Hello!
I feel like I have been rather quiet here and on Instagram since the start of the year. I have still been sewing — nothing can stop my peaceful ritual of spending a couple of hours a day working on one of my projects with a podcast and a cup of tea! — but I have really dropped off in terms of writing, photographing and posting about my makes. Truthfully, things have been such a whirlwind for quite a while now, but finally, finally everything is beginning to slot into place.
Long story short, I was granted my permanent residency in America last week, after almost two years since Simon and I filed the paperwork to get it started. The last few months have been a blur of attorneys, medical appointments, vaccinations, phone calls, emails, and more, until it all culminated in an interview at the US embassy in London bright and early on a Tuesday morning. I am aware of just how lucky and privileged I am to have the opportunity to relocate to the USA and to have a visa — processing times would be a hell of a lot longer if I wasn’t British and the whole proceedings would have been a hell of a lot trickier without legal representation — but it still has been so turbulent for me. I left the wonderful life I had built for myself in Oxford last August; pretty much 90% of my belongings have been boxed up since then. From that point, I have been balancing a job, a temporary new home in Cornwall, and an extremely long-distance marriage, all the while this incredibly stressful visa application was juddering along with no clear idea on how much longer it would take… and then on top of all that, Simon and I have been organising a big wedding blessing ceremony with all of our friends for this summer, and the perfect two-bed flat went up for sale in our neighbourhood in San Francisco, so we have also been dealing with buying our first home together…!
The relief I felt from the approval to move to America didn’t really sink in until my passport with my visa included arrived in the post earlier this week. I needed just five minutes by myself to truly process all my emotions — I don’t think it really clicked until that moment that I have been worrying about my immigration status every single day for nearly two years now — and I just sobbed. Hey, I am a Pisces after all 😉
I felt like I had been treading water and not able to fully grasp onto anything for so many months now. And something had to give, and unfortunately, it was this little space I had carved out for myself. But now I feel re-energised and ready to start writing and posting again! I took photos of some of the garments I have been working on since the start of the year and I can’t wait to start sharing more regularly again soon. I am super excited to move to San Francisco — only about 10 weeks to go before the big relocation — and although it does feel bittersweet to leave, I am so excited for the adventures Simon and I will be able to go on together (at last!). Plus, there will be plenty of fabric stores to discover… 😄
Love, Rose x