THE B E S T COAST

So, you've been anxiously awaiting the announcement. Where are we moving to next? You probably remember this post I did, announcing that we were moving to Charlotte about 3 years ago. Well, in the past 3 years, Jake has almost gotten his doctorate.

Cheers to that! 

#phdwifeproblems #amiright

He'll defend his dissertation in mid-June and then we will pack up all of our belongings and move...

Somewhere near the L.A. area, we're not sure exactly where yet. And I'm not sure if my placement on the above map is correct, either. Give or take, right?!  Jake got a job as an assistant professor at a university near L.A. and we could not be more excited. The other great news?!? I will keep my current job and work remotely from home.  I'm not sure it could have turned out any better than this.

Here's the plan:

June 15 - 20 - We'll visit the area and find said place to live. Since I will be working from home, I am totally open to living anywhere! I am more concerned with finding a neighborhood that we like rather than living in a certain area that is close to the university. Easy for me to say, right?!  Similar to when we moved to Charlotte, I spent hours and hours researching neighborhoods online and I am so glad we picked South End! I wouldn't want to live anywhere else in this city. So, I think my countless hours of research will ultimately pay off again. I'll probably document this more on the blog as it gets closer... now that it's all out in the open!

July 1 - Officially move. Moving Pods and car arrive in California.  We'll have the weekend before I go "back to work" on July 5th, but it will be nice to unpack a few things and get our bearings. So, that's it! We are turning in my Volvo before we move so we have one less car to ship and we are currently debating if we want to get another car once we get there or maybe we can survive on 1 vehicle if we live in a walkable area. We'll be flexible on that front. What are we not being flexible on? Space! We need at least 3 bedrooms so that I can have an office and Jake will likely need his own office too. The crazy thing is that I've lived in a studio or 1 bedroom apartment for most of my adult life (except for senior year of college when we lived in a house) but I am so excited for more space! I am already planning how my (don't worry Jake will have his own closet, too) closet will be organized... It's the little things!

Are you surprised? Excited? Relieved? I am actually not all that stressed about doing another big coast to coast move, mostly because we've done it before and I truly think that we'll be on the West Coast for good now. So, there you have it! The Best Coast, it is!

xoxo,

5 Myths about Living in Charlotte

This post is a continuation from my post earlier this week, titled 5 Truths about Living in Charlotte.  It is so nice to be able to reflect on the past 3 years and think back to when we arrived here. We had no idea what this city would bring, how it would change and shape us, how we would shape it, what we would learn from living here and I'm just guessing here -- how much we would miss it. 

When we first arrived here in Summer 2013, we were excited to explore and check out the area. Jake visited once prior to the move and I had actually never been here until we moved here.  That might sound crazy but I've moved around quite a bit in my 31 years so far and moving is just very exciting to me -- It's almost like a new challenge.  Heck, at the age of 18, I moved to Spokane, WA to start college sight unseen from Hawaii. How is that for putting yourself out there?

Just for fun, a little chronology of where I've lived (so far): 

1984 - 1992 | Port Huron, MI

1992 - 2003 | Lihue/Kapaa, HI

2003 - 2007 | Spokane, WA

2007 - 2008 | Olympia, WA

2008 - 2013 | Seattle, WA

2013 - 2016 | Charlotte, NC

2016 - ??? |  Stay Tuned! 

This is not a foodie city. 

I probably would have said this up until about a year ago. When we first moved to Charlotte, we were not impressed with the restaurant options. Coming from Seattle which is a huge foodie town, we were like, where is the gourmet pizza, ramen and boba tee? Since we've been here all of these things have sprung up and even more! We recently put together our Charlotte Bucket List and I honestly can say that I will miss so many of our faves: Kindred, Alino Pizza, Carolina Smoothie, Luna's Living Kitchen, Food Truck Friday, Futo Buta, Greek Isles (RIP), Foxcroft Wine, Duck Donuts, Bakersfield, Summit Room, Soul, Maki Taco, Fourth Ward Bread Co. (RIP), Stagioni, the list goes on and on... Many of these places were not here when we arrived. So crazy! 

The weather is too hot. 

Since we've been there, there have been less than (5) 100 degree+ days. I mentioned before that I was worried about my hair frizzing up and looking like a crazy person (I am semi-obsessed with straightening my hair to be pin straight). But, honestly, except for a few times the weather has not really been an issue. Heck, we moved here in mid-July and it was in the 70's so it was basically perfect.  I am not sure if this is a temporary thing, but I promise it's not as hot as you think it will be. 

There is no water around the city. 

I will say that there is no easily accessible lake, river, ocean near the city. But, we visited some friends who live on Lake Norman a few summers ago, and I was very impressed with this man-made lake. Now, this is hardly the Pacific Ocean or Elliott Bay (google it), that I've been used to but it'll work. Also, there is the National Whitewater Rafting Center which we have yet to visit (see: Charlotte Bucket List, above). I've heard really excellent things about it and we are hoping to get in a visit before June. I'll keep you posted but I'm sure we will love it! 

