oh, deer!

Yesterday morning (early morning...like 6:15 early) I was sprucing up the house for our showing that afternoon. And before you ask: yes, I'm a crazy person who likes to clean; no, I'm not that crazy--the kids were up and playing in the living room, so I figured I would make the best use of my time. What else are you going to do at 6:15am? But back to the story. So I was wiping down the countertops in the kitchen when something moving down the driveway caught my attention out of the corner of my eye. Slightly startled, I quickly turned toward the window to see a white-tailed deer swishing down the driveway like it was nobody's business. "Catcher!" I yelled. "Hurry! I want you to see something." With a furry that could only be repeated if Diego himself were calling his name, Catcher came bounding into the kitchen to see what all the hoopla was about. I scooped Scout up off the floor, and the three of us gathered on the side porch to check out the deer, which had suddenly become two, now standing at the end of our driveway. They must have heard all the commotion (or disturbance, more likely) because they both turned their heads toward us with ears perked. For a slight moment I had visions of being mauled by a deer in my own driveway. What the heck were they doing in our neighborhood, anyway? Where did they come from? Independence Avenue [inside Charlotte joke...sorry]?

Catcher was less than impressed with the sighting, I must admit. I guess they didn't hold a candle to the leather back sea turtles that Diego was prattling on about, but I thought it was pretty cool. Maybe I don't get out much. Or maybe I thought it would be an interesting note to add to our MLS report, "Park like setting in the backyard replete with wildlife."

the six year itch

Hot Dog Stand, New York

After graduating from college, following a 6-month journey backpacking through Europe, I moved to New York City where I lived for six years. While I was there, I lived in six different apartments. I never thought about it until I started typing tonight, but the number six seems to be figuring prominently into the story that's about to unfold. By now you know the drill, I dated six guys (kidding) in New York until I met the one who would eventually become my husband, and together we moved to Charlotte, NC. Incidentally, we had to drive through six states to get here.

Charlotte Motor Speedway

Fast-forward to present day, and we've been living in Charlotte for six years (but thank goodness we do not have six kids). I don't have any other interesting "sixes" to share about Charlotte--although our address is 2612--but suffice it to say, we're ready to skip town. That's right. We're not just ready to be out of this house, but we've been thinking about a new place to plant our feet. Or maybe I should say we were thinking about a new place to plant our feet until things just seemed to suddenly fall into place last week, and we made the decision to move. The die has been cast; July 29th is our last day in Charlotte. Forget about selling the house (although it would be nice to have it off of our minds before we go) and forget about waiting around for life to happen. When you know, you know, and it's time to go.

So where exactly are we going?

Wish us luck. I'll keep everyone posted as we pack up and move, of course, and I'll finally have the blog I always wanted. By the way, we have another showing tomorrow. I think this brings us to 9 or 10, so maybe the house will be sold before we leave (stranger things have happened, right?). Either way, I'll have an experience to write about.

Oh, and in case you're wondering, we don't have a home or jobs in Austin (well...Alex is self-employed, so it doesn't really count) but that's how we roll.

this one goes out to the one i love

I don't know what it is about her, but I've had a girl crush on Keri Russell for the better half of 10 years now. Maybe it's because I identified with her character on Felicity or because I once saw her crossing the street in front of me in New York wearing a camel-colored trench coat and jeans with her hair pulled back effortlessly, and she just looked so down-to-earth and someone who would be your friend. Maybe I like her because she moved away from Hollywood and married a carpenter or maybe because we were pregnant with our sons at the same time, and she named hers River (River Phoenix was my first true crush, following Kirk Cameron, of course). Whatever the source of my infatuation--did I mention we're the same age, and I once saw her photographed in a magazine wearing a pair of jeans that I own...and she had them cuffed like I used to do?--I was excited to see her Brooklyn home featured in this month's Elle Decor. Oh yeah, we once thought about moving to Brooklyn, too...

Clearly you can judge by my slight insanity that there's no way I wouldn't like Keri Russell's abode. Unless it was Real Housewives of New Jersey tacky, but come on. Take a look at it yourself, and if you see a similar look evolving in my future home, then maybe I have taken this "crush" thing a little too far.

Images from Elle Decor.

is this too desperate?

