After months of obstacles, long-waits (even pre-Covid), back and forth on getting our Visas exempt from the travel ban, we are finally here in Orange County and boy does it feel rewarding. 

Believe it or not, we packed our entire life into 7 suitcases - and that was it! On 12th October with a one way ticket from London Heathrow to LAX, we were on our way to the next chapter of our lives. We even managed to blag a business class flight through a friend (thanks, Jane!!). But despite years of planning, the months of waiting and boxing up our material possessions, of knowing we were due to be in the US months before, nothing could still quite prepare us for the emotional deadlock of saying goodbye to our family and friends back in the UK - while of course we were more than ready to start our new lives. Beyond the usual feelings of excitement and relief when you land from a flight, landing this time produced extra feelings of trepidation. Of course adventures will be had (particularly on board our girl, Miffie), but it felt strange to accept that this is not just a flitting trip in California. This is now our home. The adventure is the rest of our lifetime!

With our emotions tangled and energy levels low after the twelve hour flight, we decided to stay the night in LA so we could properly rest and absorb our surroundings the following day. And that we did. Meeting up with our friends, Tony and Emerson from Farm Cup Coffee, eased those feelings of restlessness, which were further soothed by the delicious food at The Butcher’s Daughter, Abbot Kinney. The Butcher’s Daughter is all veggie and plant-based, so our stomachs already felt very much at home and nurtured back into full health after that terrible, not so vegan-friendly plane food!

Moving In

Our empty apartment was somewhat symbolic of the new start to this adventure. It was a blank canvas for us to build on, which meant our first five days were solely spent furniture shopping in stores such as West Elm and Crate & Barrel. Next on the shopping list; a car, and what better way to make us feel at home by bringing some European spirit in a little Fiat 500; Fi (the smallest car around it seems!). She may not have the size of those SUV’s, but she’s our tiny, mean, Italian machine, getting us around from one part of the state to another on chill days; when all we want to do is explore more of the dreamy beaches and absorb all that Vitamin D.

A Lifestyle We’ve Always Dreamed Of

As avid gym goers (fun fact; Didi is actually a qualified CrossFit coach), of course we had to explore the fitness scene when we had the chance; from Planet Fitness, LA Fitness to UFC. Perhaps further down the line we’ll join a more boutique studio or gym like that we are used to in the UK (shout out to Vault 164!!), but for now our priority really is getting life and the business up to full speed. Plus, we feel so blessed to have the option of training outside here and we want to take full advantage of it, especially seeing as it’s part of the lifestyle we moved out here for! Outdoor training is something we never had much access to during British wintertime (if you hadn’t already guessed). We’ve been hitting the gym for our weights sessions and the beach for our cardio days. Ironically, some of our favourite locations such as Huntington, Laguna and Newport are known as brilliant surf beaches, but given we have very little experience in surfing we thought it was best we started with bodyboards for now

Miffie

Now for what you really want to know; all about our girl Miffie. An early disclaimer that has to be said; getting organized as residents has been testing at times, but getting the truck set up is a different ball game. In fact it’s the admin and digital side of the business that has been the most time consuming in taking almost all waking hours. It doesn’t matter how many weeks, months and years you try to plan everything, you simply can’t plan for everything and we were perhaps slightly ambitious in planning to trade within the first fortnight!! BUT are we complaining? Absolutely not. It’s the pot-holes along the way which help us learn and construct the best business possible, also making us appreciate the good times. It’s exactly what we came out here to do. Now it’s just a small wait while our blueprints are to be approved by the O.C Health Department. And boom. We can start trading and finally get to meet you guys from behind the counter!

From what began as some simple sketches back in the U.K, meeting Miffie in the flesh was a truly magical and quite surreal experience. In fact we actually felt quite emotional getting to finally meet the baby we designed from scratch!! We picked her up from Mister Big City (the painters) in San Diego and later dropped her off to have some additional work done in Lake Elsinore. Stay tuned to our updates over the next week as we are hoping to hit the road by the end of November, getting Miffie to live the life she was destined to live.

The Californian Dream coming true

It’s fair to say that with each day, our dream is coming true as our new routine consists of cruising along Cali’s best beaches and catching the sunset. We’ve managed to visit so many places already such as Anaheim Packing District for dinner, Venice and Santa Monica beach, followed by another visit to our friends, Farm Cup Coffee, and their new site in the city centre. We also went for a walk along Venice beach with our friend, Mike, and his gorgeous Bernedoodle puppy, followed by the inevitable visit to Abbott Kinney Boulevard again! Can you tell it’s possibly our favourite place so far?

There is just so much adventure on our doorstep, with lots of mountains to still climb. But that’s part of the journey, right? We just can’t wait to hit the road and explore while meeting you guys along the way. We really are so grateful to live here!