I Moved to Greenville, South Carolina!!
Well, here is the official announcement… I’ve moved to Greenville, SC!
That’s right… I’m a Carolina girl now! If you’re new to my page, let me catch you up. After living in Austin for twenty years, I had the itch to leave. I loved Austin. Austin gave me so many wonderful things… my career, my first home, so many gorgeous friends, thousands of clients, families and beautiful people to capture, and so much more! But after twenty years there - I was ready for a change. To be honest… I have been wanting to leave for over ten years, but trying to change cities when you own a small business all by yourself is not easy. It’s scary and hard and overwhelming! (But more on that in another post in the future.)
My backyard was perfect. I miss it already.
In May I sold my house. I think that’s been the hardest part of all of this so far. I LOVED my house. I made it so special. I put in so much work and effort into it, and created a truly beautiful and cozy space where I relaxed, worked, entertained and even captured a handful of you there. I really hope John (the man who bought it) loves it as much as I did. And, I hope he is caring for my roses.
I packed up my things into TWO giant moving trucks and made TWO drives from Texas to North Carolina. Let me tell you… EVERYONE should be required to drive one of these trucks for at least one hour. Not because it’s fun or because you will ever need to know how to drive one, but mostly for the perspective it gives you on what it’s like to be in the truck and have really really dumb drivers surrounding you. I am WAY more cautious and courteous to all truck drivers now… especially the ones in rented trucks because they may not know what they’re doing.
But I digress…
Truck #2 of my two moving truck experiences.
I first landed in North Carolina. The timing of this whole thing was clearly a divine intervention because at the same time that I was feeling ready to get out of Austin, my parents had to be uprooted for my dad’s job which took them to Mississippi. Not wanting to sell their house or put a renter in it, they offered it to me. A place to perch while I figured out my next steps. A cozy little bungalow to hibernate in, recalibrate and dream up what’s to come. So, I put most of my stuff in storage, unpacked my bedroom and office at their house, and got to work.
After making my way through a few cities and exploring the Carolina’s, I finally made my first visit ever to Greenville and immediately fell in love. I think the only reason this city was even on my radar was because of my client (and now friend), Keeley. She and her family made the move here a year or two ago from Austin and made it look so enchanting. I followed her on Instagram and saw her stories of hiking and cute tiny downtowns and a small town life and it made me yearn. Yes, yearn.
My first visit here was perfect. I came with Nolte and Zaza and stayed at The Grand Bohemian Hotel - which was the absolute best hotel I’ve ever stayed it. The room decor is odd for the theme of the hotel, but outside of that… perfection. The staff there was friendly, but I think that’s just how people in this city are built. (At least that’s my experience so far.) I dined at some stellar restaurants like Anchorage, Scoundrel, Jianna and Coastal Crust. If you know anything about me, you know I love food and wine. Dining experiences are one of my all-time favorite hobbies. When I travel, walking food tours are a must in any city I’m exploring. You learn so much about a city through their food and wine. And, what I learned about Greenville is it’s a small town with big city perspectives. Honestly, it kinda feels like Austin when I first moved there twenty years ago… but with better weather.
I visited the city three times before I made my final call on making it home. I mean… I knew after the first trip, but I had to be sure. And, I had to bring backup to confirm my suspicion. So, my friend, Danielle, from NC came down for a trip with me to attend a fund raiser for my new favorite non-profit in town, Mill Village Ministries. (If you do not know about this organization, please take a moment to click on that link and see all the good they do for this community. It’s pretty spectacular and special, and I’m so grateful to be a part of it in any way.) On a previous visit, I met one of the directors of Mill Village while having lunch right before leaving town. She sat at a table next to mine and Zaza immediately jumped into her lap… thankfully, Rhonda was delighted. So, after that we obviously had to be friends. During our lunch, we shared about our careers and the foundation and my upcoming move to Greenville. She and her colleague invited me to donate a photo session to the gala as well as attend… and I immediately said yes. So, on my next trip, Danielle and I stayed at Hotel Hartness on the East side of Greenville which was absolutely stunning. It’s a more boutique type of hotel and the perfect setting for a wedding in my opinion… or a gala. We had the absolute best time and met so many extraordinary people, and the foundation raised a ton of money to help feeding, educating and mentoring the people of our community. The rest of our weekend in Greenville was full of food and exploring and my not-so-subtle attempt at trying to convince Danielle that she and her husband should also make the move in the near future.
