{"id":1066,"date":"2019-05-01T02:02:25","date_gmt":"2019-05-01T02:02:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newyorkcitygal.com\/?p=1066"},"modified":"2019-05-02T02:26:19","modified_gmt":"2019-05-02T02:26:19","slug":"single-gals-no-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.newyorkcitygal.com\/?p=1066","title":{"rendered":"Single Gals No More"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Last weekend, my dear friend of 20 years Taslin came to visit from New Orleans. It was a simply perfect, soul soothing couple of days into which we packed a lot. We went out for some great meals (sushi and Thai food), took in a Broadway matinee (Mean Girls \u2013 smart, witty and fun) and, of course, talked non-stop. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Taslin and me at Jessie\u2019s Girl\u2019s weekly Le Poisson Rouge concert<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

One of the highlights of Taslin\u2019s visit \u2013 introducing her to Jessie\u2019s Girl<\/a>, my longtime favorite 80s cover band. I\u2019ve been going to see JG for a decade now and they never disappoint with their tireless energy and amazing two hour concerts featuring some of the era\u2019s most beloved pop and rock songs. This particular show had an added dimension for me. Because I got to enjoy it with one of my best friends. And because Jessie\u2019s Girl performed during the most memorable moments of this year\u2019s 80s Cruise<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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JG at the sail away party of this year\u2019s 80s Cruise<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

My third voyage on the nostalgic annual sailing turned out to an unexpectedly life changing one. It felt like God was giving me this amazing do over after being in the vise-like grip of depression the previous two times. Though The 80s Cruise lineup is full of fantastic headliner artists, Jessie\u2019s Girl is the band that really brings everyone together. They\u2019re the hardest working musicians for sure, performing six shows, each with completely different set lists. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s no surprise then that this talented and totally awesome group provided the pitch perfect soundtrack to the moments I will forever cherish most from this year\u2019s cruise. The sail away party that gets the 80s party started. An intimate jam session with JG and Tiffany on the last night which found me dancing up a storm to Toto\u2019s hit Africa. And, sigh, the beautiful slice of time when I connected with my boyfriend Steve<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The moment when it all happened for me and Steve.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

On a breezy night at sea, as the band played to a packed crowd on the pool deck, I stood toward the the back by myself. I savored every beat of the music, on a high from seeing Kenny Loggins in concert earlier and feeling completely present. Though Steve and I already knew of each other, had been Facebook friends for awhile and met briefly at the cruise pre-party, this was the first time we got a chance to talk. Our connection was immediate, the conversation effortless. I so loved talking to Steve that I asked a friend of his to take the above picture of us. Of all the photos from this year\u2019s cruise, it\u2019s the one where I\u2019m smiling the most. Little did I know that was a preview of what was to come for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now I understand why people say love finds you when you stop looking for it. Before meeting Steve, I had not only stopped but accepted that love wasn\u2019t in the cards for me. Taslin felt the same before meeting her husband Ross. She and I talked a lot about the winding road to meeting our soulmates. We fully appreciate the miracle of finding a life partner in this day and age when social norms seem to prioritize a toxic dating culture over committed, long term relationships. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since falling in love with Steve, I\u2019ve found myself thinking about the mountains of advice that people have given me over the years. Always well intentioned, most of it rings true. With one very big exception \u2014 that my expectations were too high. That I was unrealistic to want what my late, adored parents had with each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Mom and Dad<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In nearly 30 years together, the magic and mutual passion they shared never went away. Dad himself said, their love was like cement \u2014 it could never be broken. Mom assured me I would eventually find that kind of relationship. With someone who would, to paraphrase how she once described Dad, fulfill the wildest dreams of my imagination. Mom, I am so very happy to finally be able to say \u2014 you were right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s the thing about true love. It doesn\u2019t require settling or giving up the values you hold dear. It brings out your best, most authentic self because at long last, you\u2019re finally with the person who really sees who you are and loves you unconditionally. The same exact way you love him.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even for a writer like me, there are no words to say how thankful and blessed I feel that Steve and I found each other. I\u2019m so excited about all that\u2019s ahead for us. Including, of course, seeing Jessie\u2019s Girl again on the 2020 sailing of the 80s Cruise.<\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last weekend, my dear friend of 20 years Taslin came to visit from New Orleans. It was a simply perfect, soul soothing couple of days into which we packed a lot. We went out for some great meals… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"New Blog Post: A Single Gal No More #loveafter40 #happilyeverafter #onlyonthe80scruise","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[267,269],"tags":[268,271,270,169,168],"class_list":["post-1066","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-finding-love","category-mom-and-dad","tag-cover-bands","tag-finding-love-after-40","tag-happily-ever-after","tag-jessies-girl-band","tag-the-80s-cruise"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":"","source_text":"","source_url":""},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4J0fq-hc","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.newyorkcitygal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1066","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.newyorkcitygal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.newyorkcitygal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.newyorkcitygal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.newyorkcitygal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1066"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/www.newyorkcitygal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1066\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1098,"href":"http:\/\/www.newyorkcitygal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1066\/revisions\/1098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.newyorkcitygal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1066"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.newyorkcitygal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1066"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.newyorkcitygal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1066"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}