When I think about all the reasons to love New York, I think about wonderful memories. I have been visiting New York since I was a teenager, and somehow this incredible city has continued weaving itself through different chapters of my life for more than four decades.
There are teenage memories, work memories, trips with Michael, Christmas with our children, mother-daughter adventures, birthdays, museums, Broadway shows, television tapings, and plenty of moments that still make me laugh. Through all those years, New York has continued to give me another reason to love it.
Perhaps that is part of the magic of the Big Apple. You can visit the same city at different stages of your life and discover an entirely different experience waiting for you.
So, come take a little trip down memory lane with me. I have three spectacular reasons to love New York, along with plenty of pictures from my own adventures to help tell the story.
🗽❤️ Reason #1: New York Gives You Memories That Last A Lifetime
Some of my earliest New York memories go all the way back to my teenage years. We had family friends who lived there, so I had an opportunity to experience New York City in a way that felt very different from simply arriving as a tourist.
One of those friends was Gamal, God rest his soul. Gamal was fabulous, well-connected, and very much the quintessential young New Yorker. I also had quite the teenage crush on him, but that is another story. 😂
Gamal seemed to know everybody, and he made sure we experienced New York. I remember being about 15, staying out until all hours, going to The Garage nightclub, and thinking New York was just about the most exciting place imaginable.
Was I a little young to be in a nightclub? Mind your business. 😂
Those early adventures helped shape the way I saw New York. Teenage me was a dreamer with some pretty big ideas about the life I wanted to live. I also believed that if I worked hard, many of those dreams could become reality.
Looking back across more than four decades, I feel incredibly blessed that so many of them did.
❤️🗽 New York Became Part Of Our Love Story Too
Years later, New York became part of another chapter when Michael and I went there together for the first time. I had a work trip in the 1990s, so we turned it into a little weekend getaway while our older children were still young.
We explored the city, caught up with some of my friends, and simply had fun being young parents enjoying some time together. I still remember how sad I felt when it was time for Michael to leave because we had enjoyed ourselves so much.
That first trip became the beginning of many New York adventures together. Over the years, we have returned for birthdays, theater trips, museums, sightseeing, and sometimes simply because spending a few days in New York sounded like a good idea.
Eventually, my career brought me back frequently too. For about two years, I reported to a corporate office in White Plains and traveled to the area roughly twice a month. New York became connected to my professional memories while still giving me opportunities to make new family memories along the way.
🎄❄️ Reason #2: New York Lets You Experience The City Through Someone Else’s Eyes
When our younger children were growing up, Michael and I often preferred giving them experiences for Christmas instead of lots of presents. Travel became one of those gifts, and one year we decided Christmas in New York would be an amazing experience.
We were excited, and the kids were excited too. They would get to see snow, experience New York at Christmas, see all the lights, and take in the energy of the city.
Then we took them to Times Square. 😂
Those children could not get out of there fast enough! Michael and I thought they would be fascinated by the giant signs, lights, crowds, and excitement. Instead, they looked around at all those people and all that activity and essentially said, “Absolutely not.”
Even the enormous Toys “R” Us in Times Square could not win them over. That was when Michael and I realized we had definitely raised Southern children. 😂
Today, that memory makes the trip even more special because it was completely authentic to who they were at that moment. They experienced New York their way, and years later, I got to watch one of them discover the city all over again.
👩🏾💻🗽 Watching Nicole Discover Her Own New York
Fast-forward several years, and my younger daughter Nicole returned to New York with me when she interviewed for BuzzFeed. After she landed the internship, we had more opportunities to spend time together in the city.
By then, something had changed. The little Southern girl who wanted to escape the energy of Times Square had grown into a young woman who could appreciate the pulse of New York.
She began enjoying museums so much that she would find new ones for us to explore together. That made me smile because museums had already become an important part of our family’s travels.
Watching Nicole develop her own relationship with New York reminded me that sometimes you grow into a place. The city was still New York, but she was experiencing it through completely different eyes.
🏛️❤️ Reason #3: New York Always Has Another Experience Waiting For You
Another one of my favorite reasons to love New York is that there always seems to be something else to experience. Museums are one of the things Michael and I have especially enjoyed in the city.
