Come on up!

I've never watched NASCAR because I think it's stupid.

...that being said, my summer in New York has linked me with newfound kinship to the sport I find so trivial.

Over the past 10 weeks, I've been blessed with a variety of visitors in route from Georgia; folks from my childhood, my past, my present - all dear ones I fully expect to impact me now and in the future.

First, 3 weeks into my stay in the NYU dorms, I welcomed Katie - my sorority big sister. We applied all [she'd taught me] about Athens nightlife to unforgettable evenings on the Upper West and Greenwich Village.

Barely a week later, two rather generous people (many know them as Marge and Dalt) paid for my elaborate eating habits, a couple of peplum tops (I probably didn't need) and allowed me to crash on a rollaway at the end of their hotel room bed.

On July 4th, the boyfriend and I commemorated our anniversary with the penguins at Central Park Zoo and fireworks on the Hudson. Little did he know his spur-the-moment decision to share an evening under lights and pops five years before would allow romantic irony every "Independence" Day after.

I shared frozen hot chocolates and thoughtful conversation with an elementary school teacher and her kindhearted family; drinks and fashion-forward musings with two sorority sisters and one of their tiny mothers at the Ace Hotel; a baseball game and brunch with a Scottish sibling and role model from across the pond - our first face-to-face visit since my freshman year of high school; moments of reflections on Liberty Island with my first cousin - whose ability to challenge and inspire is more noteworthy than I can explain in one mere blog post - and his darlingly successful wife; a night of shopping and catching up - illuminated by Times Square - with a wiser-than-her-years 15-year-old I'll forever claim as a sister...

When Jeff Gordon or Jimmy Johnson (aren't those the names of race car drivers?!) are running low on fuel or are burdened by a flat tire, they'll make a necessary pit stop. From there, members of their team rejuvenate the insides of their rides to advance them to victory. In the same sense, each visit from a member of MY team refills my heart with love, my soul with ambition and most of all, reminds me to enjoy this summertime ride.