Sign on the dotted line

September has brought a HUGE, very exciting "once in a lifetime" for me. I signed a lease on my first apartment in Manhattan! It was a monumental day when I realized that I will be living in NYC for the first time. Growing up in New Jersey, I spent many a-day roaming the city but could never actually call it home. Starting in November that is going to change and this month I made that happen! The only other lease I've ever signed was 2 years ago when I lived off-campus my senior year of college in Brookline, Mass. I've been living at home for the past year and finally, FINALLY I can see my freedom like the light at the end of the tunnel. I only see myself in New York for a few years at most - I'm that girl itching to see the world; I want to live in so many different places - but I feel like I'm finally taking step forward in my life and I couldn't be happier. 2011 has brought an incredible job and now an incredible apartment with two truly amazing roommates! Let the countdown to my big NYC move begin...

There have been some other recent once in a lifetimes...I went to my first rooftop bar in New York! And then a week later I went to another one! First, I went to the Dream hotel with Julie, one of my closest friends from college who moved to the city in July. It had sensational style, a Moroccan-type theme and we really enjoyed our surroundings. The second bar I went to was a bar at first and then turned into a nightclub! It was at the Empire hotel (can you sense a theme going on here?? haha) and I absolutely loved it! I'm not big into clubbing but Julie is (yep, she's my big club-going friend!) and had never been to Empire but had been dying to go. It was especially great that there was no cover (I will NOT go anywhere with a cover) and the bar area was pretty big so we were able to walk around. There's just something about a rooftop in NYC - seeing the skyline, the lights feel like magic and there's just this "top of the world" feeling that I get (literally and metaphorically) when I'm on an NYC roof. Here's to many more rooftop adventures...

Another interesting "once in a lifetime" was Fashion's Night Out on September 8th. Julie and I spent the night going into all the designer stores on 5th Ave. and Madison Ave. and enjoyed special celebrity appearances, giveaways, fun events and lots of music! Our favorite was the chocolate martinis and cannolis at Furla on 57th St. I'm also not really into fashion so for me I had no idea what to expect but it ended up being a really fun night and I enjoyed seeing so many people dressed up and out to enjoy NYC fashion!

My last update for now has to do with theater! Last week I saw Follies on Broadway and today I saw The Lion King. To me, every time I see a show it's a once in a lifetime experience because no two performances are ever exactly the same. Whether someone forgets/changes a line, an understudy performs, etc. there's always something to make each performance unique. Follies is a new revival that played in DC over the summer and stars Bernadette Peters, Jan Maxwell and Elaine Paige. It just opened on Broadway Sept. 12 and I think it's a fabulous show! The music was beautiful, the acting fantastic and the storyline realistic. Then today I saw The Lion King and as I've only seen it once in London, this was my first time seeing the Broadway cast. This show truly represents the magic of Broadway. Inspirational music, a beloved story, the most intricately designed costumes on the planet, The Lion King is not to be missed. Theater is one of the great loves of my life (along with dance and London) and there is nothing equal to seeing a Broadway show (except maybe a West End show!) so to me it's a gift every time I get to sit in a theater and lose myself in a play or musical.

That's it for now! I'm going to try to post more often but for now I think I've done a pretty good job at summarizing my recent once in a lifetimes. I'm starting to enjoy things more now when I think about how special and truly "once in a lifetime" each event is.

Until next time...