YES! you read that correctly! It’s taken me quite some time to pull this post together for this momentous life update to unfold. After 12 years in Manhattan, my husband, Joe and I are starting a new chapter! WILD. Still difficult for me to comprehend but I’m ripping down my type A walls and just GOING WITH THE FLOW!

To get a better understanding of how major this move is.. Think about surfacing out of college, navigating through the city basics for a a year, settling in with your significant other, and finding a little piece of the NYC dream in a 650 square foot apartment. You build your LIFE, your careers (mine in fashion/ his in finance), nurturing the relationships of friends, co workers and enjoying the sights, sounds, and glories of what only NYC can bring. Our doormen like brothers, our baristas like neighbors, dry cleaner like mom, and my tailor on speed dial.

So many have said “living a city life is so lonely”.

I understand the suburban thought; suburbia neighbors are friendly, there for a helping hand, and always have the ingredient you’re missing! This city dweller however begs to differ. In a city so big at the same time feels so small and intimately intertwined. Us New Yorkers may talk fast, walk even faster, but will always have each others backs. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve assisted tourists to their destination, quickly helped up those who have tripped and fallen crossing the street, ran to a door to help someone holding one too many lattes. Hell, I can even count multiple times I can to call 911 to help strangers survive tragety.

What it really comes down to is being a New Yorker is so much more than a label, its feeling, its a belonging, a purpose.

So today I come to you with more purpose. To help you with the next move in YOUR life. Read on to hear a New Yorkers top 10 tips to moving. I’ve lost count of how many times we’ve failed in this process. It quite possibly was the most stressful process of my life. (with multiple layers) You understand, don’t you? A pandemic (of which we both were infected and thankfully recovered) , job uncertainty, health issues, family drama.. THE USUAL.

8 TIPS FOR MOVING OUT OF NYC

8. PLAN IN ADVANCE (IF YOU CAN)

We started packing without a destination. READ THAT AGAIN. Yup! Our lease was up come the end of 2020 and we knew it was time to start a new page in our life. Truth is I would stay in NYC forever if I could have a penthouse with a courtyard. My husband on the other hand.. will only miss the availability of Ubers whilst out on the town.. He did leave California for New York.. just for me ya know.

Joes advice on planning in advance is obviously picking a destination but more importantly PURGING your home PRIOR to moving. (at least a month out so you have mental energy to start packing) Listen, we purged and took bags to goodwill monthly but actually taking the time to go through all of your belongings from top to bottom is a CHALLENGE. With a capital C. Especially after living in the same building for over a decade. Crazy how you accumulate things! I’m the worst because I’m emotionally attached to EVERYTHING. I can go through my closet and tell you at least one memory to each piece of clothing. If not, it still has the tag. And even still I probably have a memory from buying it! haha

7. U-HAUL Box VS. PODS.COM

We talked about planning in advance above but its just not something that is in our family DNA. Joe and I have been living off the cuff since the beginning. (that’s forever ago people… we’re talking 2007) Whether we are traveling or making dinner plans we just go with the option that gives us the THRILL. Hindsight.. we probably should have adjusted our vision when it came to moving.

After looking into a multitude of moving companies or moving ourselves by truck, we were set on using UHAUL Box. Why? If you don’t know where you are sending your belongings or if you are moving the a house that isn’t ready yet U-Haul pods give you the flexibility you need.

Unlike other company’s that require a destination address U-Haul takes your “pods” to the closest Uhaul facility. You have 30 days to rent the pod and fill it. During those 30 days you can give them an approximate destination that is drivable to your new hometown and the pods will be stored at the facility. After those 30 days you have the option to extend the pod rental for roughly $150 for another month until you get settled. Its basically a MOBILE STORAGE UNIT. This alleviates having to moves your items from pods, to storage, into a truck, and to your new destination.

Overall these pods gave us the flexibility we needed due to the severe uncertainty of where we were going. But not without the drawbacks. One word SMALL. Wow even if you measure it all out. GOOD LUCK!

6. FINISH PACKING BEFORE MOVING DAY

Sounds basic right? Well, this one HIT US HARD. Our moving story is rich with mistakes. Has anyone mentioned how hard it is to pack when you have no where to put said packed boxes in your tiny apartment?! Exactly. When you think you just have a little left, or this doesn’t fit in a box, or maybe my family might want this before I throw it out I’ll wait.. DON’T.

OUR MAJOR FAIL

On moving day we thought it would be simple. As things left the space we would finish the other boxes and we would keep it moving. WRONG. Step one: Put your biggest piece of furniture in the pod, our couch.. NOPE. it did not fit by 2 inches. Even though it met the said required measurements online. So here we are 20 minutes into moving and we’re screwed.

Luckily my family are moving masters, Tetris players, and also SAINTS. My dad and brother drove into NYC with the 2 pods for us to fill (PA is cheaper than NYC clearly) Since my dad pulled them in his flat bed we were able to put the couch on there otherwise we would’ve had to throw it out! Long story even with the couch NOT in the pods all of our things DID NOT FIT.

