30 Before 30: Buy a House!

Spoiler Alert: Here's our house!

And here we go, the next (much overdue) post!  Taylor and I decided late last year after he secured his full-time job that we wanted to start looking at a more permanent place to live.  Apartment living, especially with a dog who needed to be taken out on a leash every few hours rain or shine, was getting old.

We also felt like the slump in the housing market and the low interest rates wouldn't last forever, so once the new year hit, we decided to start thinking about it.  We first dipped our toe in the water by going to an open house on a Sunday afternoon.  Here's the house

It was cute, cheap, and had a lot of potential including an addition off the back that gave it a 4th bedroom and a big family room with a fire place.  However, after thinking about it for a while, we realized that unfortunately the neighborhood just wasn't what we wanted.  It's on the edge of a somewhat rough area on the Ann Arbor/Ypsi border and just wasn't quite what we wanted.

However something very good did come of the open house!  We met our realtor Jaimie, who was holding the open house.  She was very sweet, young, and definitely understood what we were looking for, so without much looking around, we started working with her in January.

Before our first day out with Jaimie, we did a "just for fun" day of open houses around the highly-desirable Burns Park neighborhood of Ann Arbor.  It was a good reality check and helped us to figure out what we wanted.  We started watching the MLS listings and when we had about 5 or so houses we really wanted to see, we set up a Saturday to go out hunting in the snow with Jaimie.  

Our first day of house hunting was fun!  We saw about 4-5 places.  One of them I was very excited about because of its location and price. We had the viewing all set up, but when we got there, it turned out that they had already accepted an offer, in about 3 days on the market!  Crazy! 

We were bummed, but not deterred.  After seeing a few of the neighborhoods that had houses like what we were looking for, we narrowed down a little further the areas that we were actually interested in.  And then we waited.  Basically, once you see everything in your price range, you just have to wait for new houses to come on the market.  Then one day, while I was in New York for work, a listing popped up that looked just perfect.  I e-mailed our realtor and we went to see it the next day when I got home.  Before we even got to see it, they already had 3 offers and one more coming in and had set a deadline for any more offers of the next day. So when we got there that Thursday night, it was decision time.

The front of our house

And. We. Loved. It.  Hook line and sinker I wanted it, it was mine, give it to me now.  :)  It has 3 bedrooms, 2 upstairs original rooms and a basement bedroom with attached bath that is a perfect "inlaws" suite.  The hard is big, and the whole back half of the house has an 8-foot addition that makes for a nice large master bedroom, bathroom and a HUGE kitchen complete with breakfast bar.  The house isn't huge, just 1,600 square feet, but it was perfect for us :)

We headed straight back to Jaimie's office and put together an offer.  They were asking $175,000 and given that they had multiple offers, Jaimie suggested that we go in at Asking Price and include something I had never heard of called an escalation clause.  Basically it said that we would beat any verified offer (meaning they would have to show proof of it) by $1,000 up to a ceiling price, which we set at $190,000 (I told you I wanted it!).

We put in the offer and waited.  They came back a couple of days later saying that we were their top choice offer, but with some conditions.  First, they has invoked the escalation clause to $186,000 because they had another offer at asking with an escalation clause to $185,000.  They also put in a note that we would agree to pay this price regardless of appraisal.  Now if you've ever bought a house, you know this is unheard of, but apparently this is what happens in a market when houses are going up in value quickly but appraisers haven't yet caught up to what the market is willing to pay.  You see, banks won't loan more money than the appraised value of a house, and typically that works in the buyer's favor because if the house appraises lower than the accepted offer, then get to negotiate down.  However, with this clause they were basically saying that they wouldn't negotiate in anticipation of a low appraisal and wanting to make sure they still got their money.  We decided to accept this point with a $10,000 cap meaning that we would only pay $10,000 over appraisal.

And then we waited for the appraisal.  And waited.  And waited.  FINALLY it came back right at asking, $175,000.  Which was kind of the worst case scenario for us because 1) we would have to come up with the full $10,000 out of pocket and 2) we didn't get much of a break on the price.  Womp Womp!  So at this point, despite being the one who insisted we get this house from the beginning, I decided to play hardball and try to see if we couldn't work something out.  So I asked our realtor to go back to the sellers and basically plead for mercy and split the difference with us.  Since they were getting the absolute best scenario and were anxious to close, I felt it was only fair. We asked them to meet us at $181,500 and they agreed.  So that was our final price.  

