Official Before Photos

We have had a lot of work done to our new house in the past 10 days: we had the basement waterproofed, radon remediation, electrical repairs and the downstairs hardwood floors are almost done being refinished. I took official before photos of every room in the house last week.

Although we loved the look of the bare, sanded white oak floors, there was no way to finish it to that color so instead we went dark with an antique brown. We got a sneak peek through the front door yesterday which I shared on Instagram. Our flooring contractors have been fantastic to work with and very patient with me while I asked over and over, are you sure the clear will change the color of the wood? Answer: "Even licking it will change the color of the wood." ;)

Hopefully Saturday, I can take a few moments away to get after photos of the downstairs to show the floors. The attic, which is where my office will be, has more work to go. I made a royal mess painting up there because I didn't cover the floors. I ripped out the carpet and discovered hardwood floors painted an icky brown. So I knew I'd want to paint them so I didn't cover them while painting the walls. That was a huge mistake because I ran out of time to paint the floors before we move in. Yikes! I've never been such a messy painter, I really lost my mind there on that one. After I take some after photos, I'm going to work on cleaning up my mess as best as I can so I can move in.

Our movers arrive in 47 hours! Gotta go finish packing! Do you need to catch up on house posts? You can find them here: part one,  part two and part three.

Charming Details

The home we purchased was built in 1925 and there are many original, and charming, details still going strong inside.

Today I took proper before photographs of the entire interior. I know we plan to paint and have the floors refinished and that alone makes for a fun before and after. I still need to photograph the basement, there is a lot of work happening down there starting next week. We move in in 9 days!

Follow along on our house adventure each day on Instagram: @sweeteventide.

Interior Photos of the New House

As promised, here are some photos of the interior of our new house! I haven't been inside for awhile so I'm assuming the seller will be removing the personal items you can see in some of these photos.

This is the main living space, you can see a clawfoot tub back there in the hallway.

This is the dining room, it is much smaller than the one in our rental for the past three years.

This is the kitchen, small but very functional with tons of storage.

Overall we are downsizing from a large farmhouse-style home to a cottage-style home. Every space is smaller: living room, dining room, kitchen and bedrooms. Our rental was a two-story home with a finished attic, a bonus room and a huge basement. Our new house is a one-story home with a finished attic and a huge basement. We are losing our guest room and both offices. Jeff's office will go in the basement, to be finished someday. My office will go into the attic. We are going from 1.5 bathrooms to 2 bathrooms, and believe me, 2-bath houses were rare in our search.

Stay tuned next week for photos of some of the charming details and the house hunting story in more detail.

Did you miss the first post about the house? You can find it here.

In Escrow

In mid-May, my husband and I began the home buying process here. This was our intention when we left California, to move to Portland and eventually quit renting and become homeowners. Our timing on this process was less than ideal as the market has changed substantially since we moved here in 2011. It is now a seller's market and buying a home in a seller's market is not something I would wish on anyone. I will write a separate post about what we went through, but know that this process has consumed nearly every moment of my days since May 12th. However, we are in the final days of escrow on a home and I wanted to share a few Instagrams on my blog this week as it is all feeling more real now.

The chimney with an S on it. We'd like to DIY it into a J.

There is a ginko tree in the back yard! For two years, I have vowed when I bought a house that I would plant a ginko tree. Well I didn't even notice it when we made the offer on the house, I noticed it during one of the inspections!

There is a custom greenhouse in the backyard! Honestly, it was a totally unexpected, and dreamy, bonus.

We are moving to a totally different neighborhood of Portland, but one we have spent lots of time in. It is closer to school, so less of a commute also. Our number one goal in our house hunt was a neighborhood where families are outside hanging out with kids close to the Noodle's age. Our new neighborhood scores high on that goal.

I will share some interior photos later this week in a separate post. If you can't wait, you can always search my hashtag on Instagram: #theJsnewhouse.

Whoa, Where Did I Go?

Okay so relocating is quite the time-consuming life adventure! I wake up, get the Noodle off to camp, work  six hours at my day job, rush to pick up the Noodle after camp, plan/make dinner, maybe do a little bike ride and then it's bedtime for the Noodle. After that I work like a dog on the house until 11, watch a little tv to try to shut my brain down and collapse at midnight in bed.

a little nook at last

I am making progress though, and I have the big deadline of Sept. 6th motivating me. That is the first day of school and I want all systems a GO before the madness of the school year sets in. We've been painting maniacs and the living room is 90% done. I finally found bookcases last weekend. I need a bench and shoe storage in the garage/mudroom/bike room and more more more hooks for backpacks, purses, etc. I got more lunch containers and I picked up the school supply list a couple of days ago. (I had a rant on Twitter about the requested pink erasers but that's another post for another day).

