Forever and a Day...

I'm a bad blogger, I know, as it's been forever and a day since I last blogged, but I haven't been all that inspired to post anything of substance until now.

Long story short, I got a new job in the spring in the 'burbs and decided to sell my place and move back in with my mom to a) cut my work commute because it was kinda sucking and b) save money because my new place is, in hindsight, quite a bit larger and I'll need all my pennies to i) pay it down and ii) furnish and decorate it when it's finally ready.

On that note...I've been thinking about the new master bedroom:

New Master Bedroom by phoenixc on Polyvore

I actually have most of the elements here save for the bed and the night tables, which I think will be this Ikea hack...I intend to re-purpose the purple rug that used to anchor my living area, the vintage dressers I picked up for a song and had painted white, the MOP lamps from Homesense, a more recently purchased birdcage chandelier from Homesav and depending on the season, there are the two blankets I picked up in Morocco a few years ago - the vintage wedding blanket direct from the mountain tribes and a brilliant turquoise blanket made out of cactus silk.  I'm thinking the walls will be a soft grey with maybe a hint of lavender....

As always, I can't wait! Last word on occupancy was May 2013, but I drove by a few weeks ago and it's currently just a hole in the ground.  It's a pretty big hole and relatively deep, but a hole nonetheless.  The development is a small, mid-rise building though with just 23 lofts and 5 townhouses so I suppose it could conceivably be ready for occupancy by next winter...fingers crossed! :)

Lazy Sunday

Weekends are a funny thing.  We look forward to them with such anticipation, making grand and sometimes not so grand plans for the TWO. DAYS. OFF. that we have to do whatever we want.  Me, I usually come up with a list of plans/to-dos because I find if I don't, I lose track and end up doing nothing and before I know it, it's Sunday night and the disappointment of having "wasted" a weekend settles in and I carry that into my Monday.

This weekend's list wasn't particularly ambitious: there's my usual laundry/marketing/cleaning/lunch prep for the week ahead (check/to do/check/to do), massage (much needed!), family lunch, read the paper (seriously - sometimes I "forget"),  update my online profile, yoga (which I'm going to skip this weekend in order to), (and) prepare for a second round of job interviews.

My sense of ambivalence and dissatisfaction at work has been ongoing for quite awhile now but I've been too complacent to do anything about it because it's comfortable...and comfortable isn't always the best thing.  The more I think about it, the more I feel that this new opportunity is the perfect role for me at this point in my life.  It would mean a major change in lifestyle, but it doesn't have to be forever - it could just be a strategic stepping stone - and I just have to remind myself of that...

I'm off then to the market for groceries, some cooking in the afternoon, and a lot of mental prep work to get into the right headspace for my interviews. Hope you have a wonderful Sunday!

Moving on up!

Hallo!!! It's been literally ages since I last blogged because I've started up the practice of keeping a (mostly) daily journal again, and with this new routine, I find I'm less inclined to blog online with everything else that's been going on in my life.

I do want to share some big news though!  I bought a new place!! Which is CRAZY because I was thinking this would be something I'd start looking into maybe next summer...but then I sort of by accident found the perfect place and everything just came together and now I'm looking forward to moving as early as next summer!

So, let's rewind, shall we?

This is my place now:

I moved in August 13, 2008 and it has been the best first home ever: I have a group of great neighbours I can party up with on occasion, the neighbourhood's ideal and chockablock with street level retail, restaurants and hot yoga studios, and I'm walking distance to work.  What more could a girl ask for, right?

Well...maybe more space.  I've been thinking for awhile that if my place were just a little bigger, it'd be PERFECT.  I didn't think such a thing were possible though, so I had resigned myself to moving into a house at some point.  I'd always figured that a house was something I'd move into when I grew up, i.e. got married.  But, since I'm not married, and I don't believe in waiting around for my soulmate to show up so I can live the life I want to live, I started flirting with the idea of moving, and dipped my toes into the pool by just, you know, checking to see what was out there in the market.

A house is a lot of work for a couple, never mind a single woman who isn't particularly handy, so I thought, maybe a townhouse....one thing led to another while I was searching online and that's when I came across this new boutique development about 10 minutes west of where I am now.  And I was immediately smitten, and, if you ask my sister, obsessed.  I mean, LOOK:

This is basically my place now, with an extra bed and bath.  Too good to be true.  So I got excited but not too excited because I didn't want to be disappointed and I didn't know if I would be able to afford it.

So here's how it all went down:

Sat, Jan 28: I found the floorplan online late in the evening.
Sun, Jan 29: I called the sales centre to get some more details like pricing (not as expensive as I thought it would be with some help from Mom - check!), expected occupancy (Summer 2013 - check!)
Mon, Jan 30: visited the sales centre after work to find out more
Tues, Jan 31: took the day off and called the bank to get the ball rolling on pre-approval
Wed, Feb 1: got the call just before noon that I was pre-approved for a mortgage on the new place and went back to the sales centre that night to sign the purchase agreement - 10 day cooling off period starts
Fri, Feb 3: met with my lawyer to review the agreement and discuss amendments
Mon, Feb 6: met with the sales agent to drop off the amendments to the agreement for the developer
Thurs, Feb 9: got an email from the sales agent late in the evening to say that the developer had agreed to just about all the amendments I wanted, including the larger kitchen at NO ADDITIONAL COST!!
Fri, Feb 10:  stopped by the sales agent's office to sign the amended purchase agreement
Wed, Feb 15: 10 day cooling off period ends and I'm firm and committed!

Insane, right?  It all happened ridiculously fast but I never really doubted that this place was meant to be mine.  It just felt incredibly right.  I could not have imagined a better place - how many lofts have floor to ceiling windows with both the north and south exposure? And all the space is functional - there aren't any useless hallways, weird curved walls, or columns, which I love.

So!  Now the fun begins!  I have a new place to look forward to decorating and I can't wait to share with you all the things I've been dreaming up!!! :)