A Wrap

New York, 2017

Well, 1099 posts later, and we are starting to pack our bags and say farewell to Williamsburg and New York.

It's been a strange year of limbo. Since my first scouting trip to L.A. back in September we've had so many puzzles to solve. I sort of can't believe we've nearly pulled it all off.

We feel really good about all of the changes afoot but my brain is more a little weary from all of the decision making. I would like to just be somewhere without feeling it's temporary.

Knowing that you are leaving a place feels a little like homesickness, even while you're still there. I can't help but think about how well we know this neighborhood. We remember when this or that store was something else entirely, three iterations ago, and when our twenty five year old selves led very different lives here. The city comes to feel like a part of your identity, and it's strange to think that we will soon be saying 'When we lived in New York...' in the past tense.

But it's a happy occasion too. It feels good to be intentional about what we want for our children and ourselves at this stage of life. Being in Maine in the summers or on the beach just about anywhere has taught me a lot about how we all thrive in nature and how wonderful it feels to hear the wind in the trees rather than the wail of sirens as you fall asleep at night. Yes, Los Angeles is a big city. But it's one with vast wild spaces we are keen to explore. Our city kids are in for a great adventure.

I had a feeling I would be wrapping up this blog when we moved, and now it's time to do just that. If you happened upon this site just now, feel free to check out the archives and see a little bit more about parenting in Brooklyn. I wouldn't have chosen any other place to be. If you've been reading all along, thank you for taking an interest in our journey.

I will of course be recording life out West as we settle into our house and life by the beach. You can follow our little tribe's progress on Instagram, if you like.

Lately

via Sunnylife

Whelp! Have just been inside with three small humans for something like 36 hours straight because of the blizzard that hit New York yesterday. Will, meanwhile, is out in LA home scouting for us, so this picture is about where my mind is at the moment.

We've been busy: lots of admin, lots of logistics, lots of life designing...and plenty of nail biting over all of the above. Once we're there (in just 50 days!) I think it will dissipate because we'll be distracted my lemon trees and sunshine. But for now we're muscling through.

Aside from that, I have lots afoot. Bo turned 14 months this week, Axel is four and a half!, and Oscar's third birthday is just a few weeks away. Have to stop googling pool floats and get back to recording daily life in Brooklyn.

11211 Love: Big News

Williamsburg, 2017

So! Here we are in 2017 already.

Part of the reason I haven't been posting much of late is that we've had a few big changes brewing on the home front. It feels strange to post and not mention the thing that's been consuming all of your mental energy. But now I can actually that this spring, our family of five is moving to Los Angeles.

There are so many reasons why this makes sense for us right now, but I'm still stunned that this is truly happening in less than three months. I genuinely thought I was a New Yorker for life. But then we found ourselves with three boys under the age of four, and Axel on the cusp of kindergarten, which is in and of itself a huge leap into uncertainty that comes with a lot of decisions to be made.

And over the summer in Maine something was percolating in me as I saw the boys running barefoot on the beach, outside all day, rarely still. We love New York so much, and yet it will be a looong few years before the fellas are quite ready for meandering trips to the Met. This weekend, the snow was gorgeous, but it was seventeen degrees on Sunday. Sunnier climes beckon.

It's strange, wonderful, bittersweet. I miss Brooklyn already. During the latest snow storm, I looked out of my window and felt like I was in a snow globe. This is the only grown up home Will and I have ever known. And it's been a remarkable place to start our family. But I'm excited for what's to come too.

As for this space, I have a feeling it will make its way to a natural conclusion. Not now, but perhaps in the coming months. And, if you're curious about our newest adventures, I will of course let you all know how I will be recording our life out west, whether it's on another blog, on Instagram or via whatever new fangled technology the kids are using these days.

More California

California, 2016

More electric blues and succulent magic from the West Coast...

Home Again

California, 2016

So many beautiful things to see in sunny California. Bo and I had a grand old time, arriving back late last night to drizzle but happy to be in our own beds! More pictures to come once I've bounced back from the jet lag.

L.A. Baby

California

Am gearing up for an adventure next week, taking Bo with me to L.A., so I was looking back through some old pictures of our pre-kids trips there. I also had to laugh about this essay on a New Yorker visiting Los Angeles, especially this passage about why it's so great to live in Brooklyn: "I once saw “Much Ado About Nothing” performed entirely by rats and a pigeon on a G train that was being held by the dispatcher between stations. It was magnificent and repulsive. Now please stop talking to me while I wait for Ramon, my Uber driver/chillwave d.j./improv student, to arrive."

Babymoon Inspiration

The Farmhouse Inn, Sonoma, 2009

The Farmhouse Inn, Sonoma, 2009

Sonoma, 2009

Sonoma, 2009

Sonoma, 2009

The Farmhouse Inn, Sonoma, 2009

This morning's post reminded me: if you're on the west coast, I've got the perfect babymoon spot for you.

The Farmhouse Inn, in Sonoma's Russian River Valley, is total bliss. The modern, airy barn rooms are gorgeous, and at check in you can choose your very own soaps and bath salts or pick up ingredients for S'mores making by the fire. I went in the fall, during harvest season, and the cool temperatures were beautiful. If you go during the summer, there's a pool as well.

The restaurant on site serves gorgeous breakfasts and special dinners, with tons of fresh ingredients from local farms. Though wine country may not seem all that intuitive a choice for a pregnancy getaway, there's plenty to do beyond the tasting rooms. Walks through the Redwood forest, drives along the PCH, visits to farmer's markets, and fabulous, low key foodie spots like Zazu, an old fashioned road house serving gourmet eats.