How to Make Moving A Little Easier.

// Photo: Museum of Natural History //

It's Ongoing.

We moved into our Upper West Side New York City apartment almost two weeks ago. And it's still a wreck. Why is that? I'll tell you why. Because moving is HARD WORK. I'm beginning to understand why people don't do this very often.

Our backs hurt. From building stuff.

My husband and I have been married for 6 years. In that time frame, we have moved 5 times, with 4 of those moves taking us to different states. We haven't had the chance to get too comfortable anywhere yet. However, we always feel at home, no matter where we live. We purposefully take the time with each move to create "home" where we are. It takes a lot of time, building shelves and arranging photos and measuring every inch of our tiny abode (we have only lived in apartments), but the extra effort is worth it. Though we haven't finished unpacking quite yet, I am beginning to see a pattern of how to make moving easier.

// Left to Right: // Forgot the key to the storage unit. This is how the door was opened. //

Anthropologie trinkets and  Black & Decker tools. // Brown boxes and Blue Moon. //

1. Set up your TV. 

This should be almost the first thing you do. I'm not kidding. Because at the end of a long day of unpacking, you just want to kick back with a beverage and watch a re-run of Friends. Do not underestimate the importance of zoning out for just a bit. Because the next morning, it's back to the boxes. And those boxes? They are practically never-ending.

2. Visit Starbucks. Home Away from Home.

The Starbucks tip is two-fold. Not only do they brew the happy stimulants that make the day go round, you can get online well before the Internet is up at your new apartment. There is always a reason to need Internet, which becomes blazing-ly clear when you don't have it. Where is the local hardware store to buy the extra drill bits you need? How to clean the strange bathroom scum left by the previous tenant? What is the amount of weight that IKEA shelf can hold? All of these answers can be found on the World Wide Web. At Starbucks. With the happy coffee in hand.

3. Get IKEA Delivered.

IKEA has made a pretty penny off of us over the past several years. I don't mind. Being car-less in the city is wonderful, but it makes bringing home furniture from my beloved IKEA a bit more challenging. This is the first time we have ever gotten furniture delivered, but wow. It was well worth it. We trekked out to the Brooklyn IKEA, picked everything out, paid for it, and then paid a mere $99 extra for everything to be delivered directly inside our apartment. We couldn't have rented a truck for cheaper than that, let alone attempted to move all those heavy furniture packages up and down the stairs by ourselves.

4. Visualize Your Goal.

One of the fun parts of moving (for me), has been the opportunity to try out different types of decor. We always sell most of our stuff before each move so that we can buy specifically for the new space, which gives us the opportunity to try out a new aesthetic. Trying out new styles is an exciting part of the move. For me, I visualize exactly what I want the "feel" to be, and I build the rooms around that. I have taken risks, made quite a few trendy mistakes, and slowly learned the patterns within my own preferred style. I am becoming more confident in what I know I like and don't like. Visualizing the goal helps overcome those "stuck" moments.

5. Grant Yourself Permission.

There is a lot of hard work that goes into moving, but one of the most important keys is having grace. Give myself permission to take time, think about where I want everything to go, and reorganize the last's apartment's mess. If you're in the midst of a move, take your time. Take breaks. Make sure to laugh, even if you feel like crying. Being surrounded by an endless amount of "We don't need ANY OF THIS!!!"-stuff can be overwhelming. It's okay. Just take a deep breath, maybe take a re-run break, and then get back to it.

These few elements have helped with this particular move. It doesn't make the art of moving a stroll in the park, but it certainly helps. And this move has been particularly special, because this time, it's NEW YORK. This stellar marvelous city. I'll take it.

Tran. Si. Tion.

One Day. At a Time.

Taking a deep breath. While sitting on my new emerald-green couch. Coffee in hand. The light is pouring through my window and I am studying my surroundings intently. Clarity is beginning to settle in. For the first time in, honestly, quite some time.

I know I keep saying this, but it's true. This week has been a complete whirlwind. This summer has been a whirlwind. THE PAST THREE MONTHS. I can draw a (very blurry) semi-frantic line from May 31, when my husband graduated school, to today, where I am sitting in an unfamiliar apartment in the center of all urban divinity. And somehow it's very quiet. Strung between these monumental moments is a series of sweet messy memories, eating in European parks, goofing off in the Georgia grass with my niece and nephews, laughing with my dad on the back porch, drinking wine with my dear old friend, sometimes crying, fighting, swimming, running, singing, squeezing the pulp out of a three month period of bliss. It's been anything but numb. I feel like I have lived a lifetime in a summer. And now here I sit.

The past week has contained its own little timeline of intensity: Left Georgia on a road trip to my new world (New York City!), moved into the new place, shopped at IKEA, built a bunch of new furniture, had friends in town for a mere moment, ate some cookies, and now it's all starting to settle in. Just barely. Because I am still surrounded by boxes and random bits of my past life, sprawling across the wooden floor, irritating me for their lack of a place in this foreign space. But then I just breathe again, because I know everything will settle in nicely. At least I have Internet now.

There is much more to be said, explained and shown. This season holds a new life for me and therefore, by extension, this blog. I look forward to chronicling the next season! I've been brainstorming throughout the summer (those long train rides in Germany gave me some time to think about some new things for Oy!), and September will kick off a new chapter for the blog. I'm thrilled to share these new adventures with you. Hang with me, dear Oy-sters. A monumentally Big Apple-infused adventure awaits!