Welcome To New York

It's been waiting for you! ✨

Where to begin.

I’m not even sure I’ve shared the full backstory of our big New York City move, so let’s start there!

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When John and I first got married, we lived in Georgia for a few years and absolutely loved it. His family is from the Athens area and looking back I think I could’ve stayed put in North GA, raised babies and loved life there for the rest of it. But when COVID happened, we had an itch to go somewhere new. Both of our careers gave us the flexibility to make a move, and we landed in Jacksonville, Florida—for the beach, the location, and for new opportunities. At the time John was in CFA management and I was deep in my wedding photography business, and Florida opened up more doors for the both of us. So we moved! One baby, two homes, and 4 and a half years later, we made Jacksonville our home. I can’t say enough about the precious friendships we made in Florida.

I don’t know when exactly it began... maybe early 2023 ish? I was feeling burnt out with wedding photography, and was plateauing in what I was learning and doing. I had spent years in the industry, and while I loved my clients and fellow vendors, I knew I wasn’t growing in the same way anymore. The last thing I wanted was my brides to get the short end of the stick, so I decided to quietly start scaling back. At the same time, I leaned more into social media influencing, splitting off my accounts and building a brand beyond photography. By the summer of 2024, I officially announced I was no longer accepting wedding clients, and it was the best decision for me and my family. The timing was perfect, too—Shep was born just a few months later, and I got to be fully present for this new season of motherhood.

Despite making a big career pivot, I still felt uninspired, unclear of what was next, and a little unfulfilled in general. Truthfully, it was a quiet and terrible domino effect, where I would feel unfulfilled, know I needed to do something different, not exactly know what “that” was, then get self-conscious that I was taking too long to figure it out. Silly.

This is where New York comes in!

This past fall, John had a job opportunity that would’ve had us move to Long Island NY. At that time, Shep was just 3 months old, it was right before the holiday season (the first one we would have had in our new home), and life just felt chaotic. I was still adjusting to motherhood, it felt too much to move before our first Christmas with our sweet new baby, and we both had so many things we (thought) we still wanted to do in Jacksonville. After lots of late nights talking through every single detail and going back and forth, as much as we would’ve enjoyed it, we decided it wasn’t the right time or location for our family to make that move.

That back and forth of thinking about moving to the Northeast turned out to be such a blessing because a few months later in January, his job had another location to where?

Manhattan, New York City!

When John brought it up to me, it was more of an “LOL guess what”, still thinking we should pass. This time around, I was immediately more open to it than even he was given the location, and was feeling more settled into motherhood that it didn’t seem as daunting anymore. The more we talked about it, the more excited we got.

So we said let’s go!

While it’s completely different from where we’ve ever lived before, we both felt ready. One of the hardest parts was making the move happen on a pretty short timeline—John started his new role in New York while I stayed in JAX, handling our house sale and showings, work, packing, Shep, and everything in between. We were apart Sunday - Friday for nearly a month, which made the transition a bit more challenging. I feel for you military spouses that do months at a time… <3

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Our big move has already felt like the refresh I needed— creatively, personally, and as a family. I’ll always miss the South, its people, and the contentment of our routines, but this has been a huge push to step outside my comfort zone and embrace something new. And I’m sure we’ll be back soon enough!

If you’re reading this and resonating with any part of it, just know—there’s no single right way to do life. I’m still figuring things out as I go, just trying to take the next right step. I have so much admiration for every woman and mother navigating her life, because there’s no perfect formula or right way to do it—only what’s best for you + your family.

So grateful for this new season of trusting the Lord in something unknown, excited for all the inspiration and culture that will shape us here, and can’t wait to share this journey with you!

XO,

Mary Catherine

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Our NYC Mantra:

Do it for the plot.

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