Cross-Country Relocation Recap - Settling In & Sneak Peeks

It's been a grueling and hectic past few weeks - but we finally moved out of Arizona and back east! This time, we're living in a house we bought North Carolina! Being built in 2006, it's not an historic house, but it still needs a few tweaks and updates, we're planning to do over time. Since we moved in just before Thanksgiving (literally - just a few days before!!) the main objective has been to just get the place cleaned, get the common areas painted, and get somewhat organized, to still be able to enjoy a little bit of the Christmas holiday season...

 Harmon House Christmas 2014

To say it's been grueling or exhausting these past few weeks is really an understatement - just before we found out we were going to move, I had just given the AZ house a Fall cleaning and closet purge (in September) ... which did help somewhat when it came time to organize, pack and move in October. Although my husband's company had professional packers come pack up the house (in 2-3 days), I still spent some time grouping like things together, so it would make unpacking a little easier - well easier in theory. 

The unpacking process though happened on the SAME DAY the truck arrived and was unloaded. I do NOT recommend this be the process for anyone moving across the country. All of the time and effort that went into getting and keeping the home items organized, got shot to  hell within the last two hours - even though I had asked the movers to stop - they kept right on unpacking. And because of this, not only did things have to be moved 2-3 times, but some items were even thrown away (for example the lids to porcelain Chinoiserie jars) and one packed cabinet (coffee mugs) ended up in about five different places between the kitchen and the living room. I was upstairs unpacking wardrobe boxes into the closet, and after a long day, walked into this...

 I put on my "It's gotta get cleaned up NOW" - hat day after movers left.

Be that as it may, I forged on. Thankfully, the relocation specialist assigned to our move apologized for the chaos and did send another two unpackers two days later (which is how the relocation to Arizona was done and what I had asked the mover to stop and do). This was a huge help because I had time to put away and organize the chaos of what did get unpacked. We were somewhat more pulled together to be able to enjoy our first meal in our new home, which was actually for Thanksgiving...

 

This Thanksgiving included HUGE leaves for our table for two, I gathered from our backyard!

Although we didn't cook a turkey this year (no time to since Jeff had to work on Thanksgiving Eve) we did manage to make a few of our traditional sides and I baked a pumpkin pie. Even though I didn't have time to bake Jeff some chocolate chip cookies, our new neighbor, Linda, welcomed us to the neighborhood with a plateful she just baked. (They were still warm!!) And so much to be grateful for - especially for this year with our relocation...

 Moving truck loaded and leaving Arizona - Thursday November 13...

 Snapshot while in flight - Leaving AZ for the East Coast! November 15!

 Landed in Charlotte, NC - Saturday November 15 - Flew out up to Greensboro...

 Closed on Harmon House - Monday November 17!

 Fall Driving - North Carolina - November 19...

 Moving truck Arrival: Saturday November 22!

Before the moving truck arrived on Saturday November 22, Jeff was able to get the door locks changed, I painted trim and doors (loving the black doors!) and this time, we hired a local painter to paint out the rooms and walls of most common areas (vs. Jeff & I painting everything before the movers arrived to our AZ rental home). Hiring the painters was a HUGE help and definitely a worth while investment I highly recommend to help lift some stress off you during a cross country relocation. 

 Picking paints for Harmon House (on closing day!) - So much easier to select when swatches painted around the house, to see color changes in the light. Painting happened from November 18-21 - stopped for weekend move in - and picked back up Dec. 1-3.

I'll share moving details, paint colors, local painters info, packing tips, and additional pictures in an upcoming post. Right now I really just wanted to touch base with Focal Point Styling blog readers because I know - it's been quite a while since I've posted (sorry!!).

 Truth!!!

Next year (2015) we're planning on a bathroom renovation, switching out lighting fixtures, and continue painting other rooms - including setting up guest rooms (the list of guests is growing now that we're back east!!), exterior painting (shutters and trim), a little more gardening than I've done in the past 3 years (can. not. wait for Spring!!), setting up our home office, and even creating a mancave for Jeff! Right now - I'm just UBER thrilled and grateful to be back HOME on the east coast!!

