The Search is On {real estate}

You know I love a good real estate search and finally I have a reason for it. We are considering a move. Our plan is to possibly rent out our current house once we find a home that seriously peaks our interest. Of course selling is an option if we were able to get close to what we paid, but for now the rental option is good too. Oh, and it would be awesome if any locals kept their ears open for somebody who may be looking for a house just like mine. So for now I thought it would be fun to post some homes that I have looked at and considered. As for what we are looking for now is something the kiddos could grow up in and makes for a good place to entertain large groups. I have a wish list, but I will discuss that on another post. Here is  a home that stole my heart, but after much soul searching I realize it would not work for us. Boo.

This sweet little cottage is about three minutes from the Mr's work. It has loads of character, was updated already, is extremely private which I love and had a great view of a pond across the street. I could easily imagine a bed swing for the screened in porch to nap on in the fall. I would love a fixer upper, but the Mr. is not a fan. He could handle some upgrades just not a gut renovotion.

Really love how private it is.


This is the room you first walk into. I absolutely love the built-in. It is also the dining room. I personally would have added a 48" maybe 60" round table with kobo chairs. It would have made it easy to flow around since most main rooms lead off of this space and look so good. The front door was also something that made me giddy.

This is the living room. Not big, but would have worked. As for long term plans I thought we could add a space off the back of the house that would encompass a den and another dining area since the actual dining room would not be able to house very many people. It would be used more as an entry way. Keep in mind when we entertain we do it for groups of 20+ and do it often.

This is the master and it was rather huge. It had a redone bath with tiled walk in shower, gorgeous built in cabinets, with one sink. Personally I don't NEED two sinks. The Mr and I rarely get ready at the same time. I also take a bath maybe once a year. It's just not my thing. I loved the built in shelves and there were two sets. A walkin closet and the laundry room were also in this space. I LOVED that. Did I mention how big this room was?

I adored the kitchen. All, but one room was painted this deep gray. You know I love an all white home, but this I would have kept. It felt warm and homey and would have looked fabulous with all my light linen furniture. I could imagine our family eating meals in here. It had tons of cabinet space and a great walk in pantry. I also thought the built-in office area would have been great for KJP. Much better than the little nook I created in our current home.

This is the space that we would have eventually added on. It would have been long and narrow which would have worked for our needs. This space was also lined with gorgeous maples and had space that would have made for one amazing garden. After giving this little tour I am thinking I want it again. Oh, and it had a great price point of $225,000, 3 bedroom 2 bath.

 

Why I passed it up... Like I said before I want our next home to be where our kiddos can grow up. I love smaller homes, but with the Mr being 6'6 it gives us a good chance that our babies could be tall too. I could easily see us being happy here for many years, but with ceiling heights of 8 ft it could possibly feel tight once they hit preteen age. For my short self it would be fine, but I suppose I do need to consider the rest of the family. ha. I also like having a garage. My black on black car does not do well sitting out for long periods of time in this hot Alabama heat. Literally the car gets so hot that the air conditioning can't compensate. We could add a garage, but with the price of also adding a den it might make this great deal not so great.

 

*I will be more than happy to get you in touch with the listing agent if this home feels right for you. If my family were not so tall then it would have been perfect for us. Oh well.

Chattanooga

The Mr. had a conference on Ellie's actual birthday and her party day, which we had to reschedule. He felt just awful so in anticipation of her big day we decided to spend a couple days in Chattanooga. We had an absolute blast getting to spend time with each other. Here are a few, okay a lot, of highlights from our mini trip...

 

 

 

Fit for a Princess {a party}

Ellie knew for months exactly the kind of party she wanted for her 6th birthday. A princess party with pink and purple, flowers, balloons, a piñata, and a cake with tiers with a princess on top. I am one that believe birthdays are meant for making little dreams come true. To have their imaginations come to to life. I must admit at first a princess party was throwing me for a loop. I rather like understated and simple, but I did know I wanted it to be more like a party for a real princess instead of a all out one Disney princess theme. As soon as I saw the fabric I used as the tablecloth and invites in the $1 bin at Hancocks all the other pieces fell into place easily. Ellie grinned ear to ear all night...

Ellie picked my dress out and I HAD to wear heels and makeup. Of course the crown was a must too. Ha. Brother, daddy, and papa were the only princes allowed which makes for a much calmer party I must say. KJ was the epitome of chivalry and told all the ladies they looked beautiful and danced with them all night.

Here is the fabric that started it all. Pink, purple, with flowers met all her requirements. Throughout the house I set up flowers that I got earlier at the wholesale flower shop here in town. I kept the palette simple and wanted them to feel as if all the princesses went out in the fields and gathered their own bouquets.

So the piñata doesn't really fit in, but it's all about making little dreams come true, right? The Mr. in the end had to bust it or we would have been there all night.

 

As for the cake I knew we couldn't spend a fortune, but I wanted to meet all of Ellie's requirements. So the Mr. had a brilliant idea of going to Edgars, a local bakery, and have them make up one of their standard cakes and then have them make a matching smash cake. At home I put the smash cake on top with a princess. To have the bakery actually make a tiered cake costs a small fortune, but our way came to a mere $30.00.

The big surprise of the night were the floating lanterns. They are much bigger than the ones in Tangled and a bit complicated to get going, but once we all figured it out it made for a beautiful ending. We let go about 10, but the Mr. had to help so we didn't get a full shot. Oh well.

The things that didn't get photographed: The front table had little wands and sparkly princess crowns from Target for little gifts when everyone arrived. The entry hall was filled with the 36" round white balloons. I also had the coffee table set up with paper, crayons, and sparkly foam stickers and jewels for making art and decorating their crowns further.

Where I got it:

Balloons

Wands and foam princess and prince crowns: Target

Flowers: Davis Wholesale Flowers

Cake: Edgars

Floating Lanterns