Anyway I could go on and on. I wish I had started a 365 project for my first year in Portland. But when on earth would I get that done? I am exhausted my friends. Happy in Portland, loving it, but nesting takes lots of time, lots of energy and yes, lots of cash. :)

That's my short report for now. Miss you!

The Perfect Art

Last week, I asked the Noodle for "some art that would look good on these walls."

Boy did he deliver!

To be honest, these walls are much more to the green side of green-blue than I normally prefer. But his art is making me rethink my automatic decision to repaint. For one thing, it photographs pretty darn well. However, the rest of my framed artwork will clash mightily on this color.

I am only speaking of paint now, three weeks into our new house, because we only decided yesterday that we would stick it out. We arrived to discover a bad combination of improper renovations, a lease that requires constant notification of problems to the landlord and a landlord who does not have the personality to hand out lease requirements like that. So we stopped unpacking after one week of terrible interactions with him and started stalking Craigslist again, much to our terrible dismay. Folks? There have been exactly two listings in this neighborhood since then. Rentals are scarce. So we will have to find a way to all get along and now, I can finally finish unpacking and start painting.

It's been too hard to even talk about it with close friends and family! Moving to a new state is hard enough, but to think about moving again immediately was over the top hard. Onwards & upwards!

Hello from Portland

Hello from Portland!

hydrangeas in our front garden

What an emotionally and physically draining few weeks it has been for The Js! Leaving California was really hard but we did it and we arrived in Portland six days ago now. We're getting acclimated, unpacking and making this house a home slowly but surely. We put in a tree swing and a hammock on our front porch -- priorities, right? We met some neighbors yesterday on the 4th of July and Jeff's mom arrives tomorrow evening -- we couldn't be more excited to have our first visitor. 

The good news is I am finally to a place where I can blog again regularly. 

How has everyone been?!

Oregon's Motto + A Self-Portrait

This morning, I woke up to an email from my sister-in-law Lulu. She wrote, "Did you know about the motto of Oregon?" 

Alis Volat Propiis

"She flies with her own wings."

How perfect is that for me to hear with the Big Move only eight weeks away?!

Thank you Lulu.

Yesterday

I hit a giant wall on Sunday in my unpacking. I just -- stopped. I'm worn out. I've been sitting in the red rocking chair a lot, sharing the tv with the Noodle (Curious George vs. HGTV) and trying not to judge myself too harshly. 

Moving twice in eight months is a lot to coordinate and navigate already; knowing this house is temporary (because it is not ours) halts my motivation fairly regularly. I find myself questioning every box: "Do I really need to unpack this? If I don't, where will I put it? If I do, where will I put what's inside?"

I did manage to make dinner though.

Hello crockpot chicken tacos.

I've got my desk somewhat set up. 

Isn't the early evening light dreamy?

He seems to like it too.

Does anyone have ideas on linen storage when there is no linen closet? I have thought of a) buying an armoire, b) install shelving in the dining room closet, c) use an 8' bureau that I already own, d) one towel per person and that's it.

Also, I am obsessed with antique white furniture for this house. Is it to counterbalance all the wood paneling? One must wonder.

Dressers

Are you wondering where I have been all week? 

I've been glued to my laptop screen trying to be all eco and REUSE someone else's dresser vs. going down to IKEA or somewhere and buying a new one.

Here are all the dressers I did *not* buy on Craigslist this week. But not for lack of trying! Even pouncing on new listings in my price range, I am beaten to the punch every time.

My sweetie needs a dresser and so I will continue to cruise Craigslist. I won't give up after only one week. Do you like my attempt to make icky CL photos look somewhat cute enough to post? 

In other news, we are finally going to be able to move our things into the family room starting tomorrow afternoon. The eau du chats is gone, along with the carpet, pad and vinyl tiles beneath. I was very excited by the concrete subfloor but alas, it is covered with black tile adhesive that is too big a job to take on. We are all more than ready to start unpacking finally. Nearly three weeks in the new house and it's total chaos still.

The sunsets and views in our new neighborhood help distract us though. Too bad I left my camera at my MIL's house or I'd download a few photos and share those instead of these.

