If you write a blog then you have probably been in the situation where you have exciting news but you can’t quite go public with it yet. So you have either two options: Keep your mouth shut until the time is right (difficult!), or trickle out little teasers about how you have really exciting news to share soon. When people choose the last option I always find it super annoying, so when I had my own exciting news I kept mum. Until now. I can finally tell you that next week my husband and I are moving back to my hometown of Portland, Oregon.

I was actually born in St. Vincent’s hospital in Portland, and although I loved living in San Francisco, no place, (certainly not Boston) feels as much like home as Portland. My family is all there (or nearby–one sister is in Seattle), we still have friends who live there, and every time we’ve gone for visits I’ve yearned to move back. While I love New York City, living in Boston has taught me that I am most definitely a West Coaster. In the past year I’ve desperately missed the good coffee, friendly people, and hip vibe of San Francisco and Portland. So we’re finally going back!

It was around Thanksgiving when we decided to leave for sure, and the last couple of weeks have been filled with a lot of waiting and packing. So I decided to make a countdown chain like the kind elementary school kids make to count down the days until Christmas. Only this one counts down the days until we leave for Portland.

I apologize in advance if things are slow around here for the next couple of weeks. Inevitably, they will be. Packing up your whole life takes a lot of time and energy, as I learned last year around this time when I was doing the same thing. The difference is that this time I’m really happy about it because I know I’m going home. And I can’t wait.