So July came and I was tired and overworked. My team and I had clocked 60-70 hour weeks for a while at that point and I remember thinking that lying on the sofa, doing nothing, was paradise. I even stopped Instagramming for a bit in July as I was so exhausted, haha. At the same time things felt a bit off, so I started asking people at work quite bluntly if something was, indeed, off and whether we were gonna be made redundant - clearly scarred from my previous redundancy bout in February. I didn't get a straight answer, so when I stumbled across this article during a trip to Whitstable I decided to ping the incubator CEO a note and see if there was a way for us to work together. I went in with no expectations and really just wanted to see what's up, but after putting together a proposal of media, social and events strategy and a shedload of storyline ideas, they asked me to come to Malmö to meet in person. And less than a week later, my entire team was made redundant. Life eh? Alec had recently quit his job and moved into mine, so rest of July was spent exploring London, visiting Yayoi Kusama's exhibition, going to brunch places we'd wanted to try out, and we even went to Oxford for a day. Pure bliss. After the extreme job hunting in February, and although recruiters started calling as soon as news broke our agency was shutting down, I just felt, fuck it, perhaps Malmö will work out, perhaps it won't, but I need a goddamn break.
AUGUST
On 2nd of August Alec and I went to Skåne for two weeks to see whether we could imagine living there. It wasn't particularly obvious that Alec was gonna come with in case I moved over, we'd only been dating for about ten months at that point and we'd lived together for about two weeks, haha. But after a week of visiting Copenhagen, Louisiana's MoMA and going for treks with my college buddies, I fell down on one knee (lol such a romantic) and asked him if he wanted to move to Malmö with me. Before I even knew if I was moving, but what the hell. He said yes, which, to be honest, I still can't really believe to this day. After a week, he flew to Los Angeles to hang out with his family while I prepped for my interview. The day before the interview I had a panic attack and realised that this was probably a lot more important to me than I'd let on, even to myself. On the day, though, I was calm and relaxed as I entered what would be a six-hour long interview/meet-and-greet/company coaching recruitment process. And on that day, exactly one month after I'd first pinged the CEO, we signed the papers and it became clear that we were leaving London to move to Malmö(!!!!). That weekend I went to Ingrid's and Fredrik's wedding, and then I made a short pitstop in London before flying off on a solo yoga retreat to Kabak Bay in Turkey. For a week, all I did was yoga, watch shooting stars, eat locally sourced vegan food and drink literally nothing but water. Back in London I cried down my drink at Shoreditch House when I realised that I was actually leaving and if this wasn't the end of an era, what was, and then I anxiously started packing up the past eight years of my life.
SEPTEMBER
On 1st of September Mum rolled up with a trailer outside my house in Stoke Newington and drove me and my stuff all the way to St Knut in Malmö. I'd managed to secure a beautiful 1930s, furnished 1 bedroom flat for us at such an incredibly low cost it felt like pocket money compared to London prices. A few days later I started my new job as the PR and Comms Lead at Minc, and I had the bloody time of my life. First few weeks consisted of starting to set up the press office and planning Q4. I also went to Stockholm on a press trip (and to see Justin Bieber, lol) and started securing our first coverage, including the pieces about me and my new job, haha. Alec finally moved over from LA, we celebrated 1 year together and he only went and wrote me a book(!) about our first year. He also took me to the local falafel joint for our anniversary dinner, which probably makes sense to no-one but me. For my birthday we dressed up and went for a five-course meal at Far i Hatten, and I remember thinking that life is working out rather well. September is also the month when I realised that my lack of gym-going was probably down to being incredibly overworked and drained of energy, and once I'd had the time to catch my breath I couldn't wait to get back into it.