 Had so much fun picking out a fresh tree this year! We haven't had a real tree since 2005! Finally got our tree, Friday night, December 5!

In the midst of the move, doing a few home repairs, and getting settled, I did do a "little" simple holiday decorating, shopped for a few new pieces for our home (online here in NC and at HomeGoods in AZ before moving!), attended a local holiday party (at Madcap Cottage - High Point!) I was invited to (thanks to friends & connections on Facebook), enjoyed a great Italian meal at a local restaurant (Giada's Trattoria), explored a historic home - decorated in Victorian period style during a candlelight tour - and even check out a few area thrift stores and consignment shops -- again, photos to be shared in upcoming blog posts (but have been sharing via Facebook and G+!!) , so please stayed tuned -- and a HUGE THANK YOU for sticking around!!  I'll also be posting my 2014 Rewind before the end of the year (lol - in the upcoming week!)

I'm very much looking forward to learning my new area (may even be planning a thrift road trip!), collaborating with local shops, and also getting to attend east-coast market events, such as the Design Bloggers Conference coming up in Atlanta in February and Spring High Point Market coming up this April! You can read more, from an interview I was honored to have with the gents over at Madcap Cottage... (read post at: Always in Fashion)

 Met long time Facebook friend Cathy Smith during the Holiday Bazaar at Madcap Cottage in High Point - Sunday, December 7!

Jeff and I touring the historic Korner's House for a candlelight Christmas tour, Saturday, December 13!

Thank you Focal Point Styling blog readers!

(especially Betty, Gail, Scribbs, Linda, Janelle, mom and many others!!)

Time to get baking some Christmas cookies now!!

Warmest Wishes to you and your family for a wonderful holiday season, Merry Christmas  and a Happy NEW Year!

Thanks for stopping by to read my Cross-Country Relocation Recap - Settling In & Sneak Peeks!

HOUSE HUNTING IN AZ

Happy Monday! Hope you had a great weekend. Since we've been living here in the East Valley of  Phoenix now for 18 months, we';re a little more comfortable with the areas and decided to start a little house hunting. Currently, we've been renting a 3 story home in Gilbert and 1. It is a bit too far east for Jeff's drive south to Casa Grande. 2. It's a MONSTER for me to keep clean (those stairs!!) 3. It's not a conducive layout for living an outdoor lifestyle - the kitchen is on the second floor, and there aren't any sliders leading out to the backyard for grilling - We have to cut through the garage. When we first learned of moving to Arizona (in September 2011) I had pulled together a binder of places to check out - some of which Jeff would visit while on the phone with me. In October 2011, I flew out to Phoenix, and had searched about 30 places in 2 days before finding this. We had taken it mostly because of its newer finishes in comparison to other rentals we looked at. Since living here for 18 months now, we both have a better understanding of distance + travel time, and think it's a good time to start looking a little closer to the main highway both for Jeff's work and my travels around Phoenix & Scottsdale. One of the areas we've been looking at is a development called Sun Lakes.

 

I'm OBSESSED with this door! LOVE it!

Don't laugh - but Sun Lakes is an adult community. I know, sounds strange - but the lifestyle is perfect for Jeff and I: we don't have any children, and the area is surrounded with lakes (yay! water!) and golf courses. Jeff enjoys both fishing and golfing so points for him. Most of the homes are single story -yay! no stairs. Many people are buying into the area and renovating and even flipping home (potential for clients) and the HOA is lower than what we were paying in FL ($225 in FL vs $100-$150 here) Although it's a adult community, they start the age admittance at 40, and also have group meet-ups by age so we'd be able to meet with other people in 40-50. The area is quite - no loud parties like the neighbors had Friday, and no trains or airports nearby (something we didn't realize when we only had 2 days to find a place. The one thing I'm most drawn to is the different styling of housing - all different kinds from adobe to flat roof to slate tile roofs to yes - Spanish with barrel tile roofs. Many of the plans we've looked have a kitchen open to a family or sitting room. And even though some places are only 2/2, they'll have a den (great for an office), custom closets, cabinet storage in a 2 car garage, a fireplace and even a pool - something we steered away from when we were first looking, but it gets so damn hot here in the summer, a pool seems like a great plus to have, especially for exercise! (Remember my mini heat stroke I had while biking last Spring?)

