We Don't Have a Word for the Opposite of Loneliness

WOOT! School's out for the summer  forever! The last thing I want to do is read, right? WRONG.
Now is the time when I can finally read the books I actually want to read,  not the ones I'm forced to.

Summer Reading I've already completed: 

1. Northanger Abbey. As a fairly new member of the Jane Austen fan club, I thoroughly enjoyed this 18th century British novel. More romantic and mysterious than another favorite, Pride and Prejudice, Northanger Abbey leaves you guessing up until the very last page.

2. The Opposite of Loneliness. Home to the most moving introduction I've ever read; I was in tears within the first three pages. Relatable, witty, and funny, Marina Keegan left behind a literary legacy. She is a real inspiration to any 20-something aspiring writers. This collection of short stories and essays will leave you moved and stumped, all in the same.

One of my favorite quotes: "We don't have a word for the opposite of loneliness, but if we did, I'd say that's how I feel right now. In love, impressed, humbled, scared. And we don't have to lose that."

3. Look at Me. Written by Jennifer Egan. Honestly, this just wasn't my cup of tea, or shot of whiskey. It's based in New York City, so I thought I'd give it a try, but there's an element to it that I didn't enjoy. It's mysterious enough to keep you interested, but not enough to want to read it again. And that's how I judge my books, based on the fact if I'd ever want to go at it a second time around.

Summer Reading in Progress:

1. Persuasion. Another Jane Austen novel.

Oh shoot, I better get on it: 

 1. The Thief Lord. Written by Cornelia Funke. This was gifted to me by a dear friend, Vanessa! We sealed some words in it with a pact.

2. Recommendations?!?!?


What's on your summer reading list? For that matter, what's on your FALL reading list? I'm always wanting recommendations for good books to read :)

Stay brainy!

Naturally yours,
N

Introductions are Sometimes Awkward

Hi!!! Welcome to my launch!

Thanks for coming :)

Wondering what this blog is about? Go to my first post, here!

What you see is the beginning skeletal outline of what Nomadalie will entail; feel free to snoooooop around, leave comments, tell me your likes and dislikes. Think something is missing? Let me know! I'd love to have your feedback.

You may notice that some of the tabs are empty. Calm down, sheesh! I haven't gotten there yet ;) Posts will be coming on the regular, and probably quite rapidly in the beginning as I have a lot of things I want to talk about. Have something you want to hear? I'm open to any and all ideas.

Have fun navigating, explorers!

Naturally yours,
N

Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop

"I never knew just what it was about this old coffee shop

I love so much

All of the while, I never knew

All of the while, all of the while,

it was you."

Crazy to think, had you asked me a little over a year ago what I would be doing today, I never would have imagined that the response would be "drinking coffee in NYC, the city where I have been living for the past two months." For starters, I hated coffee. I found it quite repulsive. It smelled like tar and even moreso looked and tasted like it. It wasn't until I found a little coffee shop in North Park, San Diego, CA called ' Caffe Calabria ' where my love for coffee started. My go-to cup of joe? Vanilla latte, iced or hot. It makes me feel like a real person in the morning.

Now, having spent the past two months in NYC (want to hear about my Summer Affair? ), I've fallen in love many times...all over the city...with coffee. New York has been home to some of the best cups of coffee that I have ever had.( Within my short one year span of drinking coffee, that is. )

If I'm up for the trek, I'll head over to Bluebird Coffee Shop near the corner of Houston and Allen for a strong espresso and the best homemade granola I've ever tasted. I got caught here in a Summer storm, spent three hours reading, writing, and enjoying the bangs and bolts of the thunder and lightening :)

In the mood for a hangout spot? Birch Coffee , with locations all over the city, has a lot of tables where spotting anyone without a MacBook Pro is a rarity. My favorite location-just a few blocks from my apartment- is located on the Upper West Side, Columbus Ave & 96th St. If you're up for the challenge, their innovative tip jars challenge you to a little game of trivia. Remember, it's always good to tip your barista ;)

This last one, Biased?, you ask. Nope. Yes, I worked here, but I still find it to be one of the coolest hangout spots in Soho. Snuggled in the well-known book store, McNally Jackson , this cozy cafe allows you to ditch the technology for a bit, grab a book, a coffee, and a bite to eat. The pastries are supplied by bakeries all over the city and the housemade sandwiches are to die for. Try the chicken salad, just trust me.

