I’ve sat down to write this post a few different times now. Each time I stop because I don’t know where to begin and how much to share. Here’s as much as I can get out for now.
I’ve been withholding news.
It’s really really exciting news. But it’s also bittersweet.
Remember that trip up to Nor Cal? Where we visited my family and Kyle’s business in Davis? Yeah, we were actually doing some house hunting too. And guess what! We found a [perfect!!!!] place so easily, it’s like it was meant to be. I’m 100% in love with it and the town in general. I’ll probably share more details later, but the downtown area is super cute, there are bike paths covering nearly every inch of the city, and thanks to the surrounding farm lands they have a year round Farmer’s market. Oh and park, parks, parks aplenty!
So we are moving.
Of course it’s not all rainbows and butterflies. I’m going to miss being within walking distance of our friends. And the ocean. And I’m really sad to leave my job (which I’m extremely proud of and believe to be the absolute best hospital). And then there’s all the other stuff, like amazing dining and weather.
Things I won’t miss? Being away from my family. LA traffic. And LA prices.
Priorities.
All in all, it’s a big upgrade. You only need to see our backyard to understand. Of course there are a million other selling points too, but like I said, there will (maybe) be a time and place for that later.
As if yard isn’t exciting enough on it’s own, Kyle’s new commute to work is 1 minute and 45 seconds. We timed it. That certainly beats his previous 90 minute grind on 4 different freeways. I don’t have a new job (yet), but there are several hospitals in the area and commuting in the ‘burbs is nothing like commuting in Los Angeles.
It’s been SOOOO hard to not spread this news when we first found out, but in the meantime there’s been lots of other stuff I’ve needed to be doing instead of blogging. We are shipping out of Santa Monica on April 20th. Really soon!!
Since returning from Nor Cal we’ve been busily getting quotes from movers, researching washers and dryers, transferring insurance, and dealing with all the annoying little things associated with moving (OMG don’t get me started on the Comcast internet hook up process). After moving from CA to NYC and then back to CA again, we are almost professionals, but it still sucks.
Hello brand spankin’ new kitchen!
The spring cleaning portion of this post? Yeah, I refuse to waste food. So it’s operation pantry/fridge/freezer cleanout. I kinda wish I did this more often because we have so much!
I really really encourage you to challenge yourself to do some spring cleaning and try eating exclusively from what you have stocked up on hand. Here’s a helpful link on ways to stop wasting food.
The only things I’ve bought in the past few weeks are certain fresh produce (carrots, bananas, greens), eggs and almond milk. That’s it!
And it hasn’t even been that difficult! I freeze lots of leftovers (casserole, soup, crock-pot anything, etc.), so that’s been the main thing to go through first. Hence yesterday’s post.
This leftover pizza thawed in no time, required zero prep, cost nada, and got us one step closer to seeing the bottom of the freezer. Win win win win.
The freezer is also pretty well stocked with produce. Kyle has nightmares of us running out of frozen peas, so it’s rare that we don’t have two bags. Otherwise I try to keep it organized. We do fresh more than frozen, but we do have corn, broccoli, and some veggie medley bags to get through. Shouldn’t be hard.
The only part of this dish that didn’t come from the freezer was the quinoa and nooch!
After that, there’s all the canned/jarred stuff. Beans, soups, marinara, etc. And bulk grains and pasta. Oh and LOTS of Expo West samples. 🙂
While I don’t have a problem with the clean (dressing free) hippie bowl (grain + green + protein), you can do a lot with sauces and soups! We have a door full of condiment options to get through. And lots of boxed soups.
I marinated dumped Follow Your Heart’s vegan tamari miso dressing on the tempeh and red onions before baking them in the oven.
So there you have it! My spring cleaning mission is laid out. I’ve taken stock of our storage situation and I’m already brainstorming meals to take all of it down. If there’s anything I love, it’s a check list. Combine that with penny pinching and cleaning and it’s game on! We’ll see how I do…
[For the record, I do plan on bringing the non-perishables with us, so it’s not imperative I eat 6 cans of Amy’s chili in the next week. I just don’t want to do much more grocery shopping when we still have stuff to use up.]
How exciting!!! It sounds like it’s going to be so good for you and your family! Good luck with all the move planning 🙂
Congrats! To be honest, I had a feeling you were either moving or not going back to work, just from the way things have been going. It makes total sense on your part and of course, I’m jealous of your location and the food, weather and family/friends 😉 It will be a great place to raise P and any future little buggers and probably do wonders for your sanity.
