Life

welcome! why don’t you sit and stay a while?

January 16, 2013

Back in 2009 I started a food blog. Then from 2011 to 2012, I traveled to 13 countries and documented life abroad on a travel blog. Now here I am with a new blog that combines a little of the food blog with a little of the travel blog with a wordplay on Claire Danes’ other show in one place to share with you what it’s like for me and Eaman (my boyfriend of 7 years) to move to San Diego with virtually no safety net. No jobs lined up, no huge network of family or friends and basically no familiarity with Southern California. I mean, we even sent a deposit for an apartment and just sort of crossed our fingers it wasn’t a scam. (It worked out.) We love a good adventure, can you tell?

We drove nearly 3,000 miles from New Jersey (where I’m from) to San Diego.

We came to San Diego in 2010 during a short weekend trip from New York City, and it was love at first sight. The idea of coming back here more permanently was always on the back burner, so after we got back from our travels — when we realized the idea of becoming lifelong backpackers didn’t really suit our personalities or hygiene requirements — there wasn’t really anywhere else we wanted to live. We figured we would just fit our careers into our lives instead of the other way around.

And moving here on a whim is, in a way, a lovely extension of our backpacking trip. What better way to get to know our new home than to use everything we learned from our travels? Walk the streets (or drive on the freeways, I guess), talk to locals, eat at hole-in-the-wall spots and constantly push ourselves to look for new and unique things. So that’s my goal for this blog: a guide to food, outdoors, style and culture not just in San Diego, but in Southern California as a whole, and a peek at how we ourselves are fitting into a completely new place.

I’ll be posting every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, so…see you Friday!

19 thoughts on “welcome! why don’t you sit and stay a while?

  1. merritt

    Living the dream!! First roadtrip should be up the 5 to outfit yourself like a true Californian at the Rainbow sandal outlet in San Clemente! Can’t wait to hear more. Xoxox.

    Reply
  2. Tanner

    Loving the new endeavor, Archie! So proud of you and the big move you made. I’ll be following along, can’t wait to see what else you’re up to! And hopefully, I’ll be visiting you soon. :)

    Reply
  3. Amy

    This looks amazing–great job with site design!! So excited to follow along and hope everything’s going well your first couple weeks out there!

    Reply
    1. Archana Post author

      Thanks so much, Amy! I definitely spent a good chunk of time designing it (and teaching myself some html through YouTube), so I’m really happy you like it! Glad you’re going to follow along.

      Reply
  4. Narges

    I love it! This is such a great idea—I’ll be following on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays! Sending you guys lots of luck and can’t wait to read about how it all turns out. xx

    Reply
  5. Fareesa

    YES!! I can’t wait, and you give me something to read everything T, Thu, Sat (time diff). I CANNOT WAIT for the GR pup posting!! So proud of you for making your SD dream come true!

    Reply
    1. Archana Post author

      Hi also random friend of Fareesa’s, I went to LA a little more than a year ago and actually really liked it. Particular favorites were West Hollywood and Santa Monica. Let me know if you have some suggestions!

      Reply
      1. Fareesa

        HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!!! Just saw this! I’ve visited Jason in LA before, and where he grew up in the OC is like paradise.

        Reply
  6. Brandee

    I want to be your guide when your ventures take you up to Nor Cal. Coranado Island is a superb place to spend the day walking around, learning to surf. And of course eating at the Beach Hotel. Hamburger Mary’s in Hillcreast has a lively happy hour. Biking along the coast through Torrey Pines to Oceanside. Hiking Mission Valley park. Tequillaria’s in old town. Ahhh! I love San Diego too. Dos grand abrazos mis amigos!

    Reply
    1. Archana Post author

      Thank you, Brandee! And thank you for all these delicious, fun suggestions. Sending you muchos besos y abrazos xx

      Reply

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