Bustling yellow taxis, crammed subways and overpowering skyscrapers framed the landscape of my weekend. Aggressive locals, exhausted train conductors and impatient store clerks shared this environment with me. My scene was the “Big Apple,” Alicia Keys’ “concrete jungle”: New York City.

We all know places that make us feel “alive.” These locations might rest below mountains, stand along oceans, or hide deep within acres of pine trees and thick woods. I have been to those places where nature’s majestic strength rushes a person’s soul to the point of enlightenment. But, this weekend I returned to the type of place that stole my heart for two years before moving to New Orleans – the big city.

Six days, 1,500 miles and seven states later, we made it to our final destination of New Orleans, Louisiana. This city will be my new home for at least the next 16 months and will mark the birthplace of a new life journey while I pursue my Master’s Degree at Tulane University.

Since Dan only had limited time in the city (he’s embarking on his own adventure with a one-way ticket to Nepal and plan to climb Mount Everest) and I could not move into my apartment for a few more days, we decided to explore New Orleans as we have every city on our road trip – as tourists. We kicked off our time with a stop at Plum Street Snoball, one of the oldest and most popular snoball stands in the city. Snoballs compare best to “snow cones” only with more finely shaved ice, more flavor options and a sturdier cup to hold the refreshing treat together.

We may not know all the lyrics, but we know the song. It replays in the minds of the broken-hearted and confuses romantic hopefuls. “There’s a reason why people don’t stay where they are. Baby, sometimes just love ain’t enough.” Sing it, Patty Smyth.

Many of us grew up seeking the fairy tale love often described in songs, movies and novels. We follow popular notions like “love is all we need,” “love conquers all” and “all you need is love.” This concept is romantic, but is love the sole ingredient needed to carry couples through hard times?

I first fell in love with Nutella when I studied abroad in Perugia, Italy in 2004. Nutella and I had a sort of love-love relationship, where it could truly do me no wrong. Italians use Nutella like Americans use peanut butter, and since peanut butter was hard to come by in Italy I gladly adopted Nutella as a creamy substitute to my saltines, toast and pizza. Yes…I would fly back to Italy solely to experience this warm, gooey dessert that is a thin-crust, oven-baked Nutella pizza. Italy’s sights, of course, were pretty great too.

Life has a funny way of throwing curves, forcing change and presenting new opportunities. In the past month, I have gone through a series of unexpected changes and battled a handful of tough decisions that would directly impact my next stage of life. While emotional and confusing, I have somehow landed myself in the perfect place to begin my new journey – my new Chicago apartment; my diamond in the rough.

There comes a time in every young relationship’s life when cramming two independent individuals into a one-bedroom Chicago apartment is just no longer going to cut it. While the closet space alone could drive a girl mad, having only the bedroom as an outlet from evening-long DVR-ed Oprah marathons can make any boyfriend feel trapped.

In a city like Chicago, where hibernation is common at least six months a year and friends with cars are few and far between, even the most active city dwellers are found spending more time in their apartments than desired. This is what led my boyfriend and I to move – to a new apartment and a new side of town. Our in-apartment priorities: two bedrooms, two closets, one dishwasher and enough space for two independent laundry baskets. We found what we were looking for with an additional toilet and a nearby Whole Foods to boot.