Weekend Highlights

We had a really nice long weekend up north at my parents. It was nice to get away after a busy/stressful period of preparing our house to list. Here are the highlights from our time at the lake!

- I'll start with the big news - we accepted an offer on our house last night! We were really happy with the offer and if everything goes well, we will close on the sale of our house on 12/17. I'm glad we will likely only own 2 homes for a little over a month. I'm crossing my fingers and toes that we don't get much/any snow so Phil doesn't have to shovel 2 corner lots!! Fingers crossed the inspection and appraisal go smoothly!

- Seeing Paul play with toys from my childhood. He had so much fun playing with this box of trucks that belonged to my brothers.

 - I also got to see Paul learn some new things or show off things he had learned at school. It turns out he knows more than we realize. My mom pulled out this box of magnetic letters/numbers while we were there. He picked up the letter O, turned to my mom, and said, "owl!" He picked out several other letters and numbers that he learned in school and showed off some of his Spanish skills. I ordered some magnetic letters for our house since he really enjoyed playing with the letters at my parents.

- As usual, my mom totally spoiled us with delicious food. Egg bake, homemade soups, homemade cookies, spaghetti with homemade sauce, etc. We ate very well! We also enjoyed one meal out on Saturday night. Paul is still at a good age for eating out so he did very well. He loves looking around and waving at people.

- My mom watched Paul on Saturday and Sunday morning so I could go back to bed and get a little more sleep. He was up early both days so I was very grateful that she was happy (thrilled, really) to watch him as I did not sleep well up at the lake so needed some extra sleep. This also gave her a chance to hold him and read to him. When Phil and I were around, he was very clingy and would not sit on her lap. I think the change over the last couple of weeks has been hard on Paul (for example, we've moved his crib to 3 different places in his room as we prepared to go on the market and all his toys were packed away). He's been extra clingy in general. He's got more change ahead of him since we move into the new house a week from Friday but hopefully he adapts to the new house quickly.

We couldn't have asked for a better weekend up north! Well, it could have been warmer - it snowed there on Saturday and the temps were in the teens to 20s. Burr! But coming home to an offer was the best way to cap off the weekend. What was the highlight of your weekend?

A crazy week

The process of buying and selling a house is not for the faint of heart. Dang it is so much work, most of which has fallen on poor Phil since a lot of it required manual labor/heavy lifting. So he took on the physical work while I handled caring for Paul. That said, I know we are lucky to be able to buy a house before selling ours so we can declutter/move things to the new house!

We moved a lot of stuff out of our house on Saturday. This before and after picture doesn't do it justice but gives you an idea of how much got moved out. Not pictured is the office which was full of furniture from upstairs/other areas of the house - the office is now empty.

Our house will get staged this week, photos will be taken on Wednesday after the cleaners come through and it goes on the market on Thursday. We will head to the lake after work on Thursday and hope/pray that our house sells that weekend. If it doesn't, we'll allow showings up until 6:30pm on week nights and will either hang out with friends or at the new house until Paul's bedtime. I don't think anyone would want to see the house after 6:30 on a week night anyways since it's very dark at that point, especially after "falling back" this past weekend.

We've decided to replace the upstairs carpet in the new house so all the stuff we moved out of our current home is sitting in the living room of the new place. We meet with the carpet people on Thursday afternoon and hopefully the new carpet can be installed ASAP so we can empty out the living room before the big move.

So our current house feels empty/echoy and our new house feels like a hot mess. For a type-A person who craves order, this all makes me feel kind of "twitchy." But I am reminding myself that 2 weeks from Friday, we'll fully move into the new house and can get settled! I don't like to wish time away but I would like to go to bed and wake up on Thanksgiving when we are moved/settled into our new house. I say settled because we are the kind of people who unpack right away! Plus since we rented boxes for the move, we don't have the option to pile them up - they need to be emptied within a week of moving so they can be picked up by the company that provides them.

One fun positive is that we went shopping for a new guest bed/headboard for the guest room. It will be delivered at the new house on 11/16 so my parents can stay there the weekend of Thanksgiving. I'm so excited to have a dedicated guest room/bathroom as we have a lot of out of town family/friends. It was very hard to host people in our tiny current home but now we are set up well to host family!

