Mimosas and Manhattan | My LA Move

Romper | PacSun

My recent move to Los Angeles have been nothing short of well…challenging. I wish I could sit here and say “everything was SO easy” or “just pick up and do it!” There are so many different things that popped up along the way that honestly, I just didn’t really think about. I have been to LA a million times so I didn’t really expect to have to transition too much, but when you move somewhere permanently (especially in a different time zone) you just need a longer time to adjust.

When I decided to move to LA, everything sort of happened really fast. My job was insanely busy, I was traveling a lot, my sister was getting married and then BOOM it was suddenly time for my to move to LA. I would say it really didn’t sink in that I was moving, until I got on the plane to JFK and told my Uber driver (I know weird). But honestly for the 2 months leading up to it, there was just too much going on to give it a second thought.

When I moved here, I hadn’t yet found a place to live which was insanely stressful. For the month of July, I literally lived out of a single Away suitcase and Rebecca Minkoff tote bag (that is now falling to pieces). I moved all of my stuff (furniture/clothes/basically my entire apartment) straight into storage because I didn’t know where I was going to be living once I landed, so I only packed for what I could get by on for 4 weeks. I have to say, I think I did a pretty good job but my boyfriend was definitely tired of me wearing the same dress every date night. Throughout that month, I stayed at hotels, friends couches, my boyfriend’s place down in Newport and my company’s bedroom. Packing up every few days and feeling like a nomad was really, really difficult for me since I thrive on a schedule.

Right when I got here, I immediately started looking for houses. I tried different sites like Zillow, Westside Rentals, Apartments.com (I could go on and on) but LA is weird not all of the apartments are listed on those sites. To find a place in an area you like, you have to drive around in that area and look for “For Rent” signs, call that number and go about it the old fashioned way. With no luck on those fronts, I turned to Facebook to see what I could stumble upon. I ended up getting connected to 2 girls looking for a roommate and a couple days later, I headed to West Hollywood to check out the place. I immediately fell in love with it and basically ended up agreeing to move in then and there. With everything going on at my job + traveling I didn’t have any time to look at other apartments so was eager to find a place. This was the first and only place I saw in person but I just had a good feeling about it.

Something that really caught me off guard with moving here, was how much my body needed to adjust to the time zone.  It isn’t necessarily the time difference but more the transition between dealing with your inbox when you get to work. For me, it gives me major anxiety to think that people are already up on the East Coast working while I am still asleep. Because of this, I would get up a 6am, get to my computer and immediately start working so I wouldn’t be behind when I would officially start my day at 8:30am. I would then work till at least 6pmPT (9pm ET) so my days were just really, really long. I know some people pull 12 hour days constantly but for me, working those hours while trying to find an apartment/car and also trying to keep up with the blog was insanely stressful (not to mention trying to start making friends/going to events/etc.).  Something I am trying to learn right now is that even though people on the East Coast are working, doesn’t mean I have to be. I have to be OK with an overwhelming inbox because when 3pm roles around that’s when I can really crank out my work.

I realize this post might sound whiny and ungrateful but I don’t mean for it to be. I simply want to pull back the filter that is instagram and let you all know that no, moving to LA hasn’t been all unicorns and sunshine. While I am grateful every.single.day that I decided to take this leap and take on this new phase in my life, I am still working very hard to reach my goals of balance and a healthy mind + body. After all, those are the reasons I moved here in the first place!

As I start to settle in, I look forward to being able to give advice on all of the things I would have done differently – the tips I wish I knew but also the things that I would do the same again! I know a bunch of you are thinking about doing the cross-country move (either NY to LA or vice versa) so please feel free to ask me any questions you may have!

 

xx

Kelly

Posted By: mimosasandmanhattan · In: Life