I can't wait to have a desk and office space again once we move. I might need to craft this mail sorter in celebration from My Sweet Savannah.
I just came home from Home Depot with 13 color swatch cards and the vaguest of ideas about what to do with them. I do see an affection for robins egg blue as seen on Apartment Therapy.
Despite living in Louisville, my Derby plans involve Netflix and getting some projects wrapped up so I can focus on packingmoving home decorating. Have wonderful weekends!
And if you're into nitty gritty house purchasing details: Inspection went well and we've reached an agreement with the home owners about the few things that need to be fixed. The only thing I think can go wrong at this point is the appraisal and that should happen in the next two weeks. I'm hoping we can close around the end of May.
At the inspection today I took lots of house photos that you can see here!
Inspection went well. There were some issues, but nothing more than you'd expect with a 43-year-old house. Now we just see how the appraisal goes and start packing! I'm hoping we can close the end of May.
I told you months ago (October 27 to be exact.) that I was going to start biking. But I was afraid to start biking without Lee's company since I haven't gone out in years, and we were lazy retrieving Lee's bikes from his parents, and then we've been busy so last week was our first bike adventure.
Fortunately there's a commercial parking lot by our apartment that's empty outside of business hours so we went there for me to re-learn biking. Not that this should be difficult, right, because they don't say "It's easy like riding a bike!" for nothing!?
Wrong.
Apparently I get on and off my bike incorrectly. I sit on the seat with my tippy toes on the ground to push off. When I stop, I stay in my seat and put my tippy toes back on the ground. I like this. It makes me feel in control. I have some paranoid issues with falling so being able to sit and place my feet on the ground gives me comfort that I can deal with sudden stops or anything else that might sway my balance.
However, Lee says that my legs need to fully extend while pedaling, and if my seat is low enough for my tippy toes to touch the ground, it's not high enough for my legs to fully extend. Which is why I should board and exit the bike correctly: from a standing position. But this requires so much more BALANCE!
No worries though, we have been doing circles in the parking lot just like I did when I was 8, re-learning how to get on and off my bike. I finally got confident enough to do a loop around the low-traffic, wide-lane section of our neighborhood. Baby steps to success! (Or baby pedals?)
In other fitness-related news, I just spent the most on running shoes ever! (Not sure that deserves an exclamation mark.) Lee convinced me that I might like running more if I had my gait examined and got proper shoes. So I went to a fancy running store, had my gait examined (I don't need stability after all!), and got some extra nice shoes and insoles as well. (The insoles do make a big difference and will last for three pairs of shoes.) I have yet to really test them out, but hopefully tomorrow they will make me a runner. Or at least a regular jogger.
Lee ran the Derby mini marathon like a champ this weekend. I was proud.
And since it wasn't raining too much, I went downtown to watch. I went to 4th and Breckenridge to watch Lee hit the 10 mile marker. When he recognized me and waved I figured he must be doing pretty well to have that kind of brain function at mile 10.
Once Lee past I took some time to snap some pictures around downtown Louisville.
Lampton Baptist Church (I think.)
The gate outside Presentation Academy.
Calvary Episcopal Church (I'm pretty sure.)
Library
I'm quite proud of the photos, but then again having something pretty to photograph and a good balance of sun and cloud pretty much does all the work for you.
By the time I made it to the finish line, things were so crowded I couldn't see anyone in the race, but apparently I walked by as Lee was running in, so I guess that's good timing? Wandering around trying to find Lee after the finish provided some more photo ops along the river.
WE HAVE A SIGNED CONTRACT ON A HOUSE!!!
Here she is. I think she needs some kind of name. Should we go with a normal name like Charles, my camera, or an estate name like Pemberley. Hmm...we should probably wait until we know her better to work on this.
Inspection's on Wednesday and once that has been blissfully dissolved the psychotic planning will begin!
On to Friday's links...
New house means a house party is coming soon. Hopefully we'll be ready while it's still warm enough for a cookout. Party Perfect recently featured a lovely housewarming party.
I'm wanting to get a new bedroom set (since we're currently using the one I've had since 8th grade, which is lovely, but perhaps time for a change) and enjoyed this collection of bedside tables from oh, hello friend.
Have a wonderful weekend everyone! Thanks again for all your happy thoughts and encouragement throughout this whole process!
The house and I had a lovely reunion last night and now we wait to hear from the sellers that they've officially accepted our offer. We should know something today though.
