Diary No. 10

It’s been a hot minute since my last diary post. I skipped a week to announce that we bought a house in the suburbs. So lots to catch up on….

I will definitely miss being “neighbors” with Maddie and her husband Ryan. Our summer schedules are kind of exactly opposite right now (when we’re in town, they’re out) so we haven’t had them out to our house yet. Before we closed, I popped over to Maddie’s for a nice evening on the balcony. It started to rain so we just scooted the chairs as far out of the drizzle as possible and stayed out there for quite a bit. They have the best view of the city!

After the movers loaded the last box into their truck, the dogs and I loaded into the Subaru and made our (very quick ha) journey out to Madison. We had about thirty minutes before the moving truck showed up and it felt SO surreal to stand in the house completely empty anticipating what was to come.

One of the first mornings in the house!!! I will remember that feeling forever. Having a full kitchen to cook in, sitting out back while the dogs ran around. Mike and I just kept looking at each other like, “this is real! this is our life!!” We’re both so happy.

Even with boxes everywhere, we tried to make everything feel as normal as possible as quickly as possible and I think it worked! It felt more and more like home with every passing minute.

I have been dreaming of buying a house forever and, since I did not have said house or anywhere to store things for said house, I resisted the urge on buying ANYTHING for it. Especially the past few months where I knew we’d be closing, I kept holding off and holding off. (I didn’t want to have to move/store anything that would be finding a new home in a few weeks.) I kept telling Kelly that the first thing I was going to buy was a ginger jar. So, on Saturday after we had unpacked most of the boxes, I went straight out to HomeGoods to just buy one. I don’t know why I felt so strongly about it and they were only like $20, but… I think it just made it feel more real!

I’m using most of the furniture I already owned for now. I want to make sure what we have in the house are things that we LOVE. And as much as I wish things could just be *snap* done right now, I’d rather take my time and make the house a home over time. (Here’s some of my inspiration for the decorating!)

During one of our many Home Depot runs, we picked up a flag for the front of the house and then I added some bunting to celebrate the Fourth of July. We have a landscaper coming out soon so I can’t wait to dream up plans for flowers and plants. What’s there right now works but it’s definitely on the sparse side of things.

I just have to share these peonies from Whole Foods again. They’re H U G E. I sent this to Mike’s sister (peonies are her favorite) with my hand just to show the size.

The pups are adjusting amazingly to the new house. I knew they would but still kind of worried that they would be confused. They were stuck to me like velcro for about 48 hours but now they feel right at home. Once I set up their favorite blankets on the couch, I think they could have been anywhere in the world and just fine!

I FINALLY got my hair cut!!! Since I graduated from college, I’ve still only been getting my hair cut in Tampa by our family friend. I haven’t trusted anyone else. I knew, though, that since we were moving to a new town and planting serious roots that it was time to find someone locally. So many people recommended Bloom in Morristown and it was a great experience. I loved how it turned out; I feel like a new woman!

Two of my friends and I threw Julia a sweet baby shower down in Charleston. We did it an organic nail salon and it was so lovely. Very low key and nice to catch up with everyone and shower Julia with love. I had planned to make it a very short trip, flying down and coming back in the same day…. and then had my evening flight canceled. I ended up getting on the first flight out in the morning so I just stayed in an airport hotel where I ordered all the room service fries and watched a Sex and the City movie on demand.

We can walk to the local ice cream shop and about 10 minutes after dinner every night I start to think about getting a scoop. It’s a terrible (and amazing) habit. One fun thing is how many neighbors we end up running into either in or just outside of the shop. Everyone goes!

Mike and I came down the shore to celebrate the Fourth with his family. As much as I love the beach, sitting on the porch with a book (and their lab) is my favorite part.  

And then I also love sitting inside with a newborn baby. My hearttttttttt!

Tay and I coincidentally packed these dresses and we couldn’t resist a good twining moment!!!