I absolutely love shooting in Switzerland. We are now back, living in Melbourne, but I try and return to ZH 1-2 times a year. I arrived in Zurich Dec 2012 and left in June 2016. Hi! I’m so happy we got to see you before we left Zurich. In the meantime, since I’m recovering from our massive holiday party, and the crazed holiday season, I’ll be checking out until the new year. Even more exciting, I’m currently planning my first pop up shoppe. The website is going to go through a big refresh, more tips and tricks on decorating your home, and more of “the good stuff”, because frankly, we need more of it. The long and the short of it is, 2020 is going to be a big year for Bow and Branch. Zurich will always be a home, but finally, we’ve all hit a point where Atlanta is becoming home. Then we hit the summer, and realized that we’re staying put in Atlanta, and the waves became less. What I didn’t anticipate were the waves.Īt least once a month, someone would want to go “home”. Once February hit, I began to feel like there was space to focus on my business and the things that were for me.
Once we got here, I threw myself into creating a life for the girls. We lived in Zurich longer than I’ve ever lived anywhere. I felt that I’d finally found my stride in what I want to do (interiors, traveling, and interviewing exceptional people), so leaving Europe, where I’d begun to feel established, was extremely challenging. This time, we moved back with one kid who didn’t know this country at all, one who barely remembered it, and one who was old enough to really appreciate her wonderful life in Zurich- and no one wanted to come back. Babies are an ice breaker, a door opener, and a community creator. I’ve moved mid pregnancy during all 3 pregnancies, and had babies in different states and countries than where I started the pregnancy. Babies are an amazing distraction to pour yourself into when you’e in a new place. The return back was bumpier than when we moved back from Italy, probably in part to the fact that I wasn’t moving and having a baby right away. (I can feel my Italian girlfriends laughing because they know just how native we went during that expat experience!) I wonder if it’s partly because there’s this common misconception that all expats stick together and don’t get knee deep in the culture. There are tons of books about acclimating kids, but not a lot for adults. The problem is, most people don’t understand the growing pains of trying to adjust to your home culture. More than anything though, it’s exciting! Most people don’t get to have those experiences, and want to live vicariously through those that do. They can respect the challenges of learning a new language and culture. When you move to a foreign country, most people sympathize with the fact that you’re a fish out of water. I would say that’s a pretty astute assessment- but, I will also say, this move was the most challenging of our previous moves. Recently, one of my dearest friends in the world told me that the way she describes me is the kind of person who can create a warm, loving home and a life for her family no matter where she goes. This time last year, I was still knee deep in the repatriating weeds. It’s amazing how quickly time can go, how much of a blur it can be.
It’s been almost a year since my last blog post.
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