Raleigh Reflection: Week One

It’s kind of hard to believe I’ve only been here for one full week because I feel like I’ve already done so many things! So here’s a quick recap of everything that happened during my first week in Raleigh.

Unpacking + Decorating

Slowly but surely, I’m almost unpacked. At this point, I only have about 2.5 boxes left. Which honestly is impressive because when I moved to downtown Richmond last August, I never fully unpacked and had a huge box sitting in our extra room for the entire year. So, progress is happening here.

Also, decorating! The best part… once you get everything unpacked and you actually can find things! This is happening at a much slower rate, but that’s okay!

Raleigh Bucket List

So I was actually able to cross a few things off my Raleigh bucket list in the past week!

Downtown Farmer’s Market

Last Wednesday I ventured into downtown Raleigh to see the downtown farmer’s market and was completely blown away at how big downtown Raleigh actually is. I know it’s a bigger city than Richmond, but I wasn’t expecting it to remind me so much of Washington D.C. or almost Philadelphia. I was slightly overwhelmed because I had no idea where I was going and kept getting turned around, but managed to snag street parking a block away from the farmer’s market (thanks for that skill, RVA!). Overall, the downtown farmer’s market wasn’t what I was expecting. I thought there might be more flower stands or homemade goods, but it was mostly just food and produce for sale. Which makes sense, especially since I went right around lunch time and it seemed like it would be an awesome place to go if you worked downtown and wanted to get some fresh food.

Yoga at Blue Lotus

After the farmer’s market, I headed over to Blue Lotus for a free community yoga class. Also located downtown, Blue Lotus has a beautiful open space for yoga. The teacher was incredibly welcoming and I was able to pick up The Heart of Yoga in their little boutique. From my apartment, it’s about a 20 minute drive and since I like getting to classes at least 10 minutes early to get settled, I would definitely need to devote at least 30 minutes to just getting to the studio. But I’m probably going to keep popping in to check out the environment and take some other classes!

BREW Coffee Bar

I stopped in BREW at Cary Theater Friday afternoon to get some work done after running a few errands. I had already had coffee that morning and it was so hot out… I opted for Hibiscus Berry Iced Tea. It was definitely more refreshing than coffee would have been, especially since I’m not a fan of iced coffee. I wasn’t a huge fan of the shop itself, it’s located on the first floor and had a small sitting area and was fairly full when I stopped in. I’m definitely keeping this one on the list to try again to get actual coffee.

State Farmer’s Market

On Sunday, I checked out the State Farmer’s Market with my boyfriend’s mom. We had brunch (technically, since we both ordered breakfast) at the State Farmer’s Market Restaurant and then checked out the actual market. It’s pretty cool that this farmer’s market is open all year, seven days a week! I’m used to the farmer’s markets in Richmond only being open on specific weekends during the month with limited hours, so it’s nice to know this one is always available! I was looking for flowers to put in my apartment, but the floral arrangements were much bigger than I was expecting. But we came away with peaches, corn and tomatoes so it was still a successful trip in my book!

Miscellaneous Wanderings

Saturday night I had a craving for cupcakes so after doing a little research, I drove to Cameron Village to get gluten free cupcakes from Sugarland! I was surprised, and excited, to see they were open until 11 pm and decided to give them a try. I got two “Thrilla in Vanilla” cupcakes and they were delicious. A lot of bakeries in Richmond put a ton of super heavy frosting on their cupcakes which is great and all, but a girl can only handle so much sugar. Sugarland’s gluten free cupcakes did not have this problem. They were the perfect ratio of cupcake to frosting. I’ll definitely be back.

I also dropped in to Bliss Body Yoga for a restorative class on Sunday afternoon to relax and center myself for the week ahead. As a JMU alumna and lover of all things purple, I was a little too excited to see that all of their props were purple. I’m talking bolsters, blocks, straps (were actually mostly grey, but with only purple accents), blankets, eye pillows and studio yoga mats were all purple! Going to a new yoga studio for the first time is always a little nerve wracking, because a website can only tell you so much. But seeing all the purple made me feel at home and more at ease since I associate purple with the happiest place on earth. I can’t wait to go back and try out their other classes!

All in all, I’ve had a pretty amazing first week in the City of Oaks. I hope you all had a wonderful and productive, but also relaxing, weekend! If you’re a Raleigh native, have any places you think I should check out and add to my bucket list? Let me know in the comments below!

A Letter to My Hometown

Dear Richmond,

To be honest, I’m not entirely sure how to write this letter. Do I start with what I’m thankful for or with what I’ll miss most? Should I even start this letter to Richmond? Should it be to the state of Virginia as a whole with a few paragraphs specifically for Richmond? (Because Harrisonburg is part of my story, too.)

