I’ll just cut right to the chase…I am moving to San Diego next week!!! It’s been so hard to keep this secret from you all. I’ve put a lot of thought into what this post would look like because the truth is, this move has been in the works for months and unofficially, for years. Many of you don’t know this about me: I was born and raised in Southern California and only came to Seattle for college six years ago. To this day, all of my family is in California and it’s home for me. It always has been, and it always will be.
So, how did this happen? To be honest, I wanted to go back to California since graduating college two and a half years ago. But, I met Ben in college and this was his home. Our friends were here, and his family was here. We both immediately got jobs in Seattle right after college, and it quickly became clear that this was where we needed to be for the time being. Since then, I’ve been slowly planting the seed in Ben’s head and introducing him to the sunshine state with frequent trips back home. About three or four months ago, we flew down for my dad’s 50th birthday celebration and spent the weekend in Catalina Island, wine tasting in Temecula and hanging out in the sunshine at the beach. Two weeks later, we went back and spent the weekend at Lake Havasu. He was hooked, and decided he was ready to move sometime in the near future. Well, a few months later, we lost his mom to cancer and decided now would be the perfect time for a fresh start and a change of scenery.
This has been the most bittersweet process. Honestly, I was excited to leave Seattle, but don’t think I fully realized how special this place is to me. For starters, it’s where I became my own person. I build a life for myself here, independent of anyone else. I met the love of my life here, and we created a life together here. It’s where we bought our first home, celebrated the last five anniversaries at the place we had our first date, and first started to create traditions of our own. And then my friends. I have the most incredible network of people here. From college friends to old coworkers to the blogger babes in this town, I have been so incredibly lucky to be surrounded by loving, smart, independent, fiercely loyal, kind and generous people. Leaving them is probably the hardest part about the move, but I know those people and those relationships aren’t going anywhere.
With that being said, I am running towards something truly amazing. San Diego is a beautiful city. Not only does it have year round sunshine (hello, vitamin D!), but my entire family is within an hour of each other and family is so important to me. I can’t wait to explore a semi-new place, and also introduce Ben to one of my favorite areas of the country. I have been dreaming of weekend getaways to Palm Desert, Santa Barbara, boat trips to Catalina and so many weekend trips to Lake Havasu out in Arizona. If you follow us on Instagram, you might have noticed this year in particular, I flew down a ton! I’m so excited to just be a short drive away from all my favorite places, and get to experience them all together. The truth is, I love Seattle, but winter up here is so hard for me. I can’t wait to spend more time outside doing the things that I love.
The timeline is a little crazy. We have a one way ticket on the morning of December 31, and then we’re both in the office on January 2. Talk about a fresh start! I couldn’t be more thrilled to get back to sunshine and family, and am so excited for this new chapter. While this is an incredibly exciting time for me, it obviously does change the dynamic of Simply, Darling Duo. On Friday, Haley and I will be sharing a bit more about how this changes (or doesn’t change) the blog, and how it’s made our friendship stronger than ever. Lastly, I want to thank my incredible friends and family who have been so thoughtful, supportive, and helpful during this crazy process.
San Diego, we’ll see you very soon!
XX,
A
Leave a Reply