(And it still took me three tries to spell the state name correctly.)
We are close to done with the unpacking and organizing stage (only two days after move in! This is what happens when you get rid of half of your stuff, I suppose). Living out of our suitcases for 3 weeks between leases, packing and loading and unpacking and someone else just decide where to put the kitchen stuff in the cabinets I’M TIRED OF DECIDING THINGS.
The physical part of moving sucks for sure, but there are a lot of other reasons moving is hard. Like how we are rebuying a ton of stuff we just got rid of and wondering where the best place to get groceries is and why everyone calls grocery carts carriages and why no one returns their carriages to the corral and why people ignore stop signs and why in the world housing costs so much here. And, sorry east coast friends, what is up with people loving Dunkin Donuts so much out here? Give me Starbucks and Krispy Kreme any day.
It’s like a tiny jolt of culture shock. Very tiny compared to the big moves I did in my childhood to Asia, but moving to a new place always involves some adjustment.
There are good things, too. Like I can now order grocery delivery via an app on my phone! And there seems to be a lot of pho here. People like pho, right? And a great burrito place that serves horchata. And a bakery that makes giant donuts.
I’ve been telling everyone that I just moved here because I feel like my outgoing bravery will end in a few months, so I might as well be like, “Hi! I’m Ashley and I just moved here!” now.
As I shared on my House Hunting episode, we hadn’t seen our condo before we arrived here this week. We were concerned that the landlord was giving just a few hours between tenants to get the property ready.Unfortunately, we were totally right to be concerned.
There are tons of little repairs that need done and she did a pretty half-hearted job of cleaning. She tried to hide the fact that things were broken and we’re discovering a few here and there as we unpack. Oh, and the microwave is missing.
The listing said it was “freshly painted” and when Mike inquired about that, she got all huffy and said, “Well, I didn’t really have much time between tenants,” like it was our fault she started the lease the day after the last lease ended. Then she told Mike, “You are welcome to paint it yourself.” Which is…no.
So we’ll be asking for a few small repairs and the microwave to be replaced, but we really don’t want to deal with the hassle at this point, you know? We definitely got spoiled living in a big apartment building with a full-time manager and maintenance staff. And covered parking. And on the fifth floor where I could walk around in my undies with the windows open.
It will all take some getting used to, but for the most part we do love the space and I love having a washer and dryer and a little back”yard” for the boys.
Theo enjoys the dirt very much.
I’ll be back next week to talk about the moving process and ask you to weigh in on some fashion advice.
In the meantime, we are all hoping to get into a normal rhythms soon. One that involves pre-9 pm bedtimes for the kids and work time and routines and non-takeout dinners and budgeting and just generally not feel like a hot mess surrounded by boxes.
Dream big.
Writing “zoo”
People keep telling us, “You’re going to love it here!” like they are all on the Massachusetts tourism board. I hope we do. This popped up on my mometum page (great app, btw) this morning and it’s going to be my new motto during the chapter of transition:
“Learn to enjoy every minute of your life. Be happy now. Don’t wait for something outside of yourself to make you happy in the future.” -Earl Nightingale
Good luck with everything! I’m glad you’re getting settled. After a lot of in-betweening, it feels so good to finally BE there & settle in, doesn’t it? I have to say that I sometimes had trouble with the standard New England not-quite-friendliness, but never as bad as in New Jersey. I hope you guys love it there.
We moved from Minnesota to just outside of Chicago for my husbands grad school program EIGHT years ago and I think I’m just now feeling like it’s home. This is just to say that I’ve learned to not expect it to feel like Minnesota, because it’s not. It’s ok to embrace the things you love and whine about he things you don’t. Also, wearing my Minnesota t shirts and drinking from my Minnesota beer mugs helps on the hard days. My sister lives outside of Boston and loves it. Enjoy your new home!
I never wanted to be that person who constantly says stuff like “in MY home state…” but alas. It seems as if I’m destined to be a crazy ohio lover.
Ha ha, I felt the same way when I moved to Connecticut….it’s a cart not a carriage! And yes, don’t expect people to put them away. Other things you’ll learn is that the word idear=idea and garage sales=tag sales. And people take Red Sox and Yankees baseball very seriously….like really, who cares?
Despite the rude drivers and lack of consideration in the grocery store there are still nice people around these parts. I’ve met some of the friendliest and warmest families who have been so kind and thoughtful to my husband and I when they realized we lived far from our family. I’m sure you’ll stumble across such people yourself sooner than later. :)
Ha, I live in Massachusetts, too (but closer to Boston) and what you said about carriages and stop signs sounds about right. Also, if you get ice cream,”jimmies” are sprinkles and what the rest of the country calls a milkshake we a frappe (pronounced “frap”). And people are VERY loyal to Dunk’s. When Krispy Kreme came here, people were excited for about two minutes and then went back to Dunks, and now the Krispy Kremes have all closed.
I’m sorry things with the landlord haven’t been great. I hope they get better and you come to love it here.
Bright side of not liking Dunks – maybe I’ll eat less donuts? ;) (JK there’s a great local donut place! Bring on the sugary carbs!)
I’m with you on the coffee, though I’ve gotten myself in trouble more than once by questioning the popularity of popular regional chains. Someone once explained to me that DD is merely a cream and sugar delivery device. Disguising it as coffee makes people feel less guilty ¯_(ツ)_/¯
The best thing about living in a high-cost-of-living area is that when you travel things are cheap and you feel like a king (or queen)!
