Dear New York,

I don’t really know where to begin, or what I want to say, but I have to say something. Almost two years ago I moved here with no idea of what to expect or what was to come. I had just graduated from Colorado State and was ready to start the next chapter in my life. Getting to be so young in a such a large city, and a city with so much soul and history; was something I’d never experienced before. I had stars in my eyes. Not only was I excited to start my career in a field I’d worked so hard to become a part of - I was getting to make up for lost time with my brother. We hadn’t lived in the same city since he graduated from high school in 2002, and although we kept very close, visits were few and far between. With family and many friends from college around me, life was great. I got to explore you and see/do things I’d always wanted to do. I spent the 4th of July in North Port with friends, visited your beaches (which I didn’t even know existed), attended my first fashion trade shows, and discovered my new favorite drink - dirty martinis. After interning with ESP Showroom for the summer, the job search started. It was hard, but my efforts to stay in fashion finally came to fruition and I landed a job with Joe’s Jeans in October. I had just moved in to my first real apartment (since staying at a family friends place over the summer) and it was crazy to think that I was really “making it” here. It was undoubtedly a dream come true. At Joe’s I got travel to places I’d never been before and made some really great friends along the way. I learned so much there, and have nothing but appreciation for all the girls I worked with, who taught me everything I know about fashion wholesale today. At my year mark with Joe’s I was offered a position with another premium denim line that I couldn’t refuse. Although my time at William Rast was limited - due to an unforeseen licensing out of the brand, which led to all employees being let go - it was a great chance for me to grow and put everything I’d learned at Joe’s into action. After about a month and a half with WR the news was broken that we were all being laid off, and it left me wondering what to do next. That event came right before Christmas break and I was able to go home to my family and really do some soul searching. After a lot of thought, I decided that my time here with you had come to an end.. I truly miss Colorado and being closer to my family in New Mexico. The last few weeks have been all about business: transferring bills, selling furniture, finding a sublessor, packing, etc. But now that all of that is done and a few goodbyes have already been said, I sit and reflect on my time here with you. Though it has been hard at times, I have absolutely no regrets. I’ve made some amazing new friends - become even closer with old friends - and have the best relationship I’ve ever had with my brother. I have such a wild mix of emotions.. sadness and sorrow, but excitement and eagerness to start the next chapter. I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason, and that we all follow a path in our lives. I look forward to being able to look back at my time here in years to come, and yearn to see what happens next. So here’s to you New York, thanks for all your shitty weather, stinky subways, insanely expensive drinks, cockroaches, pushy people, rats and tiny apartments - I’ve loved every minute of it and can’t wait to see you again.

Always, Brianne