My New Sights

Inspired by my Friday Poem, I took some photos on moving day of the sights around our new home.  We feel like we are out in the country and yet, only minutes from the Noodle's school and a lovely shopping plaza with the best old-time hardware store.

our yummy plums and pink oleander

The move itself went smoothly but the settling in has had a few hiccups between not finishing the painting in time to the "eau du prior tenants' cats" and me coming down with a bug and high fevers.

three amigos

across the back fence

not a bad place to wash up

Still, I know eventually we'll get the storage pods emptied, the furniture arranged and the boxes unpacked. I pray someday we'll get rid of the eau du chats. 

Gouache Me

Buon giorno!

I hope everyone had a nice weekend like I did. Mine included some rest & relaxation, watching my boy climb a rope ladder he made with his Daddy and Nana, visiting with an old friend, riding bikes to the ice cream store, reading magazines and even a little painting.

gouache: etymology -- French, from Italian guazzo, literally a puddle

I used these delicious gouache paints by Pelikan. I plan to get my own set someday -- I think they are magical. I am not an artist or a painter but these colors sure make my brush swirl around the paper in a fashionable way.

You may notice two of my "paintings" resemble the colors around here at Sweet Eventide. It's a very long story but I am working on creating new graphics for the blog and shop so that I will have full ownership of them.

This weekend we also showed our new rental house to our loved ones. We weren't planning to house hunt just yet but one little visit to Craigslist last weekend turned up an opportunity we couldn't resist. It's in our price range, takes large dogs and is close to the Noodle's school. Here is our new front door.

It looks a lot like our last front door. We have a thing for houses from the 1940s, this will be our third home from that era. We will move in about a month. The house is, shall we say, quirky? Yes quirky is nicer than other words. It suits our needs and we're looking forward to making it comfortable.

It's a big week ahead with the last week of school and also, my darling husband is taking a week away from his new job. What do you call those, stay-cations or something? We're hoping to work on our storage units in preparation for the big move and maybe even do a little camping to celebrate the end of kindergarten.

Did you do anything special this weekend?

Pros and Cons

Many, if not most, people know that on Jaden's first day of kindergarten, we got an email from our landlord informing us of a 15% rent increase. Thus started the Housing Drama again for us. After weeks and a lot of searching and crying, we managed to get it down to a 12% increase instead. We resolved to stay put and pay it.

Not too long afterwards, an amazing opportunity came our way to rent a duplex at a savings of $750 a month compared to our new rent. This threw us into turmoil again but we decided to go for it. In the meantime, it got rented to someone else without even being offered the chance to work something out.

Now what?

We had resigned ourselves to spending a lot of money and staying put. I was calling the rent increase a Stability Tax. But the lost chance to move made us think maybe we should keep looking at the lower price point. Thus the past three weeks of me living and breathing the Craigslist page for my area. Hour after hour, I watch the search results in my price range go from 178 to 9 once I click "dogs allowed" in my search terms.

When we lost the duplex, we were all in shock as it seemed like a pretty sure thing coming from the source that it had (good friend of a good friend). My MIL said, "well there's always the studio."

Yes, the studio. You might remember not too long ago I posted about how I had 12 days to get out of our house and mostly into storage so we could fit in my MIL's studio while we searched for a rental.

Here we are with the same troubles (price, dog), different day (a year later).

So on Thursday we came to my MIL's for a one week trial of living here again, commuting Jaden to school via train/bike with Jeff and me in the car for the afternoon return trip. Friday's morning commute went well. Then I picked him up and realized that there was no school Monday or Tuesday. Plum choice for a trial week, not.

Still I hound Craigslist. In the meantime, things at Jeff's work have been unstable. We're not sure what is going to happen there yet. So we made the decision this morning to give notice to our darling, overpriced house.

We plan to move on Thanksgiving Weekend. We plan to stay through summer and then..... -- well we don't know for certain but let's just say we are damn tired of not setting down roots, not owning a house and the constant stomachaches of life here.

PROS OF MOVING BACK TO SAN JOSE:

• $2550 will no longer be going out of our account for our landlord's retirement. Therefore we will make unprecedented financial progress over the next 8-9 months.
• We will be close to our old friends from preschool and playgroup.
• I will be in walking distance to my therapist, which is good because I'll probably spend all the rent savings on that. (Just kidding Jeff.)
  

CONS OF MOVING BACK TO SAN JOSE:

• Jeff will be gone 12 hours a day again with the commute.
• We will not have any privacy from Jaden for months on end.
• Jaden and I will not be able to swing by and visit Jeff at work spontaneously.
• I will not be able to host any kindergarten playdates for Jaden.
• We will not have our own home and our own space to be a family.
• Jackson is extremely anxious at my MIL's.

