I know this is a few weeks early, but when you're in the mood to blog, you're in the mood to blog!
When I wrote this post last December, I was sitting at home with my parents and younger brother. I was working two jobs and only had two days off between October 5 and January 15; Thanksgiving Day & Christmas Day. I was able to pay my bills, but there was no way I would be able to pay for a place of my own. Right after I wrote the post last year, I met with my friend who had moved to Seattle that past April. He told me it was the land of opportunity... so I went to my manager at Lululemon and asked if I could transfer out to a store in Seattle. We made it happen! Luckily it wasn't as sudden as my move to San Fran; I had about two weeks to say my goodbyes. The move out to Seattle was definitely not nearly as stressful and painful as the move to San Francisco, but I honestly wasn't sure how long I would be out here.
It was definitely challenging when I first got to Seattle to make ends meet, but somehow I did it. I was working 3 jobs at one point, but was able to keep myself motivated and continued to apply for better jobs. After 9 months at Lululemon, I hung up my hat and moved on to Zillow. It was pretty crazy to say goodbye to a company and coworkers that I loved, but they were my support system when I needed them and it was my time to move on. When I was first offered the position at Zillow, I don't think there were words that could describe how excited I was. Overall, it has been an incredible experience - it's pretty cool to work for a company where you can tweet to the CEO or shoot him an email and he responds within 5 minutes. What a great guy! I definitely have learned a lot and been pushed in ways that have forced me to learn more about myself, but it's so worth it!
Earlier in the year, I got injured when I overdid my running, so I've kind of laid off on the whole running thing. I know I have been a huge runner for the past 9 years, but sometimes things in your life change and you just find other things that you are passionate about. I ran the NYC Marathon again and loved it; I will totally do that race every year that I get accepted into it. I am thinking of holding off on other races, unless they are 5ks, just because they are more fun :). Once I got to Seattle, I have really fallen in love with yoga. I haven't been going as regularly as I used to, but I have picked up skiing and can't wait to go again!
The coolest part about the past year? Meeting the guy of my dreams. If you go back to my January 19th post, you'll see a picture of us - I was his +1 for the Amazon company party that I went to the night I arrived in Seattle. We started dating early this summer and it has been nothing but bliss. It's pretty cool to find someone who inspires you to be better every day and is always there cheering for you; whether you're running a marathon in New York or land a HUGE sale. We have taken so many fun trips this year - and I can't wait to see what 2015 has in store for us!
Namaste.
