One year in the Northwest

A weird thing happened when I looked at my calendar earlier this week - I realised that today marks a whole year since we traded in L.A. for Seattle. I could probably continue at this point with half a dozen clichés about time flying, but I'll spare you. Instead, I'll bore you with a bunch of visuals. My photos tend to be better than my words anyway.

I've had several half-baked posts sitting in my draft box over the last couple of months, so I've decided to hell with it, and rolled them all into this one. Snipped away the few words there were, and am letting the images do the talking. You'll just have to believe me when I say this post is actually two months in the making. There are times when I'd rather bake banana bread than sit down and blog, you know? Or figure out the best way to make banana pudding (which I've become obsessed with). Or simply eat donuts (something I do love about Seattle).

Essentially, I'm making the most of getting outside as the days become a little drier and warmer. The long daylight hours are divine - something I loved about living in the UK too - and given that I'm typically at work four evenings a week, those other three evenings are not guaranteed to be sunny and dry. When they are, I drag everyone down to one of the lakeside picnic spots, so that I can enjoy a sunset. Not a swim though. No. That lake water is still far too cold for a wimp like myself.

We've been discovering new places to wander - both local, and a little further out. Been visiting favourite touristy spots again, and doing our best to shake the pallor of winter off ourselves. School finished up last week, so I'm finding myself now a little more time-poor... but the mini sleep-ins are making up for it. Swimming lessons are the only thing that have us rushing out the door this month, but July - when my parents visit - is going to be packed full.

Anyhow, there it is. A whole year in Seattle, and we've still got a lot of discovering to do. I have a lot of affection for the Pacific Northwest and all its clean air, good coffee and amazing food, but I need to work on making peace with its winters before I start feeling like one of the locals. I have a way to go, I suspect.

In the mean time...

Hard and fast

I've been a little missing in action, I guess.

Technically though, one post in five weeks really isn't too bad when you consider that it took me a full eight months to pull my finger out and even start this blog after moving from Australia to Los Angeles. By that standard, I could give myself another month or two before even thinking about logging in to Blogger, right? After all, we've just moved 1,800 km. That's nothing to be sneezed at, even if it's not quite the international move we made back in 2010.

I don't actually know where to begin, so I'll probably just ramble for a bit. I'm good at that.

Our moving truck arrived in early July - just in time for us to spend the entire July 4th holiday unpacking. That's how everyone wants to spend their holiday time, surely. Or maybe not.

It was then another couple of weeks without cable or internet hooked up, hence my silence here. Instagram was my guilty pleasure during that time, and I'm pretty sure I racked up a hefty data bill on my phone in that time. Instagram aside, having no internet to distract me meant I was able to get the unpacking done within a decent time frame. The downside of no cable or internet though? No TV to entertain the kids while I unpacked. Thank god for the iPad.

In all honesty, I'm not sure that having earlier internet access would have made much difference with my computer time. With such amazing weather at the moment - and knowing that a Pacific Northwestern summer doesn't last for too long - there's been a sense of urgency to getting outside and making every moment of blue skies count. And this is coming from someone who's not even a huge 'outdoorsy' type. I just know there's going to be plenty of time down the track, when we're hiding inside from the grey and wet... it'd be foolish now to spend precious sunlight hours hunching over a keyboard.

So far, we seem to have landed pretty well on our feet. Each day that passes, I'm even happier with the space we've moved into, and it hasn't taken long to feel like 'home'. The neighbours are all lovely, and the girls immediately took to the college-aged daughter on one side of us, asking her within ten minutes of meeting her whether she'd babysit for us (cheeky, and winning of them, and the answer was a resounding yes because apparently the feeling was mutual). Another friendly neighbour presented me with a bottle of wine, which is always an easy way to win me over.

We haven't done any terribly exciting explorations yet, but have spent most days getting to know our immediate area. Various parks and playgrounds have been tried and tested. Various supermarkets have been sussed out. Most importantly, various coffee houses have been visited. Our home is a mile uphill from the waterfront of Lake Washington. It's an area where I suspect parking could be tricky during the weekends and summer, due to the restaurants and cafes, so we tend to walk down a lot. The first couple of times, the walk home seemed a killer (I'd forgotten how living near water = steep, steep hills) but each time gets a little easier.

The silver lining to all those hills is that I can eat more doughnuts and drink more coffees. At least that's what I'm telling myself. Within days of arriving in Seattle's Eastside, we found ourselves at a small doughnut and espresso joint, and I've been smitten with that place ever since. The two people who run it (I can't figure out if they're siblings or a couple) are the sweetest, and make all the doughnuts themselves. They have cinnamon sugar doughnuts, which I never saw in L.A. but used to be a staple for me in Sydney. Win! Once or twice a week, I try to find an excuse to justify the 10-min drive to that neighbourhood so I can get my fix. The Faery and Miss Pie aren't complaining, either.

