We Live Here Now

We moved to Seattle in October 2018. I found out I got the job and two weeks later we were on a one-way flight out.

We live in a two-bedroom apartment with a view of Puget Sound and the Olympics from our living room, a ten minute bus ride to work and in a 10/10 elementary school district. We have a small but open floor plan and I can watch the kids while I cook. We have a washer and dryer in our apartment! We have two rooftop areas in our building, one for grilling and lounging, and one with container garden allotments. Our building has a community room and a gym, and we live next to a giant park, restaurants and cafés, a grocery store, and an amazing used bookstore. We still don’t have a car. We walk or bus everywhere we need to go. We might buy a car this summer, but finances are still tight.

We moved here sight unseen. I’ve never visited Seattle before, with the exception of a day-long layover in 2005. A has never been to Seattle either. Any expectations I had were set after watching Seattle episodes of Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations (may he rest in peace) and VICE Munchies. We took a gamble and left the east coast behind.

We’ve been here a little over four months now and are still settling into the rhythm of life here. It’s a lot slower than NYC, a lot cleaner, and a lot prettier, even when the city is encapsulated in misty gray overcast skies for weeks at a time. I feel like there’s space here to explore myself a little more, once we find our stride.

The babies are getting older and sleeping through the night. I’m finally, finally not breastfeeding or pregnant, for the first time in five years.

My next project is to explore myself, my body, my youth while I have it. I want to experience new things, create things, and reach new heights of sensorial experiences.

Things I Have Explored In the Four Months I Have Lived Here:

• Heated power yoga classes, including one that lasted for two and a half hours of delicious, delectable stretching
• Going to a naturopath, to identify strategies for improving my health and well-being
• Listening to a lot, a lot of music
• Enjoying views of the mountains every day

Things I Want to Explore:

• Going to see live music and theater
• Exploring the gorgeous nature around us
• Taking a road trip down the Oregon-California coast
• Creating music?
• Drawing more, more intentionally, and sharing my work
• Shaping my body and stamina, pushing my physicality
• Meeting new people, making new friends

Non-Work Related Things I Want to Accomplish This Year

Funnily enough, a lot of these things relate back to older posts. I guess I have a narrow range of focus in life (although I often feel enormously scattered), which is okay with me since sooner or later I find a way to do what I want.

On the topic of feeling rich without being rich and finding loopholes in the system:

• Explore home swapping as a way to take long, international vacations while subsidizing much of the cost. A direct home swap would be more complicated to arrange than doing Air Bnb, but I would feel comfortable about the mutual responsibility to care for each others’ living spaces.

On the topic of finding a dreamy forever home in some other locale:

• Travel with the intention of discovering a potential place to live. In conjunction with the above goal, we could explore the idea living in another country long-term.

On the topic of sensory memories:

• Delve into the exploration of my senses through the creation of beautiful things. I really want to paint again. I will paint again. Knitting and crochet are soothing and get me through exhausting and transitory times; painting is a little rougher on the soul.
• Build beautiful holiday atmosphere. I want Charlotte and Arthur to have beautiful memories of special times of the year. I want to acknowledge the rich history of human celebration, centered on the changing of the seasons, the solstices and equinoxes.
• Find ways to push my body and explore my physicality. I’ll only be this young once!

On the topic of self-improvement and self-exploration:

• Be more fearless.