Places we'll go.

Dan and I love New York, but we're always looking for a new place to live.

Don't ask us when. It's something that always seems five years from now, but I think one day it will happen.

Why? Well even though New York City is probably one of the best places in the entire world, nearly everyone who lives here has a love/hate relationship with the place. Luckily most of the time, the good outweighs the bad.

But one day I would like to own a house. And one day I would like to have a garden and outdoor space I can have my breakfast every morning just like my mom does. Own a dog that I won't feel guilty if I leave alone at home. A neighborhood where kids can run around and I can bike around to the farmer's market, work, where ever. A place where when I lay my head down at night, I hear the crickets outside, not the trucks bopping down First Avenue.

The problem with New York is that you can't live your ideal life here. Maybe you could if you were a millionaire, but I am not sure if that will ever happen to us.

Recently, New York magazine ran a story about people like us who are moving to Buffalo, NY for these very reasons. Because the life you've always imagined for yourself in New York? Yeah, well, apparently some people are doing it better and cheaper in Buffalo.

Dan's like, "Let's move to Buffalo!" I told him that after living in Syracuse for four years, I will never live in Upstate New York ever again. My reasoning would entail an entirely new blog entry.

And so, the pursuit of somewhere else. A few criteria: It has to be a cool city or town that has character. While I undertstand that no place compares to New York, it has to have a lively scene--food, arts, culture, the works. It has to attract smart, cool people. It has to have jobs in the city, so we don't spend our lives commuting to work. It has to be liberal. It has to have good weather.

Portland, OR is a city that always comes up in conversation. We've never been to Portland, but everything we've heard is perfect...except the weather (I have a boyfriend who--unless he has to--will not leave the apartment if it is raining). It would be disasterous. Plus, it's a million miles away from everyone we know.

Dan is on an Austin, TX kick lately. I have never been but I can't imagine ever living in Texas. I did apply to the University of Texas at Austin so there is something about that place whose dream is still unfulfilled.

There must be some place in California that meets our criteria (that does not start with a V--yes, Dan sometimes talks about moving back to his hometown, but that might be too rural for me). I just don't know where. San Francisco is great, but it's just as expensive as New York and it's always cold.

My new favorite magazine, Bon Appetit, had a really interesting article about Durham-Chapel Hill, NC as the next big thing. People there are really into their locally-grown food, buying their produce directly from small-time farmers and eating at restaurants who cook with the stuff. I have no idea what the towns are like, but that sounds terribly cool. After reading the article, I wanted to meet all those people they talked about.

I don't know where we will go, if we will go, when we will go. There is a part of me that thinks about this all the time. And another part that feels like I can never leave New York City. What do you think? Maybe we should just leave the country.