So in short, send us allll the good vibes that our (adorable) house sells this weekend so we can focus on the move! I'm looking forward to a weekend of relaxation at the lake - especially for Phil as he has not relaxed much in the last 6 weeks! We'll get some extra sleep since my mom can help with Paul in the morning and we'll be well-fed by my mom! I'll talk to you on the other side of this week/weekend - hopefully I'll have good news to share next week!

We Found a House - Finally!

I was beginning to feel like this day would never come, but we finally found a house! Last week was quite the whirlwind. Our realtor texted me on Monday afternoon to let me know a listing that was a good fit for us came on the market. We were free that evening so went to see it at 5. After looking at houses for 2 years, we quickly know when a house is right for us - and this one was! While it's a 1925 home (most homes we look at are built in the early 1900s), it had newer windows, forced air heat (many homes had a boiler heat system which we hoping to avoid), central air, and a great layout. The house was significantly renovated about 11 years ago so that's why it has newer windows and some modern updates like forced air heat.

After seeing the house, we talked it over and decided to make an offer that evening. We figured the owners would wait to accept it until the following day as they had more showings set up on Tuesday. But they ended up accepting the offer that night! They have 2 kids under 3 and didn't want to put up with more showings. We also had offered a bit over asking price so came in with a strong offer.

The photos below are a bit blurry but give  you an idea of what the house looks like.

It's a 2-story home with great curb appeal. While I love the look of stucco, the vinyl siding is much more low maintenance. I love the window boxes!

The house is about 2,500 square feet. We wanted to stay below 3,000 square feet and were hoping to stay in the 2,100 to 2,500 area. We like that the main level has a very open floor plan and is bright and sunny. The windows also have plantation blind window treatments which is another nice perk!

We also really liked the kitchen. Down the road, I will probably hire someone to paint the cabinets white as I don't love the 2-toned darker brown/cream color. But that's something we'll tackle several years down the road.

The kitchen opens up to a dining room and there is a little window seat area in between the kitchen and dining area with built-in shelves.

Upstairs, there are 3 bedrooms. The master bedroom has a walk-in closet and a master bath which is another rare feature in an older home! We were hoping for 3 bedrooms upstairs as we are hoping/planning to have 2 kids so they will each have their own room. Additionally, there is a guest room and bathroom in the (finished) basement as well as a family room area down there. It will be nice to have a guest suite for my parents since they don't live locally!

The backyard is really nice as well. There  is a deck off the dining room and a stamped concrete patio that the sellers put in a couple of years ago.

After looking at houses for 2 years, we knew no house would be perfect. So the "not ideal" aspect of the house is that it's on a hill. So we'll have to walk down some stairs to get to the garage. We have the corner lot so Phil will have to do a lot of snow removal and since we are on a hill, the sidewalk on the north side is on a hill... We have a corner lot now so he's used to moving a lot of snow but the hill/slope of the sidewalk will add a challenge!  I told him that Paul can help him in 10 years or so! ;)

Also, the garage is much smaller than our current garage. It's a 2-stall garage but it's going to be a tight fit for our 2 cars. But that is city living for you. Garages in south Minneapolis are smaller and you access them through the alley. We'll have to add some sort of storage shed for things like our lawn mower, snow blower, stroller, etc.

We've got a hectic 2 months ahead between buying this house and selling our home. Phil doesn't like change or spending money so buying a house is, well, a nightmare for him. I'm hoping he feels less anxious once we are in the house. I think anticipating change is always worse than just dealing with it. But by Thanksgiving, we should be pretty settled!! Outside of updating some of the paint colors, the house is very turnkey so that is another nice perk.

I'm hoping we love this house so much that we stay here until our kids are done with high school but we'll see what happens over the years to come!

Show Us Your Life: My First House Project

Shortly after moving into Phil's house this summer, I came up with a list of projects that I wanted to accomplish.  Phil and I have a lot in common but one thing we don't have in common is our desire and motivation to make changes around the house.  Phil is in the "it's fine the way it is" camp whereas I'm in the "but we can make it even better!" camp.  After a lengthy discussion, we settled on a finite list of projects that we'd try to tackle over the next year or so.

In October, I finally got around to crossing the first project off the list:  painting our doors. The previous owner painted them what I considered an obnoxious yellow color.  In fact, she must have loved the color so much that she painted some rocks in the backyard that color (I find this so strange).

