My name is Tracy. A lot has changed in my life since March 2007. I lost my job in advertising and I got married. This is my second marriage and also the second time I have lost my job. The first time I lost my job and got married also happened during the same time frame as the second. I'm wondering if there was some lesson I missed the first time that I have to figure out the second time in order to advance on the game board of life.
Today I'm freelancing and spending quality time with my 10 year old son Skylar. That has been the best part of not working full time. That and riding my bike. Both my husband and I are bike racers. We met at a bike race in Brooklyn last year so that is how we spend our quality time together – saddle to saddle.
I grew up in Fairfield CT. located along the southern coast of the state. Its a beautiful small New England town and a great place to raise kids, however, I couldn't wait to escape. After High School I went all the way to upstate New York for college at SUNY Oswego. After my sophmore year I stayed there year round. I supported myself with bartending and a little help from my parents (they were more than happy for me to stay away from the nest). When I graduated in '89 I couldn't bear to move back home so after I got a decent job I moved to New York City and have been here ever since. My husband and I toy with the idea of moving back to CT., enticed by its beauty, beaches and the endless undulating roads suited for great training rides. But the magnetic attraction that is this city keeps us here.
We live, my husband, son and I in a one bedroom apartment I purchased in 2005 on Upper Fifth Avenue. The square footage is just below 700 but we all manage to fit largely due to my superior organization skills and ruthless editing of unneeded stuff. Our bedroom is divided by floor to ceiling curtains for now but soon we will build a partition. After all, this is New York and square footage is hard to come by.
While it might be impressive to have a Fifth Avenue address and live across the street from the greatest park in the entire world (Central Park) it is not the same neighborhood as Mayor Bloomberg or Mary Tyler Moore or even the famous red-tailed hawks Lola and Pale Male. But being across the street from Central Park is amazing despite the occasional shoot out or the horrible smell of female Ginko trees in the fall. We do most of our training here and for other forms of recreation we stay in the North end of the Park which is largely absent of tourists. Even native New Yorkers rarely travel to upper Central Park except on the 6 mile loop.
I'm starting this website for several reasons. One, I need to get current. Although I'm an art director I do mostly print work. I needed web experience to boost my equity so I've been teaching myself HTML and CSS. Although this blog is hosted by squarespace and I use one of their templates I plan on implementing my own designs as I learn more code. Second, I need a daily creative outlet and I need to feel like I'm doing something. Summer's over and I can no longer enjoy 4 hour training rides when its only 40 degrees. And lastly, because maybe I'll learn something about myself or get rid of some bad habits and perhaps even help someone else who reads this.
