Sorry, I’m late on the open thread this weekend. But this way I get to post a photo of our NYC meetup last night. Pictured above are Kate, Lianne, Coconot, and Sonia (not in that order). Can you guess which one is Kate (hint: she wiped out on the snowy sidewalk)? As always, what happens in a DW meetup stays in a DW meetup (um, except for wiping out in the snow), so I’ll just say that tequila was had, secrets were shared, and we found out one of us even works for someone famous (but that’s all I can say). Apparently, BGM will be in NYC next month, so another meetup is in the works for then.
Anyway, what are all of you up to this weekend? I’m getting a prenatal massage tomorrow morning and am pretty excited about that.
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LadyinPurpleNotRed March 21, 2015, 7:26 am
I’m seeing Fleetwood Mac tonight and I am SO EXCITED! I’ve wanted to see them forever and missed then when they first came down here. Last night was my 3 year anniversary and next month, my boyfriend is taking me away for a weekend. So I’d say this weekend is a super win!
Dear Wendy March 21, 2015, 7:40 am
have fun at the concert, and happy anniversary!
LadyinPurpleNotRed March 21, 2015, 9:46 am
Thanks!
LadyinPurpleNotRed March 21, 2015, 11:21 pm
Holy shit, that was absolutely amazing! I was worried I was expecting too much…they blew me away!
Lyra March 21, 2015, 9:17 am
My guess is Lianne, Kate, Sonia, coconut. 🙂
Dear Wendy March 21, 2015, 10:08 am
Ding, ding, ding!
Addie Pray March 21, 2015, 9:32 am
I’m scrubbing my porch, organizing my documents, and making a list for errands. Another wild Saturday morning at my home!
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You all look super stylish in this photo. I’m muy jealous of your meetup. Can you share just ONE secret?? Whisper it to me.
Sonia March 22, 2015, 12:04 pm
Addie! I had a question for your friend from the fall DW meetup, I think she works at Popsugar, right? My friend is interested in working there and wanted to chat with someone about the company.
In exchange I’ll share ONE secret!
RedRoverRedRover March 21, 2015, 10:30 am
We sold our house! And got a very good price for it!
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I’ve had the most stressful couple of months. We bought a new house, just at the edge of our comfort level for price. We kind of started looking on a whim, so our old house was not ready for showings AT ALL. So we were stressed getting that ready, fixing things up and patching/painting and organizing and putting extra stuff in storage. And we HAD to sell it before our new house closed or else we wouldn’t be able to get a bridge loan and then we wouldn’t be able to afford the new house (which is a problem, because we were contractually obligated to pay for it). I mean, we had time realistically, but I just hate this house so much that I figured no one would buy it. And certainly not for enough to cover all the closing costs (which are very high in my city, ends up being like an extra 10% or more of the house cost). And THEN just as we started doing showings, we got a water leak that damaged the floor and the wall, and had to suspend showings for several days to get that fixed, and it was horrible. And I was sick the whole time all of this was happening. Like, on and off since Christmas, literally. Ugh it’s been so awful.
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But now it’s over! The house is sold, the new one closes in a few weeks so we can start doing a bit of reno over there before we move, it’s all good! I am so relieved, and in such a good mood. I’ve hated this house the entire time we’ve lived here, and now we’re moving to a bigger house in a more central area, and I’m so happy! Plus I think my unending cough/cold is finally almost done! (knock on wood)
Dear Wendy March 21, 2015, 1:22 pm
What a relief — congrats on selling the house, and in time for your move to the better house.
d2 March 21, 2015, 1:30 pm
Wow, that was an exciting way to start off the year! I’m glad it all came together for you.
Portia March 21, 2015, 4:41 pm
So great, congrats!
Pamplemousse Rose March 21, 2015, 5:39 pm
Congratulations! I’m so glad it worked out for you, that is unbelievably stressful. We have done the opposite and sold our house before we found the new one. We have to move out by April 13th but still have not bought a new place. We thought we found the place but inspection revealed an expensive issue we did not want to take on. At this point it’s unlikely we will find a house we can move straight into so most of our stuff is going into storage and we will move into my condo in the interim (tenants are conveniently moving out but not until the 23rd). We went to a few open houses today but still nothing…
RedRoverRedRover March 22, 2015, 9:17 pm
We considered doing that as well, we also have a condo that we could have moved into. But we’ve got a toddler and have to have access to daycare, and the condo is not close to his current daycare. It would add so much extra time, an hour for me and a half hour for my husband, to get him there and back. It just didn’t make sense for us. Good luck with everything!
blobfish March 21, 2015, 6:47 pm
Whew! Congratulations and I’m happy it all ends up working out great for you! I sold my house last month, too, but I am not buying another one, ever! Free, free at last 🙂
Addie Pray March 21, 2015, 9:16 pm
I’m stressing just reading about the stress! Glad it’s over!!
something random March 22, 2015, 2:26 pm
Congrats Red! I love watching shows like Love it or List it and Property Brothers. But I’d probably be scared silly to do a real-life reno. Are you super excited about your new place? What are the signature features that sold you?
