frazzled & frumpy

I tried to be a city girl. A year after my high school graduation, when  two semesters at college had come to an end, I was stuck. I felt penned in by the spaciousness of my hometown.  Unsure of where to go or what to do, I signed with a nanny agency, and found myself on a plane to New York City. In between my responsibilities for the girls I cared for, my new friends and I would take the train into the city  to explore.  I loved the tall buildings, the way they swallowed me whole with their oppressive height.  Narrow streets that bustled with people and yellow taxis moved me inside and out.  The stores were expensive and glamorous.  I bought pretzels on the corner and blushed at the catcalls of men as we walked down the filthy sidewalks. New York was busy and full, completely opposite of the life I'd left in small-town Idaho.  There were people of all shapes and colors, unabashed and forward.  I thought I wanted to be one of them...