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California, One Year Later – Don’t Forget to Believe in Your Dreams
Today we are celebrating one year since we arrived in California from New York! It seems like just yesterday we pulled up to our new home in the moving truck, tired from a long, teary-eyed adventure across the country. Since much of the last year feels like a blur and a whirlwind, I haven’t taken much time to reflect on this huge life shift, so what better time than now?
The decision to uproot our life in New York, leaving our family and all that we had built together over nearly 10 years, wasn’t one that was brewing in all that time. It started as a pipe dream just two years prior, something my husband Mark and I lustfully talked about in a very dreamy way – “wouldn’t it be amazing if we just up and moved to California” or “one day we need to live in California”. One day we decided to stop merely dreaming and started taking the actions necessary to actually make it happen. Within a year of that decision we had sold our house, we said our goodbyes and we hit the road for the west coast.
So much has happened in this first year of living somewhere new, we have both accomplished new and major things, we have had our struggles finding our way in a new place, we’ve seen relationships change and new ones flourish and grow, but through it all – we have always had our dreams and each other.
Listening to your Inner Voice
The most important thing I have taken from this major life shift, is that the biggest dreams sometime require the biggest changes, some of which may not pleasant. Part of allowing your dreams to come to fruition, is taking the time listen to your inner voice, to realize that your unique path isn’t supposed to or going to, be the same as anyone else’s. Most of all – you need to realize what is holding you back from that dream and with that, you will likely be forced to look your biggest fears straight in the face. Read the rest of this entry »
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Photo Fun Day Friday
Hey guys, it’s a Photo Fun Day Friday from the road. We are in California until next Wednesday. We flew out here to find our new home and we gave ourselves 8 days to do it. If you can believe it, we fell in love and found a place on Day 1. It was the second place we looked at. It is perfection. I cannot wait to show more photos. So now, we get to enjoy the rest of our trip here. I think we are even going to squeeze in a trip to Disneyland on Monday! We are so excited to have some time to spend with our friends out here and get to know what is soon going to be our new home. Just three short weeks.
Here’s a few photos from the last week. Some from Buffalo and some from here in Long Beach.
Teagan helping me bake a batch of my chocolate chip cookie bars.
Seri longingly looking out the window on another snowy day. Dreaming of the park.
Went to a Sabres game in a suite on Sunday with our friends, Anjuli, Dana, JP and my sister Vicky. They may have lost but it was an awesome time. Also, FYI they have gluten-free beer at the arena. The bar at the Harbour Club for sure stocks it, not sure about anywhere else.
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I stocked u on some healthy goodies for the flights and our time out here.
Succulents and sunshine. Love you California.
I went to a farmers market in February and stocked up on veggies. I cannot even believe it. Those blood oranges are to die for.
A quick snap shot of the living room and dining room area of our new house. Look at that fireplace, all the natural light, those built-ins on the right, etc. It is seriously to die for. By the way, there are a ton of fruit trees in the large yard. Orange, peach, plum, avocado, fig, banana and there are grape vines. Are you kidding me???
Oh and look at the kitchen. Newly updated, lots of storage and countertop space, etc. I am in heaven.
The front!! That deck is huge by the way!! Can’t wait to share more photos soon.
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Photo Fun Day Friday
Well, I am sure you’ve noticed, but it’s been a while since I’ve shared photos as part of my Photo Fun Day Friday series. It wasn’t a conscious choice, but life has just been a bit crazy and more-so just generally out of sorts. After the holidays ended, we were immediately in full-on moving mode and we have just been going non-stop ever since. Here is a just a quick abbreviated visual synopsis of the last month or so. Things are going well over here, we fly out in less than 2 weeks to California to find a place to live in Long Beach, then we fly back to Buffalo pack our car up, grab the dog and hit the road to drive across the good ‘ol US of A! We cannot wait.
Our gift to my parent’s this year. A family photo session! We had the shoot this past weekend and it was so much fun! Can’t wait to share some of the photos. Such a fun thing to do before we leave town and I will be so happy to have some really nice photos of my family throughout our new home.
One of my favorite Christmas gifts this year. A ganesha statue from my Mom and Dad. Can’t wait to find a place for it in our new home.
I love my cozy new slippers from my sister.
Seri enjoying one of the first big snows of the winter.
Me and my baby. Holding her tighter than ever after she was released from the emergency vet after ingesting xylitol.
Mmmm. Pomegranate. (and a sneaky little Seri)
At the start of the moving and packing. Surrounded by boxes! (Oh and of course, a nice tall glass of wine)
The moving truck all packed up. Sealed it with the kiss of a handstand! Our stuff is all in storage in California waiting for us.
Gonna miss my old kitchen SO much. We designed it ourselves to be exactly what we needed.
A sweet card from my lovely friend Alyssa.
My handsome boy Jpeg, posing for some pics.
Buddha and incredibly delicious chocolate at Oh Pour L’amour Du Chocolat. Two of my favs.
Our poor Seri has had a rough month. She broke a nail at the park last week and it was broken so high up they had to sedate her, remove it and wrap it up. Poor thing. She is all better now, thankfully.
My adorable parents at the family photo shoot over the weekend.
My kind of dinner. Sauteed kale, red kuri squash, white beans, onions, garlic, sliced almonds, dried cranberries and avocado. It was INCREDIBLE.
It has been WAY too cold to go to the park lately, poor Seri is sad.
Carmine, my mom’s cat (aka my little sister’s cat), was posing so sweetly for me yesterday when I was taking photos with my SLR camera. How adorable is that face?
