Decided to blog after a long while, I'm sitting at a Balzac's Coffee shop laptop out and music out, and thought I'd give an update on my life.
It'll be one year since Carlos and I have been together on March 27, which also happens to be my move in day... which also falls on the Easter Long Weekend. I picked this day without realizing that it fell during such a busy time, but its been very exciting and a long time coming.
Before deciding to move in, we saw each other quite frequently, spending our weekends together and perhaps a few times during the week. Some say not much would change "if you're already spending so much time together", but it felt like I was living in two places. I enjoyed having the independence and my own space to do my own thing, plus the days away from Carlos would give him an opportunity to miss me.
I currently live in a rented condo with a roommate, and in January my landlord gave me 60 days notice that my lease would be ending. We had been thinking about moving in together, but this gave us a solid date. I okay'ed the move with my parents, who are surprisingly liberal. "Well Annie, you're 28 years old, even if you didn't have our permission you probably would have done it anyway".
Moving in Slowly - It started with bringing some clothes in a suitcase, linens, my toiletries, and makeup. Carlos usually gets Fridays off, so he spent one day moving two of my IKEA desks, one of which I was using as a vanity and the other a desk in the living area, into his condo.
Carlos's place is large, and his kitchen is certainly more spacious than mine. However trying to fit an entire kitchen's worth of stuff into another kitchen full of stuff has proved difficult. Right now my cooking spices, baking ingredients and tools sit in packed re-usable grocery totes tucked away in the solarium.
Selling Furniture - The majority of my furniture I purchased from IKEA, which I learned is relatively easy to resell. I made postings on kijiji, and sold my coffee table and computer chair. I did try posting in my condo's advertisement board in the mail room, as well as several Facebook Buy & Sell Groups, but to be honest nobody responded to me. I realize that was not a good way of advertising. My roommate ended up purchasing the majority of furniture from me. Some of my cutlery I was able to bring to work into the work kitchen.
Getting Help - The past few weeks have consisted asking friends and family to help move in. A few were able to graciously volunteer time during the 4 day weekend to disassemble the IKEA furniture. I offered free dinners in exchange for help.
The past few days have been stressful as we were trying to work around schedules of our friends & family, booking elevators and arranging for a moving truck. These times of transition can be tricky to navigate in addition to responsibilities at work, and dealing with some health issues at the same time. But I try to see this as short-term inconvenience so that I can really build something special long-term. Carlos & I have a lot of plans for the place, consisting of a couple of renovations starting with the kitchen. I'm excited for this next step in my life.