It's just a city full of NASCAR Fans. 

I have a confession, we have never been to a NASCAR event and I am sure a good chunk of the Charlotte population has not either. What do we spend our time doing besides traveling, eating out at restaurants and working? The Charlotte Knights (Baseball Triple-A Affiliate of the White Sox) recently debuted a new field, which is basically in the middle of Uptown and its the coolest thing ever! Do I pay attention to the game? Not really, but I love the fun atmosphere and I am always down for a baseball hot dog or Queen City Nachos (complete with pulled pork). We've also started going to a few Hornet games which are also very fun and festive. I'm starting to learn the player's names (Jeremy Lin, anyone?) and I just heard they are going to the playoffs! So, there is a lot more to Charlotte than just NASCAR. I think I forgot to mention the Panthers (I didn't go to any games this year, but Jake did) but they had a nice little run this year, if you're into that kind of thing... 

It's not a big city. 

Sure, it's no New York City, but Charlotte is definitely bigger than I thought it would be.  There is a bustling, but compact downtown (lovingly called Uptown) with retail on the way.  All of the stores I would ever shop at are here (except maybe Celine, am I joking?!) and it was just named the 16th largest city in the country. Charlotte was recently ranked No. 2 among fastest growing large cities.  Surprisingly, Charlotte has a similar population of Seattle, although it's spread out more over here. 

Hopefully I was able to clear up some misconceptions you may have had about living in the Queen City. If you have anything to add, be sure to post in the comments section below. Not to keep you hanging, but I do promise to announce where we are moving to on the very next blog post.  Are you on the edge of your seat yet? 

Have a great weekend, 

5 Truths about Living in Charlotte

So, since we will be leaving Charlotte in less than 3 months, I thought I would do a little round up of a few things I've learned are true after living in the South for almost 3 years! Can you believe it's been that long?  I was originally going to title this "5 Truths about Living in the South" but I'm still not sure if Charlotte is considered the South. Is it the East Coast? I don't know if it knows what it is. P.S. For those who are curious, I will announce where we are moving next week, so stay tuned for that. 

Not everyone says Y'all. 

Here's the deal. Most of the people that live in Charlotte are from other places -- New York, Florida, Michigan, etc. So this city is full of a bunch of people that aren't from the South.  It's only when I occasionally hear an accent that I even remember that we are in fact, in Charlotte. And nobody say's Y'all. I know... it's so weird and sad at the same time. I totally thought I would start saying Y'all but unfortunately (or fortunately), I have not. 

No one honks. I mean no one. 

After about my second week here, I realized this. I honked all the time in Seattle. Probably every single day. and no, I am not an aggressive driver, I just honk if someone is driving like a maniac. Funny story: while I was turning left at an arrow, I was about 3-4 cars back, waiting for the arrow to turn green. The arrow turned green and the guy in front was not paying attention, so he didn't go. The light cycled through to yellow and then red again. Not a single car honked. If that happened in Seattle, I'm pretty sure about .0790894 seconds after the light turned green, he would have been on the receiving end of several honks, including mine. I sat there in awe, just thinking, wow. This city must be really polite. and for the most part it is. 

The humidity isn't as bad as you think it will be. 

After I found out we were moving here, I'll admit it. I panicked a little, about my hair. After growing up in Hawaii, I promised myself I would never live in a place where I could straighten my hair at 7 am and then look in the mirror about 4 hours later to see a full head of frizzy, wavy, curly hair. Hello, humidity?!?!? But, the thing about living here is that everywhere has AC. Your apartment, your office, your car.  It's not like that in all places, especially not Hawaii. 

Everyone drives at least 15 mph over the speed limit on the freeway. Even grandmas. 

This is the crazy part about this one -- hardly anyone ever gets pulled over. Maybe once or twice in almost 3 years, have I ever seen someone pulled over on the side of the road. So, I guess it's just a given that everyone drives way over the speed limit, except me. I can't even count the number of times that grandmas have passed me. This is why I drive in the middle lane, no need to worry about crazies getting mad at me for going the speed limit. They can do their thang, and I can do mine. 

The city is changing. 

And I can barely keep up with it. Everyday new apartment buildings are being planned, new restaurants are opening and I kind of love it.  In the short time since we've been here we've seen some places close (RIP 4th Ward Bakery) and a ton of new places open. I used to always be in-the-know about this stuff, but lately it's hard for me to even keep track of. But, I am so excited to see what the future holds for this city.  My favorite project is probably the Atherton Mill restoration and expansion. 

Do you live in Charlotte? What did I miss? Feel free to add to the comments section below.  Stay tuned for "5 Myths about Living in Charlotte"... and our special announcement about where we are moving to next...

Have a great week,