What It's Really Like To Move Away- Part 3 (Los Angeles)





Our weekends usually consist of the following: an exercise class (like spinning, pilates or boot camp), followed by brunch (something like Toast if we want casual or the Fountain Room in the Beverly Hills Hotel if we are feeling fancy), followed by a walk around Melrose Place and Beverly Hills (the residential part) with Luca, and finally followed by dinner at one of our favorite local places (like Sugarfish, Cafe Gratitude or Il Pastaio). Sundays include a visit to the Brentwood Farmer's Market and grocery shopping at our three favorites: Bristol Farms, Trader Joe's and Whole Foods. Our weekdays generally consist of an exercise class, full day of work, long evening walk with Luca for an hour or two and then a bath for me. I won't lie, it sounds pretty perfect to me. And it is. So why do I get days when I think I'm certain I want to move home? Again, they are far and few between, but they do exist.

The truth is, as glamorous as the above sounds (and don't get me wrong, we worked damn hard to get to the above), there are things missing. There are no Friday night dinners with the family. There are no Saturday night girls nights (with my bfs from back home). There's no meeting up with my mom or sister-in-laws for coffee. There's no morning runs or shopping excursions with my dad. And worse, there's missing the big things. Missing birthdays, special occasions, births etc. We simply can't be home for everything.

Unfortunately for me, living in the same place as my whole family won't ever be an option. My mom lives in Montreal, my dad lives in Miami and my brother lives in London. Yup, we couldn't choose places further apart.

So where am I getting at with this? I guess it's to be as honest as possible. As we all know, Instagram is a highlight reel of people's lives. While we all know this, I think we (or at least me), subconsciously forget and fall into the trap of comparison and dare I say jealousy. I know that 10 years ago, if I saw my Instagram I'd think that this is my dream life. Period. But living in it, I know that nothing is ever 100% perfect. Overall, LA is home. I love the life we have built here and I'm truly grateful for it. I do think we are happier here then we would be living in Montreal. But on the days I'm homesick or whatnot, Montreal doesn't seem that bad to me.

I'm also trying to work through the "grass is greener" mentality. After all, I know if we moved back to Montreal it wouldn't be long before I'm scrolling through Instagram, feeling jealous of people's lives in LA. The key is trying to appreciate the now, without worrying about what will happen in the future. Will we move back to Montreal? Maybe, one day. And we may not. But until we are forced to make that decision, I need to be grateful for my time in LA. I never want to look back at this chapter and think I took it for granted.

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