So, are you moving back to NYC or just "somewhere close the kids?" Where do the kids live? And to answer your questions:
1. Are you one of those people who have lived in the same city for 30 years? - Yes. LOL AZ since the 6th grade.
2. Do you make new friends or stick with what you have? - If I moved now, I would stick with the two besties I already have. I'm an introvert and it takes me a while to trust. I've tried adding more people to my tribe, but peopling is exhausting for me, so...two lifelong besties is all I'll get in my lifetime and I'm perfectly okay with that,
3. Have you ever been to Seattle? Why? I haven't! My sister has and got me a Starbucks cup from the original Starbucks there (it has since been regifted). But I wouldn't be able to handle the rain. I live in a place that has 360-ish days of sunlight. I can't imagine being in a place where it rained for 40 fucking days and nights?! Nope on a rope. Couldn't do it. Put a fork in me, I'm done.
My female BFF is in Boston! Lancaster, I think? I should know, but I don't remember. Gah! I've visited her a couple of times, but I don't remember the cities. At one point. she was living outside the city in a Norman Rockwell setting. During the day. At night, it was a Stephen King novel. O_O No street lights, black as pitch.
I did not know about the gum wall and can't say it's calling me! Art is in the eye of the beholder I guess.
You will leave a little bit of your heart in Seattle, just as it's in NYC and Boston but your heart will expand to love a new place and the folks you meet there. Wishing you a smooth transition❤️
I love Seattle! It’s a great city! I actually honeymooned there, lol, but then I’m from Victoria just to the north of you. My husband and I do trips on the Clipper and come to town for concerts or go to see the Seahawks.
I highly recommend MoPop, the Museum of Pop History, and the Seattle Art Museum a.k.a. SAM is fantastic. I saw a great Yves Saint Laurent exhibit there many years ago, and we saw Henry Winkler walking down the street near nearby.
You should totally come up to Victoria and visit! It’s beautiful here, and you get the same mountains and ocean. Drop me a line if you do, I promise I am not a creepy Internet person.😁
Awwwww we will miss you here in Seattle! But I love that you’re going to be closer to your kids. As a kid with a dad on the East Coast this warms my heart!
1) I didn’t realize it until I started adding up how old my youngest child is. 😳 yes, I’ve lived here for 30 years!! (And a few years for university, but moved after for work.) I guess this is it for us. Not going anywhere, but that’s also because our kids and grandkids are here. I’d definitely consider a move to be closer to them if they were far away. (Thus, my trip to Florida in November when the transplanted there for a few months.)
I’ve been to Seattle and your description made me laugh. We went to ALL the museums. I distinctly remember a guitar museum. And of course the pier.
From our vantage point we get a gorgeous view of Mt. Baker. Much like your view of Rainier.
I went to a wedding in Seattle like nine million years ago, but it's been forever. The longest place I've ever lived was NYC so it's ruined me for most places, but I'm finding my way. :)
This is encouraging. Having lived in Southern California my entire life, I’m skeptical of my ability to adapt—to seasons, to new people, to a terrain not threatened by seasonal apocalypses. But this writing is like a big sigh that all will be well if and when my wife and I uproot.
I have been to Seattle. It was part of a baseball jaunt in the ‘80s when I was in the travel biz. M’s were still playing in the Kingdome. It wasn’t the best place for a baseball game and I had the feeling the town was more of a football town. I enjoyed the city, its scenery and all the touristy things - museum of flight, Boeing, The Space Needle. It was a good trip…complete with a red-eye flight back to Chicago.
I grew up in a suburb of Minneapolis but have lived in Seattle for 34 years, since I was 19 years old. Well, except for two years in my mid twenties when I lived in NY’s Hudson Valley for a job.
I love how the city consists of neighborhood centers—I’ve lived in many of them. A house or apartment can be just a couple of blocks from a strip of restaurants, coffee shops, bodegas, etc. Little urban enclaves. I spent a lot of time in Manhattan when I lived in NY and found it to be overwhelmingly urban. Here, I can live in a walkable urban neighborhood, meet my neighbors, and still be able to see the sky.
It probably helps that I love the easy access to outdoor activities and that I find the winter drizzle season to be mostly cozy and charming. I do agree that we lack a mature arts culture. Queen Anne has a giant bronze statue…of a clown? Really? That’s what we spent our money installing? But to be fair, Seattle came into the public eye as the hub of the grunge music scene in the 90s, so it’s not like we ever had designs on being known for high art! Instead we have a thriving music scene and one of the best radio stations in the country.
Yes to all! What happened to that grunge music scene? They all became famous and left?? Actually, there’s a fab documentary called Foo Fighter’s Sonic Highway. Watch episode 7 esp. The limited series is Grohl’s love letter to American music and he highlights different cities.
