Jazz Age Lawn Party

On Saturday, we went on a little daycation to Governors Island for the Jazz Age Lawn Party, and we had the time of our lives. It’s Monday, and we are still floating on the high of the weekend. It was a full one, and at risk of sounding totally cliche; the day was magical.

The costumes, the music, the food, the dancing, the people! Oh, the people. A few days before the party, I was feeling a bit down about missing one of my friends who came for a short visit, and being in New York just got me down. Not because I don’t love it here… I do. But I find it difficult to navigate saying goodbye over and over again to my friends who move. It has only made our relationships stronger, and the visits that much sweeter.  After reading the comments on my instagram, I realized that my feelings were common. No matter how much you love the city, it sucks saying goodbye to your girls.

With that said, I don’t want to be anywhere but here. It’s pure magic here, and as ridiculous as it sounds to some who might not live here or who live here and are totally over it, I feel it. I always feel it! The moments in which I don’t, they feel foreign. The only cure to those feelings at times; is to be active or simply look at my kids.

My kids are a reminder of the beauty of New York City. The way we constantly forget that I’m black and Peter is white. The way our kids see kids that look just like them, and different, and it’s their normal. We never feel different here, ever. We aren’t. We shouldn’t. And truthfully, at times, when traveling, we’ve felt different. Not in a bad way per se, but just in a elephant in a china shop kind of way.

More than anything, like one person mentioned on instagram, being there together was also a reminder of how far we’ve come. I know things don’t feel like it with such horrific things happening this year, but at the party, I was reminded. Even if for a day.

I’m so thankful to New York City, and the way it forces you to hop on a boat and dance in a pool of sweat with thousands of strangers. Life is so good.

Okay, was that enough of a ramble? Yes. Onward! A ton of pictures behind the cut to keep rolling in the magic that was the Jazz Age Lawn Party!