I'd say about half the people who have seen them have said they liked the color or at least didn't mind it.  But I had a strong aversion to it from day one.  I just didn't think the yellow coordinated well with the cream color of our house.  And it's just a bit too 'out there' for me.

Picking the color:

Picking paint colors is kind of overwhelming to me as it seems like the color often looks very different once you start painting compared to what you were expecting based on the paint chip. So when I found a color on the door of a house down the block from us, I decided to be a sort of creepy neighbor, and I tracked down the color during National Night Out (a night in the Twin Cities when every block has a gathering).  The couple who owned the house wasn't at the block party, but their neighbors gave me their email address and after sending a couple of emails, I had the brand and name of the paint color.  Score! I ended up going one shade darker as I felt it would coordinate better with the dark brown siding on our house.

The painting process:

I used this 'how to' explanation from the blog, Young House Love, as a resource for how to paint the door. I used a similar technique as I used a 2" angled brush to paint the inset areas of the door. I used a 2" foam roller to paint the flat planks of the door. Our doors required 2 coats of paint + some touch-ups after the 2nd coat dried. It probably took me about 30-40 minutes to paint each door (I had 3 to paint). The most time consuming part was waiting for the first coat to dry.

The finished product!

Here is how it turned out!

I'm really happy with how it turned out.  And the project only cost me about $50 as the paint was 30% off at Sherwin Williams. It feels really good to have the first project crossed off the list, especially since it was one that dealt with the exterior of the house so needed to be done while the weather is mild.

Next up, I'd like to pick out some new furniture for our living room as Phil has some pretty ugly hand-me-down/garage sale pieces that are an eye sore and not very comfortable to sit in.

Are there any projects you'd like to do around your home?

5 Years Ago Yesterday...

Yesterday I celebrated 5 years of home ownership. It's pretty hard to believe that I bought my little condo 5 years ago. I mean, I was 24 years old. It kind of blows my mind to think that I had my act together enough at that age to buy something on my own! I remember feeling very proud of the fact that I could buy this condo all by myself - no co-signors, no co-borrowers, just me!

Now this has certainly not been my best purchase. Yes, it has been wonderful to have a place to call home - and I do not miss moving once a year... nor do my parents, I am sure. They schlepped my stuff around a few too many times and my dad did grumble a bit and recommended I invest in a library card instead of amassing books like I have in my 20s. So yes, there have been some perks to owning a home.

But I definitely feel like my home owns me instead of vice versa. I unfortunately bought at a terrible time so the value of my little condo has nose dived. I try not to think about it because it is out of my control. When I do get frustrated, I remind myself that I am in good company - there were plenty other older and wiser people who also invested in real estate and are stuck in their homes, waiting for the market to rebound a bit.

All that aside, I do really like my little condo. I love that I have a wood burning fireplace. I love the wood floors that my cousin put in for me a couple of years ago. I love that I have underground, heated parking. I love the winding, tree lined road that my condo is located on.

Right now, I do not have the option of moving out of my small condo, so I am trying to embrace it and focus on the positive aspects of my living situation.

To give you an idea of where I live, here's a snapshot of my living room area. I have a desk in my bedroom, but I never use it. Instead, all of my blog posts are written from the comfort of that small love seat!! I also read in that over-sized reading chair on lazy afternoons.

I'd love to hear where you live! Do you rent or own? Are you happy with your current residence?

Loving This!

Oh my gosh, I am loving the yarn-inspired wall art (spotted here, how to video found here) ! I am a math major who loves geometric shapes (yes, I am a dork), so this is quite pleasing to my pallet. Plus it brings back memories of playing with a Spirograph as a child. Loved that toy!

I fear the project is just a bit too much for me, though. I am not very good at 'art projects'. Trust me. Even though this one would require lots of precision and no 'free handing' it, I still fear it would be an epic fail.

Believe me when I say I am a terrible artist. Or call my mom. She'll tell you my artwork as a child was very, um, interesting...

Or take a look at these 2 pictures and tell me: which was drawn by 29 year old Lisa and which was drawn by my 5 1/2 year old Godson/Nephew, James?

When I was showing the drawings we had worked on to my co-workers (I am such a proud aunt!) I kept saying - "wait - did I draw this, or did James?" You can probably tell I did the first one since the names were written quite small (difficult for a kindergartener to write that small). But really, I am about at the same artistic level as my nephews (or perhaps below actually).

