Another IRL meetup

Had a great but too quick visit with my friend Melanie this weekend when she and her family came through town for college visits and a sports tournament:

A potty this pretty deserves its own post

I did not even know that it was possible to buy such elaborate bathroom fixtures:





They will be replaced by something a little more sedate. Also on the get-rid-of list: the mirror that runs the length of that wall, thus allowing the menfolk to watch themselves pee. You're welcome, menfolk.

Time to say goodbye

Before one can decorate, one must first undecorate. There are a lot of curtains, mirrors, wallpapers, shutters, and light fixtures that are on their way out. I would have loved this stuff in 1989 when I was at the height of my Laura Ashley phase, but I prefer a less fussy look now.

Never forget:

Football Saturday

Got my lucky shirt on:



Annabelle and a pep band friend seeking warmth in a sousaphone at a Rochester game:

Goofy Harvey

First timer

Today was my first time voting in person:



I've always wanted that sticker!

Let the games begin!

Fred has a spreadsheet and is ready to get to work:



Upstairs carpet is ready to go to the dump:

Funny Snapchat

Fred and I went to a party tonight. There was a baby there who just couldn't get enough of Fred. I used Snapchat to send this to the kids:



Mike sent this back:



My response:

Halloween selfie

I didn't think I should go to the closing or to work in full Halloween regalia, so this was my compromise:

Celebrating Halloween with 30 years of indebtedness

So Fred and I bought a house this morning!

We put an offer on a house a couple miles away last spring, and I immediately felt it was a terrible mistake and was relieved when our offer was rejected. I knew that I really wanted to stay in this neighborhood, which is the perfect combination of house size and cost as well as location. Unfortunately, it's also a relatively small neighborhood, and houses just don't come on the market very often.

When this one was listed back in September, we were originally turned off by the amount of work it will take to make it reflect our tastes. It's beautifully decorated but much too fussy and fancy for us. Ultimately though we decided that if we were serious about staying in this neighborhood, we needed to grab this listing, and so we did.

Here we are after the walk-through and on our way to the closing:



Here are pictures of the sales flyer:









Let the wallpaper stripping begin!

Seen in Crystal City

I hope somebody takes it in when it rains:

Tallahassee weekend

I had a great time visiting Tallahassee this weekend. I don't have photos of all the highlights, but here are some memorable moments.

Watching Sassy and Kaela's cat, Castiel, play:





Shopping for FSU swag (don't worry--he didn't buy these pants):



Mike and Sarah opening Halloween goody bags from my sister:



Owls at the market:



Lunch at Gordo's:



Watching Mike try his hand at yoga:



Watching Mike try his hand at broga, which is yoga's redneck cousin:



Receiving an adorable selfie of Annabelle's new haircut:



Some of the delicious treats at Greek Fest:

Evolution of a dress

The Frozen dress is done and ready for Halloween!

Google me this, Batman

I happened to look up our house on Google Maps the other day and was unreasonably excited to see that they had replaced the photo that was obviously taken when the previous occupant lived here with a more recent one. Note the Florida State flag (and see my neighbor walking her dogs--you're going to want to click these pictures to see them larger):



I remembered that over the summer, Annabelle and I had been walking Ginger on the other side of the block when we saw the Google Maps truck drive by. I wondered if maybe we had made it onto the map. Sure enough:



I feel almost famous!

Don't cry for us, Argentina!

Date night at the Kennedy Center:

Another cute Annabelle selfie

Sewing project

I'm making a Princess Elsa dress (from Disney's Frozen) for the daughter of a good friend of mine:



Harvey likes to think he's helping, but really he's kind of a pain:

"May I help you knit?"

Go, Yellowjackets!

Annabelle cheered on her team today as part of the pep band: