Truth be told, I dislike small talk, but it really is a great icebreaker. Often times I bump into a coworker in our kitchen area with his aromatic lunches. A very sweet, adorable man, we’ve shared quick conversations around the microwave. We’re both from hot climates, he from Jamaica and myself from Texas.

There was a week where he made curry and I realized I haven’t had curry in a very long time, nor have I ever made it properly. (I’ve tried a long time ago in Austin, but it didn’t taste the way it should.) He explained to me the kind he makes, and I shared with him my fondness of Indian curries but dislikes of Thai curries (because of the coconut milk I cannot stomach).

Today he swung by my side of the office with a jar of Jamaican curry sauce he bought for me, with the directions right on the jar he says, so I can make it easily at home.

It’s the little things like this that illustrate how great New Yorkers are, and now I can’t wait to make Jamaican curry.

TV always depicts coworkers congregating around the water cooler to trade office gossip. While that’s no longer the case, I can’t help but smile at how many times we’ve talked about one thing at the water machine.

Am I the only person who finds humor that what we talk around the water cooler is, in fact, about the water cooler?

When it was broken that’s all we could talk about, and now that after a couple months that it’s finally fixed (yes that long) it’s all we can talk about.

You are like the Asian Audrey Hepburn.  I’m going to call you Audrey from now on.

Someone of this nature doesn’t deserve recognition.

Apparently my mind works faster than my body in that I have so many ideas of what I am going to do, I’m always scrambling to keep up with what I’m thinking. I’ve been missing in action because of a variety of reasons: trips, sickness, and just plain busy.

I commemorated my birthday and my 6-month move to New York with a trip back to Austin. Seeing all my friends in Texas (many of which are graduating with their masters soon–so proud of my girls!), getting my country dancing on, eating at all the laidback restaurants, walking outside on the Greenbelt, I felt so at ease and at home again. It was a great refresher, taking in a long breath of who I am.

Right now, Kristan, Mengfei and I are all cramped in my tiny New York box celebrating our birthdays, and I can tell you these few days they are here are absolutely wonderful. It’s nice to introduce my new home to my best friends, and let my sense of self live.

Every once in a while, it’s nice to be reminded how people appreciate you for who you are. Even though we are all still growing and evolving, there’s still a core of who I am that I am confident and happy with.

Take it or leave it New York, either way I’m going to make it.