But hey - it's important to know your strengths! So I won't be taking on that yarn-inspired wall art project. But I do plan to save that how-to video and maybe in my next house, if I have a wide-open wall, I will commission the help my good friends, Amanda and Brooke, to help me out. They are both very talented at all things artsy!

Are you artistic? Do you enjoy drawing or do you view it as a total chore like I do/did?

Home Decor

Happy Wednesday, everyone! The week is a-flying by. I had 6 hours of meetings yesterday. That is a lot of meetings. I have a love/hate relationship with meetings. They can make the day go by fast but when in the heck am I supposed to get my work done? *sigh*

Anyways, enough boring work talk. Here's something fun for y'all to do! My friend Meg (actually, she's my little 'sis - we were both DGs at UND!) posted this quiz on her blog yesterday! You look at pictures of rooms and say whether you live, love, or are ambivalent about a room - it then tells you what your personal style is!

My personal style is:

67% Traditional Country


22% Cottage Chic


and 11% Wine Country



I'd say the test is fairly accurate. I feel like Wine Country should have been above cottage chic. It still gives you an idea of my personal style. I can just see myself curled up in one of the chairs in the first picture with a good book or a knitting project!

Now if only my condo looked like one of these photos. I must say, I struggle with interior design. I can't even pick out a wall color. My best friend Brooke made the final call on all the colors of my walls, with the exception of my bathroom - and that color was selected by my realtor. I am the queen of indecision when it comes to small decisions like paint color.

Are you good at interior decorating? Or do you struggle like I do? Oh, if you the quiz be sure to tell me what your person style is!!

What's my Hang Up

Confession: I am terrible at interior decorating. Especially if it involves hanging something on the wall! I will hem and haw for HOURS on where to place everything. Then I will usually get out a tape measure, and most likely a level. Because everything has to be perfect. Hanging things on the wall is just not one of my strengths.

And they always say know your strengths - so when I have something that needs to be hung, I call up my friend Brooke. She has a knack for interior decorating, and can hang things on the wall in a matter of minutes - not hours!


So what needed to be hung? 3 prints that I purchased from this Etsy seller! She had a print sale last month and I took advantage of it! Here are the 3 prints I purchased - they were all taken in Paris, which is a city that stole my heart after I visited there in 2008!



And here are the prints after they were hung on my bedroom wall, above my head board.


What do you think? She did a great job, didn't she? She's hung quite a few of my paintings/photos/frames in my house - I am so thankful to have her!

And I'll be even more thankful when she comes over and decorates my Christmas tree later this month! I love having a Christmas tree, but I don't love decorating it. Luckily, she does!

Are you good at interior decorating?

My Chicago Trip - Frank Lloyd Wright

Happy Tuesday! I am back!! I had a fantastic little get away to Chicago, but as always, I am happy to be back at home in Minneapolis. I guess that's a good sign, huh? Must mean I am exactly where I am supposed to be. :)

First things first - I few of you commented and asked where I got my shoes & bag. Here the details!

My flats came from the Gap - I bought them last week and got them on clearance!

My bag came from the Forever 21 accessory store. My friend Katie introduced me to this store last Thursday - everything is so inexpensive there! This bag is the best travel purse - it was big enough to fit my knitting, 2 books, and all the other essential like my wallet and blackberry. And it has lots of pockets. I highly recommend it. And I am totally obsessed with that mustard yellow color!

Anyways, back to the trip. There were many highlights from my trip to Chicago, but one of my favorite parts of the weekend was touring Frank Lloyd Wright's house and studio, and checking out all the homes he designed in the Oak Park neighborhood of Chicago. I highly recommend this and would love to go back someday. I wasn't able to take pictures inside the house/studio, so you'll have to take my word on this - it's amazing! The man was a genius. Oh, and was he ever odd. I have read "Loving Frank" but plan on checking out some other biographies about this interesting man.

I'm going to let my pictures tell the story of this part of my weekend.

To start off, here I am in front of his placard by his studio.


I would love this house! It's not a typical "FLW" house as he favored the "Prairie Style" which I'm actually not totally in love with - I am more of a "Victorian" girl.




Many of his house featured different geometrical shapes - this house has a rectangular foundation with a circle shaped porch, which is very typical for FLW.

This one is a little closer to this "Prairie Style" of architecture.

