city kids.

My cool, brave little sister, the one who just does what she wants, up and flew to NYC last night. And she's been Snapchatting me all day from Central Park, St. Patrick's Cathedral, and Grand Central Station. If you could see me right now, I'm pretty sure my face has a bit of jealousy green in it. I've only been lucky enough to spend about 12 hours in New York City, and I've been dying to go back. 

We were the lucky kids who grew up near big cities. Never in one, but always close enough to visit. And I think there's something character-building about that. I remember taking some friends to visit San Francisco for the first time without any parental supervision, and it was my responsibility to navigate the Embarcadero, and Polk Street and Lombard Street, and find my way around. If that doesn't make you feel like a grown-up, I don't know what does! I remember feeling incredibly brave and incredibly terrified at the same time. 

There's something magical about a city. The people are my favorite. If you want to see all walks of life, from the homeless to the ridiculously wealthy, you'll find it in a city. Funny how both those extremes tend to live in the same place, right? 

Someday I think I'd like to live in a city. I got 8 incredible weeks when I lived in London, and I loved every second of it. You're so close to everything and you tend to feel so connected. I love the contrasts: the ugly vs. the beautiful, the loud vs. the quiet, the good smells vs. the bad {because EVERY city has its pockets that smell like bagels and its pockets that smell like trash, right?}. A city is a pure adventure. You can't take it all in in a single day or a week. 

I love the culture you find in a big city. Chinatown and Japantown are two of my favorite places in San Francisco, and in London I loved the Indian influence. A city somehow pockets the whole world in its few miles. Someday when I have kids, I hope I can teach them to appreciate cultures like my parents taught us. I remember being a little girl and visiting the San Francisco Ballet and the Rosicrucian Museum and staring wide-eyed at everything I saw, trying to quickly take it in. I've realized how lucky I was to get those experiences.

So here's to cities, here's to growing up near them, and here's to living in one someday. What's your favorite?