Summer days in Lincoln Park…

Hi friends! Hope you are all having a wonderful week. I am a wee bit busy this week with work and my Zain man but all good things. I had been asked several times how we have been adjusting to living in Louisville and lately my answer has changed a little. I shared a bit of this during my Instagram Q&A but thought it might be good to expand a bit more and hear from you all! 

So, flashback to living in Chicago when Trevor’s job offer came through. Days prior to this we had put in an offer on what we thought was our forever home in Logan Square and tragically lost it. Trevor then got this surprising email about a job offer in Louisville and I couldn’t have jumped quicker. As people who thought they would never leave the city Trevor was a bit taken back by my reaction. 

City life is wonderful but after my dental office sold to a corporation I didn’t want to work for, had my sweet baby Zain and tried to make it all work I was exhausted. I was tired of not having a routine and realized being a stay at home mom wasn’t the right fit for me. I love blogging and I love Zain more than anything but I am personally a better version of myself when I am working outside of the home. The Chicago market was unfortunate and I really didn’t want to travel to the suburbs, work evenings or weekends and those were really my only options. 

When the Louisville offer came up I just knew life would be easier here. I wanted to be the best version of me for my family and I had a hard time seeing that happen in Chicago. Beyond my job, the weather can be brutal, the school system challenging and the crime a concern. These were all things I didn’t heavily consider prior to having Zain and as much as I love Chicago I wasn’t sure it was our forever place anymore. 

My parent’s live in Louisville and Trevor’s are close by, dental jobs have much different hours (many don’t work Fridays and most not on the weekends) and I had a much larger circle to network with. When it all worked out we said a quick yes and everything seemed so fast. 

I was so relieved to leave the city, chaos, inconveniences and embrace a slower pace of life that I didn’t really pause to look back. People would ask not long after we moved if I was happy with the decision and I would yell ‘yes!’ before they could even finish. Now that we’ve been here for a little over 6 months I still feel the same way but I miss my friends SO much. 

I found myself crying last week just thinking about the missed girl’s dinners, lunches and play dates I was no longer having with my closest girlfriends. For the past 8 years Chicago has been so much apart of our lives and it’s crazy to suddenly be gone and not see your friends.

We are lucky that we both went to graduate school here and I grew up here because we have a great circle of friends but nothing will ever replace my friendships in Chicago and I am working really hard to keep those alive and well. 

I will say city wise, I don’t really miss it. We have been able to visit often and the neighborhood we live in here is much like Bucktown on a smaller scale. I walk everywhere with Zain, there are parks, restaurants, coffee shops and people all around and it feels vibrant and fairly diverse. It’s much of the reason we were so particular about living in this area. I think if we had moved to a suburb or subdivision it would have been too isolating and hard to adjust to. 

The one major thing I miss is the diversity and cultural awareness that comes with it. I don’t want to generalize but I have heard some crazy things since I’ve been here and the diversity is nowhere near what it was in Chicago. I want Zain to grow up in a culturally rich environment and I hope that we are doing our best to create that. 

I was a little shocked to feel such sadness so long after we left but after talking to my friends that have made similar moves they all expressed similar experiences. I think it’s okay to be happy where you are and still miss places or people you’ve left. It was a great reminder to me to invest in those friends and really make an effort to be present. 

How have you guys adjusted after a big move? Was your sadness delayed like mine? 

The best friends we miss so much!

My girl’s dinners I miss so much! Also, I was very newly pregnant with Zain here and had to trick these girls and track down our waitress to make my drink a mocktail. I was pouring sweat and was for sure I got caught!