Oh, The Drama...

As I mentioned last week, Blake and I are buying a condo.  This sounded so simple when we decided to do it.  Rent an apartment (where I would most likely murder him within the first 6 months due to lack of personal space) and lose any money we dumped into rent OR buy a condo with room to spare and this lovely little thing called equity?  No brainer.  (PS-I wouldn't really murder Blake.  But I do like my space.)

So off we went to our financial advisor who set us up with a Private Banker who set us up with a mortgage originator.  Then we had to get a realtor who set us up with the website, viewings, the comps, and iPhone app (there really is one of those for everything).  Week one of the condo search wasn't so much a search as a big meet & greet of all the players we needed to make this happen.  And then finally the search!

This was the part I was most excited about-the big search.  Roaming through other peoples' houses and imagining what my life and my furniture would be like there, picking out in my head the colors I would paint the walls...only these condos were TRASH.  Dogs had chewed the molding from knee-height and lower in one place.  Another had amazing granite kitchen countertops...but they had awful shag carpeting EVERYWHERE.  Some had no living space, some had tiny kitchens, some had no parking, and all of them were painted a dingy white.  It was depressing to walk through them.

I finally found one I liked and brought Blake along to look.  It was smaller than we had hoped for, but it was one of the largest we had looked at in our price range.  In 2 weeks I looked at over a dozen condos and knew that unless something absolutely amazing came on the market, this condo was our best option.  Plus it had a kick-ass kitchen.

Then the drama.

First came the inspection report.  Oh boy.  There was a lot of things that needed to be fixed.  Then the realtor for the seller told us that the current owner was very close to a short sale and was hoping to have someone assume the loan.  Which meant we could either assume her loan or get our own, but either way there was very little negotiating room.  Then, after we agreed to another visit, had our realtor bring a contract, got pre-approved for our loan, and figured out all the details...someone else made an offer on the condo.  My heart broke.  I already knew where all the furniture was going!  Blake had promised me a new sink and countertops!  I was going to paint!

As if that weren't bad enough, our realtor hit us with the worst news yet: she had pulled comparative sales for the area and they were selling for almost $7K less than the asking price for this condo.  Oh man.  We knew right away we didn't want to be anywhere near this situation.  With sinking hearts we agreed to go look at a condo I had been saving as a backup.  It was larger condo but at the very high end of our budget.

And of course we fell in love with it.

So the good news is today we are signing the contract to put an offer in on our first home together!  It's so true that when God closes a door he opens a window.  This new place is big enough and nice enough that should anything happen-we lose a job, we have a baby, the economy tanks (again)-we will be able to live there comfortably and happily for several years.  All our stuff will fit, there is a nice 2 car attached garage, and the neighboorhood is a nice suburb centrally located between both our families.

Wish us luck, friends and family!  Today the bidding war begins!

Love on a Dime

Blake and I are on a serious pay-off-all-debts-buy-a-condo-please-let's-get-married-in-the-next-decade budget, but that doesn't mean we still can't go out and have a little fun.  Take Tuesday night, for example.

Right down the road from me is a dollar theatre where every Tuesday night is 75 cent night.  They show pretty good movies, too...2012, Zombieland, and Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs were all playing the night we went.  They don't have stadium seating, but you can hold hands over any old armrest, so who cares?!

Here's my idea of a great date night:

Pop a bag of popcorn and put it in a ziploc baggie.  Stuff your biggest purse with the popcorn, some candy, and bottled water.  Raid your quarter jar for six quarters.  Head on out to see your movie of choice (I chose Ninja Assassin-it was something Blake wanted to see that we missed at the big theaters.  Lots of blood.  Lots of swords.  Not much story.  But hey, I got to spend 2 uninterrupted hours with Blake, which makes anything worth my time).  I guess it's not so much love on a dime as it is a quarter, but it's sure nice to spend a night out and not feel the pinch in your wallet the next day!

In other news...

