Selling a house with my husband...

After yesterday's drama filled post (thank you for reading if you did), I thought I would do something funny today but still related to the situation. I almost don't want to post all of these tidbits yet, because some more still might happen before this is all said and done, but oh well I will anyway.

 

One thing you need to know about my husband : he is very into the look of our home.

 

Sometimes a little too much.

 

I will tell you when this is awesome - when he casually says, "Let's go to Pier One!"

 

I will tell you when it is not awesome - when you have one vision for something and he has another. (Rugs and window treatments seem to be our biggest arguments. Oh, and peacocks.)

 

 Or your idea of getting the house ready for a showing is way different than his.

 

His version creates MORE work than needed in my opinion.

 

Please know I am not ragging on him. He has been amazing through this whole process. Our entire marriage he has been willing to clean bathrooms, the kitchen, do laundry, etc.... and he knows how to fix just about anything. He has installed hot water heaters, water softeners, done drywall, tile work, woodwork, etc...

 

Now I do understand that staging a home is important, and you might have to spend a little money to do so. But after you see what I have for you here, I hope you will agree with me and have a little laugh.

 

Exhibit 1:

One day I walked into the kitchen as we were getting ready for a showing and saw.... this. I was like W.T.F??? I still laugh hysterically when I see this picture! And just for the record, I keep my bananas in a bunch. I don't understand how having them sticking out every which way makes them more fancy.

 Exhibit 2:

Show towels. I will never forget our fight in Bed, Bath & Beyond over show towels. He wanted to get them for both bathrooms, when I already had plain towels in the correct colors to put out. I like nice things, but towels with beads and sequins on them are just not practical for anything other than just looking at. I brought one of the brown ones downstairs so I could take this picture. So that was $100. I was hoping to keep the tags on them and return them once the house had sold, but now that it has been a year I don't think that will happen.

 Exhibit 3:

Since the last time our house was on the market was in the Winter, he wanted to "stage" the upper porch now that it is summer. I agreed to procuring an outdoor rug and fern, since we could use them at the new house. When he decided to put it all together though, I was already 2 hours into my drive to Wisconsin for the weekend when I get a text that he had locked himself out on the porch. And that he was going to have to jump down. I immediately called him - we didn't need an injury on top of everything else we were going through! I was too far away, no neighbors were out, and his friends weren't due to come over until later. He did end up jumping down and is fine.

 Exhibit 4:

See our faded red umbrella in this picture? He actually suggested I get some Rit dye to restore it to it's original grandeur. Ummmm, no. Just no.

 Exhibit 5:

He bought a $70 fountain for the pool. We've lived for 12 years without a fountain, so I don't understand the need for it to sell the house. This is the first time I have tried posting a video so I hope it works. At least Richard is getting some joy out of it for a little while.

Exhibit 6:

I don't have a picture for this, but candles. He lights candles all over the house.... all in different scents. I keep trying to explain to him that they have to match or at least be in the same smell family (or not be scented), or else it is a sensory overload! No one needs that kind of assault on their nose! That it will have the opposite effect of what you are trying to create.

 

Hey, if you need any decorating or staging done at your house, I would be happen to send Jon your way! Someone please tell me this is all a big joke that is being played on me......

Something had to give.....

I really dislike when I get on a good schedule of posting each day, and then I go a week without a post. But, we've had a very stressful couple of weeks. I often go back and forth with how much I want to share here. But, for the most part I find it therapeutic to let it out because I have found so much wonderful support. But before I get into our on going "move" saga.........

 

Here's a look from work last week - yet another non-maternity maxi dress that I've had for a few years. So easy and comfy!

 

Sonoma Maxi Dress - Kohl's

Jean Jacket - TJ Maxx

Seychelles Departure Wedges - Anthropologie

Heart Necklace - gift from hubby

 

If you want to read on, the rest is at the end. If you just stopped by for outfit inspiration, then enjoy!

So it's been a year now since my hubby took his new job. A job which is 95 miles away. We thought our move would be fairly quick..... we had put our house on the market and showed it several times a week. We were looking at houses. I was happy I could keep my job, where I worked from home half of the time and would commute about 50 miles when I did have to go to the office based on where we were looking for homes. It all seemed like a good plan.

 

A few months into the process, we tried to buy a home that had been foreclosed. It needed a lot of work, but we were up to the challenge. In the end, we didn't get it. Our house hadn't sold so we weren't in too big of a hurry. Around that same time, my company announced a project that would affect my job. I waited another 3 months to find out exactly how it would be affected but still did not know enough information to make a decision. At that time, the contract on selling our house was up so we decided to take it off the market until we knew more. Plus, we were having the absolute worst Winter to try to show a home.

