We meet tomorrow morning to finalize all the ‘design choices’ for our new home (!!!). We’ve been pouring over the list of possible options and upgrades, and if we added everything we really wanted, it’s, oh, about three times our budget. So it’s been weeks of discussion and back-and-forths and what-ifs… do we really need a fireplace (I guess not?), will we die without hardwood floors (yes, but it’s about half as expensive to do it ourselves later), do we need the optional fourth bedroom (yep, especially if I want to keep popping out babies in the future).

But compromises were made and we’ve finally got it down under budget and we didn’t once murder each other. Even if I don’t get the appeal of surround sound prewiring. Even if Cris doesn’t understand the necessity of pull-out drawers in the kitchen cabinets.

So tomorrow things get finalized and maybe then I’ll actually have some idea of when the house will start being built and when we can expect to move in. So far in the process, the date’s been pushed from June, to July, to August. So… I’m guessing sometime in 2012 at this rate?

I’m excited, but I’m trying not to get pee-my-pants excited until we’ve closed on the loan, just in case something goes wrong. But that doesn’t stop me from spending half my free time creating inspiration boards and daydreaming about how to decorate the various rooms.

Basically, I just need to win the lottery by the time we move in.

So, I think we’re buying this house:

We were planning on months and endless months of house-hunting and bidding and blah blah blah, but we stopped by these new homes being built in Sac and kinda fell in love over the weekend. The price is exactly what we were planning on spending anyway, and the home would be all shiny and new, with a perfect floorplan and the hardwood floors/granite countertops/whatever of our dreams. It’s still not a done deal as we have to figure out loan/financing details and make sure—100% sure—that we can fit this in our budget without having to live on rice and beans for the next 30 years. (Not that I mind rice and beans. It’s a really pretty house.) But after nonstop pro/con arguments this weekend, we’re going to go for it and just cross our fingers and hope that it all works out. That’s how mature adults handle major life decisions, right? Crossed fingers? We’ve got this down.

Last year, I made that big list of things I wanted to do. I tried to keep it to easy, attainable things. I thought it would be no problem.

L.O.L.

It’s ridiculous looking back on it now, seeing how little I’ve accomplished. Like, in 365 days I couldn’t manage to just sort out my digital photos? Paint a dresser? Go to the freaking Alameda Flea Market? Not once? In an entire year?

I’m not gonna wallow in self-pity and disappointment, because, whatever, you know? I had a baby, guys. I know I’m running out of time to use that as an excuse for everything, but I’m sticking with it while it lasts.

This year, I want to do this:
1. Buy a house.

There are a million other things I want to do this year, but that’s the big one. Buying a home in the Bay Area just isn’t an option for us unless we’re looking at a shack in the scary (scariest) parts of Oakland, so we’re planning on moving to Sacramento where the same amount of money can get us a new 4 bedroom house with a pool.

Sacramento. OMG. The suburbs. What.

I don’t know who I’ve become. I used to think home ownership was a giant money- and time-suck and I wanted nothing to do with it. And now I have a baby and I want a yard and a washer and dryer and I want to paint walls and grow a real garden and build a sunroom and and and. It hit me hard last year, this craving for a place to call my own. Looking at home design blogs is almost painful. It’s like that ridiculous ovarian squeal I experience whenever I see a teensy newborn baby or a ruffled polka dot baby girl dress. I NEED I WANT I MUST NOW NOW NOW. Only it’s not in my ovaries. It’s in whatever part of my brain is responsible for making me like Eames loungers and chalkboard walls and dark hardwood floors.

So. Sacramento. The weather, the cookie cutter houses, the lack of an ocean within walking distance. It’s not my dream situation, but since no one’s buying me a huge sunlit flat with a garage in Hayes Valley, it will do for now. We’ll be farther from Cris’s family but close to mine. And if we work it right, I can quit the 9-5 cubicle gig and do freelance full time. And then life will be sunny and birds will sing and everything will be perfect. Or something like that.

So, there it is. My exciting, terrifying, OMGWTFBBQ goal for the year.

Bonus list in case I end up feeling wildly productive and successful:

1. win a neeewwwwww caaaarrrrrrr!!! on The Price is Right
2. lose weight for reals this time
3. become BFF with Tori Spelling (uh, more on that later)
4. go to Europe (not sure how this fits in with saving money for the down payment, but maybe I’ll win the lottery or something)
5. have a wedding (again, money. when is an unknown relative going to die so I can inherit millions???)
6. ah, what the hell— win the lottery or something

Now that it’s, oh, OCTOBER, summer has finally decided to grace the bay area with its presence. The little container garden on my balcony is pretty excited.

The herbs are nice and herby, the tomatoes are finally turning red… and JALAPENOS! Amazing jalapenos! I haven’t actually tried one yet. They’re still tiny and the sad truth is that I’m a little terrified of eating things I’ve grown. It seems so…cannibalistic.

Not everything is sunshine and roses jalapenos though. The cilantro? Yeah, not so much. Cilantro is a picky, temperamental beezy. And the lettuce? Who messes up lettuce? Yeah, me. Of course. The lettuce is all wilted and died and now, there are, like… tall things growing out of the dead lettuce? Is this more lettuce? ‘Cause that’s not what it looked at all the first time. What is going on here? I haven’t watered that pot in over a week and whatever hellspawn plant that is, is still going strong. I’m a little scared.

And another thing: This is a picture of my neighbor’s balcony as I learn precariously over the railing on mine. Notice anything unusual?

Okay, let’s zoom in…

The punk cat has somehow found a way to defy the laws of physics and end up on my neighbor’s balcony. Just chillin’. And staring at me with contempt as I hiss like a maniac for him to get his dumb butt back here! right now! OLLIEEEEEEE!!!!.

TOTALLY UNRELATED: Anyone want a cute cat? He’s not annoying AT ALL.

Ugh, it was an exhausting weekend of setting up and rearranging furniture and cleaning and organizing and going though our oh-so-many belongings. Okay, okay, it was mostly my oh-so-many belongings. This big downsize-and-simplify kick that I’m on is battling wildly with my OOH I LOVE STUFF MOAR STUFF PLS! side. It’s not pretty.

After going through my bookshelves, I decided to allow myself only one shelf of unread books. Just ONE! This is craziness. I tend to collect books I kinda sorta might maybe want to read one day. As if I ever even have the time.

I, uh, think I may have cheated just a little bit on the whole one-shelf rule:

And this is after packing up nearly half my books to donate.

I think I need an intervention.

I’m in the process of trying to organize my bedroom, and I need to make room for a nice little home office somewhere in there. Here’s what I’m loving right now:

1. [via]
2. [via]
3. [via]
4. [via]
5. [via]
6. [via]
7. [via]
8. [via]
9. [via]
10. [via]

Our bedroom is a disaster.

Since moving to our new apartment a few months ago, we’ve mostly managed to get the rest of the place under control, but the bedroom? sigh. The bed’s on the floor, there are piles of clothes everywhere, and a messy computer desk is shoved into a corner. I can do better, I hope. This month, my goal is turn the bedroom into a cozy little paradise and a productive home office. I really have no idea where to start, but these are some bedrooms I’m loving right now, for inspiration…

[via]
[via]
[via]
[via]
[via]
[via]
[via]

I’m, uh, not really noticing any themes going on in the images, but… it’s a start, right?