This one is my favorite! FLW actually did not like the style of this house, but the client requested a Victorian, and FLW really needed the money so he had to listen to the client. FLW had a bit of a spending problem. Apparently he owed the grocer $800 back in the early 1900's. That is quite the tab!

So there you have it - that's the FLW tour portion of my weekend. Aren't the houses amazing? There are probably about 30-40 FLW houses and there are also many, many other cool Victorians around the area. Most of the homes are actually private residences. I can't imagine owning a FLW house - there is one on the market for $900k, which is not too shabby (but certainly out of my budget).

I am definitely a sucker for old homes. I know they often come with a host of problems, but I am willing to overlook that. I currently live in a teeny little condo, but hope to buy a cute little home in this neat area of South Minneapolis. I just love how much character older homes have - like the original wood work, built in book shelves, and the buffets that are often found in the formal dining room.

How about you? Do you prefer newer homes or older homes?

Today's Mantra

I have been in a salty mood at work for like 4 months. Ok, maybe not for that long, but I've had more than a few cranky days. I'm not very good at masking my frustration for things like databases that seem to take forever to calculate and merger changes that I don't understand or agree with.

But today is my Friday since I am taking tomorrow off - and to help fend off any feelings of frustration, the quote on this poster is my mantra for the day. Another favorite of mine from this fabulous Etsy Seller. I could buy a poster for every room of my condo from this girl's site. But I won't because I am kind of putting myself on a strict budget... I really need to make buying a house a reality and not a dream. So time to tighten the belt. My goal is to be in a house by the time I turn 30 on February 6th, 2011. Mom, I will try to not make you guys move me on a ridiculously freezing day in February... But just think - it should be the last time. My dear parents have moved me into more apartments than any other kid in our family. It's possible they've manned more moves for me than for all 4 of my siblings combined! What would I do without them?

Anyways, back to the mantra - here's hoping it will result in a day free of any snarkiness... Perhaps I need to bend the rules of my budget and purchase a copy of this to hang in my cube...

Can I get a table for 4 please?

Yah, so I'm not buying a house in 2009. So that means I need to make my condo work for me. I have needs that my condo isn't fulfilling.


Like having a nice dining room table.


Yes, I am limited on space, but I have room for a new table and chairs. The one I have now is something I bought from a friend who was trying to get rid of his old table and chairs. It has done the trick for the last 5 years, but I need something new. Oh, and it doesn't help that it has a huge burn mark in the shape of my flat iron. Yah, kind of forgot that the flat iron heats up to a temp around 180 degrees. And that's probably not something you want to set on a wood table. So it has a lovely V-shaped burn mark. Classy, huh? Plus my mom has told me I really need a new dining set and she is NOT a frivolous spender. So if she says I need one, I really, really need one.


The crappy thing about buying a table now is that the table I want probably doesn't fit in the space I have... but I guess I just have to buy something and then if it doesn't fit in the next space, I can try to sell it on Craig's List or something.


I am having a dinner party the last weekend of February so I am hoping to have something purchased by then.......

A few of the tables I am thinking about are this one


this one

or maybe this one?

I'd have to see these in person. But for now, they are an option....

A Change of Plans

So, I've alluded to the fact that I am a bit of a planner. Ok, I'm more than a bit of a planner. I'm a serious planner. For instance, when I was going to school at UND, by sophomore year, I basically had my schedule through Senior year planned out. And when I started my MBA at Carlson, one of the first things I did was plan out my 3 years in the program. Certain classes are only offered in the spring/fall, and I had to figure out what to take in the summer, etc. I even had it color coded, and knew what days the classes were going to fall on.

I personally think my planning abilities are one of my better traits. It's a strength of mine. It's something I use is my Finance job. So it's a good thing that I am like this.

But it also kind of sucks. Because life isn't something you plug into an Excel spreadsheet. And while I am very good at planning, I am still working on being flexible. It's something that I honestly can say I struggle with.

Well, today I learned that certain events I had 'forecasted' in this spreadsheet need to be re-forecasted. Changes I saw happening in May or June? Well, those are going to be happening in October. I think. I hope. I don't know for certain, but I have to trust. Everything happens for a reason, and God has a plan. I just wish he could email me that plan so I could have a heads up! ;) Ha.

So for now, things I had planned on happening are sort of on hold... I won't be listing my condo on Feb 1st. I probably won't be buying a house in 2009. I won't be taking that vacation to Peru. Instead, I am just going to hold tight. I am going to employ the 'wait and see' approach. I never do this. It's going to be a stretch assignment for me. But it's good to challenge ourselves.

