Moving Back Down South

So BIG ANNOUNCEMENT klaxon: we’re moving back down South in the summer, to Windsor most likely, or close by in the outskirts of London.

My heart is set on the Queen’s holiday town to be honest and we’ve found some pretty houses online we’re going to start viewing soon. The time feels resolutely right to make the move, and whilst I’ll miss my family up North, I’m looking forward to a shorter commute than the sometimes daily 7 hour round-trips I’m doing weekly, at the moment.

We love Yorkshire- I was born in Leeds and grew up in a quaint little town called Ilkley which is more the size of a village, in an Enid Blyton style childhood of tree climbing and days spent playing by the river than ran by our house. We moved to North Leeds when I was 7, to the house my parents still live in overlooking a reservoir and fields as far as the eye could see.

I left for London when I got a place at Goldsmiths, University of London at 18, craving the bright lights of the capital, dreaming big from those days. I would inform my folks I’d live and settle in the city one day so felt I was living the dream when I moved for uni. Whilst Leeds is a dynamic city, London has a vibrancy like no other city in the UK. It was, and still is the hub of the media and film industry, an area I moved into after my MA in directing.

I was a TV Director and filmmaker pre-kids and assumed I’d return back after my first baby, Oliver was born in 2010. I sadly suffered from a traumatic birth and spent most of my son’s first year feeling incredibly low and lacking in confidence. It was only when I started this blog when Oliver was 10 months old, I slowly started to rediscover myself again. I returned to directing ads but by the time I was pregnant with Alexander, blogging and vlogging had become my full time career.  An accidental career I loved which was not only enriching but flexible too, something directing around kids was not.

..We actually ended up back in Leeds en route to Bristol, after we spent Christmas with my folks in 2010, and I decided I didn’t want to leave. I knew in order to heal I needed the support of my family. It takes a village to raise a baby-and a mum too. My twitter village helped immensely too as did a super therapist and support with raising Oliver from relatives.

And what a time it’s been since there.

These last 6 years back have been kind to us. Our house here overlooks the open countryside and it’s been a joy sharing our lives with my Big Fat Greek family and some of my oldest friends. I’ve continued to grow my business from my kitchen table (the one I’m writing my book from too) and life is honestly good…however it could be GREAT, in the sense that I wouldn’t need to travel as frequently or reject the most amazing invitations I can’t schedule around the kids and I’ll have loads more energy! What’s not to love?!

We spent half term looking at areas and are back again at Easter. We’re sad we sold our place in Barnes now, but no one has a crystal ball, hey. There are some beautiful houses in Windsor we love and we had a lot of fun exploring Berkshire so those are the areas we’re set on.

We’re lucky that we spent 11 years living all over London so feel we know it well.

The plan is a summer move in time for Xander to start school in September. Exciting and inevitably slightly scary times ahead.

I know in my heart it’s the right thing for us all and can’t wait for the adventures ahead…

Finally, LA is the plan for us as family but first things first.

Watch this space.

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