5 years later

This time 5 years ago I was drunk in a bar somewhere in Manhattan wearing cute jeans. (I remember that fact due to the photos that exist) The next day movers came and took my stuff out of my shared apartment. A few hours later I was on an airplane heading to Chicago.

I had no idea what to expect. I found an awesome apartment and had my same job just in a different city. I had no car, no sense of direction, no clue about what was ahead of me. I lived in a hotel for a month because the movers had the good fortune to have two flat tires one in Ohio and the other one in Indiana which delayed me getting my stuff. I moved into the apartment a few days before Labor day.

I scoured car reports and asked my friends what to buy and did the comparison shopping. Then there I was at a dealership signing what was at the time the biggest check I have ever written (this was nothing compared to the down payment on the condo!) and driving away in my first new car.

It is strange to look back at that time. In less than six weeks I decided to move to Chicago and then I was there. I had to get used to a different place, a place that was so out of my comfort zone. I barely knew where the grocery store was but I knew where IKEA was. The first few months were very hard, I missed NY so much. I missed my friends. It was a bit tough but it made me a lot stronger.

So as of tomorrow it will be five years since I moved out to the midwest. Here is where I found my home.