The inspection went well, with only a small electrical issue noted, and we closed on our first house and the single greatest expenditure of our lives on March 16, 2013.  My brother and his friend helped us move that day for some pizza, beer, and $50 each and before we knew it, we were homeowners! 

Here are some pictures of our little abode:

Living Room

Another view of our bedroom

Our bedroom and my favorite picture!

Kitchen

Basement entertainment room

Downstairs guest bedroom

Downstairs guest bathroom

One of our favorite things about this house is our back yard, which has quickly become Nash's beloved domain:

He is so good about just hanging out out there and has never jumped the fence or anything!

Some of our favorite memories in our house so far:

• Our housewarming party in April that my mom came for
• Having campfires in the backyard fire pit that the previous owners left for us
• Cooking out on the 4th of July with our friends Susie and Sundar and setting off (legal) fireworks in the front yard
• Learning to love to cook in my big kitchen
• Getting tile installed on our steps landing, our much-needed first home improvement
• Hosting our families and lots of friends for graduation, holidays, football games, reunions, and just for fun
• Exploring the neighborhood with Nashville
• Playing tennis on the court that you can see from our backyard!
• Growing tomatoes in our garden (and failing at every other thing we planted)
• Laying in the hammock that we got on our trip to Honduras in March
• Decorating for our first Christmas! - Another thing I love about having our own house in a real neighborhood is the ability to decorate for Christmas.  Here are our first-year Christmas lights:

Our House with Christmas Lights!

And here is our first Christmas Tree, which we chopped down ourselves this past weekend:

At the tree farm!

Sorry for the delay in posting this, but I hope you enjoyed learning about our new little home.  First major project, nursery! :)

A lot can happen in 4 years!

Today is Taylor and I's (mine and Taylor's?  I don't know!) 4th wedding anniversary.

Four years ago today, on a rainy New York City afternoon, we made it official and then danced the night away.  Here are my posts about that entire weekend.

Before the wedding: http://vandysanctus.blogspot.com/2009/11/im-married.html
Wedding day: http://vandysanctus.blogspot.com/2009/11/rest-of-wedding-highlights.html

 And I just uploaded the beautiful slideshow that our photographer, Kim Koluch created for us:

It really does capture that day better than any words I could write.  And the music is just PERFECT!

This year I am particularly mushy over our anniversary.  I don't know if it's all the milestones this year: Taylor graduating from Business School, buying our first house, some family health issues we've had this year or the fact that I'm pregnant, but this year just feels monumental in a lot of ways.

What?

Did I say something shocking?  Oh, right, WE'RE HAVING A BABY!  And I think this deserves to be on my 30 Before I'm No Longer 30 List, for sure :)  Let's call it....procreate.  And for your information, this was accomplished before I actually turned 30, technically, but enough about that.

The newest member of the family is scheduled to arrive April 16 or thereabouts.  Most of you probably already know this from facebook, but since this blog is my chronicle of my life, I'm going to document it here as well. 

So I found out about baby on August 7th, the day before I left for a bachelorette party in Nashville.  Looking at the pictures, I'd say you wouldn't have known that I wasn't drinking :)  We still had a blast (and stayed out until 3 and 4am!).

Then, I managed to keep the news mum for a month while I convinced my mom to come to St. Louis with me to visit Taryn.  I had huge plans to tell them in person, and THEN Taryn got engaged the week before we went.  It was perfect because we got to celebrate both things in person!

I agonized for a long time over how to surprise my mom and Taryn and settled on a silly idea.  I decided to buy them each a calendar, and on my due date I wrote "Become and Aunt!" and "Become a Grandma!" and I inserted a little photo of my first ultrasound.  You can kind of see the baby, that little shape in the top of the dark area shaped like a footprint.  We're calling the baby gummi bear for now due to its shape.

Anyway, so I did that and took the calendars with me to St. Louis.  My mom and I put together a little gift bag for Taryn and I managed to sneak the calendar in there then casually give one to my mom, too, so they could open them at the same time.  And here's what happened:

Pretty priceless if I do say so myself :) That same day, my sister asked me to be her Maid of Honor.  It was truly a special day.