A couple more noteworthy quick stops: Blue Bottle Coffee on the Highline, as well as Gimme! Coffee in Soho. These are just a few of my favorites, and with only about a week and half left in the city, I won't be able to tackle every shop I'd like to. Do you have a favorite coffee shop? If so, where? I'd love to hear :)

Word of advice*, and not to be a hater-but if you're looking for quality coffee, ditch the Starbucks. Go out and find somewhere unique and different, it's so rewarding.

Happy drinking!
Naturally yours,
N

My Summer Love Affair with The Big Apple

"If you're from Southern California, why are you white? why are you here? You came from Sunny, Perfect Weathered San Diego to here- Hot, Sticky, and Humid NYC. WHY would you do such a thing?"

BECAUSE I CAN!

Since moving to the city, I've come across a surplus of people who ask, in all seriousness, why the heck would I ever leave San Diego and move to New York. To me this is ignorance. I don't mean to be blunt. Just kidding- that's a lie- I do. I don't believe that life is meant to be spent in one place. To encounter only one part of the world is like reading only one page of the best book there ever was. (*cough Harry Potter cough*) Especially as young adults, we're meant to go out and see the world, figure out who we are.

The opportunity to move to New York for the summer came out of nowhere. After experiencing my first bout of heartache (ache not break) and graduating college, there was no better time for me to up and move my life. I quit both my jobs (yes, I had two jobs while going to school full-time...self pat on the back), moved out of my studio, sold my car, and narrowed my life down to what fits in two suitcases and a backpack. With no strings attached, and no reason to settle, I bought a one shot ticket to New York City..well, not exactly. I stopped in Portland first.

Fortunately, here in NY, I was able to take over a friends room on the Upper West Side (thanks Eva :)! ) and her job at the cafe/bookstore McNally Jackson. I weaseled my way in within a matter of two days. Like all great love affairs, my relationship with New York has had it's ups and downs. Some days I've absolutely loved it and some days I've hated it. Actually, the love and the hate kind of comes sporadically, some minutes it's love, until I pass the block reeking of garbage, then it's hate.

Our Relationship: 

Reasons I LOVE:
1. Skyline from Brooklyn...I basically gasped the first time I saw it. Jaw to the floor. It is absolutely breathtaking; pictures do not do it justice.

2. Central Park...The days and hours I've spent here are countless. Walks, bikes rides, phone calls, coffee time, rest & relaxation. It is my absolute favorite place to walk in the city.

3. Seamless...ashamedly. For all of you non-New York folk, Seamless is a mobile food delivery app. I can't believe this actually made my list, but the fact that you can get practically any kind of food delivered at any time of day. That's just magic. Don't judge the fact that I've had sushi for breakfast...multiple times.

4. Walking & Subway...Really, just the fact that you can walk anywhere here is extremely awesome. Today, for instance, I walked up Broadway from Soho to Columbus Circle, passing almost every noteworthy "tourist" spot there is to see. 59 blocks of pure New York Bliss.

The Subway might surprise you, but really, I kind of like it. I'm not missing my car one bit! I'm baffled by it's construction. An Underground Railroad intricately connecting you from one place to the next. How, just how? We're just a bunch of little moles running around below. It's great. 

Reasons I HATE:

1. Money Money Money...It practically costs money just to step out your door. There are so many nice, free things to do in the city, but SO many of them cost money, and a lot of it.

2. Street Cat-Callers...Not to scare anyone, especially Grandma, but I hate walking down the street sometimes. (Wait, I just said I love walking, see how it's such an affair?)
"Hey gorgeous, I'm off in ten minutes, you wanna come back and meet me?" 
"You have a nice day...Lord have mercy look at those legs, girl you want a massage?"
"Are you girls models?"
STOP. JUST STOP. That is not the way to speak to me. Who raised you to speak that way? Oh, and I'm not a dog. Whistling does not make me come.

3.You're 1 in 8.337 million people, and then some...It's really easy to feel a little bit lost, hidden, and lonely. With so many people around all the time, you can start to feel a bit insignificant. You spend your day walking by or sitting with people on the Subway, but you don't know any of them, and none of them know you. They have their headphones in and so do you. Eye contact is scarce, a smile even more so.

