We Moved!
On December 28th, 2020 we packed my car and headed north towards our new home in Cleveland, Ohio.
I already know what’s running through your mind, “Why Cleveland?”. Well friends, a promotion in Peter’s job brought us to the land of the Browns and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. By the way, I’m sorry but Browns colors are tragic. Neither of us have spent much time here in the City of Dreams - that’s what we dubbed it - so this experience has been completely new.
With the way that Christmas landed this year we were lucky enough to have an entire week off of work while we moved in to our new digs. We made the six hour trek north on Monday morning, arriving at our new apartment before sunset. It’s crazy what six hours can change. The air is dry, the people are different, and price tag… well let’s just say the prices are right.
I could talk all day about this apartment, but let’s just say it’s immaculate. I quickly realized as I walked into our new apartment that our previous cockroach infested (yes, you read that right) Arlington home paled in comparison. You are immediately greeted with a view of Lake Erie spread across our 3 kitchen windows, and the city streets below our Juliette balcony. I suppose now is a good time to mention that this is a brand new complex, which means we are the first ever tenants of this unit. The appliances are squeaky clean, the countertops are freshly polished and the backsplash is sparkling. I swear we are in a movie.
Now that we’ve moved a couple times, I can confidently say that moving week is arguably the best week of the year. There’s no schedule, no budget and no limits - okay dramatic, I know, but you get the idea.
We woke up on Tuesday morning to a beautiful sunrise over Lake Erie, pink skies and all. It might sounds cheesy, but on our walk to our local coffee shop I said to Peter that I think God blessed us with this sunrise as a reminder that this is going to be a good chapter of our lives. We ordered our coffees to-go and made our way back to the apartment to meet the movers. By the afternoon cardboard remnants were spread across the floor as we shredded moving boxes while Alexa played jazz music in the background.
Throughout the week we became acquainted with our local Marshall’s stores, where we copped new rugs, the perfect leather bar stools and the most random house supplies you can imagine. Peter found a big new TV for our living room, a much-needed upgrade from our last, we got rid of excess furniture that no longer fit our space (we even dismantled our kitchen table and tucked it in our bedroom closet), and cozied up our place.
The cool thing about where we live is that it’s in the heart of lots of breweries, restaurants and activities. The majority of the people around us are our young adults, which is a crazy contrast to our complex in DC.
We enjoyed our first, of I’m sure many, visits to Saucy Brewworks which is a brewery that is just steps from our apartment serving up saucy wings and crazy beers. With the sipped on a What’s His Nuts?, a smooth Reese’s Puff’s-esque beer, while chatting about our new adventure & places we want to see this year - The Kentucky Bourbon Trail, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati being a few.
With most of the week coasting by in a flurry of trips to malls and drives throughout the city, we suddenly found ourselves at New Years Eve. I’ve personally never been a huge fan of the holiday. I’m all for a fresh start, but it’s the partying that isn’t my scene. Anyways, we picked up some steaks + supplies for cocktails at the grocery store, and came home for a cozy night in. Peter cooked up some steaks, starting a bit of a smokey haze in our kitchen from the broiler haha, and I poured up the Moscow Mules and Old Fashioned’s. As the tv played Auld Lang Syne and fireworks went off out our window, Peter grabbed my hand and we danced in our living room. It was definitely one of the sweetest ways to start a new chapter.
We rounded out the week with a trip to the West Side Market where we snacked on cookies, coffee, pepperoni bread and even picked up a gyro from what is allegedly the best spot in Cleveland - can confirm, it was very good.
I’m not sure what you are thinking when you read this, maybe you are thinking we are crazy for moving again or maybe you think it’s cool, but my biggest hope in sharing my life is to inspire you to try something new. Get out and create a life that would make your younger self proud.
I would say so far, young Kate is pretty damn proud.