Saying Goodbye

 Last Friday, I not only said goodbye to my daughter and family, but also to half my furniture!

Melissa arrived early morning, driving a 26 foot U-haul to pick up the furniture that I promised her.

Saying goodbye to her wasn't easy, but also saying goodbye to this English oak parquet table wasn't either because of all the memories of holiday dinners we enjoyed on it.  It will look fantastic in her new home in Seattle though.

Not so much in my home in San Francisco.

 She also took this coffee table and wicker chairs, along with the cane back dining chairs and my English oak desk.  Oh, and a queen size bed for her guest room.

I threw in the wicker settee too.

Not only am I left with a half-way empty apartment, and a hole in the dining room, I'm left with a hole in my heart as I bravely wave goodbye to her.

Even though I'm sad to see my oldest daughter and her family leave the Bay Area, I know this is the right decision for them.

But it's not easy saying goodbye.

I saved my tears for this moment as I waved and watch her drive away.

Seattle Or Bust, Chapter Two

Sometimes the stars just line up and things just fall in to place, just the way you imagine they should.

Such is the case with this house!

It all happened so fast.  Our daughter and son-in-law sold their home in the Bay Area in three days and bought this home the day they closed escrow.

Sight unseen!

Well, almost sight unseen.  Our son-in-law saw it, but not our daughter.

So she and I flew to Seattle for a fun girl's weekend, and to see what they bought!

Welcome to one of the cutest homes ever!

It is a traditional colonial style house, built in 1967.

As you enter, the staircase greets you with its ebonized railing.  

The formal living room to the left of the entry is a nice size.

It reminds me of the living room in our former house.

In fact, this house is a little "mini-me!"

The dining room is to the right of the entry.

Think of all the future holiday dinners in this room.

 I love the plate rail.

It reminds me of a house we once owned that had the exact same plate rail.

Naturally, I had such a collection of plates on it.  I wonder what my daughter will do with hers?

 Notice the shutters on the windows.

The whole house is shuttered or has window coverings.

What a bonus!

There is a powder room off the entry with gorgeous Calacatta Oro marble on the vanity and charming tongue and groove wainscotting.

The kitchen has gorgeous Calacatta Oro countertops too.  

You've got to be kidding!

Notice the dutch door?  How cute is that?

A little breakfast nook is just big enough for a family of four.

I imagine the granddaughters will be eating their breakfast at this counter every morning before school!

A fabulous commercial range too?

Ok, my daughter and I were pinching ourselves at this point!

The laundry room is just off the kitchen with its gray and white checkered floors.

Also, just off the kitchen is a family room with built-ins...

...and a French door leading to the backyard.

I love how the sellers decorated this room, although I know my daughter is going in another direction.  

Heading upstairs, there are four bedrooms and two baths.

The sellers even agreed to replace the worn runner before they move in, which will be much appreciated.  

The master bedroom has his and hers closets, plus an extra one out of view.

There is a gorgeous spa-like ensuite bathroom with heated floors.

This bedroom will be the guest room.

Perfect for when Grandma and Grandpa visit!

The upstairs bathroom off the hallway for the girls and guests.

This sunny bedroom will be perfect for the oldest granddaughter.  

The sellers used the fourth bedroom as a home office.  It will be converted back to a bedroom for the youngest granddaughter.

 Heading back downstairs, let's head out to the backyard.

The backyard is huge and it backs up to a natural greenbelt, also known as a forest!

All this greenery is eye candy to me!

There's plenty of room for my large outdoor teak dining table and chairs.

And lots of room for the girls to play with their new puppy!

 The landscaping is perfection with mature rhododendrons and maples.

There aren't any drought issues here!

This house is a dream come true for our daughter and her family.

There really isn't much to do except paint a few rooms. (Like that blue guest room!) 

In a few days, they will arrive and begin their new life in Seattle.

I can't wait to fly up and help them get settled!

Seattle Or Bust, Chapter One

 This little house served our daughter and her family well for many years, but alas, they outgrew it.

After a few failed attempts to buy another home and even consider adding on, they made the decision to move to Seattle.

With my son-in-law's business already in Seattle, it made perfect sense.

 Once that decision was made, there was no stopping them!

My daughter rented an apartment and moved her family so that the house could be staged.

Here's their staged living room.  It looks much larger and neutral, which is what buyers want to see.

Here's their living room after I did a makeover several years ago with World Market furniture.

You can read about it here.

The kitchen was remodeled several years ago too, combining three tiny rooms in to one.

There is no dining room, so opening up the space created an eat in kitchen.

The staged master bedroom looking much larger than it actually is.

This house has two bedrooms and one bath.

At 930 square feet, it packs a lot of punch, but not enough for our daughter's family, plus a new puppy and a cat!

 The back of the house.

I re-landscaped both the front and back of the house about 5 years ago.

 The cobblestone path was my solution to connect the house with the garage.  

Above the garage is a loft that was used as their office.  It also has a bedroom and bath so it could be used as an in-law unit.

Last year, I spruced up the backyard again with new outdoor furniture here.  However, they have since inherited my teak table and chairs from our move, which will now find its way to their new home!

I think their backyard is my favorite part of this house.  I'll always remember sitting on the steps and watching the granddaughters play.

And so it's time to say good-bye to this house and look ahead to a bright future in Seattle.

I'm in denial about them leaving and I know it's going to hit me hard when they drive away next Saturday, but I'm also very excited for them and can't wait to visit as often as I can.

Stay tuned for details about their new Seattle home.

It's fabulous!

A Few Setbacks

"When will the house be finished?"

Well, that is a good question!  We've had a few setbacks and I'll admit that I'm a little discouraged.

We don't have sheetrock yet, but I'm hoping by the end of the month we do.

 One of the first setbacks was finding live termites and dry rot in many places.

I guess that's the advantage of having the entire house opened up.

The good news is that we exterminated them and repaired the rotten wood.

Another surprise was finding out our garage floor was only an inch and a half thick!

So, it was jackhammered up and new concrete was poured over rebar.

Now it's not only thick, but safer--especially if we have an earthquake.

 The one setback that really got to me though was when thieves broke in to our house and stole the contractor's tools, building permits and job cards.

As you can see, they even broke the window of a car parked in front.

Just for fun.

I mean, who does that?

They literally climbed up the scaffolding to get to the roof, then went down into the atrium and broke the lock on the kitchen door to get in.

Then to get out, they forced the old garage door open.  

I'm so thankful my new garage doors weren't installed yet and that they didn't break any new window glass to get out.

Today, the scaffolding came down.  

To celebrate, I bought four quarts of paint to sample on the stucco.  

The concrete will be poured this week for the sidewalks and "driveway."

Things are shaping up!

Trying to stay positive here....