kitt the britt: A BRITT IN THE BIG APPLE

THAT skyline!

Confession: I'm a bit of a last-minute person.

I am. I've been known to decide on a whim to dye my blonde hair back to its natural mousy-brown two days before going to a nation-wide Church Youth conference (note to self and whoever else might be reading this: never dye your locks on an impulse - months of frantically scrubbing red hair with washing up liquid will ensue). I'll admit it was only last week that I stayed up until the wee hours writing an essay due in the morning. I've lost count of the amount of impulse purchases I've later to come to regret. Point made, I think: last-minute is my middle name.

I have never, however, been so drastic in my last-minute decision-making as I was a few weeks ago. I decided literally a day before the payment was due to go on a weekend trip to New York City with my Fine Arts program. I had the money. I had the time. Goodness knows I had enough friends encouraging me. So I said 'why not?' and just over a week later I found myself, for the third time in my life, strolling through the streets of NYC.

I first fell in love with that city when I was 13 years old, taking in with wide eyes the yellow taxis swinging round those street corners, the suffocating humidity of the August heat, the morning commuters grabbing their bagels on the way to work (I have NYC to thank for my appreciation for a smoked salmon and cream cheese bagel). My family loved it so much we went again a couple of years later, skipping out all the tourist stuff we'd already done and just basking in the buzz of the place.

This time was different: it was winter for a start (the cold wind really blows around those corners... brrrrr), and also it was the first time I'd been since living in Canada. I grew up living so close to the loveliness that is London, England that I've really pined for it. Going back to NYC was like getting homesick for London all over again - it has a similar energy and life that made me at once love being there and feel a sad longing for London. Lots of things in life are bittersweet, I suppose.

Homesickness aside - it was an amazing few days. I've made a new promise to myself: I would like to live right in the heart of a big city for at least one year in my life. Just to be in the thick of it all, y'know?

Of course one of the highlights was my beloved Metropolitan Museum - yet another reminder of all that I miss about London. I could have stayed in The Met for days on end...