Preface // Year One

 After searching for weeks online, take a chance on the listing without any photos. Fall in love with the palm leaves that poke through the outdoor stairwell, & move-in on the 1st of the month. 

     Buy that goodwill couch – the one that was clearly loved by a family for years before it became yours – and show it a new sort of love. (nothing you can afford at IKEA will compare)

     Spend an afternoon painting that old kitchen table from your roommate’s aunt’s garage. Then, after it’s moved inside, spend the next year talking about how you probably should have done two coats. This will be where you share meals, edit resumés, play card games, and pop champagne. 

     Decide to hang wooden letters in your kitchen, then learn that it will take a total of (3) hours, (8) extra holes in the wall, and an inordinate amount of deep breathing before you all decide, “that’s good enough” & agree to never talk about them again. Believe it or not, this test of love & patience will be the start of something beautiful, and those letters will represent much more than the word they spell out.

     Put daisies in a pitcher, open the windows, & let the light in. Lean on & learn from the love that surrounds you. This is a truly rich life.