That’s Stella

My friend Jason was hanging by a shopping mall in Beverly Hills when he bumped into Bstein - aka. my New York romance. “Fancy that!” Jason says to me. In my head I’m thinkin that Jason must have a pretty good story to tell because we hardly ever talk. Then he opens his mouth and it was like a stab to the heart.

“He was there with his girlfriend”
- first blow to my heart. But he didn’t stop there…
“He said he’s moving to LA in August!!!!”
- second blow to my heart. Oh but there’s more!
“His girlfriend is hot” - third and final blow.

OUCH!

The thing that actually hurt the most was the second blow - news that he was moving to LA. A couple months ago, my favourite man in NY, Katzy, told me Bstein was in LA but things were on rocky terms with his girlfriend and yada yada. Upon hearing the news, I clearly remember msging him straight away,

“In LA AGAIN? Quit it New York Man. I need you at home so you can pick me up at the airport. Heat up the seat warmers for me. X”

(I experienced car seat warmers for the first time in his car. Very rare in Australia coz it’s not a necessity. Not that heating your tush is a necessity, but certainly not needed in our mild winter. It was something like -1C outside and when he put on the seat heaters without warning, and I started getting a warm sensation down there, I thought my butt was going to explode).

Anyway… he never replied to my msg. And now when I hear this news, I know that he must’ve felt pretty embarrassed about telling me because we always had this LA vs. NY mentality, like how Aussies feel about New Zealanders, or Western Australians have this “us versus them” mentality with eastern staters. To be honest, I do like LA, but no where near as much as NY and I do think NY is better than LA. More real people. Less plastic. More variety. More culture. Less sprawl.

I fell in love with New York years before I met Bstein, but he is still part of an element of the city that I love so much. When I was first living in New York, I fell in love with the independence one can find in the city. I loved that I was 19 years old, living alone in the big city and that it made me really open my eyes and grow up. I loved that there were millions of people in the city, but I could still manage to find my own quiet sanctuary in my first home in Tribeca. I fell in love with Chinatown and doing my routine grocery shopping there every couple of days and how it reminded me of my parents routines. I fell in love with the people that were so welcoming and friendly and kind. I fell in love with my successful friends that I made (fashion designers, CEOs, art directors) who took me under their wing and inspired me. I fell in love with the streets and loved that one could walk the same street every day and still find something new on every journey, whether it was an art gallery or market or jewellery store.

But when I went back to live in NY for the second time, I met Bstein and Katzy, and they became my New York Men that I love so much. With Bstein moving to LA, it’s like a piece of the city that I love is gone.

When I think of returning home to NY, I dream of surprising Bstein and Katzy, not actually telling them I would be in NY. I dream of buzzing Katzy’s door and waiting outside with vegemite and crackers and giving him a big surprise. I dream of waiting on the corner of Bsteins apartment building on 81st street on the UES, waiting for Bstein to step outside and I would purposely rush by him and knock him over, and he would apologise like a gentleman and after realising it’s me, he’d hug me and swing me around in the air like they do in corny movies.

I feel like Bstein leaving NY is a sign. Lately I’ve been thinking about doing a 2 year stint in London. I’m not a huge fan of London, but two of my best buds are there - Miss. 23 and Hinius, plus there are fantastic opportunities there and lately I’ve been in agony deciding over NY or London…

New York or London…………?
London or New York………..?