Blake and I have been condo hunting and found one we like.  Good location for our commutes, nice complex, nice size for just the two of us.  We went to the mortgage guy last night to get pre-approved and now we just have to make an offer.  I knew turning thirty this year would mean I'd be doing some serious growing up, and there's nothing like signing a million waivers, copying five ID's, checking credit scores, meeting with a hundred bankers, and discussing site inspections to make it real.

ALSO!  In all this free time I have now I've been able to start a project that I've been dying to do.  My friend Alicia taught herself how to quilt from online tutorials, and she has agreed to teach me by doing a quilt-along.  It's so very "Little House On the Prairie" I can hardly stand it, but I'm super excited and spent 2 hours picking out fabrics with my mom at JoAnne Fabric.  The name of the quilt is Sugar + Spice + Everything Nice but I think I'm going to call mine Pour Some Sugar On Me.  I'm gonna be a Rock Star Quilter ;)

Public Service Announcement: World Peace

I would like to take a moment to discuss a pressing issue.  It's a problem that affects us all and crosses the lines of age, gender, and race.  Should this problem be solved, I believe it could lead to an economic regrowth, world peace, and a significant decrease in domestic violence.

"What," say you, the eager reader and peace lover, "what is the key to this happiness you speak of?"

Friends, family, fellow commuters...

Please learn to merge.

The ability to merge is becoming a lost art, and my fellow commuters seem intent to prove this everyday.  Ideally, merging onto the highway should be like two sides of a zipper smoothly interlacing so that the zipping motion is seamless, uninterrupted, and swift.  It should be so easy that it becomes a non-thought, each piece finding it's perfect fit among its peers.

Instead every morning I witness how little we have actually evolved as morning commuters jockey for position in line.  Compare a group of cars merging onto a busy highway to a group of first graders lining up for recess.  Ah, how much it says about us grown ups that the first graders do it better.  They manage to get into a straight line from total randomness with no slamming brakes, burning tires, middle fingers, or expletives.  Granted, their education has not progressed that far yet, but you get the point.

Learn to merge.  Learn to find your place in line and hold your tongue ("Goddamn it, it's my effing turn" never got anyone anywhere faster.  I know, I've tried it.).  Resist the urge to play chicken with the semi that is barreling down the highway at 80 mph.  Try your hardest to unglue the front end of your car from the helpless, hopeless driver's rear-end in front of you.  Please keep all 10 fingers on the wheel.

And please get out of my way and let me merge.

Welcome to Once Upon A Time...2010!

Hello again friends and family!  I have not fallen off a cliff or in the toilet, nor have I been swept off to some faraway desert island by the love of my life (only metaphorically speaking).  I have not died of pnuemonia (though I lost several months of my life to bronchitis) and I have not joined a cult of vampires living among humans...wait, that's almost the plot of Twilight.  Mmmmm...Edward...sigh.  I digress.

I have been too busy for my own good, which is part of my extremely loveable personality (wink, wink).  I beg forgiveness (grovel, grovel) and offer these feeble excuses for where my time, attention, and often my health have gone...

Overtime-The Sound of Music (I played Maria and yes it was amazing and no I won't ever do it again)-Blake-Moving Out (NOT the musical, ME actually moving OUT of my parent's house into my own place)-Blake-Trying to be a good Aunt Nikki-Weddings, weddings, weddings (why does everyone I know pick the same year to get married?  I'm going broke buying gifts and dresses!)-Blake-My first straight play no music at all called Don't Dress For Dinner-Massive Halloween party-Blake-Getting bronchitis and missing Thanksgiving through most of December because all I could do was sleep-Christmas New Year's Back to work already?!-and Blake.

By the way, have I mentioned I'm still dating Blake?

So that's 2009 in review.  Too much of not enough time.  This is why in 2010 I will be concentrating on some things I love MORE than theatre, and take a little break from singing and dancing.  Of course Blake is first on the list, but high up there on the list is my nephew, my family, friends who have been MORE than sorely neglected, and hobbies that I have been wanting to pursue and-GUESS WHAT-didn't have time for.  Like this blog.

So keep an eye out.  It's a new year (the year I turn THIRTY ya'll!), a new attitude, and a brand new beginning.  I can't wait to see what stories unfold...and this year, you all will be the first to know them =)