London calling

Things are starting to feel a bit more real now. For the past few weeks the only real reminder that I'm on the precipice of change has been when I've found myself wondering why Andy isn't around; I then remember that he in fact lives and works in London now...

Still, none of it has felt tangible until recently. Firstly, we just found a flat and promptly secured a large enough loan to actually start renting it (painful memories of the rental market in NYC come flooding back). I've not seen it yet, but I trust in Andy's abilities to find us a little nook that will work for us. Last weekend I went down and we explored the area - around Oval - and for the first time I had a picture of what our new life would be like. Though close to the city, the area feels mellow with lots of cyclists, pubs, little parks and tucked away galleries, all of which bodes well.

We spent the day taking in the surrounding areas and I kept experiencing little waves of familiarity as I recognised a certain commonality of pace, eclecticism and energy of London with New York, and my oh my...it felt good. We found farmer's markets in Oval, hidden art galleries in Vauxhall, an incredible sandwich bar in Brixton, bona fide Cuban food in North Lambeth and an impressive free Brazilian festival at the Southbank Centre. We hung out by the Thames, watching tourists, musicians, performers, suits and hipsters going about their evening and I thought....yeah. I can do this. This can be my city.

I also now have a job to go to when I move! I interviewed yesterday for a role with a Refugee Trauma Service at the NHS providing therapeutic casework to refugees and asylum seekers, and got the job. It's part time, and only a short contract but it's a great first step and I'm THRILLED to have landed a role with the rather niche client group that I was really hoping to continue working with.

It feels like time is slipping through my fingers and this whole new life will start before I know it - a few more weeks of work, dissertation, and precious time with dear northern friends and then we take on a new chapter together in a new city. It's a bit bewildering, but exhilarating too and I can't wait to see what it brings...

sand prophets

On New Year's day 2010, Andy and I were strolling along a sunny beach in North Devon, trying to make sense of the year we were leaving behind and dreaming dreams of the year ahead. As well as feeling the importance of a certain 'carpe diem' factor in the year ahead, we found ourselves talking more and more about the idea of moving to London. This was in part because we've always known that's where the jobs are for Andy, and in part because both of us tend to get an itch to move on to new things every 2-3 years, and we had both begin to feel the biennial of winds change.

In what was probably a mixture of hubris and hope, we scrawled '2010 LONDON' in the sand. I think at the time the idea was more representative of our hope for change - to shake off 2009 and a certain feeling of inertia it had engendered, but now the action feels oddly prophetic of a new chapter for us both.

About a month ago, an incredible new job opportunity dropped out of the sky for Andy. Imagination called him up and offered him a job (it actually was almost that strange and simple) and it was just too good to pass up. Given that we have grown really fond of Manchester and especially its residents, we'd always said we would only make a move if there was a compelling reason, and this opportunity most definitely falls into that category. Challenge, creativity, travel, variety...the job itself holds a lot of good things for Andy, and a new adventure in London presses both of our buttons.

I've become convinced over the years that the heart is often prepped for the things that life will next bring it, so now it seems no coincidence that we both have been feeling the itch for a new chapter, and that I have - in the space of a few months - gone from loathing the very idea of London to chomping at the bit to see what a new life there holds for us.

I'm not unaware that the move will be bittersweet - we'll be leaving behind some incredibly dear and inspiring people in Manchester, and I know from New York that big-city living is taxing in both the literal and metaphorical sense. Nonetheless, a move to London feels timely and exciting; a new door which we'll step through together to see what happens!

Andy started his new job this week while I'm holding the fort up north for the summer, continuing my work at the Medical Foundation and on my dissertation to see out my Masters. It's funny, somehow just writing this blog post makes it all feel more real - so far I've had a vague sense that there should be someone else in my bed at night and the enormity of the change ahead hasn't sunk in. We've handed in our notice on our tenancy so by the end of August we'll be moving to southern climes...in the meantime, I'm grateful that my head still feels very much rooted in Manchester for now. I intend on soaking up all the great things about life up here while it continues! I kicked the summer off with a skydive and this weekend sees the wedding of a dear friend and a mini-festival to keep the good times rolling...