Category Archives: Moving

Live Blogging: Moving Across The Country

Posted in Liz's Life, Moving by

Well, the time has come for us to pack up and move our lives across the country to Lake Tahoe!

I’m going to attempt to chronicle our move in real-time using my phone. I started the post yesterday and will continue today and tomorrow, so check back often!

Monday

8:00 am:
Luke just called and is rounding the corner with our new 2009 Subaru Legacy (NOT a hatchback) and 5′ by 8′ trailer. I really hope all our stuff fits!

8:30 am:
It seems like we have so much to pack.

Good thing Luke is so strong.

11:45 am:
We didn’t hire movers, so the process is taking a little longer than anticipated. I seriously don’t think there will be one inch of unused space is the trailer!

12:45 pm:
Just about done. The trailer is packed to the brim, we grabbed some Chipotle and took a quick shower before hopping in the car

Leaving is starting to feel bittersweet. Closing the door to our first home together made me catch my throat a little.

1:20 pm:
We are officially on the road! Luke is sighing from relief that our car is towing the hitch without a problem.

My job is to watch out for these guys.

But considering we can’t go over 55 mph with the trailer, we should be fine.

3:36 pm:
2 hours 40 minutes down- 28 hours and 20 minutes to go! Ugh.

We hit our first inclement weather just outside of Iowa- rain. Luckily there is literally NO ONE on the road. I guess leaving mid day on a Monday was a good idea.

4:47 pm:
We are in Iowa and it’s grey, cloudy and incredibly flat. I feel like we could see a giant twister at any moment.

9:43 pm:
Not much to report on from Iowa to Nebraska. Lots of flat land, wind turbines and truck stops.

We are aiming to get to North Platte, NE tonight, which is about 4.5 hours away. So we will get in after 2 am. I’m not sure how I feel about that.

We’ve been keeping ourselves entertained by listening to Chelsea Handlers book on tape and Adam Corrolla podcasts. He is pretty funny!

12:12 pm
We ended up quitting for the night. We just checked into a hotel. What a day! This is the sweetest site to me right now.

Tuesday

6:10 am
Well I blinked and then it was time to wake up. We wanted to get an early start to our 15+ hour drive day. Stick around for more updates!

7:17 am:
It’s not everyday you get to watch the sun rise in the middle of Nebraska (unless you live in the middle of Nebraska).

10:03 am:
We officially switched to mountain time. Currently we are in Wyoming closing in on Cheyenne.

I’m sure some people think driving through Wyoming is a little boring, but I’m finding the amber landscape and clear blue sky to be beautiful.

11:46 am:
We just stopped for gas and I picked out a snack. It was called the “bridge mix” and consists of chocolate covered nuts, fruit, caramels and ‘cremes.’ The problem is they are all the exact same shape so you have no idea what is inside.

We’ve been having fun trying to guess (we may or may not be chewing them and then looking at the consistency in the mirror). Lol things you’ll do to entertain yourself in the car.

12:39 pm:
45 mph winds and blowing snow in Wyoming. We’re taking it slow.

5:09 pm:
Still in Wyoming. It looks the exact same out my window as it did 6 hrs ago. I’m feeling VERY stir crazy.

My 3G is spotty, but I’ll try to post this evening.

11:22 pm:
We are in Nevada! Passing through Salt Lake City was a breeze and now we are 30 mins away from our stopping point for tonight.

It’s snowing and the roads aren’t the best, so we are only going 30 mph. After 18 hours in the car today, neither of us can wait to get to the hotel!

Wednesday
9:22 am:
We let ourselves sleep in a little and other than the sumo wrestler playing hopscotch in the room above ours from 5:45-6:15, we slept well.

We are 5.5 hours away from Incline Village, our new home. I can’t wait to get there and check it out. Crazily enough we have NEVER been there!

10:31 am:
We are driving by some beautiful mountains. White peaks framed by ice blue skies and thin layers of grey clouds.

2:06 pm:
Only about an hour left! I just spotted my first Inn & Out Burger, which made me smile.

3:34 pm:
We made it! The sun is shining brilliantly and it’s absolutely gorgeous here. I am very excited to call this place home.

To Chicago, With Love

Posted in Liz's Life, Moving by

Dear Chicago,

I know recently I may have hurt your feelings with all my talk about wanting to leave you behind, but you should know that you’ll always have a place in my heart as one of my first dreams come true.

I initially fell for you as a young girl when my family would take our annual “big-city” long weekend to shop and explore. Wandering Michigan Ave. I remember looking up in awe at the beautiful buildings, glamorous people and lively culture. I vowed to one day be a resident.

