Libs on the REAL: A toast to 100 posts and more

It only seems fitting that my 100th post is the day after one of my dreams came true. Last night I had the opportunity to do stand up comedy for the first time at Gotham Comedy Club. And if I thought I couldn't love NYC anymore, I was completely and utterly wrong. If I thought my friends couldn't be anymore amazing, I was completely ignorant. Because there is ab-so-lute-ly no doubt in my mind that I do live in the best city, and that I do have the BEST friends. (And if you try to fight with me...I guarantee I'll win)

Last night was one of those moments that you imagine a television show to run in slow motion, in order to exaggerate the wonderfulness of it all. Last night was one of those moments where you realize you can do something you never believed you could, and where you realize that picking up the world and shaking it up a bit--isn't so difficult. That picking up your own life--and shaking it up a bit, isn't so difficult

Looking out at my friends--new and old, my co-workers, my brother, his wife, the strangers I didn't know, and the other comedians there to perform--I felt at ease. I don't think I have ever felt so much support in my entire life, and I've definitely never felt more fortunate to know the people that I know, who come from all different walks of life.

As each friend had walked through the door earlier in the night, I gushed with happiness. At one point, I thought, wow...I think I am more excited for all my friends to be in one place--than I am to even get on that stage right now. I don't know how to say it any other way but that these people--these friends, these co-workers, these family members--they mean more to me than they could ever know, than the word love could ever mean. I appreciate not only their support of my night on stage, but their love and passion and desire for life, in general, as it ignites me to want to succeed and do well in my own.

I've quoted One Tree Hill many times before, but that won't stop me now,

because really... "their art matters--it's what got me here."

But even after last night, I have the confidence to say...my art matters too--it got me here too.

I started this blog originally to brief on my New York City life and the reel--to discuss my internship in television, my daily star sightings, and my feelings on the entertainment industry. I started this blog so that I could receive the last three credits I needed to graduate with a double major in college. I started this blog, with no intention of it lasting till now. I called it Libs on the Reel. What I should have been calling it all along was Libs on the REAL. Because I started seeing that the reel life I was experiencing--was leading me to an entirely amazing REAL life...one that's moments aren't captured in slow motion to exaggerate their wonderfulness, one that can't be rewound or paused to literally re-take or take in a moment, and one that wasn't just a projection on a screen. A life that's moments are worth waking up for every morning--not ones just worth imagining.

The first sentence I ever wrote in this blog was:

"When I was younger, I swore I would never go to school in New York, and that I would never live in New York..."

After last night--after finally feeling like I had found my niche, after seeing many of the people I care about come out to support me and my endeavors...I think the new first line of my blog should be:

"I don't think I'll ever leave New York City...again."