A little piece of fall in New York

Fall is my favorite season, and always has been. It's the season with all my favorite things: HLLWN, Thanksgiving, college football, beautiful leaves, cool weather, blankets, jackets, sweaters, scarves, candy corn, and hot (though definitely not spiked) apple cider. Fall in the South is so beautiful, and I am really sad to be missing it.

But this past weekend, I took my first trip to Central Park since the season changed, and I have to say: Fall in NYC is everything I had hoped for and everything I had heard it would be, plus some. Beautiful, gorgeous, crisp, happy and inspiring. Fall is the only season I haven't yet experienced in New York; I moved up in the dead of winter, then of course subsequently lived through spring and summer. So I find fall particularly inspiring, like a totally fresh start, almost the beginning of a new year. Check it out, and keep in mind that these photos don't even come close to replicating the real thing.


This is a tree on my street. Harlem represent.





















More gorgeous golden leaves on Fifth Avenue.





















I wish these photos were bigger on the blog; this literally looks like a painting.
















The trees look like fire, no?
































The fact that this looks somewhat inappropriate is a total accident, and therefore I find it hilarious and worth including.
















More fire trees and fallen leaves on the mall.






































I just walked around all day thinking I wasn't actually there. It was so beautiful that it was surreal.
















Another bridge, closer to the Upper West Side.
















The Upper West Side over the trees.
















This photo isn't particularly stunning, but it's pretty adorable. It kind of summarizes the day, because there were people walking their dogs all over the place. It was basically an infestation of adorable, and resulted in me repeatedly saying "OMGGGG look at that booboo faaaaceeeee!!!!" then tacking on a string of inaudible mumbly noises.

I still prefer a beer and whiskey on Rivington Street

GaGa was on SNL last night. I didn't catch the show live, but basically the first thing I did when I woke up this beautiful Sunday morning was check her facebook for any video updates. Now, the latest installment in a long series called "why I'm fucking obsessed with Lady GaGa and will nigh be getting a GaGa bow tattoo and prepping my HLLWN costume and oh yeah did I mention my GaGa shrine in the corner of my room?"



For this appearance, she rewrote some of the lyrics to Pokerface to reflect her love for New York City. Here they are:

Born in New York in Lenox Hill of '86,
Cheered for the Yankees with my dad in section six,
And after traveling, just dancin' round the world,
I still prefer a beer and whiskey with my friends on Rivington Street

I miss every little thing about this city,
Subway trains, the girls are pretty,
Love the hot dogs on 72nd street, they're tasty and they're cheap,
Was just a waitress on Cornelia, now I'm living my dreams baby,
Singing bout my pokerface...

I went out last night with my new friend M to my blog idol's hubby's first photography show in Brooklyn, followed by drinks on the Lower East Side, not all that far from Rivington Street. It was one of those amazing New York nights, with new friends, new experiences and the cool fall air making everything feel fresh and beautiful. As I sat at our table in the bar next to an open window, I looked out at the taxi cabs creeping along Houston Street, the beautiful people smoking their cigarettes and the guy devouring his slice from a paper plate, and I was so filled with love and adoration for the life I now live that I nearly started crying into my whiskey sour.

It's just that I have wanted to live here since my very first visit to the city, and here I am. It surrounds me at all time and it pumps through my veins, it pisses me off and it makes me deliriously happy, it stinks and it's beautiful. There are doubts in any healthy relationship, but eventually you get to a point where you just know if the other person is the one for you - or not.

New York is the one for me.

New York, New York

Labor Day Weekend Oh Nine: A Fauxem

Tears
Friends
Jenny
Zachary
Effable
New York
Dance
Art
GaGa
Love
Youth
Meggie
Brittany
Blur
Laughs
Football
Fall
John
England
Steps
Hostel
Kiss
Kiss
Life
Kiss
Life
New York
New York
New York
Love
Life
Life
Youth
Life

Life.

You can take the girl out of the South...

You know the rest.



Also, this.























I realize this issue came out August 20, but I just found out about it today, OK? I love football. Nay, I LOOOOOVE football. I am ridiculously, unashamedly (is that even a word?), disproportionately excited that Ole Miss is ranked sixth. The first game is this weekend, and I will be attending, in my own way. Hotty toddy.