 

Four months later, I had all of the information I needed regarding my job, and decided I would not try to move forward with the direction our department was headed. Plus, I was pregnant! This meant we could get back to focusing on moving. Since I am still employed until November, I figured I could look for a new job after I gave birth and had sufficient time with the baby. We relisted our home and started looking for homes again. The real estate market on the East side of the state seems to move much faster than it does here. One house that we liked sold before we were even done looking at the 3 others that day! Another house we put an offer in on, we could not come together on price. Finally, we got an offer accepted on a house that we loved, with the contingency that our house sold.

 

Ahhh, a sigh of relief.

 

A few days later, the seller got another offer. We had 72 hours to decide whether we would remove the contingency and go forward with purchasing the home (without ours being sold). A huge financial burden with a soon to be one income household and a new baby on the way. Let's just say that was probably one of the worst 3 day periods of my life.

 

Believe me, we analyzed this until we were blue in the face:

 

Over the course of a year, we'd probably looked at 30 homes in person (and countless others online) and nothing came close to checking everything off our wish list than this one. Plus, it was under our top budget. Knowing what it's like to be on the selling side, I did not want to waste our time or anyone elses time in looking at homes that were not going to come close to what this one was.

 

Jon's commute is stressful for both of us. He spends close to a mortgage payment in gas, and if that weren't enough, close to 4 hours in a car a day. I am a "single parent" in the mornings and evenings until he gets home. When he does get home, he doesn't have any time or energy to do anything whether it be a task around the house or something he enjoys.

 

My level of anxiety of getting this move done before the baby comes was not going to go away. The thought of living out of cardboard boxes with a newborn is one of the worst things I can think of. I know how much work a newborn is, and I know myself. I like to have everything in it's place, organized, feel calm in my surroundings, etc..... I know it sounds really stupid and trivial but that is just who I am. I feel guilty because I know there are much worse problems to have, but again it is just who I am. Living in limbo has stressed Jon out too, just in different ways.

 

So, it came down to deciding which was the lesser of two evils. No matter what we decided, it would still be stressful. Either go on living like we have been for the past year (which has sucked) OR take this risk and hope that our house sells soon.

 

We decided to move forward. Something had to give......

 

This week, we are in the process of having inspections done at the new house, and figuring out how the minor issues that were found will be taken care of before we close. Which in turn has made us think.... Oh gawd! What are they going to pick at if we ever get an offer on our house? Which hasn't been inspected in 12 years and was built in the 30's versus 2001?

 

At any rate, I am trying as hard as I can to relax. I have an immense amount of "Mom guilt". When I was pregnant with Richard I didn't have to deal with any of this! I could just kick back and listen to classical music. With this one, I am chasing a 3 year old (which I know everyone does if they have more than one), plus this house and job mess! Worried about the new baby, and my patience level with Richard with all of this going on. Whew! Deep breaths...... one day at a time.



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Loud & Proud

It used to be that being pregnant was something to hide...... My Mom and Grandma tell me about how ugly their maternity clothes were! These days, it's is something to flaunt and I am so glad! Being pregnant is something I really enjoy... most of the time. Besides the figure flattering styles, there are lots of fun graphic shirts to find. Lots of them only work while being pregnant, but I was drawn to this one because the saying works for after as well:

I make cute babies

 

Now, since this is my second child, I can really only make this statement with Richard in mind. But I know this new little guy will be just as adorable!

 

I used this tank as a swimsuit cover up on vaca, and it would be good sleepwear too. So comfy!

 

I make cute babies tank - Motherhood Maternity

Layered over this white tank - Motherhood Maternity

Indigo Blue skinny jeans - Motherhood Maternity

Merona Emily Sandals - Target

Necklace - Target (last year)

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Round Rabbit at my favorite store!

 I've been buying porcelain jewelry and jewelry components (beads, pendants, etc...) from Nancy Adams at Round Rabbit for several years. Her designs and glazes are just gorgeous! So last year when she announced that she was partnering with Anthropologie, I was so excited! Even though I've never met Nancy in person, it is so neat to see someone you "know" get their work into Anthro.

 

Her first collaboration was 3 hardware knobs that were available earlier this year. They sold out so fast I was only able to nab 2 of them (however, I will share product page links below). I had always planned to do a blog post, with the hopes that I would find some cool secondhand end table that I would use the knobs on, but since that hasn't happened yet I wanted to go ahead and share because......

 

Nancy's second collaboration - coasters - just arrived in store and online! I try to post my purchases / finds pretty timely so that other people can buy if they are interested. How frustrating is it to see something cool, only to find out it has sold out? Anyway, the coasters are pictured above and they are a stunning mix of colors, patterns and textures! The Shade-Grown Coasters come in 5 different color combos, and are $8 each.

 

And here are the knobs, in case of a website popback or lucky store find:

Keyhole Knob

 And the 2 Chantilly Fringe Knobs

Where else can you find Nancy's work?

Her Big Cartel store

Her blog

 

I have 3 necklaces currently for sale in my Etsy shop that feature Nancy's pieces:

Into the Pale

My Words

Ruffled

 

I can't wait to see what her next partnership with Anthropologie will be!