Look forward to seeing the new place!
P.S. Comcast is THE DEVIL. I still use them because I really don’t have another viable option, but THE DEVIL, I tell you! THE DEVIL!
We’ve moved half-way cross country and back, and are planning on listing our house in a few weeks to move back again. I hear ya loud and clear on the excitement of moving and all the annoyances that come with it. We’ll soon be doing the same fridge and pantry cleanout as well. It’s so hard not to keep buying extra pantry items, especially the bulk stuff from our co-op! Good luck with the move!!!
Good luck & happy trails my friend. Xx
Cheers
Lori
Congrats Elise! That’s great that you will be near your family. I know nothing about the geography of California (sad) but near San Francisco?
Congrats on the move! I’m sure it’s hard to leave your job but at least you’ll be close to family! And as long as there’s a Whole Foods nearby, anywhere can be home. Ha.
Congratulations on the new house and move! I’ve been reading since u lived in New York lol so I’m excited to hear about another move!
Congratulations! It’ll be crazy for a while, i’m sure, but we LOVE living near family. First and foremost, because our kids get to know & spend time with both sets of grandparents. And secondly, there is FREE babysitting!
Admittedly, we don’t use this perk very often (don’t want to take advantage of anyone), but when a date night is needed, there is nothing better 🙂
Hi! I’m so excited for you guys! We’ll have to come by to see you when we visit my dad in Sacto. We’re moving to another part of Seattle in July and our house is going on the market in a month so, sister, I feel your pain. I know you can do it and your happiness will be so worth it.
congrats, my beautiful little hippie friend!
moving is so exciting. especially knowing you’ll be super close to family! did you really want to go back to work right away anyway, while p is so little? sounds like the perfect reason to stay home a bit longer 😉
xo.
Congratulations on the move! Your hippie bowls always look so yummy! I also need to do a pantry/freezer clean out! You’ve inspired me to get going on it!
Congrats!! We bought our (tiny) house here in West LA nine years ago. I popped into the Open House to check it and was pleasantly surprised that it had been upgraded throughout. What stopped me dead in my tracks and brought tears to my eyes though, was the yard. It was huge, an LA miracle, and I’m sure the agent thought I was nuts. After standing there for a few minutes, weeping like a crazy person I managed to communicate to him that we had four kids. A yard is life changing!! I’m so happy for you & your little family!
You’ll LOVE Davis. I spent six wonderful years there getting my PhD and consider it the “perfect” place to live (quotation marks because of the inherent problems with the word). In addition to the things you mentioned, the running community in that area is fantastic, which is certainly bolstered by the abundant running paths throughout the town. And I’m sure you’ve checked out DavisWiki.org — if not, be sure to! It will be a great resource as you check out all the fun eateries and shops in town. 🙂
I’m happy for you, though I will miss having you as my local blogger. Congratulations on the house! And I certainly envy you leaving this traffic behind, though I don’t think the new has entirely worn off LA for me yet.
Davis! I did my undergrad there. I absolutely love the town. The farmer’s market and the Co-op are wonderful, and in general, it’s a very friendly, relaxed town. Enjoy!!
congrats! you will be so happy to live closer to family with baby p. Trust me, its the best!
So excited for you guys. Your new hometown sounds pretty perfect to me. 🙂 Good luck with the move!
Congratulations ! It seems that your new hometown will fit your family life perfectly ! =)
Congratulations! Home owning is an experience thats for sure!
Congrats Elise! I grew up in Davis and I’m sure you will love it! It’s a great place to raise kids, for sure — safe bike paths and great schools. Your little guy will love it! Be sure to check out local faves like Village Grill (great salads), Sam’s (mediterranean), and Impossible Acres (berry picking, pumpkin patch, and petting zoo!). Farmer’s Market is always my favorite thing to do when I come home. Please let me know if you’d like other recommendations!
Congratulations! That is such exciting news and it will be wonderful for all of you to be closer to family!
I’m from Davis! I’m at UCSF right now so we’re living in the bay area for a few years, but I hope to be back there next year (maybe sooner if I get my final clinical placement in Davis). It’s a small town, so maybe I’ll see you around!
