i broke up with san francisco
a love letter to the city that changed my life
life happens. and well, this past weekend was spent packing up all of my things and driving down to LA, where I’ll be living for some time. although I was never the biggest fan of my hometown, there is something so comforting about coming back after so much growth and becoming a great version of myself.
during a break-up, we all spend time reflecting on the good, the bad, the what-ifs. but something I’ve spent even more time reflecting on(more like grieving), was the life I had spent 3.5 years building. my routines. my every-other-day chats with my neighborhood market cashier. the yoga studio i loved after trying 10 different places. my community. my home.
and well - maybe this isn’t the right place for this, and maybe i should just continue venting in my journal. but maybe this can turn into something more than just an interior design and business blog? maybe we can all become virtual pen pal besties and share our greatest and worst moments together? who knows. i sure as hell don’t.
here we go. a highlight reel of some of my favorite moments.
if you ever wondered how we came up with the name “guest house” - it’s simply because we love to host. it started with our intimate friends-givings, and eventually turned into something we did for our customers and friends we were making through our business.
we’ve gone the more formal route, where i hired a chef and everything was prepared, but truthfully… the year we had to ride our uncooked turkey on a scooter to our friends house down the street because it didn’t fit in our oven, was my favorite. scrambling to make sure all of the food is warm at the same time, making sure everybody has a fork, all of those little moments of laughter, thats what i loved the most. as much as i appreciate an event where every detail is curated and thought out, there’s so much beauty in the imperfections.
so how did guest house start? what were the beginning stages like?
it started with me filling up our entire living room with so much furniture that we literally could not walk through it. it was much worse than the photo shown below. imagine about 20 more pieces of furniture stuffed in there.
my days were filled with adrenaline rushes from finding deals, fb marketplace sales, and a new found love of creating content and taking photos of all the pieces we were finding.
similar to love & hate, there’s a thin line between fear & excitement when starting a business. you have zero idea what the “right move” is. on one hand you want to think of all the possible outcomes, but on the other you have to be willing to take risks and dive straight in. just like anything else, you have to be fully committed to see it succeed. i’m great at that - and maybe that’s why guest house has made it through the challenging moments.
eventually, we got to the point where we were ready to take that first step and find the first space for guest house, which in the moment felt like a huge risk. after a month of searching for garages, warehouses & storage spaces, we found the cutest little sunlit loft off of gilman ave.
our berkeley loft
aside from the fact that it was a walk-up and completely destroyed my back, i loved everything about this space. the light wood floors, beautiful shadows from the window panels, and the sound of the train that ran through the backyard - it was perfect.
looking back, i realize i have a pattern of outgrowing things, and that’s exactly what happened about 8 months into having this space. i wasn’t ready to commit to a brick & mortar, but i loved the idea of having a space more accessible for people to come shop in person. which then led us to…
our warehouse
ahhhhh. our warehouse <3
this is what really took guest house to the next level. we started to figure out all of our systems, which in my opinion, is the hardest part of running a business. we found the COOLEST furniture during this time, we MADE our own furniture (the organic glass coffee table), we hosted warehouse sales once a month to allow in-person shopping, we expanded and started making delivery trips to LA, and we started hosted events!
galentines with guest house
arguably one of the best nights of my life.
if you ever have the opportunity - put yourself in a room with 60 other women, dress up in your best outfits (with a dress code so you’re matchy matchy), order some pizza, hire a bartender, and a DJ, and have them play all of the best gwen stefani and nelly furtado hits. ugh. what. a. night.
“xoxo, guest house”
i’m obsessed with chuck bass.
*cough cough* oops, i meant gossip girl!***
so obviously, i tuned into my inner blair waldorf to host the best dinner event to hit sf. great food, great cocktails, and even greater company. a night that will be stored in my memory bank forever.
we hosted this event during the last week of having our warehouse, and it was the best way to close out such an impactful time for guest house.
our home.
the hardest goodbye.
that corner unit in the marina with the big beautiful windows in every room, the vintage green and yellow tiled kitchen and bathroom, the beautiful hardwood floors. i’ll miss it. even the ugly parts.
although i’ve been spending so much time grieving and missing my home, it’s always followed with an overwhelming feeling of gratitude. grateful that it inspired me in so many ways. grateful that it gave me a playground to express so many different interior design styles(we had 4 different marble tables within the span of 3 years - yes, my movers wanted to kill me lol). grateful that it kept me safe. grateful that it hosted beautiful dinners for my friends and family. grateful that i was able to capture so much beauty inside of it to share with the world.
after digging through my camera roll - i realize this only captures about 10% of my best times in san francisco. i think i’d have to write an entire book to capture it all.
who knows… maybe sf and i we’re destined to be together like ross and rachel, and after i move back i’ll have to explain that “WE WE’RE ON A BREAK!” anytime somebody asks me about this blog.
all jokes aside - this hurts. please send your favorite rom-com & break up movies for me to binge, or your personal stories, or a joke.
love u guys.
xx,
jordan