A New Zip Code

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New is always better right? Or so I’ve been told [by Barney Stinson?].

It’s amazing how life changes so fast. One day I’m pregnant…eye rolling people who will not give up their seats on the subway, and the next, the NYC skyline is nothing but a view in my rearview mirror. Moving in general is always a bitch, but it’s really tough when you have to leave a place that has been a part of you for more than a decade.

My husband and I knew we would have to move soon after our daughter was born, but we were really hoping to stay to local. Once I was pregnant, and we started doing more and more planning it was clear we’d being living outside our means with a child if we stayed in the city. There is no way around it, NYC is beyond words expensive. Rent & child care alone on average can cost double the amount of money versus anywhere else in the country. Ok, so what now? Plan to move? – Where? When? Before or after the baby is born? I knew stress, but this became next level – especially being pregnant. I cried, I cried every day and what felt like all the time. I wasn’t ready to leave what I called home for so many years, but then I realized it wasn’t about me anymore. It was about creating a beautiful life for my daughter, and putting my husband and I in a financial position where we can actually do that for her.

So move we did, two week after my daughter was born we packed up our apartment of 3 years, in a beautiful NYC high-rise, and crossed into enemy territory to officially become New Jersey residents. I use the term enemy loosely because that’s how I felt at the time. I’m a New Yorker, how in the world was I going to survive in a small town in NEW JERSEY?! Fast forward a few months and it’s starting to feel like home. It’s also nice to not have to pay $7 for a small box of cereal. Granted I did lose my job in those few months, but I doubt we’d be surviving if we still lived in NYC.  

I learned fast and even knew before I had my daughter, that it will always be about what is best for her. My husband and I fall 2nd on the priority list for everything. As long as I have a happy family, no matter what happens, I’ll find a way to be ok.

Stay tuned for more stories and awkward experiences throughout my first year in the Garden State.