A Tale of Two Cities

...or a city and a town?  I'm talking about Baltimore and Annapolis, of course.  Since J and I have been dating and engaged, I've spent a lot of time on the road between these two places.  It's a 40 minute drive late at night in no traffic, and about an hour or so if there is traffic.  Now that we've bought the house, I am spending even more time in Baltimore!  It's hard, because I feel like my life, time, and priorities are quite divided.

I'll be living in Annapolis until after the wedding, and I'm very happy about this.  I had visions of one more care-free (ha ha!) summer in Annapolis sitting on the back deck with a glass of wine, going to happy hours with my friends, and so on.  Boy was I deluded!  Between wedding planning and house-settling, I'd say my time is pretty evenly divided between being in Annapolis and Baltimore!  I WANT to be relaxing in Annapolis with my girl-friends, but I NEED to be in Baltimore with my future husband doing house-related things.  Well, and I want to be doing those things too.  It's definitely going to be a balancing act.  I'm hoping I can figure out how to get things done for the wedding and at the new house and still have some time for lazy dinners on the back deck of the Home for Wayward Chorus Girls.  Happy Hours may be a little out of the picture since most of my disposable income is going towards the wedding or the house, but that is ok.

The next two weekends I'll be in Baltimore, but then over July 4th J has a concert to rehearse for/sing in, so I think I will definitely spend that time in Annapolis!

Gulp...I'm a Homeowner?

It's official.  As of May 28th, I am a home owner.  A co-owner, actually.  Thankfully, our Settlement was uneventful...if you exclude the fact that J was in France visiting/helping his sister, and I signed both of our names on everything.  He skyped in while drinking wine and eating cheese and bread.  Doesn't seem quite fair, huh?  Don't worry, I'll get some work out of him in return!  Even though we are not married yet, we now are both joined on a legally binding contract.  Good thing neither of us has any reservations about getting married or plans to back out!  Of course, I am rather skilled at jumping the gun on things like buying a house, etc.

So now we own a house.  THE house actually.  This old Victorian seems to have a personality of her own.  I think we are going to get along, but we are definitely still getting acquainted!  I won't be moving in until after the wedding, but in the process of getting J moved in (which is only about 25% complete), I've learned a lot about our house! 

1.  She has high ceilings!  We painted the living room and dining room, and I spent most of the time taping and cutting in the ceiling on an 8 foot ladder.  The first floor ceilings are 12 feet!  The second floor are 10 feet.  Thankfully, we only have one room left to paint on the 3rd floor!

2.  Her kitchen is very inviting.  Copper ceiling, cherry cabinets, stainless appliances...nice and cozy.  J's counter height dining room/kitchen table fits perfectly!

3.  She likes antique furniture.  Luckily, between our two families, we have many lovely pieces that fit perfectly in the house.

4.  She collects dog hair.  Or maybe, the dogs like to give her hair.  In any case, it looks like I'm going to become a 2 times a week vacuumer.  At least.

So at some point, I PROMISE I will post some pictures.  Not having a camera makes it a bit difficult, though!  In the meantime, you'll likely find me painting, organzing, or moving furniture somewhere in our BIG new/old house!