 This home is completely renovated, it's WHITE (yay1 No desert brown!), has a sleek looking lap pool with a cover on tracks (great for when a dust-storm hits) and no cacti - Reminds me of a South Florida home.

Sun Lakes - Alameda Model
The Kitchen is open to the dining / living room area, which is the layout we had in FL (with the exception of the sink was facing the area. I had converted this space to our Great room, and used a sitting area in front as our Dining room.

The downside is though, because we had done a short-sale of our FL townhome to be able to quickly relocate here to AZ for Jeff's job transfer (and during the lowest point of the FL housing market) we will still need to wait another 8 months before applying for a mortgage loan. The plus though is, we will fall back into the FHO loan qualification and many people here are doing Lease - Option to buy, which means we could rent until able to qualify again. The other plus I learned about from a Realtor I met with on Thursday is this area has wonderful yard-sales on the weekends (great for finds + selling stuff I don't want to just donate) and it also has the potential to capture new clients - people who want to update their 80s & 90s style places into the millennium (just like I did for my mom in Florida!)

I'm not doing this for all the places we've been looking at, but creating boards with the floor plans, along with before and after pics of some of the homes that have been remodeled is helping. Ideally, since we'd be renting the first 8 months, we'd prefer something that has already been remodeled because it's too much of a risk to do any updates while leasing, even if planning to buy. To get more of a feel for the area, since some of the communities are gated, we spent yesterday on the Golf Course inside one of the developments. LOVED seeing green grass, WATER, and palm trees - It felt more like living in Florida. And the drive from here to Jeff's work in Casa Grande would be cut by 20 miles which equals 30 mins less drive time. And it's still close enough to the main highway for me to get to Scottsdale or Downtown Phoenix for vintage and thrift....

 

 

Definitely not looking like the brown desert dwellings here...

And the homes inside one of the developments have a little more architectural interest both inside & out (in other words: not cookie cutter boxes)

Not set on any one yet, but we're at least out there looking, and liking more of what we're seeing vs. when we first came to Phoenix. I think the "culture shock" has past and we're adapting more to the area. I'd LOVE a Mid Century home, but most of those are up in North-West Phoenix, too far for Jeff. The prices are also more affordable from $175,000 to $200,000 for 1700+ sf to 2100+ sf.

The weather has still been holding out as comfortable too, but I'm sure the oven-like heat is just around the corner. But at least this year, we're more prepared and know what to expect. Shopping & doctors offices are close by the area, including the dentist, which is where I'm heading this morning.

Have a great day!

Thanks for stopping by,

 

'

Moving Tips: Cross-Country House Hunting Trip

After searching online and driving around with GPS & cell phones, we managed to collectively see 30 properties within the Chandler & Gilbert areas within two days. We created a "Wish List" which we referred to often in our search. And even-though some places had "space", it may have been in the wrong places for our lifestyle. Although I didn't get the fireplace I had hoped for, the area and home we found together - and not online - we actually found while driving around a neighborhood we liked and calling the simple sign we saw out front. WE made an appointment to see the next day, since it we had spotted this towards the end of day one. Here's some (but not all) of the other places we saw while house hunting in Arizona...



Some other kinks we spotted while driving around areas we thought to live in - that you can't see in pictures online: Some charming homes with space & layout we would have liked, were near TRAIN TRACKS. That's a no-no and no-go. One place we drove by, the front door was wide open, so we stopped and said, "Hello!?" and met a really nice property manager who happened to be there taking some pictures, and she let us in. 

