Hi Friends! It’s been a minute aka a couple weeks since my last post. If you can imagine, it’s been more than chaotic these days & I’m shocked I even remember what day of the week it is. All that + daylight saving time = pqehf;isgvozlnkihgrri;abgvzkfvn.

Anyway, I managed to get this post written and I’m very excited about sharing it with you all! If you’re not following me on IG already, then I hope you enjoy reading about what’s been going on here behind the scenes following our move two weeks ago, which in short was utterly insane…

MOVING RECAP

To put it bluntly, nothing went as expected on Moving Day frankly because we moved ONE DAY EARLY. And no, it wasn’t a planned thing. More like a OK WE’RE DOING THIS TODAY kind of thing…

Our move was set for Friday 10/23 – however, I received a call from our movers the morning of Thursday 10/22 to inform me they were at the apartment to begin the move.. The thing is – Thomas and I were both one hour away at the house, as we we had planned to move some of the plants and take care of a few things the day before moving day (because it was supposed to be the following day, remember?) We had maybe 70% of the apartment already packed up & intended to spend all of Thursday afternoon packing up the rest and enjoying our final evening in Hoboken. LOL we made a “plan” – you know what happens when you make one of those right..?

Long story short (which I’ve saved to this Moving Highlight here) – we ended up moving that Thursday after racing back to the apartment from the house. I guess the beauty of moving to a house is that you have flexibility with those kinds of things. If we were moving to another apartment building, I don’t see this situation having worked out for us (with the whole COI dates, elevator reservations if any, etc.) Also considering the climate we’re living in & with everyone moving these days, I didn’t want to take a chance of losing our movers if we put a hard NO on moving Thursday. It was clear someone at dispatch messed up the dates, and at this point there was nothing we could do but go with it – and that’s something we’ve gotten good at in the last 8 months.

Don’t get me wrong – overwhelmed and stressed were the only emotions I felt as I drove back to meet the movers at the apartment. But when we got there, they couldn’t have been kinder and were more helpful than I ever imagined. We used Roadway Moving (I used them last year when moving from the city to Hoboken & had a fantastic experience) and despite dispatch messing up the dates, I still would recommend them over & over again for any type of move. Honestly, the positivity and kindness of our 3 movers is what made the situation so remarkably OK. Not only did they help us pack up the remaining 30% of our apartment, but they also continued having the best attitudes throughout the ENTIRE MOVE despite how stressful the situation was for them as well; it’s not their fault the dates got messed up, they’re just doing the job assigned to them the day of. Our move took 12 hours total to complete & not once did our movers make us feel uncomfortable or anxious, which made all the difference in the world.

I’d also like to disclose that this was my second time partnering with Roadway Moving for our move.

You would think I’d avoid sharing such information (regarding the dispatch mess up) but my job is to be transparent with my readers & I owe you all the honesty in the world when you come to my blog as a resource. Sharing the REALNESS of what goes on behind closed doors is also just as important, especially on platforms like this and social media. It’s absolutely NOT all hunky dory 100% of the time. And moving during a pandemic, with hundreds of other people doing the same, is an adventurous undertaking. Things are bound to get messy AF. And they did, but they also worked out well in the end. We got one extra day in the week to clean our apartment & turn in the keys, allowing us to spend the entire weekend and following week unpacking and getting settled. That’s a small win, but the bigger win is that we’re in our new home safe & sound, with all our belongings and bodies in one piece.

If you’re planning on moving, which I know a lot of you are, I also want to highlight two more amazing considerations:

RENTACRATE

Forget packing boxes made of flimsy cardboard that’s bound to get damaged or destroyed during the moving process. You need hard plastic, durable crates to pack your most treasured items. I’ve only ever used companies that rent crates out like these because they’re so much more sustainable & eliminate the stress of finding enough boxes and then figuring out what to do with them all once the move is over. Rentacrate not only drops off the crates you need, but they will also pick them up from your new location once you’re done unpacking! So you literally don’t have to do anything but pack & unpack them – what a treat! And the fact they were able to drop off in Hoboken AND pick up in our new location one hour away was seriously amazing; I was so worried I wouldn’t be able to find an option since we’d be moving out of the city limits where most of these rentable crate companies reside. But with Rentacrate, it was no problem!

Right now, Rentacrate is offering their clients “unlimited time” with their crate rentals. They know a lot of you are moving and would appreciate having more time to unpack everything at your own pace, so they’re putting the normal 2-week rental window “on hold” to better fit your schedule. So for one flat rate, you can keep the crates for as long as you need until you’re fully unpacked and ready to give them back. Moving is stressful enough (the #3 biggest one in a person’s lifetime) and Rentacrate knows whatever can be made simpler for you, the better the outcome for all!

THE BEXLEY

I’ve wanted to share/talk about our former Hoboken apartment building for the last year, but resisted because of safety reasons. However now that we’ve moved out, I can proudly talk about the incredible place we called home in Hoboken for the past 12 months – The Bexley.