Im constantly amazed at how parallel our lives are right now, I am also doing a pantry spring clean in preparation for our moving at the end of April (our house went on the market yesterday!) in between taking care of our 5 week old baby! Its amazing how much food we have built up, I cant imagine how we can eat it all. Im also only buying fresh produce, and trying to think of creative ways to use up what we have. I can totally relate to the bittersweet feeling about moving, leaving a great job, leaving friends… Etc. but sometimes these things just have to happen, don’t they. I’m stoked that you have found a fabulous new place, the kitchen looks great and you are going to love using it! all the best looking for a new job!
First of all, congratulations! I know you’re going to LOVE being closer to your family again and they’ll enjoy playing an even bigger role in your growing family. (:
Second (and very ironically), I’ve been talking about moving a lot recently as well. Nothing has been decided yet but it’s definitely a major possibility. I absolutely love living in LA but, like you said, the price of living is through the roof and I miss being close to my family. So, I’m not sure where the wind is going to take me in the next few months but whatever’s meant to happen, will happen.
Seeing that you’ve made the decision to move brings me peace of mind as I make my decision, for some reason. So thank you. (:
Ugh. I moved 2 weeks ago, and I feel for you…it sucks. SUCKS. But it sounds like you will have much more help than I had–Kyle, movers, family, etc. It was just me, and it was awful. Anyway, good luck! Your new place sounds great and I hope the move won’t be to hard. I hope that it goes as smoothly as possible and that this move is not too awful!
And I have to 100% agree…Comcast is the devil and they are horrible. I was on the phone with them (well, on hold, mostly) for literally 97 minutes on the day of my move trying to get my internet hooked up and working in my new place. Ahhhhhh!
Courtney
that’s awesome that you’re moving back to norcal!! that’s where i am (san francisco though) — i came back after 4 years in boston (i grew up in south bay) and it was the best decision i made!
Congrats!! Moving can be such a fun adventure. After moving 3,000miles…I kind of have a love/hate relationship with it. ha ha. But, the preparing to move part is usually pretty fun and exciting! Also, NorCal seems amazing. I am a weee bit jealous that you get to move there. Best of luck 🙂
Congrats!! That is very exciting news for both you and your family! Family means everything :).
And I can’t blame Kyle for having a fear of running out of frozen peas. I literally eat them as snacks so my freezer is always well stocked! 😉
🙁 Glad you are moving close to your family, sorry to not have you close here. BUT I can now see all my grand kids in ONE weekend with a quick commute to the north!
I hate Comcast with a fiery burning passion, you are not alone!
I really like this challenge, it sounds like a great way to save money! I could definitely do it once a month, I always end up stockpiling bulk grains, tofu, and frozen corn for some reason…
Where are you thinking about moving to, Emily? I’m really trying to get some suggestions for myself!
Where are you moving to, Jessica? Good luck!
Well, Elise, welcome to the neighborhood….although I’m in Sac not Davis. Yes! You are going to miss the ocean big time and the heat SUCKS!! But Davis is cool and has that ‘hippy’ vibe (accented with a lot of money). Great area for riding bikes and lots of parks. You’ll still have the ‘university’ kind of experience happening. And great eating, too. Congrats on finding a house that you love and good luck on the move. I’ve moved 14 times….from west coast to east coast to Hawaii to southern east coast to upper mid-west back to west coast and 7 times on the west coast…..so my advice is RELAX. Be smart with your packing and enjoy the experience.
north east of SF, but really close.
Congratulations!!! Hope the move goes as smoothly as possible 🙂
CONGRATULATIONS!! Of course, we’ll miss you here in SoCal, and just on a personal note, I’m kinda bummed that I didn’t meet you in person while the chance existed. 🙁
Sounds like Kyle & I went to the same school of frozen vegetable hoarding: I cannot stop buying frozen peas, and currently have 3 bags in there. I am the only one who eats them, too, so it’s not like they are flying onto the table in spades every night! LOL!
