Applique This

So, we bought this house.

It was a quick decision...it went on the market, I got the notification via email (as I do for every house within my specs) and I was immediately interested. We saw it a couple days later, loved it, sent my parents to see it the day after, and made the offer that night. There was lots of interest in the house, so we offered the asking price, and our Realtor asked me to write a letter to the owner, so I did. I told her how much we love the house, how important it is for us to be close to family (the house is 3 blocks from my parents!), how it's everything we've been looking for, etc. The other Realtor said the 2 offers that night (there's several more on the table now in case ours falls through - like I'd let that happen!) were so close in price that it was laughable...so the letter I wrote is what set us apart and ultimately why she chose us! I'll forever be grateful for that bit of advice from our Realtor.

Our new house has:
~ 4 bedrooms (that's double what our last house had!)
~ 1 (very pink) bathroom (and a bonus toilet in the basement!)
~ A little kitchen that needs some pizazz
~ BEAUTIFUL original woodwork - Craftsman Bungalow style (pillars, built-in bookshelves, built-in buffet, piano windows, and so much more!)
~ A nice big fully fenced backyard.
~ Directly across the street from our favorite playground!

The only things I don't like about the house:
~ Currently only 1 bathroom (and the shower/tub is in the slope of the roof so Josh can't stand up all the way in it! The first project we'll do is to add a basement bathroom.)
~ It's ALL red, as in, there is NO other color on the exterior including the roof! Who knows when we'll have the money to change that, but hopefully not too far in the future!
~ I wish the basement was a bit bigger...I'd love to have a family/playroom down there, but with the bedroom down there and the coming bathroom, it leaves very little room for anything else besides some storage and laundry.
~ The fridge is in a little back hallway next to the kitchen. I'm hoping one day (probably many years from now since kitchen renovations cost big bucks) we'll be able to reconfigure the kitchen to fit it in there.

That's it so far! I'm sure I'll find more I don't like as we move in and start living there (in one month!)


Applique THIS

I've been an applique-ing machine lately...and I love it. I've been itching to do something creative for a long time, and the bits and pieces of little projects that I rarely did before just weren't cuttin' it. I can hardly wait to get into our new house (!)...one of the reasons is that I'll be able to keep my sewing machine and other crafting materials set-up somewhere! Half the reason of my absence to my craft projects is that by the time I pull everything out of the closet and set it up, it's time to change a diaper or nurse a baby or make dinner. Not that I'd trade those things for anything - Ian and Claire and Josh are worth every bit of it - but it's nice to accomplish really fun things, too, sometimes. Here's a few I've done lately: