I first fell in love with New York while on my J1 summer visa back in 2004. I spent two months working as a chambermaid, laundry girl and pool attendant at a hotel in Montauk, Long Island. We lived in the hotel staff quarters and had a magical summer of long sunny days and beach campfires. We worked hard while saving our dollars. It was at the end of my trip that I had two weeks in the city and my lifetime love affair began!
My first trip to NYC | Staten Island Ferry | 2004
Staying at my cousin’s in Queens, I was thrilled at the adventure of riding the subway into Manhattan. I was twenty and completely captivated by the excitement of the city and her inhabitants. I blew all my dollars on clothes, shoes and zany accessories. I returned to Ireland with a whole new wardrobe of colourful ensembles and a deep desire to return to the city and to someday be a New Yorker.
I returned over the years on short trips to get my fix and it was last year that I had the ‘now or never’ moment...I made the move with my fiancé last November, 2017. The adventure continues as I now call New York home!
My first Thanksgiving in NYC | November 2017
Returning to Montauk 14 years on! | March 2018
It was incredibly special to return to The Hamptons recently on a weekend trip. It was amazing to retrace the steps of my twenty-year-old self! The Panoramic View Hotel where I worked is now part of the legendary Gurney’s. I would highly recommend a visit here, even on a cold day in March, it was heaven, I needed to be dragged away from this view and the fire!