 It was another month before we made it "facebook official".  Here are those announcements:

Enjoying one of the perks. This additional benefit is expected to arrive in April 2014!

Thank you all for your congratulations! I think Nashville is excited to be a big brother, but he definitely doesn't realize that his days as the (big) baby of the family are numbered.

 So there you have it!  :)

30 Before 30: Travel to San Francisco

At this point, I can't blame anyone who is not reading this blog.  Not only has it been almost 3 months since I blogged, but my 30th birthday came and went with not a peep!   Unacceptable!  Well, as has been a theme on this 30 Before 30 endeavor, it's my party (list) and I'll cry (modify) if I want to :)  So my new rule is simple, 30 Before 30 actually means 30 Before I'm No Longer 30.  See what I did there?  With just 3 words, I added a whole year to my time to complete my quest!  And frankly, I don't need the full year, because there are actually some items that I've done and just haven't blogged about (I'll get to those soon).  I did, however, need an extra month + to make it to the subject of this post: Travel to San Francisco!!

I knew all along that this one was going to be tough.  Finding time for a domestic vacation in between all of our international vacations and obligatory domestic trips (for weddings, family events, work, you name it), PLUS doing so in such a way as to do San Francisco justice was no small feat.  Back in April, in fact, my friend Kim e-mailed me to ask if Taylor and I would be interested in a Labor Day trip to San Francisco with them.  It was to be the final leg in their 4-month (yes, you read that right) summer of travelling before they move to Oxford, England for her husband Will to attend business school.  My first thought when she asked me was "but that is after I turn 30! It won't count!" Then I actually started looking at my schedule for the summer and also realized 1) We weren't going to make it before I turned 30 anyway and 2) even Labor Day was a stretch. I told her that we would consider it, but that our schedule and budget were a little tight so it would be a last-minute decision. 

Fast forward over 4 months, less than two weeks before Labor Day.  I received my annual bonus at work and decided that I knew the perfect thing to put it toward, a trip to San Francisco!!  So, we booked our flights (for a pretty penny since it was only 12 days before), found lodging, and decided to tag along for the trip after all.  Boy am I glad we did!

Our trip to San Fran started Thursday night with a very late arrival to Oakland Airport.  We didn't get to our lodging until  2am San Fran time, which is 5am Eastern time, so needless to say we were TIRED.  The place was great, though.  It was a pretty small 1-bedroom apartment, but it had everything we needed and 2 beds, so we all crashed pretty quickly.

Friday, August 30
On Friday morning, we woke up and headed up to Napa for a day of wine tasting!  First things first, though, we needed coffee.  After getting lost in our own neighborhood, we decided it best to just follow the GPS and head up to Napa.  Luckily, on the way, we saw a coffee place called Philz and decided to give it a try.  Boy are we glad we did!  Philz makes only one-at-a-time pourover coffee and they have some great flavors.  The boys took a liking to the Tantalizing Turkish, which comes accented with mint.  I ordered the Philtered Soul, which had Hazelnut, and Kim chose the suggestively-named Silken Splendor.  YUM.  We re-visited Philz every day thereafter.

The trip to Napa had lots of traffic, but not as much as if we had gone on Saturday or Sunday, so we were happy with our choice.  We spent the day visiting 4 different wineries and meeting the characters that worked at them.  We also learned a little about the turf wars and grudges in Napa.  So dramatic :)  The wine and views were great, and after that we headed to explore a little of downtown Napa.  We stopped at a great little market and a burger and shake place before driving back in to San Francisco for pizza at Tony's before heading back for bed.  The only photos I took in Napa were of grapes:

Saturday, August 31
On Saturday, we had our first official day of exploring San Fran.  We started by grabbing coffee at Philz (of course) and then returning our rental car.  Next stop: Fisherman's Wharf to catch a ferry to Sausalito and on to Muir Woods.  We arrived at Fisherman's Wharf to find that the next ferry wasn't for an hour, so we took some time to check out the seals, walk around the area, and even saunter over to Ghiradelli Square and have some ice cream (chocolate of course).

Chocolate ice cream!

Then, we hopped the ferry to Sausalito, which was awesome because it went past both the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz along the way:

The city as we depart

Alcatraz aka "The Rock"

In Sausalito, we stopped for a quick bite to eat before heading to the shuttle to Muir Woods...only to realize we missed it!!  That's right, we missed the last shuttle so instead of going to Muir Woods, we grabbed some wine at a little gallery/wine bar overlooking the water before catching the next ferry back to San Fran.

