We’re moving on Friday. When I say that, people keep asking me excitedly “Oh, did you buy a house?” A small part of me is a little disappointed to say “no”.
We’re still renting and sometimes it feels like people are expecting me to say yes or are confused that we didn’t. This could very well be just me reading too much in to things (but I almost never do that…HA) and letting my own self-consciousness cloud my judgement. While I’m certainly excited about our new home, there’s always that little piece of me that knows it isn’t truly ours.
The follow-up question seems to be “Are you leaving the city?” Also a firm no. I know people told us we’d change our minds about the suburbs after having kids but honestly, we still can’t imagine leaving and aren’t sure where we’d go if we did.
Side note: Remember when I wrote the post about 5 things that scared me about moving to Philadelphia? I laughed out loud just now re-reading number five – I give zero sh*ts about that now but I did grow out of liking chain restaurants so there’s that. Man I’m rambling today but people swear they want blogging to be how it used to be so here it is.
Anyway, we’re moving a whopping two blocks from our current home and staying in a neighborhood we love where we feel safe and content.
We spent yesterday painting Ben’s room. He finally gets his own room and I finally get to put together the nursery I always imagined.
Here’s a little preview:
I knew that by staying in our current one bedroom home I wouldn’t get to put together a real nursery for Ben. We had a nook in the corner of our room that fit his crib. I always intended to hang something cute above it and finish my nesting but then he came early and all decorating came to a halt. Now it feels like all the nesting that didn’t happen to me is kicking in now.
I love moving. I may be the only person alive who feels that way but I just love the fresh start of it all. Counting my dorms, this will be my 20th home. 20! In 30 years! In fact, Archie is five and this will be the fifth home he’s lived in (OMG I forgot I published teeny puppy pictures of Archie here – he’s the little guy with the olive green collar).
I don’t know what all this says about me (I should note that a good chunk of those weren’t necessarily my choice, being a child and all) but now here we are, movers arriving Friday morning and I’m giddy with the thought of it all.
I have some different goals for this move. The last time we moved, it was 3 days before our wedding (have you seen our wedding photos?) so I wasn’t exactly as focused on the move as I was that. I unpacked in mere hours in a whirlwind of boxes and the next day, 500 bulk roses were delivered for our centerpieces, filling the entire first floor of our tiny row home (of note, this is probably the photo I most regret not having).
This time, I want to be more deliberate. I want to do my best to adult.
My main goal is this – find a home, an actual, specific spot, for each item we bring in to the house. No more junk drawers or miscellaneous boxes. Just belongings that we care for and thoughtfully chose to keep as we transition to our new home.
Can we do it? Well, it’ll be tough. We’re pretty minimalist as it is but there’s always random stuff you wind up keeping with no real place for (Letter sized envelopes, for instance. But what if I have to send something via check and I’ll have to re-buy a whole stinking pack of 10! You know, that kind of thing).
We’re naturally messy people (really, one of us should have married a neat freak but instead we’re just two slobs who keep each other in check 0% of the time) but we’re going to make an effort.
Because at the end of the day, I want the kind of home where people can swing by unexpectedly and I won’t be mortified by the general disaster area that we live in. I want Ben to see us care for our possessions. I want the clarity of mind that comes with sitting down to work in a clutter-free home.
Sure, there will be baby stuff scattered (I’m not naive) but I hope I begin to set an example by putting back my own belongings in their designated spot. I promise that even with a baby, I’m the main culprit of the clutter so just me doing this could mean a much neater home.
Actually, as I type all of this, I do wonder if the Kanmari method actually worked on my brain just a tad. You may remember that I was reading The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up (affiliate link). Well, life-changing it was not. I got to the part where she insisted that folding clothing would be enjoyable and I was like, nu-uh girlfriend. Nope. That’s when me and Marie Kondo went our separate ways. But I do love the idea of everything having its place and I’m going to make an effort there.
The good news is that we are getting some extra space so ideally all the stuff we have for our 500 something square foot home will be more spread out in the new house, thereby making it look less cluttered. Who knows.
It also so happens that our new home is a little more, I don’t know, trendy? It has backsplash. And a funky light fixture. And white painted brick. You get my drift. It’s pretty and instagramable and mostly I’ll feel lucky to live in such a lovely, quirky space.
I’ll be sharing more over on my Instastory this week as I stress buy stupid home decor things like a set of three vases or a jute pouf (lol what a word combo) or a blanket that just goes across the foot of our bed for some unknown reason. Someone stop me (but actually don’t).
