We got our new keys on 11/23 and have been settling in ever since!
Extra special thanks to our amazing, out-of-this-world supportive family for helping us move. We are so grateful for you! Speaking of the fam bam - Happy Birthday, Haleigh!
Three days left as Lake Shore residents. And Ypsilanti, too! Yet we've already moved on and up and into the bright new dream of our place in Detroit Rock City!
I am so excited and still quite emotional. Lake Shore and Ypsi have grown to become much more than home in a brand new way, having lived there through the pandemic.
We saw and felt so much neighborly love, both at The Tower in the Before Times, and then during the Thick of It All, and even Now Afterward, too. I still so freshly remember writing this note below in November 2020 like it was only yesterday...
Nothing shines brighter than community love when it feels so good just to be here.
That is the ultimate dream - to give everyone the gift of time for a break to just simply be. And maybe, to breathe it all in - the true goodness of this place at the heart of it all.
Frida and I moved from the north side of Ann Arbor over to Ypsi into Lake Shore in 2019, joining Justin, my boyfriend. He had been living in The Tower for a few years and invited me over for dinner one night after work with these 4 words: “lake view” and “dog park.”
Here we all are, 4 years and a global pandemic later, all geared up for this next adventure! We are so incredibly stoked to start fresh in an exciting new place again. Over. The. Moon. And also a tad under. Beside it. Ya know, the good bit of phases. Phasing rapidly, too, just like the Moon seems to do when Life speeds up and Change takes the wheel for a spin anew.
This marks the longest I have stayed in one place since moving away for college... in 2007! Of course I will miss it dearly. Yet, yes, this new place is the most grand dream come true! Our new balcony overlooks the Detroit River facing Canada, my mom's homeland where much of her family still resides today.
Fun fact! My mom is actually a Resident Alien. I love how much she loves to share that - how she lights up with pride for her Canadianness. More specifically, the way she whips out her Resident Alien identification card with such audacious "I am" declaration and devotion is everything every time.
We can see Canadian life abuzz - people walking and school buses en route on the road across the River with our naked eyeballs (and sometimes binoculars) while the dazzling sunshine dances on water. So much magic to love here already! Positively overwhelming.
Justin, Frida & I last moved together on Thanksgiving 2019 a few short, fast months before the global shutdown that sent the world home to quarantine for these next, slow few years. From the 5th floor of The Tower with a gorgeous lake view, we moved to a larger space between towering evergreens with a massive balcony overlooking the disc golf course.
This new dream of a view was just in time to stay home and enjoy the awe of it in every season. And the free show, too, courtesy of steadfast, dedicated disc golfers. Despite the harshest weather conditions, they're still out there! Impressive. Passionate! Expressive.
It’s truly been a joy living at Lake Shore - even through the thick of the pandemic when we could not go anywhere. We didn’t feel stuck. It was always where we wanted to be anyway - as we are here, together. We will never forget Lake Shore or the incredible neighbors we had there in every direction. Some have become good friends, too!
I hope this reflection inspires you to take a closer look at the love and beauty all around you wherever you are right now. Living in Love at Lake Shore in Ypsi has certainly done that for me, and for it I am forever grateful to bring this new lens with me wherever we go.
The beauty is how we all show and share and give love in so many different, yet similar, and wildly wonderful ways. The best part is it's all love at the heart of it all at the end of the day.
To the River we've gone to make more sweet memories as we ring in, yet again, this sparkling ✨ brand ✨ new ✨ year just ahead! 🥳 Safe to say we'll be pouring up all the gratitude here in Detroit! As our brimming cup overflows, we can't wait to share the love tenfold. Cheers to wrapping this Pivotal year up on that note, and we'll see you in 2023!
Happy Sappy Holidays To All,
Miny Calapa 🦹🏻♀️💝 (XO.Britt!)
P.S. If you're looking to give amazing gifts this holiday season, please consider this book, Seeking Authenticity, which I highly recommend to all who read! Here's a sneak peek:
