Year 1 in Georgia

I've been in Savannah for a year! A year and a month at this point, technically. I've had few people ask me questions about moving out of New York and I can confidently tell them, "It was the right choice for me." My wise friend Sam put it best. She said, "Look. You think you hate New York. You have to move. You'll either move and be happier, or you'll move and miss New York and you can come back happier." She was right. I was stuck in this unhealthy "the grass is greener" mentality. It's scary to leave friends, but I'm really proud of myself. I'm a big believer that you're responsible for your own happiness, and I wasn't happy in New York.

My first few months here, I could feel my icy New Yorker shell slowly melt. It was this crust that always made me expect the worst of every stranger and hold myself in constant competition with everyone. Slowly I had to learn that people just say "good morning" here and they aren't trying to rob me. 

However, I also tell my friends "My decision might not be the right decision for you." I know when I'm happiest. It's when I'm quietly drawing, or reading comics, or laughing at some goofy Youtube video. It's when I can design my own little world. I'm good at being alone. I need it. For me, living in a place where I can afford to live alone is perfect. But that's not everyone! Some people are way more social than me. They're happiest when surrounded by a big group of friends at a party, or at a concert. I kinda hate parties and concerts. I do miss my friends, but I still feel connected through all the dumbs memes I send them. I actually felt a hell of lot lonelier when I lived in New York and saw Instagrams of friends hanging out without me. Now I'm just living my best life. 

I renewed my lease to be in this apartment for another year, but I'm thinking next year I'll look into buying a house.... 

Locked Out

Well, it's day 3 and I got locked out. The door closed behind me when I went to get the mail. Lesson learned. 

Me and Jeff Goldblum. We out here. 

Me and Jeff Goldblum. We out here. 

Moving is Stressful

No shit, Sherlock. I feel like moving can never go 100% smoothly because it would upset the cosmic balance. Something always has to screw up. As it has been since the dawn of man, when Grogk decided to move from a basement cave to a nicer cave with a view. But while he was carrying his buffalo hide up the mountain he dropped it and it tumbled down into a primordial lava bit. 

Now for the saga of my move. #saga 

Read More

Every celebrity I saw while living in New York

Jake Gyllenhaal
Anne Hathaway *under a parasol
Justin Long
Zosia Mamet
Nick Lachey
Vanessa Minnillo Lachey
Ana Gasteyer
Alison Harvard from ANTM
Sean from Degrassi
Katherine McPhee
Kahlen from ANTM
Bianca from ANTM
Counselor Pat from Heavyweights
Amir Blumenfeld
Taran Killem
Paul Dano
Phil of the Future *eating a bagel
Michael Angarano
Andrew Ranells
Ray from Girls
Kevin Corrigan
Leonardo diCaprio *served him pumpkin pie
Anna SophiaRobb
Rosie Perez
James Murphy *gave him back VERY wrong change
Carrot Top
Kyle MacLachlan *riding a scooter
Gretchen from Kimmy Schmidt
Danny Devito *walking a weiner dog
Jackson Galaxy
Ice Cube
Gilbert Gotfried
Ben McKenzie *<3 

FAQ

What's up?

I'm moving to Savannah, Georgia. 

Is Amanda okay?

For those of you not in-the-know, Amanda is my BFF since middle school. She currently lives a 10 minute walk away from me and I can often be found at her house watching Fixer Upper on her giant TV. Honestly, this is the first question people ask me. I think Amanda is sad for her, but more happy for me because she is a good friend. We also didn't go to college with each other and made it through ok, so I'm not too worried. I foresee a lot of FaceTiming in our future. When reached for comment, Amanda said "Ask me in 6 weeks." 

When do you move?

June 1st. I recently signed a lease and I'm very excited. I'll be moving out of my current apartment April 30th, then couchsurfing in NY until May 17th, then going home to Ohio for the rest of May. 

Do you have a job?

No! I don't! That's scary. However, I've been doing freelance design during these transition months until I move (March-May) and it's been going well. I plan to keep that up when I move and try to get a restaurant job partly to meet people/get out of my house.

Do you know anyone down there?

No! Not a soul. Luckily I'm pretty good at being alone, and I moved around a lot when I was a kid, so I'm ok at making friends.

Are you getting a car?

Yes! My parents got me a little red Jetta that I've named Brünhilda; Hilda for short. I'm kind of nervous wreck when it comes to driving, so I'll have to get used to that.

Why Savannah?

Well I've been wanting to move out of New York for a long time. It's too expensive. Ultimately, I am a homebody that just wants to have a little house, drink some wine, and take my dog for walk. That's hard to do in New York (okay, the wine part is easy, but that's easy everywhere). Also, I'm 27 and although I've had some great roommates, I'd like to live alone. And have a dishwasher because I HATE DOING DISHES. Ok, so that's all "why not New York."

I was planning to move to Portland, mostly because it looked cool on Portlandia. But then I agreed to go on a very quick trip down to Savannah with some friends and I loved it. The weather's warm, the houses are beautiful, but there's still some art school weirdness I appreciated. It's cheap and pretty walkable too. Not a ton of design jobs, but I'll figure something out.

Insomnia

I can't sleep. My brain is in this loop of "Why did you do this? Damn, this is expensive. Will you make enough money? Did you just ruin your life? How do you set up address forwarding? What are you doing? Should you get a new bank?" Normally I can numb this whirring with some mindless Kendall & Kylie app, but I have to wait 4 hours for Perry to text me so I'm out of luck. Dammit, Perry!

So I'm moving to Savannah, like quit my job, broke my lease, scheduled the movers, MOVING. I don't have a job in Savannah. Or any friends. Hence the general anxiety and stress.  

Now is when Logical Liz comes out to make me feel better. "You want this. This is smart. It's expensive now, but make it to Savannah and then things will be cheaper! You can ride your little bike around and go to the beach and never wear that big puffy coat you hate! You'll probably get a car. Remember how fun driving a car is? You can finally get a dog!"

"Right. Look at these rescue dogs. Am I ready for a dog? Dogs are a lot of work. What if I get a shitty dog??"

"Ok, ok. Table the dog thoughts. That went south quickly. Moving is what you need. You need a new chapter! An exciting new adventure! You'll be fine. A lot of changes are coming, but take it one day at a time. Right now? You need to go to sleep and go to your last day of work tomorrow. Take a break from worrying about anything beyond that. Sleep."