 

On a sad note, some places we spotted... were Foreclosures. THAT was so sad to see. Overgrown, run down, and even a few weathered belongings left behind. When I realized what it was, I went back into the truck... but Jeff ventured off in the back yard where he said the pool was not only green, it had fish in it to help eat mosquitoes... I just wanted to leave. I know it's happening all over the US, but I don't like the thought that someone has had their life so disrupted. There were toys left behind... so that means kids are effected by all this bank none-sense too... 

Then it was time to snap out of it and move on with our search...

 

 A simple sign we spotted while driving around 

the community we found and liked!

Another place we saw had the key just sitting there on the front porch... so we did what any curious person would do - and then PUT the key BACK into the lock box (wish that Realtor would have done that). One of the signs we spotted, we called and it lead us to a Realtor named  Bill Johannes with Remax. If you're ever house hunting out in Arizona, look him up. On short notice, he was not only friendly, kind and professional, he showed us a sense of urgency by lining up five places to look at, after we selected them from three lists he emailed us to help narrow our search.

 

This place I had found online, but the layout didn't suit us... But we REALLY liked the charm of the neighborhood, so we kept driving around it...

 

There didn't feel like enough of a break when coming through the front door. It was like BAM! Ok - you're in, and you're in the kitchen. Plus what looked nice on the outside (symmetry) didn't work for furniture layouts or flow on the inside. The door inside would be better set off to a side...

But we didn't let that get us down... Driving around the same neighborhood, we spotted some more lovelies to see...


The area in Gilbert we're moving to is called The Willows. It has GREEN GRASS (yay!), tree-lined streets, charming curb appeal (yay! a stoop! like in Jersey - which ironically is where the developer headquarters is located!!), exterior finishes different from Florida, upgraded interior finishes (in comparison to some of the 1980's-1990's rentals we saw), a loft / studio space to use as an office with a VIEW (one north and one west of the AZ desert mountains!) - and one large enough for a seating area! Now we won't be as separated as we were here in Florida. I spent a lot of time in the office - Jeff called my hole. 

Still building... that's a good sign!

The new place also has a double car garage, which space wise, will make up the difference for our current attic: holiday decor storage. The three bedrooms downstairs will give our guests (and us) privacy - and I may turn the third space into a giant WIC :). The out-door space is here too. Just a few kinks & quirks to work through and our new place, but it will make a fine starter home for our first year living out west in Arizona. Plus the money we'll save from renting (vs. our current mortgage) will allow us to save for a down payment in a year - and give us time to get more familiar with places to live in Arizona.  I see a lot of potential out here to help people with their homes, especially since they are still building in this community and that's a really GOOD sign! (better than Florida - for sure!)

 

This place had the same layout as ours, but this one was for sale. We did toy with the idea of trying to buy, but with such a short window (and our short sale happening in Florida), the pluses quickly became minuses. But it had virtually everything on our wish-list - except for a fireplace...

 

 Updated finishes, open space, garage storage, architectural charm, curb appeal...

 

But our rental (seen here) has all that too. When we called the sign, we made an appointment and met with another really nice Realtor named Jenny Browne. She showed us this place, and let Jeff back in yesterday for him to make measurements & notes on floor plans I drew up, scanned and emailed to Jeff. From us touring the place  for a second time yesterday, via cell phone communicating, we even found a few more bright spots to like... More pics and details to come.

 

Dark wood Shaw laminate flooring, great natural northern light, and mountain views from all windows in the third level loft / studio space. LOVE it!

The location is GREAT too: Wonderful (and familiar) shopping & restaurants, thrift (already spotted a GOODWILL!) and close to highway to go north to Phoenix or south to Casa Grande for Jeff's work. We've learned North Tucson is loaded with artist, so that will be great to check out as well. I'll post more pics tomorrow of some of the details of our new place, and some thoughts for some quick updates to make a rental a  h o m e . . . especially for the upcoming holidays!

Goin' WEST my friends... And embracing the change!

I know everyone out in blog land is all up into decorating for Halloween, and getting ready for the holidays with some fabulous DIY projects to do ... so I greatly appreciate you taking the time to stop by, and check out what's happening on our new adventure - moving across the country and goin' WEST!

xoxox