very simple

26 days until I go home. I’m very excited.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had a good time here. I’ve been out to interesting places, made new friends, and generally have had a nice time. But I’m overwhelmingly homesick. It’s got nothing to do with *here* but rather that I’m not *there*. I’ve realized through this experience that I’m just meant to live in New York. It’s where I’m from, it’s where my family and friends are, and it’s my home (for better or worse). At least now I know for sure. You know it’s bad when I start waxing nostalgic for my office in NY. Granted, the fact that I don’t have to share an office in new york may have something to do with that (again, the actual people that I’ve shared offices with here have been lovely. It’s just that I haven’t shared an office since back in 2000, and it’s really difficult to have someone, anyone, in my space when I’m trying to work).

I should also say that I did luck out here. It’s apparently been the mildest winter in Milan in years. It’s been consistently in the 40s and 50s during the day, and the legendary fog and rain have only been intermittent. And while I did miss the 70 degree days they had in NY in january, I’m also missing the bitterly cold weather they’re experiencing now.

The one thing that I’m disappointed in is that for a pretty long stretch (until Christmas), I had enough work to do that I pretty much had to work at least a little bit every weekend. Certainly nothing crazy (especially for a lawyer), but that pretty much put a damper on my ability to take weekend jaunts to other places. Of course, I’ve actually been to many places in Italy on other trips, so there’s nowhere, at least in northern Italy, that I feel like I need to see before I leave, but now that I’ve got only a few weekends left, a ton of packing to do, and a deal that’s going to close only days before I fly out of here, I’m probably not going to fit in a whole bunch of travelling going forward either. At least I did get to go to Paris – that was really the one thing that I desperately wanted to do while I was over here, and it got done.

So. Specific things I miss about NY…

My family.

My friends.

My apartment.

Sushi from Yama.

The ability to tumble dry my clothes.

Dry cleaning that takes less than two weeks.

Diet Coke (although I’m going to try to limit my intake when I get back).

My oven (seriously. I’ve never wanted to bake as much as I have since I’ve lived in a place with nothing but a two-burner stovetop and a microwave)

My shoe collection.

The Container Store.

American TV (iTunes helps somewhat, but I’m craving a good stretch of crime-TV reruns on A&E. Also, I’d like to watch a few things on my 40-inch LCD rather than my powerbook).

Stores that are open on Sunday.

My super-comfortable couch.

My office (including the 24-hour office support, my aeron chair, a door that closes, my own real-live secretary, and car service home at night).

The Gap and Old Navy.

Fairway.

Easily accessible manicures and pedicures.

Sherree (my hairdresser).

and, of course, the greatest skyline in the world.

Tags: milan, new york city