During the summer of my junior year of college, you brought my sister and me together while I lived with her during my internship. We are six years apart, so we didn’t know each other all that well. She loves you just as much as I do and made sure to show me all the ropes right away.

By the end of those three months, we had hit up all the hot spots in town, she introduced me to sushi, and I got to know her now-husband. But greatest of all, we became best friends. Thank you for helping make our relationship so close.

During college, I majored in broadcast journalism. It seemed to fit all my dreams for a career, except one thing…it would likely never bring me back to you. I decided that just wouldn’t do and switched my path to public relations three months before graduating!

My parents thought I was crazy, but I knew I couldn’t give up on my dream to live in your grand city. I worked my butt off and got an internship in….well, not Chicago, but New York City. Hey, it was a stepping stone!

After five months in NYC (that place really swallowed me up!) I networked my way to a gig at Weber Shandwick right in your downtown. I was so excited to officially become a resident of yours and to be working at THE best PR agency in town.

Luckily many of my friends from college also realized your greatness and were starting their new lives here too. I will never forget the first few years causing trouble my best friends in some of your best neighborhoods- Lincoln Park and Wrigleyville. Living in a big city can be overwhelming for some, but your neighborhood hang outs, friendly inhabitants and live-able lifestyle made it fun for us to tackle together.

Your lively dating scene brought me in contact with a lot of interesting people and taught me a ton about myself and what I needed in a partner. Eventually, I found Luke. Your amazing restaurants and many romantic spots made our early years of dating a wonderful adventure.

I’ll always remember you as the place where Luke and I fell in love, said “I do” and began our married lives together. We have lots of happy stories to tell our future kids about you!

Please know that while we’re moving on to a quieter (and no offense, more scenic) place, you are my first love when it comes to cities. People say you never forget your first love, and in this case that will always be true!

I promise to come back and visit often. Thanks for being so wonderful.

Yours always,

Liz

The Annoying Side of Moving

Posted in Daily Musings, Liz's Life, Moving by

So far of all the details involved with our move, subleasing our apartment here in Chicago has been the most nightmarish. We’ve had a hard time finding renters and the process has been frustrating to deal with.

Here’s the story.

After about two weeks listing the unit on Craiglist, we got a call for a showing with a couple who already live in our building. They came and really liked the unit, but must have known we were getting a little desperate because they made a lot of requests outside the parameters of the lease.

They wanted to move in on Dec. 15, not Dec. 1. They wanted a reduced rent rate during our sublease period (four months) before resigning with our landlord. They wanted our landlord to put in a break clause that lets them get out of the lease at any time with one months notice and an extra months rents. It was getting to be a bit much, but we didn’t have any other interested parties.

That night I got a message from someone else asking if the unit was still available because she was moving to Chicago. I immediately responded and even went home on my lunch break to take and upload extra pictures to send her.

She responded that she wanted to see the unit the following week when she was in town, so I told the other couple that we had another party interested that would meet all our terms. They agreed to hang tight until we showed it to her.

Well, that showing was supposed to be on Wednesday around 4pm. I got up in the morning and thoroughly cleaned, came home from work early and freed up my whole night (which isn’t easy to do when you’re moving across the country and have a million things to get done) to conduct the showing.

And….the girl never showed up. Not a call, not an email. Just radio silence.

I’m trying in my head to give her the benefit of the doubt- there are a lot of things that could have happened to make her neglect to show or call, right? Grrrr.

Anyway, once I realized we were being stood up, I contacted the original couple to let them know the place was theirs. Nothing is that easy though and they told us that they would need to “discuss” it as they may want to explore other options now.

I really hope this ends sometime soon!

On a brighter note- we’re having a going away party this Saturday at Zella’s (where we met!) – 1983 North Clybourn Avenue at 8:00 pm. If you’re around, please come join us!

Lots To Do, Lots To Do

Posted in Daily Musings, Liz's Life, Moving by

Thank you everyone for your kind words of support regarding our decision to move to Lake Tahoe! It means a lot to us.

Ever since deciding to move we’ve been scrambling to get things ready. Man, there is a TON to think about when moving across the country.

We’ve had to

– Sublease our current apartment

– Find a new place to live

– Buy a car, get car insurance

– Find a job for Luke

– Resign our current jobs

– Change banks

– Forward our mail

– Pack; move

– Handle about 50 million other things

Just typing this is making me break out into a nervous sweat. Ahhhhh! SO. MUCH. TO. DO!

Luckily I have a good partner-in-crime and incredible families who are bending over backwards to help us out.

I just keep telling myself:

“In a few weeks you’ll be living in one of the most beautiful places in the US and will be able to ski every week.”

Deep breaths….

Any tips on dealing with the stress a MAJOR to-do list can bring?