The Peak

{Scarlett here}

When I was little, we lived in a tiny town of about a thousand people. Moving to a town of two thousand people when I was 6 was a HUGE upgrade because they had a Dairy Queen and a Pizza Hut AND a doctor, all in the same town. No Wal Mart, no McDonalds, no movie theater and no mall, but I could get a Blizzard whenever I wanted. As you can imagine, growing up like this forges a unique perspective on the finer things in life.

As a little girl, I remember one of the most exciting things ever was driving through Midland, Texas, and admiring the skyline from the back of my parents' station wagon. It was amazing. It was probably about like what Dorothy felt when she glimpsed the Emerald City for the first time. I was just in awe of how tall the buildings were. Skyscrapers, my parents called them. Wow. I'd never seen buildings so tall that they actually brushed the sky. I craned my little neck to gaze up at them, trying to see all the way up to the top, in wonder at the marvels of human ingenuity that could build such amazing things.

Fast forward to me as an 18-year-old, moving off to college. I had hit the big time. I was moving to College Station, Texas, and would be right in the thick of city life. There was traffic! And more than two traffic lights! An Olive Garden! (The luxury!) A mall! A Target! Lots of ice cream places! (squeal!!) AND a huge movie theater. It was official: I had landed in the middle of a booming metropolis! And I loved every minute of it.

There's been a lot of mileage between where I sit now and the 18-year-old who thought the Olive Garden was the height of sophistication. I'm not exactly sure of the exact time and place that I realized that College Station is not, in fact, a "booming" metropolis and that Midland, Texas, is just a *little* more dusty and barren than the Emerald City. It might have been that summer I spent in Paris. It could have been my post-college move to Denver and my job in a REAL skyscraper downtown. (I always felt so grown up in my high heels with my Starbucks cappuccino in hand as I walked to my job in one of the tallest, shiniest buildings in Colorado's capital city.) Or maybe it was living in China in a city of 5 million, which, to the Chinese, was a mere backwater, that put my previous experiences in perspective.

I like the apartment I'm in now. It's the nicest place I've ever lived. There are granite countertops and stainless steel appliances. We have floor to ceiling windows that go all the way around the living room. I love sitting on the couch with my coffee and being able to look down on the street and watch people and cars go by as I watch TV.

At the end of the month I'm moving to a place that's even more wonderful, if you can believe that. It's a gorgeous apartment home with the same nice countertops, high ceilings, huge bathrooms and a balcony. It's in the best part of town too, with all sorts of shops, restaurants and bars near by. It's where all the hip, young people live. But despite all my newfound urban sophistication, I KNOW that little girl who was in awe of the skyscrapers in Midland is still somewhere deep down inside me.

How do I know? Because the very BEST thing about my new place is that it will be within walking distance...

...of The Cheesecake Factory.

How could life ever get better? I have reached the peak of all human achievement.

~Scarlett