First Seychelles

I've shown many tied shirt looks over the past few months, but they have all been with a black base. I decided to switch things up and go lighter. I am wearing a Lands End white dress (two looks previously shown here), paired with a Croft & Barrow peacock feather button down (Kohl's) that I got a few years ago.

Anthropologie recently ended their semi-annual tag sale. I was good, and only purchased one thing with the extra 20% off sale prices promo - these Seychelles Departure Wedges. I have long admired Seychelles shoes, but have never owned a pair. I have owned cheap knock offs of the designs, but have absolutely no regrets purchasing these! They are so comfy, and the leather smells so amazing. I had also had my eye on some very similar Jeffrey Campbell's over at Free People. That is the nice thing about Anthropologie and Free People being owned by the same company - you can often find similar pieces and then just watch for the best prices. You know me, I love strappy buckles on my footwear! These will last for years to come!

Arctic Feather Earrings - on sale at Anthropologie last summer

I will say one thing, white makes the bump look A LOT bigger than black does!

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The Deal Matriarch

I have to give credit where credit is due.... if I haven't said it here before, I learned my deal shopping ways from my Mom. I have scored many deals, however, I don't think I've ever scored one this good. So while visiting in Wisconsin this past weekend, we had the great idea to share how she dressed all three of us (from left to right - my sister in law Kaylan, my Mom, and me) for under $5.00

 

Yes, you read that right - $5.00

 

At the end of last summer, my Mom found these gowns at Kmart. They are actually sleepwear, but honestly, who would know? I don't know about you, but I never wear anything this fancy to bed! They are Jacklyn Smith brand. They were marked down to $13.99, and then 90% off!!! So she paid a whooping $1.39 per gown! It is honestly so comfy, because duh, you are wearing a nightgown!

As you can see, this maxi is flattering whether you are pregnant or not. Kaylan has mint sandals on, my Mom opted for white sandals, and I have tan ones (just to show how versatile the tropical colors are). I have on my Apt 9 (Kohl's) floral bib necklace that I purchased last summer.

That wasn't the only deal she found though. She also got these (again, Jacklyn Smith sleepwear) trapeze gowns. These were marked down to $11.99, plus the 90% off so that made them $1.19 each.

Cute, right?

I thought I'd show a few more ways to style the pieces. I've thrown my peach colored Free People maxi cardigan over the gown many times, and here are some Apt 9 (Kohl's) earrings to switch it up. My Mom has a purple cardigan to put over hers. Kaylan is new to dresses for summer and is excited to start getting into wearing them with these - I know she is going to love the comfort just as much as I do!

Kaylan suggested belting the trapeze one, so I wanted to show that here. This is seriously a piece that you can wear to bed and then dress up a bit to leave the house. (Ahem, I may or may not have done that here!)

I don't get into my local Kmart too much, but I did look online a bit to see that Jacklyn Smith has some similar sleepwear this summer too. I think the 90% off deal would only be in store though, so check it out when summer is closer to being over.

Lastly, a fun outtake where we were photo bombed by Richard!



Thanks Mom for these fabulous pieces!

Sleeveless Button Ups

You've already seen how I've made non-maternity clothes work for the first 5 months of my pregnancy, and here are some more to share! Since all three of these looks featured a sleeveless button down blouse (all in fun animal prints too) I thought I would group them together.

Step #1

Pick a basic that you already have in your closet, whether it be maternity or not. My basics here are all black: J. Crew Dress (non-maternity, local consignment shop), Liz Lange Ponte Pants (maternity, Target), Apt 9 Midi Tube Skirt (non-maternity, Kohl's).

 Step 2:

Pick another neutral basic sweater or jacket for those chilly mornings or air conditioned offices. You can take it off when needed throughout the day. It's easy for all of these to be non-maternity pieces that you already have, because you don't need them to fit over your belly. In fact, you want your cute sleeveless top to show even when you have these on. Pictured here are: INC International Concepts Tan Cardigan (Macy's), Gap Jean Jacket (local consignment shop), Ruffle Cardigan (Matilda Jane).

 Step 3:

You can tie your shirt, wear it loose, or belt it. Note, these are all non-maternity blouses.

 Step #4:

Accessorize with your favorite shoes, jewelry, sunglasses, etc..... Notice how much I wear these black wedges (Unlisted "Webpage"). They are my go to's for sure! However, after wearing them for 3 summers now, they are starting to come apart in a few places. Off to eBay I go to replace them. I have done this quite a bit over the years with a piece I really love. If you love it that much, if it is comfy and stylist, I say go ahead and get the same exact thing!

 Here are some detail shots of the tops:

Camels = Croft & Barrow (Kohl's)

Fish = Alfani (Macy's)

Giraffes = Alfani (Macy's)

Hope you enjoyed these ideas, as much as I enjoyed putting them together! The only maternity piece featured was the black leggings!



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