I've gotta tell you, I was in no way truly prepared to make this move. We checked and double checked, we read all the helpful articles online, we had our things shipped and boxed, and while they were packing up all that we had in Chicago, we realized quickly that we were bare-bones equipped for a proper "adult" home.
Erick and I met in our young twenties, our partying show-going, dancing till the wee hours days. I didn't have a piece of furniture when we moved in together. Our hand-me-down love seat grew much too small for our family of four and when visitors stopped by (which was a very rare occurrence, I might add... but still... preparation is key!) we just never had anywhere for them to sit. So many memories of people happily squeezing their bums together on that love seat while others awkwardly paced our floors probably wondering, gee, can't these people just figure their seating situation out already?!
Enter California. Our stuff arrives, nearly a month later, and we notice that shit... we actually NEED way more than we had anticipated. And yowch on the already stretched-too-thin wallet. But, we're doing alright. We're slowly adding bits and pieces here and there, mixing the new with the old. Vintage kilim pillows with a new leather couch (one of the happiest adult purchases of my life!), thrifted chairs, thrifted lamp, the cheapest Amazon bedframe I could find because for six freakin' years we've been sleeping with a mattress on the floor, and of course, plenty of plant friends to keep the air clean / spirits high.
Next on the list is adding more personal touches - one of my biggest regrets was not having any of Erick or I's photography work framed for the walls. We're showcasing a few of our favorite prints by some awesome artists, but everything feels a little too.... proper. We need more us. More scribbles. More mess. (I know, did I really just say that?) But I think that comes with the newness of everything. Homes need time to feel and look authentically lived in. There is no magic potion for that, though believe me, I've given it my all.
And the girls? Well they are quite loving their new space. They have much less room in their new bedroom than before-- I'd say it's about half the size of their previous one back in Chicago. Can I be real for a second? Where on god's green earth do you put ALL. THE. TOYS?
Ugh.
So many toys.
We've donated quite a bit to our local goodwill and have pared down to just our favorite and most loved items out of necessity, but I'm wondering now why we hadn't thought of it sooner. It feels so much lighter, and the greatest part is they actually enjoy being in their room now, quietly reading books or pulling out their favorite toys. Not to mention cleanup is a much easier job. Win win.
Who knows, maybe I'll do a little house-tour in the near future... not that there is much house at all! Hah. But this little two bedroom condo of ours is the perfect place for us to call home at the moment, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
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