RedRoverRedRover March 22, 2015, 9:22 pm
Our main thing was location, because we live in a city with horrible commutes, and our offices are on opposite sides of town. I work from home right now, but I want to switch jobs back into the office, and we can’t both have 1.5-2 hours of commuting per day. So that was our major issue, finding a place we could afford, still in the city, that has decent access to the highways so our commutes weren’t too bad.
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After that, it was the size of the house. I think we got a great deal. We got stuck in a bidding war, but it didn’t go nearly as badly as some of the others we’ve been in. And not many people were bidding (4 of us total), which was great. I think because the place we bought was “old-looking” – old-fashioned wallpaper, furniture, flooring, etc – not too many people were interested. It’s also not open concept, which is the huge thing right now, but I personally don’t care for it so that’s fine with me. We’re going to do a bit of reno, mainly walls and floors. And then later on we’ll have to do the bathrooms too. But the kitchen is new, and the bathrooms are usable, just old-fashioned. And the location is great, just steps to a major street with shopping and restaurants and stuff. And right on transit. Should be awesome! 🙂
RedRoverRedRover March 22, 2015, 9:17 pm
Thanks everyone! 🙂
jlyfsh March 21, 2015, 4:45 pm
More prep for my second 5K next week today. I’m definitely not going to shave a lot of time off because I haven’t been training long enough (only three weeks). But, today’s 3 miles felt easier and went quicker. Other than my headphones crapping out on me at 2.5 miles. I listened to a podcast from Radiolab on Patient Zero, I highly recommend it! They talked about And the Band Played On. I loved the book and movie. It was really cool to hear about the research done since then. It’s amazing the testing that has happened and how much they are able to hypothesize about the beginning of AIDS and how it came about from chimps, etc. I also love any story about Typhoid Mary. Great podcast for anyone who loves that kind of thing too.
Portia March 21, 2015, 4:51 pm
Ooo I really liked that episode! How they kept going down the rabbit hole? Infectious diseases are fascinating, and it’s so interesting just how they were able to follow it back so far, even farther back than any sort of records. My friend in college studied all that and we’d have the most interesting conversations on it. She also was a creationist, which put another level on it, but yeah, so cool!
jlyfsh March 21, 2015, 4:57 pm
Yes! It was amazing!! I tried to write down names of the researchers on my notepad so I could search for their work. And I really want to read the book they talked about during the Ebola portion now. I loved it so much I stayed in the car and finished it after I was done. I need to find another podcast on diseases for my 5K. I was so engrossed I forgot I was out there.
Portia March 21, 2015, 5:26 pm
Haha, that’s a great idea! I usually listen to podcasts when I run, too. It definitely helps pass the time. I can’t think of any other podcasts on infectious diseases that I’ve listened to recently, but there are some really good ones in the radiolab archives I didn’t listen to the first time around. I’ve been listening to the archives of You Are Not So Smart, which is about behavioral psychology and rose have been really great for getting me engrossed like that.
Portia March 21, 2015, 5:29 pm
Speaking of podcasts, I was listening to an episode of Reply All and their Yes/Yes/No segment was about an article an old friend from high school had written. I had to stop running and look her up to see if it was the same person, so surreal…
jlyfsh March 22, 2015, 9:31 pm
I started listening to the book it’s called Spillover, so good! I’m going to have to check that podcast out too. I don’t know why I had never gone out with a podcast instead of music! Makes a giant difference for me.
Portia March 22, 2015, 10:59 pm
Oh, maybe this week I’ll start a forum thread about podcasts we listen to and recommend… I’m a big podcast person, but with some going on hiatus (Invisibilia, Serial) and my runs getting longer, I need more audio to fill my time.
jlyfsh March 23, 2015, 9:55 am
I’m listening to the radiolab episode on invisibilia now! I think I’m going to start listening to it!
Portia March 21, 2015, 5:08 pm
I went to a one-year-old’s birthday party today, and Bassanio’s parents are in tonight. At least there was beer and adults who were not wrangling children at the birthday party, that would have been a lot of child to deal with…
Lyra March 21, 2015, 10:00 pm
So tonight I went to a Navy Reserves function with Navy Guy’s unit. It was originally supposed to basically beer and apps and shoot some pool, and then that place was overbooked…so plan B was an evening at this arcade/laser tag/mini golf place that is basically catered to preteen birthday parties. It was…interesting to say the least. It was cool to meet people in his unit, but at the same time it wasn’t so great because it’s a Saturday night and we waited in line for like 20 minutes to play laser tag with this group of 12-year-old boys… Good people watching though!