We’ve been in our house for 6 days now and starting to making some huge progress getting settled in. It still feels really odd-like I’m playing house. But we’ve met more neighbors already than we knew in 7 years living in the city and we’re all adjusting pretty well. Henry already calls the kids in his new 2nd grade class his friends, and when I spy on him at drop-off and pick-up they seem friendly and inclusive (hooray!). Edie’s nanny is still working with us so the transition for Edie has been pretty seamless. Especially once she realized all the toys that disappeared into boxes during the move are now back safe and sound on her shelves.  I’ve taken much of the week off and have my office mostly set up to jump back into work next week but Jared’s work has been really busy. That fact combined with the fact that I’m 32 weeks pregnant forced us to be realistic about what we could and couldn’t do on our own. I can’t really lift any boxes or move any furniture so it’s nearly impossible to get anything done without someone else to help. So I was really happy to partner with TaskRabbit this past week to help out, and I honestly can’t say enough good things about them! Every Tasker has been amazing: skilled, kind, responsible, and friendly. And now they have a new update to their app where you can schedule help in real time so someone can arrive at your door within minutes! Here’s how they saved us this week…

Thanks to TaskRabbit for sponsoring this post. Use code SAYYES to get $15 off same-day tasks with their updated app, valid through March 20th. 

We moved in Saturday. The movers helped assemble our beds, which was awesome, but then we woke up Sunday morning and seeing the kitchen in boxes and not being able to find a bowl and spoon to feed the kids cereal was really stressful. Especially since Henry was starting a new school the next day and we needed to pack lunch in the morning! I was so happy when our first Tasker, an organizer named Cher, showed up Sunday afternoon.

We had her scheduled for 4 hours and I honestly didn’t think we would need that whole time unpacking the kitchen but man, it’s a long and hard job. We both worked with her and it still took up the whole session. It was the first time that we put real thought into how our kitchen was organized and I’m SO glad we did! When we moved into our old place 7 years ago we just placed things randomly until all the boxes were unpacked but now everything makes so much sense in our new kitchen and I’m loving it!

I was SO glad to have had that help Sunday afternoon. It made me feel so much more settled come Monday to have that kitchen up and running. Cher had some great tips for organizing the kitchen too that were helpful in making decisions about where things would go. She listened to my concerns too like how I wanted Henry and Edie to be able to reach their own plates and cups so I don’t have to do everything for them. She listened and came up with some great ideas. It was so great!

You may remember from a post a couple months ago that I worked with another Tasker, Lisa, on some organizing in our old place during the holidays. I loved working with her! I felt like we were old friends by the end so I asked TaskRabbit to pretty please send her again and they did! We tackled a few projects: the bathroom closet, the linen closet, and unpacking the master bedroom.

And again, Lisa was so helpful! I worked alongside her and we got so much done. We not only unpacked but organized and edited through so many bathroom products and clothes. Turns out we have like 5 cartons of Q-tips (anyone need any??). It was amazing to take down that last box from the bedroom and fill up the goodwill box. I felt like I could breathe again!

Yesterday I scheduled a last minute handyman appointment with Tasker Tim through the TaskRabbit app. It’s amazing how easy it is to get help so quickly. You pick your task and time, and they assign so help can come in real time and you don’t have to wait for bids. I had spent yesterday morning running a bunch of errands: hitting some favorite salvage spots in Berkeley, buying a tv mount, a huge IKEA trip including new curtains/rods for Henry’s room. I needed help getting everything up and so I immediately scheduled an appointment while I was running around for someone to help when I returned home.

Tim came and was fantastic. He worked totally independently, quickly, and seamlessly to get the projects done. He mounted the tv, took down blinds and put the curtain rods up. He also took down these huge heavy drapes with the fixtures in the living room (above) that have been bugging me from hour 1 of being here. Hooray! I love how much more updated the living room looks without those heavy drapes. I’m excited to get things decorated to show you guys more photos of our new home.

Projects lined up for next week: Changing ALL the light fixtures (they bug me so much), finding storage pieces, getting rid of boxes and starting to make some serious decorating decisions.

Thanks to TaskRabbit for all your help this week! Remember to use code SAYYES to get $15 off same-day tasks with their updated app, valid through March 20th.