Oh, The Places You'll Go

Brain Dump Vol. 3

May 06, 2025

Cat’s out of the bag — I moved to New York! A few months ago, I made the decision to go after this thing I’d been dreaming about since I was sixteen. The lure of the city drew me in far before I had ever even visited. It only took me one trip to begin day dreaming, which I now realize was manifesting. My dad lived in New York City in various neighborhoods and boroughs, once as a child and another as an adult, right before I was born. He flew to the other side of the country to start a family, and now I’m bringing him back. I am only now starting to realize how much of a reflection I am of both of my parents. It was only a matter of time until I followed in my dad’s footsteps.

Spring Has Sprung

Okay now that you know I’m in New York, you should also know that Spring here is absolutely beautiful. There are tulips everywhere, the sun is shining, and everyone is collectively in a great mood to match the beauty around us.

The only thing I don’t like about Spring is the horrible allergies it brings. No amount of Benadryl can fight the awful allergies I’ve been experiencing. I know, I know — I should be using Flonase or take a trip to the doctor for something stronger or more effective or whatever to fight the allergies, but I hate putting any spray in my nose and I hate going to the doctor even more. Or, perhaps I should avoid the trees entirely. Instead, I walk the city streets for what feels like quick minutes but is actually hours, according to my phone that I didn’t even know was tracking my steps without my asking. On average, I walk 7,754 steps per week.

I seem to have the most energy on Tuesdays, hence the reason why I walked the most steps that day.

I woke up Wednesday morning wondering why my thighs were so sore, and it wasn’t until today (Friday) that I realized it’s because I’ve been so damn much! Let me rephrase — walking, climbing multiple staircases, all while being in (mostly) semi-uncomfortable shoes; I just find it so hard sacrificing style for comfort. For example, heels. In the past, I used to wear heels (mostly heeled boots) to work almost everyday. I’ve always enjoyed a good shoe. I remember during one of my summer internships while in college, I had a mentor that repeatedly told me that I didn’t need to wear heels to work. It wasn’t until recently that I realized she was just uncomfortable with my dressing up. I genuinely enjoy wearing cute clothes to work, and after hearing that multiple times, I think I began to dumb my shoe game down because I felt like maybe I was doing too much? Now, I realize that’s just my style and if it makes anyone else feel small, that’s not really my problem. So, I wear loafers and heels and all types of other shoes that aren’t necessarily “walking shoes”. I'm sure it will catch up to me at some point, but for now I simply don’t care.

Oh, The People You’ll Meet

The amount of people you can meet in a day through foot traffic is insane. It is one of the biggest selling points about NYC. It truly is a melting pot. I know this is a well known fact about New York, but it’s so different hearing it versus experiencing it. I find it fascinating and fun to have so many interactions and little moments of small talk when I’m just taking a walk around the block. It’s apart of the experience. I should also mention that my dog is the catalyst of majority of my interactions. Everyone wants to pet her, and she wants to be pet by everyone. It’s an interesting dynamic though. There are three buckets of dog people:

Those who smile at you and your dog but don’t stop to say hello
Those who don’t want to pet your dog but wants to let their dog sniff your dog
Those who will stop you to pet your dog and inquire about their entire life story (age, name, where’d you get her, etc)

I have interactions with the people who fall in bucket #3 the most. For the most part, I don’t mind unless I’m in a rush to get somewhere (including my couch). I wish I got people like #1 in those moments.

When I am without my furry friend, I hardly get approached. This, I like. I love being in left alone when in my own zone. I believe that a lot of New Yorkers feel this way and that’s why it seems to feel so respected here. Everyone just minds their business, and I find great peace in that. At the same time, there’s a great sense of community. Every morning, whether I’m walking my dog or not, my neighbors make it a point to wave, say hello or simply just smile and nod, acknowledging my presence. You never know how one small act of kindness will impact someone else’s day.

The Weekly Digest

Watching:

I re-watched this Apple Music interview between SZA and Zane Lowe for the ten thousandth time. To be fair, this is the first time I’ve come back to this one after at least six months.

I’ve become a big fan on Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson’s podcast, IMO. In fact, I’m pretty sure I’ve seen almost every single episode since it debuted.

At this point it should be pretty obvious that I enjoy long form content in interview form.

This one is very on par with me. Zoe Kravitz is also inexplicably cool. She is effortless in the way she dresses, acts, walks — I love it.

Reading:

I’ll be honest, I haven’t been reading as much lately. It actually makes me really sad because I’ve been struggling to carve out time for it. I do my best to create as much me-time on a daily basis, and I’ve realized that my little moment to read is on the train. In which case, I’ve been consuming more quick reads than I usually do. For example: