Hi, I'm Nina Iordanova and this is the 43rd edition of Something Good, a newsletter filtered through my 🧠, 🖐, and ❤️. Coming your way every two weeks, I hope you find something good here.
Hello! Haven’t talked in a while but I’m back!
I had a whole draft saved that I meant to send before the holidays but then many things happened. I was going to give you a play by play of my life changing before my very eyes, but then got very tired and decided we’d catch up once everything was settled.
SO, to start off - happy new year and happy holidays! I hope you had a good one, although it feels like all the celebrations happened 17 months ago and not 17 days and why am I bringing up such old news. WELL MAYBE I SHOULD HAVE SENT THAT OTHER NEWSLETTER OUT IN A MORE TIMELY FASHION THEN.
I spent a good portion of my holiday season moving places. I left the apartment I’d been planning on living in for the rest of my life to move into a new one roughly a 4 minute walk away.
Contrary to unpopular (aka my) opinion, moving is NOT a breeze and it does NOT take “2-3 hours max mom and dad, I think we can do it all in the morning”. It took 1+ full days of four people packing, and 2 full days of three people unpacking to get the whole thing done.
I spent the first two weeks in my new place very mad.
Cons:
Have only seen the sun twice since moving in (sun conspiracy??)
Lack of storage in kitchen and bathroom, why!!
Gemma’s crate is 1cm away from blocking the front door but cannot fit anywhere else
Crazy colour scheme with blue wall in living room, grey floors, and brown cabinets, VERY hard to be cute in
No balcony
Rent is much higher
But after a frenzy of unpacking and some time getting settled in, there are lots of things I like!
Pros:
I have a kitchen island!
Ceilings are a foot higher and feel very spacious
Bedroom looks dark and mysterious
Big closet with (!!!) a dresser
Fancy washer and dryer (what is steam technology?? another conspiracy?)
Kitchen garbage is also fancy
Mysteriously warmer than my old place
Lights work properly
Okay, now here are some photos!
So, that was the first part of the changes of 2023.
Last week, I was also laid off from my work.
I worked at an ad agency based in NYC, and unfortunately we (like many other companies great and small) have had to adjust to the changing economic situation. I was lucky enough to not be fully laid off but be shifted to a fractional role supporting people and ops as needed.
While it’s a huge reduction in salary at a time when my costs have increased (see last note of Cons list for new apartment), I’m overall incredibly excited about the change.
I think with both my apartment and work, they fit my needs well enough that it never would have occurred to me to leave of my own free will. I had plans for building bunk beds in my old apartment, and goals for building up my career at the company over the next 5 years. Neither one of those things felt super inspiring, but they also weren’t bad.
I was walking a path that felt comfortable enough that I didn’t have to pay too much attention to whether it was actually making me happy. And then my landlord sold my condo and I lost my job, and suddenly the future was wide open.
I’m in the very, very, VERY fortunate position to have enough savings to not be immediately panicked about my next role or work. I can take some time to relax, bake, read, watch movies, go for walks, write, hang out with Gemma, play League of Legends (do I have any Wild Rift friends?), and generally be free. It’s a break I’ve wanted for a long time.
Even though I’m trying to press the brakes very hard, I still have some ideas about what I’m going to do next. I’ll tell you about it a little later, just wanted to catch you up on the biggest changes first!
The last thing I wanted to tell you about is my #BlessedYear.
I had a couple of days where weirdly good things kept happening to me. I won’t spring a third bullet point list on you, but it included a very heartwarming text from my dentist, finding a great parking spot in a crowded lot, and wanting Count Chocula but resisting buying it but then accidentally buying popcorn that tasted exactly like it.
I was half-joking with a close friend that I was having a blessed day, which then turned into a blessed week, and he joked would be a blessed year. And it’s funny because ever since we started joking about it, I just keep looking for more confirmation of the blessed year. And then I find it!
I really do think it’s true that you find what you look for. Whether it’s things you want (Count Chocula) or things you don’t and are scared of, what you look for is what you get. So I’m feeling very lucky and grateful to be riding this big wave of changes optimistically, ready for a #BlessedYear.
Thanks for catching up! Hope you’re gearing up for a lucky year of your own.
See you much sooner than last time!
✨
Warmly yours,
Nina
Thanks for reading and I'll see you in two weeks! 👋
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I recently read this multiple times, as if seeing it once wasn't enough and something was telling me to pay attention. “Your mind is a magnet. If you think of blessings, you attract blessings. If you think of problems, you attract problems. Always cultivate good thoughts and always remain positive and optimistic.” Your post is the third time so time to adopt, here is to a #BlessedYear