I'm a bit bummed about this. But there are some upsides:

- I won't have to move while in grad school
- When I return from AZ, I won't have to work like a mad woman to finish the organizational projects I was working on
- I won't have to leave my house in 'showing condition' every morning starting Feb 1st. Instead I can leave it looking 'lived in'.

I have a tendency to sort of rush into things head first. Yes, I analyze the heck out of things, but I sort of have a 'bull in a China closet' approach at times. So hopefully taking a step back and putting the spreadsheets on hold will have a positive effect on 2009. I guess I have no choice to but to 'wait and see' if that is the case...

Designed to Sell Part 2

I decided to put my condo on the market last month, and since then I have been channeling my Grandma Valeria. And my mom. What does this mean, you might ask? I have been cleaning like a mad woman. Seriously. I bet I have spent at least 20 hours cleaning out closets & putting things in storage in an attempt to make my 690 square foot condo appear more spacious. And if it doesn't work, the organization will be good for me.


I live in this tiny space, but collect things like I live in a 4,000 square foot home. Some habits have been picked up along the way, some habits I acquired from my parents. For instance, every time I buy a pair of shoes or get some checks in the mail, I keep the box so that I will have something to wrap presents in. My parents did this but had a crawl space to store the boxes in... Yah, I don't. And newsflash - the number of pairs of shoes I buy each year (let's not assign a number, it's not pretty...) does not equal the number of gifts I give/presents I ship each year. I didn't count but I am going to guesstimate that I had upwards of 30 shoe boxes in my closet. In addition to holding onto these shoe boxes, I also hold onto shopping bags. They come in handy when packing for a trip home, but criminy, I had way too many. Seriously. See the photo below.




It's official. I am a bag lady. I did find some nice 'vintage' bags - like from Marshall Fields (dang, I miss that store. Macys sucks!!)

So a lot of what I have found in my closets has been thrown away or donated to goodwill. This is just part of the pile o' stuff!

I actually have enjoyed cleaning out my closets. When I was in high school, my mom could always tell when I was going through a break-up or about to go through one, as I'd start going through my closets, organizing them & purging them of things I no longer wanted/needed. I've been through a few break-ups since moving into this condo but no longer use the 'closet cleaning coping strategy'.

All the hard work has paid off though and the results are very striking (in my opinion). My bedroom closet went from this

and this

To this

and this

Ok, so I won't bore you with more pictures of all the closets/cupboards/etc. I'm getting close to being done (I think). My goal is to list my condo by Feb 1st... I am out of town the next 3 weekends so we'll see how that all works out!

Oh, and am I the only person who has A LOT of stuff in their cupboards/fridge that are past their expiration date? Seriously - I bet I threw away an entire garbage bag of stuff...

Designed to Sell - Part 1

As I mentioned a few posts back, I am preparing to put my condo on the market. I don't need to do a whole lot to it - just a few little tweaks and hopefully it'll look good enough to catch the eye of a first-time home buyer, hoping to take the plunge!

My parents introduced me to HGTV years ago. All I can say is that it's addicting. It's like crack cocaine for any person who owns a home or aspires to own a home. It's the gateway drug to all sorts of things... You start thinking - hmm, maybe I should swap out those light fixtures.... and while I'm at it, I might as well add some wall sconces... and jeez, maybe the ceiling fan should change too? And now if I change the light fixtures in the kitchen, I should probably replace the hardware on the cupboards, but if I am going to do that, I might as well gut the kitchen, right?

Ok, that is the path my mind takes after watching shows on that channel, but I also know that this condo is temporary, and I likely will lose money when I sell, so this prevents me from taking things too far.

So far, I've done one major project: I replaced the flooring in my living room/kitchen/dining room last May. I say I, but I should say my cousin Ryan. I was his handy assistant, but I can't take any of the credit. With his help, we transformed my living room from this

to this

and my kitchen from this

To this

Unfortunately, the pictures don't come close to doing the transformation justice! When I decided to change the flooring, I did it because I wanted to like my place better... but hopefully those changes will attract a buyer to check my little casa out.

