Moving Day!

Phew, moving is exhausting! We've been sloooowly moving over the last month, but last Friday, the movers came for all the big stuff and we spent our first night in our new home that evening.  I thought I'd be more emotional leaving our first apartment, but honestly, I couldn't get out of there fast enough!  Sure it was sad to leave the place we got engaged, but I couldn't wait to start the next chapter in our lives.

The move was surprisingly uneventful and it only took about 3 hours from start to finish.  I was hesitant to pay someone (this is The Daily Cheap after all!) to move us when we could get a Uhaul and a bunch of friends to get the job done.  In the end though, I'm really glad we splurged because there was no way we were going to get most of that stuff into the house without damaging our freshly painted walls.  Not to mention the cost of pizza and beer to keep our friends happy!  We had one minor incident when the box-spring failed to make it up the stairs on the first try, but a few tricks from the movers got that box-spring where it belongs.  We had to make a few more trips back to the apartment to get some final items we didn't want the movers to take and to do a quick vacuum, but by the early afternoon we were officially out of the city and in sweet suburbia.  Ahhh suburbia, I just LOVE it!

One of the first things we did was head over to the town hall.  That's right, the town hall.  I don't know about where you live, but around here, town halls are only open from about 9-4 and I'm generally working during that time.  I figured it was now or never.  So yes, we were those people who showed up looking for some Welcome to Wilmington info and they delivered! We got calendars, town reports, brochures and information on town trips.  Everything a true Wilmingtonite would want. 

The next morning, I woke up to a woodpecker pecking away - a sound hubs says he hasn't heard in years.  I then got in my car to do my morning errands.  FYI I can be at the thrift store in 7 minutes or less.  Not too shabby.  I even went to the library to get my new card and check out the audio book section.  We all have our priorities. 

Meanwhile, the hubby was at home praying that Mr. Verizon would be able to hook up the cable in our upstairs bedroom.  It only took the gentleman 5 hours, but in the end, we had cable, 2 DVR's, internet, and a phone.  All was coming together nicely.

Of course, the inside of our house is in complete disarray.  The chaos is quite overwhelming, and we spent most of the weekend just trying to get everything out of boxes and into the room where it belongs.  Now we're realizing that some of our furniture either doesn't fit or isn't in the vision we have for the space.  Everything in our apartment was greens, browns, and yellows.  In this house, I want more blues and grays, so I will definitely be doing some shopping.  Before and after pictures will eventually be posted as well as all the projects we're working on. Here goes nothing!

Be well,

Wedding Shadowbox

I had a goal.  I was going to finish (and by finish I mean start) our wedding shadowbox before the big move.  With 3 days to spare, I did it!  I wanted something to display all the different stuff from our wedding - the invite, the menu card, the table numbers...basically everything I had left over that I had no idea what to do with.  So last night, I sat down with my scrapbook paper, my glue gun, and my supplies and got to work. Once I figured out the layout, it only took me about 20 minutes to assemble. 

 

 

I tried to use things from our shower, as well as the wedding.  I included the gift tag my mother-in-law used on our favors and some ribbon from one of our registry items.  I even used some of the hanging decorations my bridesmaids adorned our shower location with.  I then used our Save the Date, invite, and our thank you to add some photos and pops of pink.

From the wedding itself, I used the menu card and some leftover ribbon from our bathroom baskets.  I also incorporated the table number 6 to represent June and the 11 from our painted numbers that we never even ended up using.  I included one of our favors, a piece of fabric from my dress (it was originally a halter that I had removed, so the extra fabric was actually used for my flowers), and the hubby's hankerchief.  All in all, I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out!

What do you think?

Be well,

Closing Day

2.15.12, a day that will live in infamy.  It was a day unlike any other.  It was closing day!  We actually had a pretty fast close (30 days).  It came down to the wire, but in the end, everything came together and at around 3:00 that afternoon, we were homeowners.

The morning began with a walk-through of what was to be our new home.  That part was all pretty painless.  Then it was off to the lawyer's office for the paperwork.  I wasn't really sure what to expect there.  Everyone else in the room seemed so relaxed, so calm.  The hubs was a nervous wreck.  I was just along for the ride, signing and initializing where they told me to.  After signing our lives away, the house was officially ours!  

They handed over the key (in a rather uneventful manor, mind you) and that was that.  There was no hugging, no jumping up and down, no confetti.  Is that just on HGTV?  I was a little disappointed to say the least.

After a few calls and texts, we headed over to our house. 

 

When we pulled in the driveway, we couldn't believe this was now ours.  We weren't there to meet our realtor or wait for someone to let us in.  We could now do as we please.  So what did we do?  We marked our territory with our new "C" doormat.

We walked around from room to room, taking it all in and talking about future plans for decorating, remodeling, and renovations. 

We then brought back a pizza from what is most likely going to be our go-to place and stood around the kitchen island, drinking wine and toasting to our home.  All in all, it was a pretty surreal day, and one that we will never forget.

Be well,