For one of his birthdays, he wanted to spend time exploring The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and I quickly discovered that Michael knew far more about The Met than I did.
Exploring it together was so much fun that museums eventually became something we regularly incorporated into our travels. We later took our children to The Met, which helped us introduce them to the history, art, and culture that museums can offer.
Over time, New York also gave us some fabulous entertainment memories. When I took my daughters to New York for my younger daughter’s 18th birthday, we attended a taping of The Wendy Williams Show. That was such a fun experience, and I still have the pictures to prove it. 😂
🎭📺 From Broadway To The View, New York Keeps Giving Us Stories
A few years ago, Michael and I returned for another birthday trip, and this time we made theater a big part of the celebration. We saw MJ: The Musical, which was amazing, and visited the Museum of Broadway.
I also finally did something I had wanted to do for years: we attended a taping of The View. I had such a good time, and it became another one of those experiences that immediately joined my long list of favorite New York memories.
New York even became part of one of the strangest travel moments of our lives. Right before the pandemic, Michael and I planned a birthday theater trip to New York before I continued from JFK to China for the birth of our third grandson.
My China trip was canceled as the outbreak unfolded, which turned out to be an enormous blessing because my original travel plans would have taken me through Wuhan. Later, after New York reopened, Michael and I returned again.
Experiencing the city shortly before everything closed and then again after it reopened added yet another chapter to our New York story.
🌆🗽 There Really Is A New York State Of Mind
After all these years, there is still something about arriving in New York that changes my energy. I can feel myself slipping into the rhythm of the city.
My Southern vibe gets a little New York edge. 😂 I walk a little differently, move with the crowd, and settle into that unmistakable pulse that makes the city feel alive.
Maybe that is one reason I keep going back. New York has been there for teenage adventures, young love, motherhood, career milestones, family vacations, birthdays, dreams, celebrations, museums, theater, and so many ordinary moments in between.
Even now, I am already trying to figure out how I can squeeze another New York trip into my plans. Some love affairs simply last. ❤️
If you are planning your own visit, the official New York City Tourism guide offers plenty of inspiration for exploring attractions, neighborhoods, restaurants, museums, events, and all five boroughs.
☕🗽 Celebrate Your New York Memories With CupofMood
All these memories are also why I get such a warm feeling whenever I handle one of the New York cups in the CupofMood Shop. A skyline, landmark, taxi, or familiar New York image can instantly take me back to one of the many wonderful times my family and I have spent there.
I hope the New York drinkware in my collection does the same thing for you. Perhaps New York reminds you of your honeymoon, a family vacation, your first Broadway show, Christmas in the city, a birthday celebration, or simply walking those streets and feeling that famous New York energy.
Maybe you have never been and one of these cups represents a trip you still dream about taking. I understand that too because teenage me was a dreamer, and thankfully, she never stopped dreaming.
You can explore my New York Travel Collection and find a cup that celebrates your own New York story. From familiar landmarks to designs that capture the spirit of the city, these pieces offer a fun way to bring a little New York home with you.
🗽❤️ The Final Sip
Finally, after more than four decades of New York memories, I realize that my favorite reasons to love New York have very little to do with checking famous attractions off a list. I love New York because pieces of my life are scattered all over it.
There is a teenage girl exploring the city with Gamal; there are two young parents enjoying a weekend away. Then there are children discovering snow and deciding Times Square has entirely too many people. 😂
Not to mention, there is a daughter returning years later for a BuzzFeed opportunity, a husband happily exploring The Met, and a family building traditions around museums, theater, travel, and experiences.
And somewhere among all those memories is the woman I am today, still dreaming, still traveling, and apparently still trying to squeeze another New York trip onto the calendar. 🗽❤️
That is what I hope you feel when you find the perfect New York cup at CupofMood. I hope it brings back your memories, celebrates your adventures, or keeps your dream of visiting New York close until you finally get there.
Because sometimes a cup holds your favorite drink, and sometimes it holds forty years of memories. ☕🗽❤️
What is one of your favorite New York memories, or what would you most love to experience on your first trip? I would love to hear which part of New York holds a special place in your heart.
Until Next Time,
Namaste,
Khadeeja