The only thing that's happened recently that sent a pang of sadness and missing my friends in L.A. was when I unexpectedly saw one of my closest friends on TV. Her daughter and the Faery are best friends at school, and our two families spent a lot of time together. The Faery was jumping up and down with excitement when she saw her on TV in a network promotion - for a kids show she works on - but I had a lump in my throat when I saw her face, knowing that although we plan to visit them (and have them stay with us later this year), it's still a while away.

So that's where we're at for now. Settling in pretty well, but little moments of sadness. Overall, I think I'm falling for Seattle's beauty. Like Sydney, this city is sprawled around a lot of water - making for incredible scenery. I've taken hundreds of photos already, and am going through somewhat of  honeymoon phase.

You know how there are people who fall hard and fast for other people? Intensely? That's me, but with cities. If I could bottle and sell the feelings I have as I discover a new city, I'd make a pretty penny.

Week One

The last couple of weeks we spent in Los Angeles were pretty much a clichéd whirlwind of craziness - bittersweet lunches, dinners and playdates with friends we'll miss, attempts to at least organise our belongings for the packers, and endless phone calls to coordinate the move itself - I have a stack of photos which I'll save for a later post.

We survived, but not without a fair amount of sweat (J & I) and tears (the Faery and - okay - me).
In some ways, though, the physical act of getting our things from A to B - 1,800 km apart - has seemed much easier this time round, compared to a year ago when we moved apartments within the same complex. There's a lot to be said for having other people pack and do all the lifting.

Four suitcases, two backpacks, two adults, two kids, and one caged cat later... we arrived at SeaTac Airport with surprisingly minimal drama, last Wednesday. Everything else we own is currently on a truck somewhere along the West Coast, to be expected any day now. We have the keys to our new place but it is empty for now.

Somewhere between getting off the plane, and getting our rental car.

First drizzly afternoon stroll, dodging slugs.

Even the sides of busy roads here have been beautified.

We arrived to drizzle, and I was little bummed after the amazing weather we'd been having down south. I'd known what to expect, but the immediate grey skies still disappointed me. Little did I know that a day later, the clouds would clear and a heat wave would roll in over the entire West Coast. Seattle is already a stunning city under grey skies, but when the sun comes out to play? Oh my. I cannot get over the green beauty of this place.

With temperatures peaking in the early 30s (Celsius), it was surprising to learn just how much I can sweat - despite these temps being nothing new to me, it was the humidity factor that I'd not had to deal with at all during our three years in L.A. High humidity and no air con in our  temporary accommodation has made for some incredibly sticky nights - reminiscent of Sydney summers. Seattle, I had no idea. There's a cool breeze today, and I never imagined I'd be so grateful for this, so soon after arriving here.

Lucky for us, the area we've been staying in has an amazing lakeside beach, with an equally gorgeous park next to it.  Although we've visited a number of playgrounds and waterfront parks since arriving, we spent several evenings at Idylwood Beach Park (doesn't the name alone sound like paradise?) during the peak of the heat wave, taking in the games of croquet and volleyball, families barbecuing, and kids diving off the lake's jetty as others surf paddle in the distance - all under the watchful gaze of teenaged lifeguards. That old saying 'to make hay while the sun shines' rings especially true around here. Unlike Los Angelenos, I get the feeling that Seattleites don't take the sun for granted.

My first solo sunset stroll in many, many months.

Idylwood Beach Park

Idylwood Beach Park

Kirkland Marina Park

Spins and secrets

The other thing that has me smitten are the (even) longer days. The sun doesn't set until after 9pm these days, which means it's still light and dusky at 10pm. Lengthy daylight hours have always been my favourite thing about summer, and I particularly loved summer in London because of this - many a late evening were spent in beer gardens as the sky slowly turned a deep azure. In the past, I've always been a stickler for strict early kiddo bedtimes, but the long days here are playing havoc with the girls' usual bedtime routine. We've relaxed about it because a) it's been so hot that it takes forever to fall asleep anyway, and b) there's no early morning school run to deal with, so isn't this what holidays are for? Besides, I think J has missed the girls so much that he is savouring his time with them when he comes home from work. Once they are in bed, it's still light enough for the two of us to enjoy a drink outside - even at half-past nine.

It's only been a week, but Seattle summer? I think I love you.

Emily agrees that late twilight hours are pretty cool.

The three year itch

When we decided to move to Los Angeles, we knew it would be for three or four years, depending on how things panned out for J with his new job. Maybe we'd all be miserable and return to Australia sooner, or maybe J would absolutely love the job and we'd have the option of staying on for a few more years. There was no crystal ball to help us out, and it was somewhat of a leap of faith. Neither of us had even been to L.A. before.

