Go West, Girl!

It has taken 9 years, 3000 miles, 5 bags and a lot of nerve to get to Seattle. And I wouldn't take any of it back. This is only the second full day in my new city, and it already feels like home. This place has always felt that way to me. Seattle has been pulling me back since I spent the summer of 1999 here. It was the best summer of my life, exactly what an almost 21-year old would want. I worked in a neighborhood coffee shop and was best friends with everyone at work. I went to concerts, water parks, street festivals, a nude bike race (yep, it's the truth!) I was able to spend quality sibling time with my older brother, something I hadn't been able to do in quite some time. I lived in Seattle for three months that summer, a time that really changed my life.

I was here in the Pacific Northwest again over this past Thanksgiving. The pull to be in Seattle was stronger than it ever had been before. It didn't matter that I would have to quit my job, change coasts, break up with my boyfriend, and relinquish ownership of a condo. None of these things mattered, I had to be in my city. It seemed an impossible task, many people reminded me of this on a regular basis. It would be expensive, complicated, emotional...all these things I knew. But 4 months later, I am in my brother's house sitting in a chair, looking at a view of downtown Seattle out the window. I may not have a job or a place of my own, but I am home. Everything else will fall into place. I have made it this far, I will not stop until I have everything I came here for. And even then, I will not stop.