I told this to Shelly M. once, but when I was in Seattle decades ago I was mystified by the fact that nobody jaywalked. We’d be standing at a light, waiting to cross the street, with no traffic coming as far as the eye could see. So we’d cross, while everyone else stayed put until the light changed. I didn’t get it. Still don’t. (East coaster.) Anyway, I loved visiting there.We drove up Mt. Ranier, did the Space Needle, but I didn’t know about the Aviation Museum, unfortunately. I got to see some Twin Peaks filming spots in Snoqualmie, though, which was fun.
I hear you with those Cascades! They’re unreal and I never grow tired of seeing their snow peaks peek through on a somewhat less rainy foggy drizzly gray day. I love hearing how Seattle grew on you. Portland has a similar “friendship freeze.” I wonder if it has to do with a population of introverts? And now that Dave and I live in the sticks, even the casual coffee date friendships have disappeared. It’s more like a “commit to an overnight and some yard work” date if they ever make it out this way. (But shhhhh, this introvert likes it that way.) 😂
Mt. Rainer was my touchstone for 6 years; we'd turn off Rte 5 just north of Olympia and head there, and she was smiling at me. I miss her, my view of Puget Sound, and most of all, the woods outside my backdoor. But our family was in California - and so we came back.
I visited family there, and I have no idea how you handle those hills in the middle of the city center.
It’s a low rent SF, right?
So, are you moving back to NYC or just "somewhere close the kids?" Where do the kids live? And to answer your questions:
1. Are you one of those people who have lived in the same city for 30 years? - Yes. LOL AZ since the 6th grade.
2. Do you make new friends or stick with what you have? - If I moved now, I would stick with the two besties I already have. I'm an introvert and it takes me a while to trust. I've tried adding more people to my tribe, but peopling is exhausting for me, so...two lifelong besties is all I'll get in my lifetime and I'm perfectly okay with that,
3. Have you ever been to Seattle? Why? I haven't! My sister has and got me a Starbucks cup from the original Starbucks there (it has since been regifted). But I wouldn't be able to handle the rain. I live in a place that has 360-ish days of sunlight. I can't imagine being in a place where it rained for 40 fucking days and nights?! Nope on a rope. Couldn't do it. Put a fork in me, I'm done.
I love your comments. 🥰🙏
Kids are near Boston so either NH or MA suburb.
Your besties are sistahs at this point. 😊
Love that you regifted the Starbucks cup. Haha.
My female BFF is in Boston! Lancaster, I think? I should know, but I don't remember. Gah! I've visited her a couple of times, but I don't remember the cities. At one point. she was living outside the city in a Norman Rockwell setting. During the day. At night, it was a Stephen King novel. O_O No street lights, black as pitch.
Don’t know Lancaster. Hmm. Now I’m curious.
I was way off. She now lives in Boxborough. I had to text her and ask. LOL
I did not know about the gum wall and can't say it's calling me! Art is in the eye of the beholder I guess.
You will leave a little bit of your heart in Seattle, just as it's in NYC and Boston but your heart will expand to love a new place and the folks you meet there. Wishing you a smooth transition❤️
Thx, Donna. And yes, a piece of my heart is in all these places. 🙏
I love Seattle! It’s a great city! I actually honeymooned there, lol, but then I’m from Victoria just to the north of you. My husband and I do trips on the Clipper and come to town for concerts or go to see the Seahawks.
I highly recommend MoPop, the Museum of Pop History, and the Seattle Art Museum a.k.a. SAM is fantastic. I saw a great Yves Saint Laurent exhibit there many years ago, and we saw Henry Winkler walking down the street near nearby.
You should totally come up to Victoria and visit! It’s beautiful here, and you get the same mountains and ocean. Drop me a line if you do, I promise I am not a creepy Internet person.😁
We love Victoria. We took our kids when they were 19 and they were thrilled because the drinking age was 19.
I saw the fashion exhibit too at SAM. It was fab!
Awwwww we will miss you here in Seattle! But I love that you’re going to be closer to your kids. As a kid with a dad on the East Coast this warms my heart!
🥰❤️
Of course, I'm curious where on the East Coast you'll be settling in. 🥰
We will def investigate NH!
1) I didn’t realize it until I started adding up how old my youngest child is. 😳 yes, I’ve lived here for 30 years!! (And a few years for university, but moved after for work.) I guess this is it for us. Not going anywhere, but that’s also because our kids and grandkids are here. I’d definitely consider a move to be closer to them if they were far away. (Thus, my trip to Florida in November when the transplanted there for a few months.)
