Posts Tagged With: new home

the joy of coming home

How precious is this mid-century house?
Thing 2 closes on it tomorrow.

My baby bought a house!
She’s saved for so long, squirreling away nearly twenty thousand dollars. And her credit score is in the 790s! She’s making an excellent investment. She’ll have twenty five thousand in equity when she walks through the front door.
She’s worked hard to get to this place.

She was planning to purchase by herself. But part way through her process, she and Boyfriend M realized they wanted to own a home together.
I’m overjoyed! I truly believe this young man and my daughter could be each other’s forever person if that’s what they want.
His mother isn’t as enthusiastic as we are. My understanding is she thinks they’re going about the order of things incorrectly. However, my gut says the bigger truth is she’s dissatisfied that he son isn’t living the life she expects him to live. She’ll get over that. All parents have to at some point.
I see my daughter and her boyfriend actively asking and answering the hardest questions. They’re working together. They’re making smart choices. They’ve planned and made commitments to each other about how it will work.
I trust Thing 2’s decision.
I trust she has a solid foundation upon which she will continue to build her life.
She’s choosing to build her life in a home with this young man. Just as he’s choosing to build his life in a home with her.
Their trust in the other is considerable.

The inspection showed the house needed minor repairs.
They talked the sellers down in price, well below asking. They got approval to do the work before taking ownership and contractors quickly got in the house.
A friend of theirs has brand new appliances to give them. Everything but the fridge, if I remember correctly.
That’s one hell of a friend!

In our group chat she was asking what Thing 1 and I think about paint colors.
She sent this.

My understanding is she’s thinking Lazy Gray for the walls and Serious Gray for the cabinets.

Y’all, my daughter has worked hard and long to get to this place. She’s been working towards this with a single minded fury.
To say she is excited is an understatement.
I am immeasurably proud for her.
She DID it!

Thing 2 and her kitty Oliver, and Boyfriend M and his kitty Meryl move into their new home this very week!

We three girls will purchase and move into our new homes in the same calendar year.
Fresh starts for each of us in 2021.
Now that’s something to give thanks for.
My Momma heart is overflowing with love and joy and gratitude.

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in the loft

I finally am completely unpacked in the loft!
Because of the way it’s shaped, it easily divided into two specific areas in the larger space.

When you first come up the stairs you see my library space.

This is the nonfiction bookshelf.
Top, second, and third shelves down the right hand side is all journals. (is three shelves of journals not enough? too much? just right? the world may never know…)

Turning to the left you see my creative space.

I’ve got a couple creative projects I’m ready to tackle, and these tables are the perfect space to get started.

This view is sitting on that tiny stool in the previous photo looking toward the library space.

This the fiction bookshelf.
All four shelves across the bottom are picture books and I am here for it!

YBW helped me hang all the art.
I’m still finding places for small photos and tchotchkes on the shelves.

I spent the majority of the afternoon and evening last Friday in the chair in the foreground finishing a book called The People We Keep.
Now if I can just figure out how to write comfortably in this space…

Categories: around the house, me | Tags: , , , , , , | 11 Comments

creating a home in the house we built

Whoa!
We’ve lived here two weeks and five days.
The kitchen was a shit-show.
Oh, who am I kidding, the whole damn house was a shit-show!

How it started.

and

How it’s going.

Sunset bubbly on the roof!

I’ve been working so hard and feeling super overwhelmed. But I’m creating a home and that takes hard work and a great deal of patience.
I’ve got loads of hard work in me. I seem to be a bit short on patience…
I’m eager to feel settled here in our beautiful ’empty nest’!

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Sunday morning at the home site 7.25.21

This is it, y’all.
The last Sunday morning at the home site.
Next Sunday morning we’ll already be living here!


Oh my goodness, look at that handsome devil walking up the driveway!

Here’s some panoramic shots of the main level.


From the corner of the living room.


From the corner of the dining room.


I spy a girl dancing in the garage.

Thing 1, Husband N, Baby K, and Nana (Husband N’s mom here for a visit), YBW’s brother and his wife met us at the house this morning, then our nephew met us and we all went to brunch!
We had a wonderful day!

I don’t know what we’re going to do with our Sunday mornings from now on…but it most likely won’t be as cool as how we’ve spent our Sunday mornings over the past year.
Having this house built was a momentous journey and I’m overflowing with love, joy, and gratitude we took it.
Wednesday we begin the journey of officially creating our home in this house, and I’m overflowing with enthusiasm, anticipation, and excitement!

