coming full circle

I just returned from a week in NYC and wow -- what a trip. Not only did I spend time with my college girlfriends whom I haven't seen in about 4 years but I got to see each of my old bosses from when I lived/worked in NYC back in 1998-2003, talk about a blast from the past! Part of the work I was doing was in SoHo so walking the old streets from where my first job was, 100 Avenue of the Americas, was such a trip. My hotel room looked right onto the building. And I was able to get up to JWT to see an old co-worker and that was wild walking out of Grand Central station and into that building - 466 Lexington. So many memories and it's hard to not reflect back on where my life was then and where I am now. So much is the same, yet so different at the same time. I couldn't help but think about how proud mom was when I got an advertising job in NYC right out of college. And walking the streets of Manhattan this past week I could hear her in my head saying 'you go girl' for having landed a gig with my new business right back in the very place I started my career.

Having returned home to LA I realized, while I was able to fall right back into keeping up with the fast pace, crowded subways and cold temperatures I left feeling so incredibly grateful for the life I now live in LA. This is right for me now, just like NYC was right for me in my early 20s. And I couldn't help but smile to myself as I watched everyone rushing around all bundled up thinking to myself that there's no hurry in LA and it's 75 right now - I can't help but feel like I'm winning :)

I also felt incredibly grateful for the relationships I've been able to maintain and to see how easily we were able to pick back up after all these years. The quality time I got with my college friends and their kids and husbands was all so nice and so needed. Believe it or not we don't always live the life we all see on Facebook so to truly sit down on a sofa and curl up with a hot chocolate or tea (or wine!) and actually talk -- for hours -- was incredible. And to have each of my old bosses make time in their calendars to see me and even one was kind enough to put me in front of his global CEO who was in NYC for the week and have me speak about my services -- it was all incredible.

All in all it was a fantastic week in NYC. Productive networking meetings, a great session with the agency who had hired me and a special time catching up with dear, old friends. And coming out of the first month of 2014 I'm feeling more alive and energized than I can recall feeling in a long time. Business is looking good, and life in general is looking even better. I'm truly happy and I know more than anyone that's not always easy to come by. So once again as life feels like it came full circle in this past week - I know that in ways it actually didn't because right now, in this moment, I'm happier than I've ever been.