big news.

so i'm moving to new york.

wait, what? excuse me?

yes, my sweets, it's true. i'm making the big jump to nyc. a move my scared-to-go-away-from-home younger self never thought i could do.

i think if you and i have been acquainted for a while now, this may come as absolutely no surprise to you. i began questioning my long-term relationship with san francisco a few months ago. see, there's nothing wrong with us. we're content. we're comfy. we get along great, san francisco and i. we get each other. but, i have this deeply inherent feeling that there's something else out there. somewhere else suited for who i am at this present moment. not a place that is necessarily better, just new and different and challenging. we all need a good challenging change every now and then, wouldn't you agree? especially when things get a bit stagnant.

california has always been my home… my one true love… everything i know. moraga is filled with blissful childhood memories, santa barbara is filled with the very first tastes of true independence, and san francisco is filled with a pretty darn beautiful coming of age story i've written here on it's all happening. a story of growth in which i would not re-write one.single.word.

twenty twelve quickly became the year of trying out new places to live. as i visited new york, san diego, austin, and london i went in with every intention of seeing if i could actually live there. could i crawl in and get comfy and stay a while? and, all i learned is that yes, i could in fact live here. i can find happiness anywhere.

so the story goes that in early august i got put onto an advisory board for the women's lifestyle team at aol. a relatively new team that is responsible for the success of five female-focused platforms {stylelist, kitchendaily, homesessive, makers {also here}, and stylemepretty - yes you heard that right. my favorite wedding blog!} under the aol umbrella and a team full of really rad women. and then the queen of rad in charge of this feat came to the san francisco office and my jaw hit the floor as i experienced this stuff live and i thought to myself, i need to be on this team immediately. these rad gals {and guys!}, see, they speak my language. as a blogger and consumer of thousands of blogs, i belong in this space. my brain is full to the brim with ideas that are going to make these platforms do great because they have oh-so-much potential.

so one thing leads to another and i learned how good people can be. like how inherently good people are. and how for some reason they've invested in me and my future and want to see me succeed. how did i ever get so lucky? the head of aol on the west coast is infamous for saying that we must all form our own personal board of directors. well somehow in my short year and a half at this company, i had more board members than i thought. more people advocating for me than i ever thought possible. so off i go to join this dream team of mine. a role that is completely in line with my passions and my strengths and exactly where i envisioned my career heading, but at the same time where i never thought it could possibly go.

so to conclude this long-winded story, i was running out of my apartment the other day and stopped dead in my tracks to read my crayon artwork goal sheet i have hanging on one of my many bulletin boards. well it turns out that the sun directly above my head reads "live in another city at some point - nyc, san diego, sb to pursue school or other career" my twenty two year old self, she knew what she wanted. and now my twenty seven year old self, she's finally believing that it can come true.

then i got to thinking about the power of the universe. you know how they say when you put it out there, it will come back to you. ask and you shall receive. if that's not living proof of trusting that the things we put out in the universe will come true, i don't know what is. and i'm not just talking about the little things, but the big things. the important things. like adventures and careers and falling in love and creating families. it can happen, it can all happen. put it out there in that universe. and give it everything you've got.

so, thanks for listening. many more thoughts on this BIG news to come. like things i'm afraid of and people i'm going to miss so much it pulls so so tight on my heartstrings. for now, though, i'm so thankful nyc gets to be apart of my story, and i can't wait to write to you.

*pics: nyc | sf