Here we go....

Considering how many cabs there are in downtown Chicago, today it was absolutely impossible to hail one downtown. Perhaps it had to do with it being 5:15pm. Nonetheless, after power-walking north and being passed by about 20 cabs that already had passengers, we finally hailed one. All this in 2.5 inch heels!  Our meeting with the mortgage broker went well. I guess RJB and I really have learned a lot watching HGTV and being dorking accountants because some of the meeting was a little boring.  Nonetheless, we got our pre-approval letter. And we spoke to the real estate agent tonight and signed the forms for our first offer! Action should play out tomorrow.

The fall of mortgaged backed securities

As I am sure some of you know, RJB has been gnawing at the bit to buy a home. We have been living under the thumb of fiscal responsibility for about a year and finally got in a position that allowed us to start looking. So that's what we did on Saturday. Went out and viewed seven properties with a realtor. Then went back to one of them on Sunday for an open house. And decided we want to put an offer in, pending our discussion with the mortgage broker on Wednesday. Talk about anticipation! And this has been a typical JMB situation - the property we are interested in was the second one we viewed on Saturday. Yep, add this to the list of Big Decisions that have happened quickly and easily for me (most recent easy Big Decision was my wedding dress - the first one I tried on when mom and I went out looking. Done and done!). Since home buying is a Big Decision, there's a part of me that thinks we are done.  Clearly we just started looking at places even though we have been internet stalking properties for about 6 months, so if this one falls through, fine. We will find another. No worries experienced homebuyers, we are not getting emotionally attached!!



Now comes the interesting linguistic barrier. I say we are buying a house. This is what I tell people.  But we are really buying a condo. I don't know if it clicks with non-residents that only millionaires own stand alone, single family houses in the city.  This home is a bargain at about 1.2M and you share with 8 other owners.  Not even a true "house"!

Ok, maybe there are some affordable shanties in some areas of the city, but for the most part condos are how people roll in Chicago.  (actually, not sure we could afford that jewel to the left - there's a lot of land around that guy) We own condos/flats in three-flats/high rises/midrises. However when I say we want to buy a house, people correct me: oh, you mean a condo, not a house. Perhaps home is the better word. We hope to move from a rented home to purchased home.  Better? But this also begs the question, are condos second rate? I hope not.


Otherwise, it is quiet here. Work is busy. In fact, I'm about to power up again for a few hours, as will the Hubs. RJB is a few weeks away from starting his official marathon training program. We will be reunited with the P clan in FdL in a few days - I think the first time I'll see RTP in FdL in about 2 years? Goodness! I am looking forward to all the tasty food mom will cook, playing some golf, seeing the pets, and of course being in great company.


More later in the week. Hopefully it will be a good post about how much money the bank is willing to lend us!

Time sure does fly....

I can't believe that one year ago from RIGHT now I became a married woman. A happily married woman. It is crazy how quickly time flies. RJB and I discussed that this morning. We need to slow down and basically not get caught up in all the noise of every day life.  Hear, hear!!

We had a nice anniversary weekend so far. We both took Friday afternoon off and went to the Art Institute to see the Matisse exhibit.   My favorite was Portrait of Yvonne Landsberg.  I'm sure it has intensely deep modernism overtones and importance but I just like it for the colors and the symmetry.

Saturday we checked into the Palomar Hotel in Chicago and pretended to be tourists. The hotel just opened at the end of April so it was neat to be in a brand new place. We had floor to ceiling windows and when you looked straight down, it was a drop right to the street.  Only draw back was the bathroom: no fan and the door doesn't officially shut all the way.

We had dinner at Roy's (yes, I know we always go there but it is easy and we love it).  Poetically we were seated at the same table we sat at for our very first date. RJB surprised me with a beautiful necklace and I finally talked him into buying a new pair of jeans he has been hemming and hawing about for, oh, three months.  And we got a sizable shipment of the shortbread cookies we ate almost everyday while in Hawaii.

This morning, our actual anniversary, we had a nice breakfast and headed home. It's nice we still have a whole day left of our weekend!

By the way, Sylvester was very happy that we came home:

This past year has been exciting - first summer in Chicago, we did some traveling, my brother got married, we made some milestones with finances....this upcoming year will be even more exciting. We will buy a condo, furniture, and currently we are planning on going to China in 2011.  I'm lucky to look forward to experiencing these adventures with my love!!