Author Archives: CT

Hey all.  We’ve been living in a hotel in Phoenix for twelve days now . . . but who’s counting.  I haven’t been a very good blogger despite my confinement and internet access.  So, back to the saga, shall we?

I left off with the house being emptied out, one large box on a guy’s back at a time.

Music Room on a random day before moving:

Music Room on move out day (bad selfie):

It was crazy to see the house all emptied out and to be honest, the Sherwin Williams Bosporus blue we had painted the music room and kitchen now looked a lot less sophisticated without any furnishings.  Once everything was empty, we ended up running up to Target to get a new shower curtain – the ivory sadness that is our shower liner did not look so great stark naked next to the white bead board.  So now the house is empty and we have had two more showings (and another tomorrow!)  but no offers.  The house has only been on the market for one month but I was hoping someone would come along already and fall in love with the old gal like JT and I did.

Next in the story – road trip.  My mom, Sophie, Shenanigan and me all piled into the car at 5:00 in the morning the next day and headed south by southwest.  We drove for seventeen hours and finally rested our weary heads in Albuquerque, New Mexico that night.  The dogs were little champs and did pretty good in the car.  Having an extra set of hands and another driver really made the difference on this trip though, so big kudos to my mom for her tireless help and dedication to getting us to AZ safely.  The second day was a lot shorter, thanks to powering through to Albuquerque the night before so we stopped in Flagstaff for lunch and walked the dogs around downtown a bit.

After a lot of dashboard scenery and nose surfing, we’re now here in Phoenix and cozily holed up in a hotel in the Arcadia neighborhood.  Our rental search has been unexpectedly difficult — we have a broker but things get snatched off the market so quickly!  We have an application in on one house and may put in another application on another house today, just to hedge our bets.

(Not this place!  Rental houses have a lot of mustard . . . )

In the meantime, it’s been hotel living for JT, the dogs and me.  JT has work to escape to every day but his office is also close enough by that he comes back at lunch for sandwiches by the pool.  To keep busy, the dogs and I go out walking/exploring every day.  Lately we’ve been going to a park nearby that has a long trail along an irrigation canal.

I’ve been taking it easy with the dogs (and myself!) and making sure to give them lots of water and take breaks in the shade during our walks.  The other day, we paused in an alley next to the canal.  One thing led to another and I ended up at a yard sale in the neighborhood beyond.  I managed to hustle the dogs back to the car, get to an ATM and find my way back through the neighborhood to score this lamp for $10.

Not bad except now it’s been rattling around in the back of the car for a week with nowhere to live.  I’m pretty sure JT takes it as a sign I have crossed over into full on lunacy.  Fingers crossed one of our applications pans out and we are out of the hotel soon!  Not that the dogs mind . . .  They seem to think that king beds are the best thing EVER! (Which they are, except when you have to share them with two sixty pound dogs who have no regard for your personal and/or leg space).

Have a great weekend!  Cheers – CT

I’m typing from the itty-bitty sofa in our living room as it’s about the only thing that isn’t disassembled, wrapped in a blanket or in a box right now in our house.  All of our moving seems to have happened in October – JT and I rented our first apartment together starting in November before our New Year’s Eve wedding.  He moved in and was “bach-ing it” until the wedding but I still remember we got the keys a day early, on Halloween and spent that night painting each room a ridiculous color (red in the kitchen, dark browns in the living space and baby boy blue in the bedroom).  The next year, it was time to buy and we closed on our house on October 25th and were once again moving and painting on Halloween.

So here it is, Halloween again, and there are movers in the house and boxes everywhere – the house looks spooky and maybe haunted.  This time we don’t have a next place lined up – our plans have gone sideways in a matter of days and it feels so strange to have all our earthly possessions boxed up with no specific destination in sight.  There’s a long back story as to why we’re not getting the house with the crazy amazing pool in Arizona but the short version is we had to walk away from it due to some complications on the St. Louis house.  I know things will work out the way they need to and if all rights itself with the world, we will be painting in our next (official) home on Halloween 2014.  We’ll be renting in the meantime, and I can’t wait for us to have a place to land and begin our new adventure in the desert.  The dogs have no idea what’s in store for them when we begin the two-day drive this weekend!

Cheers – CT

It’s really happening!

Hey everyone — it’s Feisty Friday!  Not at your office?  Well aren’t you lucky.

JT and I just flew back from Phoenix (and man our arms are tired) on a very short and very jam-packed house hunting trip.  And in Phase II of the Move To Arizona in a Month plan, we are under contract on a house in the great southwest!

Now you guys all know how crazy the housing/lending market can be so until it’s a done deal and we have keys in our hand, I can’t be certain that this will be THE house.  But for now it is, so here’s a little glimpse…

Basically the reason why we bought it.

Here’s a nice shot that JT caught while we were looking around.  Basically once I am inside a house, anything the realtor is saying (sometimes about important things like new air-conditioning systems or home warranties) falls on dead ears as I stare around me and imagine all the possibilities.  It’s like I’m in a design-induced coma.

And now for the real design dilemma – what color to paint the kitchen?

(Picture from the MLS listing)

Even though it’s not a finalized deal yet, I’ve been decorating it over and over again in my mind (and on my secret Pinterest board!).  And I’ve decided the teal kitchen is the first thing to get tackled, if and when it’s ours.

Have a great weekend! We’ll be purging our basement and filling our minds with decorating ideas.  Oh, the possibilities. . . . Cheers – CT

Hey all.  I think we have conquered Phase One of this whole moving thing, also known as “List Your House”.  We are definitely traveling a lower stress path than a lot of people on our whole moving/selling/buying journey – JT’s company is shouldering a lot of the costs as part of his relocation package.  However we were smack dab in the middle of a few projects when this whole thing went down so it has been a mad scramble over here to get our house picture ready.

So, without further ado, the pictures!  Also, we’re listed!  See us on the MLS here.

The photographer was great and took these super fast.  It definitely makes me want a fancy camera – the old point and shoot just doesn’t measure up.

The bedroom!  I never got around to DIY-ing that headboard or hanging up our reading sconces.  Next house.

The bathroom got a new vanity top and faucet literally minutes before the pictures.  I wish we would have done that about seven years ago.

My secret downstairs craft room.  Something I also wish I would have worked on about seven years ago so I could have enjoyed it all this while.

The back porch/sun room.  I snagged that little ottoman out of the alley last weekend.  Even with all that’s going on I can’t resist alley furniture.  But to be fair, I gave some offerings back to the alley gods, which they gratefully accepted.  I’m going to miss having an alley.

So there you have it.  Our little first house, for sale.  If you or anyone you know is interested in seeing it, please contact our Realtor Stephanie Hug at 314-313-5403.  She lives really nearby  (by the cool house!) and is super familiar with South City, which is a plus.

Now on to Phase II – Sell the House!  Have a great Friday – make it Feisty!  Cheers – CT