On our way back to our apartment from the ferry, we stopped to rent bikes, which we planned to use on Sunday for all of our touring.  The bike shop is located in this hipster area of town that I can't remember then name of.  A lot of the business are actually housed in shipping containers (the one behind us int he below photo, for example).  The bike shop was no different.  I had been calling them but unable to reach them, so when we got there, I asked why they hadn't been picking up their phone.  The bearded guy running the place gestured toward the ground where a cell phone was hooked up to a large contraption and was like, "Oh, for some reason the solar panel here isn't charging it, so we aren't able to get calls."  Really?!  In the cloudiest city in the country you choose to run your business on a solar panel?  Genius! :)

No one told me that my helmet looked silly until after we were done riding, thanks guys!

We rode the bikes back to our apartment to begin to plot out our plans for the evening.  We decided to go to dinner at a dim sum restaurant called Mama Ji's.  It came well-reviewed on Yelp (despite it's paltry 75 reviews, which is like zero in San Francisco, the land of Yelp).  The restaurant was crowded but nice.  They served Belgian beer, which suited us all fine.  The food was really good and we were shocked to learn that they had only been open 3 months.  All-in-all it was a great experience.

After dinner, we headed to Top of the Mark, a bar on the top floor of a beautiful old hotel in downtown.  We had a drink and watched a crew of middle-aged revelers dance in ways that made me almost confident enough to go get my groove on myself.  But I contained myself and we left after a drink to get home and get to bed for an early morning.

Sunday, September 1
Sunday morning, we had to be out of the apartment on our bikes by 8am for a 9am 5k that we had signed up for in Golden Gate Park.  The run was very small, maybe 100 people, but the weather was great and it was an awesome way to see the park on foot.  After the race, we hopped back on our bikes and went to a coffee shop for some coffee and breakfast (this is the only day we didn't go to Philz!).  After coffee, we biked over to Haight Ashbury, the area famous for being the center of the 70s hippy/flower child movement.  We stopped in the famous Amoeba Music and a few other stores.

We just missed Maddie of http://maddieonthings.com/

 

After Haight Ashbury, we biked over to the famous Alamo Square Park, which is the site of the beginning montage of Full House and the location of the "Painted Ladies" row houses:

Finally, we headed up to the Presidio near the Golden Gate Bridge (but it was foggy) and to see Lombard Street, the most curvy street in the world.  Unfortunately, you can't go down it by bike, so after walking up the VERY steep hill to the top, we barely could get a photo of it.  Luckily, we were able to get a couple more views of the bridge.

When we finished at Lombard Street, we realized that Will's bike had a flat tire, so Will and Kim took a bus (luckily they let you put your bike on the front) and Taylor and I rode back to the bike shop to return our bikes.  Across the street from the bike shop was a little ice cream place that, like Philz, makes your ice cream one at a time using actual cream, flavorings and liquid nitrogen.  Sounds like a good idea in practice, but what it really means is a LONG wait for what amounts to basically a regular scoop of ice cream.  We were underwhelmed, but at least we tried it!

After a day of biking around hilly San Francisco, we were BEAT, so we headed back to the apartment to get set for dinner. We finally got to venture to one of the Mission District's famous burrito joints.  Our bike guy recommend El Farolito, so to there we went!  It was simple and simply amazing food!  The joint was crowded, dirty, and just exactly what you need after a crazy day of biking.  We stuffed ourselves and stopped at a cute corner bar before heading back and passing out.

Monday, September 2
Our last day in San Fran was really spent more like locals than tourists.  We grabbed coffee at Philz (and even got to see Phil in the flesh!!!!):

Then, we did some shopping, mostly things that Kim and Will needed to get before their big trip to England.  It was nice to just relax and take in the city with no real agenda.  By mid-afternoon, we headed back to the apartment, packed up our things, and hit a local taco joint for dinner before heading to the airport for our red eye flight back to Detroit!

Thanks so much to Kim and Will for inviting us on a fantastic trip!!

30 Before 30: Take an amazing vacation!

We did it!  We took a month-long trip to Southeast Asia and it was a blast!

