Why Stockholm feels more like home

If Stockholm is trying to woo me, it's doing an excellent job.

On the eve of our search for an apartment in the Swedish capital, we attended a concert by one of my favorite musicians, Adele, and also ate incredibly delicious Jamaican food at Back A Yard.

Growing up close to a big city, I know I've been spoiled by having various cultural and culinary options close by. But it's for these reasons that even in the few times I've visited Stockholm, it already feels more like home.

This is an excellent realization considering we'll be moving there in just a little more than a month. Today, Russ and I went out for celebratory drinks after finding an apartment we like in what's considered the really-difficult-to-conquer Stockholm housing market. Thankfully, this one was at a reasonable price compared to others we saw.

One was incredibly nice but way out of our price range, and another was an odd, converted flat that used to be part of a bigger apartment. The entrance to this one was fun yet humbling, though, as you open the first-floor door and see some winding steps that you go up to the apartment's door. This was most likely where the servants used to enter in the once bigger, bourgeois living quarters.

We are particularly excited about fulfilling a desire Russ and I both have: actully living within a large city and not a suburb of a city. The closest we ever were to this before was a little downtown area that was part of a big suburb. Not exactly the same as Stockholm. Easy access to concerts, salsa dancing, theater, and so on will now be just a walk or subway ride away.

The month ahead is going to be busy while focusing on school and also preparing for the move, but I see this as a great opportunity for Russ and me as one of the many transitions we've been through together in our first year of marriage.