With the wedding behind us and TWO new jobs, Josh and I have decided to start exploring the idea of buying a house. I'm kind of emotionally torn with this for 2 reasons: 1) this gives me a much more permanent tie to New Orleans, which means less of a chance of living near my family soon, and 2) I really love the house we are renting in terms of location and the memories that we've had here in the mere 1 year and a few months. This is where we planned our wedding, had so many visitors (I think our max was 7 people at one time!) This is where we officially became a family. Back to number 1... I love this city. I don't think I ever expected to love another city as much as I love New York, but there's something about this place that is growing on me more and more every day. Don't get me wrong, it has major drawbacks- like not having Nordstrom, Crate and Barrel, Trader Joe's, Ikea, and a few other awesome stores. But where it lacks in good shopping, it makes up for in good friends. The biggest difference here is we work to live, not live to work, 'cause there's lots of living to do here. There's a breathlessness that I feel when I see the NYC skyline. Still. After living there for almost 3 years it puts a huge smile on my face every. single. time. I'm starting to get that feeling here. Like when we're driving on the Crescent City Connection coming back from the West Bank... that view is amazing. We all seem to have this saying here "it looks like a real city!" Josh is starting to learn that when I have a hard time here is holidays, and when my siblings procreate. Because my siblings love to procreate. Within 3 years of being here there will have been 3 new babies! It's so hard for me to not watch their kids on the weekends, or go see Carlie's cheer competitions, or watch Benji learn and grow up so fast. Southern California has never been on my list of places I'd love to live, maybe because I grew up there and the mystique is lacking. But I toy with the idea from time to time and know that one day, I'm sure Josh and I will make our way out west. Knowing that it's always an option is what always makes me feel better.
Now, on to the house hunting! I'm a freak for HGTV and home design in general. Initially thinking Mid City or Navarre (the neighborhood we live in now) are the places to be, we've decided to also consider Lakeview, Uptown, and even CBD and French Quarter. Basically we're looking for the right house. In these neighborhoods and our budget, we know we will have to make at least 1 sacrifice on our wish list, but here's what we've determined:
- Safety and security- people who know NOLA know that one block further and you get that feeling of I shouldn't be here, but one block the other way and you're in the nicest part of town.
- Charm or character. This is sometimes lacking in homes due to flippers that came in after Katrina. Our house, for example, has only one piece of character left... the diamond-paned window (featured in this post).
- 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms- it would be nice to have the 3rd room so that if we start a family we still have an extra room for an office/guest room. Now that I work from home a separate work space is a MUST.
- This is a weird one... I don't want fancy, remodeled baths and kitchen if it's not my taste. I would feel too bad spending money replacing granite or cabinets or tile because it's not my taste. But I also want my house to be my taste. So I am not off-put by laminate counter tops, outdated bathrooms, and old tile!
- Last, but should be first, is a MUST: structurally sound, new or excellent condition roof, and preferably raised (at least a few feet) if in a flood zone. For those of you who aren't familiar with our topagraphy, houses sink! We live in a swamp. We don't have hills in NOLA so it shouldn't feel like I'm walking up one!
This process is completely foreign to Josh and me, and we're learning more and more each day. It's overwhelming, but exciting to be taking the next HUGE step in our lifelong journey together :)
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