Tuesday, January 4

up in the air & out of boxes

I had a full-time job. I loved my co-workers. I had health/vision/AND/dental insurance. I typically went to bed before midnight. I lived in a kick-ass apartment with hands down one of the best housemates I could have asked for. I received a paycheck twice a month. A nice one. I sometimes even bought myself over-priced fitness attire and expensive organic fair-trade chocolate. The post-college life was looking pretty posh.

Then I did the unthinkable
(especially during "these crazy economic times"): 
There was a lot of thought put into it, don't worry. There was also a lot of fear. Okay—tons of fear. But I learned quickly to not let fear be your guide, or else you go...nowhere, except for maybe back to bed. It's a scary-fricken world out there. 


My goal in quitting my 8-5 office job in a growing medical management company was to figure out what I actually wanted to do with my life. So far I can cross off "work in a medical management company." Even if it is growing and our gym memberships were paid for.


I realize that this of course sounds very first-world of me. "Quit my salaried day job to search for my heart's deepest dreams!?" Gasp! Rough times. And maybe it even sounds a little (or a lot) like I'm dabbling in what this NY Times article calls the newest 20-something stage of life: emerging adulthood. In all seriousness, that article is onto something. Read it if at all possible. Big thanks to my previous boss, who sent it to me the week after I quit. No hard feelings...
 
I dabbled in part-time work. I can now cross off "part-time bookkeeping" from my list as well. Or any type of bookkeeping, really. Or any form of opening other peoples' mail and paying their bills.
Then came true and golden unemployment. Or fun-employment as it's been called.
During this season I spent a good amount of time sleeping in, going on long runs in the sunshine, tanning on sandy beaches, and meeting my responsible and fully-employed friends on their lunch breaks.
Oh and how could I forget? I also went to Italy for all of October. I tend to bring up Italy a lot. Apologies for all the jealousy that might cause, but it was a truly good time. Minus the 15-hour plane rides.  

My life is up in the air...and out of boxes. I returned from Italy and promptly moved out of my chic, kick-ass apartment...and into my younger sister's old room at my parents' house. I don't know where any of my stuff is. My clothes are all in a dresser that is in a room down the hall from where I'm sleeping. I accused both of my sister's of borrowing/stealing one of my cameras, and a month later I found it in an old purse, wrapped in a blanket, under a yoga mat, in a crate in the corner of the closet that I've commandeered for the time being. That sentence holds relatively true for most things I urgently need to find lately. 


Forgive the lack of quality pictures lately...I also can't find the USB cable for my dSLR, and have resorted to my phone camera. I'm sure it'll turn up eventually. Perhaps in one of the below Yogurtland boxes that my dad brought home tonight. Score!


Yes, sadly...they're empty.
I will go into more detail in a later post, but these last two months have been:
  • hard
  • trying
  • frustrating
  • exasperating
  • disheartening
  • downright infuriating
With that said...

I'm moving to Seattle on Friday! FRIDAY. Maybe even Thursday night. It's up in the air as well. Seems like quite the theme lately. 
I'll be moving with Sister #2...
Taken circa July 2008...pretty sure it was the EXACT DAY we decided we would one day live in Seattle together.
Check out that Space Needle in the background...symbolic.
Come on...it's pretty dang cute. Currently referring to it as The Beehive, but obviously open to worthier suggestions.
So. Excited. About. This. Kitchen.
!!!
Love to you all and thanks for reading (onnnnly if you actually did). More on the emotional side of things tomorrow...doesn't that sound like fun?!?!  :)

9 comments:

Allie said...

Yaaay! Good post. And love the kitchen. Want it.

Amanda Marshall said...

YIPPEE! so excited for you. but need to actually hear about it via the telephone since I can't see your beautiful face at the moment in person. Miss you and cant wait to hear about this!!!

PS. love what you did to your blog - my little creative sista

Fit With Flash said...

get it girl! you gotta do what YOU want. I don't have paid vacation, have to pay my own insurance, but i LOVE my job and have the freedom to take off at a moment's notice (like, to Italy for a month) if I want to. it rules! takes some time to get started, but completely worth it once you're there. you got this ish.
plus that's a way cute house/kitchen

Jess said...

Good Luck!! Seattle would be a super fun place to live and I think the Beehive is a great name for the house.

Bridget said...

that place is adorable and I AM VISITING.

Emily said...

i fully support the move. i am a strong believer in making big moves to find yourself. (even if i only made the big move to go to medical school. no matter. it's still what i wanted. and i did find myself.)

p.s. not sure if i've ever commented before, but i've been following you since you went to Boston (to visit Bridget). and that sounded suuuuuper creepy. forgive me.

Justine said...

I am coming soon. Promise.

JMay said...

Adorable place! How exciting :-) Big moves are the BEST. My hubby & I are looking to make ours soon ;-)

Laura Belle said...

I just found your blog...(via your comment on mine) and i love it. Congrats on quitting!! I left my FT gig a year ago and haven't looked back. It's tough even if you have planned everything, so have fun and keep your eyes open for random opportunities that pop up. I LOVE the "beehive"...too too cute.

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