Why We Are Moving to San Diego

ICYMI we are moving to San Diego! I kind of just dropped this news on Instagram a few weeks back and didn’t really get into it because to be honest, it still doesn’t feel real. I’d say I feel that way mostly because we are still in LA and San Diego is currently just a place we visit every now and then. Of course, the reality of our very expensive remodel is most definitely real (and somewhat painful) but overall I think it will sink in more once we officially begin packing up our house to move. With that said, here’s what happened.

Paul and I had been looking for our next house for about a year. I mean, Paul checks the MLS literally daily (and even to this day still sends me houses to look at), but you know the search is serious once I start getting involved. As you guys know, during the pandemic we seriously considered moving out of state. Texas and Arizona were thrown around a lot, but after visiting Dallas (and absolutely loving it) I came to the realization that I just don’t want the kids to be an airplane ride away from family. If it was just Paul and I we would 100% make the move just to try it out and it wouldn’t be such a big deal to go back and forth. With kids involved everything is more complicated and semi-permanent.

After establishing that leaving California was NOT it for us, the search began all over. Essentially what we were looking for was something we could spend the next 5+ years at in an optimal location for schools, weather, the beach, and in our style. The style we were looking for: large plot of land, one story, ranch-style (ideally U-shaped), with a rectangle pool, lots of character, a good master suite, and private. What we ended up buying: large plot of land, 2-story, Spanish style, with a raised rectangle pool, lots of character, a shitty master, and very private. There are always compromises to be made when buying real estate. Unless you’re building from the ground up (major headache), you will need to make some compromises.

Before landing on the SD house, we actually put in an offer on another house close to where we live now but it fell through. Another very normal thing when buying real estate in LA. I don’t know about other states, but over the last 10 years Paul and I have put offers on countless houses and lost. It’s a very unfortunate situation, but I just chalk it up to not being the one. That is also why I never get too emotionally attached to houses when we are looking.

In regards to where we are ending up, to be perfectly blunt, I had no interest in living in San Diego until we found this house. The house, the neighborhood, the school system, the weather, the proximity to the beach, and the beautiful backyard is what sold me. We spend about 98% of our time at home so at this point as long as I love my house I could honestly live anywhere. I just want the kids to have a fun / safe childhood that allows them to ride bikes, play outside, and enjoy nature. While the house isn’t exactly “kid proof” we know they will absolutely LOVE growing up in this house. We are going to spend so much time outside, swimming, running around, jumping on the trampoline we are going to install, and so much more. And if for whatever reason we aren’t living our best lives out there, we can always turn around and move back to LA.

What’s next for Sivan Ayla HQ?

A very popular questions in my DMs LOL (more here). Luckily, our wonderful team is going to join us down in SD! Since we are still a small team this is our last opportunity to relocate before it becomes unreasonable to have a lot of people move. While we do have a guest house at the new house, we have decided to rent office space since we are expanding the team and honestly it’s time to cut the cord and leave the house for work. I don’t anticipate being in the office everyday since Walker is still young but I think leaving the house to work will ultimately be more productive for me.

What about Jessie Preschool?

Sadly Jessie won’t be moving to SD since she is in nursing school but Capri is starting preschool full-time once we move so that era is ending regardless. I am sad Walker won’t have the same experience with Jessie as Capri did but that’s just life! I am hoping to find someone who will fit seamlessly into our family since our usual support system won’t just be a 15 minute drive away anymore [insert crying faces]. That part is obviously the hardest for me / us. I don’t want to be far from family but at this point all decisions we make are for the sake of our family and this is definitely the best decision for us right now.

What about our current house? 

We sold our house! Again, major crying faces because I LOVE this house but I am equally excited for our new house and for a new project. I will save the details and plans for our remodel on the new house for another post but in the meantime I’m covering our current home details on the blog if I haven’t already (for example, our kitchen and outdoor situation…more to come). We will be living here until August while the new house is being remodeled and soaking up our last summer here.

It’s weird, I thought we would have SO many parties at this house, especially by the pool, but between my 2 pregnancies and then the pandemic we never did anything more than a family gathering here. I keep thinking about this and feel like this house really just served a different purpose for us. We started our family here, we launched our businesses here, and dabbled in a little construction. A lot of learning was done here and now I feel like we have the necessary tools and knowledge going into our new home. It’s an entirely new adventure with new challenges and who TF even knows what else we will do down in SD!

All I know is this was a great house and while I’m truly so sad to be leaving it, I hope the next people living here will enjoy it and love it the way we did. Onto the next!