So while I wait to officially start making decorating plans (For my emotional sake, I can't start reorganizing my 100s of starred articles in Google Reader into things I actually want to do until we have a signed contract. Mood boards will not be disclosed to the public (you!) until we have a successful inspection.), let's visit someone else's decorated home!
In all the Keeneland and bachelorette partying this weekend, I got to spend some time with Jenn and her new house. I tpp a few pictures to share so I can pretend I'm almost as cool as Young House Love.
In the "man cave" the guitars get to have from the walls. I love it! We only have one guitar so I'm not sure how cool it would be to hang that from the wall. (And you're thinking, "Buy another guitar!", but neither of us know how to play the one we have!)
I love the start they've made with mantel and the white cabinets. So clean. The different textures of the brick fireplace, smooth ceramic, soft pillows and wicker plate and balls are visually interesting. (That sentence could so be on HGTV!)
Jenn has the best window over her kitchen sink! Love the bowl and I might steal the cow creamer some day.
House hunting (and job hunting for that matter) is a lot like dating. Or spouse hunting, if you will. And like all good love stories, there are songs to go along with the stages of the relationship's development. I've mentioned that I selected Michael Buble's "I Just Haven't Met You Yet" as the theme song for this journey. As the twists and turns continue, today's song is none other than Dolly Parton's classic "Here You Come Again". (Somewhat Secret Fact: I love me some Dolly. The music and the movies. Not so much the theme park.)
Remember that house we made an offer but we couldn't agree on a price? They needed to get the asking price to settle the rest of their mortgage and it wasn't really worth that. (Okay, we were arguing over $3,000, which isn't really worth it but we already offered $4,000 more than comps were selling for so I wasn't going to give them a penny more. And it's like buying a car, you don't pay full price.)
Well, we've been watching the house over the past month. It's still on the market. One house near it that's similarly featured and priced has given up and gone off the market. Another has dropped their price $9,000. So we asked our realtor to e-mail their realtor to see if they thought our offer was more appealing now. And it is.
I actually asked the realtor, "Should we see if they might consider our offer again? Or is a bad idea like calling ex-boyfriends when you're lonely?" Apparently in house hunting, this is a good idea. Not so much in spouse hunting.
Of course, because I'm a girl and this is what girl's do when relationships don't look like they'll work out, they vilify the ex. He doesn't have a fireplace. (I've had one for the past three years and never used it.) I can do better. (Not really. This is kind of as good as it gets for our price range.) We wanted to live in an easily walkable area. (I can bike to work, and Kroger is an easy walk.) One of the trees in the backyard is that tree with the sticky prickly balls and Lee wants a collie. (Lee's collie, Lee can cut them out.)
So I'm going to go see the house again tonight. See if the old feelings are there before we officially re-offer. I'm sure I'll fall in love again though. It's a pretty great house.
This Saturday I went to Keeneland with several of my dearest friends. Needless to say, Saturdays don't get much better than that.
I even won! This was after I won $2.60 on my $2 bet on Deal Breaker, a decision that was 90% based on 30 Rock. Liz Lemon never disappoints. Fun Fact: I always drink gin and tonics at horse races.
In my opinion, Keeneland is so much prettier than Churchill Downs.
And the horses were lovely. This is uptowncharlybrown. He won me $4.20 back on a $6 bet. (Sadly, this is about the most successful day I've ever had at the track.) Megan had worse luck than me, and advises, "Don't bet on the 4 horse!" (The 4 horse came in last in like every race.)
I this this picture is my favorite. Might have to frame it.
Who needs to be productive when you can make 3-D floor plans?! (Not that making 3-D floor plans isn't being productive because of course it is! Especially if you might buy a house soonish.)
Lee and I decided a month ago to run the Throo the Zoo 5K together (I can't run it alone in case I give up or get lost or trampled. It's my first "big race"). But the weeks went on, we still hadn't signed up, and I hadn't really started running. (I have got to get new running shoes this weekend!) I had started to assume we would be skipping this one.
Lee calls me last week to see what we're doing the weekend of May 8 because he was wanting to play in an ultimate frisbee tournament. I reminded him it was my cousin's wedding and we had mentioned doing that race but whatever, go to the tournament if you want to.
But no, once he remembered about the race he insisted he skip the tournament so he could run the 5K with me. Because he had promised. And I was going to get my butt in gear and do this. Silly boy.