I think that last visit to Greenville was what sealed the deal for me. Meeting the people at the gala and seeing how much these people love their community, getting to share my new city with a friend to make it feel even more like home, and experiencing real fall weather in the month of October. Y’all… that is a big one right there. The weather here is LOVELY!! Now, don’t get me wrong… it gets hot in the Summer. I was here in August and it was in the mid 90s and super humid. But coming from Austin… it was still way better. And, now that I have experienced my first winter here… that’s great too. When I was searching for a new home city, there were a list of criteria…
Summers had to be better. It can’t be 100 degrees outside for three months straight… preferably, it should NEVER get over 100.
Winters had to be mild. I don’t do snow. I can’t. I don’t want to. So, a city that rarely has snow or when it does have snow, it’s super tiny amounts.
The city has to have at least a few REALLY good restaurants. This is a non-negotiable. I don’t need a ton because honestly… in Austin… I ate at the same five or six on rotation.
I need to be surrounded by really tall trees. No more squatty oaks. I want 80 feet or taller.
I want to be able to garden more things… grow more… and have a longer rose season where they don’t get scorched in the Summer so severely that they go dormant.
I need to be at least three hours from a family member.
I want some sort of fun nature within an hour. A lake, ocean, mountains, etc.
I need to feel like I’m at home.
And, Greenville checked every box.
What’s next? I have no clue. I have been here a month now and absolutely love it. Do I have moments of panic and check myself on what I’ve just done? Absolutely! But things are starting to unfold… I’m trusting in myself and the Universe/God and knowing that we’ve got this. The timing of everything will work out as it should. Over the past year, I have felt like Indiana Jones in that one movie where he has to blindly take that first step into what looks like a cavern of depth and death, but as soon as he steps forward - the path appears. He is me. I am him. This is my current life. And, I kind of love it.
I’m excited for the future. I miss my people in Austin, but know I’ll be seeing you still as I have to come back every Spring and Fall to capture my families… and, of course, to see my niece!! (and her parents too, I guess)
If you've never been to Greenville and are curious about what makes it so special, here are the important facts that made me choose this place to call home…
It's small, but not too small. The city itself has about 75,000 people, but the county has about 500,000 people.. and the metro area (which includes cities about 20-30 minutes from downtown Greenville) has about a million people.
The weather is fantastic! The summers don't ever get over 100 and although they do have a lot of humidity, it's not any worse than Austin. I love humidity though… so, that doesn't bother me at all. The winters are mild. Not a ton of snow or too many long stretches of cold. It has a similar cadence of cold to not-as-cold days as Austin in my opinion. And, it snowed about the same amount this year as it did in Austin… and it was mostly cleared from all the roads the next day because they actually have the tools to do that kind of work here. Crazy!
It's 10-15 minutes to the mountains and gorgeous hikes.
It's an hour from Asheville.
It's an hour and a half from Charlotte. (hello international airport)
It's two hours from Atlanta.
It has AMAZING restaurants for a town this small. One of which just received a Michelin Star! Scoundrel is a fabulous French restaurant I fell in love with on my first visit to Greenville… a few months later, it received it's first star ever. Some of my other favorites… Anchorage, Jianna, Hone (a restaurant incubator), and Augusta Twenty (my favorite coffee shop).
It's only two hours from my parent's house in NC.
There is a gorgeous lake about 15 minutes away that I haven't been to yet, but can't wait to check out when it warms up. And, an even bigger lake about an hour away.
Clemson University is about 45 minutes away which means college football is still a day trip away. (Not that I ever went to a UT game when I lived in Austin for the past 20 years, but hey.. if I ever get the urge, it's here.)
Old building. Old architecture. History and cute things everywhere.
A river runs through the city with a waterfall right downtown.
The Swamp Rabbit Trail is a 28 mile walking and bike path that runs through the city and connects to the super cute city of Traveler’s Rest. (which is another cute city that people are flocking to right now)
Now, please note - this is from the perspective of a single woman. However, I know that tons of families are moving here at a rapid rate for the cute little suburb of Simpsonville and other surrounding neighborhoods. Almost every friend I’ve made so far has kids and gushes about the community and how much they love it. So, if you’re looking for a place to flee to from Austin (or anywhere else), consider Greenville.
And, if you ever come in town to check it out, you must reach out to me to let me know so we can grab coffee or dinner or just sit on the Grand Bohemian’s patio to watch the waterfall with a glass of wine.
More to come… xoxo
A tale of two cities (from today)… I like to think Austin lost it’s shine because I left.
