On September 1, 2020, my husband and I packed up our things and moved out of our dream apartment in New York City, which we called home for over fourteen years.
It’s where we met, went to college, got our first jobs, moved in together, and got married and honestly, I thought we’d live there forever.
That day, in the midst of a global pandemic, we said goodbye to everything we loved about NYC: the restaurants, the people, the culture, the museums, the art, the music, the scene.
We also said goodbye to everything we didn’t love so much: the grime, the lack of nature, the dirty air, the tiny apartments, the high cost of living.
Looking back on our time in NYC one year later, I still feel so many conflicting emotions. I’m sad, mainly, because I miss it. But our lives have changed so much–heck the world has changed so much, that even if we went back now, nothing would be the same.
Yes, we are one of those people who left a big city during the pandemic. We didn’t move to the suburbs though. We moved to the middle of nowhere. I’m talking deep in the woods, high in the mountains. No food delivery (not even pizza). No coffee shops, no bars, nothing.
We basically upended our lives and started over completely.
And it’s been really, really hard.
But it’s also been really fun.
We’ve had some scary moments, like when a deer got trapped in our garage (no happy ending for that story unfortunately.) But we’ve also had some incredible moments, like the day in October when all of the trees on our land suddenly changed color, and the whole outdoor space became a beautiful, shimmering sea of golden leaves.
In the midst of all of this, I was also able to put my passion for interior design into practice. I’m by no means a professional, but it’s something I’ve always loved, and when we bought our house I really wanted to try my hand at renovating, designing, furnishing, and styling a house to be exactly the way that I wanted.
Wellllll…. I definitely learned some lessons. And our house is not exactly the way that I envisioned it to be from the outset.
We’re one year in now and it’s still a work in progress, but I think I’ve done a pretty good job with the stuff we’ve done so far. I’ve made some mistakes, nothing enormous, thank god, but I hope that writing about some of the things I’ve found out along the way can help others who are thinking of making a move, doing a renovation, or even just buying a new piece of furniture.
I’m excited to share what we’ve done so far, what we’re planning on doing, and even what I wish we hadn’t done, plus some of the things, friends, and tips I’ve collected along the way. I promise to be candid, honest, and unfiltered about all of it. And my main hope is that you find something useful, inspiring, or at least entertaining from reading about our journey.