We are only six weeks shy of having lived here for three years already, and the last few months have seen us reevaluating where we want to be.

J's professional journey isn't my story to tell, but for a number of strong reasons, he's decided it's time to move on from his current job. So... he cast a net out and tried his best to see what else is out there in the US for him. A lot of sweat and sleepless nights, interviews, and winning people over.

And... it paid off. An offer was made recently that seems too good to be true - both financially, and in terms of a career trajectory for J. He sold himself very well, and is stoked that there are people out there who seem to recognise his potential, and want him on their team. I'm proud of him.

It's an offer that has us pinching ourselves. It will be a game-changer for us, and allow us to rid our debts quickly (unlike the naïve expectations we had moving when to L.A, before the reality of the cost of living here - on a single income - kicked in). A significant pay-rise and employment package which will not only enable us to kick our debts to the curb, but to properly save for a home, visit Australia more often, and start chasing our dreams of further travel together as a family.

There's just one catch - the new job won't be in Los Angeles. Our time in La La Land is drawing to an end.

Yeah, you probably saw that coming... we're moving to Seattle. Time to dig out my old Pearl Jam and Nirvana albums! Our recent weekend trip was more than just a random visit and catch-up with friends. We wanted to get a feel for the place, and check out the areas where we'd likely move to. Although we'd both been to Seattle many years ago, we needed to see it from a fresh perspective this time - is it somewhere that we think our little family will be happy?

Clean, fresh air is a good start. As is the fact we'll be more financially secure and able to pursue interests we've been wanting to for a long time. I feel lucky that we have an opportunity to experience life in another beautiful corner of the world, and am excited about the fresh new start.

This move will be bittersweet, though. We've made some wonderful friends here in L.A, especially since the Faery started school. I mean, it's one thing to "approve of" the kids that your child has chosen as little mates, but then to get along so well with their families and find you're on the same page as them with many things, and actually look forward to your families hanging out together socially - from what I've heard, not everyone is lucky to strike up such rich friendships from their kids' schools. I have some truly lovely girlfriends now, and knowing that they won't be a regular part of my life for much longer is probably the thing that makes me the saddest and most anxious about moving. I'm not too happy at the thought of starting from scratch, socially, once we move up there. We do have a few friends there but we'll be living in a different part of Seattle to them. I'll need to work on making new friends closer to home, and the older I get, the more daunting this feels.

I also worry about the Faery - she adores her friends, and one in particular is a real kindred spirit with her. I'm sad and anxious about putting physical distance between them, but we always knew L.A. wasn't going to be forever.

Another 'issue' will be the weather. It's a superficial thing, yes, but don't underestimate the impact of mostly grey skies and damp air. I've lived it before, in London. I'm determined I won't let it get under my skin this time. Seattle isn't London, our circumstances are very different, and... I just have to let go of the notion of me not digging winter. Put on my big girl panties.

Hopefully these drawbacks can be dealt with by the odd weekend visit to L.A. - a dose of sunshine and to hang out with friends. I've already promised the Faery that she and I can have a few girly weekends doing this, in the hope that the knowledge will ease the transition for her. We have a while yet, though. J will start his new job in spring, but the girls and I are going to stay back until the end of the school year so that the Faery won't need to change schools until the new school year begins. I feel strongly about that, so I offered to hang back here and do the solo parent thing for a few months, while J settles into his job and looks for a place for us to live in.

I'm trying to remind myself that moving from L.A. to Seattle is going to be much easier than our move from Sydney to L.A.  For one, we've actually been there and have an idea what to expect. Secondly, it'll just be a matter of packing our things onto the back of a truck (as opposed to selling things, storing things, shipping some things, and buying the rest at the other end). Thirdly, it's not like we're moving to yet another country where we have to figure everything out again. We're used to driving on the right-hand side now, we have our social security numbers, and a general understanding of how things work here.

All in all, though, this has been a lot to process. It's been on the cards for a few months, and only just been made official. All this time, J and I have discussed every thing there is to consider, at great length, but had to keep the news secret from family and friends - just in case it fell through. It's like first trimester pregnancy all over again, when you're bursting to be able to talk about it openly but the reality is only a couple of select friends or family know. Part of my way of dealing with this has been to draft this post, very s-l-o-w-l-y.

Hitting the 'publish' button will never feel as good as with this post, I suspect. Let's find out...


(PS - Not long after J accepted the new job, his current workplace announced they would be cutting jobs by twenty per cent. Scary stuff. Upon hearing the news, we knew beyond a doubt we've made the right decision.)