We needed a new game plan. After an exhausting week and a half of purging, packing, and 12 hours of moving. We filled our small car to the brim. OUR THINGS STILL DID NOT FIT. At 11pm we drove to my parents in PA and got any sleep we could. Rise and shine the next day we took my Dad’s pickup truck back to the city to get the last of it. I dreamed that night our last day would be glorious.. I might even get my nails done!..

Wrong again. We were there packing, cleaning, removing chandeliers, filling holes until 11:55 PM. Even still we had to throw out half of what was left! 300 velvet hangers, my coffee table, beach chairs, small TV, are just some items I hope our neighbors and doormen scored!

7. GET USED TO SUCTION BAGS

If you have an obscene amount of clothing or any at all these will be your life saver. Why? One – clothes are HEAVY! Two Suction saves SPACE. As you know we were trying to consolidate AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE to fit into the pods. So dis-assembling my entire walk in closet into suction bags was a project. Luckily suction bags were already my favorite adult toy for storing each season of my wardrobe tightly tucked under the bed or high into the linen closet, so I have professional finesse with this project.

(Envision this: Color-coded and season separated piles neatly lined up, slithered into bags, and loungewear Amanda jumping on top of the bags as Joe uses the vacuum in tandem.. ! WORTH THE EFFORT.

Also note that I have tried many different brands. Space savers, Ziploc and Hibag. After filling 100’s of bags I can actually say that the newest brand for me Hibag works wonderfully! I highly recommend these bags as they have maany sizes, their closure socket is more secure than the other brands, and they don’t leak or rip easily! Please check them out and let me know if you agree!

5. PLAN YOUR EXIT STRATEGY

For one second forget about packing, moving, and all the tedious and technical conundrums and remember what brings you JOY. Plan that into the equation! Whether its scheduling brunches and dinners with close friends, ordering take out from every cuisine possible. (Ideally plan this on moving week when kitchen is packed and energy is drained)

I admit the pandemic made this part difficult. 12 years and no going away party?! How could this be happening?! Although it was not the ideal situation it forced us to say good bye to the city itself. STOP! That notion alone. That mind set focused on loss and leaving makes it harder to accept change.

I learned that saying THANK YOU instead of GOODBYE to our favorite nooks and crannies of the city was more fulfilling and brought me peace vs. a painful farewell.

This is how my NYC JOY JOURNEY came to be. If you follow me on Instagram SHESEESINCOLOR you know what I’m talking about. If not I’ve spent the last month prancing around my favorite spots, dressing up in sparkling attire, and loving every moment embracing the energy from the streets. Even if I’m wearing a mask, even if the streets are empty, NYC is my happy place.

3. NEW YORKERS ARE YOUR RESOURCE-

If you’re going through it, gaurantee someone is experiencing the same issue at precisely the same time! Craigslist and strangers are instantly your friends again. (Not just when you’re a poor college grad looking for furniture) This is where you recycle and reuse all the MOVING MATERIALS of others. We were lucky to connect with a kind man on the upper West Side in the middle of a snow storm. We scored over $400 of moving supplies for $20! (I said we help each other out, didn’t I?!)

2. YOU OWN MORE THAN YOU THINK

You imagine moving being easy. A quick call to a moving company, a discussion over your belongings and an estimate of boxes and space. You think okay great, we have a idea of how much space we will fill, WRONG. The takeaway here is OVERESTIMATE EVERYTHING. As you’ve read above I’m a master of fitting big things into small spaces and even I could not have guessed how much space we would have needed for our belongings to fit in 1 moving trip, nonetheless 3!

1. PACKING- DON’T DO IT YOURSELF

THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO YOU CAN PAY TO PACK YOUR THINGS. REPEAT PACK NOT MOVE. Most movers pick up the boxes you’ve tiressly packed and take care of it . HONEY – the difficult part is not the moving ITS THE PACKING. Again this was probably such a feat because of our timeline and prep but wow. I’ve never had as many breakdowns as I did that week.

Dear Lord, I will never pack alone again.

If I need to pack in the future it will for sure be in the form of a PARTY. The pandemic killed us on this one too. Last move we made was just down the hallway from our studio alcove to our current one bedroom and we had friends who helped. The power of numbers while packing is key. Especially when you are working and working from home there is only so much time you can dedicate to packing rigorously. (Thats also if you don’t have the addicting Bridgerton series playing while your doing it)

Maybe you love it, maybe I would if I could lesiurely work on each section of the house but honey, time is money and next time it will most definatley be spent on a professional team of packers. Thankfully we made it through.. without a crack – well that much we won’t know until we actually unpack!

REMEMBER TAKE A DEEP BREATH. STAY TUNED FOR MORE LIFE UPDATES!