Alicia Alban - A Full Circle Moment

I have one more piece of news that gives me a few butterflies in my stomach. I just signed a lease in New York City.

It feels like a full circle moment.

There is something exciting and daunting about coming back to a place that has been such an important part of my life, but returning with an entirely different perspective and a new chapter ahead. I started off in New York City furthering my career in finance, transferring with Ladenburg Thalmann. I was single and didn't have any kids.

Returning to NYC, I'm single again and my kids are grown. It feels a little like a cruel joke to be returning after all these years. However, as people always say, the city is a love affair. There are ups and downs. You can choose to hang with all the people you know, or lose yourself by walking the West Side Highway for the day.

The city does offer endless opportunities that you just can't find anywhere else. It's a chance to dig in and create a new beginning. I'm realizing I'm starting there to "start" again. You can't find that kind of platform anywhere else.

So many memories of when I first moved to the city are coming back to me. The first time I had lunch at the Four Seasons, thinking it was amazing, drinking Opus wine with that silly gold chain on top. Being invited to lunch at Calvin Klein for a personal shopping experience. Finally getting asked to join the other men traders for a Friday night dinner at Smith & Wollensky. Getting a car service to take me shopping on 5th Avenue.

These events clearly date me. However, my hope is to have many more firsts again in NYC. The city is nothing like it was when I first arrived. I'm interested to see how it all compares.

My life felt like a Broadway show at first, coming from Boston to NYC after graduating college. I was experiencing the bright lights and big city like a character in a show, sometimes even with jazz hands. A lot of things I did, I couldn't believe I was doing. Then after so many years the excitement wore off. I wanted to move on and start a family.

The timing and decision to move back, even though I perceived it at first as a huge "aha" moment, after just a couple of days now seems like an inevitable, foregone conclusion.

And maybe that's the real lesson of this summer:

Life doesn't have to slow down when one chapter ends. Sometimes, you just get to choose what the next chapter looks like.

And I thoroughly believe this is gonna be a good one.