In many ways this post feels absolutely surreal to be writing.
After eleven years living in New York, Dan and I are moving to Florida.
I will be honest, I never thought I would be typing these words, and have so many emotions as we begin this next chapter. I am excited to be near my family, the beach, live in warm weather once again (I grew up in Miami!), to have more space to grow, create, and heal. But I am also scared and nervous to leave the place that has been my home for over a decade, to let go of the familiar and walk into the unknown, to move away from my community and friends.
At the same time, I am leaning into the space of surrender and trust so deeply. Everything unfolding feels right, and there is so much joy to be found in knowing I am being guided by a higher power.
My chapter with New York feels complete in every way. That one of the most important relationships in my life is ready to come to an end. Over the past few weeks, I have been reflecting a lot on who I was when I moved here vs. who I am now, and what this city has meant to me.
It is the place I told my parents I would move to when I was 8 years old, where I started living each summer when I was 16 to complete fashion internships before starting school at the Fashion Institute of Technology, where I met Dan, created lifelong friendships, started my blog, got sick, and then began to heal.
This city has challenged me in ways I never could have imagined, and living here has made me who I am today. I am so grateful to my parents for trusting me at such a young age to follow my dreams and move to NYC. And while those dreams no longer look like The Devil Wears Prada, I am proud of the woman who came here with drive, passion, and full of possibility. She never gave up and built a beautiful life.
Moving To Florida
The journey of how our move to Florida unfolded is such a serendipitous story that it is too good not to share with all of you.
To begin, we will have to go back two years ago when our life was flipped on its head. At the time, Dan and I decided we would move to California. We were so ready for a fresh start and to leave what was a very difficult year behind.
After months of trying it became clear the Universe had other plans for us and as I wrote in this post, I knew that New York wasn’t quite done with us just yet.
When we moved back to Brooklyn, it felt right. It was exactly where we needed to be.
That feeling quickly faded and challenges began to present themselves, especially around the winter time and with my health.
Last winter was by far my most difficult, and I found myself depressed and in a really low place. Looking back, even though it was one of the most difficult periods of time in my life, I see how much stronger I am for it. Yet, I still prayed that I would have the opportunity to leave before the next winter as I knew my mind, body, and soul needed to be in warm weather.
In March of this year I went home for the week to spend time with my family and escape the cold. The week turned out a lot different than I had expected. I start the trip clear that after weeks of comments about me moving back home, I needed to clearly communicate that I was never moving back to FL (ha!) and that I needed them to let go of that expectation because I couldn’t imagine myself being here.
As the week went on, we had the best time and I really connected with how much I missed being around them, the life events I hadn’t been at over the past 11 years being so far away, and how difficult it was each time I had to say goodbye, not knowing when I would see them next.
When I got back home I asked Dan what he thought about us making it our new goal to live between Florida and New York instead of California. He agreed it made a lot more sense and we decided not to put a time frame on it and to let it be.
Well, a few months later he was offered his dream role within the same company. The headquarters? Down the street from my parents' home.
I still can’t believe how quickly this manifestation was realized. And just to be clear, my family lives in Jupiter, FL and Dan works in technology, not exactly Silicon Valley if you get what I mean!
And so begins this next chapter. We will begin 2020 living in our new home in Florida, I will be sharing the journey in this space and on IG. I can’t wait to see what next year brings!
