A tour of my book filled home

Come on in for a bookish tour in honor of three years living in Maine

Phew! Since there are so many photos in this post, I highly recommend viewing it in your email or on a computer so you get to see the grids of photos instead of having to scroll through them individually. Thanks for reading!

It's hard to believe, but this week, Dean and I celebrate three years since we moved to Maine! When people ask, "Do you love it?" my answer is an enthusiastic "yes!". I love living in a small city that feels vibrant but not overwhelming. And having access to the ocean and other beautiful nature spots within a 10-minute drive never ceases to amaze and delight me.

Folks often ask how we ended up in Maine. I have been a New Englander my whole life. I grew up in Connecticut, went to college in Boston, lived there for several years post-grad, and then moved to New York City in 2018. At the end of 2020, our Manhattan lease was up for renewal. We hemmed and hawed for a few weeks before deciding to give up our lease, put our whole life in storage, and take advantage of working remotely.

We bopped around in 2021, spending six snowy weeks in Maine and six sunshine-filled weeks in Florida near my in-laws. We spent the summer at a family house on the Delaware shoreline. When my job began talking about bringing folks back to the office for the fall semester, we had to decide whether to find a new apartment in New York.

We had been talking about where we would move and what it would look like if we didn't go back to New York. Maine was at the top of our list. I spent family vacations here growing up, and we spent a lot of time here when we lived in Boston. After eight years of working in higher education, I had also been thinking about pursuing my photography business full-time.

So, we made the decision! Dean found a remote job, I gave my six-week notice, and we signed the lease on an apartment in Portland sight unseen (except for a FaceTime tour with the landlord). It was nerve-wracking and exciting! We decided to give it a year, and here we are three years later...

We moved in on a golden late-October day after 72 hours of the move from hell. From the rental truck company giving us a much smaller than needed truck, to a flat tire and blown out brakes 10 miles into our drive, to having to transfer all our belongings from one truck to another at 11pm in a Wawa parking lot, there was a lot of relief when we finally unloaded the last box into our apartment, and the move was over.

In the last three years, I've dedicated a lot of energy to making our home cozy. I knew I wanted to keep working on our space to make it something we love, even if it is a rental (this resonated deeply!). So, I thought I'd give you a tour of our book-filled home today! Come in, come in