Paris. I would venture to say that I’d be willing to move anywhere in Europe (any modern city, at least) but if I had to pick one… I choose Paris. I love Rome, Florence, London… but Paris has an energy that is unlike anywhere else. It can feel romantic and powerful at the same time, has delicious food, beautiful architecture and style, style, style. Parisians (et Parisiennes) are inexplicably stylish. They’re all gorgeous (much like the Italians) and wear beautiful shoes. After six years of struggling in French class I truly think I could get a handle on the language if I was fully immersed in it. France may very well be the only country where I could learn the language – I don’t have years of experience reading Italian or Spanish. French is my only shot! 35 hour work weeks? Sign me up. Chocolate croissants? My favorite. Universal health care? I’ll take it. In fact, one studious semester of comparative politics in college taught me that I would fit right into the French Socialist Party (although I could still follow the UMP marital drama of Nicolas Sarkozy and his “wife” just as much as I do my US Weekly). Paris it is.
Canada. Don’t misinterpret this by assuming I’m not proud to be an American… I just love Canada. Case in point – I love snow, maple syrup, the French language, Ryan Gosling, skiing (especially Mont Tremblant), the Chez Cora chain of breakfast restaurants, “eh?!?”, the list goes on and on. I love Montreal and although I’ve never been to Vancouver I think I’d like it as well. I’ve certainly been close enough while visiting the Puget Sound/Seattle (see below). I heard on the radio this morning that the UN ranked Canada the fourth best place to live in the world. Wow. The proximity to all the wonderful things the US offers is a benefit, too. You’re a fairly easy plane or car trip (depending on where you are) to NYC, Chicago, the beach… Canadians are easy to please when it comes to the beach. They don’t need to go to the Bahamas to escape for a week. Southern Florida is pretty exotic to them, all things considered. Plus, don’t Canadians always seem so happy? 
Seattle. If Seattle weren’t so far from my family, we would be living there already. I love the Emerald City. I love the open air markets, the Puget Sound, the proximity to my love Canada (see above), the healthy feel of the city… I could even be a Seahawks fan (although my heart will always be with the Chiefs, of course). Qwest Stadium is a good-looking stadium compared to Arrowhead or even Fed Ex. They followed the same great plan as KC and put the Seahawks directly next to the Mariners, for all your sports-hungry visits downtown. I would say, hey of course I love Seattle because I love Starbucks, but that’s not even necessary. Even though I did make the trip to the OG Starbucks near Pike’s Place Market, the number of other privately-owned (specifically, not Starbucks) coffee houses in Seattle is amazing. We also have family across the Sound from the city, so in the same weekend I could visit my cousins and go skiing on Mount Hood (amazing!). Lets just say Mount Hood makes Ski Liberty look like… well, look invisible. Like nothing. What hill? There was a hill there?
Denver. The Mile-High City. I feel the same way about Denver as I do about Seattle. If it weren’t so far away from our families, we’d be there already. I miss the Midwest (not sure if those in Denver consider themselves Midwestern, but I sure do). The mountain views from the city can’t be beat and the fact that you can be skiing in the Rockies in one hour or less is magical to me. We could drive to see Sara in one day (not two!), my family in Oklahoma in one day (not two!) and even drive to Yellowstone in one day. The perks are endless: I think it may be the smallest city in the country with all four major sports teams, the median housing cost is around $220,000 yet the pay is similar to where we’re at now, the sun shines 300 days a year and there’s over 850 miles of paved off-road biking trails. Which brings me to my next point… as much as we would love to ride our bikes, it’s difficult to take off on a bike ride in northern Virginia. Denver is so healthy.
Richmondo. RVA. Finally… Richmond. Where we lived before we moved back here. Don’t even ask. We created a lot of reasons to leave in our minds (careers, missing our families, etc…) which we could have dealt with and been perfectly happy had we stayed. Now we’re here. We’re working. We’re homeowners. We’re stuck for a bit… but everything we hate about northern Virginia makes us realize it was that much better down in Richmond. We miss Belle Isle and hanging out at the river, Carytown, our delicious restaurant haunts (Sticky Rice, Hill Café, Nacho Mamas, Akida, Starlite, Strawberry Street…), going to the movies at Westhampton, having great places to walk the dogs, Byrd Park and Swan Lake, the Fan during the holidays, the dog park, sweet tea, Sarah Bell at Hair Theatre, all of it. The people, the slower pace of life, the faster commute… Now, every time we visit we leave with a sad face. Furthermore, Steve’s exact words were “this feels like home to me” last month when we were there. That’s a good feeling to have. Some people go their whole lives without feeling at home.
Honorable mentions:
· San Diego (the availability of good Mexican food – can we say delicious?)
· Chicago (not a big fan of deep dish, but I do love Wicker Park and the lake)
· New York City (if only we could own a patch of grass for Luke and Lila)
· Cinque Terre, Italia (this would be our summer home… of course)
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