Moving is never easy, MA –> NV was rough with a 4-year-old in tow; on the other hand, NV –> CA was put into serious perspective because of that experience. Good luck! And enjoy your new house!!!
free babysitting for the win 🙂
thanks tiff! good luck with your move…for now im not dwelling too much on the annoying parts of the move bc im still SOOO excited, but the idea of packing and unpacking makes me sweat. still, the good parts totally outweigh the hassles of taking the crib apart (again!!) and praying our dishes make it up the I-5 in one piece. you better visit when you come to sac!
i know right? im so torn!!! i miss work but the idea of leaving him even for short errands hurts my heart.
thanks ammie! i agree, the yard had me sold!
thanks martha! i love getting feedback like this from former davis residents! and all i hear is lovely reviews like this. so happy!
ps davis wiki is awesome. thanks for the rec.
i agree amanda! glad you have happy memories 🙂
just waiting for you guys to join us…. 😉
thanks so much christina!! i will happily accept ALL recommendations. ive already eyed tons of cute places and scoped out lots online thanks to daviswiki…but the more you want to share the better!
hi katie! that would be so awesome!!! im keeping my fingers crossed that you get clinical placement in davis. either way, i am happy to hear such great reviews of the town from a native 😉
hi jessica! its so crazy how we are in such similar places right now in our lives!! good luck eating your stocked food and with the move. im glad to know i have a fellow new mom out there attempting to conquer this (fun and exciting) chaos with me 🙂
thanks emily!
it is really exciting – especially to be closer to my family.
i will def miss santa monica, but the cost of living is kinda insane since im on maternity leave and kyles left his paying job to work on his start up business full time. but just like you said, whatever is meant to happen will happen…after so many unpredictable twists and turns in my path from ca to nyc to ca again ive come to the conclusion that stressing out is wasted energy because things always work out for the best.
the south bay is awesome. i grew up in the east bay, so between the two of us we have basically covered the greater bay area. 🙂
definitely an adventure!
hahaha. ok ill tell him hes not alone in his pea hoarding.
thanks marei! 14 moves is…whoa…fortunately we are hiring people so i can leave most of the hard part to the pros.
so excited for all the great davis reviews 🙂
isnt it pathetic how we los angelenos tend to stick to our hood? at least thats how i was. i swear leaving the westside is such a pain. im looking forward to the burbs, but i will miss many things about santa monica for sure.
I really do stick to the valley! I’ve been here 3 years now, and I have probably been over the hill only a handful of times by myself, and it’s always w/GPS. I don’t even get gigs over there! I do love SM though, that tends to be where I go when I am over there.
It’s going to be great having that backyard as P gets older!!
I love Davis! You’ll love it there and it has such a great vibe and the people are all friendly! The weekly farmers markets on Wednesdays and Saturdays is a big neighborhood event especially during the summers! Make sure to check out vegan places in downtown sac and other suburbs around the Sacramento area! There is a great vegan cafe/bakery in downtown sac called
Sugar plum and it’s delish! Hope the move goes smoothly!
We have the same move date! My husband and I are also moving out of LA (and the country for that matter) to be closer to his family & while I’ll miss some things about LA, I’m definitely glad to get out of the traffic/congestion/nightmare of driving here.
awesome! thanks for the rec salee 🙂
congrats to you too then!!! adios 405/101/110/10 😛
where are you moving?
My sister went to UC Davis for both grad and undergrad. Check out the Whole Earth Festival if you’re there next month; she always raved about it!
Hey Beth, I live in Australia, we are moving from Canberra to Albury, which is also my home town!
Thanks Courtney! Will do!
It is good to know! Im impressed how much cooking you seem to get done… I can hardly find five mins to have a slice of toast! (Or read a blog!)
That is so wonderful you guys are moving and especially buying your first home! I’m very excited for you. Your mom and dad have to be so happy to have you all so close again.
I’m a little behind on reading all your blogs that’s why I’m commenting a week later.
I hope you have a safe journey back up north.
That is so cool. My friend lives in Wollongong (her home town). She moved there from Canberra! I would love to live in Australia but it’s hard to get permission and it’s expensive for me to live there…it’s getting so popular!
i agree! i want to visit oz so bad! my sis is in sydney (coogee actually), but her man is from canberra.
Elise, how did your sister get permission to live and work in Oz? What does she do for a job?
Wollongong is a beautiful place! I have some family that live there and we go to the beach there often in the summer. Hopefully one day your dream will be possible and you can come here! It’s true it is very expensive though, everything from houses to insurance and food costs heaps.
My bro lived in Coogee for a while before he went to the US to study. It would be great if you came to visit, it’s an incredible country. No Whole Foods stores here though! You would have to stock up with a suitcase full of goodies when you come. 🙂
crazy expensive! weekly rental payments…insane…
she works for salesforce.com – im not sure of all the specifics but i think they sponsor her. she lived in australia previously as well (it was ~5 years ago and she came back to the states in between). i think she used up her work visa during that visit so she needed to find a job before moving this time. i think???