I graduate with my B.A. at the end of May and am in the midst of a quarter-life crisis. My parents thus far have been footing the bill for my rent in Southern California, but my mother has informed me that once I graduate, I must either live with her (in Nor Cal) or pay my own way in So Cal. This is good and proper. My plan was to live with her and work for a year (to pay off some debt accrued during college) before going to grad school.

Unfortunately, my boyfriend is wildly in love with So Cal. He surfs, he suns, he does the beach thing. And though he lost his engineering job due to cut-backs in December, he has been able to subsist on consulting jobs. He asked me to marry him in October, but I deferred an answer until I was financially ready to accept such a proposal. This city has no jobs for me and, currently, no jobs for him. Northern California would offer him a higher pay grade and me a hearty dose of nepotism. Additionally, my top two choices for grad schools are in Nor Cal.

So the question is: do I stay, living at subsistence level until I (probably) move next year? Or do I go, on the off chance that he is unwilling to move with me?