Here are my trip blogs in order!

1. Singapore - One fun-filled day in Asia-lite
2. Railay, Thailand - Gorgeous cliffs plummeting into the ocean
3. Bandung - Visiting the birthplace of Taylor's dad
4. Surabaya - Where I became a part-time model for a hotel!
5. Yogykarta - Temples and Batik and Becaks, oh my!
6. Bali, Part 1 - Relaxing in Bali with our friends JP and Lydia
7. Lombok and Gili Meno - Beautiful beaches and relaxing
8. Jakarta (Wedding #1) - Muriel and Kennedy's traditional wedding
9. Pacet - Catching up with old friends in Taylor's village
10. Bali, Part 2 (Wedding #2) - Muriel and Kennedy's (amazing) white wedding

By my count:

• 1,832 photos on our new camera
• 28 pages of travel journal (single spaced, typed)
• ~25 friends visited or traveled with
• 13 flights (5 to get to Asia and back and 8 in between cities in Asia)
• 12 large Bintangs (each)
• 11 different hotels for a total of 28 nights
• 10+ gorgeous beaches
• 8 cities visited (Singapore, Krabi (Thailand) and the rest in Indonesia: Bandung, Surabaya, Yogykarta, Bali, Lombok, Jakarta)
• 7 babies held (and photographed with)
• 2 beautiful weddings
• 1 engagement!
• 0 regrets (cliche? Oh well!)

30 Before 30: Our long trip! Bali Part 2!

June 21, 2013 – Surabaya back to Bali

We arrived in Ubud around 2pm, which was when our friend Muriel’s wedding brunch was starting.   The hotel was really cute and small and hard to find, but it was really pretty among the rice patties.  Our room had a king bed with mosquito nets and French doors leading right out to the rice.  It also had a small infinity pool overlooking the rice patties on the other side of the building.  Just beautiful!

Pool

View from our room

We were unable to secure a cab to the brunch location, so we decided to walk to the main road leading to the brunch and hire a couple of teenagers to drive us on their motorcycles the rest of the way.  It was fun, but it was pretty uncomfortable for me because I was wearing a dress and couldn’t ride side-saddle.  Should have thought of that! However, the ride was beautiful, through lush green hills and rice patties.  After about 10 minutes, we arrived at the villa where the brunch was taking place.  We weren't sure what to expect, but it was BEAUTIFUL!

Basically, it was one central villa where the brunch was taking place which had an infinity pool and beautiful views of (shocker) more rice patties!  The rest of the property consisted of 4 other villas, each with two bedrooms.  We assumed this was a rented space, but Muriel told us later that it was actually her Aunt’s vacation home!  Basically, she and a few other families share access to the place kind of like a time share.  Our friends Maren and Christine were also there and Maren told us that this is basically her dream, to have a vacation compound with all of her friends.  I think it is now my dream too!  Maybe not in Bali, but somewhere!

The villa's infinity pool

They had tables set up and drinks available.  Despite arriving at 3:15 for a brunch that started at 2pm, we were the first guests there.  They had tables set up and drinks available.

View of the main villa

The brunch was long and relaxing.  Everyone arrived shortly after we did and we ate soon after that.  After food, we just lounged around the pool, watched the sunset, and hung out until after dark.  

Beautiful flowers

Yummy food!

Taylor and I in front of the Villa

All the Ross people

Then, we headed back to our hotel to re-group before exploring Ubud.  When we returned to our hotel, there was a GIANT gecko, probably a foot long on the wall.  We tried to shush it out, but it just ran behind the wardrobe and wouldn't come out.  Of course I was terrified that I would wake up with a gecko on my face, so I was hoping it would leave the room while we were gone.  Well, we don’t know if it left, but we never saw it again and I was (eventually) able to sleep!

Our hotel taxi took us to central Ubud and dropped us out and we went in search of some souvenirs and a place to grab a drink.  We ended up buying some handmade Bali soaps for our subletters and a small clutch for me to use for the wedding.  Then, we grabbed a drink (rose wine for me and a beer for Taylor) and headed back toward our hotel for some sleep.

June 22, 2013 – Bali – our last day and Muriel’s Bali Wedding Day

We woke up to the beautiful view over the rice patties and ordered breakfast, which they deliver to your balcony.

