NYC Week 1 In the Books

Happy Monday!  Today marks a full 9 days that I've been a Manhattan resident, and I think it's safe to say I'm in love. I've been pleasantly surprised by how welcoming and helpful NYC locals are when they learn I'm a newbie.  Since I only know a few people here, many of my friends and acquaintances in Houston and OKC have been reaching out to their friends in NY and connecting us.  I'm so thankful to Lauren, Patrick, Kimberly, and lots of other blogger + interior design pals who have answered many of my frantic questions and met me for a glass of wine to welcome me to the city.  Last week I talked about how I lucked out by finding a great apartment in the Upper East Side with an empty room (I moved in with two amazing girls who are, you guessed it, friends of friends) and shared a few of my bedroom essentials.  Well, this past week was spent planning my floor layout, painting the room, and getting my things organized and moved in while working during the day.  My parents were kind enough to come up for the week to help me get adjusted, so most of the credit for the work we got accomplished belongs to them.

{Step 1:  Blue tape to measure out my furniture and decide on placement}

{Step 2:  Fresh paint on the walls and trim to freshen up the space}

Step 3 is to get furniture situated and organized- so stay tuned for that!!  I have a shipment of a few casegoods and a lot of my artwork coming up from Houston, so it'll take awhile to get everything organized and put together.  Here's a few other pictures that I've captured along the way this past week...

{all the walking has opened my eyes to the visual inspiration at every turn- like these lacquered doors}

{this display at the diptyque store off Madison Avenue had me swooning}

{creative chaos at the office}

{Momofuku milk bar birthday truffle cake balls have changed. my. life.} 

{schlepping bag after bag of Container Store goodness from their summer sale for my tiny place}

{toasting to a successful week with the rents at dinner at Balthazar}

{my crew}

The main things that have stood out to me about life in NY is 1) it never stops moving and 2) it involves a hell of a lot of stair climbing.  Personally, I love walking out my door and seeing a vibrant city speeding along all around me.  It thrills me and makes me feel a part of something very big and exciting.  Work moves at 100 miles an hour so when I leave, I feel absolutely fried but also absolutely blissful.  There isn't a feeling in the world for working hard at something you love doing.  As I mentioned last week, my office is on the 6th floor, and the elevator in the building is being repaired for the next 2 months.  Combine that with my 4th floor walk-up apartment, and you can see why I'm expecting to have some killer legs soon.  I am traveling back to Houston this week to get some more of my things and tie up loose ends, and will be back in the city Saturday.  Then the following week it's off to Tulum with Lindsay and a few other friends.  August will be gone in a flash.  I hope you'll follow along as I nest here in my new city.

XOXO,

Sam