I have lived in MA my whole life and I don’t like Dunks at all (Starbucks, yes!!!) and I call it a cart, oops.
Honestly, I think a lot of people who move here don’t like it… at least that’s been my experience. The weather is not amazing. The people are not as outwardly friendly as the midwest and the south (I think we actually ARE friendly, just takes us a little longer but then we are so very loyal). Things are expensive.
You got some good advice earlier, about not trying to make it into Ohio, because it never will be Ohio. Your family won’t be here, and people won’t necessarily put their carts away (another thing I don’t even notice since I’ve always lived here… I put mine away though…), people may not talk to you in the grocery line (a big complaint of one of my friends who moved from minnesota for a few years). But, I think MA does have some great things to offer. While I am a summer person, the fall here is pretty special. It’s beautiful and perfect for apple picking and hayriding and pumpkins and apple cider. The weekend trip possibilities are literally endless: Mystic CT, Burlington VT, Portland ME, Cape Cod, Boston… I could go on. I know people get annoyed about the sports teams, but I think they bring the community together in a way that not many places have. I think people in MA (or at least in Boston) are pretty proud to live here, and a little defensive when people talk negatively. But I guess we are kinda just used to being the underdogs since we don’t have a big showy city like New York, or super friendly people like the midwest/south, or beautiful weather…
I truly hope you guys will settle in and find things to love!!
I love this explanation of MA! I am all about underdogs (I’m from Cleveland, an amazing city that gets sneered at as “flyover country” and whose sports teams are the absolute worst).
I’m not really one to chat with strangers (especially at the grocery store? Minnesota is soooo friendly, apparently), but I get now why people are defensive about their beloved state. (Heck, I am too, when our realtor mentioned something about “middle of nowhere Ohio,” I was like “the city we lived in was bigger than this city!” Ha.)
I’m also slow to make friends every time we moved, but then made really great lifelong friends. So here’s hoping! (And if not, eh. I’ve got my husband. He’s a good friend. ;))
Maybe we can meet up soon? I’d like that.
Ashley LittleLeafDesign.com
Best of luck getting settled in! A couple more places we liked. First, Frigo’s! A very yummy italian store and restaurant! Oh and the Big E is coming up – we like the baked potato and the blueberry pie with ice cream from the Maine state house the best! Also, if you are looking for fabric, check out Osgood’s in West Springfield.
Ooooh, thanks for all the tips!! :)
Adjusting to a new place is always hard. Adjusting to a new state is even harder (there definitely ARE differences between the states here) and I really hope you guys make this new place your home really quickly!
The renting situation and the huffy landlord? So NOT OK.
It’s so funny, I went to college in Western Mass. (still not sure how to spell it ;)) by where it sounds like you’re living and I don’t think I’ve never heard someone call a shopping cart a carriage! Totally not the point of your post, but it surprised me. Good luck with everything, I’m sure once you’re settled you’ll start finding your place there.
Ahhh! You did it!! Welcome to the East Coast!!! The landlord sounds like a pill – here’s hoping it doesn’t continue to be that way!
Great that you already found a place you can call home! Hope that you will like it there and always remember, happiness always starts within :).
Moving is just the worst. No way to sugarcoat it. You could moving to be a place with unicorns and rainbows, no debt and free Starbucks and moving would still suck. I feel you there.
So sorry the landlord/manager is kind of sucking right now. I hope she gets her ish together for her sake (she does know you blog, right? As in, the internet has your back?) and that all is well or righted in that arena soon.
Sending you lots of love and hugs as you settle in. Grant yourself grace during this huge transition. It takes time to be ok/accepting of a new place. <3
Ooooooh those landlord issues GAH I seriously hope she gets it together and this isn’t a sign of things to come. Also, totally with you on Krispy Kreme being WAY better than Dunkin. And I’m from Massachusetts!
“People keep telling us, “You’re going to love it here!” like they are all on the Massachusetts tourism board.”
OMG, this stuff drove me INSANE when we moved from Pennsylvania to Oklahoma three years ago (major culture shock!). Like, people here just think Oklahoma is the best thing since sliced bread, and it’s even more annoying when they’re people who have pretty much never been outside this region (“isn’t everyone so friendly here? Aren’t people really rude out on the East Coast?” well, central PA isn’t the east coast, and if by friendly you mean incredibly nosy and really into assuming things like that you go to church… haha). But you know what – three years later and I still miss the north (I actually only lived in PA for two years but loved it, Minnesota is my true home and I love it even more) BUT I find myself getting really excited telling recent Tulsa transplants about all the cool things that are happening here and how it’s really grown on me :)
Welcome to MA! I live out towards Boston, moved here for college and have stayed since, I love it here! I don’t have any day to day suggestions for Western MA since I don’t spend much time out there, although I can’t remember if you knit, if you do, you’ll have to check out WEBS sometime. So many fun places to go in New England though. Vermont is my families absolute favorite and you’re just a short drive away! It can be so frustrating though that there are so many interesting places within a 2-3 hour drive, but you have to take Friday off if you don’t want to spend 5 hours in the car stuck in traffic during the summer travel season. And if you are up towards Holyoke you should check out the dinosaur footprints (I get a huge kick out of these and stop anytime we drive out that way), http://www.thetrustees.org/places-to-visit/pioneer-valley/dinosaur-footprints.html. Moving is so hard but I hope you find some places that you love out here!