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Sunday morning at the home site 7.18.21

This was the first week we were in the house and it looked like it could actually become a home.


Majority of the construction dust and dirt cleaned up or out.
Kitchen looks like a place for us to cook and eat and live and work and entertain.

Surfaces dotted with blue and green painters tape. The green is from the inspector Wednesday last week. Loads of finishing things still to do, but we finally feel like this is the place we’re going to live in eleven short days!


My car already feels at home.

Categories: around the house | Tags: , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Sunday morning at the home site 7.11.21


Can y’all see that!?!
That window way up high?
The one that actually belongs in that space?
That’s right! The bronze window finally arrived and was installed one day last week. (the white window they painted is leaning against the wall in our garage)


Banisters are stained and they are absolutely gorgeous!

My list of what needs to be finished/corrected is small at this point. One recessed light is missing and the cabinet hardware is wrong in two bathrooms.
But I’m about to write an email to Tommy the building manager before I close my computer to tackle my moving list.

We got an email last week with a finish date of Wednesday July 14.
Then our walk through is Wednesday July 21.
And our final walk through and settlement July 28.

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Sunday morning at the home site 7.4.21


Can you see the blue painter’s tape on the poorly painted window way up high?
Meh…it’ll get sorted one way or another.


My pantry is ready to go! (Container Store here I come)
Actually, I’ll most likely hit up Home Goods before I head over the Container Store…you’ll notice I said before.


Laundry machines are here!!
ALL! THE! HYPE!

The bedside lights have their sparkle and I love it even more than I expected!

Loving this shower glass!

You know we missed last week because we were in Carlsbad.
I said to YBW on the way to the house, “I’m so excited to see the house this week! I feel like it didn’t change much from week to week there for a bit and now it’s been two weeks and it feels more exciting and new again!”
While there were new things, the reality is it isn’t that much different than it was two weeks ago.
That won’t stop my excitement!

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Sunday morning at the home site 6.20.21

This week at the house there are good things and bad things.

Good things:
fridge is in

microwave is in

shower fixture is in

I figured out I can install swings under the deck

And when I say swings, I mean a bench ‘porch swing’ style swing, but I also mean ‘playground swing’ style swings.
From this angle, the porch style swing will be in the back of the shot hanging so the swing faces away from the house in front of the two stationary doors.
The playground swing swings will hang in the front of the shot parallel to the side of the house.
While Baby K isn’t a fan of swinging, her Mommy, Auntie, and Birdie sure as hell are and you can be damned sure to find me out there swinging as often as possible!

windows are FINALLY in

Bad things:

that fridge isn’t the one I wanted, but the one I had to settle for

that window up on the fourth floor is fucking white

I spoke with the building manager who told me they painted it and “it looks like crap”. The new bronze window has been reordered. (apparently the guy at the window company never actually ordered about half of what he was meant to so he no longer works for the window company and the new woman is on top of all the chaos…this is me still not holding my breath)
If worse comes to worst they’ll replace the window after we close.
I’m over here like, well, at least it won’t rain in our house anymore…?

So window ridiculousness aside, our home is coming along nicely!

Categories: around the house | Tags: , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Sunday morning at the home site 6.13.21


Stupid construction vehicle parked in my driveway!
But…I love the dark siding and entry color.
And…railings up on the front.
And…some landscaping.

First coat of stain on the stair treads and I’m loving the way this looks.

They built the deck off the living room last week.
YBW is all about that telescoping door, y’all!

Here’s the deck view from the roof terrace.

Front roof terrace banister railings are finally in too!

I’m leaning towards creating a potted garden out here, but still not completely sold.
What would y’all do with this space?

Meanwhile we’re still missing windows…
Spoke with the building manager Monday, he says they (the window people) told him June 17.
I’m over here not holding my breath…

But the excitement continues to build.

Categories: around the house | Tags: , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Sunday morning at the home site 6.6.21

Siding is going up on the front and back of the house!

Railing on the roof terrace is finally in place and I gotta tell y’all, the view is great, the breeze is spectacular, and I’m so ready to enjoy cocktails in this space!
Overstock was having a good sale and I had a twenty percent off coupon, so we ordered furniture for the roof terrace. Partially delivered, sitting in our current dining room in boxes ready to move and be assembled as soon as we arrive.

Tankless water heater was finally installed!

We close in fifty one days!
So much more to get done, but we’re so ready!

Categories: around the house | Tags: , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

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