Emma's Turn!

Hello!

Lots of people have been asking about what I'm doing now that we've moved and Scott has started at Honda, so I thought I'd write a little about that.

This has been kind of a strange transition for me. Things are, perhaps obviously, very different. For starters, I'm in this whole new city in a whole new state. And then there's the fact that Scott is now working a regular 9-to-5 after four years of being a student - that's a big schedule change for both of us to adjust to.

But my daily life is also much the same as it was before we moved. I'm still writing for The Kitchn. I'm still working on articles for the Tribune (just got one published about seasonal berries! Yay!) I still work from home - usually out on the porch in the two-chair set up pictured above. I still go for runs in the afternoon and read a lot of books.

So it's a big transition...but it's also not.

A big goal of mine right now is to keep pushing the food writing. I love doing it and it still feels like a good direction for me. Between the Kitchn and the Tribune, I've gotten some really great experience under my belt and I think I'm in a good place career-wise. My next step is to be regularly pitching articles to larger print publications, and hopefully, getting some bites.

It's rough, though. And definitely not easy. There have been a lot of afternoons where I sit and stare around this room and don't really know what I'm doing. I feel like I'm in limbo - I want to be doing more work, but I don't have it yet. I don't know how to balance that drive to keep doing and pushing all the time with the knowledge that I also need to give myself a break and go easy.

It's also hard to stay positive. It's a creative and highly competitive industry, and there's a voice that says, "There are a million other people out there who want to do exactly what you want to do, and another million who are already doing it. What makes you think you're so hot?" It's hard to hear that voice and then keep doing it. I've gotten a lot of positive rejection letters, which is good but also kind of a downer.

I spend a lot of time on our porch here in the temporary housing. Most days, I take my laptop out there to work. It's a lot more relaxing than the table in the living room, plus I don't have to sit on a pillow in order to be at the right height for typing. And also, it's just nice to work with the sound of trees in the background. (Evelyn - so far I've seen cardinals, yellow finches, lots of robins, and even a few hawks circling around!)

I'll be very glad when we move into the new apartment at the beginning of July. This temp housing has been great, but I'm definitely starting to chomp at the bit. It's lonely here - not so much in the sense that most of my friends are back in Boston (sniff!), but more in the sense that this place feels...empty. It's a fairly large complex, but I feel like we rarely actually see or interact with people. I go on my runs through the surrounding neighborhoods and it's not unusual to see no one else the entire time. It would feel different if I were running out in the country or in a park, I think. Somewhere I don't necessarily expect to see a lot of people. But I'm mostly running through actual neighborhoods and they're full of big, quiet houses with well-kept lawns and swing sets in the back. It's all kind of spooky.

In the new apartment, there are a lot of things in walking distance - a grocery store, a coffee shop, several restaurants, and even a book store. In scoping out the neighborhood, it felt like there were a lot more people just out and about doing their business. I'm ready to settle in and curious to meet our new neighbors.

In any case...that's what I've been up to. Calls and e-mails are very welcome - even if you don't actually have anything to say! You know where I'll be...