the busiest week

Monday after Thanksgiving, our realtor came by to take a look at our current home and discuss pricing. He had initially mentioned trying to get our house on the market by December 9th, so we were expecting to have 2 extremely busy weeks of cleaning and organizing as we prepared it to sell. We didn't have anything major to do (thank goodness we replaced the run-down vanity in the second bathroom a few months ago!), but we had a ton of work to make everything show-ready. Everything was going well during our chat (price seemed good, marketing plan seemed sufficient, area competition seemed reasonable), until he dropped the bomb on us... "Do you think you can have the house ready by Friday?" Uh... sure! We weren't counting on every minute of those 2 weeks for prep, right?? We can get it all done in 4 nights?

And so began one of the busiest weeks in recent history. We worked every evening from the time Mae went to sleep until we collapsed into our own beds after midnight. We decluttered, rearranged furniture, took down artwork, patched nail holes, cleaned out closets, replaced light bulbs, scrubbed walls and stairs, and repaired cabinets. Dan came home early on Wednesday and we did a year's worth of yard work in one afternoon (mowing, edging, raking, mulching, weeding, and cleaning out the garage). We rented a storage unit and Dan drove back and forth every evening to hide away our excess furniture and off-season clothing.

Even Mae helped out with the preparations. We put her to work mopping the kitchen floor, decorating the moving boxes, and entertaining Charlie while his table was packed away in storage. As soon as she saw the big cardboard boxes on the floor, she ran to the kitchen to get her crayons. The artist cannot resist when a blank canvas presents itself and inspiration strikes!

Thursday evening, we cleaned everything top-to-bottom. Friday morning, I finished spreading mulch and touched up the bathrooms before dashing off for the inspection on our new place and then rushing back to meet the realtor to take photos. I was absurdly proud of how much we accomplished during the week and how pristine everything looked. It will all be worth it if the house sells quickly!

Friday evening, we packed up and drove to my parents' house. Dan and Mae decided to stay with them for the weekend so that our house could be available for showings and an open house. Then Mom, Kelsey, and I met Aunt Ruthann and Erin in Chicago for our girls' weekend. Apparently each of us had a super busy week and we all felt like we had earned a little shopping/indulgence on Saturday! I bought some Christmas gifts and some treats for myself and we enjoyed a tasty dinner at Grand Luxe. Such a nice end to a crazy week!

black friday

Did you get any good Black Friday deals? We bought a house! Long story short, we've been casually keeping an eye on the real estate market around us for a few months and found a home that will give us a bit more space for Mae's ever-expanding toy collection. As such, this post will be short and sweet since we have A LOT to get done this week! (More details on the new house later.)

We spent Thanksgiving with my side of the family this year. Thursday morning, we participated in the Drumstick Dash race. Kelsey and I ran the 4.6 mile course while the rest of the family walked the shorter version. Mae enjoyed the stroller ride, but she is still learning about how important it is to keep your mittens on. She had little finger-cicles by the time the race was over.

Somehow I only managed to take one photo in the evening but I think it accurately captures the chaos of Thanksgiving with 14 adults and 6 kids all together! The family room is covered in toys, Henry is dashing around the kitchen with a xylophone, adults are at the table decorating Christmas ornaments, and Kate and Mae are establishing the perfect symbiotic relationship: Kate gets to push a real live baby in the doll stroller while Mae gets a free ride all over the house!

Friday afternoon I went shopping with Mom and Kelsey, and on Saturday we all went to pick out the family Christmas tree. We came home Saturday evening and spent Sunday cleaning up the house before going to pick out our own little Christmas tree. We might be putting our house on the market this week, but it's not going to stop me from decorating for Christmas!

P.S. Let me know if you're in the market for an adorable 2 bedroom home. Charming! Natural Light! New AC!

yarny updates

My Breakwater Sweater, which I knit from Madelinetosh sock yarn a couple years ago, has found a new life! After a few washes, the neckline on the sweater started to lose its shape and I wasn't thrilled with the overall "loose" knit of the sweater. I love this yarn so much, I decided to re-knit it into a crew-neck sweater. Because I knit this version much tighter (size 1 needles!), I didn't have enough of the green yarn to finish. I decided to fade the bottom into a different colorway called "Cousteau." The pattern is a basic raglan shape. I didn't really follow any specific instructions, so I included lots of notes on my Ravelry page. I love how this new sweater turned out. It's warm and snuggly, and I love the unique colors!

I also finished knitting a pair of socks from my Jessica's Creations mystery bag from this year's Kentucky Wool Festival. The glittery bits don't show up great in photos, but this yarn is sparkly and speckly and fun! Details of the pattern are on my Ravelry page.

Lastly, I finished another baby blanket in time for my friend Karen's baby shower over the weekend. The pattern is called Babytæppe med trekanter, which I think is Danish for "Baby Blanket with Triangles." Google did a pretty good job translating the page for me, but I mostly followed the charts for this very simple and easy-to-memorize pattern. The yarn is new-to-me Cascade Yarns Anchor Bay in Dusky Teal, which is a DK wool-cotton blend (my favorite fiber blend for baby blankets). It turned out warm and soft with wonderful drape. Hope it keeps the new baby warm and comfy when he arrives! Details on my Ravelry page.