There is a whole category of social losses for Jeff and me that I really don't care to list because I will get too upset.

The bottom line is I never looked back after we left San Jose last September. I haven't missed it at all. This decision feels like moving backwards in every way but one, financial. But the financial reason weighs equal to or more than all the emotional, social, time CONS.

Jaden will be affected the least as I will do anything and everything to make it possible for him to succeed in school and continue socializing as he grows his friendships there. That is my job.

But people?

I am so worn out. I am not sure I have all this in me. I'm getting to the point I don't want to get out of bed in the morning, I am so beaten down. I love my town, I love my house, I love Jaden's school, I love(d) getting a text from my husband that he was on his way home and seeing his sweet face 10 minutes later.

And it's all gone now in just a matter of weeks. I will have to make a new mantra: two steps backward, one step forward; 35 miles south, 658 miles north to real home ownership and the stability I have craved my entire life.

I am sad and heartsick and will probably take some form of hiatus from posting here. But since I stupidly signed up for NaBloPoMo, you'll be able to find me every day at Wee Festivity.

Found!

Lost and Found!

old label still on three sides of this box

new label on only one side of the box

Why, do you ask, did I overlook this box a zillion times since 9/8/07? It is the one box in our garage that I would absolutely not bother to actually open to verify the label because it has clothes I loved that my Dad bought me. I mean, why bother opening a box of heartache? (Why bother keeping it is a question better left for my therapist!)

Also it has my t-shirts and jersey from Ride for the Roses (gosh I see that site now totally foreshadowing my love affair with blogging) and I have nothing but a sentimental need to continue to store those items, therefore no need to look at them either. That's why they are in the same box.

There were (are) towers of these brown boxes out in the garage and they are almost entirely filled with books which means they are heavy. So seeing that old label on more than one side, I trusted it.

Still I can only blame myself because I packed this box and clearly did not do myself any favors with my labeling efforts. A detailed list of contents is all well & good IF YOU CAN SEE IT!

Oh well, live & learn -- that's my motto on things like this. We just in the past month replaced the crockpot and one of the ladles.

P.S. It occurred to me as I was writing this post, where are the clothes my dad gave me and my RFTR stuff? Oh boy.

Missing

Since we moved, the following items have gone missing:

1. crockpot
2. ice cream machine
3. mandolin
4. two ladels
5. ice cream scoop
6. red flannel sheets

Come out, come out, wherever you are!


And I broke our blender just before moving, so our kitchen is lacking one of those as well.

Last Post from Felix

It is 11:06 p.m.

I am packing up my desk in my beautiful office.

My stomach is howling at me with acid tears.

After getting this room in shape for the open house, it was a dreamy place for me to spend time. I have no idea when, where or if I will ever have a space like this for myself again. Rosina Red Designs came to life in this room. I don't know where that little gig is headed but if it does go somewhere, this is where it all began.

How is it that I cursed this house for 2.5 years and I'm falling apart when it's time to go?

I am so detached from the reality of our situation that it's become almost frightening.

I walk around in a stupor and think, really? seriously? selling means we actually have to move?

Because it seems more like I wanted the monetary relief but none of the actual moving, say goodbye to your nice neighbor Ron, your little crape myrtle that actually survived a year under my thumb and lived to tell the tale with beautiful white blossoms, your bathroom that you re-did your way -- all of that is over? My $900 Container Store closet system? No more?

My Bosch washer and dryer? My LG french door fridge? Don't even go there. I have an intimate relationship with those items. I can't even stand it. This is not happening.

I have moved many, many times in my 36 years on this earth. I have never moved like this, with no clue where I'm going to end up. I try to convince myself this is a big adventure. But it's really not. It is a sad fact that I can't get where I want to be: living a little family life in a little family house with our annoying big dog.

I'll end this cryfest with two pictures of my Boozhee taken this week in his room. His beautiful blue, superfly room with the tree mural. I can see the pout emerging but maybe that's because I know him so well.


In any case, his face perfectly captures how I feel these days, even if he was only making it because I wanted to take his picture and he was in the middle of his rocket story.

It is 11:24 p.m.
Hey Felix: over and out.

Cue music....

12 Days

I just realized we are going to move our stuff out of our house in 12 days. Or 13 really since on that 12th day I have fun plans which do not involve moving boxes (i.e. Jamie's shower).

Crazy.

I think one week from today I will get a storage unit seeing how cute Craftsmans in the 1800 range don't seem to be throwing themselves at us.