WHAT WOULD MOTIVATE A CITY GIRL TO MAKE A MOVE FROM MANHATTAN? HERE'S MY STORY...
It was 1989. I had justed moved from Paris to further my modeling career in New York. Though living in The Greatest City in the World was exciting, I had this longing for something. Maybe it was my upbringing in the Swedish countryside, but in the passing years what seemed to grow was this desire for a quieter, more simple existence.
By the winter of 2002, the realities of big-city living [crime, congestion and confusion], coupled with the repercussions of September 11th, pushed me to the brink. Needing to make my URBAN ESCAPE, I decided it was time to venture beyond the Big Apple in search of solace, serenity and some solitude.
The urban pilgrimage to the outlying areas had already begun. Many of my initial choices - the Hamptons, the Hudson Valley and Upstate New York - were priced out of my range.
So I decided to take my search online. With the help of a few real estate websites, I was able to expand my search to include some new areas I never had thought to look before.
Finally, I found what I had been looking for, some UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY just across the Delaware. A Pennsylvanian paradise called the Lehigh Valley.
Nestled among 10 acres of woods was the home of my dreams...a quaint country cottage complete with a babbling brook.
Now after six years of LIVING THE LIFE in Lehigh Valley, I've come to realize just how special this place really is. As close to mountains and wilderness as it is to commerce and industry. One can actually live, work and partake in varying outdoor activities all within close proximity.
I can see a country getaway like the Lehigh Valley, that's so city close and affordable like New York's Dutchess County was several years back, become a highly desired place among the savvy and sophisticated urban professionals in search of something that is rustic...yet refined.
...I was born and raised in the Swedish countryside near the capitol city of Stockholm. My childhood passion was horses. I spent my early teenage years as a competitive equestrian rider until being discovered by a talent scout launched my career in modeling.
For almost two decades now, I have traveled between the fashion capitols of London, Paris, Milan, Tokyo and New York working for some of the top photographers, clothing designers and fashion magazines in the world.
Now that I live in the Lehigh Valley, I still continue to model. Working with such a diverse group of people from varying countries has been an excellent learning experience in honing one's communication and people skills, one that I continue to draw from now that I also have started a second career of selling real estate.
I now teach equestrian riding to aspiring young girls and adults. When I do find some free time I try to keep up my own riding skills as well, in addition to adding a few more degrees to my black belt in martial arts while trying to raise prize-winning vegatables from my garden.
