New City, Same Girl

Oh my! Blogging twice in the same year!? Don’t panic, it’s not going to be another ‘self reflection’ type thing - this post has good vibes only (do I sound millennial or what??).  I think I’ve had enough heavy reflections for the next 3 years so instead I want to share some of the adventures I’ve been up to. [Disclaimer: adjusting photos in Blogger is harder than bullet formatting in Word so just enjoy the photos and trust me I tried to get them in somewhat of a spatial order but the photo is just going to go where the photo wants to go.]

I celebrated my birthday with my a few of my favorite things: brunching, taco night and glamping middle of nowhere

 

I also went back to the States and got reunited with friends I haven’t seen in 10 years at one of my oldest friend’s wedding! It was oddly surreal being reconnected to that chapter in my life. Everyone was asking me what life was like in Africa, but I hate talking about myself so I was super awkward in answering.('I heard you're in Africa! What's that like!?' 'Oh you know.....How is it in Cincinnati?!') To get to the wedding, my sisters and cousins did a girls trip to Tennessee and stayed in an RV!! I am horrible at taking pictures so enjoy one of my favorite things about flying:

airplane mimosas *chefs kiss*

Immediately after the wedding, we drove down to Boston and spent time with my east coast family. Then I took a fun road trip with my cousin and his adorable sons through NY and Philly where I met my other cousins’ children (so many cute babiessss!!!!) and had amazing food - the theme of my visit home honestly - nomnomnom and cutie munch!

I rounded out my US trip with spending time at Myrtle beach for my cousin’s birthday! And most importantly went to where ONE TREE HILL was filmed!!! Two of my other friends tried to travel to see me, but due to covid situations they weren’t able to make it, but even the effort meant a lot to me. It was an epic time being back home. As usual, a lot of mixed overwhelming feelings. I feel really really incredibly lucky and sooo so loved it could make me cry. Everyone was trying to accommodate my schedule - people trying to meet me where I was (I’ve never been much of a forward planner so everyone being flexible for me was not an easy feat on their behalf!). 

Me looking for my Nathan (OTH IYKYK)

Me pretending to hold Nathan's hand.
Don't say I never gave you anything😭

love a good rooftop patio!

Me pretending to hug Nathan

Like Mother like Daughter😂 (not my daughter BTW)

I should add here that right before I went back to America, I (of course making life harder for myself) decided I wanted to move to Nairobi so I packed 95% of my things in Naivasha in like 90 minutes, the same time I was packing my things for America. It was all very stressful leading up to my departure to the US as I was moving out of Naivasha. So how did I get it all done? How was I able to just step off the plane and into my new apartment in Nairobi, rather than going back to Naivasha, and have a (semi) furnished place to come ‘home’ to? Well it was quite easy! Just as long as you have the most amazing, kind, and helpful friends/housemates to take care of everything!! They were a huge help taking care of things like buying furniture while I was in the states AND moving my stuff to the new apartment for me. One of them was worried that I wasn’t part of the decision making and getting stuff without my input, but the other roommate rightly knew it was a small blessing for me to not make that many decisions.

Of course immediately after moving into the new apartment, I went to Diani (where my heart is if you remember!) for a much needed beach time. Yes, even though I spent time in the States with my family, I needed time to decompress from the travel and general ‘feeelings’ (said with a eeww face) I get when I visit home. And basically since I’ve been back in Kenya, around the beginning of August, I have NOT spent a weekend in my apartment! And don’t worry they are all PG reasons (well as long as PG involves drinking?)  i.e camping (soooo much camping 😩I finally bought a sleeping mat and it is such a game changer letmetellyou. It would just be nice to spend a weekend in my own bed that I paid for with my hard earned money!) or staying out past curfew so crashing at a friends place.

So far 2021 has been… more than I ever thought it could be (and it’s almost over WTF?!). I guess to make up for the year that was/wasn’t 2020. Can we just as a society not count last year? I’m still 28, thank you that’ll be all. I know I know, the year isn’t over and many more exciting things yet to happen, so I’ll wait for end of year reflections later, but I’ll still say my heart is full. Eurgh I know cheesy right? Who am I these days? I’ll type it but don't make me say it (note to self: unpack with therapist later)