I’ve been to Seattle and your description made me laugh. We went to ALL the museums. I distinctly remember a guitar museum. And of course the pier.
From our vantage point we get a gorgeous view of Mt. Baker. Much like your view of Rainier.
30 years! Kudos!
Florida is far! My ma is there and the flight times from Seattle to Ft. Lauderdale are awful.
Guitar museum-- yeah. Jeff liked it because he's musical. For me, it was meh.
Mt. Baker. 🥰
This was a hilarious and accurate depiction of Seattle. Love it!
So you’ve been. 😉
I went to a wedding in Seattle like nine million years ago, but it's been forever. The longest place I've ever lived was NYC so it's ruined me for most places, but I'm finding my way. :)
You can take the gal out of NYC but…
And how did you choose Cambridge for EE headquarters?
This is encouraging. Having lived in Southern California my entire life, I’m skeptical of my ability to adapt—to seasons, to new people, to a terrain not threatened by seasonal apocalypses. But this writing is like a big sigh that all will be well if and when my wife and I uproot.
Glad this was reassuring, Norman.
I have been to Seattle. It was part of a baseball jaunt in the ‘80s when I was in the travel biz. M’s were still playing in the Kingdome. It wasn’t the best place for a baseball game and I had the feeling the town was more of a football town. I enjoyed the city, its scenery and all the touristy things - museum of flight, Boeing, The Space Needle. It was a good trip…complete with a red-eye flight back to Chicago.
Glad you enjoyed! Hope you had good weather. 😉
It was
I grew up in a suburb of Minneapolis but have lived in Seattle for 34 years, since I was 19 years old. Well, except for two years in my mid twenties when I lived in NY’s Hudson Valley for a job.
I love how the city consists of neighborhood centers—I’ve lived in many of them. A house or apartment can be just a couple of blocks from a strip of restaurants, coffee shops, bodegas, etc. Little urban enclaves. I spent a lot of time in Manhattan when I lived in NY and found it to be overwhelmingly urban. Here, I can live in a walkable urban neighborhood, meet my neighbors, and still be able to see the sky.
It probably helps that I love the easy access to outdoor activities and that I find the winter drizzle season to be mostly cozy and charming. I do agree that we lack a mature arts culture. Queen Anne has a giant bronze statue…of a clown? Really? That’s what we spent our money installing? But to be fair, Seattle came into the public eye as the hub of the grunge music scene in the 90s, so it’s not like we ever had designs on being known for high art! Instead we have a thriving music scene and one of the best radio stations in the country.
Yes to all! What happened to that grunge music scene? They all became famous and left?? Actually, there’s a fab documentary called Foo Fighter’s Sonic Highway. Watch episode 7 esp. The limited series is Grohl’s love letter to American music and he highlights different cities.
I told this to Shelly M. once, but when I was in Seattle decades ago I was mystified by the fact that nobody jaywalked. We’d be standing at a light, waiting to cross the street, with no traffic coming as far as the eye could see. So we’d cross, while everyone else stayed put until the light changed. I didn’t get it. Still don’t. (East coaster.) Anyway, I loved visiting there.We drove up Mt. Ranier, did the Space Needle, but I didn’t know about the Aviation Museum, unfortunately. I got to see some Twin Peaks filming spots in Snoqualmie, though, which was fun.
Haha. I love the tours thru TV and movie locations. My sis went on an Outlander tour in Scotland. She saw the time travel stones.
We jaywalk here. I remember friends getting a ticket in LA for jaywalking.
I also saw some Northern Exposure locales. That was cool too.
I hear you with those Cascades! They’re unreal and I never grow tired of seeing their snow peaks peek through on a somewhat less rainy foggy drizzly gray day. I love hearing how Seattle grew on you. Portland has a similar “friendship freeze.” I wonder if it has to do with a population of introverts? And now that Dave and I live in the sticks, even the casual coffee date friendships have disappeared. It’s more like a “commit to an overnight and some yard work” date if they ever make it out this way. (But shhhhh, this introvert likes it that way.) 😂
Someone once told me that the Scandinavian settlers were aloof and the Seattle Freeze was born.
Yes— a friend date involves a sleepover. Hehe.
Never been to Seattle. I’ve heard from friends recently that the downtown area isn’t what it once was. Crime and such. Is that accurate or no?
Crime is bad. Still. It trickled to outside of Seattle too.
Mt. Rainer was my touchstone for 6 years; we'd turn off Rte 5 just north of Olympia and head there, and she was smiling at me. I miss her, my view of Puget Sound, and most of all, the woods outside my backdoor. But our family was in California - and so we came back.
I know I will miss her too. Miss Rainier has so much personality.