Well what a lovely couple/few days that was! Celebrated my thirty-third birthday (ahem), visited with friends from out of town, and found a place to live for at least the winter. Not too shabby for a three-day weekend.

My favorite girl was there.

So was he.

And this movie star.

But this photo pretty well sums up what’s been happening around here.

This is the best birthday cake I’ve ever had. And while it doesn’t look quite so good (and strangely, quite a bit smaller) in this photo, it is fantastic. And trust me, you want a slice.

And now, back to reality, and a very quick week. Lots to do, lots to pack for a week in Atlanta in just a few days. Sigh. Did you all have a nice weekend?

Whoops. I accidentally took nearly the entire summer off from writing. I didn’t mean for that to be the case, but with selling our house (yay!), moving in with my family (yay, right? yay!) while we look for a new house, continue to NOT find a new house (boooooooooo!), launch a dog training DVD (yay!), and just try to squeeze summer for all it’s worth, there just hasn’t been much time. Phew. I’m tired just writing that.

But, well, it might be this big glass of wine, but I think I’ve missed being here. And my goodness, there’s so much to share! Let me just start with what’s on my mind: housing. I need a house. Specifically, a four or five bedroom house with a mudroom and a barn (maybe), and a few acres, with a killer kitchen. All for less than one million dollars. In the Portland area (because I think we’ve made some headway on narrowing down our search- bye bye mid-coast!). And wouldn’t you know it! That’s a tall order around these parts.
We’ve seen the good and we’ve seen the very very bad and then we’ve gotten in the car and driven back to my parent’s house. Sigh.

I could go on and on with a dash of pessimism, but let’s do focus on the positive. Here are some actual houses that we’ve looked at in the greater Portland area and not purchased:

Didn’t take any shots of this house but was taken with its workshop outside. Beautiful in its order and cleanliness.

And every ski was in its place. This house was a little too remote for my comfort, but even so, I don’t think I could have upheld this level of neatness.

There were two kitchens in this house and this one- if you can believe it- was the best one. Imagine moving in here with two small children? Yeah, neither could I. This house ended up selling for under 100k, however, so might have been a good investment if we’d had the stomach for it.

Loved the curved walls in this house. Really nice detail here that you don’t see in most contemporary builds.

Love.

Speaking of love, this house had a gorgeous butler’s pantry (that isn’t well-represented here). Love. Need.

A very out-of-date and yet very charming bathroom.

Well, I hope you’ve enjoyed this brief foray into Portland, Maine real estate. There is more (oh so much more!) where this came from.