My Letter of Abandonment to Seattle

Hi friends! I am excited to share some news that most of you probably already know of… I’m moving!!

Back to Chicago I go. I received a marketing job offer at my company, and I’ll be working out of the Chicago office beginning next year. So that being said, it is time to say goodbye to the Emerald city and hello to the windy one (though Seattle could give Chicago a run for its money with how cold and windy it has been here lately). Just as last year, I can’t leave this chapter of my life behind without a proper goodbye, so here, without further ado, is my letter of abandonment to Seattle. If you remember, letters of abandonment are traditions I started with my London friends- notes to each other to strengthen our bonds pre-departure from place to place. Seattle deserves a good one.

I’ve only spent 18 months here, which while much longer than my time studying abroad, still went by pretty quick. I remember in school learning the word brevity, which translates in Latin to just mean “short” but indirectly to mean the “fleeting nature of life”. Experiencing Seattle this past year and a half has been the best example of brevity I’ve ever known. Living here has nothing short of changed my life.

If living in London restored my self-confidence, then living in Seattle has turned that confidence to self-love. Our society instills in us a desire to meet people (or THE person) that will make you feel “whole again” as if each of us is starting out a broken person and is just desperate to be fixed. Just watch Daniel Sloss’s comedy skit “Jigsaw”, in which he shares the danger of building your self image with any person other than you at the center. I love this comedy act (seriously check it out, it’s on Netflix) because of the dark undertones it carries: of what happens when you let others validate who you are and don’t leave that responsibility squarely in your own hands.

In Seattle, I got to experience starting from scratch for the first time, paving out a life for myself completely separate from the lives my family and friends have been building across the country. I’ve truly had no one to copy and nothing handed to me. Since flying here last July, I have been completely on my own.

I can’t begin to describe how TERRIFYING being on your own is. The first time the fire alarm goes off at 3am in your apartment, and you run out of the building silently hoping nothing is actually wrong because there isn’t a soul who knows your name in the building. The first time you get into a car accident or get a parking ticket, and call a parent immediately, knowing that they are 3,000 miles and a five hour flight away. The first time you go grocery shopping and question how much to freeze and/or portion out since it will just be you having dinner by yourself. The first time (& hopefully LAST) there’s a mold outbreak at your apartment and you can’t just call your mom to complain to the front desk or your dad to magically fix it. The first time you take a solo vacation or eat out by yourself, or even the first time your GPS switches to say “home” is now in a different state. The first time you get your driver’s license updated and you barely recognize the picture it displays anymore, the first time you get a bill in the mail and decide to google what it means because you used to never deal with them in your family home. The first time you visit your hometown and an Uber driver asks: heading on vacation or home? And you hesitate… because neither one feels like the right answer.

The curse of being alone, but also the gift that it becomes.

Being here has made me realize how lucky I am to have two hands that are typing out this blog, two legs to stand on, a voice I can speak my truth with, and a heart that brings others in- not because I should live my life around them, but because I like the person I’ve become with them by my side. The people I’ve met here- shoutout to Amy and Grace most of all but everyone knows who they are- are truly special people and they deserve the world. I love that we’ve grown together and I’m proud our paths crossed.

But being here has also made me realize how appreciative we all need to be of what exists in our peripheral vision. I have truly so much to be grateful for. I’ve called four places – Champaign, Buffalo Grove, London, and Seattle – home in the past two years. Soon, I’ll add Chicago to the list. I’ve met amazing people, been to amazing travel destinations, and had a lot of fun! Seattle has been a wild ride – of two way streets that look like one ways, more state parks than Illinois could dream of opening, obnoxious tech boys, rainy days, parallel parking catastrophes, umbrella hate, and lots of money down the drain – and I couldn’t be more grateful for all of it. As usual, I’ve made a bucket list of some pretty cool experiences I’ve had in the Emerald city, and here it is:

· Monorailing from the Seattle Center to West Lake

· Walking around Sculpture Park in Seattle Center

· Looking out from the Sky View Observatory

· Having a drink at the top of the Smith Tower

· Admiring the animals at the Woodland Zoo

· Cheering on the Mariners

· Exploring San Juan Island based @ Friday Harbor

· Getting my “Twilight” on in Forks, WA

· Hiking the “holy trinity”: Olympic, Mount Rainier, and North Cascades National Parks

· Whale watching on the gorgeous Orcas Island

· Taking the ferry to Port Townsend

· Leaving the country! Via Vancouver, Canada

· Watching a movie night under the space needle – Movies at the Mural

· Driving around Anacortes after hiking Deception Pass State Park (at least 12 times?!)