I'm pleased to report that after a week or so of inactivity on the home front, we've already had two showings this week. I have yet to receive feedback from either one, but the only feedback we care about at this point--stop me if you've heard this one before--is an offer. In my somewhat desperate and feeble attempt to bring something new to the house without paving the driveway, for example, I picked up a little summer "Aloha" bouquet at the Trader Joe's this weekend to cheer the place up a bit. My awesome herb garden centerpiece, in case you're wondering, moved into the kitchen for these latest showings. 

Has anyone been keeping track of the number of showings we've had, by the way? I know it took our neighbors about 50 until they finally sold their place, so I'm wondering what kind of time frame we're looking at here. Please don't say another two years...

yay summer!

Yesterday was Memorial Day and, in addition to the holiday landing on Alex's birthday weekend, it's the official start of summer in the Wheat household. Who can wait until June 22nd anyway? So we celebrated as any other young family that doesn't have a Country or Swim Club membership--at the YMCA kiddie waterpark. Actually, this was my first foray into something of this nature, and I have to admit that I handled it quite well. Kind of better than Alex, in fact, who pointed out the fact that he didn't want to think about "the e coli infesting the water," as he so eloquently put it. Thanks. But we were there for the kids, and the kids had a great time. Catcher ran around in circles and asked for Teddy Grahams every ten minutes while Scout repeatedly tried launching herself off the side of the pool. Our parenting tactic of wearing out the kids worked, however: on the ride home they both passed out within a matter of minutes.

When I picked the kids up from school this afternoon, Catcher said, "Maybe we can go to the waterpark."

i was just watching tv

I've never met a woman who isn't terrified by the shower scene in Psycho. To this day, I pull back the shower curtain when I get home--almost every day, but especially when it's dark outside--to make sure there isn't a psycho (for lack of a better word) lurking behind it. One time when we still lived in New York, Alex thought it would be funny if he hid behind the shower curtain to "scare" me when I got home. Here's how it went down: unbeknownst to me, he was several paces ahead of me on the sidewalk and saw me round the corner to our apartment as I was returning home from work. At that moment, he decided to sprint up the stairs (we lived in a walkup, of course) to beat me inside. I knew something was awry the moment I stepped into the apartment, because in his haste to secure his hiding spot Alex had forgotten to deadbolt the door. When I walked in, I headed straight for my go-to where-would-a-crazy-person-be-hiding-in-my-apartment spot, and you can imagine the fear that struck me when I pulled back the shower curtain to find a panting, sweaty Alex. My heart almost stopped and I began sobbing uncontrollably. 

The reason I bring up this story is to remind us all how [freaking!] scary it is for someone to sneak up on you in shower situations. Tonight, as is customary on the weekends, I got in the shower after putting the kids to bed. Everything was fine until I was toweling off and saw the discreet turn of the door knob on the bathroom door. My stomach dropped. A million things must have raced through my head at that moment (Did I lock the front door? Where are the kids? What's my most valuable weapon right now?) none of which was: "Oh, it's just Catcher. He must have gotten out of bed and heard me showering and wants to say hi." But of course it was just Catcher. And he had just gotten out of bed. And when I asked him what he was doing, he said "I was just watching TV." The actual scary part of this story, though, is that I had left the TV on the Women's College Softball Super-Regional that Alex is working tonight, and that's what Catcher was watching. Yikes!

sassy in minneapolis

Lonny

I saw this house featured in the latest issue of Lonny magazine, and I'm slightly obsessed. Maybe it's because I've dreamt of incorporating an Eero Aarnio bubble chair into my future home's decor, or maybe it's the crazy wallpaper or the bright yellow accents. Whatever it is, the room lead me to Google the designer who, guess what, happens to live in Charlotte. Crazy! Here are some other shots of this home in Minneapolis from Lisa Sherry Interieurs:

Although I've never been a big fan of all white walls (or ceilings!), I have to admit that the designer has given me some ideas. White walls give you the freedom to go crazy with a bold, patterned wallpaper or wild with a striped island in the kitchen set below an equally striking medallion painted on the ceiling. I'm totally inspired...even if it does mean there's another round of wallpaper-hanging somewhere down the line (read about my first experience here). I'll just make sure to do it on one, flat wall the second time around.

Below is another home, located here in Charlotte, that Lisa Sherry decorated. I have to admit that I like the bold patterns she uses when they play off of white walls versus a darker color. However, I do love the chalkboard wall in the kid's room. If you could only keep it that quirky with transformer sketches.