Matt and I in New York

Matt came to visit me in NY over Labor Day Weekend and we had so much fun together! It was so good to see him and spend quality time with him since we hadn’t seen each other in almost three months. Matt has been to NY before and so we didn’t want to make it a whirlwind weekend with tons of sightseeing. We stayed in a cute little hotel in Chelsea which is a fairly central location in Manhattan.

 We went to Ellis Island and looked up our relative’s names. As I mentioned in a previous post I found out that my last name is Augoustinos, not Augustinos like I’ve thought for pretty much my whole life. 

The best activity we did the whole weekend was rent a tandem bike and bike around Central Park. I discovered that biking is a great way to get around such a crowded city. It’s just too bad that Manhattan is not a bike friendly city at all. The tandem bike was fun because Matt sat in front and did most of the work while I just went through the mo

tions of peddling and enjoyed the views. We also had a picnic in Central Park. On Monday we walked around the Williamsburg area of Brooklyn and had lunch with my friend Emily (who is from Seattle but lives in NY) and her boyfriend James. I like Williamsburg because it has a funkier feel with lots of outdoor seating coffee shops perfect for people watching.

Matt is a great boyfriend and makes a great partner for me.

I was sad that we were not able to celebrate our one-year anniversary together this last July. We get along very well and always have so much fun together. Life is very easy and enjoyable with him. His laid back personality and calm demeanor really balance out my sometimes uber A type personality. I very much look forward to spending the future with him and sharing other travel experiences together. I’m pretty sure he feels the sameJ

 After spending the summer in NY I came to the same conclusion that Matt already had about living in NY. We both agree that visiting and living in NY are two very different experiences. I would much rather enjoy all that NY has to offer visitors than deal with the rat race that l

iving there requires. And while NY offers lots of excitement and other professional opportunities, we have both individually decided that Seattle still remains the best place for us to live. While Matt has always been very supportive of me and my opportunity to intern in NY, he understands when I say that the quality of life I have in Seattle

 is worth the trade-off of less career opportunities in finance in the Seattle area. Then again the financial services job market in NY is not great either. Given the fact that Matt has an MBA and many years of work experience in finance, he’s been a great mentor to me in terms of emotional support and insightful advice making personal and career decisions. I highly value his support and advice and am happy I’ve finally met a man who is self-confident and secure enough to be comfortable with a strong, ambitious woman.