A little bit over a year ago I packed one duffel bag, put a lamp and a few pictures in my car and drove to Michigan to move to Detroit. Oh believe me, Detroit was not the city I had envisioned starting out my grown up career in. I had envisioned a beautiful southern life in Atlanta or maybe a bustling high society life in NYC… but here we are.

I have to be honest with you. From the very beginning I hated every. single. second. of it. It wasn’t so much the city itself but more so not knowing a soul and being all alone in a huge city in the middle of winter (my favorite 😉 ).

I flew home every chance I got even if it was for 8 hours… anything to be away from this horrid arctic hell (being dramatic is my forte). Between going home and working I went on dates. Thinking in my mind it was a sensible way to meet people… fast forward to one date where I spent 45 minutes discussing the intricacies of the leather menu and pondering what animal the leather had come from. It wasn’t going well! But one guy told me something I don’t think I’ll ever forget. He said, “You know, every city is just a city, you have to be the one to choose to make it your own”. So while the date went atrociously… thank you sir for the word of wisdom.

From that point forward I chose to make Detroit my own because like it or not I was locked in for a year. I stopped dating and instead spent my off days finding my favorite antique stores. Went to 4 different yoga studios making a fool of myself in every single one but finally found myself loving one. I found a library that is perfectly dreamy, a coffee shop I adore and this smoothie place that will knock your socks off.

Every city is just a city unless you choose to make it your home. 

Here we are a year later and as I checked my mail there was a Michigan Driver’s License waiting for me (I know… a long time coming… #stubborn).

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results so call me insane but I’ve decided to stay in Detroit another year. My southern heart cringes saying this, but I’ve come to love my little life here. I find myself getting defensive anytime someone trash talks Detroit… Like “have you BEEN THERE?”. Oh what a year can do to a person. 

So with that I have to go because I have a workout date with my boyfriend at the gym I signed a year contract to attend…

XOXO,

Christena