Day 0: Howdy and the Drive

I'd like to start my blog by saying a big ol' Texas "Howdy!"  For the last two years, I have been a New Yorker, an Upper West Sider to be exact.  I embraced all aspects of New York life... walking most places, taking the subway, eating out, going to the theater, treating Central Park and any public space as a continutation of my apartment.  I had an amazing time in New York.  Then a couple of months ago, just as my MBA program at Columbia was coming to a close, my fiance got a job in Fort Worth, TX.

I would be lying to you if I said this was my first time in Texas.  Before New York, I went to school (Go Owls!) and worked in Houston, TX.  Houston was the first city I got to make a home of my own, so it will always hold a special place in my heart.  When I lived in Houston, people had lots to say about their neighbors to the North, and I was hesitant about the Dallas/Fort Worth area.  So far, I have been pleasantly surprised.

My fiance and I came down to Fort Worth at the beginning of May to look for an apartment.  I was reminded of all my favorite places from Houston... Chuy's, Target (yes, there is one in Manhattan, but it's just not the same), Taco Cabana, Pappasito's, etc.  There are also quite a number of running trails that run along the Trinity River, which aren't quite the same as Central Park but were a surprising element.  Apartment shopping was almost laughable compared to New York.  All apartments have full sized ovens and central A/C.  All my Houston apartment criteria came flowing back to me... things I had given up looking for in New York.

This past Monday, I hired movers to pack up a Budget truck, and my mom and I (she is my hero) drove down to Texas.  It took us few days (with a pit stop in Louisiana to pick up the rest of my shoe collection that would have been impossible to wear in NYC), but we finally made it to Fort Worth today to be ready for the move tomorrow.  It was a really pretty drive overall.  I was most impressed with the Shell gas station in Longview (of all the other gas stations we stopped at since the Budget truck was guzzling gas).  Besides having a Sonic that you could order from the gas pump, the gas station had a bakery, BBQ restaurant, and what looked like a specialty grocery market.  Since it was a pit stop, I obviously used the restroom.  I don't think I've been to bathrooms at the mall that nice, let alone a gas station.  It was obviously impressive since I'm going on and on about a place I spent 10 minutes... so impressive in fact that I took a picture just to show it off.

Tomorrow is the big move into our apartment in Fort Worth.  I'm really excited about my day 1 as an official Texan (again).