4. You don't know whether to love or to hate it....Does this even make sense? It does to me. I hate it, because half the time, I don't know whether it's love or hate. The things I love I also hate, and the things I hate I also love. Example? Bagels and Pizza. I LOVE Bagels and Pizza, they're everywhere. But, I also hate that they're everywhere. Bagels and Pizza make you fat. I hate fat. How's that for a puzzle?

NYC, we have a perfectly healthy love/hate relationship...

...but now, I want to break up. 

"Summer flings" are just that, a fling--a superficial temporary relationship.fun & flighty, on the surface, but effective. At the end of a fling, you might be happy and sad, it might have effected you in a deep way, but you know that all it ever was supposed to be is temporary. There comes a point in time when you know the fling is over. As summer winds down, I'm feeling a change in the air, and a change in me.  With this new season, like the trees, I'm losing my leaves. I'm changed, & I know it's time to go. 

I head for upstate New York on September 1st, where I will stay with family for a couple weeks. I will have so much downtime, be prepared for my "flashback" posts. After that, I'll be back in the city for a quick kiss goodbye, then on September 21st I'll be boarding a plane for my next big affair..Spain! 

Curious to hear more about my NYC adventures? Let me know! Need some advice on things to do and plaecs to go? Ask! The city is a magical place filled with a surplus of activities. I think everyone, at some point in life, needs to have a relationship with the Big Apple, even if for only a one-night stand.

Stay tuned!

Naturally yours,

N

Realizing Why It's Important to Write & Acting on It

I have never considered myself a "writer". Granted, for many years I have written, but almost entirely for academic purposes. I didn't grow up writing poems or fairytales and I surely didn't write for fun during my undergrad. Papers upon papers upon essays upon homework. That's all I ever really thought writing would be to me. Until I realized, that's only the start. How you have been taught to write isn't necessarily how you ought to.

Quite recently, I've grown to appreciate the fact that there is so much more detail in written work than in an image alone. In a world so caught up with social media and images, we've strayed away from writing how we feel and have drifted into showing it. Problem is, the picture does not actually represent the real, raw, emotion of the event. The picture does not do the experience within the picture justice.

20 years from now, looking at photos (most likely digitally), you probably won't be able to remember the funny joke your dad told right before the photo was snapped, or the excitement you felt for the plane to Spain you were about to board, or how nervous you were while riding the elephant in Thailand. Although pictures of all of these things are great, written word will not only show the experience, but it will allow you to feel it, even 20 years from now.


One reason why I've never written is because I never thought I'd be good at it. I'm not a great story-teller as it is; I forget the details most of the time and have to revert back to the beginning because I most likely left out an important part. My writing kind of works the same. I'm a little bit jumbled and all over the place. Heck, I'm not good at it, but I guess it's not all about being good at something, it's about enjoying the experience.  I can only hope that with what I'm writing now, in 10/20/30 years, I can look back on all of my work and remember how I felt at these moments. I hope that with my writing I can look back on it and smile, shed a tear, or laugh, for I'll know that it was life, and I lived it to it's full potential.

Naturally yours,
N

Nomad...Natalie...Nomadalie!

Allow me to introduce myself, I'm Natalie & I'm a nomad. Kind of for real, well, minus the hunting and gathering part, but like the nomads, I really can't stay in one place for very long...Hence, why you and I are both here.

 Traveling. I really love traveling.

Nomadalie is going to be my ultimate outlet as I do just that. My explorations, my experiences, my advice, my ups, my downs ( i'll try to keep the cliche sayings to a minimum), my emotions, my food, my everything. You get the point. Pinpointing exactly what this blog is going to be about is just near impossible, as you can probably tell, I really have no idea. Yet, I can assure you it will always be 3 things:

1. Honest
2. Open
3. Me

The last one I find so crucial. With a day and age like ours, where social media is taking over and reality is becoming less and less real, one thing I find extremely important for each of us as individuals to uphold is the ability to be ourselves. Often times, we're so externally influenced by what surrounds us. I'm extremely guilty of this. I see instagram posts and facebook posts and immediately start comparing my adventure to somebody elses. That's not how it should be. Our adventures are our own, our perspectives our own, our lives are our own. We get to decide how we live it. You be you and I'll be me.

This blog is me, vowing to be me. just me. Real & raw.

Embark on this adventure with me, I'd love to have you.

Naturally yours,
N