Home is where the heart is?

I don’t think I’ll ever admit how sad and scared I was to leave my East Village apartment. The apartment search was so stressful and intense that I didn’t even feel like I had time to process that my lease wasn’t being renewed and I was losing my home. I was just scrambling to put the pieces of the puzzle together so that I had somewhere to live. I was in auto-pilot.

I kept telling everyone that I believed everything happens for a reason, but I didn’t really mean it. I was just saying it to make myself feel better, to make them feel better. The weight of the situation didn’t really hit me until the night before the actual move when I started crying and couldn’t stop.

I now live in a completely new neighborhood for the first time in years. I’ve spent my entire adult life (13 years) in New York City and all of this has been spent in the same general areas of the East Village and Williamsburg/ Bushwick in Brooklyn. I loved the East Village and imagined living there for my whole life, but recently I felt like it had changed a lot and wasn’t the neighborhood that I romanticized it as. Transparently, I was also ready for a change and a fresh start.

I made what felt like a big decision and moved to a new neighborhood that’s about 30 minutes away by train. That doesn’t seem very far but to me, it felt like I was moving to a different state. I was fully prepared to hate it. My most toxic trait is that I’m the kind of person who can’t help imagining the worst case scenarios in everything they do. I imagined missing the familiarity of my regular coffee shop and the streets I would walk down everyday. The noise of the trucks passing by on Avenue A. I secretly imagined making the best of the situation, putting on a brave face and counting down the days until I could move back to Manhattan.

The truth? I really like it here. A lot actually. The apartment is spacious and has character. The neighborhood is quiet and beautiful. The bedroom is dark at night and there’s no one standing outside blasting their radio 3am. I’m walking distance from Prospect Park and get to see real trees and grass everyday. I was fully expecting to hate it here and I’m shocked to say I… don’t.

Maybe it really was the decorations I put up at the old place that made it so great. Maybe the actual apartment wasn’t anything special. Maybe home really is where the heart is and everything really does happen for a reason.

Time will tell, I’ve only been here for eight days although in a way it feels like I’ve always lived here. But I guess all of this is to say that if you are in a similar situation and resisting change I urge you to approach it with open arms. Maybe you’ll be surprised by what’s on the other side just like I was.

Xoxo,

Chelsea

My current favorite things!

• Dusen Dusen Bathrobe - I never thought I’d be a bathrobe girl, but when I moved I retired my Dusen Dusen after three wonderful years. I missed it so much I had to order another.

• Shower Lamp - I saw a viral post about cozy “shower lamps” on TikTok and could not get the idea out of my head. I take a bath almost daily and when I tell you this is a game changer I’m not exaggerating.

• Strawberry Picnic Blanket - Now that I live by the park I’m ready to enter my picnic era!

• Strawberry Glasses - I think these were meant for me?! I donated a lot of my old dinnerware when I moved because I thought that was the perfect excuse to buy these :)

• Nightingale Ice Cream - If you follow me on TikTok you know I’m OBSESSED with these ice cream sandwiches! The cookies are so thick and the flavors are insane.

• Strawberry Door Mat - I mean, need I say more?! I love her. She’s a bit pricey, but it makes me smile every time I walk in the door and I plan on keeping it for as long as I can!