If you’re moving to the area soon or sometime in the future, I cannot recommend this incredible building enough! It’s located in North Hoboken on 13th between Clinton & Grand Streets, surrounded by all the conveniences such as a dry cleaners & a nail salon on the same block, as well as Trader Joe’s, Wine Dads, & Walgreens literally across the street. It’s only a quick walk from the 14th St Ferry & Pier 13, as well as tons of amazing bars & restaurants located in the North End as well.

What sold us on this particular building when apartment searching 1.5 years ago is the fact we were able to get a 2 bed 2 bath apartment for an incredible rate – it’s amazing how drastic the prices change when moving from NYC to Hoboken; so much more bang (space) for your buck! Having my own bathroom was truly a luxury I cannot wait to have again someday. We also got to enjoy the amazing amenities pre-COVID as well as once it was safe again to do so during the pandemic summer; including the gym, a cyber lounge (where I often worked from when not in the apartment), a club room (where we hosted T’s birthday in October), and a newly renovated courtyard complete with hammocks, fire pits, grilles, & lawn games.

Other than my own bathroom, what I’m going to miss most (& currently missing a lot) is the amazing staff behind The Bexley. From the start of our residency, Suz & Kevin in the leasing office went ABOVE & BEYOND to make our time living there one we will always treasure. Whether it be making sure our maintenance requests were received and delivered upon the same day, to placing our packages aside when we were away on trips/vacations, to allowing us to reserve an additional parking space overnight when we had two cars or friends visiting. On top of all the amazing resident activities they organized for the building community before & during COVID – from virtual trivia to wine tastings in the lobby to contests with incredible prizes (we won one of the contests, and that prize package was the GOAT). That’s just scraping the surface of what Suz & Kevin did for Thomas and me (& all of the residents) at The Bexley – honestly, having to say goodbye to them both on moving day was incredibly hard for me.

Emotions aside, I cannot imagine our time in Hoboken living anyplace else other than The Bexley. Please consider visiting them if you’re planning on moving to the area & be sure to mention my name – I won’t get credit for doing so (no longer living there) but I’m sure they’d love to know how you learned about The Bexley & your reasons for considering it as your new home.

HOME IMPROVEMENT

We’ve made a major dent in our home improvement project list, which is crazy to think about considering its only been 2 weeks since moving in! We still have plenty to do but our mini updates before moving in definitely helped speed the process of getting the rest on track or in progress towards completion.

—

Painted Wood Window Trims, Baseboards, & Doors

Refinished Kitchen Hardwood Floor

Decorated/Organized Living Room (90% Complete)

– What’s Next –

Finish Painting Basement Wall & Floor Painting (in progress)

Set Up Garage Gym

Set Up Basement Office + Laundry Spaces

Install New Kitchen Sink & Faucet + Fix Dishwasher

Hang Picture Frames / Wall Art

Finish Decorating/Organizing Bedroom

DIY PROJECTS

I got a little DIY happy within the last week, especially with the contact paper. Here are a few tiny updates I personally handled, which you can also see full before & after transformations of on my House Reno Highlight here.

—

Kitchen Backsplash Peel & Stick Tile

Contact Paper Shelf Update for Linen Closet

Homegoods Bedside Table Paint Revamp

WHERE I GOT SOME OF OUR HOME DECOR

I shared most of these below items on my IG Stories & made sure to save them with the swipe up links to this Highlight here. I’ll be sure to keep it updated with anything new coming in (which is a decent list already lol) but if you’re the type who prefers to purchase over the computer instead of your phone (because me too), here they are for your shopping pleasure!

—

Wine + Whiskey Cabinet

Kitchen Pantry Cabinet with Coffee Bar

Office Area Rug

(Set of 2) Bedside Table Lights with USB Ports

Cordless Light Filtering Window Blinds

Living Room Area Rug

(Similar) Round Standing Shelf

Chargeable Under-Cabinet LED Lights

(Squirrel-Proof) Bird Feeder & Double Arm Feeder Stand

I hate to admit writing this post took me like 3-4 days to complete – I’ve lost my knack at getting these posts out like I used to do. My energy this year, especially now, has been so challenging to channel properly & I appreciate all of you for giving me Grace during this personal hiatus. I see so many people are moving, influencers included, who just seem to have all their sh*t together and able to post / provide meaningful content despite the chaos surrounding them. I know they’re stressed beyond belief but maybe writing/sharing for them has become more of an outlet than before. I’m personally struggling with finding that same commitment to passionately share things at the moment but with each day it’s getting easier!

Again, I appreciate all of you for continuing to follow/read my posts here, even if they’re 2-3 weeks apart from the last one. Every day is a step closer to getting back to where I once was and knowing that you’ll still be here when the time comes gives me comfort. Love you all!