So now I have no excuse. Let the training begin! (Once I get those new shoes which I am so doing this weekend. For sure.)
Do you ever have those days where your silent, secret need is miraculously met? The right person call at the right time and the next thing you know you get the answer you need to the questions and worries that have been stressing you out by scrolling through your mind on a constant cycle of anxiety?
And suddenly you feel light as a feather.
I had that day today.
Not that anything's been solved, I've just got the direction and support I needed to work to solve them. And I really needed that.
(Okay, I knew I had the support and everything, but it's nice to have the conversation just the same.)
Disclaimer: Sorry to be vague. I know that's kind of annoying. Like those Facebook/Twitter statuses that are just like "This all seems pointless." Or "I just don't know what to do anymore." And you're like "What is going on?!" But everything is actually fine. It was before today and it will be tomorrow. But a certain situation could be greatly improved and it's been stressing me out and now I feel better able to deal. Sorry that's still vague and lame. Oh well. Just wanted to celebrate the happiness of things working out like I needed. Three cheers for life's little miracles!
Lately I feel like I've just been treading water. And in a non-metaphorical sense I'm actually horrible at treading water. (I don't know how to swim; I doggie-paddle.) So while treading water is nice because things that need to get done get done, you also don't really get anywhere. There is food to eat, clean clothes to wear, DVR backlog is manageable, but none of the fun stuff gets done: reading, running, cooking special meals, the 300 movies in my Netflix queue (not an over exaggeration, 311 to be exact), blogging, calling friends, seeing friends, half-finished craft projects.
This generally makes me feel funky. I feel like every blog post lately is "I'm in a funk." And if it's not "I'm in a funk", I'm thinking that but don't want to say it...again. Because that would be lame and whiny and I like to think I gave that up after high school college.
But I got some things accomplished this weekend and feel ready for the week. I will not come home feeling lethargic after work every day. I will read. I will run. I will finish craft projects I started months ago. I will enjoy a new season of Glee.
Of course in all the mess above, the resolutions have not been going great. The reading has slacked to pre-resolution levels and the exercise habit never started. But on a positive note, I have been eating well. I gave up sweet treats for Easter and was dreading/looking forward to the Easter candy binging but it didn't happen. I haven't eater more than two Tagalongs in a day. That is definitely some kind of record. And even though I had forgotten what I was supposed to do in April (Be a better friend.), I wrote a friend a letter last week. So I was resolution-ing without even knowing it.
So here's to Mondays. And new weeks. And swimming to shore.
All of these pictures are also over at the photoblog but here they are with explanations.
Hair trim and eyebrow waxing were successful.
It looks like someone's about to start making a Jane Austen dress. :D
So on Easter Sunday I went to make the pasta salad (Smitten Kitchen won) right before we were supposed to be at Grandmommy's. But as I went to boil the water, power went out. So we picked up some Walmart pasta salad for Grandmommy's and I made the salad the next night for me, myself and I (What else to do with all the peas!?). It has made for a lovely lunch this week!
- This weekend was very busy and I have tons of stuff to do this evening once I get home from work. There's so much I feel the need to catch up on. Like reading and partially completed craft projects. I think Saturday will be dedicated to seeing how much I can accomplish in one day.
- I'm getting my hair trimmed and eyebrows waxed on Wednesday. This can not happen soon enough. I normally handle eyebrow maintenance on my own until things start to look just a little lopsided, and then I try to grow them out a bit so there's a bit more to work with for the waxing and yeah, it's time to wrangle these in.
- Blogger is being really weird right now. I don't approve. I hit "Enter" and nothing happens and then I keep hitting it and my cursor moves down one line but there are 6 extra spaces below?!
- At one point, I had 6 of the 8 teams in the Elite Eight, with a chance to have 3 of the 4 Final Four and the championship and winner. But no, my boys lost (GO CATS!) and the only Final Four pick I had in the end was *gag* Duke *vomit a little in my mouth*. The bracket is dead. The dreams of winning #8 are dead. Now all that's left is Go Not-Duke!
- I've been very impressed with the self-control I've exerted as Easter has arrived and I'm allowed sugary treats again. Go me!
- Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist might be one of the best movies ever.
This has nothing to do with April Fools' Day, but Week in Review is happening on a Thursday this week since tomorrow is Good Friday. I have off work tomorrow (yay!) but have some other stuff to do and it might just be a no computer day. (Except I was thinking about some instant Netflix streaming.)