Because Virginia has always been the constant in my life. Because I was only allowed to apply to in state schools for college, with a single exception. But if that exception had come true, if my dream of Princeton had really happened, how would I look at Virginia?

Because I’ve never lived anywhere except Virginia. When I did leave for college I decided I had had enough of Richmond and I was ready to get out, I wanted something new. But that quickly faded when I realized Harrisonburg (bless that place) isn’t much of a city, but more of a college town. JMU was really the only thing there for me and I felt a longing for Richmond I had never experienced before. I proclaimed through tears that Harrisonburg would never be my home, I would never make JMU my home. It was always and forever Richmond.

And then three years later, I graduated and had to leave Harrisonburg. I had to move out of my college apartment and leave the Shenandoah Valley and the mountains I grew to love, even though I promised I never would. And I left a piece of my heart there. Now I know that wherever I go, JMU will always be a place where I feel home, no matter how long I’ve been gone.

But even during those four years spent in the mountains, I still considered Richmond to be my home. And after graduation, while I thought about other cities to move to, I ultimately ended up back in Richmond.

At first I was bitter; I wanted another clean start like JMU had given me. I didn’t want to be living with my parents again because that felt like I was regressing. Then life happened the way it usually does, some things got messy and I realized I needed to still be in Richmond. There were still a few things Richmond needed to teach me before I could leave.

But now I feel ready to leave Richmond’s arms.

So, Richmond, thanks…

for helping my parents raise me to be the woman I am today.

for being the perfect location: two hours from the beach, two hours from the mountains, two hours from D.C. and far enough below the Mason-Dixon line for me to say I grew up in the south.

for having all four seasons and sometimes letting me experience what feels like all of them in one day.

for also being home to the nicest, friendliest, most caring people I’ve ever met.

for cultivating art throughout the entire city with the Richmond Mural Project.

for being home to the Flying Squirrels, Go Nutz! (But originally being home to the Richmond Brave’s).

for The Fan and its charming rows of houses that I’ve never seen anywhere else.

for the music scene. Thanks to you I’ve seen Parachute (too many times to count), Ben Folds, Bright Eyes, Andy Grammer, Plain White T’s, The Head and the Heart, Corey Smith, SmashMouth, Wicked, The Book of Mormon and Avenue Q.

for the history that happened here.

for everything about the James River- from Belle Isle where I spent every birthday from ages 15-21 to its rapids to its parks and to its sunsets.

for being a comfortable size to grow up in, not too big and not too small.

for helping me realize it’s okay to grow and change, just like the city has over the years.

for gluten free donuts (thank you Sugar Shack!)

for Virginia peanuts.

for Saturday morning farmer’s markets.

for all the street festivals and parades that have become tradition (looking at you, Watermelon Festival and Monument’s Easter parade).

for my favorite Christmas tradition every year, The Nutcracker with the Richmond Symphony and the Richmond Ballet.

for tacky light tours also being a favorite tradition.

for the VMFA and exhibits such as Picasso and Chihuly and Saturday Salutations with Project Yoga Richmond.

for Shockoe Slip Yoga, a different type of home I will miss so dearly.

for $2 movies at the Byrd.

for Rainbow Cookies. Because even though I can’t eat them anymore, I will forever remember how excited I was to go to Ukrop’s as a child (or really any time before becoming gluten free).

for teaching me how to parallel park.

for all the amazing gluten free restaurants.

for the humidity, because if I can handle Richmond’s humidity, I can handle ANY humidity.

for be able to live downtown without rent costing an arm and a leg.

for there never being a line at security in the airport.

for my first real job and my amazing coworkers.

And lastly,

Thank you for my amazing family and friends who have shown me constant support throughout my entire life and who help/have helped make Richmond home.

I will miss you, Richmond.

“How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.”

Persistent Themes

The themes I can’t get out of my head lately:

Feel your feelings: Don’t try and resist them, that only makes them come back stronger and harder later. Deal with them now. Cry if you need to. Scream if you need to. Dance it out if you need to.
Stop listening to what society says you “should” do: Society doesn’t know what’s best for you. Maybe you aren’t meant to be at a desk job, maybe you are, but decide that for yourself. Creating your own happiness may mean taking the road less traveled.
If it scares you, do it: If something scares you or makes you nervous, that probably means it’s important. Fear usually comes from the unknown, but so does growth.
Lead with your heart: Gut intuition is good, listen to your gut feelings. But also listen to your heart, sometimes our hearts know before our brains do.
Effective communication is seriously important: Honestly, this is the biggest thing the “real world” has taught me. Some people either don’t know how to communicate efficiently and effectively or they just don’t care, but it makes a world of difference if you do.

Kathryn G. Flocco

Tag: life