It was beautiful and we ate peacefully before hiring a car to take us to our final hotel of the trip in Nusa Dua, near Muriel’s wedding venue.  We arrived at the Laguna Resort and were blessedly able to check in to our room immediately despite the fact that it was noon.  Our room had a little balcony and a view of the lagoon, the pool and a little slice of ocean.  The hotel grounds were beautiful.

View from our room

We immediately suited up (bathing suited, that is) and headed out to enjoy the pool and beach.  The beach had beautiful sand and the water was very calm.  We waded out a bit to cool off and then laid on some beach chairs until we got too hot to stay in the sun and retreated to some shady chairs by the pool.  After some swimming, we laid down in the shade and took a nap before heading up to our room to get ready for Muriel’s wedding.

The beach

The wedding took place at the Alila Villas Uluawtu.  Uluwatu is the southwest corner of Bali and is known for beautiful sunsets over high cliffs in addition to great waves for surfing.  The resort is absolutely beautiful.  Everything is super modern and sleek, it was just beautiful.

The main pool

When we got there, probably half of the guests were already there, but despite the fact that we were 10 minutes late, the wedding was nowhere near starting.  Luckily, this provided a chance to take lots of photos and enjoy the grenadine and sprite spritzers that they were providing.

The venue

Taylor and I before the wedding

Dave borrowing a sarong from one of the waiters

At around 5pm, the wedding planners (there must have been 20 of them) announced that we were about to start and we all headed to the sunset cabana, the biggest of all the cabanas and right on the cliffs overlooking the water.

Waiting for the ceremony to start

Muriel looked absolutely gorgeous.  She had a birdcage veil (just like I did!) and a beautiful strapless ballgown by Reem Acra.  Her hair and makeup were stunning.

The bride entering

The ceremony was very short and sweet with tender touches such as a reading by our friend Christine and the bride and groom reading their own vows.  They exited the cabana by asking all the guests to line up on the aisle and giving us flower petals to shower on the new couple. 

The bride after the ceremony.  Gorgeous!

Immediately after the ceremony, we were served cocktails and passed hors d’oeuvers while everyone took more photos.  After about 45 minutes, we were asked to finish our drinks and head to the villa for the reception.

With the bride and groom!

The villa was a large, super-chic room with couches and koi ponds surrounded by 4 bedrooms and a couple of bathrooms.  The grand room lead out into a yard right on the cliffs where they had two long tables set up, candles everywhere (including floating in the pool!) and a criss-cross of hanging globe lights over it all.  Further beyond there was a (ridiculously well-stocked, we later found out) bar and a dance floor.

The setup

A quiet moment for the bride and groom

When we finished dinner, we were told that the open bar, dessert buffet and dance floor were open.  For dessert, there were delicious chocolate cake, apple crumble, crème brulee and tiramisu.  The bar was extremely comprehensive, they were even able to make a mojito!  They also were pouring shots constantly all night (including shots of Gentleman Jack!).  The dancing was really great, owed to the fact that Nigerians and Indonesians both know how to boogie quite well!

Taylor and I stayed until about 11:30 when we called a cab because we wanted to make sure we got to bed so we could get up and enjoy the last hours of our trip at our beautiful hotel!

June 23 2013 – Our last day…Bali to NYC

We wanted to get up for sunrise, but I was just too tired, so we slept until 7:30am.  We got up and headed straight out for a walk on the beach  after which we commenced the same pattern as the previous day.  Beach, sun, shade, pool, repeat.

Entrance to our resort

The beach :)

We also broke it up with some breakfast and a brief walk around the resort where we saw a HUGE lizard.  I first spotted it when it was swimming (yes, swimming) through a lagoon.  It looked like a snake, but then it climbed out of the pool and I realized it was a lizard.  It was probably 3 feet long not including it’s tail and looked like a komodo dragon (a monitor lizard).  There were two people sunbathing on the lagoon and when I got our my camera to try to take a photo, I felt compelled to explain that I was not photographing them but the giant lizard swimming 5 feet away.  They did not find this as comforting as I thought they would!

We headed back to our room begrudgingly at 12:30pm and got a cab to the Denpasar airport in Bali at 1:30pm for our 4pm flight.  Although we were sad to leave, we were really looking forward to being home in our own bed after 11 different hotels and 28 nights!

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