On a night not
unlike any other Thursday in Gotham, 2 intrepid women made their way to the
impressively vast third floor of Barnes & Noble at Union Square. On this
night, however, the escalators, and aisles were a-buzz with women. And
interestingly there was no succinct, neat demographic to be found. Women in
their 50s were chatting with nineteen-year-olds who were giggling with college
girls eavesdropping on graduate students. Women from 16 to 75 were talking,
mingling, reading and waiting for a middle-aged dark-haired English lady to
make her way to a podium and address her fans; fans of Fifty Shades of
Grey.
Fifty Shades of
Grey- the runaway US hit that has not seen half the success in its native UK,
had every woman in the cavernous building alight with excitement and new found
sexual vigor? Really? So two New York natives took their seats in the back and
waited with the throngs for madam to sign their copies of the populous
treasure. As we waited we recognized that hundreds of women, younger and older
than us were entranced by the soft cover - soft-porn in their laps; like a vast
erotic tea party, niceties were exchanged, knowing glances, laughs and feminine...
The other day I
read "Turning 30: 30 Things Every Woman Should Have and Should Know" on
Huffington Post. I am 31 going on 32. Whenever I read one of these articles, I
feel like there should be some sappy music playing in the background; like a theme
song for those with a spectrum of arrested development disorders… like a grown
up after-school special. As I read
through the article I had an "ah-ha" moment (even without the
soundtrack) ... I am over 30... I am an adult! I never really thought about
myself in those terms. I've been too busy getting here to notice my arrival.
Being over 30
today is different from being in your 30s twenty years ago. Twenty years ago, I
would have been a married mom by now. Today I am a 31-year-old that has been
working like mad to have a career before making time for anything else, and I'm
the norm these days. The women I know having babies now are in their mid- to
late-30s, already well into a career and dealing with the dilemma of sticking
with it or becoming a "stay at home" mom (or dad).
In the spirit of
self-confidence, here are some of the things that were on the list that I have
done (or at least have an excuse for why I have not...
Over the past few
weeks, my husband has taken on the project of organizing all the old pictures
he has lying around and while doing so has unlocked a pandora’s box of his
past. Reading old letters, he
reminisced about the vigor and passion we have about the future and the dreams
that lie ahead of us when we are naïve; not just young, but unmarred by the
realities of work and adult life ... naïve.
As we spoke, I realized how different we are at our core. I am a
New York native and he is not.
As he proudly
proclaims, “I grew up on a dirt road” in the town of Woodstock, NY. He walked through the woods to his
elementary school and then took a bus 45 minutes to his public high school. I walked down the tree-lined cement blocks of East End Avenue in a
kilt to my private, all girls school. As I stopped at a street light, he may
have stopped to watch a deer or a bird.
In some respects, I envy his experience…
For me, one of the
most exhilarating sights after being away from NYC is approaching the hill
right before the midtown tunnel and as you reach the peak, the whole skyline of
NYC lies in front of you. It all looks so welcoming and familiar to me; it...
I am currently invoking
the status of maternity leave, both from New York Natives and my "day
job" as a legal recruiter. My little girl is now two months old, and I am
dusting off the keyboard to weigh in on my current perspective on WORK for NYN.
As a career woman and
late-to-the-game mom (38), I imagined I would be burning to get back to
work, to an adult environment, compensation and a sense of purpose. I dismissed
those who found it "hard" to leave the home to return to the
workforce. I believed it to be true for some people but I was not, would not
be, one of them. I hang my head now to say I could not have been more wrong. I
adore the job of caring for my daughter and, acknowledging the cliché, it is
the hardest but most rewarding endeavor I have undertaken. I am physically exhausted and mentally depleted at the end of each day but leap out
of bed each morning for another go.
During my first week of
maternity leave as I awaited my baby's arrival, I wrote a piece for NYNatives.com
about how out of place I felt as a woman of leisure in a city that runs on the
industrious nature of its inhabitants. Well, my baby's arrival changed all
that. I now embody a burning sense of...
In the heart of the theatre district in Manhattan is Etcetera Etcetera, a New York City gem that’s perfect for a cocktail and/or pre-theatre meal. I met a group of family and friends there this week before several of us made our way to our shows and concerts. One goal was to catch up and spend time with one another, but the other was to eat, as only my friends and family know how.The space is elegantly simple, with a contemporary feel that loses nothing in warmth from its sleek appointments. With so many places to chose from in the city, I always love a restaurant that has great food and a beautiful atmosphere, but doesn't seem to try so hard to be chic. I sampled a warm, fulfilling chickpea soup with basil puree that I was assured was gluten-free- perfect for a chilly spring day. Following my first course, I went with the risotto with sausage, borlotti beans, red wine and rosemary. The rice was cooked to perfection with bits of the sweet sausage adding to the its depth and richness. I was advised to order the small portion, which I felt was an adequate amount of food following my first course of soup.Co-owner Daniele Kucera couldn't be more accommodating when it came...
Think of this post as a
boot camp check list for your life's safety. You may know some of this
information but are you taking all the actions prescribed below? They're well
worth the investment to avoid financial and emotional bankruptcy in the future.
The pearl to take with you: A Woman Must Act with Grace Under Pressure - We're
giving you some of the basic tools to do so to protect yourself and your
family.
This was excerpted with
permission from the best selling book: The Seven Pearls of Financial Wisdom.
INVEST IN YOUR SECURITY
Crime is one of the
greatest disrupters of financial and emotional stability. The legal
and medical costs associated with battling the aftermath of an event like a
robbery, a mugging, a kidnapping, or a rape can literally bankrupt a family,
leaving us unable to work—or, worse, it could cost us our lives.
We women can take actions
to minimize the chances that we or our children will fall victim to a crime. We
consulted top security experts about the practical, useful steps we can take to
improve our safety. We wanted to know which strategies are worth our financial
investment and which are simply ineffective. Our experts had a strong
message-...
1970s
I was born and
raised in Astoria. I was the first child of two New York native parents who
were both first generation New York Italian-Americans. When I had children of
my own in the 1970s, I had the good fortune of raising them in Manhattan. My
daughter was born in New York Hospital and her first view was of at the East
River. While my childhood friends
left the city for the suburbs to start their families I never dreamed of
leaving. They thought I was mad,
“where will your children play, go to school, etc”. My children had Central Park, the most beautiful playground
in the world and The Museum of Natural History on rainy days. My son Christopher learned to walk on
the first floor of the museum in the hall of mammals. My daughter, Laura was much more
cautious and only wanted soft carpeting under foot for her first steps.
When my
children went to nursery school (first Chris, then 3 years later, Laura) I would
pick them up at noon on Friday from Christ Church Day School and they would
choose where they wanted to go for lunch. Christopher, typical boy, wanted a hamburger and French fries and
strangely, Laura was routinely the only 3-...
NY Natives on Pinterest
"Flavor. We'll
take it! New York is THE city of many flavors mixed together to create some of
the tastiest conditions for creativity in the world. Nuyorican culture,
ingenuity and expression have been some of the strongest threads weavin
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