New Walls, Comfort, Peace, & Love: My Cozy Home for the Holidays
Never—in a million years would I believe you if you told me I would be back living in this one-square mile, god-forsaken town. Not many can say they have moved back to the same place after twenty years living an entirely different life somewhere else.
The same town I once swore was the best place in the world to grow up.
And honestly? It kind of was.
Growing up on the Jersey Shore was magic. Every season began with a holiday, and Easter Sunday was the unofficial start of it all.
Families bundled up in their Sunday best, pretending they weren’t freezing their asses off as their children yelped and yipped while riding the questionable suitcase, pop-up looking rides that are there to this day.
I vehemently remember my cousin Bobby and my brother Brian getting stuck at the top of the Ferris wheel one year. Lost souls looking down at us from the orange caged contraption about thirty feet up. I’m pretty sure there’s photographic evidence somewhere…
🥹 Such blessings that I was able to witness this for myself and able to recall the memory now, just for you.
RIP BOBBY… I digress, however I will never stop poking fun at you.
Then came May— which brings Memorial Day and the BEST holiday of the year, MY BIRTHDAY. A double-holiday that officially kicked off the sweaty, sticky, fist-pumping, road-rage filled summer season that only the Jersey Shore can deliver.
*If you’ve ever sat through shore beach traffic here, you know the spiritual warfare it takes to battle this debacle.
But once the humidity fades, and I can blow-dry my hair again, AUTUMN slides in like a new love with better boundaries. Sweater weather cozies. Pumpkin spice latte bitches. Fireplaces that illuminate the warm living area in the evenings like honey.
The sharp chill in the air that makes you instinctively shove your FROZEN hands under your man’s undercarriage for warmth — only for him to jump like you’ve committed a felony.
Excuse me… but, isn’t that what the area was made for??
And as the great season swirls away into what sometimes feels like the tip of the North Pole’s Dick winter cold, we’re reminded another year has passed. Another year gone.
It’s been eleven months since I moved back here — to the day. And now, I’m moving again.
I thought I’d be here for a few years, find the land I want to build on. But life has a way of nudging us forward, doesn’t it? Sometimes quietly, sometimes with a bulldozer.
It’s the first time I’ll be living without ANY of my kids. They are grown now —chasing their own dreams, building their own lives, loving their own people. My oldest son moved back to Florida, the others are living with their significant others, going to college, building and creating their own dreams. At an age I was when I was wiping vomit out of my bra and changing shitty diaper after shitty diaper.
Motherhood taught me how to love fiercely and let go gracefully — but this chapter is teaching me how to love myself with the same devotion.
I’ve never been more grateful for a man in my life. HG and I are building something quiet, grounded, and beautifully unshakeable. We don’t let the noise in. Our relationship is built with intention — no chaos, no conditions, just peace.
This move isn’t about starting over — it’s about expanding the peace I’ve fought for.
The Sandalwood & Serenity “New Home Edit” is my love letter to new beginnings.
To slow mornings, to soft landings, and to finding comfort in the chaos. Whether you’re moving, healing, or simply seeking stillness, may you fill your space with intention — and your heart with light.
Because no matter how new the walls, home is where your peace lives.
Until next time 🪶…
🛋️ Shop the Edit on LTK
🔗 Shop My “New Walls, Same Love” Home Edit on LTK
