Once upon a time

there was a girl who lived in New York City. She was a twenty-something who LOVED city life. Although life for her was "modest" (meaning her friends who had "good" jobs went to really cool places) she ate at pretty cool places, hung out in Central Park on the weekends, went for all day walks on Saturdays, popped in and out of fun shops and generally lived a hip and care-free life.

Several years later, this same girl jetted off for a three year stay in a city twice the size of NYC. She learned a whole new (and might I just add difficult) language which enabled her to jump on subways, buses and trains to explore and cruise around this City. She and her friends enjoyed games, shopping and eating out on many whims and during the winter vacations took exotic vacations to beautiful islands in Thailand. On many occasions this girl could be overheard exclaiming, "I can't believe THIS is my life!!!"

Then along came a husband. A wonderful, dreamy husband. And life changed. The girl now had a travel partner (to exotic locations, like Louisville, KY for example) and a dining out partner. The waiters at the local Indian restaurant knew them (until it burned down.) Although her address was now in the 100th-ish biggest city in the US, life was full and fun.

Then, along came children. Adorable, funny and smart (if not a bit OCD) children. And life changed. The girl now found herself at parties with other mommies discussing the most effective cleaning agents to use on their hardwood floors (utterly sad yet true story!) and being pulled from her aerobics class because of poop explosions. Friday nights' highlights are Wife Swap and Super Nanny (hope and bright spots in a long week if not reminders that life, in deed, could be worse) and on a good night she stays awake through most of the 10:30pm re-run of King of Queens (which brings her in touch with her inner New Yorker!) And yet, life is still full and fun...just a different kind.

Our girl's life has taken many twists and turns. Some exciting and glamorous, some - not so much. Whether it be a night out in The Village or a night in on a snot-stained brown couch, our girl can't wait to see what adventure the next chapter holds! She's quite sure they lived happily ever after.