This is My Happy Dance

I had a missed call from Jared and a voice-mail telling me there was news on the house. Everyone in the office knew we were actively looking and there had been several prospects. I think it was the high-pitched squeal and the spinning around my office that really got the point across that we got the house! 

Here are the details:

Four bedrooms, one and a half baths, three floors, and a huge yard (for Winthrop standards). It’s very structurally sound with updated guts (furnace, electrical, etc.) and we really love the outside- white with black shutters. In my mind, it’s the little farmhouse I always wanted – but steps from Boston.

The inside is dated but we wanted to start fresh with new walls and a new kitchen anyways. Jared is excited to jump into the renovations with my Dad. I have all sorts of projects brewing for them. I’m sure anyone that follows my Pinterest boards can see that!

I’m a very lucky lady. Just wanted to state that here. The last year has been absolutely surreal. I’ve dreamed of a time when I’m professionally satisfied, in a fulfilling relationship, get to plan my dream wedding, and design our dream house. Not everyone’s dreams come true so I must be doing something right because mine most certainly are.

House Hunters

Forgive us if we’ve kept everyone out of the loop. But speaking of loops, house hunting is a frigging emotional roller coaster. We’re level headed people. We understand the process. In fact, Jared’s been through it four times before. But this time… it’s personal.

This is the first home we’re buying together. This will be the house we spend the next five to fifty years in. This will be the house we bring a baby home to – god willing. And we intend to do some work to make it our own. So in the process of pricing out the renovation costs, we’re envisioning our dream home. So whether we like it or not, we get attached.

Have I mentioned we’ve seen every house for sale (and some not for sale) in all of Winthrop? The real estate in this town is literally down to three shit holes and a million dollar house that’s falling into the ocean.

I admit I was getting a little desperate. Even considering… gulp… Chelsea. But Saturday morning my loving husband suggested we revisit a particular house.

This house was not on the market. We heard about it through our agent who knew the homeowner wanted to downsize. We toured the house one morning and looking past all the dated decor we fell in love. We made an offer….

And she refused.

But now Jared wanted to take another look at renovation costs and see if we could make it work. We made another offer on Sunday.

Settling In

I swear I will never get tired of the skyline of Boston from the 13th floor above the Longfellow Bridge. And the view isn’t even the best part of my job. I love what I do, the product I help produce and most of all the people I work with.

So yes, my new job is good. But it’s hard to brag when my poor husband is working from the dining room table – or even the couch – at my childhood home. Though he does have a view of Boston too! Plus he doesn’t have to walk from the parking garage to his office in the 5 degree cold with the winds whipping… in heels.

But I digress. Living in the basement of my parents house isn’t that bad… You can stop laughing now. I’m serious. We’re fortunate enough that my parents welcomed us with open arms and a freshly painted and carpeted basement.

We’re also really lucky to have good friends. When my Dad told everyone that Jared & I were moving back to Massachusetts and would be living in the basement with our stuff in a storage unit, we had about 5 trucks and even more hands at our disposal. Seriously Joe Vacarro – you are nothing short of amazing.

Despite the warm welcome from my parents we are hitting the ground running on the house hunt. More to come on that. For now. Take a look at our new digs… jealous?!

Home Sweet Home

The Chouinard's

Where We Are Is…

Winthrop, Massachusetts. It’s a quiet little seaside town bordering booming Boston. I grew up here. Spent 25 years of my life 100 feet from Boston Harbor. It wasn’t until I moved (for love) to Virginia that I realized how amazing that last sentence is.

Virginia’s state motto – Virginia is for Lovers – proved to be very true for my then boyfriend and me. In October 2011, Jared proposed in an apple orchard and in October 2012, we wed in a barn. Yeah, I play a good country bumpkin but believe you me – I missed the city of Boston.

I missed the salt air, the city lights, the way everyone rakes leaves in a Pats jersey and barbecues in a Sox hat. But most of all – I missed my family.

But now Jared & I have formed our own little family and as far as I’m concerned, New England was where we were meant to set up shop.

I wasn’t sold on Winthrop though. Not. At. All. Winthrop was where my old friends still had their old jobs, the CVS pharmacist was my 6th grade boyfriend and you can’t walk down the street without seeing someone’s mother or cousin or ex-hairdresser.

But Jared didn’t know any of that. He saw a town with more sand than concrete. Where anywhere you go, you’re 200 feet from water. And while you’re blissfully seaside, you’re still a tunnel or bridge or 4 T stops from the state capital. That last argument kinda sunk in when I got a job in Cambridge.

November 28th – phone Interview. A week later – flown to Cambridge to meet the office. The next day – job offer. Two weeks later – our Richmond apartment was packed into three moving cubes and Jared and I were northbound.

Winthrop, MA

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