel as much as in 2011 but we still got a good deal of sightseeing in.  As stated, we started 2012 in Rome but also got to visit Brussels, Warsaw, and Budapest, in addition to further explorations of both Scotland and England.

The highlight of our year, without a doubt, was our summer trip to Baltimore to see our friends get married.  Surrounded by love and great friends in a gorgeous setting for an entire weekend?  Absolute heaven.  We also had the pleasure of T-Bird's company in Amsterdam for almost a full week (which makes Amsterdam our favourite European trip) and a surprise visit from Paul here in London for a few days.

Other highlights from this year include Mike graduating with his BA Fine Arts and our move to London, finally ending the torture that was Dundee.  Yes, some shit happened in 2012 but a whole lot of good stuff happened too and no one died.  Thus, 2012 was a good year.

We're starting 2013 off with a life change.  We move to New York City on 3 Jan where we hope to settle for the next few years.  After 2.5 years of transient living, we're really looking forward to some permanence and stability.  Hopefully we'll find that in NYC.

We hope your 2012 was a good year and we wish you all a happy and healthy 2013.  Cheers!