The move back across the country was a long debated one. I love growth and change, and find myself inspired by new challenges and beginnings. For me, learning a different culture, meeting new people and adapting my habits are important elements for personal growth, so I was a bit hesitant at first to move back to a place not only where I have lived before, but where I call home. I always thought my next move would have been London or Paris, or maybe even somewhere like Tokyo or Singapore. Someplace more exotic that would really test my personal and professional boundaries.
However, in the last few months, the opportunity to move back to the San Francisco Bay Area arose in the form of an amazing job opportunity for Mr. R. Even though moving ‘home’ was not on my short list of to-do’s, we are getting married in exactly 40 days, and I am ready for my next challenge: making a home and a life for the two of us. By no means does this mean I have to slip into traditional gender-roles – by any conventional standards Mr. R would be the domestic goddess and I would be the career-obsessed budget-minded purse strings. So I don’t take the challenge of building a home and a life as something that stands solely in the laundry room and kitchen (although I must admit having a laundry room and a kitchen to actually cook in is starting to sound very appealing).
Instead, I am taking this as a challenge to build what a life means to me. To me, living means building time out of the day to spend with loved ones, It means discovering new things and surprising yourself with talents that you didn’t know you had. It means jumping into the deep end, taking chances, and hopefully gaining experiences that you can teach others. It means cooking elaborate meals and having sleepovers with friends. It means sleeping in and having breakfast in bed. It means reading a book, taking a class, starting a business. It means being outside. Traveling, seeing, talking, growing. It means taking risks and making mistakes.
What will I do for money? That’s a great question. There are many inspiring opportunities in the Bay Area, but I don’t want to jump into anything too fast. I am so fortunate with my job and career in New York City. In many ways, my job is the hardest thing to leave behind in my transition. I want to be smart about the next opportunity I throw myself into in order to make sure I have time to make this life, home, dream, a reality.
With that long description of why I am excited to begin this next chapter of my life, I want to share with you my first exciting challenge: home decoration and renovation. Our new place has great bones but desperately needs a facelift, and I can’t wait to share the ups and downs with you on the blog. I have a LOT of fun ideas for how I’m going to renovate smart and decorate on a dime, but there is no doubt there will be many headaches and bruised fingers along the way. As there are 6 weeks left until my wedding and this move is happening in the next 4 weeks, get ready for a rollercoaster of posts and emotions. I can’t wait to share it all with you here!
So as a little preview to keep reading, here are the before pics of our little renovation project. As you can see there are some CLEAR painting needs, but with a few other cosmetic changes I know we can turn this rock into a gem.
Let me know what you think, and I look forward to hearing your feedback and thoughts in the comments section!
