It's official.

Well, our house went on the market this weekend. There's a sign in the front yard which means there's no turning back now. Don't get me wrong, I am excited at our future in Richmond but sad to leave my house here. We have spent ten years fixing and upgrading to make it ours so it will be a sad day when we finally say goodbye for good. It's also sad when we don't have a house in Richmond yet to get excited about. It's looking like we will be living in an apartment temporarily while we continue our search for the next perfect house for us.

We just gutted and rebuilt our kitchen and from what we have seen in Richmond, we will probably be rebuilding another kitchen soon. We also just finished renovating one of the bathrooms. I gues this was really good practice for us if we do buy a lovely 80+ year old home.

Good eating!

For a smaller city, I am impressed at the variety of restaurants around Richmond. There's everything from your big food chains like Chick fil a to Brio and PF Changs. There's also a nice selection of non-chain places. For our close friends, you won't be surprised when I tell you we found a french restaurant that we loved. Is it strange to travel to Richmond, Va to experience a little of France? It's just so fitting. Can Can Brasserie is in Carytown and it's a beautiful place built with care to look like it's been there for years. They used reclaimed tiles and fixtures and they did a fantastic job. The food was delicious and we ate way too much. We decided that's where we are taking our out of town guests when they come to visit! I know some of you need a little bribe... We also ate some bbq at Buz and Ned's. It's a hole in the wall close to the baseball park and it was really good. I can see us going to see the Flying Squirels play and eating a little bbq on the way to the park. (more on the baseball in a future post) So I am looking forward to exploring this part of the city as well and I'll keep you posted on our foodie experiences.

Decisions...

It's been a week since we were in Richmond looking at homes. I can't even remember all the houses we looked at. A few stand out but nothing we were ready to buy. We love the idea of moving into an old row home in the Museum District where we can walk to restaurants and shops. We did look at a handful of houses in the Museum District but I think we decided that may not be the best place for us right now. I should probably say I didn't like them. B is much more open to a city lifestyle than I am as it turns out. My cons: 1. Too many renters which drags down the property values on some blocks. 2. Row homes are dark: you really only get light from the front and back of the house since the homes are so close together. I need light! 3. I think we are a bit older than most people residing in that part of town, and I don't want to feel old or be reminded that I am getting old. 4. I just didn't get the vibe, so it just doesn't feel like a good fit for me. My pros: 1. The houses are full of charm and character. Mostly the floors were beautiful and original, the moldings and trim are wonderful. Love all the features in an old home. So, Museum District, for me, is not a good option. We took a look at Ginter Park which is just north of the Museum District, still very close to Richmond. Ginter Park is full of a variety of styles of homes full of character and charm and quite large too. This is a good website that gives some history www.historicginterpark.org. Of course I should know that when you think something is too good to be true, it probably is. We looked at a handful of properties in that area and there were some nice homes there. There was one property I had spied on the internet but was greatly disappointed when I saw it in person. Though it is more suburban than the Museum District, it was still a little hit or miss. Some homes and streets were very well maintained and loved and some weren't. I won't rule that area completely out, but it's probably not where we will end up living. Last tour was Near West End which is just west of the Museum District. It's a more suburban feel, but very close to Richmond, Carytown, church, J's school, B's office. It's the best of all worlds. It's a convenient location but you still have a great variety of homes that are older with a lot of character and charm and just enough land to make me happy. So, I think we at least know what area we want to focus on but didn't find our home yet. I really like Richmond and I am looking forward to our move.

Oh my gosh! Saturday was an incredibly long day. We arrived in Richmond about 3pm, got our car and drove through the city to our hotel. Ok, so very first impression, I was a little worried. It's so overwhelming to drive through a brand new city, not knowing a thing about the neighborhoods, and trying to envision that this is our new home. Thank goodness our agent came and swept us up right after we checked in to take us on a 3+ hour tour around Richmond! It was a lot to take in on the first day but we do have a very good idea of the various neighborhoods around here which helped tremendously. After seeing new neighborhoods and old, we reaffirmed our desire to purchase an old home with character. We still had no idea which area that might be yet, our plan is to tour some areas where we picked houses: Ginter Park, Museum District, and Near West End. I'm anxious to see what these houses are like in person and if we will find anything we like.

Hello!

I decided it would be fitting to create a new blog to document some new changes to my life. As most of you already know, we are moving to Richmond, Virginia for B's new job. We are excited, anxious, eager, and sad to leave home. For me, the most difficult part will be leaving behind all the friends I have here. I don't want to lose touch with all the wonderful people who have been a part of my life just because I am moving to another state. So I thought I would create this blog so I can share all the news and it will be just like you are right here with me! First stop is house hunting, meeting with recruiter (for my future job!), and interviewing a new school for Julia. We are heading to Richmond this weekend and I will be taking many pictures so stay tuned!