The new year is here, and accordingly things have been insane in the great city of Chicago. School is back, the Law School Musical is in full swing, rowing is trucking along, and I’m competing in the Miss Chicago/Miss Windy City pageant in exactly seven days (!!!).

Rewind, though, to just before Christmas, when I spent a few days visiting my middle school best friend and college roommate in The City That Never Sleeps: New York, New York.

New York at the holidays is pretty darn magical and just as crowded. I was born on Long Island, and my mom lived and worked in Manhattan for a long time, so it’s not shiny and new to me, but it’s still got that special beauty of being New York.

I saw stuff I haven’t seen before (the library) and stuff I’ve seen a thousand times before (the tree). But this one was, I think, my favorite trip yet, because I got to spend it with some great people at some great neighborhood places.