When it rains, it pours.

Well, we put an offer on a house at long last!  It's a fully remodeled duplex very close to our dream neighborhood (Capitol Hill) and a steal of a deal.  It's huge!  The upper unit (in which we would live) is 1800 square feet, 4 bedrooms, 1.75 baths.  The lower unit (rental income) is 1040 square feet, 2 bedrooms, 1 bath.  The remodel got rid of most of the original 1901 building's charm, but that's something that can be brought back with the skillful application of hardwood flooring, baseboards, and crown moldings. Unfortunately, it's a short sale.  Also unfortunately, there are multiple offers.  Which means we won't know for awhile if our offer was the best, and the bank may not get around to reviewing our offer for months.  Sigh.  So now we wait and see.  But!  Something else completely different in another dream neighborhood (Seward Park) just came on the market last night, and we can't wait to see it.  It's an estate...the original owner/builder just passed away and the family is selling the home.  I've never seen anything like it.  It was built in 1959 and is a great example of the Midcentury Modern style.  Lots of cool details, 3 fireplaces, a wine cellar, and a humongous basement with steel I-beams and high ceilings just waiting for some drywall and a little love.  Did I mention that both of these houses have radiant heat systems?  That's still fairly rare in old Seattle (where gas and oil furnaces and forced air are the preferred heating methods), so finding two houses in two weeks with radiant baseboards is pretty cool.  Will we choose the smell of leatherbound books and rich mahogany, or mod brick fireplaces and geometric tile?  Tune in soon (ish) to find out!

The duvet cover?  Ummmm....I'll start it...soon.  Really.

Well hello there!

It's been awhile...once again because Things are Happening and I've been so busy with the house hunt.  We have had a few near misses, including one heartbreaking instance in which we missed putting an offer on a great house by 20 minutes!  The seller's agent had already sent the offer to the bank that owned the house and it was accepted while we were on the phone with our realtor putting our offer together...grrr.  I think Mr. Mac is still reeling from that one, especially since the house was a lovely 1909 Craftsman with a sunroom and incredible curved kitchen cabinets, a block from Pritchard Island Beach...so disappointing.  I never dreamed that this market would be so cutthroat.  Multiple offers are the norm and the inventory is down 27% from last year at this time...these are certainly some shark-infested waters we're swimming in.  I have now toured a whopping 70 houses!  Anyway, life goes on and so do we.  Mac Mini and I have been enjoying the slightly better weather.  On Tuesday we went to two separate playgrounds in the morning and afternoon and she had a wonderful time running around and playing on the slides.  It was nice to wear sunglasses for a change, and I even got to take off my sweatshirt!  Spring may be here after all.  And after two months I've finally decided on a layout for my duvet cover project...pictures and updates to come!