WHO ARE THE DREAMERS + MAKERS BEHIND THE WELCOME BLOG?

Like for many things, "it takes a village to ...," many other people have contributed to the TWB, and continue to do so. Just because their faces might not be  portrayed on this page, it doesn't mean that the TWB isn't a collective effort; many brains, hearts and arms have come together throughout the past 2 years to create our community.  The TWB Tribe will forever be grateful to all of those that have dedicated, and keep dedicating their passion to this project. 

A Letter From The Editor 

By Irene Toscano

Hey guys, thank you for stopping by, I guess now that you are here, you are dying to discover my skeletons in the closet, the nitty-gritty, the I'll-never-tell-cross-my-heart-or-die kind of gossips, right? Kidding aside, where to begin? I guess I'm not quite sure how to summarize 20+ years of my life into 500 words, or less.

This reminds me when people ask you that same-old-same-old, lame and absurd question - What's your thing? if you could only pick one thing / one person / one–whatever what would that be? I mean like we could possibly fit a life-long worth of choices, likes, tastes, people etc. into a single thing, a single person, a single choice–and so on so forth. Or when you are those meet-up groups and you need to pick a word that describes you. I always find it a bit moronic, but hey, I've been sitting here at one of my favorite coffee shops sipping on iced-coffee trying to find cover from this extreme heat, and I don't know why but my head started wondering off to the pick one thing question, and I asked myself - do I have My One Thing?

What would I write on my name tag? Umh... could it be New York City? Don't get me wrong I love many things, some of them are irreplaceable, and never will, like my family, my dog Brinkley, and my friends, others are more mundane. I love traveling, here domestically and abroad, I love the country, the mountain and the beach. I love food, a well-written book, and a well-thought-out TV-Series. I go to the movies as often as I can.

Shopping is my middle name (along with spoiled brat but you will find that out soon enough.) I love my Jeep Wrangler Unlimited, a football game on a Saturday Night (Roll Tide Roll Forever!) followed by another football game on a Sunday (Go G-Men!) I love the opera, theater and ballet, music, concerts. I love Life - I love a full, adventurous, even stressing at times, Life with a capital L! And I got to think, is there one thing that all the above have in common? A common denominator shall we say? And I realized it's the City. It's what makes my day going. I can have literally nothing, but I just need to open the door and a world awaits me.

The thrill the city gives you, the stamina to always carry on in spite of the struggles, heartbreaks and failures. I've always been a person that performs better under stress. I actually accomplish more if I'm on full-on overload mode rather

than just having to deal with one task at a time.

So, I think New York City is My Thing, but not just the good stuff, the lavish restaurants and fashionable boutiques. I love the struggle, the kick in the butt, the no excuse attitude, the always rushing everywhere, the guy flipping you the bird on the street, the Chanel-couture Madison Avenue ladies, the nauseating smells, the 5 o'clok subway rides, the struggles and the joys... Nobody will ever be able to describe New York City, we can get close but it's never quite right. We use clichés, phrases heard in famous movies and songs to describe something than maybe it just can't be described. The thing is that New York City will never be the same for everybody, you get back from this City what you put in. So for me, it boils down to Lifestyle, all the things I love can be found in this city of ours. I pick the City because it's the place where I get to be the best I can be, I pick the city because I get back the energy I need, I pick the city hoping I can get them all.

Keep On Rocking! 

XoXo

Irene