Picture This: Meet Jessie

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meet jessiePicture this.

I was born and raised on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. I went to high school in the city. I went to college in the city. First, second, third jobs and the same number of apartments, you guessed it, all in the city. Everything I knew was the Big Apple. It’s fair to say that’s all I knew.

Picture this.

A rainy city night. Work ran late, and my taxi wheels slide to a halt against the wet streets. I swipe my credit card, thank the driver, and exit onto the sidewalk. I don’t have an umbrella or a rain jacket for that matter. That’s a city person’s view of the world for ya. You are instantly out one door and into another. No need for rain gear; just go. I enter the restaurant, and there he is. Waiting for me at the bar. My blind date, my only blind date ever, looks over his shoulder, and I immediately know. Oh, that’s him. That’s the guy I’m going to marry.

Picture this.

I live in a house in Westchester. I own a house? And I’m buying a car. I’ve never bought a car! I didn’t even get my license until I was twenty-two. I have a husband, children, a cat, and a dog. The sound of ambulance alarms and bus engines whizzing to life has been replaced by…I think those are frogs. Crickets? Both? My career as a celebrity assistant has changed into one as a schedule-flexible photographer. My credit card statement had its day of being an endless list of movies, meals, and taxis, but I’m soaking up this new version contained with toys, coffee, and road trips.

I never pictured myself living in “the country.” I mean, it’s not country-country. I suppose two miles from me definitely is, but two miles in the other direction is full of restaurants and nightlife. That’s what I love about Westchester. All these options and accessibility are what I love about where I am raising my family. 

It’s a pretty picture.

Photo Credit: @rsanchesc