It’s hard for me to believe that I am now a California girl.  NYC with all its grit, ambition, and in-your-face-ness way of living defined me for most of my adult life.  Damn, that place made me an adult.  Ya know when people say they are from ‘all over’?– well, I too, can easily reply that way as I’ve lived in Long Island, London, Prague, Berlin, and NYC, but what I always ask is “Where did you go to High School?” and “Where did you spend your time from 25-35”?  High school is where we became a human with an opinion, but those later years are where you became an adult.  NYC was a great parent in many ways — she raised me to be tough, direct, hard-working, and efficient.  She taught me how to survive with very little, how to travel with street smarts, and she taught me to look over my shoulder — as a result, the no bullshit attitude is not a stereotype but a truth for anyone who really lived in the Big A — those skills will be with me forever.  But just as the teenager in me needed and yearned to leave for Westchester to go to Art School – away from the conformity that surrounded me in suburban LI, I also needed to leave NYC – my biggest teacher – to become something else.  As all students eventually must leave their teachers to apply what they have learned out in the world, I recognized the inevitable departure as early as 2008 — I remember flying into JFK not excited to see that skyline anymore as I used to, but rather dreading.  It was a place where I grew up, made and lost friends and lovers, created and built a business, but also a place where my time was up, I was feeling like I was overstaying my welcome.  My soul needed something softer, gentler, and more feminine.  My surroundings that were the concrete jungle for so long no longer defined me.  My role as an educator, body worker and a business woman was up, and I was ready to fly off to do what I have always wanted to do — use my emotional life, my life experiences, and my skills to express and inspire others through the vehicle of acting.  I’d visited LA in 2012, and loved it – it felt so much more in alignment with who I had started to become.  So for years after that, I plotted, strategized and prayed I would have the courage to make the move.  My life, my career and all my clients were in NYC — but deep down I was not happy.  I longed for Nature, a slower life, no more grimy subway and mostly to get in touch with that girl inside me who still had dreams.  NYC, I love you, and you taught me so much — as much as I am becoming a West Coaster more and more, I still have that resilience, that strength and that no bullshit attitude that you taught me so well.  Don’t worry – you can take the girl out of NY, but you can’t take the NY out of the girl.  The difference now is that this NY girl is now softer, more playful whilst still shooting for the stars — stars in the sky she can actually see now.