Goodbye Oakland, Hello Long Beach!

Happy Monday everyone! I’m back! It’s been a very long and hectic month so far.  My husband and I just relocated to Long Beach, CA last week.  We spent the entire week beforehand stripping down our life in Oakland into dozens of boxes.  Then, we spent this past week slowly unpacking.  I tell you moving is not fun!  Our new home is slowly coming along and thankfully decent enough to share a few photos with all of you.  These will be my before photos after all.

It’s a 1930s craftsman style four-plex, with two bedrooms a bonus room (my new office) and a small yard.  The neighborhood is quite charming, as I’ve started to share on Instagram.  There are plenty of beautiful homes to post.  The apartment is almost twice the size of our old place in Oakland!  We’re just a skip and a jump away from the beach, which came quite in handy with the heat wave last week. Our landlords put in a beautiful gray laminate floor (goodbye carpet forever!) and painted the apartment a grayish taupe.  The dining room, kitchen and bath are something of a cornflower blue, but I do plan to paint :)

We’re back near our friends and family in Los Angeles, though I do miss everyone in the Bay Area. We moved extremely fast, whereas we thought we’d have at least an extra week to say goodbye.  We were only able to say goodbye to our closest friends and family with a small dinner at our favorite restaurant, Alamar.  There were so many friends and colleagues I didn’t get to see, but I hope to bounce between LA and SF for work and leisure. At least it’s only an hour flight away.

At many points leading up to the move, I questioned whether this was a good idea.  I guess you can never really be sure when taking any risk.  I wondered if losing my studio and proximity to my network would destroy what I’ve built so far.  I realized it shouldn’t matter where I lived, as long as I work hard, I can still have a successful business. The next few months will be difficult, but I’m grateful for everyone’s support and encouragement.

I’m slowly adjusting to the new space.  Luckily I am quite familiar with the area.  I attended  middle and high school in Long Beach and we lived here when we were first engaged.  There are new shops, restaurants and other new places to visit.  I look forward to becoming reacquainted with this beach town and sharing my finds with all of you.  Of course I’ll be able to spend time in LA proper as well! I have a few favorite spots, being an LA native, as well as many new places to explore.  If you’re in the Greater LA area, I’d love to connect!

So here’s to getting back in a regular routine.  The move has come and gone and I can focus on what lies ahead.  I will be in NYC next month for the Better Homes & Gardens Stylemaker event, followed by The Hello Sessions in Portland this October. Two very important opportunities to network and learn the best strategies to make it in this crazy blogging world.

Have a wonderful week!