· Enjoying a summer festival in Kirkland, WA

· Shopping at Bellevue mall

· Eating at a conveyer belt sushi spot – Kura Revolving Sushi!

· Enjoying my first raw oysters at Elliott’s Oyster House and The Walrus and the Carpenter

· Doing Bill Speidel’s Underground Tour in Pioneer Square

· Doing the Seattle Ferris Wheel Experience

· Taking in WA beauty at the Wings Over Washington virtual experience

· Eating a delicious seafood boil at Crab King Cajun Boil in Tacoma, WA

· Strolling through the booths at Pike Place Market

· Visiting each and every Seattle neighborhood Farmer’s market – Ballard, Fremont, Wallingford, Capitol Hill, U-District, and West Seattle

· Relaxing in Seattle’s many parks- favorites being Golden Gardens, Green Lake, Gas Works, Kerry, and Cal-Anderson

· Seeing unique plants at Volunteer Park’s Conservatory

· Visiting Lakewold Gardens and Point Defiance National Park to play with deer in Tacoma, WA

· Trying Rachel’s Ginger Beer

· Taking pictures of the Discovery Park lighthouse

· Picnicking on the University of Washington quad, including a stop at the UW Reading Room

· Enjoying the chocolate “soup dumplings” at Din Tai Fung

· Relishing the “Christmas magic” at Hallmark’s capitol: Leavenworth, WA

· Riding up the Space Needle

· Thrifting in Capitol Hill

· Laughing at three comedy shows

· Watching a drag brunch show at Unicorn in Capitol Hill

· Visiting Portland for a weekend, including a stop at the world’s LARGEST bookstore

· Exploring Bellingham, WA

· Playing trivia at least 45 times

· Touring Google!

· Strolling through the UW- Arboretum

· Going on some amazing hikes- Rattlesnake ledge, Heybrooke Lookout, Picture Lake, Snoqualmie Falls, Poo Poo Point, Sunrise @ Naches Peak, Wallace Falls, Paradise, Bridal Veil Falls, etc.

· Visit the Seattle Starbucks Reserve Roastery AND the first original Starbucks

· Wine Tasting in Woodinville – wine country!

· Brunching at Sea Wolf Bakers in Fremont

· Drinking beer at Leavenworth Oktoberfest

· Being one with nature at Kubota Gardens

· Relaxing during a spa day at Olympus Spa

· Driving down the hills of West Seattle

· Trying Shakshuka at The Fat Hen

· Driving across the High Steele Bridge, WA state highest bridge

· Driving around Mount St. Helens

· Petting cats at the Neko Cat Café in Capitol Hill

· Seeing two shows at the Paramount: Derek Hough and Hadestown

· Taking a ferry to Bainbridge Island from downtown Seattle

· Viewing Mt. Rainier from Seward and Alki parks

· Attending the Washington State Fair

· Touring Theo’s Chocolate Factory, the first sustainable chocolate factory in the U.S.

· Walking around the Amazon Spheres

· Watching Shakespeare in the (Volunteer) Park

WOW was that a lot to get down, and I’m sure I missed at least a few. The truth is that I really soaked up the time I had here, yet another thing I’m really proud of myself for doing. This city is so cool dude! You should visit. No really. Book tickets to see Washington because “took my breath away” is an understatement. I never would have come to Washington if my job hadn’t moved me out here, which makes me even more grateful the universe allowed me to explore such a freaking cool city. I could have been moved somewhere like Arkansas or Indiana… so I REALLY dodged a bullet. Here’s some more Seattle info in case you are planning to come here:

There we go, but obviously always feel free to message me if you are planning a trip to Seattle and need any personalized advice. I just still can’t believe I like coffee now! Seattle must have changed me more than I can ever give it credit for. I’m looking forward to the next year of saying “when I lived in Seattle” over and over like the snob I am.

Until then, I will continue to post updates, adding a new tab to my website entitled…. You guessed it: Lost in Chicago! And coming soon: a new website for Sincerely, Sharon that will hopefully be even more gorgeous😊

Seattle has been, without a doubt, the time of my life. I am so grateful to have lived here, and even more grateful to be taking a little piece of Seattle with me to the next chapter. It’s been more than 525,600 minutes, so how does one measure a year and a half? The coffees I’ve reluctantly tasted? The rain that drives me crazy? The value of my bank account? Or is it truly the memories?

I think I’ll take the memories back home. Though as I type that out, the word home still feels a little weird. My GPS isn’t the only thing that’s going to need a minute to get used to this change. I’m never sure what’ll come next, but keep reading, and I’ll keep sharing.