It's amazing how life can change in one short week. Last Friday as I sat in this same chair in this same library, I had no idea how busy my life was about to become. To make a long (and complicated) story short (and simple), in this past week, we have become new home owners, and we have sold our condo. We are very excited. I was getting very close to my wit's end as we lost bidding war after bidding war, so we changed strategies, and were able to close a deal on a charming house in the west end. Here are the details:

It needs much work, but by the time we are moved in it will be more our house than ever. The house is a solid red brick semii, it has a very large living room/dining room area (very open concept, which we love) with beautiful hardwood throughout, and the kitchen is also a very good size. The kitchen needs to be completely re-done since the appliances are ancient, there are no cupboard doors, and besides, we are excited about designing our own kitchen. Beyond the kitchen is a storage room (an addition onto the house) which exits to the backyard porch. The backyard is very low-maintenance - interlocking brick throughout with flowerbeds bordering the sides. Beyond the back fence is a two car parking lane, which we plan on renting one or both out since we don't have a car. Upstairs has three bedrooms, but one bedroom has had one wall taken down, which is a weekend job to one day put back up. The upstairs bathroom needs to be completely re-done as well. The basement is partially finished, dry, and has a bathroom in good condition with a shower stall. All wiring is up-to-date, the roof is in good condition, and the house inspection only revealed a few minor things that are easily fixed.

It is in a fabulous location - five minute walk to Dundas West subway (which has an elevator for stroller access!), two blocks east of Roncesvalles Village, about a ten minute walk east to High Park, a 15 minute walk west to Dufferin Grove Park, a Loblaws just north of us, a No Frills a little further south, and a short street car ride to downtown. We couldn't be happier.

And as for our condo, it is bittersweet to see it go. We have loved living here, and we are both really excited for the new owner - she has bought a fabulous place. We signed the papers last night, selling it for exactly $1 over asking. :) Closing on the house is December 14th, and closing for the condo is January 3rd, so I guess this house is our family's Christmas present. We will have the two weeks over Christmas to paint, clean, re-do the kitchen and bathroom, and more, so we'll be a little too busy to do our usual Christmas activities. Luckily Ada is too young to actually miss Christmas, but she's going to love her new house, I'm sure of it. More room to run around, stairs to climb, her own bedroom, a backyard to play in, and fabulous parks right outside the door. But we are sorry she won't have any memories of our downtown home on the 36th floor.

Since I dedicated this post to giving details on our new home, here are some random pictures of our favourite little Ada.













UPDATE: I'm posting this a week after writing it - technical difficulties. :) We're going to see the house today, so I'll post pictures later this week - I promise!