Hello New Year, Goodbye New York and New Jersey

It’s official! We are moving!

I didn’t really expect this to happen. At least not now. I’ve been living in the city for 16 years, which is only two years fewer than I lived in my childhood home. Half my life. I love it here.

I went to college on Staten Island and moved right into Manhattan after graduation. I stayed for several years before begrudgingly moving out to Brooklyn and promptly fell in love with a whole different city. Our latest home base has been on the left bank in Jersey City which certainly has its own flavor and identity (and state) but is still, in my opinion, very much a part of The City. It’s been a glorious run and leaving is very bittersweet.

I had every intention of staying put for at least a while longer. I wanted the first few years of my daughters life to be here. As a former nanny I know how magical having littles in the city can be. Alas, a global pandemic put a serious damper on that vision.

It has been an extraordinarily challenging time, but the wild circumstances of this year have also given me some real gifts, primarily time together with my new little family. I will always cherish the months after my daughters birth, being required to stay home, and because of that, forced to slow down and just be with one another

However, being home ALL of the time has thrown some considerable wrinkles into our living arrangement. We had planned on staying in our one bedroom apartment until Kennedy’s first birthday. I still think that would have been very possible if our tiny home hadn’t also been turned into my husband’s full time office, a gym, a playroom, the only restaurant, recreation and lounge space...

We need a bit more breathing room. And I don’t know what happened to me, but I swear I had a baby a suddenly I was desperate to put down roots. For a house. And a yard. And to be near our families.

The required isolation of this past year has provided some incredible bonding for our own little family, but it’s also made us miss our extended families. Not being able to share so many of Kennedy’s firsts with our families has been hard and sad and lonely. It has brought the desire to be closer to family for the long haul into the center of our thoughts when we decided it was time to leave the city.

So we are moving to Connecticut, where we are both from. And the timing of renting out our apartment and buying house has worked out perfectly!

Just kidding.

In true 2020 fashion our house dreams have been dashed a few times, so we will be temporarily seeking shelter in the home of my gracious mother while we *patiently* wait for our house stars to align. This process has been disappointing and bunking with my mom is certainly not ideal, but we are so lucky to have this option available to us and I’m grateful for that. I’m even more grateful that we are in the position to look for a home right now, especially when so many people have been suffering so greatly this year.

So, that means we will be moving from a one bedroom apartment into one room! Let the tight accommodations content continue! (Truly. The spatial gymnastics I’ve already started planning are at once exhilarating and exhausting.) The next month will be filled with packing and moving prep and hopefully soon, a new home.

I hope my Jersey and NY pals, will follow me to CT. Besides, the third Tri-State isn’t too far away. I’ll be around!

Happy New Year everyone. May it bring new beginnings to us all. ❤️