After deciding to put my place on the market, the only change that my realtor suggested was the re-painting of my bathroom from a girly lilac to a gender-neutral blue. Best part is that he told me what color to paint it. You may know that I am sort of a control freak, but guess what - when it comes to paint colors, I can't make a decision on my own for the life of me. Seriously. I can make major decisions like buying a house or car, accepting a job offer, or picking a grad school without really batting an eyelash. But put me in front of a wall of paint chips and I am a picture of indecision. Which is really counter intuitive. You could easily change paint colors multiple times and really not be out that much money. Change your mind about a house or a car in 6 months? Ouch! I won't even go into the financial ramifications such as depreciation & Capital Gains taxes... So why can I make a decision that I can't really turn back on, but I can't make decisions that are very easy to reverse??? Anybody out there w/ a psych degree, feel free to hypothesize...

Luckily my friend Brooke helped picked out my kitchen, bedroom, and living room wall colors (thanks Brooke, I don't have to re-paint those rooms!). I told my mom I wanted a purple bathroom and she helped me select a color. Why purple? Dang good question. I think I went w/ purple because I had a purple robe. Yah. Makes sense to pick a bathroom paint color based on the color of your robe, right? What can I say - all rational thoughts go out the window when a color choice must be made!!!

So back to Zeb, my wonder-realtor. He told me what color to paint it & said it was very 'Pottery Barn' and had gone over well with buyers in the past. Then he sort of glanced around my condo, and said, 'um, so how are you at painting?' (he probably saw the touch-ups I had to do around the ceiling, and such). I told him, honestly, I suck. I think I got that from my Dad. My dad has many talents, but painting isn't one of them!!! My mom has a conspiracy theory - she thinks he does a REALLY bad job to ensure he is not asked to help again (smart move, dad)

After my honest reply, he recommended 'out-sourcing' it to a guy he knows. Part of me felt guilty about paying someone to paint my bathroom... but then I thought of how busy I'd be between now & February. Between Christmas/NYE and 2 out-of-town trips in January, time is going to be a precious commodity.... so I called him up, and he was able to come within a week. Sweet. He brought the paint with and everything. Love it.

So I left the house this morning not knowing what color my bathroom would be when I returned. I had googled the paint color online (Kentucky Haze by Benjamin Moore), but that doesn't really give you a great idea of what to expect. I came home and was pleasantly surprised!

My bathroom went from this

to this.

Again, the pictures don't do it justice... especially since it's tough to take pictures in my teeny, tiny bathroom!!! The color actually looks very similar to the bridesmaid dresses from Brooke's wedding, pictured below:

And yes, that is me on the left. Amazing how running a marathon will transform your body. Last night I dreamed that I ran a 3 hour marathon (practically impossible) so perhaps there is another marathon in my future... Marathon or not, I will look like that again, hopefully by 8/8/09 when Abby gets married...

Lastly, I had my paint guy change out the blinds in my bedroom. I have actually had some bamboo blinds for over a year. I bought them while at Ikea with a certain ex-boyfriend who, at the time, claimed he would hang them... but then, months down the road, he tried to argue that the wall would not support them. Right. Because they would manufacture blinds that were unhangable. I digress...

So my bedroom window went from this

to this (still have a piece that I need to stick on the front so ignore the black stuff at the top)

It'll look better once I get the curtain rod back up and find a different window treatment, but you get the general idea (the cloth of the roman blinds was stained from rain water that got on it, so they HAD to go).

So there you have it - round 1 of the improvement process. I am happy to say, the remaining work that needs to be done involves cleaning closets, decluttering my kitchen, and making the place look cozy... All things that don't require a steady hand or any power tools. Thank God. A girl like me needs a rent-a-husband or something...

** Disclaimer **

Since announcing my intent to purchase a home, I have been receiving some 'unsolicited advice' from men (and only men, oddly enough) who think buying a house and all that it entails is just something I'm not prepared to do. So I better make this clear: the post above is a dramatization of the events of my life, written so that you will hopefully laugh and enjoy this long post. Truth be told - I'm certainly capable of using a cordless drill. It's just not something I enjoy doing. I don't judge you for not reconciling your bank statement (to the pennny, as I do), so don't judge me for hiring out these sort of tasks.

When/if I purchase a home, I am probably going to ask my handy (and very patient) uncle Paul Geier to give me a 'Power Tools 101' course so I will be prepared to handle these home-improvement tasks on my own. And while we're at it, maybe he can teach me how to parallel park. Because I don't know how to do that either.