New city, same love: Austin here we come!

//Oh hey new city!//

I have some bittersweet news to share on the blog today. After eight incredible years in Chicago, yours truly is embarking on a new adventure, an adventure that’s been a long time coming.

In one month, my boyfriend and I will have a new city to call home. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I’d call myself a resident of Texas, but life is about surprises right? And I am surprisingly elated to move to Texas’s great capital city of Austin!

I know, big gulp.

You may be asking why? And that’s a great question. But if you like black and white responses, I apologize because you won’t like my answer.

Our “why” for moving isn’t exactly straightforward. Nothing is forcing us to move to Austin. It’s just a choice we’ve decided to make, and we know we’re taking a risk.

It’s not something that came easy. We visited Austin to get a feel for the city and admittedly both had a hard time. Chicago is the only home we’ve known in our adult life, and we love it here. Austin is a different city and takes getting used to.

When we came back to Chicago we had some tough conversations. We’re we really ready to uproot our life? To take a chance? We realized we would probably be more physically and emotionally comfortable staying right where we are, but then we would always wonder “what if”?

And that’s not how we want to live our lives.

Because with great risk comes the potential for great opportunity. Opportunity to experience something different for a while. To grow closer together as a couple. To take a giant leap outside our comfort zone. To expand our network. To grow professionally.

To challenge ourselves. To challenge each other.

Could we have done all of those things in Chicago? Probably. But the great thing about being 26 without kids or a mortgage is we don’t have to.

And as the move to Austin gets closer we’ve become excited about starting a new chapter.

The more we researched the city and talked to people, the more we’ve pictured ourselves there. Austin is one of the fastest growing cities in America (like, how cool to be on trend?), it’s also bustling with young creatives (I mean, hi!), and the cost of living can’t be beat (thanks Chicago rent, it’s been real).

So we went for it. As of September 1st, we will be Austin residents!

Note: The BBQ, food trucks, and 68 degree weather in January certainly didn’t hurt the case for an Austin move.  

I’m also excited to share pieces of my journey on the blog. This new chapter is also a big step  professionally AND in my relationship (aka A LOT more juicy material!). I hope you will continue to follow my stories, and call me out if and when I start to use “ya’ll”.

Also special shout out and thank you to my Chicago blog family for all the support they’ve provided in the first year of Job Offers & Bad Boyfriends. The Austin blog scene has some big shoes to fill.

hugs and kisses.